Posts tagged wildlife

A cool article about Iberian Lynxes and the attempt to save the species!

Thanks for the heads-up on a very interesting development in species preservation!

Also known as the “Spanish Tiger,” the Iberian Lynx is as critically endangered as the “Highland Tiger” of Scotland. Long thought to be a subspecies of the European Lynx, its genetic profile has shown it to be distinct enough to be an independent species.

I’ve written about critically endangered animals in the past - in fact, I wrote about one of the first attempts to bring an extinct species back from the dead, a subject that’s receiving renewed attention in the scientific community and media as of late.

The Pyrenean Ibex faced similar challenges as the Iberian Lynx, but hopefully this unique and interesting cat will fare better than the Ibex did.

 

Bottom: Short Beaked Echidna [right] (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and Western Long-Beaked Echidna [left] (Zaglossus bruijni)
Center Left: Starfish (Echinodermata spp.)
Center Right: Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Top: Echidna (mythological)

Originally, “Echidna” was a Greek mythological figure, a monstrous snake-like creature, and the mother of Cerberus, the Chimera, the Gorgon, and more. Her name roughly translates to “she-snake”, and the monotreme known as the echidna is cited in many sources as being named after her.

However, it is becoming more accepted these days that the echidna has the same etymological origins as the Greek term “ekhinus”, or “sea-urchin/porcupine [spine-skinned]”. Though similar-sounding, “ekhidna” and “ekhinos” have distinct etymological histories, and should be recognized as different terms.

It’s unknown if “ekhinus” originally referred to the sea-urchin or the hedgehog/porcupine, but the use of the term in reference to Echinaceae (coneflowers) is a direct reference to the spiny nature of the sea-urchin.

On pandas, preservation, and personal opinions.

On pandas, preservation, and personal opinions.

ptvpls

Just because I advocate preserving ecologically necessary species like frogs and fish low on the food chain doesn’t mean I hate Giant Pandas, guys.

It’s just that we only have a limited amount of money, and have to divvy it up accordingly…

But giant pandas are still cool, and I’m totally in favor of keeping them around if it doesn’t drain an excess of our conservation money! They’re adorable, and the wild ones are vicious to humans, and their diet and sesamoid-bone”thumb” is an amazing example of very quickly-adapting evolutionary movement in carnivores.

Besides, who could hate panda cubs?

Skeleton of the squirrel, showing its relation to the body Check out that skull and those teeth - the family Sciuridae is more closely related to beavers, dormice, and porcupines, than they are to your average household rodent, despite looking like “fancy-dress rats”. The skull is often a key differentiating factor for comparative zoologists. The design of the inner ear and teeth/jaws can often point to a very different (and much more accurate) classification of a species than body type. Animal Forms: A Textbook of Zoology. David S. Jordan and Harold Heath, 1902.

Skeleton of the squirrel, showing its relation to the body

Check out that skull and those teeth - the family Sciuridae is more closely related to beavers, dormice, and porcupines, than they are to your average household rodent, despite looking like “fancy-dress rats”.

The skull is often a key differentiating factor for comparative zoologists. The design of the inner ear and teeth/jaws can often point to a very different (and much more accurate) classification of a species than body type.

Animal Forms: A Textbook of Zoology. David S. Jordan and Harold Heath, 1902.

Okapia johnstoni - The Okapi Though it has the same general body shape of the giraffe, okapis have much shorter necks, and their type body evolved long before the giraffes. However, their significantly striped necks and legs did not evolve to what we know today until the species split off into forest-dwelling and grassland types. Like the giraffe, the okapi has a very long, blue, muscular tongue. It uses this part of its body to groom itself more thoroughly than would otherwise be possible, and to strip the leaves off of bush branches. It also has the cloven hooves and digestive tract of the giraffidae family. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1902.

Okapia johnstoni - The Okapi

Though it has the same general body shape of the giraffe, okapis have much shorter necks, and their type body evolved long before the giraffes. However, their significantly striped necks and legs did not evolve to what we know today until the species split off into forest-dwelling and grassland types.

Like the giraffe, the okapi has a very long, blue, muscular tongue. It uses this part of its body to groom itself more thoroughly than would otherwise be possible, and to strip the leaves off of bush branches. It also has the cloven hooves and digestive tract of the giraffidae family.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1902.

biomedicalephemera: Strigops habroptilus - The Kakapo Kakapos are some of the goofiest animals out there, and sadly, one of the most endangered, too. Also known as the owl parrot and night parrot, they lost their power of flight long ago, and as is too often the case, were nearly wiped out by settlers and their introduction of dogs, cats, ferrets, and stoats. Since the kakapo had evolved without a fear of those animals, their natural boldness wound up getting many of them eaten by the invasive species - and that’s not even counting the fact that they were apparently “delicious”. The kakapo (one named Sirocco, specifically) is the bird that attempted to mate with Mark Carwardine’s head in the remake of “Last Chance to See”, with Stephen Fry. If you haven’t seen the clip yet, it’s fantastic. “You’ve been shagged by a rare parrot!” The Zoology of the Voyage of the HMS Erebus & Terror From 1839-1843. John Richardson and John Edward Gray, 1845.

biomedicalephemera:

Strigops habroptilus - The Kakapo

Kakapos are some of the goofiest animals out there, and sadly, one of the most endangered, too. Also known as the owl parrot and night parrot, they lost their power of flight long ago, and as is too often the case, were nearly wiped out by settlers and their introduction of dogs, cats, ferrets, and stoats. Since the kakapo had evolved without a fear of those animals, their natural boldness wound up getting many of them eaten by the invasive species - and that’s not even counting the fact that they were apparently “delicious”.

The kakapo (one named Sirocco, specifically) is the bird that attempted to mate with Mark Carwardine’s head in the remake of “Last Chance to See”, with Stephen Fry. If you haven’t seen the clip yet, it’s fantastic. “You’ve been shagged by a rare parrot!”

The Zoology of the Voyage of the HMS Erebus & Terror From 1839-1843. John Richardson and John Edward Gray, 1845.

The Ring-Tailed or Civet Cat - “He is neither a Cat nor a Civet, but a Bassaris.” The Asian civets’ similar appearance to the ringtail led to ringtails being misidentified as a similar creature by some. The “cat” added to the name in some vernaculars is representative of the agile, stealthy, well-balanced activity of the ringtail - their big bushy tail may not be prehensile like some of their relatives (the potos), but it serves as a very effective counterbalance while navigating the trees and desert rocks. The Burgess Animal Book for Children. Thornton Burgess, 1920.

The Ring-Tailed or Civet Cat - “He is neither a Cat nor a Civet, but a Bassaris.”

The Asian civets’ similar appearance to the ringtail led to ringtails being misidentified as a similar creature by some. The “cat” added to the name in some vernaculars is representative of the agile, stealthy, well-balanced activity of the ringtail - their big bushy tail may not be prehensile like some of their relatives (the potos), but it serves as a very effective counterbalance while navigating the trees and desert rocks.

The Burgess Animal Book for Children. Thornton Burgess, 1920.

Top: Dorsal view and pectoral limb of Manatus americanus (now Trichechus manatus)
Bottom: African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)

These two creatures, though vastly different, are actually some of the most closely related extant sea and land mammalia.

Though the transition from land to sea occurred around the same time, the Sirenians (dugongs and manatees) are only distantly related to the Pinnipedia (seals and sea lions) and Cetacea (whales). The only living ocean-dwelling mammalian herbivores, Sirenians split off from a common ancestor with elephants around the middle of the Eocene epoch. This pig-like creature was very distinct from the small deer-like creatures that led to both the Cetaceans and modern horses.

The manatee’s land-dwelling origins can be seen in their pectoral limbs - there are “fingernails” at the end of each flipper, much more similar to the fingernails on an elephant’s foot than the claw-like nails you can see on the Pinnipedia.

Manatee: Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. VIII 1874.

Elephant: Wildlife of the World: A Descriptive Survey of the Geographical Distribution of Animals. Richard Lydekker, 1911.

African Ratel, or Honey Badger The earliest descriptions of the ratel that I can find describe it as a repulsive and lazy creature, with an awkward waddle and thieving ways (as they were thought to steal honey from beehives - no one realized they were after the bee larvae until the turn of the century). Really, no one took much interest in them, and as largely solitary creatures, they weren’t the easiest targets for study. Still, by the time this photograph was taken (at the Transvaal Zoological Gardens in Transvaal Colony, South Africa), people that were around the ratel had a hell of a lot more respect for them. It’s written that they were fighters with tenacious ways, whose “waddle” was caused by the size of their muscles and depth of their chest (lending them great endurance), and that they could dig as well as they could climb. Yes, the Zoological Gardens found that out the hard way. Their ratel apparently escaped at one point. I don’t know if this is the escapee or a different one, but he looks fierce. Animal Life in Africa: Book 1, Carnivora. Major James Stevenson-Hamilton, 1912.

African Ratel, or Honey Badger

The earliest descriptions of the ratel that I can find describe it as a repulsive and lazy creature, with an awkward waddle and thieving ways (as they were thought to steal honey from beehives - no one realized they were after the bee larvae until the turn of the century). Really, no one took much interest in them, and as largely solitary creatures, they weren’t the easiest targets for study.

Still, by the time this photograph was taken (at the Transvaal Zoological Gardens in Transvaal Colony, South Africa), people that were around the ratel had a hell of a lot more respect for them. It’s written that they were fighters with tenacious ways, whose “waddle” was caused by the size of their muscles and depth of their chest (lending them great endurance), and that they could dig as well as they could climb. Yes, the Zoological Gardens found that out the hard way. Their ratel apparently escaped at one point. I don’t know if this is the escapee or a different one, but he looks fierce.

Animal Life in Africa: Book 1, Carnivora. Major James Stevenson-Hamilton, 1912.

Horned Owl - Bubo sp. I can’t tell what species this owl is, but the horned owls are one part of the genus Bubo. Though it traditionally only included owls with ear-tufts, mtDNA analysis supported the inclusion of old-world eagle owls and the fishing owls in the genus. Note: The definition of “Bubo” in this context does not mean the same thing as the “bubo/buboe” (swelling of the lymphatic glands in the groin) of the bubonic plague. “Bubo” comes from the Latin word for “owl”, which comes from the onomatopoeic Greek “bubo”, which was used for the Eagle Owl. Wild Life of the World. Vol I. Richard Lydekker, 1916.

Horned Owl - Bubo sp.

I can’t tell what species this owl is, but the horned owls are one part of the genus Bubo. Though it traditionally only included owls with ear-tufts, mtDNA analysis supported the inclusion of old-world eagle owls and the fishing owls in the genus.

  • Note: The definition of “Bubo” in this context does not mean the same thing as the “bubo/buboe” (swelling of the lymphatic glands in the groin) of the bubonic plague. “Bubo” comes from the Latin word for “owl”, which comes from the onomatopoeic Greek “bubo”, which was used for the Eagle Owl.

Wild Life of the World. Vol I. Richard Lydekker, 1916.

drawnblog: Some lovely paintings of birds from a set of books from 1806 by by François Levaillant and Jacques Barraband. (via BibliOdyssey: Birds of Paradise)

drawnblog:

Some lovely paintings of birds from a set of books from 1806 by by François Levaillant and Jacques Barraband. (via BibliOdyssey: Birds of Paradise)

bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

Fox Kits! Though most people call baby foxes “pups”, the more accepted colloquial terms in the scientific community are “cubs” or “kits”. However, there are generally no “official” correct terms for juvenile animals aside from, well, juvenile. The female fox is called a “vixen”, but we all knew that, right? A group of foxes is called a “skulk”, thanks to their sneaky and skulking nature. Familiar Life in Field and Forest. F. Schuyler Mathews, 1898.

Fox Kits!

Though most people call baby foxes “pups”, the more accepted colloquial terms in the scientific community are “cubs” or “kits”. However, there are generally no “official” correct terms for juvenile animals aside from, well, juvenile.

The female fox is called a “vixen”, but we all knew that, right? A group of foxes is called a “skulk”, thanks to their sneaky and skulking nature.

Familiar Life in Field and Forest. F. Schuyler Mathews, 1898.

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this bear. Females with cubs are not only aggressive when you get near their babies, but are territorial in general - many are more aggressive than even adult males. Wild life of the world: a descriptive survey of the geographic distribution of animals. Richard Lydekker, 1915.

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)

You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this bear. Females with cubs are not only aggressive when you get near their babies, but are territorial in general - many are more aggressive than even adult males.

Wild life of the world: a descriptive survey of the geographic distribution of animals. Richard Lydekker, 1915.

King Vulture King vultures are from Central and South America, from southern Mexico, through the plains of Argentina. It’s one of the New World vultures, which are not all that related to the Old World vultures. These dudes are sorta hangers-on to the turkey vultures and yellow-headed vultures that they live around, cause they can’t really smell much. Though they locate some of the carcasses they eat by sight, a lot of the time they follow the other vultures (who can smell) to the dead animals. Wild life of the world: a descriptive survey of the geographic distribution of animals. Richard Lydekker, 1915.* *This is definitely one of my favorite old wildlife books. It’s got some great illustrations, and it’s by Richard Lydekker, so you know it’s both interesting AND factual.

King Vulture

King vultures are from Central and South America, from southern Mexico, through the plains of Argentina. It’s one of the New World vultures, which are not all that related to the Old World vultures.

These dudes are sorta hangers-on to the turkey vultures and yellow-headed vultures that they live around, cause they can’t really smell much. Though they locate some of the carcasses they eat by sight, a lot of the time they follow the other vultures (who can smell) to the dead animals.

Wild life of the world: a descriptive survey of the geographic distribution of animals. Richard Lydekker, 1915.*

*This is definitely one of my favorite old wildlife books. It’s got some great illustrations, and it’s by Richard Lydekker, so you know it’s both interesting AND factual.