| The Tree Pangolin - Africa's little ball of armor  | The tree pangolin (Manis tricuspis) is a small mammal that lives in the rainforest of west to central Africa. It weighs approximately 4-5 lbs (about 2 kg) and is an anteater. The body of the tree pangolin is almost completely covered in hard scales which serve to protect it from predators. The scales each have three sharp points and are layered over the entire body except for the underbelly and parts of the head. The tree pangolin has a long thick tail that is also covered in scales and helps provide support as the tree pangolin climbs the trees of the rain forest.
The main predators of the tree pangolin are leopards, hyenas, and pythons. When approached by a predator, the tree pangolin rolls into a ball. The hard scales serve as a coat of armor and are sharp enough to injure a predator. The tree pangolin can also secrete a smelly substance from their anal glands which will also scare off a predator.
The female and male tree pangolins live alone unless the female is raising her young. The males will roam during mating season and each female will give birth to one offspring. The gestation period is 150 days and the newborn will stay with the mother for about 4 months. During that time, the mother will protect the newborn by rolling into a ball around it. The infant cannot walk for a few weeks after birth so it attaches to the mother's tail and is carried around through the trees.
The tree pangolins survive on a diet of ants, termites, and other insects. They use their claws to dig in the ground to search for food and then they capture insects with their long tongues that are coated in thick saliva. They have no teeth so they digest food by swallowing small rocks and sand that grind the food once it reaches the stomach.
The status of the tree pangolin is "near threatened" and they have been hunted by man for their meat and scales. Some cultures believe that the scales have healing powers and will protect them against evil.
Picture of the tree pangolin by Valerius Tygart, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported | Read More »  Blue Monkey - A Social Native of Africa  | The Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) also known as the Diademed Monkey is a member of the guenon genus. It is native to East and Central Africa, Ranging from the northern part of the Congo River Basin to the east of the Great Rift Valley and to the south of northern Zambia and Angola.
Although, called 'Blue Monkey', the 'blue' is not really noticeable. The small hair on its face sometimes gives the impression of blue color and hence its name. Apart from its face, its coat is grey or olive in color and there is a yellowish patch on its forehead called the 'Diadem' from which the name Diademed Monkey has been derived. Its legs, feet, and cap are black and the mantle is brown, grey, or olive depending on the species. The Blue Monkey has pouch in its cheeks to carry food while foraging. An average mature blue monkey is 19.68 - 25.59 inches (50 - 65 cm) long and the length of its tail is equal to the length of the rest of its body. The female blue monkey weighs about 8.81 lbs (over 4 kg) and the weight of the male is about 17.63 lbs (8 kg).
The Blue Monkey is mainly found in bamboo forests, evergreen forests, and in thick forest canopies. It very rarely comes to the ground. In order to meet its need of water, it depends on the humid and shady areas where water is found in plenty. Leaves and fruits are its main food but it sometimes eats slow moving invertebrates as well. Tall trees are its most preferred home where it gets both the required shelter and food. Since the green cover is vanishing rapidly, it is also suffering the loss of its natural habitat like other animals. At places where the pine trees are replacing the natural green cover, the blue monkey is considered a threat as it may strip the bark in search of food and moisture. Humans also hunt it for its bushmeat.
The Blue Monkey males are larger than the females. Females generally give birth once in two years during the start of warm, moist rainy seasons. The gestation period lasts for about 5 months. Infants take birth with their eyes open and fur all over their body. The Blue Monkey roosts in groups of 10-40 individuals with only one adult male.
This species believes in the unmale-per-group tendency and the male receives the copulations from the females in the group. The male guards the group from any predators and females also join him in this activity. The stronger male sometimes ousts the male thereby overtaking the troop. In order to protect themselves from predators, these Blue Monkeys get mixed with other species of monkeys. No competition is seen between the two groups since they forage in diverse locations.
This species has a variety of habitats but it always stays close to water. Somalia, Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Malawi, Kenya Burundi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Rwanda, and Mozambique are countries where the Blue Monkey is found in abundance.
Picture of the blue monkey by Pedro Gonnet, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. | Read More » The Lesser Bilby - Australia's Desert Omnivore  | The Lesser bilby (macrotis leucura), also known as the yallara, the lesser rabbit-eared bandicoot, or the white-tailed rabbit-eared bandicoot, was a desert animal native to the center of the Australian continent. Similar in size to a juvenile rabbit, this animal was a marsupial, meaning females have no placenta and wean their young in an external pouch after birth. Unfortunately, this creature has been listed as extinct as early as 1950.
It was first discovered in 1887, observed to inhabit the Gibson and Great Sandy deserts of Australia. Its diet consisted of insects such as native ants and termites and plant roots. Full grown, it reached a weight of between 300 and 450 grams, or less than a pound (10.58 to 15.87 ounces). This tiny animal had a body of grayed brown that receded to a light gray and white on the tail. It made its home in dunes burrowed between two and three meters (about 6.6 to 9.8 feet) in, covering the opening with loose sand during the day and emerging during night. The burrows protected the animal not only from its main predators, birds and foxes, but also from the harsh sun. Females typically gave birth to two young, most likely on a seasonal basis.
It is unknown if this animal's habitat extended beyond the central deserts. Trappers, predators, including the Aboriginal population, and territorial competition from rabbits forced the lesser bilby into extinction before it could be fully studied. The last living specimens, about a dozen in number, were collected in Cooncherie Station in 1932. The last specimen, a skull bone, was collected near an eagle's nest in 1967. Dating revealed these bones to be less than 15 years of age, placing the extinction date around 1950.
The lesser bilby gained its fame for its omnivorous diet, eating both animals and plants, and its survival in a harsh desert climate. The greater bilby, a close relative in the bandicoot family, still exists but is now endangered. Unlike the greater bilby, known to be a docile creature, the lesser bilby was a temperamental creature, resisting handling by researchers by hissing and biting. Sadly, despite its varied diet and its relatively safe habitat, the lesser bilby lost its place in the animal world. | Read More » Goeldi's Marmosets - A Rare Sight  | Marmosets are found in three categories, the tamarins, the true marmosets, and the Goeldi's Monkey or Goeldi's marmoset (Callimico goeldii). The Amazon River Basin is its main habitat. It is black in color and has a mane. This species does not give birth to twins and is different from other marmosets, since it possesses three sets of molars. Previously, the Goeldi's monkey was believed to be an evolutionary species between New World Monkeys and the other marmosets, but molecular genetic recently indicated that it belongs to the marmoset species.
The lower canine teeth of real marmosets (the Callithrix genus) are short while the lower teeth of the other species called tamarins marmosets are comparatively longer. The smallest real marmoset, the pygmy marmoset, lives in the upper parts of the rainforests in the Amazon River Basin region. Pygmy marmosets are just 14 cm long from head to body and its tail is relatively longer. The weight of the adult marmosets is about 3 ounce (90 grams), whereas the other species of this family attain 1.3 pounds (600 gm or 21.16 oz) or more.
The Goeldi's marmoset is blackish-brown or blackish in color and there is hair on its head and the tail sometimes has white, red, or brown colored highlights with silver lining. The length of the body is about 20 to 23cm (8 to 9 inches), and its tail is about 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches) long. The Goeldi's monkey was discovered in 1904 by Emil Goeldi.
At 8.5 months, the females become sexual mature while the males mature sexually at the age of 16.5 months. After 140 -180 days the young are born. The female is capable of giving birth twice a year. Unlike other species of this family, the mother bears only one baby at a time. The mother takes care of the baby till the initial 2-3 weeks and then, the father takes the responsibility of the baby except for satisfying its nursing requirements. The mother feeds the baby only up to the time it becomes 65 days old. The ratio of female to male is 2 to 1 and they can live up to 10 years in captivity.
Goeldi's monkeys like foraging in scrubby but dense bushes. This is probably the reason that this species is very rare. They live in separate patches at a suitable habitat, which are separated by kilometers of unsuitable flora. In wet seasons, it feeds itself with fruits, lizards, insects, spiders, snakes and frogs. In dry season, it survives on fungi and is the only tropical primate known to thrive on such a source of food. It lives in small groups of 6-7 individuals and stays within a distance of a few feet of each other.
Picture of the Goeldi's marmoset by Alexandre Buisse, licensed under GFDL | Read More » | |
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