Tag Archives: Mammal

Dormouse

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Dormouse

The dormouse is very cute.

  • Dormice are small, furry mammals that are native to Europe and parts of Asia and Africa.
  • The dormouse has the scientific and family name Gliridae, that has also been known as Myoxidae and Muscadinidae, and includes 29 species.
  • Dormice can grow to be 6 to 19 centimetres (2.4 to 7.5 inches) in length, in addition to their long tail, and they can be 15 to 180 grams (0.5 to 6.35 ounces) in weight.
  • Dormice are rodents that are a similar shape to a mouse, although they have a furry tail.
  • Dormice have diets that mainly consist of vegetation, including fruit, nuts and flowers, along with insects, and they have many predators that include birds and mammals like cats, foxes and weasels.
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Dormouse
Image courtesy of Moscardino/Flickr
  • Dormice have a life span of up to five years, and females have litters one or two times a year, and on average have four mice per litter.
  • Doormice are mostly nocturnal, live in small groups mostly among trees and are good climbers.
  • The word ‘dormouse’ possibly comes from the term ‘dormeus’ or ‘dormir’, an Anglo-French word meaning ‘sleepy’, and the animal does have notably extended hibernation periods that can last longer than six months.
  • Dormice have been eaten historically by the Ancient Romans, as well as today by some cultures.
  • The fur of a dormouse can range from brown, tan, gold, white, grey or black in colour, and their whiskers are black.
Bibliography:
Dormouse, 2014, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/dormouse/
Dormouse, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormouse

 

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Red Panda

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Red Panda

These facts shed some light on the mysterious red panda.

  • Red pandas are mammals that generally live alone in trees of forest habitats in Asia, particularly south-west China and eastern Himalayas.
  • ‘Red pandas’ are also known as ‘red cat-bears’ and ‘lesser pandas’, and they are a red-brown colour, with dark legs, ringed tails and white faces.
  • There are two subspecies of red panda, and the animal’s scientific name is Ailurus fulgens, from the family Ailuridae, and it is the only living member of the family.
  • The diet of red pandas mainly consists of bamboo, as well as other vegetation, eggs, insects, small birds and small mammals.
  •  Red pandas grow to be 50 to 65 centimetres (20 to 26 inches) in length and range from 3 to 9 kilograms (6.6 to 20 pounds) in weight.
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Red Panda
Image courtesy of Davejoe/Flickr
  • Red pandas generally sleep during the day, and are active during dawn and dusk periods as well as during the night.
  • Female red pandas make nests for their young in tree hollows or crevices using vegetation, and later give birth to one to four cubs.
  • Red pandas can live up to 15 years of age, although they generally live 8 to 10 years, and they are preyed upon by snow leopards and martens.
  • Red pandas are threatened by loss of habitat by deforestation and poaching for their fur coat, while some are kept as pets.
  • Two red pandas escaped from two different zoos, one in England, in Europe in 2005, and another in the United States of America’s Washington DC in 2013, although they were both recaptured.
Bibliography:
Red panda, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/red-panda/
Red panda, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_panda

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Snowshoe Hare

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Snowshoe Hare

Snowshoe hares do have ‘snow shoes’.

  • Snowshoe hares are mostly nocturnal mammals native to forestry areas of northern parts of North America.
  • ‘Snowshoe hares’ are also known as ‘snowshoe rabbits’ and ‘varying hares’ and have smaller ears than most other hares.
  • The snowshoe hare’s scientific name is Lepus americanus and it comes from the family Leporidae, the family of rabbits and hares.
  • The name ‘snowshoe hare’ comes from the animal’s very large and furry back feet that allows the hare to move across snow more easily, and they can reach up to speeds of 43.5 km/hr (27 miles per hour).
  • Snowshoe hares have brown coloured fur during summer, that changes to white in winter, with the change occurring over a 10 week period.

Snowshoe hare, winter, alert, single, one, coat, Ten Random Facts

Snowshoe hare during winter
Image courtesy of Denali National Park and Preserve/Flickr
  • A snowshoe hare’s diet mainly consists of vegetation, with leaves and grass eaten during summer and bark, twigs and buds eaten during winter.
  • Snowshoe hares generally have litters of 2 to 4 young, known as leverets, up to 4 times a year.
  • Snowshoe hares are preyed on by dogs, cats, large birds, lynxes, foxes and weasels, among others.
  • Snowshoe hares grow to be 41 to 52 centimetres (16 to 20 inches) in length and range from 0.9 to 1.8 kilograms (2 to 4 pounds) in weight.
  • Snowshoe hares have a relatively short lifespan, typically a year, due to being a main food source for a number of predators, but they can grow to be 5 years old.
Bibliography:
Shefferly N, Lepus americanus, 2007, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lepus_americanus/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/snowshoe-hare/
Snowshoe hare, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare

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Spotted Hyena

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Spotted Hyena

“Cackle, cackle,” laughs the spotted hyena.

  • Spotted hyenas are mammals native to areas south of the Sahara Desert in Africa, and are found in woodland, desert and savannah habitats.
  • ‘Spotted hyenas’ are also known as ‘laughing hyenas’, and have the scientific classification of Crocuta crocuta and are from the family Hyaenidae, the family of hyenas.
  • Spotted hyenas grow to be 86 to 150 centimetres (34 to 59 inches) in length and weigh around 40.5 to 86 kilograms (89 to 190 pounds), and can run at speeds of 60 km per hour (37 miles per hour).
  • Spotted hyenas have short manes and fur coats of grey-brown to yellow-grey in colour, spotted with darker coloured spots.
  • Spotted hyenas can live up to 25 years in the wild, and females typically have litters of two cubs, sometimes three, and the cubs are born eyes opened and may attack fellow cubs at birth.

Spotted Hyena, Black, Hunt, Multiple, Three, brown, Africa, Ten Random Facts

Spotted Hyenas
Image courtesy of Steve Jurvetson/Flickr
  • Spotted hyenas live in clans of up to 80, living in dens often made by other animals and later deserted, and commonly with multiple adults and their cubs in a single den.
  • A spotted hyena’s diet mostly consists of animals of all shapes and sizes, and they are typically hunters, although they may occasionally scavenge, often hunting in small to medium sized groups.
  • Spotted hyenas typically compete for food with lions, with lions sometimes stealing their hunted food, and they may attack humans, out of threat or desperateness, but it is not common.
  • Spotted hyenas vocalise with sound including laughing, grunts, whines, squeals and whoops, among others.
  • Spotted hyenas generally consume all parts of an animal, including bones, horns, hooves, teeth, skin and fur, most of which is broken down by their internal organs.
Bibliography:
Spotted Hyena, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/hyena/
Spotted Hyena, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena

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African Buffalo

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African Buffalo

African buffalo are too unpredictable, so they have never been tamed.

  • African buffalo are stocky mammals, that look similar to cattle, and are native to areas south of Africa’s Sahara Desert.
  • ‘African buffalo’ are also known as ‘Cape buffalo’, ‘Congo buffalo’, ‘savanna buffalo’, ‘widowmakers’ and ‘black deaths’, and are included in Africa’s ‘big five’ game animals that are the most dangerous and difficult animals to hunt, and are considered more dangerous than African lions, leopards and elephants, and black rhinoceros that make up the other ‘big five’.
  • African buffalo have the scientific name of Syncerus caffer, being the only species in the genus, and are from the family Bovidae, the family of cloven hoofed (split into two toes) ruminants with non branching horns.
  • African buffalo can grow up to 1.7 metres (5.6 feet) in height, up to 3.4 metres (11.2 feet) in length, and depending on habitat, have a weight of 250 to 900 kilograms (600 to 2000 pounds).
  • There are four or five subspecies of African buffalo, and they typically have brown, black, brown-red or, if juveniles, red fur colour.

African Buffalo, Herd, Bull, Calf, Brown, Ten Random Facts, Grassland, Africa, Cape Buffalo

African Buffalo
Image courtesy of Harvey Barrison/Flickr
  • The inward curving horns of African buffalo can grow up to 150 centimetres (5 feet) long, although forest buffalo, the smallest of the buffalo subspecies, have horns half that length, and on the male buffalo, the base of the horns extend across the head to form a shield, called a ‘boss’.
  • The African buffalo diet consists mainly of grass, and they live in marshlands, savannahs, mountains, plains, grasslands and forests, in herds of 50 to 500 animals in savannah areas, and under 20 in forests.
  • African buffalo are preyed on by lions, cheetahs, crocodiles, leopards hyenas, and humans, although they are only hunted by the experienced, as they are highly dangerous when threatened or attacked, and many people are killed each year by the buffalo.
  • African buffalo make sounds of grunts, growls and other deep cow sounds.
  • African buffalo typically have litters of one calf, and have a life span in the wild of around 20 years, although they can live up to 29 years.
Bibliography:
African buffalo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_buffalo
Quick Facts, 2013, Ultimate Ungulate, http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Syncerus_caffer.html

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Alpaca

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Alpaca

Not quite a llama…

  • Alpacas are grazing mammals native to South America, especially the Andes mountain regions, that have been domesticated and are not known of or found in the wild.
  • Alpacas have the scientific name of Vicugna pacos and come from the family Camelidae, the family of camels, and are related to llamas.
  • Alpacas are commonly kept in agricultural herds, particularly in South America, up to altitudes of 5000 metres (16000 feet), for fibre and meat.
  • Adult alpacas grow on average to be 81 to 100 centimetres (2.7 to 3.3 feet) from the shoulder in height and in total grow to be 1.2 to 2.2 metres (3.9 to 7.2 feet) and weigh 48 to 84 kilograms (106 to 185 pounds).
  • Alpacas spit the contents of their stomach and use their hooves to protect themselves against predators like coyotes, lions and bears, and they also spit at displeasing peers, as well as vocalise with hums, clicks, whines and clucks, and others.

Alpaca, Brown, Black, White, Three, Graze, Shade, Grass, Green, Ten Random Facts, Animal, Domestic, Australia

  • Alpacas live in small herds and can live to be 20 to 25 years old.
  • Alpacas have a diet that mainly consists of grass, hay and some other foliage.
  • The fibre of alpacas is soft, warm, strong and silky, as well as hypoallergenic, and it is considered a high quality fibre that is typically used in textiles, for projects such as clothing or blankets.
  • Alpacas only require an acre (0.4 hectare) of land to support between six to ten of the animals, and they generally toilet in the one area, known as a communal dung pile.
  • Alpacas have around 22 official natural fibre colours, ranging from blacks, browns, whites and greys.

 

Bibliography:
Alpaca, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca
Alpaca Facts, n.d, Aragon Alpacas, http://www.aragonalpacas.com/alpaca_info.html

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