mammal
laelaps | October 18, 2007
This is one of the better shots of an African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) that I was able to get during my trip to the Disney Animal Kingdom Park last year (the ride that lets you view the elephants jolts you so much it's hard to get a decent shot). This variety of elephant, distinct from the Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus), is the larger of what are perhaps two species of elephant inhabiting Africa at present. The second species is the African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), although the splitting of the forest group into a new species is still controversial. Regardless of…
laelaps | October 15, 2007
The WCS-run Bronx Zoo is one of my most favorite places to visit, their Snow Leopards (Panthera uncia) making a visit worthwhile in and of itself. While you may hear "George" the lion roaring or any of the many tigers resident at the zoo calling to each other, they are veritable chatterboxes compared to Snow Leopards, which don't roar despite possessing the proper vocal equipment like other big cats. Such silence was part of the reason for placing the Snow Leopard within it's own genus, Uncia, but it now seems that the Himalayan cats really do belong within Panthera although their exact…
laelaps | October 13, 2007
You might not normally think of them as artodactyls, but suids (i.e. pigs and their relatives) are another major family grouping within the order. Pictured above is one representative from Africa, the Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus), which lives in large groups of between 4 and 20 or so as Leopards (Panthera pardus) sometimes crave bacon. Commonly, it's often called the "Bush Pig" but shouldn't be confused with the actual Bushpig, Potamochoerus larvatus, another social swine from Africa.
laelaps | October 12, 2007
The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is one of the larger varieties of antelope in Africa, sometimes being referred to as one of the "Horse Antelope" belonging to the Subfamily Hippotraginae [of which the Addax (Addax nasomaculatus) and Oryx (Oryx sp.) are also members]. Sable Antelope differ from the Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) mentioned earlier this week in that both sexes bear large horns, and while there is some sexual dimorphism (males having the larger horns), females also bear a respectable set. Even so, the male Sable Antelope don't let anyone forget that they're in charge, and…
laelaps | October 11, 2007
Given that the last two "pictures of the day" were of artiodactyls, I figured I'd keep going with the theme for the rest of the week. Today I've picked out a pair of shots of the Mhorr Gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr), taken last January at the Philadelphia Zoo. As you can guess from the scientific name I just mentioned, the Mhorr is a subspecies of Dama Gazelle (Gazella dama) which previously inhabited parts of the Sahara near Morocco in northern Africa. Today, however, the Mhorr is extinct in the wild and the Dama is critically endangered.
laelaps | October 10, 2007
The photo I posted yesterday of a male Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) has prompted some discussion about other long-necked artiodactyls, especially the living representatives of the family Giraffidae. Although the family once contained more members (like the oddly-ornamented Sivatherium), only the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and the Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) are extant. Pictured above is a female Okapi at the Bronx Zoo, the distinction between the sexes being easily distinguished as the female lacks the skin-covered protrusions made of ossified cartilage known as "ossicones" that are…