Comments for Tetrapod Zoology

Comment on Pouches, pockets and sacs in the heads, necks and chests of mammals, part I: primates by DDeden

DDeden — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:18:30 +0000

Scuba diving chimp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xllfJNQFOuo

Comment on Slow-worms of 2008 by Jim

Jim — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:19:53 +0000

I saw a mature adult male Slow Worm two days ago whilst out running, right in the middle of a quiet country lane – I picked him up and placed him in the long grass at the edge of the road to save him from being run over!
I live in Rowhedge, near Colchester, Essex. Around here we see a few on the MOD range land (the only bit of land the greedy developers haven’t spoilt yet).

Comment on The Dufftown cat and its rabbit-headed kin by ctl

ctl — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:38:06 +0000

It looks superficially like an oriental cat – here’s a skull of a siamese cat at a similar angle.
http://www.demskicreations.net/gallery/gallery2/files/collage_lb_image_page5_19_1.png
It is a silly two-headed mount. Yes. But it does show that the cats are distinctly different – especially through the nose and jaw.
It’s easy to see how they could go unnoticed for so long, being a shy and stealthy creature that looks so darn much like an outdoor cat.

Comment on The mastiff cat hypothesis by Peter Jack

Peter Jack — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:48:24 +0000

There has been no mention of a TV documentary I saw about twenty five years ago about the black cats of Scotland. I was amazed when they actually caught a specimen, and how spectacularly fierce it looked – flashing eyes, jet black body and showing all is teeth in a constant snarl. I have tried to get more information on the programme, but have been unsuccessful.

Comment on Pouches, pockets and sacs in the heads, necks and chests of mammals, part I: primates by DDeden

DDeden — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:34:58 +0000

Yes, my point taken. “Endurance running savannah persistent hunters” is a “modern trait”.

Comment on What does it feel like to get bitten by a ground hornbill, I hear you ask? by Quasar

Quasar — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:25:42 +0000

My experience is mostly with birds: small finches (zebra’s, for example) can have a suprisingly strong bite, but are not usually painful. It’s the common housebirds you have to fear: I used to have a budgerigar that was capable of latching onto your finger so hard you could then lift it up and walk around the room with it dangling by it’s beak. (twice I ended up accidentally throwing the poor bird across the room when it grabbed my finger and caused me to jerk back). Cockatiels are even nastier if they want to be: if you own a cockatiel that doesn’t bite hard, it’s solely because they like you.

Lorikeets or Rosella’s, and other med-sized parrots, will take a large chunk out of you.

Pigeons, chickens and many other birds with similar beaks don’t usually bite, but they can peck. It’s usually enough it startle, purely because you’re not expecting it. Rarely does any damage, though.

And cockatoo’s are terrifying. Beautiful, but terrifying.

Comment on Pouches, pockets and sacs in the heads, necks and chests of mammals, part I: primates by David Marjanović

David Marjanović — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:36:10 +0000

*sigh* The fact that we walk plantigradely doesn’t require any special explanation. It’s simply retained. All primates are plantigrade. All mammals, except for derived exceptions, are plantigrade. All limbed vertebrates, except for derived exceptions, are plantigrade!

“Everything is the way it is because it got that way.” — J. B. S. Haldane

All we can tell is that we haven’t been under selection for digitigrady, at least not for long.

Comment on What does it feel like to get bitten by a ground hornbill, I hear you ask? by Lila

Lila — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:02:14 +0000

I can corroborate the comments on cat bites. My cat bit through the joint capsule of the proximal interphalangeal joint of my index finger (I picked her up after she’d been attacked by a dog). Ouch. Prompt ER visit and antibiotic injection prevented any nasty sequelae.

Incidentally, this whole thread reminds me of the Rev. Nathaniel Martin in the Patrick O’Brian books….

Comment on Pouches, pockets and sacs in the heads, necks and chests of mammals, part I: primates by DDeden

DDeden — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:27:37 +0000

Regarding inflatable laryngeal air sacs in hominoids, IMO:

The last common ancestor of Gorilla, Pan & Homo et al was neither a habitual swimmer nor habitual ground walker, but was primarily a waterside arboreal biped with small inflatable laryngeal air sacs which developed with increasing size and reliance on below-branch action, the air sac naturally selected as an air cushion in high falls into water (buoyancy) and ground (rib-lung cushion). (Sloths, gibbons and chimps notoriously get broken long bones from falls of great heights, they are adept at climbing with 3 limbs.) The further size increase of air sacs in mature male gorillas and orangs is a result of this advantage, despite being less arboreal than females, they still climb trees during fruiting. Humans seldom do. Vocalizing, upper body enlargement are results, rather than causes for air sacs in hominoids. Small gibbons and sloths are too small for air sacs to be air cushions. Slow vertical divers don’t need air sacs.

Comment on Pouches, pockets and sacs in the heads, necks and chests of mammals, part I: primates by DDeden

DDeden — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 10:02:43 +0000

Indeed. They walk and run on their toes/nails. We run on the balls of the feet, and walk on the flat soles. Australian lifeguards found that the most efficient way to move on beach sand was to walk on flat soles, to avoid inefficient slipping. Large animals moving on loose flat slippery ground tend to have broad feet eg. caribou.
Savanna ungulates instead have sharper less broad feet, for better high-speed traction and continuous walking on firm ground.