Monday, August 28 2006
By elo on Monday, August 28 2006, 09:18
Three species of these insectivore and frugivore mammals can be found
on the American continent from Arizona to Argentina. Those three
species are characterized by their fur’s colour. Coatis have ringed
tails often held up. They also are diurnal animals (unlike the
Procyonidae (raccons) family to which they belong).
source : flickr (no.zomi) and wikipedia
Friday, August 25 2006
By elo on Friday, August 25 2006, 09:19
Chipmunks are North American little rodents belonging to the squirrel
family. They live in forests where they eat grains, chestnuts,
mushrooms, and birds’ eggs. They keep food in their burrows in order to
prepare for winter. Chipmunks’ burrows can be as long as 3 meters
organised into different rooms with several closed entries.
source : flickr (SugarbearSteve) and wikipedia
Thursday, August 24 2006
By elo on Thursday, August 24 2006, 09:41
These shellfish can be found in Caribbean Sea. They live inside corals
and feed from those (Those are horned corals: Bright coloured and stuck
to sandy grounds whereas regular corals are stuck to hard grounds).
Their approximately 3 cm long shells is covered by orange spots on
black, that they can retract when an animal approaches.
This
shellfish used to be a currency, and be so called in French. It’s a
quite common shellfish but unfortunately picked up too much by divers;
that phenomena threatening this specie.
source : flickr (laszlo-photo), here, here and there
Wednesday, August 23 2006
By elo on Wednesday, August 23 2006, 09:09
King vultures are tropical vultures that can be found in South and
Central America. As all the other vultures, they eat carcass using
their little but resistant beak. They have a very developed smell.
source : flickr (True_Bavarian) and wikipedia
Tuesday, August 22 2006
By elo on Tuesday, August 22 2006, 09:37
Golden toads used to live in high areas in tropical forests up the
town of Monteverde of Costa Rica. Those five centimetres long toads’
male are orange almost fluorescent; females are yellow with black
spots. They are considered extinct since 1989. Their reproduction’s
necessary condition where quite delicate : between April and June,
where it rains the most, they get out, reproduce and females then lay
eggs in temporary ponds and brooks created by rain. This toad was a lot
dependant on rain. Not enough rain, ponds get dry and larva die. Too
much, brooks get down the mountains and dispatch larva. 1987 dryness
created a bloodbath: 29 on a 43,500 potential larva lived. (This
phenomena was observed by Marty Crump, herpetologist, who think El Niño
and global warm are responsible for this animal’s extinction.
(This picture is a sculpture, not a real toad.)
source : flickr (Thomas Hawk) and wikipedia | crapaud doré on batraciens-reptiles.com | golden toad on bagheera
Monday, August 21 2006
By elo on Monday, August 21 2006, 09:10
There are 950 species of this unique flying mammal. Bats rarely
land where they are quite awkward; as for rest time, they prefer hanging
upside down by the claws on their tiptoes. Bats hunt by night. They
mainly are insectivore; some tropical ones can eat fruits and three
feeds from little mammals’ blood. In order to move and localise their
prey, they use ultrasounds (echolocation) thanks to their vocal cords
source : flickr (Thomas Hawk) and wikipedia
Friday, August 18 2006
By elo on Friday, August 18 2006, 07:35
Bald eagles are North America birds of prey well known for being the
USA emblem. Even though the English name is bald eagle, they aren’t
exactly belonging to the eagle family. They are recognisable by their
head and white tail as much as by their large yellow beak. They live
around rivers, lakes, and near coasts where they eat other birds and
fish corpses (He can steal those from other predators). They build very
large and high nests (sometimes as high as 1 metre) on the ground or in
high trees.
source : flickr (creativity+) and wikipedia
Thursday, August 17 2006
By elo on Thursday, August 17 2006, 07:32
Leopards or panthers live in Asia and Africa. Their fur is usually with
spots but some are entirely black (Black panther). Leopards hunt by
night; capture and kill deer or boars thanks to their vivacity
(Leopards are almost as quick as cheetahs.), they eat then in trees on
which they climb, thanks to their powerful paw muscles, and spend most
of their time.
Some of leopards’ species like North China leopards are
endangered.
source : flickr (Michael Poliza) and wikipedia
Wednesday, August 16 2006
By elo on Wednesday, August 16 2006, 21:30
Chameleons are reptiles mostly African from iguana family. They’re
characterized by their ability to change their body colours: the can
become green to maroon different bright colours in between in order to
camouflage, defend themselves, seduce, or just show their mood. In
order to eat, chameleons can stay still and hidden in trees for several
hours until a prey comes and get eaten by them. Chameleons’ tong can be
as long as their bodies.
source : flickr (Michael Poliza) and wikipedia (animal suggestion of rakanishu )
Tuesday, August 15 2006
By elo on Tuesday, August 15 2006, 07:31
Walrus are arctic mammals; they usually look quite calm (whenever
they’re not in rut period, when they fight each other). They belong to
the same family as seals: they feed and reproduce underwater. They are
excellent swimmers who can stay underwater for half an hour about dozen
meters deep. They mainly eat fish, and mollusks. Their natural
predators are orcas, polar bears and men (because of their ivory
tusks).
source : flickr (Andre Boffin) and wikipedia