Tag Archives: Animal

Elephant Shrew

By | |
1 Comment
Elephant Shrew

What do you get when you cross an elephant with a shrew? An elephant shrew!

  • Elephant shrews are mammals of small size, that can be found in Africa’s southern areas in a variety of habitats.
  • An ‘elephant shrew’ is sometimes called a ‘jumping shrew’, and it is also known by the native name ‘sengi’.
  • Elephant shrews are a family with the scientific name Macroscelididae, that is split into four genera and includes 19 species.
  • Elephant shrews have an unusually long nose, said to be like an elephant’s trunk, and they have a body similar to a shrew, although they are not closely related to either mammals.
  • Elephant shrews range from 10 to 30 centimetres (4-12 inches) in length and weigh between 50 to 680 grams (2 to 24 ounces), depending on the species.
Elephant Shrew, Mammal, Black, Brown, Small, Ten Random Facts, Africa
An Elephant Shrew
Image courtesy of Kim/Flickr
  • Elephant shrews dig burrows or live in other naturally formed holes, typically by themselves or in pairs.
  • The diet of elephant shrews typically consists of spiders, insects, earthworms and centipedes, and they catch their food via a lengthy tongue.
  • Elephant shrews typically live for two to five years and are preyed on by lizards, large birds and snakes.
  • The fur of elephant shrews typically ranges from black, grey, brown, tan or white in colour, and the colours vary in different species.
  • Female elephant shrews, on average, give birth to two young at a time, and can breed multiple times a year.
Bibliography:
Elephant Shrew, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/elephant-shrew/
Elephant Shrew, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_shrew
Elephant Shrew, n.d, African Wildlife Foundation, http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/elephant-shrew


Amazon:     

Pika

By | |
Leave a comment
Pika

Meet another cute animal, the pika!

  • Pikas are mammals of small size, that originate from North America, Asia and eastern areas of Europe, and inhabit mostly mountainous regions where the temperatures are cooler.
  • ‘Pikas’ are also known as ‘whistling hares’ and ‘picas’, although the latter term is used to refer to a number of other species of animals.
  • Pikas are a family that have the scientific name Ochotonidae, of which there is one genus, Ochotona, and the family is from the order Lagomorpha, the order to which rabbits and hares belong.
  • The length of pikas range from 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 inches) and they typically range from 75 to 350 grams (2.6 to 12.3 ounces) in weight.
  • The diet of pikas consists of vegetation including grass, shrubs, bushes, leaves, seeds, berries and moss.
Pika, Animal, Mammal, Rocks, Brown, Camouflage, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, American
A Pika
Image courtesy of Glacier NPS/Flickr
  • Pikas generally live by themselves in burrows or crevices found among rocks and soil, and they come out during the day, or dawn and dusk, to gather food.
  • Pikas typically gather vegetation during warmer months and place it in a pile, known as a ‘haypile’, that they often store in their burrow, and they use the dried vegetation as food during the cooler months.
  • A pika has a fur coat that is typically a combination of brown, tan, grey, white and black colours, and the mammal has no tail.
  • A whistling sound can be made by pikas, used when entering a burrow and for communication purposes; and they are preyed on by weasels, dogs, eagles, and foxes.
  • Female pikas give birth to one to five young, a maximum of twice a year, and they have an average lifespan of 3 to 6 years.
Bibliography:
Pika, 2013 A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/pika/
Pika, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

Amazon:     

Glass Lizard

By | |
Leave a comment
Glass Lizard

Glass lizards are not too fragile, although they may fragment!

  • Glass lizards are a group of approximately 15 species of animal, that have the appearance of snake-like reptilians, but are lizards.
  • ‘Glass lizards’ are also known as ‘glass snakes’ and ‘jointed snakes’.
  • Glass lizards have the scientific name Ophisaurus and are from the family Anguidae, a family of numerous Northern Hemisphere lizards.
  • Glass lizards grow to be 0.6 to 1.2 metres (2 to 4 feet) in length, which includes the long tail, and they have a weight of 300 to 600 grams (11 to 21 ounces).
  • The diet of glass lizards mainly consist of small rodents and reptiles, insects, and spiders.
Glass Lizard, Animal, Reptile, Ten Random Facts, Field, Wild, Ground, Splendid
A Glass Lizard
Image courtesy of vladeb/Flickr
  • Glass lizards have a head that is similar to the anatomy of lizards and they generally have no legs, although small stumps can sometimes be seen in place, in some species.
  • Glass lizards can be found primarily in some Asian countries like India, Indonesia and China, as well as North Africa and the United State’s southeast.
  • Glass lizards can fracture their tails into small, moving pieces, hence their name, and the tail can be regenerated after some time, although it will generally be shorter than the first.
  • Glass lizards come in a variety of colours including green, black, grey, brown, yellow and tan, depending on the species.
  • Glass lizards are typically preyed on by large mammals, birds and snakes, and they have a lifespan of ten to thirty years.
Bibliogrphy:
Glass Lizard, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/glass-lizard/
Glass Lizard, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_lizard

Amazon:     

Barnacle

By | |
Leave a comment
Barnacle

Whatever you do, do not have a barney over barnacles!

  • Barnacles are a group of over 1000 species of marine animal that have an exoskeleton and segmented body, and are typically found near or in saltwater of shallower depths.
  • Barnacles are an infraclass that have the scientific name, Cirripedia, and are from the class Maxillopoda, a class of various crustaceans such as copepods.
  • Barnacles live on a single sturdy object for its entire life of approximately 8 to 20 years, absorbing food such as plankton and algae from the surrounding water.
  • Mussels and limpets are common neighbours of barnacles; and the three animals often battle for space on available surfaces.
  • Barnacles are preyed on by many animals including fish and crabs during the larval phase as they have little protection, however, once they have settled and produced their outer shell, they are generally protected from most predators, but they are susceptible to whelks.

Barnacles, Animals, Ten Random Facts, Marine, Cement, Shell, Rock, Jetty, Stuck, Bradley Beach, Flickr

Barnacles
Image courtesy of Mo Riza/Flickr
  • Barnacles live in a shell made of 6 plates, that are grown once the young permanently attaches onto a surface, and they are commonly found in groups as another form of protection against predators.
  • Larvae of barnacles generally swim in the water for 6 months or more, until the animals find a permanent surface that they attach to via the head, using antennae and a glycoprotein based mixture.
  • Some countries eat ‘goose’ barnacles from the order Pedunculata, in their culinary dishes, including Spain and Portugal of Europe.
  • Barnacles are typically white, cream, black or yellow in colour, while shells are often a bleached white.
  • Barnacles attach themselves to objects such as rocks, but also animals including turtles, whales and crabs, or buildings and boats, which can be both hard to remove and damaging to the object, and can cause significant speed loss in boats.
Bibliography:
Barnacle, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/barnacle/
Barnacle, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle

Amazon:     

Kudu

By | |
Leave a comment
Kudu

Keep quiet while approaching a kudu.

  • Kudus are two species of mammals similar to an antelope, and they are native to the savannahs of south and east Africa.
  • Kudus have the scientific name Tragelaphus strepsiceros and Tragelaphus imberbis, known as the ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ respectively, and are from the family Bovidae, the family of cloven-hoofed mammals.
  • ‘Kudu’ is derived from the word ‘koedoe’, a term from the South African language, Afrikaans, that originates from a native Xhosa word.
  • Female kudus can be found in herds of 24 or less, that usually include their young, and males generally live by themselves, although may collect in very small, same gender herds, and males may fight other males but are generally not territorial.
  • A kudu has a brown-grey coloured coat that has a number of thin, light coloured stripes on it, and the ‘lesser’ species can run at speeds of 95 km/hour (60 miles/hour).
Kudu, Animal, Mammal, Cloven Hoofed, Antelope, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, Savannah, Single, BrownA Kudu
Image courtesy of ale_speciale/Flickr
  • The diet of kudus generally consists of vegetation such as leaves or newly sprouted twigs, as well as fruit.
  • Kudus are preyed on by large cats, hyenas, snakes and wild dogs, and they often flee at the first sign of danger and hide among thick vegetation.
  • Humans are causing kudu numbers to dwindle due to hunting for the hide, low-fat meat and horns, as well as destruction of habitats; and the ‘lesser’ species are listed as near threatened.
  • Male kudus have long spiral horns that can be turned into musical instruments, that are often used during ceremonial occasions.
  • Kudus grow to be around 0.8 to 1.2 metres (31 to 47 inches) in height and typically weigh 120 to 256 kilograms (265 to 565 pounds).
Bibliography:
Kudu, 2014, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/kudu/
Kudu, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudu

Amazon:     

Olm

By | |
Leave a comment
Olm

Olms are not aliens from another dimension, but they certainly look strange!

  • Olms are amphibious animals that live in underwater cave habitats in Europe’s central and south-eastern areas.
  • An ‘olm’ is also known as a ‘proteus’, ‘cave salamander’ and a ‘human fish’, due to the animal’s colour being similar to European human skin colour.
  • The olm has the scientific name Proteus anguinus and comes from the family Proteidae, a family of aquatic salamanders, and the animal is the only living member of the Proteus genus.
  • Olms range in lengths from 2.5 to 40 centimetres (1 to 16 inches) and weigh between 2 and 150 grams (0.1 to 5.3 ounces).
  • The colour of an olm can be white, pink or pale yellow, due to the lack of colour-inducing chemicals in the animal’s skin, and while it looks somewhat similar, it is only distantly related to the axolotl.
Olm, Purple, Animal, Aquatic, Salamander, Amphibian, Ten Random Facts, Water, Rare, FlickrOlm
Image courtesy of SanShoot/Flickr
  • Olms have short frilly gills; a long eel-like body, that moves in similar ways; as well as four small legs, while the back legs have two digits and the front have three.
  • Most olms lack visible eyes, as they are covered with skin, and they sense their surroundings using receptors, as well as relying on hearing and smell.
  • Full maturity does not occur until olms are 10 years old or more, and females lay between 5 and 70 eggs at a time, deposited among rocks, after which the eggs hatch into roughly 2 centimetre (0.8 inch) long tadpoles.
  • While olms are protected in some countries and have few predators, they are classified as vulnerably endangered and are threatened by man-made chemicals seeping into the water.
  • Olms have a diet that mainly consists of worms, snails and insects, although they are said to be able to live without food for ten years, and they have a lifespan of up to 50 years or more.
Bibliography:
Olm, 2014, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/olm/
Olm, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olm

Amazon:     

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...