Sunday 31 December 2006 Black Rhinoceros

The Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is critically endangered. They are threatened by excessive poaching for their horns, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. Rhinoceroses are classified as part of the order of Perrissodactyla (in which also horses reside), suborder Ceratomorpha, which contains two families of slower-moving, thick-set animals with several functional toes: tapirs and the rhinoceroses. They can weigh up to 1400 kilograms. Black rhinoceroses' horn can grow up to 140 centimeters (!), and usually they have two horns, but occasionaly a third develops. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek words rhino (nose) and keros (horn). Adult Black rhinoceroses do not have any natural enemies. The young are occasionaly taken by lions or hyenas. Their aggressive disposition discourages its predators. Because of its nearsightedness, the rhino charges first and investigates later.

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Wednesday 27 December 2006 North Atlantic Right Whale

The North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) can grow up to 18 meters and weigh up to 100,000 kilograms. They were named 'right' whale by fisherman, because they thought it was the right whale to hunt, as they swim close to the shore, float when killed and 40 % of their body is blubber. Baleen whales feed with their baleen, they 'skim' the water with their mouth open. Water and prey come into the mouth of the whale, but only the water can pass throught, leaving prey like zooplankton, krill, little shrimps behind. There are about 300 Atlantic Northern Right Whales living today, almost all in the western North Atlantic, and are an endangered species.

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Tuesday 26 December 2006 European polecat

The European Polecat (Mustela putorius), also called a 'fitch', is a mainly nocturnal, solitary creature. Their diet consists mainly on rodents and rabbits. In England, domestic ferrets have abandonned their bosses wich has led to ferret-polecat hybrids... They have also been introduced in New Zealand. Males and females differ a lot. Males can be two times the weight of a female and be a third or more longer. Polecats have a pair of anal glands that emit a strong-smelling secretion, like all mustelids. When they are excited or threatened they release some of the contents of these glands.

Image by Malene Thyssen, licensed under GFDL.

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Friday 22 December 2006 Red-bellied lemur

The Red-bellied Lemur (Lemur rubriventer) lives in the East-Madagascar rainforests, where it feeds on flowers, fruits and leaves and some toxic millipedes, which they drool on first, to neutralize the toxins. They exhibit both diurnal and nocturnal activities, though mainly diurnal. Females lead the groups foraging of about 5 lemurs. Lemurs use their lower incisors as a comb to groom troop members. They use, among other communications, chemicals to communicate. The prominent forehead scent gland of males is used to help mark territories..

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Wednesday 20 December 2006 Order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)

The members of the order of Perissodactyla all have an odd number of toes on their hooves. Living members are from the families Equidae (horses, asses, zebra's), Tapiridae (tapirs) and Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses). If you are interested in extinct species, about 10 million years after the dinosaurs died out, the order of Perissodactyla began to rise, with bizarre species like the Chalicothere or check out this giant extinct rhino (twice the size of an elephant).

Featured members are:

- the donkey

- the horse

- the zebra

- the brazillian tapir

- the white rhinoceros

- the black rhinoceros

- the indian rhinoceros

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Tuesday 19 December 2006 Order Lagomorpha (hares, rabbits and pikas)

The order of Lagomorpha consists of two familes: Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and Ochotonidae (pikas). The members of Lagomorpha are sometimes mistaken for rodents, but there are a lot of differences between rodents and members of Lagomorpha. From wikipedia:

- Lagomorphs (loģ o-moŕ fs)(Gr. lagos, hare: + morphē, form) differ from rodents in that:
- they have four incisors in the upper jaw (not two as in rodents);
- they will only eat vegetation (unlike rodents, who will eat meat and vegetation)
- the male's scrotum is in front of the penis;
- the penis has no bone (baculum) unlike the rodent penis; and
- they will redigest first-time droppings (called cecotropes) to obtain the most from their plant diet.

They resemble rodents, however, in that their teeth grow throughout their life, thus necessitating constant chewing to keep them from growing too long.

Featured members are

• American Pika
  
• European hare
• European rabbit
  

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Monday 18 December 2006 Hawaiian Monk Seal

The Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi) lives in the warm waters of the North-western part of the Hawaiian islands. It has gotten its name, because its head with the small hairs looks like the head of a typical monk. Also, the Hawaiian Monk Seal leads a more solitary life (like monks) when compared to other seals. They can stay under water for as long as 20 minutes without coming to the surface and to a depth of 600 feet. The Hawaiian Monk Seal is one of the most endangered species of seals. Together with the Mediterranean Monk Seal they struggle for survival to prevent extinction like the Caribbean Monk Seal, which became extinct in the 1950s. In 2004 the estimate of the total population of Hawaiian monk seals was 1400 animals. The reasons for their decline are: increased human presence, sharks, Ciguatera poisoning (a bacteria) and fishing nets.

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Thursday 14 December 2006 Plains Zebra

The Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) is the most common and geographically widespread form of zebras, although they were once more numerous than they are now because of human activities such as hunting them for their meat and hides, as well as encroachment on much of their former habitat. No two individuals look exactly alike. They form groups with one stallion and one, two or more mares. Plains zebras are the first to move into a well-vegitated area, and afterwards gazelle and wildebeest take over. Plains zebras prefer young and fresh grasses.

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Monday 11 December 2006 North American Beaver

The North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) lives in Canada, most of the United states and Northern Mexico. It is the second largest rodent in the world, the largest rodent in the world is the capybara. The North American Beaver has webbed hind feet for swimming and unwebbed front paws (clawed, used for digging and carrying material for dams for example). In some areas they are viewed as pests, because they flood rivers with their dams and are very persistent to repair any damage to the dam. Most of the time, the only way to stop them is to move them to another location. Predators of the North American Beaver are the Red Fox, Gray Wolf, Bobcat and the Coyote.

Image by LASZLO ILYES (laszlo-photo) from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

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Tuesday 05 December 2006 Sea otter - largest of the otters

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is the heaviest of its kind, weighing up to 45 kg. It has been hunted extensively in the eighteenth and nineteenth century for its warm fur. As a positive side effect, due to the hunting, to maximize profits the sea otter's behavior was researched extensively. The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is the largest member of the family Mustelidae. It is also the only marine mammal in the order of Carnivora and is the smallest marine mammal. If sea otters rest they are among kelp or in quiet water, laying on their backs. The common resting position is with the head up, with folded paws and chin resting on their chest.

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Sunday 03 December 2006 Cheetah - The African savannas' fastest hunter

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest mammal living on solid ground. The slender, long-legged cats are capable to reach top speeds of up to 120 km/h. Cheetahs are up to 1,5 meters long and weigh up to 65 kg. Remarkable is their relativly small head. Above all Cheetahs inhabit steppe and semi-deserts south of the Sahara nowadays. In former times Cheetahs were spread in entire Africa and parts of Asia, except the rainforests and deserts.

Cheetahs live solitary or in small groups. Such group of cats may for example consist of a female and her young, up to 2 years old. But also males join together to groups sometimes. Cheetahs inhabit home ranges which are sized about 100 square kilometers. The 1 up to 5 young are born after a pregnancy of about 3 months. They are weaned when half a year old but stay with their mother until they are sexually matured at an age of about 2 years. Cheetahs may reach an age of up to 15 years.

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