An Animal A Day
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Canadian Lynx
The Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a close relative of the Eurasian Lynx. Some authorities regard both as conspecific. However, in some characteristics the Canada Lynx is more similar to the Bobcat than to the Eurasian Lynx.
Canada Lynx, Lynx canadensis
This cat is found in northern forests across almost all of Canada and Alaska. In addition there are large lynx populations in Montana, Idaho and Washington. The Canada Lynx is rare in Utah, Minnesota, and New England. It is considered to be threatened in the contiguous United States.
The appearance of a Canada Lynx resembles a Eurasian Lynx: the dense fur is silvery brown and may bear blackish markings. In summer, their coat takes on a more reddish brown colour. Males are larger than females. The lynx has a furry ruff which resembles a double-pointed beard, a short tail with a black tip and long furry tufts on its ears. Its long legs with broad furred feet aid the lynx in travelling through deep snow.
Lynxes hunt for hares, rodents and birds, sometimes killing larger animals such as deer. They rely mainly on hearing and sight to locate prey. In some areas the Snowshoe Hare is virtually the only prey of the Canada Lynx. The size of the lynx population tends to follow the approximately 10 year long rise and decline of Snowshoe Hare numbers.
The lynx is a solitary and secretive animal, usually active at night, and requires a large territory. It breeds in spring and one to five kittens are born. The survival of the young depends heavily on the availability of prey species.
These animals are trapped for their fur and have declined in many areas due to habitat loss.
Subspecies
The Newfoundland Lynx (Lynx canadensis subsolanus) is a subspecies of the Canada Lynx. It is larger than the mainland lynxes. These animals are known to have killed caribou calves when snowshoe hares were not available.
Issue #158 -
Vulturine Guineafowl
The Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) is the largest and most spectacular of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and is the only member of the genus Acryllium (Gray, 1840). It is a resident breeder in northeast Africa, from southern Ethiopia through Kenya and just into northern Tanzania.
Vulturine Guineafowl, Acryllium vulturinum
It breeds in dry and open habitats with scattered bushes and trees, such as savannah or grassland. It lays its usually 4-8 cream-coloured eggs in a well-hidden grass-lined scrape.
Vulturine Guineafowl is a large (61-71cm) bird with a round body and small head. It is longer in the neck, legs and tail than other guineafowl. The adult has a bare blue face and black neck, and although all other guineafowl have unfeathered heads, this species looks particularly like a vulture because of the long heads and neck.
The slim neck projects from a cape of long, glossy, blue and white hackles. The breast is cobalt blue, and the rest of the body plumage is black, finely spangled with white. The wings are short and rounded, and the tail is also short.
The sexes are similar, although the female is usually slightly smaller than the male. Young birds are mainly grey-brown, with a duller blue breast and short hackles.
Vulturine Guineafowl is a gregarious species, forming flocks outside the breeding season typically of about 25 birds. This species' food is seeds and small invertebrates. This guineafowl is terrestrial, and will run rather than fly when alarmed. Despite the open habitat, it tends to keep to cover, and roosts in trees. It makes loud chink-chink-chink-chink-chink calls.
Issue #159 -
Chuckwalla
Chuckwallas (less commonly Chuckawallas) are large, bulky lizards found primarily in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico; some are found on coastal islands. There are five species of Chuckwalla, all within the genus Sauromalus; they are part of the iguana family, Iguanidae.
The name Chuckwalla derives from the Shoshone word "tcaxxwal" or Cahullia "caxwal", transcribed by Spaniards as "chacahuala".
Common Chuckwalla, Sauromalus ater
Physical description
Reaching a total length of 16 inches (40 centimetres) and a weight of 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms), Chuckwallas are noted for their wide, flattened midsections and prominent paunch. Their tails are also notably thick, tapering to a blunt tip. Loose folds of skin characterise the neck and sides of the body, which is covered in small, coarsely granular scales. Males are generally larger than females.
These lizards are coloured plainly; sexual dimorphism is marked, with males having reddish to orange, yellow or light gray bodies and black heads, shoulders and limbs; females and the immature have bodies with scattered spots or contrasting bands of light and dark in shades of gray or yellow.
Well-developed femoral pores are located on the inner side of the thighs in males; these pores produce secretions believed to play a role in marking territory.
Range, habitat and diet
The genus Sauromalus has a wide distribution in desert biomes. This is especially true of the Common Chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater), found from southern California east to southern Nevada and Utah, western Arizona and south to Baja California and northwestern Mexico. Other species are island-dwelling and therefore have much more restricted distributions: Two rare and endangered are the Chuckwalla de Montserrat (Sauromalus slevini) found on Islas Carmen, Coronados and Montserrat and the San Esteban Chuckwalla or Painted Chuckwalla (Sauromalus varius) found on San Esteban, Lobos and Pelicanos. The Angel Island Chuckwalla (Sauromalus hispidus) and Peninsular Chuckwalla (Sauromalus australis) are found on Isla Angel de la Guarda and surrounding islands off the coast of the Baja California peninsula.
Chuckwallas prefer lava flows and rocky areas, such as those found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. These areas are typically vegetated by creosote bush and other such drought-tolerant scrub. The lizards may be found at elevations of up to 4,500 feet (1,370 metres).
Primarily herbivorous, Chuckwallas feed on leaves, fruit and flowers of both annuals and perennial plants; insects represent a supplementary prey. The lizards are said to prefer yellow flowers, such as those of the brittle-bush (Encelia farinosa).
Behaviour and reproduction
Harmless to humans, these lizards are known to run from potential threats; a tight rock crevice is sought wherein the Chuckwalla will inflate its body with air in order to entrench itself.
Males are seasonally and conditionally territorial; an abundance of resources tends to create a hierarchy based on size, with one large male dominating the area's smaller males. Chuckwallas are visually oriented and use a combination of colour and physical displays, namely "push ups", head-hobbing, and gaping of the mouth to communicate and defend their territory. In lean periods no territories are observed.
Chuckwallas are diurnal animals and as they are exothermic, spend much of their mornings and winter days basking. These lizards are well adapted to desert conditions; they are active at temperatures of up to 102°F (39°C). Chuckwallas hibernate during cooler months and emerge in February.
Mating occurs from April to July, with 5-16 eggs subsequently laid between June and August. The eggs hatch in late September. Chuckwallas may live for 25 years or more.
Species
Sauromalus ater
Sauromalus australis
Sauromalus hispidus
Sauromalus slevini
Sauromalus varius
Issue #160 -
Asian giant hornet
The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), the world's largest hornet, is a native to the mountains of Japan. Its body length is between 27 mm (1.1 inches) and 45 mm (1.8 inches), with a wingspan of about 76 mm (3 inches). Queens may reach a length of 55 mm (2.2 inches).
Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia
Anatomy
The head of the hornet is orange and quite wide in comparison to other hornet species. The compound eyes and ocelli are dark brown, and the antennae are dark brown with orange scapes. The clypeus (the shield-like plate on the front of the head) is orange and coarsely punctured; the posterior side of the clypeus has narrow, rounded lobes. The mandible is large and orange with a black tooth (inner biting surface).
The thorax and propodeum (the segment which forms the posterior part of the thorax) of the Asian giant hornet has a distinctive golden tint and a large scutellum (a shield-like scale on the thorax) that has a deeply-impressed medial line; the postscutellum (the plate behind the scutellum) bulges and overhangs the propodeum. The hornet's forelegs are orange with dark brown tarsi (the distal - furthest down - part of the leg); the midlegs and hindlegs are dark brown. Wings are a dark brownish-gray. The tegulae are brown.
The gaster (the portion of the abdomen behind the thorax-abdomen connection) is dark brown with a white, powdery covering; with narrow yellow bands at the posterior margins of the tergite, the sixth segment is entirely yellow.
Geographic Distribution
It can be found in most of Asia but mostly in the mountains of Japan: southeastern regions of Asian Russia (Primorskii Krai), Korea, China, Japan, Indochina, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka.
"Hornets From Hell"
Sting
The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about a quarter-inch (6 mm) in length, and injects an especially potent venom that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail through my leg."
If a person is stung by the giant hornet and does not receive prompt medical treatment, he or she may die from a reaction to the venom. About 40 people die each year after being stung by giant hornets, mainly as a result of an allergic reaction to the venom.
A couple of interesting notes on the V. mandarinia's venom and stinger:
- The venom contains 5% acetylcholine, which stimulates the pain nerve fibres more than bee or other wasp venoms, so that it is a bit more painful.
- The venom is optimized to kill bees which are the V. mandarinia's natural prey. This means that while the venom may be a bit more painful to vertebrates, it is actually less toxic.
- Like all hornets, V. mandarinia can sting repeatedly, and do so when they prey on bees and other insects.
- According to a report, one victim could not be recognized because said victim's face was dissolved beyond recognition due to numerous stings to that area.
Predation
The Asian giant hornet is a relentless hunter that preys on other large insects such as bees, other hornet species, and praying mantises.
The hornets often attack honeybee hives with the goal of obtaining the honeybee larvae. The hornets can devastate a colony of honeybees: a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honeybees per minute; it takes only a few of these hornets a few hours to exterminate the population of a 30,000-member honeybee hive, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. Once a hive is emptied of all defending bees, the hornets carry the honeybee larvae back to feed to their own larvae.
A giant hornet attacks a honeybee hive.
Rather than consume their kills directly, the hornets chew them into a paste and feed them to their larvae. The hornet larvae, in return, produce a clear liquid which the adults consume (see The Hornet and the Japanese Diet, below).
Native Honeybees
Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of honeybees, whose correspondingly small sting cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator as the giant hornet, the Japanese honeybee (Apis cerana japonica) has evolved an ingenious method of defending against the much larger predator.
When a hornet scout locates a Japanese honeybee hive and approaches the nest, the scout will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the honeybees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so honeybees will gather near the entrance of the nest, apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive. As the hornet enters the nest, a large mob of about five hundred honeybees surround the hornet, completely covering it and preventing it from moving, and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles. This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honeybee mass to 47 °C (116.6 °F). Though the honeybees can tolerate such a temperature, it is fatal to the intruder, which can handle a maximum temperature of about 45 °C/113 °F, and is effectively baked to death by the large mass of vibrating bees.
The Hornet and the Japanese Diet
In Japan's mountain villages, the hornets are valued as part of the basic diet. They are eaten deep fried or as a kind of hornet sashimi.
Hornet supplement manufacturers
Recently several companies in Asia and Europe have begun to manufacture dietary supplements and energy drinks supposedly containing the secretions of the larvae of Vespa Mandarina Japonica, which the adult hornets usually consume. According to the manufacturers of these products, because the adult hornet can fly 50 miles in a single day at 20 miles per hour, consuming the larval hornet secretions (marketed as "hornet juice") will similarly enhance human endurance.
Note that these "supplements" are not really made from hornets, but synthesized from, eg, according to Vaam: "Diet Amino is composed of: Maltodextrin, Betacarotene, Amino Acids (Proline, Lysine, Leucine,Valine, Isoleucine, Alanine), Vitamin E, Vitamin B1, Flavoring, Acidifier, Sweetener (Stevia, Sucrose)". Also that there is no medical evidence that these have any effect, but as "supplements" rather than pharmaceuticals, do not have to prove their claims.
Issue #161 -
European anchovy
The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) is a fish somewhat related to the herring. Anchovies are placed in the family Engraulidae.
It is easily distinguished by its deeply-cleft mouth, the angle of the gape being behind the eyes. The pointed snout extends beyond the lower jaw. The fish resembles a sprat in having a forked tail and a single dorsal fin, but the body is round and slender. The maximum length is 8 1/8 in.
European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicholus
Anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Sicily, Italy, France and Spain. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway. In winter it is common off Devon and Cornwall (Great Britain), but has not hitherto been caught in such numbers as to be of commercial importance.
Formerly they were caught in large numbers off the coast of the Netherlands in summer when they entered the Wadden Sea and Zuider Zee. After the closing of the Zuider Zee they were still found in the Wadden Sea until the 1960s. They were also caught in the estuary of the Scheldt.
There is reason to believe that the anchovies found at the western end of the English Channel in November and December are those which annually migrated from the Zuider Zee and Scheldt in autumn, returning thither in the following spring; they were assumed to form an isolated stock, for none come up from the south in summer to occupy the English Channel, though the species is resident on the coast of Portugal.
The explanation appears to be that the shallow and landlocked waters of the Zuider Zee, as well as the sea on the Dutch coast, become raised to a higher temperature in summer than any part of the sea about the British coasts, and that therefore anchovies were able to spawn and maintain their numbers in these waters.
Their reproduction and development were first described by a Dutch naturalist from observations made on the shores of the Zuider Zee. Spawning takes place in June and July, and the eggs, like those of the majority of marine fishes, are buoyant and transparent, but they are peculiar in having an elongated, sausage-like shape, instead of being globular. They resemble those of the sprat and pilchard in having a segmented yolk and there is no oil globule.
The larva hatch two or three days after the fertilization of the egg, and are minute and transparent. In August young specimens 1½ to 3½ in. in length have been taken in the Zuider Zee, and these must derived from the spawning of the previous summer.
There is no evidence to decide the question whether all the young anchovies as well as the adults leave the Zuider Zee in autumn, but, considering the winter temperature there, it is probable that they do. The eggs have also been obtained from the Bay of Naples, and near Marseilles, also off the coast of Holland, and once at least off the coast of Lancashire.
The occurrence of anchovies in the English Channel has been carefully studied at the laboratory of the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth. They were most abundant in 1889 and 1890. In the former year considerable numbers were taken off Dover in drift nets of small mesh used for the capture of sprats. In the following December large numbers were taken together with sprats at Torquay. In November 1890 a thousand of the fish were obtained in two days from the pilchard boats fishing near Plymouth; these were caught near the Eddystone.
Issue #162 -
Sea pen
Sea pens are colonial marine cnidarians belonging to the order Pennatulacea. There are 14 families within the order; they are thought to have a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate waters worldwide. Sea Pens are grouped with the octocorals ("soft corals"), together with Sea Whips and Sea Feathers.
Overhead view of a sea pen, Pennatula aculeata.
Although named after their feather-like appearance redolent of antique fountain pens, only Sea Pen species belonging to the suborder Subselliflorae live up to the comparison. Those belonging to the much larger suborder Sessiliflorae lack feathery structures and grow in club-like or radiating forms. The latter suborder includes what are commonly known as Sea Pansies.
As octocorals, Sea Pens are composed of many tiny individual animals called polyps (somewhat like miniature sea anemones), each with eight tentacles. Unlike other octocorals, however, a Sea Pen's polyps are specialized to specific functions: a single polyp develops into a rigid, erect stalk (the rachis) and loses its tentacles, forming a bulbous "root" or peduncle at its base. Other polyps branch out from this central stalk, forming water intake structures (siphonozooids), feeding structures (autozooids) with nematocysts, and reproductive structures. The entire colony is fortified by calcium carbonate in the form of spicules and a central axial rod.
Using their root-like peduncles to anchor themselves in sandy or muddy substrate, the exposed portion of sea pens may rise up to 2 metres in some species, such as the Tall Sea Pen (Funiculina quadrangularis). Sea Pens are sometimes brightly coloured; the Orange Sea Pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) is a notable example. Rarely found above depths of 10 metres, Sea Pens prefer deeper waters where turbulence is less likely to uproot them. Some species may inhabit depths of 2,000 metres or more.
Uprooted Sea Pen with the bulbous peduncle in view.
While generally sessile animals, Sea Pens are able to relocate and re-anchor themselves if need be. They position themselves favourably in the path of currents, ensuring a steady flow of plankton, the Sea Pens' chief source of food. Their primary predators are nudibranchs and starfishs, some of which feed exclusively on Sea Pens. When touched, Sea Pens emit a bright greenish light; this is known as bioluminescence. They may also force water out of themselves as a defensive act, deflating and retreating into their peduncle.
Like other anthozoans, Sea Pens reproduce by co-ordinating a release of sperm and eggs into the water column; this may occur seasonally or throughout the year. Fertilized eggs develop into larvae called planulae which drift freely for about a week before settling on the substrate. Mature Sea Pens provide shelter for other animals, such as juvenile fish. Analysis of rachis growth rings indicates Sea Pens may live for 100 years or more, if the rings are indeed annual in nature.
The Sea Pen fossil record is patchy and disputed by some; while the earliest accepted fossils are known from the Cambrian-aged Burgess Shale, similar fossils from the late Proterozoic (Vendian) may represent the dawn of Sea Pens. Precisely what the Proterozoic fossils are, however, is not decided.
Families
* Suborder Sessiliflorae
o Anthoptilidae
o Chunellidae
o Echinoptilidae
o Funiculinidae
o Kophobelemnidae
o Protoptilidae
o Renillidae
o Scleroptilidae
o Stachyptilidae
o Umbellulidae
o Veretillidae
* Suborder Subselliflorae
o Pennatulidae
o Pteroeididae
o Virgulariidae
Issue #163 -
Woolly Rhinoceros
The Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is an extinct species of rhinoceros that survived the last ice age. It lived on the northern steppes of Eurasia, whereas its relative the Giant Unicorn had a more southern range. It had a flat horn that enabled it to push aside snow in order to graze.
Woolly Rhinoceros, Coelodonta antiquitatis
This plant-eater was about 3.5 m (11 feet) long. It had two horns on its snout, the lower one larger than the one between its eyes about 1 m (3 feet) long. It had long hair, small ears, short, thick legs, and a stocky body.
It was hunted by early humans, who probably caused its extinction. Its shape was known from prehistoric cave drawings until a completely preserved specimen (missing only the fur and hooves) was discovered in a tar pit in Starunia, Poland. The specimen, an adult female, is now on display in the Polish Academy of Science Museum of Natural History in Krakow.
Recent carbon dating has shown that populations survived as recently as 8,000 B.C. in Western Siberia. A close relative, the Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), still survives in South-East Asia, but is highly endangered.
Conservation status: Extinct (8,000 B.C. or later)
Issue #164 -
Cornish Rex
The Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat, with no hair except for down. Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or "guard hairs", which is about 5 cm long in shorthairs and 10 cm+ long in longhairs, a middle layer called the "awn hair", and finally the down hair or undercoat, which is very fine and about 1 cm long. Cornish Rexes have only the undercoat.
Cornish Rex
The coat of a Cornish Rex is extremely fine and soft to the touch. As the coat of the Cornish Rex is not highly allergenic, the breed is suitable for people with allergies or asthmatic conditions. However, their light coat means that they are only suitable for indoor living in moisture free and warm conditions. Consequently, these cats tend to hang around light bulbs, the tops of computer monitors, and other warm places. Cornish Rexes also have a cheesy smell peculiar to the breed.
The Cornish Rex is an adventurous cat. As the Rex is intelligent, it can readily adapt to new situations and engage in explorative behaviour. Humans often consider this behaviour to be deliberately mischevious, but this is a case of anthropomorphism. The Rex seeks out the company of people, and is friendly towards other companion animals. It is a suitable pet for timid children.
Origin
The Cornish Rex is a genetic mutation that originated from a litter of kittens born in the 1950s on a farm in Cornwall, UK (hence their name). One of the kittens, Kallibunker, a cream colored male, had an extremely unusual, fine, curly coat, and he became the first Cornish Rex.
There is another very similar breed — the Devon Rex. Devon and Cornish Rexes are produced by different genes, and crosses between the two are not allowed in pedigrees. Another hair-deficient breed is the Sphynx cat.
The word "Rex" implying short or otherwise unusual fur comes from a rabbit breed. King Albert of the Belgians (1875–1934) once entered some short-haired rabbits in a rabbit show. The rabbits didn't meet the breed standard. Not wanting to offend the king, the show officials accepted them, but wrote "rex," meaning "king" by their names.
Common Nicknames: Rex
Country of origin: England
Issue #165 -
European Hedgehog
The European Hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, is a hedgehog, a mammal in the order Insectivora. It is found throughout the Palaearctic region, except the Himalaya and North Africa. It is rarely found above 60°N in latitude.
European Hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus
This hedgehog is about 20 cm in length, and lives in woodland, farmland and suburban areas. It is nocturnal, and if alarmed will roll itself into a ball, protecting itself against potential predators with its spines.
Unlike the smaller, warmer climate species, the European Hedgehog may hibernate in the winter. It feeds on slugs, earthworms, beetles and other insects, and sometimes frogs, small rodents, young birds and birds' eggs.
This species has become a serious pest in the Western Isles of Scotland, where introduced hedgehogs eat the eggs of ground-nesting waders such as Snipe, Dunlin, Redshank and Lapwing.
Issue #166 -
Mallard
The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a common and widespread dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe and Asia. It also frequents Central America and the Caribbean. It is probably the best-known of all ducks.
A male Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, in flight.
This dabbling duck is 56-65 cm length, with a 81-98 cm wingspan, and weighs 750-1,000 g. It is is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks.
The breeding male is unmistakable, with a green head, black rear end and a blue speculum edged with white, obvious in flight or at rest. Males also possess a yellow bill with a black tip, whereas females have a dark brown bill.
The females are light brown, with plumage much like most female dabbling ducks. They can be distinguished from other ducks, by the distinctive speculum. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
It is a bird of most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. It nests usually on a river bank, but not always particularly near water.
This is a noisy species. The male has a nasal call, whereas the female has the very familiar "quack" always associated with ducks.
Mallards frequently interbreed with the American Black Duck, Northern Pintail and domesticated species, leading to various hybrids. A Mallard has been recorded as living for 29 years.
The Greenland Mallard is one of the rare examples of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule - polar subspecies/species tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates - has numerous examples in birds, but examples of Allen's Rule - appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar subspecies/species to minimize heat loss and large in tropical and desert equivalents to faciliate heat diffusion, and the polar taxa are stockier overall - are rare, as birds don't have ears (where Allen's Rule manifests most prominently). However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and vulnerable to cold. Thus, the Greenland Mallard, although considerably larger than the nominate subspecies, has a smaller bill and is stockier.
Breeding behaviour
Mallards form pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time she is left by the male. The clutch is 9-13 eggs, which are incubated for 27-28 days to hatching with 50-60 days to fledging. The ducklings are precocial, and can swim and feed themselves on insects as soon as they hatch, although they stay near the female for protection.
A Female Mallard landing.
Mallards are among the very few animals that practice forcible rape. When they pair off with mating partners, often one or several drakes will end up "left out". This group will sometimes target an isolated female duck - pestering and pecking at her until she weakens (a phenomenon referred to by researchers as attempted "rape flight"), at which point each male will take turns raping the female.
As of 2005, a Dutch researcher, Kees Moeliker, has won an Ig Nobel prize for his paper on ‘homosexual necrophilia in the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos’. "Rape is a normal reproductive strategy in Mallards," explains Mr Moeliker. He recounts in his paper that he heard the bang of a duck hitting a window outside his office in the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam: "I went downstairs immediately to see if the window was damaged, and saw a drake mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) lying motionless on its belly in the sand, two metres outside the facade. The unfortunate duck apparently had hit the building in full flight at a height of about three metres from the ground. Next to the obviously dead duck, another male Mallard (in full adult plumage without any visible traces of moult) was present. He forcibly picked into the back, the base of the bill and mostly into the back of the head of the dead Mallard for about two minutes, then mounted the corpse and started to copulate, with great force, almost continuously picking the side of the head."
Mallard hen and ducklings on a lake
Subspecies
A. p. platyrhynchos (Common Mallard)
A. p. conboschas (Greenland Mallard)
A. p. diazi (Mexican Duck)
Conservation status: Lower risk (lc)
Issue #167 -
Purple Frog
The Purple Frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, is a frog species from the Western Ghats, India. It was discovered in 2003 and forms its own family, marking the first discovery of a new frog family since 1926. The other common name for this species include the Pignose Frog.
Purple Frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis
The scientific name derives from the Sanskrit word nasika (nose) referring to the pointed snout, batrachus Greek for frog, and Sahyadri as the local name of the mountain range where it was found -- these hills in the state of Maharashtra are commonly known as the Western Ghats.
The frog spends most of the year underground, surfacing only for about two weeks, during the monsoon, for purposes of mating. The frog's reclusive lifestyle is what caused the species to escape earlier notice by biologists. The frog is dark purple in color, seven centimeters in length, and has a small head and a pointy snout.
The species was discovered by Franky Bossuyt from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels) and S.D. Biju from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Palode, India. However it was well known to the local people before.
The frog forms a living fossil as the only surviving species of the Nasikabatrachidae family. According to genetic analysis it is distantly related to the family Sooglossidae, which is found on the Seychelles islands. The two families split about 100 million years ago, which fits with the geologic history of India. At that time India, the Seychelles and Madagascar formed a single landmass which split due to the continental drift.
Issue #168 -
Luna Moth
The Luna Moth (Actias luna) is a large lime-green saturniid moth found in North America from east of the Great Plains in the United States to northern Mexico and from Ontario eastward through central Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada.
Luna Moth, Actias luna
The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of birch, alder, persimmon, sweet gum, hickory, walnut, and sumac trees. The adults do not eat or have mouths, they only mate and reproduce -- because of this they only live about a week.
Based on the climate in which they live, the Luna moths produce differing numbers of generations. In Canada and northern regions, they will produce only one generation per year. These reach adulthood from early June to early July. In the north eastern United States around New Jersey or New York, the moths produce two generations each year. The first of these appear in April and May, and the second group can be seen approximately nine to eleven weeks later. In the southern United States, there can be as many as three generations. These are spaced every eight to ten weeks beginning in March.
Adults emerge from their cocoons in the morning. Their wings are very small when they first emerge and they must enlarge them by pumping bodily fluids through them. During this time, their wings are very soft and fragile and they must climb somewhere safe to wait for their wings to harden before they can fly away. This process takes about 2 hours to complete. Female Luna moths lay 100-300 eggs, 4-6 eggs at a time, on the underside of leaves, and they incubate for eight to thirteen days, depending on climate. Larvae grow to approximately nine centimeters in length, and spend approximately one week each in the five stages of its development.
The Luna moth has a wingspan of between 8-11.5 cm with long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna moths are considered common.
Luna moths can be a valued learning opportunity for kids and families. Luna moth cocoons can be suspended from a cage. At times, the luna moth will move in its cocoon and make sounds like a fidgeting mouse. When the moth emerges it will hold nicely to its old cocoon and show off its beauty.
Issue #169 -
Frilled shark
The frilled shark or frill shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) is a primitive shark, the sole living member of the Chlamydoselachidae in the order Hexanchiformes. It is very different from the other hexanchiform sharks, and it has been recently proposed that the frilled shark should be given its own order: Chlamydoselachiformes. Additional extinct types are known from fossil teeth.
Frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus, from plate VI of Ocean Ichthyology by Goode and Bean.
Superficially the frilled shark resembles a dark brown or gray eel, but the six gill slits identify it as a shark. The tissue of the gill slits protudes somewhat, thus inspiring the common name. Its dorsal fin is small, anal fin large, and the caudal fin is highly asymmetric, the ventral part almost unnoticeable. Its teeth are small, tricuspid, and very sharp. It has been recorded at up to 2 meters in length.
Distribution is worldwide, but they seem to be uncommon across this range. The sharks are usually found at depths of 120 m to 1,300 m. They typically eat other sharks, squid, and bony fish.
A frilled shark captured near Cape São Vicente, Portugal.
Reproduction is not well understood, but like many other sharks they bear live young, with litter sizes of 2–12. It has been suggested that the gestation period is about 3.5 years, which would give the frilled shark the longest gestation of any vertebrate, considerably exceeding the elephant's period of 22 months.
Frilled sharks appear regularly in the catches from bottom trawling, and when caught are used as food or for fishmeal.
Issue #170 -
Arizona bark scorpion
The Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda, previously known as Centruroides sculpturatus), is a small (7 cm) light brown scorpion common to the southwest United States. It is venomous, and its sting can be lethal, particularly for small children. An antivenom was developed for this species, and produced in quantities sufficient to treat individuals within the state of Arizona. Production of this antivenom has since ceased, and a Mexican antivenin is being tested in its place.
Arizona bark scorpion, Centruroides exilicauda
The bark scorpion is unusual in that it is the only species in the southwest that regularly climbs walls, trees, and other objects with a sufficiently rough surface. It is not capable of climbing glass or smooth plastic, so it may be safely contained in glass vessels without lids. It is one of two species within the United States that is dangerous; the other, far less dangerous, species is Centruroides vittatus.
Arizona bark scorpions are not true desert species; they prefer riparian areas, with sufficient moisture and humidity to support insects and other prey species. However, the popularity of irrigated lawns in residential areas has led to an explosion in the number of these animals in some areas. Relatively high humidity seems important in the life cycle of the species in that the female will not give live birth if it is too dry.
Care and feeding is similar to that of other scorpions. The Arizona bark scorpion does prefer to hide, and will cling to all but the smoothest of surfaces. It is more active at night, and a diet of crickets and other insects suits them well. Due to the venomous nature of the species, handling is contraindicated. They are not aggressive, and prefer to run or hide when confronted. The sting is very painful, and may cause pain and loss of use of an affected limb. In extreme cases, allergic reactions may cause death. Injury to young children or the elderly may require medical intervention.
Individual scorpions may live to 5-6 years, and possibly more.
Issue #171 -
Baluchitherium
Baluchitherium (Indricotherium transouralicum) was a gigantic hornless rhinoceros. It lived in Asia during the late Oligocene and early Miocene epoch of the Tertiary Period, 20-30 million years ago and went extinct 10 million years ago.
Baluchitherium, Indricotherium transouralicum
It is widely known by its synonym Baluchitherium grangeri (Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1923) but the rules of scientific classification are that first publication takes priority, and the name Indricotherium is older.
There is some disagreement over whether this is the same animal as Paraceratherium, named by Forster Cooper in 1911. If it is then Indricotherium becomes a junior sysnonym for Paraceratherium. Lucas and Sorbus 1989 argue for synonymy, and consider that the differences between the two are of species level at most, and may even be the result of sexual dimorphism in a single species, with the larger more robust Indricotherium with larger incisors being probably the male, and the more gracile Paraceratherium the female. Others however have expressed doubts on this (concerning the interpretation of the shape of the skull). Even if these two do turn out to be distinct genera, they would still be very similar in size and appearance.
Indricotherium/Baluchitherium is believed to have been the largest land mammal ever to have lived. It stood 5.5 m (18 ft) high at the shoulders and was 9 m (30 ft) long. Its skull was about 2 m/6.6 ft in length, its limbs were long and massive, and it weighed about 20 tons. It was a herbivore that stripped leaves from trees with its down-pointing tusklike upper teeth that occluded forward-pointing lower teeth.
"Baluchitherium" means "beast from Baluchistan" in Central Asia, where fossils attributed to Paraceratherium have been discovered.
Indricotherium is named after a fabulous Russian beast called the "indrik," considered the most powerful creature and the father of the animals.
These giant animals seem to have been limited to central Asia, for their fossils have not been found elsewhere.
Conservation status: Fossil
Issue #172 -
Black and Tan Coonhound
The Black and Tan Coonhound is a breed of dog bred to hunt raccoon. They are also widely used for hunting bear and cougar.
Black and Tan Coonhound
Appearance
The breed standard for Black & Tan Coonhounds is as follows:
* Eyes are hazel to brown
* Ears extend past the tip of the nose
* Their black and tan markings are similar to the Doberman Pinscher and the Rottweiler but have key distinguishing differences from these breeds. The most prominent are the long tails and ears, and their loud, baying bark.
* 23 to 27 inches (58 to 68 cm) at the shoulder
* 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) head (back of skull to tip of nose)
* 65 to 100 (29 to 45 kg) pounds
* Males are typically larger and heavier boned than females.
History
In 1945, the Black & Tan became the only one of the six varieties of Coonhound to be recognized in the Hound Group by the American Kennel Club. The Redbone Coonhound and the Plott Hound have since been recognized in the Miscellaneous Class. The other three varieties of Coonhound are the Bluetick Coonhound, the English Coonhound, and the Treeing Walker Coonhound.
Country of origin: United States
Issue #173 -
Capybara
The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest of living rodents (the long extinct rodent Phoberomys pattersoni was significantly bigger.) They are native to most of the tropical and temperate parts of South America east of the Andes, always near water. It is the only living member of its family, Hydrochoeridae. It is called carpincho in Spanish and capivara in Portuguese, although the name originally derives from the Guarani "Kapiÿva".
Capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
Description and habits
Full-grown capybaras reach between 105 and 135 cm in length, and weigh 35 to 65 kg. Capybaras are excellent swimmers, and have partially webbed feet. They mate in the water, use the water to hide from predators, and can stay submerged for several minutes. Capybaras can even sleep underwater, with only the nose exposed.
A Capybara, at the Miranda River, near Passo da Lontra, Brazil.
Capybaras are herd animals. The males of the species have a gland on their nose, which exudes a sort of liquid. In the mating season, they will rub this on the surrounding foliage to attract females. They spend most of their time on the banks of rivers, feeding in the mornings and evenings. The diet consists of vegetation such as river plants and bark.
Economical and ecological aspects
In the regions along the Paraná river in Southern Brazil, Northern Argentina, and Uruguay, capybaras are frequently captured and kept as pets, or occasionally hunted for food. The flesh is described as tasting like swine and has a whitish appearance similar to pork. These efforts are similar to encouragement of iguana ranching in the rainforests of Central America and Brazil to offset the impact of cattle ranching.
Venezuelan farmers who once considered the animal a pest now make a valuable addition to their incomes by selling capybara meat (approximately 400 metric tons annually). The rodents are rounded up in February so that they can be slaughtered and sold just before the onset of Lent, when the meat is in high demand. This popular custom is attributed to a curious theological decision by the Catholic Church that classifies Capybara as fish.
When European missionaries first met capybaras in South America during the 16th century, they wrote to Rome for guidance, saying "there is an animal here that is scaly but also hairy, and spends time in the water but occasionally comes on land; can we classify it as a fish?" The question was significant, as the Catholic faith at that time prohibited the eating of meat (other than fish) during Lent, the period of abstinence lasting 40 days before Easter. Having a second-hand description of the animal, and not wanting the petitioners to turn away from Catholicism, the Church agreed and declared the capybara a fish — a decision that was never reversed and which has since, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, become irrelevant.
A capybara has recently been spotted living in the wild on a ranch in Medina, Texas. This is the first report capybaras living in the wild in Texas.
Conservation status: Lower risk
Issue #174 -
Kookaburra
Kookaburras are very large terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea.
Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call which is uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — good-natured if rather hysterical merriment in the case of the well-known Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), maniacial, almost insane cackling in the case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii).
Kookaburras occupy woodland territories in loose family groups, and their laughter serves the same purpose as a great many other bird calls: to demarcate territorial borders. It can be heard at any time of day but most frequently shortly after dawn, and especially when the colour drains from the forest after sunset.
One bird starts with a low, hiccupping chuckle, then throws its head back in raucous laughter: often several others join in. If a rival tribe is within earshot and replies, the whole family soon gathers to fill the bush with ringing laughter. Hearing kookaburras in full voice is one of the more extraordinary experiences of the Australian bush; something even locals cannot ignore, and that visitors, unless forewarned, can be quite terrified by.
Kookaburras hunt much as other kingfishers (or indeed robins) do: by perching on a convenient branch or wire and waiting patiently for prey to pass by: mice and similar-sized small mammals, large insects, lizards, small birds and nestlings, and most famously, snakes. Small prey are preferred, but kookaburras not infrequently take surprisingly large creatures, including venomous snakes a good deal longer than the bird itself.
The Laughing Kookaburra is a handsome, stocky bird of about 45 cm in length, with a large head, a prominent brown eye, and a very large bill. It is found throughout eastern Australia, and has been introduced into the south-west corner of Western Australia, Tasmania, Flinders Island, Kangaroo Island, and New Zealand.
Laughing Kookaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae
The Blue-winged Kookaburra is a little smaller at around 40 cm long, has a light-coloured eye, no dark eye-mask, and many more blue wing feathers. It is restricted to southern New Guinea and the moister parts of northern Australia, from southern Queensland across the Top End, and as far down the Western Australian coast as the Shark Bay area.
Unusually for close relatives, the Laughing and Blue-winged species are direct competitors in the area where their ranges overlap. This suggests that the two species, though having common stock, evolved in isolation (possibly during a period when Australia and New Guinea were more distant — see Australia-New Guinea) and were only brought back into contact in relatively recent geological times.
Blue-winged Kookaburra, Dacelo leachii
The Rufous-bellied Kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud) is unusual in that it occupies dense rainforests (as opposed to the open country preferred by other kookaburras) and does not live in family groups but in pairs. A white-billed bird with a black cap, blue-tinged wings, and a pale rufous belly and tail feathers, it is widely distributed through the lowland forests of lowland New Guinea.
The little-known but spectacular Spangled Kookaburra (Dacelo tyro) is found only on the Aru Islands and the savannahs of southern New Guinea. It has bright blue wings and tail, a white chest and belly, dark eyes, and a striking white-spotted black head. Practically nothing is known of its family life or breeding biology.
Species
Dacelo gaudichaud
Dacelo leachii
Dacelo novaeguineae
Dacelo tyro
Conservation status: Secure
Issue #175 -
Burmese python
The Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) is a very large python native to southern Asia, and common in the US pet trade.
It is semi-arboreal, but heavy-bodied. The record length is less than 7 m (23 feet) and the average is 4 m (13 ft). Females are the larger sex.
Two albino Burmese pythons, Python molurus bivittatus
They are light colored snakes with many dark brown blotches covering them in an attractive pattern, which has further increased their popularity with both reptile keepers and the leather industry. The pattern is similar in color, but different in actual pattern to the African rock python, sometimes resulting in confusion of the two species outside of their habitats.
Their natural prey are birds and mammals. They are often found near villages due to the presence of rats and other vermin as a food source. However, their equal affinity for domesticated birds and mammals means that they are not always welcome.
The Burmese python is capable of raising it's body temperature while incubating it's eggs, by twitching it's muscles it increases the temperature to slightly above that of the ambient air.
Infant Burmese pythons are often sold as pets in the United States, and are made popular by their color and easy-going, docile nature. However, these animals have a rapid growth rate, and will exceed 7 feet in length by their first birthday if cared for and fed properly. By age 4, they will have reached their adult size, though they continue growing very slowly throughout their lives, which may exceed 20 years. While this species has a well-deserved reputation for docility, it is a very powerful species, capable of inflicting severe bites or killing a keeper by constriction should a mistake happen (such as attempting to handle the snake after handling rabbits or rodents). In more mundane concerns, they consume large amounts of food, due to their size, and require large, often custom-built, enclosures, which can be very expensive. These snakes, like others, will attempt to hunt, and as pets this means that they will attempt to get out of their cages. Cage cleaning can be difficult, as the feces of the snake are large, and fully adult pythons can produce droppings that require a shovel to pick up. While this species is gentle, tractable, and attractive, its sheer size and power make it an unsuitable choice for beginning snake keepers, who are all too often lured into buying one by unscrupulous pet shop owners.
Variations
There is an albino form of the Burmese python. These have been selectively bred to produce a pure albino strain known as the golden python.
Issue #176 -
Japanese beetle
The Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) is a beetle about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide (smaller in Canada), with shiny copper-colored elytra and a shiny green top of the thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan, where it is controlled by natural enemies, but in America it is a serious pest to rose bushes and other plants. It is a weak flyer and drops several centimeters when it hits a wall. Japanese Beetle traps therefore consist of a pair of crossed walls with a bag underneath, and are baited with floral scent, pheromone, or both.
Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica
History
As the name suggests, the Japanese Beetle is native to Japan. The insect was first found in the United States in 1916 in a nursery near Riverton, New Jersey. It is thought that beetle larvae entered the United States in a shipment of iris bulbs prior to 1912 when inspections of commodities entering the country began.
Life cycle and control
The life cycle of the beetle is typically 1 year in most parts of the United States, but this can be extended in cooler climates; for instance, in its native Japan, the beetle's life cycle is 2 years long as a result of the higher latitudes of the grasslands required for the larval stage.
During the larval stage, the Japanese beetle lives in lawns and other grasslands, where it eats the roots of grass. During that stage, it is susceptible to a fatal disease called milky spore disease, caused by a bacterium called milky spore, Bacillus popilliae. The USDA developed this biological control and it is commercially available in powder form for application to lawn areas. Standard applications (low density across a broad area) take from 1 to 5 years to establish maximal protection against larval survival (depending on climate), expanding through the soil through repeated rounds of infection, in-host multiplication, release from killed host, and infection. Typically proper application can lead to a 15-20 year period of protection.
Soil-bound larvae are also susceptible to certain members of the nematode families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae. As with milky spore, commercial preparations of these nematode varieties are available.
The primary natural predator found in Japan is the winsome fly (Istocheta (or Hyperecteina) aldrichi), a parasitic fly. Attempts at establishing this predator in the United States have met with limited success, primarily in New England. Alternative predators have shown some potential at serving as biological controls, such as the Spring tiphia (Tiphia vernalis) and Fall tiphia (Tiphia popilliavora) from China and Korea. Also, certain birds (such as the meadowlark and cardinal) and small mammals are signifcant predators on the adult form.
Conservation status: Secure
Issue #177 -
Tiger Barb
The Tiger Barb or Sumatra Barb (Barbus tetrazona) is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the barb group of the minnow family. Originating from the Malay peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, this fish is very common in the fish keeping hobby. There are a few varieties of tiger barbs. The main variety is silver to brownish yellow with four vertical black stripes and orange fins and snout. Also common in the fish hobby are highly melanistic Green Tiger Barbs that reflect green over their black because of the Tindall effect and Albino Tiger Barbs. The Tiger Barb will grow to a maximum length of 3 inches (7 centimeters).
Tiger Barb, Barbus tetrazona
The Tiger Barb is an active schooling fish that is usually kept in groups of five or more, but they do fine in pairs. Semi-aggressive fish, they form a pecking order in the pack which they may extend to other fish, giving them a reputation for nipping at the fins of other fish, especially if they are wounded or injured. When in large enough groups, however, they tend to spend most of their time chasing each other and leave other species of fish alone. They dwell primarily at the water's mid-level. They have a lifespan of 6 years. Tiger Barbs natively live in a tropical climate and prefer water with a 6.0–8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5–19 dGH, and a temperature range of 68–79 °F (20–26 °C).
The females are larger and have a rounder belly. The egg-layers tend to spawn around 200 eggs in the early morning in clumps of plants. Once spawning is finished, they will usually eat any of the eggs that they find. It is usually necessary to separate the fish from the eggs after spawning in order to prevent the eggs from being eaten.
Conservation status: Secure
Issue #178 -
Dwarf wedge mussel
The Dwarf wedge mussel (Alasmidonta heterodon) is an endangered species of freshwater mussel. It is a rare species confined to rivers and waterways along the Atlantic coast of North America, from North Carolina to New Brunswick. It is the only freshwater mussel from North America that has two lateral teeth on the right valve and only one on the left side.
Dwarf wedge mussel, Alasmidonta heterodon
The Dwarf wedge mussel is s small mussel, whose shell size rarely exceeds 45 mm in length and 25 mm high. The trapezoidal-shaped shells are colored brown or yellowish-olive, with reddish brown or greenish rays in young or pale specimens. The nacre is bluish or silvery white, and is iridescent on the posterior.
Details of reproduction are slim, but it is believed to be not unlike that of other mussels. It spawns in late summer.
It lives in muddy sand, cobble, firm silt and gravel bottoms of creeks and rivers in areas of slow to moderate current and little silt deposit. At times, it has also been found to utilize the root systems of trees at the water's edge. It is believed to be primarily sessile, with limited movement in the substrate.
There are only 20 known remaining populations, and these continue to be endangered to to agricultural and industrial runoff. Road and dam construction, as well as channelization and removal of shoreline vegetation, are also threats. It is currently on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is also classified as endangered in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont. The only recorded Canadian location for the Dwarf wedge mussel is the Petitcodiac River of New Brunswick. A specimen was last collected there in 1960, at which time the species was classified as being common. It became extirpated in 1968, following construction of a causeway.
Conservation status: Endangered
Issue #179 -
Mosasaur
A mosasaur was not a dinosaur, but rather an ocean-dwelling serpentine marine reptile more closely related to snakes than to monitor lizards (Lee 1997). These predators evolved from terrestrial ancestors in the early Cretaceous and dominated the oceanic food chain during the late Cretaceous Period.
Genera included Mosasaurus, Tylosaurus, and Platecarpus.
An etching of a Mosasaur
Description
Mosasaurs breathed air, but were powerful swimmers, so well adapted to living in shallow seas that they gave birth to live young, rather than return to the shoreline to lay eggs, as sea turtles do. Mosasaurs likely descended from varanid lizards.
The smallest known mosasaur is Carinodens belgicus, which was about 3 to 3.5 m long and probably lived on the sea floor cracking mollusks and sea urchins with its bulbous teeth. Larger mosasaurs were more typical: mosasaurs ranged in size up to 17 m: Hainosaurus holds the record for longest mosasaur, at 17.5 m.
A mosasaur had a body form similar to that of a crocodile, although streamlined for fast swimming in marine waters. Their front leg bones were reduced in length, their paddles strengthened by long finger-bones. Their rear legs were atrophied. Their powerful tails, lashed side to side crocodile-fashion, provided locomotion.
Mosasaurs had a loosely-hinged jaw which enabled them to gulp down their prey almost whole, a snakelike habit that has helped identify the stomach contents fossilized within a Mosasaur skeleton, which included the diving seabird Hesperornis, a marine bony fish, a shark, and part of a smaller mosasaur. Mosasaur bones have been found with embedded shark teeth.
Based on features such as the loosely-hinged jaw, modified/reduced limbs and probable locomation, many researchers believe that snakes may be descended from mosasaurs, a suggestion advanced in 1869, by Edward Drinker Cope, who coined the term "Pythonomorpha" to include them. The idea lay dormant for more than a century, to be revived in the 1990s.
Environment
Sea-levels were high during the Cretaceous, causing marine ingressions in many parts of the world, and a great inland seaway in North America. Mosasaur fossils have been found in the Netherlands and Sweden, in Africa, in Australia, New Zealand, and Vega Island off the coast of Antarctica. In Canada and the United States, complete or partial specimens have been found in Alabama and Georgia and in almost all the states covered by the seaway: Texas, southwest Arkansas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, the Dakotas and Montana.
The "dinosaurs" of New Zealand, a volcanic island arc that has never been part of a continent, are a unique series of mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, another group of predatory marine reptiles of the Mesozoic era.
Discovery
The first publicized discovery of a fossil mosasaur preceded any dinosaur fossil discoveries, and drew The Enlightenment's attention to the existence of fossilized animals; the specimen was discovered in 1780 by quarry-workers in a subterranean gallery who quickly alerted Doctor C. K. Hoffman, a surgeon of Maastricht and fossil-hunter though rights of ownership lay with a canon of Maastricht, as owner of the overlying land.
Discovery of the first Mosasaur (Mosasaurus hoffmani), at a Maastricht limestone quarry, 1780. An engraving by G. R. Levillaire.
Dr. Hoffman's correspondence among men of science made the find famous. When the Revolutionary forces occupied Maastricht, the carefully-hidden fossil was uncovered, betrayed, it is said, by a case of wine, and transported to Paris, where Georges Cuvier was able to describe it for science, though le grand animal fossile de Maastricht was not described as a Mosasaur ("Meuse reptile") until 1822, and not given its official name, Mosasaurus hoffmani, until 1829. A Mosasaur skull that had actually been discovered at Maastricht earlier, has recently been reidentified in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem.
The Maastricht limestone beds were rendered so famous they have given their name to the ultimate 6-million-year epoch of the Cretaceous: the Maastrichtian.
Conservation status: Fossil
Issue #180 -
Scottish Fold
The Scottish Fold is a breed of cat with a natural mutation to its ears. The ear cartilage contains a fold so the ears bend forward and down towards the front of their head.
The Scottish Fold
The original Scottish Fold was a long-haired white-haired barn cat named Susie, who was found at a farm near Coupar Angus in Perthshire, Scotland in 1961. Susie's ears had an unusual fold in their middle, making her resemble an owl. When Susie had kittens, two of them were born with folded ears, and one of the siblings was acquired by William Ross, a neighbouring farmer and cat-fancier. Ross registered the breed with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in Great Britain and started to breed Scottish Fold kittens with the help of geneticist Pat Turner. The breeding program produced 76 kittens in the first three years - 42 with folded ears and 34 with straight ears. The conclusion from this was that the ear mutation is due to a simple dominant gene. If one parent provides the gene for straight ears, and one parent provides the gene for folded ears, the kittens will be Folds.
The breed was not accepted for showing in Great Britain and Europe as it was felt that they would be extremely prone to ear problems such as infection, mites and deafness, but the folds were exported to America and the breed continued to be established there using crosses with British Shorthair and the American Shorthair.
Scottish Folds can be either long or short-haired, and they may have any coat colour combination except for Siamese-style points. Pointed Folds have been bred but they are not eligible for showing. The original cats only had one fold in their ears, but due to selective breeding they have increased the fold to a double or triple crease that lies the ear totally flat against the head.
There is one medical problem that has been found to be related to Scottish-Fold breeding. If both parents have folded ears, their kittens will be extremely prone to developing a painful degenerative joint disease that fuses the tail, ankles and knees. The disease is not fatal, but as it is easily avoidable, reputable breeders will only breed fold to non-fold.
Issue #181 -
Onager
The Onager (Equus hemionus) is a large mammal belonging to the horse family and native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, India, and Tibet. It is sometimes known as the Half Ass or the Asian Wild Ass.
Onager, Equus hemionus
Like many other large grazing animals, its range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting and habitat loss, and of the six subspecies, one is extinct and two endangered. The Kiang (Equus kiang), a Tibetan relative, is generally regarded as a separate species, although classified by some as a subspecies of Onager, E. hemionus kiang.
Onagers are a little larger than Donkeys at about 290 kg and 2.1 metres (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back. Onagers were used in ancient Sumer to pull chariots, circa 2600 BCE.
Subspecies
* Mongolian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus hemionus). Status: vulnerable.
* Indian Wild Ass or Khur (Equus hemionus khur). Status: endangered.
* Gobi Kulan (Equus hemionus luteus). Status: vulnerable.
* Kulan (Equus hemionus kulan). Status: critically endangered.
* Onager or Persian Onager (Equus hemionus onager). Status: critically endangered.
* Syrian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus hemippus). Status: extinct since 1927.
Issue #182
