Tag Archives: Mammal

Cheetah

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Cheetah

These cheetah facts do not cheat like a cheater.

  • Cheetahs are a large feline, or ‘big cat’ found in Africa and the Middle East, and were once found in India.
  • A cheetah is from the family Felidae, the family of cats, and its scientific name is Acinonyx jubatus, a group that can be divided into six accepted subspecies.
  • Cheetahs, being the fastest land animals, can run at speeds up to 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour), and can accelerate to a top speed in three seconds.
  • ‘Cheetah’ comes from the Hindi word for leopard, ‘cītā‘, that has its origins in the Sanskrit word ‘citrakāyah’, that literally means ‘variegated body’.
  • Cheetahs grow to be 1.1 to 1.5 metres (3.6 to 4.9 feet) in length and 21 to 72 kilograms (46 to 159 pounds) in weight, have light tan coloured fur decorated with black 2 to 3 centimetre (0.8 to 1.2 inch) diameter spots, black rings on the end section of their tail, and keen eyesight.
A Cheetah on patrol in the vast grassland plains hunts for Gazelles.
Cheetah
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Cheetahs have a typical lifespan in the wild of up to 12 years, although as many as nine out of ten cheetah cubs become food for hyenas, lions, and other animals.
  • Male cheetahs generally live in groups of 2 or 3, although they often live alone, while females are solitary, and give birth to 4 cubs on average, and up to 9 is possible.
  • A cheetah’s diet consists of mammals like gazelles and other antelopes, as well as smaller animals, and they hunt by stalking and chasing their prey which they usually do during early morning and early evening.
  • Cheetahs were historically tamed for hunting purposes in Ancient Egypt, Persia and India, and are currently illegally hunted for their fur, as well as being a vulnerable species, endangered with habitat loss.
  • Cheetahs can go without water for three or four days, as their prey supplies some of the moisture they require, and they communicate through various noises including chirps, purring, growling, hissing and yowling, among others.
Bibliography: Cheetah, 2014, San Diego Zoo, http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/cheetah
Cheetah, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah

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Brown Bear

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Brown Bear

Be wary around those brown bears!

  • Brown bears are large mammals native to northern Europe, Asia and North America, and along with polar bears, are the largest bears and land predators.
  • Brown bears have the scientific name Ursus arctos, meaning ‘bear’ in Latin and Greek respectively, and they are from the family Ursidae, the family of bears.
  • Brown bears have a formal subspecies count of 16, although there is debate about this number and others suggest between 5 and 90 exist.
  • Brown bears typically have a fur colour of a variety of brown shades, depending on the subspecies, with the fur in winter growing up to 11 to 12 centimetres (4 to 5 inches) long.
  • Brown bears are generally 1.5 to 2.5 metres (5 to 8 feet) in height and can weigh 55 to 680 kilograms (121 to 1500 pounds) depending on the subspecies and the environment in which they live, and they can weigh twice as much as they would normally before winter when they store fat on their bodies, so that they can semi-hibernate in dens during the cold season.

Brown Bear, Fur, Water, Stalking, Grass, Mammal, Alaska, Ten Random Facts, America, National Geographic

Brown Bear
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Some subspecies of brown bears are extinct or endangered, but the species is classified as a ‘least concern’, and they have a population of approximately 200,000 bears in the wild.
  • Brown bears are mostly nocturnal, and are typically found in forests with open land areas, as well as mountainous environments.
  • Brown bears do not often attack humans, but leading causes include surprise or curiosity, and they can run at speeds of 48 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour).
  • Female brown bears give birth in their den in winter, and litters range from one to four cubs.
  • Brown bears can live up to 37 years in the wild, although longer in captivity, and their diet mainly consists of vegetation such as berries, roots and grass, small mammals and salmon, but sometimes larger animals are preyed upon.
Bibliography:
Brown Bear, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/brown-bear/
Brown Bear, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear

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Chipmunk

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Chipmunk

Watch the chipmunks scurry over the rooftops.

  • Chipmunks are small mammals that are primarily native to North America, but one of the 24 species is native to Asia.
  • The scientific name of a chipmunk is ‘Tamias’, and they are from the family Sciuridae, the family of squirrels.
  • Chipmunks mainly eat nuts, seeds, and berries, but also other vegetation, as well as insects, worms, frogs, bird eggs and fungi.
  • Chipmunks live in burrows that can be 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) or longer, and they collect food in autumn that they store there for eating during the winter hibernation period.
  • A chipmunk has flexible cheeks that allows it to obtain a number of food items at once, and it uses them as a carrying pouch.
Chipmunk, brown, rodent, striped, white, black, squirrel, Ten Random Facts, Flickr
Chipmunk
Image courtesy of Dawn Huczek/Flickr
  • Chipmunks have calls that are similar in sound to chirps of a bird, and they have a lifespan generally of 2 or 3 years, and can have 2 to 8 babies in one litter.
  • ‘Chipmunks’ are rodents, and are also known as ‘striped squirrels’, ‘timber tigers’, ‘munks’ and ‘chippers’.
  • Different species of chipmunks are different colours, and range from brown, red-brown and grey in colour, and they have light and dark coloured stripes down their backs, face and tail.
  • Chipmunks are commonly found in woodland habitats, but also live in urban areas, and are preyed on by foxes, weasels, coyotes, snakes and hawks.
  • Chipmunks grow to be 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, plus have a tail of 8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches) and weigh between 28 to 142 grams (1 to 5 ounces).
Bibliography:
Chipmunk, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/chipmunk/
Chipmunk, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk

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Giant Armadillo

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Giant Armadillo

Giant armadillos dressed in armour.

  • Giant armadillos are mammals that are native to South American tropical forest areas, and are found on approximately half of the continent.
  • Giant armadillos are from the family Dasypodidae, which is the family of armadillos.
  • Giant armadillos have a tough encasing of hard scales and plates which is used primarily for defense.
  • The scientific name of a giant armadillo is ‘Priodontes maximus’ and they have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.
  • A ‘Giant armadillos’ is also known as a ‘tatou,’ ‘ocarro,’ ‘tatu-canastra,’ and ‘tatú carreta’.
Giant Armadillo, Sand, Brown, Dark, Shell, Mammal, Flickr, Ten Random Facts
Giant Armadillo
Image courtesy of Amareta Kelly/Flickr
  • Giant armadillos’ diet mainly consists of termites and ants, but also vegetation, worms, spiders, snakes and larvae.
  • Giant armadillos have long claws including one claw that is sickle-like, 80 to 100 teeth and they are also nocturnal.
  • Giant armadillos grow up to 150 centimetres (59 inches) long, including the tail that is approximately a third of its length, and from 28 to 54 kilograms (62 to 119 pounds) in weight.
  • Giant armadillos generally do not live with others of the same species, and usually live in burrows.
  • Giant armadillos are a threatened species and are listed as vulnerable, due to the destruction of their habitat and poaching by humans for their meat and for black trade.
Bibliography:
Giant Armadillo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_armadillo
Giant Armadillo, n.d, Kids’ Planet, http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/armadillo.html

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Waterbuck

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Waterbuck

Waterbucks do not buck water.

  • Waterbucks are native to Africa’s sub-Saharan area, and their are two main categories of the animal – ‘ellipsen’, that has a white ring on it’s rear end, and ‘defassa’, which has a white patch instead of the ring.
  • Waterbucks grow to be approximately 1 to 1.3 metres (3.3 to 4.3 feet) in height to the top of their shoulder and weigh 160 to 300 kilograms (350 to 660 pounds).
  • Waterbucks are scientifically known as ‘Kobus ellipsiprymnus’, and are from the family bovid, the family of mammals with unbranched horns, and are one of six species of African antelope.
  • Contrary to popular African belief, the meat of a waterbuck is edible, although it may not be tasty.
  • Only male waterbucks have horns, and they are long and slightly curved, and they grow longer with age.

Cape Waterbuck, Svannah, Alert, Tanzania, Africa, Antelope, Animal, Ten Random Facts, National Geographic

Waterbuck
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Waterbucks live in habitats of scrubs and grassy plains, that have much grass and close access to water to fulfill dietary needs.
  • Waterbucks usually live in small herds, in all male groups, all female groups, or mixed groups, although the number of animals in a herd can be quite numerous.
  • Waterbucks may enter bodies of water to hide from predators such as hyenas, lions and leopards, and even though they don’t enter the water much, they are good swimmers.
  • Waterbucks generally live up to an age of 18 years, and the females usually give birth to a single calf each year, which is hidden away for a number of weeks.
  • Waterbucks have an off-putting odour that comes from their sweat glands, that deters prey and affects the flavour of their meat.
 Bibliography:
Huffman B, Waterbuck, 2004, Ultimate Ungulate, http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Kobus_ellipsiprymnus.html
Waterbuck, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbuck

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Warthog

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Warthog

Warthogs do not have a wart virus.

  • ‘Warthogs’ are sometimes called ‘common warthogs,’ and are known as the ‘pig of the plains’ or ‘vlakvark’ as the Afrikaans call them.
  • Warthogs are scientifically known as ‘Phacochoerus africanus’, and are from the family Suidae, the family of pigs.
  • Warthogs are native to sub-Saharan Africa, and are usually found in their natural habitat of grassy plains and wooded areas.
  • Warthogs grow to be 0.9 to 1.5 metres (3.0 to 4.9 feet) in height and weigh 45 to 150 kilograms (99 to 330 pounds) depending on the gender.
  • Warthogs have four ivory tusks that curve from the mouth at a 90° angle that they use for digging, fighting or for defence against predators such as humans who hunt them for their meat and tusks, hyenas, leopards, lions and crocodiles.

Warthog, Four, Tusk, Pig, Hog, Ugly, Mane, Zimbabwe, Ten Random Facts

Warthog
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Warthogs have four ‘warts’ or bumps on their face, that are said to be used as fat reserves and for protection.
  • Warthogs typically have a thin fur coat in black and brown colours, and birds often sit on their backs to eat the small insects that can be found on the mammal.
  • Warthogs have a diet that mainly consists of grass and other vegetation, various fruit and berries, and insects, although sometimes they are meat eaters.
  • Warthogs are more likely to run away than fight, and can run up to 48 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour).
  • Warthogs generally breed during seasons of wet and rain, giving birth to piglet litters from two to four, although a greater number are sometimes born.
Bibliography:
Warthog, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/warthog/
Warthog, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warthog

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