Animal Of The Day!

caca = poo

kakapo = poopoo

Poor lil birb.

More unfortunate is the fact that we human beings are majorly responsible for the decline of all these endangered species. Here's another one on that list.


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Rhynchocephalia
Family: Sphenodontidae
Genus: Sphenodon

Tuatara are A species of reptiles. Although resembling lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. Their name derives from the Māori language, which means "peaks on the back".

The Tuatara is considered the most unspecialized living amniote. Their brains & mode of locomotion resemble those of amphibians & the heart is more primitive than that of any other reptile.

The Tuatara's greenish brown colour matches its environment & can change over its lifetime. They shed their skin at least once per year as adults & three or four times a year as juveniles. Adult males are usually larger, measuring about 61 cm (24 in) in length & females are 45 cm (18 in). Males weigh up to 1 kg (2.2 lb) & females up to 0.5 kg (1.1 lb). The spiny crest on a Tuatara's back, made of triangular, soft folds of skin, is larger in males & can be stiffened for display. The male abdomen is narrower than the female's. Their eyes can focus independently & are specialized with a duplex retina that contains two types of visual cells for both day & night vision, & a tapetum lucidum which reflects onto the retina to enhance vision in the dark.

There is also a third eyelid on each eye, the nictitating membrane. It has a third eye on the top of its head called the parietal eye. It has its own lens, cornea, retina with rod-like structures & degenerated nerve connection to the brain, suggesting it evolved from a real eye. The parietal eye is only visible in hatchlings, which have a translucent patch at the top centre of the skull. After four to six months, it becomes covered with opaque scales & pigment. Its purpose is unknown, but it may be useful in absorbing ultraviolet rays to produce vitamin D.

Tuataras are terrestrial & nocturnal, though they will often bask in the sun to warm their bodies. Hatchlings hide under logs & stones, and are diurnal, likely because adults are cannibalistic. They thrive in temperatures much lower than those tolerated by most reptiles & hibernate during winter.

Burrowing seabirds such as petrels, prions & shearwaters share the tuatara's island habitat during the birds' nesting seasons. The Tuatara uses the birds' burrows for shelter when available or dig their own. The seabirds' guano helps to maintain invertebrate populations on which Tuatara predominantly prey; including beetles, crickets & spiders. Their diets also consist of frogs, lizards & bird's eggs & chicks.

Tuatara reproduce very slowly. It takes the females between one & three years to provide eggs with yolk & up to seven months to form the shell. It then takes between 12 to 15 months from copulation to hatching. This means reproduction occurs at two to five year intervals, the slowest in any reptile.

There are two extant species of Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus or Northern Tuatara & the much rarer Sphenodon guntheri, or Brothers Island Tuatara, which is confined to North Brother Island in Cook Strait. The specific name punctatus is Latin for "spotted" & guntheri refers to German-born British herpetologist Albert Günther.

The Tuataras have been protected by law since 1895. Like many of New Zealand's native animals, they are threatened by habitat loss & introduced predators, such as the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). They were extinct on the mainland, with the remaining populations confined to 32 offshore islands, until the first mainland release into the heavily fenced & monitored Karori Sanctuary in 2005.

Pika Pika :chu:

I love tuatara. They are like little dinosaurs. I got to see some when I visited New Zealand.

Now that's the kind of un-fluffy pet I could get! c:

The non-lizard with a third not-eye. I remember learning about them in school. So deceptively common looking.

Moving away from the cuddlies, here's a dangerous little guy, who you would not want to be anywhere near.


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Paraponerinae
Tribe: Paraponerini
Genus: Paraponera
Species: P. clavata

The Bullet Ant, also called Paraponera clavata is a species of ant, named for its potent sting.

The specific epithet of the ant, clavata, derives from clavate, in which it means "club-shaped". The generic name, Paraponera, translates to "near-Ponera". It is most commonly known as the bullet ant because of the extreme pain it delivers following a sting, similar to that of getting shot. Other names are the lesser giant hunting ant & conga ant.

Paraponera clavata was first described by Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, who named it Formica clavata in his Systema entomologiae, based on a worker he collected. Fabricius incorrectly listed the type locality as India, although these ants are only found in Central & South America. In 1804, P. clavata was transferred to the genus Ponera by French zoologist Pierre Andre Latreille. The genus Paraponera was established by British entomologist Frederick Smith in 1858 & P. clavata was designated as the type species by monotypy (the condition of a taxonomic group having only a single taxon described). Under the present classification, the bullet ant is a member of the genus Paraponera in the tribe Paraponerini, subfamily Paraponerinae. It is a member of the family Formicidae, belonging to the order Hymenoptera.

The Bullet Ant has an extrememly dangerous sting. The pain caused by this insect's sting is reported to be greater than that of any other hymenopteran & is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt sting pain index, given a "4+" rating, above the tarantula hawk wasp & according to some victims, equal to being shot, hence the name of the insect. It is described as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours". Poneratoxin, a paralyzing neurotoxic peptide isolated from the venom, affects voltage-dependent sodium ion channels & blocks the synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. It is being investigated for possible medical applications.

Bullet Ant colonies consist of several hundred individuals & are usually situated at the bases of trees. Workers forage arboreally in the area directly above the nest for small arthropods & nectar, often as far as the upper canopy. Little foraging occurs on the forest floor. Nectar, carried between the mandibles, is the most common food taken back to the nest by foragers.

Worker ants are 18–30 mm (0.7–1.2 in) long & resemble stout, reddish-black, wingless wasps. Bullet Ants are predatory & like all primitive poneromorphs, do not display polymorphism in the worker caste. The queen ant is not much larger than the workers.

Paraponera clavata is the only living species in its subfamily. Although Paraponera dieteri was the first extinct relative of Paraponera clavata to be described, another Paraponera fossil had been examined earlier in the 1980s.

It is distributed throughout Central & South America, commonly found in the wet neotropic ecozone. These ants are found in Honduras, Nicaragua & Costa Rica from the north, & in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru & Brazil from the south, inhabiting in humid lowland rainforests.

Pika Pika :chu:

This video is a pretty good indication of how much the bullet ant's sting hurts.

Warning: No swearing or anything violent beyond the initial sting (little ant is even released safely), but a whole lot of screaming and pain. Not kidding, this is "is he going to be okay?" levels of screaming. For reference, this guy has worked his way up the scale of top 5 most painful (nonlethal) stings, and this was the worst one.



(also, Coyote Peterson is great binge material for this subforum. So many interesting animals, and in an easy to digest format).

I heard that you can actually die from the pain of bullet ant.

I always thought bees, wasps, and hornets are the only insects to have stingers.

PastelPhoenix said:

This video is a pretty good indication of how much the bullet ant's sting hurts.

Warning: No swearing or anything violent beyond the initial sting (little ant is even released safely), but a whole lot of screaming and pain. Not kidding, this is "is he going to be okay?" levels of screaming. For reference, this guy has worked his way up the scale of top 5 most painful (nonlethal) stings, and this was the worst one.



(also, Coyote Peterson is great binge material for this subforum. So many interesting animals, and in an easy to digest format).

Click to expand...

Thanks for answering my question on whether or not Coyote Peterson has already covered the bullet ant.

Alright time for a not Giraffe :P.


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Tribe: Antilopini
Genus: Litocranius
Species: L. walleri

The Gerenuk, also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked antelope found in the Horn of Africa & the African Great Lakes region.

The scientific name of the Gerenuk is Litocranius walleri. The Gerenuk is the sole member of the genus Litocranius & is placed in the family Bovidae. The species was first described by Anglo-Irish naturalist Victor Brooke in 1878.

Gerenuks are characterised by their long, slender neck & limbs, their flat, wedge-like head & large, round ears. Males are nearly 89–105 centimetres (35–41 in) tall & females are 80–100 cms (31–39 in). The head-and-body length is typically between 140 to 160 centimetres (55 to 63 in). Males weigh between 31 to 52 kgs (68 to 115 lbs), while females are lighter, weighing 28 to 45 kgs (62 to 99 lbs). The tail, that ends in a black tuft, measures 25–35 cms (9.8–13.8 in). The horns, present only on males, are lyre-like ("S"-shaped). Curving backward then slightly forward, these measure 25–44 cms (9.8–17.3 in).

Gerenuks are diurnal, active mainly during the day, though it typically stands or rests in shade during the noon. Foraging & feeding is the major activity throughout the day. Females appear to spend longer time in feeding. The Gerenuk may expose itself to rain, probably to cool its body.

The social structure consists of small herds of two to six members. Herds typically comprise members of a single gender, though female herds additionally have juveniles. Some males lead a solitary life.

Primarily a browser, the Gerenuk feeds on foliage of bushes as well as trees, shoots, herbs, flowers & fruits. It can reach higher branches & twigs better than other gazelles & antelopes, by standing erect on its hindlegs & elongating its neck. This helps it reach nearly 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the ground. Their pointed mouths assist in extracting leaves from thorny vegetation.

Gerenuks reproduce throughout the year. The gestation period is about seven months. They are born one at a time, weighing about 3 kg (6.6 lb) at birth. Gerenuks can live 13 years or more in captivity & at least eight years in the wild.

They have two subspecies, which are sometimes considered to be independent species. The first is the Northern Gerenuk (L. w. sclateri), also known as Sclater's gazelle. Its range extends from northwestern Somalia (Berbera District) westward to touch the Egyptian border & Djibouti. The second is the Southern Gerenuk (L. w. walleri), also known as Waller's gazelle. Its range extends through northeastern Tanzania through Kenya to Galcaio. The range lies north of the Shebelle River & near Juba River.

Pika Pika :chu:

Time for the next animal on the list.


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Viverridae
Subfamily: Paradoxurinae
Genus: Arctictis
Species: A. binturong

The Binturong, also known as bearcat, is a viverrid native to South & Southeast Asia.

Despite being called 'bearcat' this carnivorous mammal is neither closely related to bears nor cats, but to the palm civets of Asia. It is a monotypic genus. Its genus name Arctictis means "bear-weasel", from Greek arkt (bear) + iktis (weasel). In Riau, Indonesia it was known as Tenturun.

The body of the Binturong is long & heavy, with short, stout legs. It has a thick fur of strong black hair. The bushy & prehensile tail is thick at the root, gradually diminishing in size to the extremity, where it curls inwards. The muzzle is short & pointed, somewhat turned up at the nose & is covered with bristly hairs, brown at the points, which lengthen as they diverge & form a peculiar radiated circle round the face. The eyes are large, black & prominent. The ears are short, rounded, edged with white & terminated by tufts of black hair. There are six short rounded incisors in each jaw, two canines, which are long & sharp, & six molars on each side. The hair on the legs is short & of a yellowish tinge. The feet are five-toed, with large strong claws; the soles are bare & applied to the ground throughout the whole of their length. The hind ones are longer than the fore.

Binturongs height ranges from 28 to 33 in (71 to 84 cm). The tail is 26 to 27 in (66 to 69 cm) long. Some captive binturongs measured from 2 ft 6 in (76 cm) to 3 ft (91 cm) in head & body with a tail of 2 ft 4 in (71 cm). It is the largest living species of the Viverridae, only rivaled by the African civet. Females are 20% larger than males. Mean weight of captive adult females is 21.9 kg (48 lb) with a range from 11 to 32 kg (24 to 71 lb).

Binturongs are omnivorous, feeding on small mammals, birds, fish, earthworms, insects & fruits. Captive Binturongs are particularly fond of plantains, but would also eat fowls' heads & eggs. They also prey on rodents. Since they do not have the attributes of a predatory mammal, most of the Binturong's diet is probably of vegetable matter. Figs are a major component of their diet.

Binturongs are active during both the day & at night. They are essentially arboreal. As Binturongs are not very nimble, they may have to descend to the ground relatively frequently when moving between trees.

They seldom leap, but climb skillfully, albeit slowly, progressing with equal ease & confidence along the upper side of branches or, upside down, beneath them, the prehensile tail being always in readiness as a help & they descend the vertical bars of the cage head first, gripping them between their paws & using the prehensile tail as a check.

Binturongs move about gently, often coming to a stop & using the tail to keep balance, clinging to a branch. They show a pronounced comfort behaviour associated with grooming the fur, shaking & licking the hair & scratching.

When irritated they growl fiercely, and when on the prowl may periodically utter a series of low grunts or a hissing sound made by expelling air through partially opened lips.

The estrous period of the Binturong is 81 days, with a gestation of 91 days. Typical birthing is of two offspring, but up to six may occur. The maximum known lifespan in captivity is thought to be over 25 years of age.

Binturongs habitat ranges from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia to Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam & Yunnan in China, & from Sumatra, Kalimantan & Java in Indonesia to Palawan in the Philippines.

Major threats to the Binturong are habitat loss & degradation of forests through logging & conversion of forests to non-forest land-uses throughout the Binturong's range. In China, rampant deforestation & opportunistic logging practices have fragmented suitable habitat or eliminated sites altogether. In the Philippines, it is captured for the wildlife trade & in the south of its range it is also taken for human consumption.

India included the Binturong in CITES Appendix III. It is protected in Malaysia & is listed as critically endangered on the China Red List.

Pika Pika :chu:

Random fun fact about the binturongs, it has a smell like buttered popcorn!

I've been told that capitalism is what's keeping people from trying to protect the environment, including the animals living in it, and yet China's a communist country and it's also not doing it's best to protect their own environment as shown by the binturongs' status as a critically endangered species.

This thing makes American Raccoons look wimpy as f*ck. I need one of these bad boys. X3

Yeah binturong is pretty cool. I live in Southeast Asia but have to see that in zoo because of habitat loss. Pretty sad actually.

Oh my goodness I want one xD

Missed out on updates for a few days, was really busy. But I'm here now, so time for a new species :).


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Vombatiformes
Family: Vombatidae

Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. There are three extant species & they are all members of the family Vombatidae. They are adaptable & habitat tolerant, & are found in forested, mountainous & heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as an isolated patch of about 300 ha (740 acres) in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland.

Wombats are estimated to have diverged from other Australian marsupials relatively early, as long as 40 million years ago, while some estimates place divergence at around 25 million years. While some theories place wombats as a miniaturised relatives of diprotodonts, such as the rhinoceros-sized Diprotodon, more recent studies place the Vombatiformes as having a distinct parallel evolution, hence their current classification as a separate family.

All three known extant species of Wombats, average around a metre in length & weigh between 20 to 35 kg (44 to 77 lbs).

Wombats' fur can vary from a sandy colour to brown, or from grey to black. They have small, stubby tails. Their incisor teeth somewhat resemble those of the placental rodents (rats, mice, etc.), being adapted for gnawing tough vegetation. Like many other herbivorous mammals, they have a large diastema between their incisors & the cheek teeth, which are relatively simple.

Wombats are herbivores. Their diets consist mostly of grasses, sedges, herbs, bark & roots. Although mainly crepuscular & nocturnal, wombats also venture out to feed on cool or overcast days.

Wombats have an extraordinarily slow metabolism, taking around eight to 14 days to complete digestion, which aids their survival in arid conditions. They generally move slowly, but when threatened, they can reach up to 40 km/h (25 mph) & maintain that speed for up to 90 seconds. They defend home territories centred on their burrows, and they react aggressively to intruders.

Wombats dig extensive burrow systems with their rodent-like front teeth & powerful claws. One distinctive adaptation of wombats is their backwards pouch. The advantage of a backwards-facing pouch is that when digging, the wombat does not gather soil in its pouch over its young.

Female wombats give birth to a single young in the spring, after a gestation period, which like all marsupials can vary, in the case of the wombat its 20?21 days. They have well-developed pouches, which the young leave after about six to seven months.

Wombats typically last 10 to 15 years in the wild, but can live over 30. The oldest known living wombat, Patrick from Ballarat Wildlife Park, was born in August 1985.

The three extant species of wombat. All are endemic to Australia & a few offshore islands.
Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)
Northern hairy-nosed Wombat or yaminon (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
Southern hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

All species of Wombats are protected in every state except Victoria. The biggest threats the species faces are its small population size, predation by wild dogs, competition for food because of overgrazing by cattle & sheep & disease. Despite its name, the common wombat is no longer common & has been officially a protected animal in New South Wales since 1970. However, in eastern Victoria, they are not protected & are considered by some to be pests, especially due to the damage they cause to rabbit-proof fences.

Fun Fact - A group of wombats is known as a wisdom.

Pika Pika :chu:

Also another fun fact, Crash Bandicoot was originally going to be a wombat.

Let's have a wild cat species now.


Scientific classification:-

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Leopardus
Species: L. wiedii

The Margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a small cat native to Central & South America.

In his first description, Schinz named the Margay, Felis wiedii, in honour of Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied who collected specimens in Brazil.

The Margay is very similar to the larger Ocelot in appearance, although the head is a little shorter, the eyes larger & the tail & legs longer. Its look is also similar to the Oncilla. It weighs from 2.6 to 4 kgs (5.7 to 8.8 lbs), with a body length of 48 to 79 cms (19 to 31 in) & a tail length of 33 to 51 cms (13 to 20 in). The fur is brown and marked with numerous rows of dark brown or black rosettes & longitudinal streaks. The undersides are paler, ranging from buff to white & the tail has numerous dark bands & a black tip. The backs of the ears are black, with circular white markings in the centre.

While Margays are nocturnal, in some areas they have also been observed to hunt during the day. Although they prefer to spend most of their life in the trees, they also travel across the ground, especially when moving between hunting areas. During the day, they rest in relatively inaccessible branches or clumps of lianas.

The Margay is a much more skillful climber than its relative the Ocelot & it is sometimes called the "tree Ocelot" because of this ability. It may spend its entire life in the trees, leaping after & chasing birds & monkeys through the treetops. It is one of only two cat species with the ankle flexibility necessary to climb head-first down trees (the other being the clouded leopard, although the poorly studied marbled cat may also have this ability). Its ankles can turn up to 180 degrees & it can grasp branches equally well with its fore & hind paws. Its able to jump up to 12 feet (3.7 m) horizontally. The Margay has been observed to hang from branches with only one foot.

Like most cats, they are solitary. They are sparsely distributed even within their natural environment, occupying relatively large home ranges of 11 to 16 square kilometres (4.2 to 6.2 sq mi). Their vocalizations all appear to be short range & they do not call to each other over long distances.

It hunts small mammals, including monkeys & birds, eggs, lizards & tree frogs. It also eats grass and other vegetation, most likely to help digestion. Margays have recently been discovered to hunt by mimicking the vocalization of a prey species, pied Tamarin (Saguinus bicolor), which has been compared by scientists to tool-use by monkeys. A 2006 report about a Margay chasing squirrels in its natural environment confirmed that the Margay is able to hunt its prey entirely in trees. However, Margays do sometimes hunt on the ground & have been reported to eat terrestrial prey, such as cane rats & guinea pigs.

The gestation period of Magays lasts about 80 days & generally results in the birth of a single kitten (very rarely, there are two) usually between March & June. Kittens weigh 85 to 170 grams (3.0 to 6.0 oz) at birth. This is relatively large for a small cat & is probably related to the long gestation period. The kittens open their eyes at around two weeks of age & begin to take solid food at seven to eight weeks.

Margays are found from southern Mexico, through Central America & in northern South America east of the Andes. The southern edge of its range reaches Uruguay & northern Argentina. They are found almost exclusively in areas of dense forest, ranging from tropical evergreen forest to tropical dry forest & high cloud forest. Margays live foremost in primary evergreen & deciduous forests, but have sometimes also been observed in coffee & cocoa plantations.

These are the currently recognized subspecies of the Margay:-

Leopardus wiedii wiedii - Found in Eastern and central Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina
Leopardus wiedii amazonicus - Found in western Brazil, inner parts of Peru, Colombia and Venezuela
Leopardus wiedii boliviae (also known as the "ocelittle") - Found in Bolivia
Leopardus wiedii cooperi - Found in northern Mexico
Leopardus wiedii glauculus - Found in central Mexico
Leopardus wiedii nicaraguae - Found in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
Leopardus wiedii oaxacensis - Found in southern Mexico
Leopardus wiedii pirrensis - Found in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Leopardus wiedii salvinius - Found in Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador
Leopardus wiedii yucatanicus - Found in Yucat?n

Until the 1990s Margays were hunted illegally for the wildlife trade, which resulted in a large population decrease. It is listed as "Near Threatened" by the IUCN since 2008 because remaining populations are thought to be declining due to loss of habitat following conversion of forests.

Pika Pika :chu:

How fitting of you covering a cat species on Caturday.