mammals
laelaps | February 29, 2008
There are a number of large carnivores in Africa, but each obtains prey by different methods. Cheetahs, for instance, make a mad dash after their prey but can only keep up a high-speed chase for a short time, while wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are endurance hunters. Much like wolves, a pack can chase prey over long distances and they are among the most successful predators out of the large African carnivores.
edyong | February 28, 2008
Chimpanzees may not be able to recite Hamlet or giving rousing speeches but there is no doubt that they are excellent communicators. They exchange a wide variety of sophisticated calls and gestures that carry meaning and can be tailored to different audiences.
The sophistication of chimp communication doesn't stop there. Jared Taglialatela from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center has found that chimp signals and human speech are both strongly influenced by the same area in the left half of the brain - a region called the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG).
In humans, the left IFG is home…
laelaps | February 28, 2008Paleo-blogger Nimravid has put up an excellent summary of (surprise!) nimravids. It definitely outshines my earlier, feeble attempts to write about this extinct group of carnivores, and I highly suggest that you give it a look!
laelaps | February 27, 2008The UC Berkley hyena colony is facing a funding crisis; after being sustained for 22 years by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, the organization has decided not to renew funding for the studies undertaken at the institution. An emergency grant from the NSF will keep the colony going for about another year, but many animals have already been shipped to zoos and two older animals have been euthanized in order to make things more manageable in the present situation.
You can learn more about the dilemma via this article in Science (hat-tip to Behavioral Ecology Blog), but I sincerely…
grrlscientist | February 26, 2008tags: raccoon, Procyon lotor, mammals, raccoon pr0n, Image of the Day
Raccoons, Procyon lotor,
mating on a tree limb in Central Park, NYC -- in front of the children!
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
The photographer writes:
I hope its not too late to ask the kids to leave the room. If not, you might have to launch into your long dreaded and delayed explanation of the "birds and the bees." This arguably voyeuristic and slightly out of focus image was taken in Central Park at the height of the Northeastern Raccoon mating season.
In my continually expanding search for…
grrlscientist | February 25, 2008tags: black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes, endangered species, cute overload, streaming video
An endangered black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes, steals a CNN microphone cover. This is an animal that can move as fast backwards as forwards, or so it appears. Short, but incredibly cute footage of this lovely species. [0:46]
laelaps | February 24, 2008
A baby giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) peers over a fence. The species name of the giraffe comes from a mixing of "camel" and "leopard," giraffes exhibiting a body shape similar to a camel but the spots of a leopard. This sort of nomenclature also has its root in older, long discarded beliefs that some species could be made via unnatural matings between existing species. How a leopard would be able to successfully get a camel in the mood, though, I wouldn't hazard a guess.
laelaps | February 22, 2008
Unfortunately I don't have any photographs of charismatic carnivores in the snow, but here's another shot of Zeff the Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) on a cold February morning. I could probably get some today or tomorrow, but being that the snow is still coming down it's probably safer not to try and make it over the George Washington Bridge today.
grrlscientist | February 21, 2008tags: lynx, Lynx canadensis, mammals, Image of the Day
I have been digging through my image archives in my gmail account and found some real treasures that my readers sent to me. Unfortunately, I overlooked quite a few images that were sent when I was in the hospital and had poor computer access. So let me fix this oversight during the next few weeks;
Lynx, Lynx canadensis.
Orphaned image. [larger view].
laelaps | February 21, 2008
Two members of the three-cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) coalition at the Philadelphia Zoo.
laelaps | February 20, 2008Expert On Anteaters Wasted Entire Life Studying Anteaters
[Via the Onion]
laelaps | February 20, 2008
I had nearly forgotten about this photograph of a sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), but it's one of my favorites. Don't let their name or insect-based diet fool you, though; they can move quite quickly and are can be very dangerous to encounter. This is not because they are especially aggressive, but rather because they usually cannot see or hear humans until they are nearly on top of the bear, at which point the bear may attack in defense. Such facts don't mean much if you stumble into a sloth bear on a dark night, though, and according to at least one study there were as many as 735 sloth…
laelaps | February 19, 2008
While petsitting for a friend this past summer, I noticed that every afternoon a female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) would bring several fawns into the yard to forage every afternoon. Most days I had to photograph them from the house, the sound of a door opening sending them off into the woods, but on one particular day I was able to sneak outside and able to conceal myself in the bushes. This fawn came particularly close (although, as you can see from the blur on the right, I was still in the middle of my chosen cover), but the shutter quickly gave me away.
laelaps | February 18, 2008
A snow leopard (Panthera uncia) cub snacking on a bit of bone at the Bronx Zoo.
laelaps | February 17, 2008
The American mastodon (Mammut americanum), illustrated in one of Cuvier's memoirs.
I've had a bit of a rough weekend, but I did read something last night that brought a smile to my face. I was reading Paul Semonin's American Monster and I came across an unintentionally amusing quote from Thomas Jefferson, taken from one of Jefferson's letters to Willson Peale. The subject of the letter was what the name of the animal previously known as the "American incognitum," "Ohio animal," or mammoth should be called, Peale being unsure about a new moniker even though Georges Cuvier had shown the…
laelaps | February 17, 2008
Like yesterday's photo I was not able to get close enough to this animal to get a better shot, but given the difficulty I had photographing this chipmunk (Tamias sp.) I was still happy I was able to get a shot at all.
grrlscientist | February 16, 2008tags: Scandentia, tree shrew, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
This might be a tree shrew (but which species?)
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the NYC uptown subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.
laelaps | February 15, 2008
When I think of large, African carnivores, the big cats and spotted hyena come most immediately to mind. Indeed, most of the documentaries I watched growing up focused on the warfare between lion prides and hyena clans, and I had no idea that the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) existed until a few years ago. These dogs differ from other canid genera in a number of ways, most prominently the lack of a dewclaw and a set of massive molars. While they do not consume as much bone as spotted hyena, wild dogs are quite capable of cracking bones, and they make good use of their stout distal…
laelaps | February 14, 2008It's Valentine's day, so I'm allowed to put up some videos of excessively cute baby animals. I wouldn't imagine that a baby two-toed sloth (Choloepus sp.) would be at the top of anyone's list, but I'll let you decide for yourself;
The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is one of my most favorite of all animals, and even though the "baby" in this clip is a little old, mothers carry their offspring piggyback for some time;