Blue Crane

World Cup 2010 has begun, and unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably aware that it is taking place in South Africa, the first time it has ever been held on that continent. So in honor of this grand event, I present the national bird of South Africa: the Blue Crane. I had debated doing a write-up on the Springbok, their national animal, (and Rugby mascot) but I feel like I cover deer/antelope species far too often, so I'm going to put that one off till a later date (the finals perhaps?)

Image from Iyuefra.com

Anyway, less musing, more birds. 99% of all Blue Cranes (Anthropoides paradisea) are found within South Africa. They have the most restricted distribution of any crane species. They live in grassland areas, and sometimes use wetlands for breeding and roosting. Blue Cranes are a medium sized crane, standing about four feet tall and weighing in at eleven pounds. (In comparison, the largest crane, and also the largest flying bird, is the Sarus Crane. It stands 5.9 feet tall) They are bluish-grey in color, with black winds and legs. There is no distinction between the males and females of the species. Interestingly, the Blue Crane is the only crane that does not have the color red on it.

Blue Cranes reach breeding age at 3-4 years. They mate for life and the partners will rarely leave visual range of one another. Like other species of crane, Blue Crane mates engage in unison calling. It is believed that these calls and movements serve a variety of purposes outside of courtship, including motor development adn tension release. But anyway, back to breeding. They prefer to nest on the ground, in grassy areas where their eggs can be hidden. 2-3 eggs are laid at a time.

Poisoning from agriculture, and loss and alteration of habitats has placed the Blue Crane as vulnerable. The South African government and private groups have been working to protect the species.

The Blue Crane is found on the South African 5 cent coin!

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Hispaniolan Solenodon

Alright so. The Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) is considered to be one of the best examples of what mammals looked like during their beginnings over 70 million years ago. The ancestors of this shrew-like creature branched off from other mammalian families during the late Cretaceous period, and the extant Hispaniolan Solenodon is now one of the last few remaining native mammal species in the Caribbean. Literally dozens of mammal species existed on these islands prior to human colonization, but now due to loss of habitat and increased predation from introduced species populations, only around fifteen remain.

Image from Focus on Nature

The Hispaniolan Solenodon is unique to the island of Hispaniola, were it can be found in a multitude of habitats... well, that is, if you can find them. They are very difficult to locate in the wild, and at times many believed them to be extinct. Conservation efforts have been ongoing between various government agencies, zoo organizations, and the EDGE program. EDGE brings awareness and conservation to some of the rarest and most genetically unique mammal and amphibian species in the world. The Hispaniolan Solenodon is an EDGE Focal Species.

What makes the Hispaniolan Solenodon so unique? Well, aside from the 76 million year old evolutionary split, they are one of only a few mammals that can produce toxic saliva. This mechanism is used to capture their insect prey and is something that was more commonly found in prehistoric mammals. The venom is injected through their lower incisors. Solenodons are about the size of rats, are nocturnal, and live in family groups that consist of a breeding pair and one to two offspring. Only one case of captive breeding has ever been documented. Their life expectancy in the wild is unknown, but one captive individual lived eleven years, which places them as relatively long lived small mammal. Traditionally they only had three major predators, the Barn and Stygian Owls, and the Hispaniolan Boa. Today, feral dogs and cats, as well as mongoose introduced to the island, have hurt their numbers considerably. More information about this fascinating creature and its conservation can be found at EDGE and at The Last Survivors project.

Thank you so much to @greenantilles for the wonderful suggestion!

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Magnificent Hummingbird

The Magnificent Hummingbird, once known as Rivoli's Hummingbird,  is native to Central America and the south western United States and is one of the largest hummingbirds with a whopping 14cm body length and an 18 cm wingspan! (OK, I guess that's not really whopping, but it's pretty largest compared to the Bee Hummingbird which is only 5cm long!) There are two subspecies, Eugenes fulgens fulgens in the northern part of the range, and E. f. spectabilis in the south, primarily in Costa Rice and Panama. They are the only members of the genus Eugenes.

Image from Ownbyphotography.com

These lovely birds are identified by their green, purples and gray colors. The sexes appear differently, with the males having dark green backs, black undersides, purple crowns and shiny metallic green necks. The females are a bit less flashy, with a more olive colored green on their backs and grey undersides. They are typical of hummingbirds in many ways, but their size gives them a few differences. For one, they fly more slowly, and sometimes even glide. Also, though it consumes nectar like other species of hummingbird, the Magnificent Hummingbird also frequently dines on insects.

What I find interesting about these birds is that so little is known about them. They are not an endangered or threatened species, yet information about much of their behavior is not yet known. What we do know is that they reside in a variety of completely different habitats, lay two eggs at the time and that larger birds and snakes are their major predators.

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Horseshoe Crab

I've been working my way through back episodes of the PBS series "Nature." If you have never seen it, go to their website, they have tons of full episodes. It's amazing, really. Anyway. Recently I came across an episode titled "Crash: A Tale of Two species" and it drew me in in a way I had never expected, especially for a show whose major star is a weird looking invertebrate. Without doing an entire plot synopsis, it details the intricate relationship between a small, migratory sea bird known as a Red Knot, and the strange, ancient Horseshoe Crab. So today, inspired by that episode, we dive in to the world of the Horseshoe Crab!

Image from University of Delaware

First off, it isn't actually a crab at all. Though it belongs to the Arthropod phylum, along with crabs and other crustaceans, its subphylum is Chelicerata, home to spiders and scorpions. Moving further down the taxonomic chart, the four species of Horseshoe crab are the only living members of their entire Family, Order, and Class.  What that means in a nutshell is that they are quite unique genetically, and that they split from their nearest living relatives a long, long time ago. (The fact that there are only 4 species in the entire class is really strange when you consider that the three other classes in phylum Arthropoda- Insecta, Arachnida, and Crustacea- have one million, seventy thousand, and twenty thousands species respectively)

So I've already mentioned their ancient-ness. But just how ancient are they? Well, fossils of their ancestors have been found that date back 360 million years. That's 160 million years before any dinosaurs even showed up! They have survived massive extinctions when other related species (like Trilobites) have not. Now they are found primarily on the eastern coast of the United States. More Horseshoe Crabs spawn in Delaware Bay than in any other location on a planet. (Delaware has even designated them as their State Marine Animal)

Image from A Delmarva Odyssey

I could probably talk about these guys for an absurdly long amount of time, but I'll start to wrap this up with a few fast facts: Horseshoe crabs molt several times, stopping at around age ten. Females molt a few more times than males, making them larger. They also have ten eyes which are mostly light sensors! Oh, and their blood is Blue. Not only is it blue, but it has a unique trait in that detects bacteria and toxins and forms clots around them to contain and destroy. LAL testing, which uses this strange blood, is required by the FDA for all new IV and injectable drugs.

Anyway, to learn more about Horseshoe Crabs I would highly recommend watching the aforementioned "Nature" episode. Also, check out Horseshoecrab.org, and a Horseshoe Crab site put together by the University of Delaware. Both resources provide excellent information about the history, evolution and anatomy of this interesting invertebrates. Enjoy!

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Torosaurus

I haven't written about any Extinct animals since the Mother's Day Quagga, so I'm definitely overdue. Thus, I present the Torosaurus, a dinosaur which walked the earth during the late Cretaceous Period, around 70 million years ago. It also just so happens to be the very first dinosaur that you see when entering that particular wing at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

First discovered in 1889 in Wyoming, and then named in 1891, all Torosaurus fossils have been found in the western United States and Canada. The Torosaurus was a bird-hipped, herbivorous dinosaur that probably weighed around 4 tons. It used a beak like mouth to shear tough vegetation, and it also had the largest skull of any land animal yet discovered, with fossilized skulls measuring 8 feet in length. The skull also included a massive frill which had two large symmetrical openings, which possibly existed in order to cut off some weight. In addition, the Torosaurus had three large horns, two immediately above the eye socket, and one smaller one on the snout, all of which face forward.

Image from Texas Geology

The term Torosaurus encompasses an entire genus, conveniently named Torosaurus. Two species have been classified, though the true identity of the genus is under debate. So few fossil remains have been discovered that it is speculated that Torosauruses may actually be a different growth phase of the more abundant Triceratops. Recent studies into dinosaur growth have already eliminated a handful of species, and there are estimates that further research could eliminate 1/3 of all species entirely, as they are really just different growth stages of other species.

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Solomon Islands Leaf Frog

Because Alaska wasn't exactly teeming with cold blooded wildlife, (besides a few species of sea turtle, one toad, and two frogs) I've gotta give the reptiles and amphibians some love. So today's featured animal is a frog native to a climate that is the complete opposite of Alaska's: The Solomon Island Leaf Frog. Also known as the Solomon Island Eyelash Frog and the Triangle Frog, Ceratobatrachus guentheri is indigenous to the forest floors of hot and humid Papua New Guinea, and of course, the nearby Solomon Islands.

Frog at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Solomon Island Leaf Frogs are quite interesting in that they are one of the few types of frog that do not undergo a metamorphic phase. Most frogs (and amphibians in general) are born as tadpoles, and as they age they shift from their young aquatic forms to their adult land dwelling ones. Solomon Island Leaf Frogs have no tadpole phase outside of their egg development. They undergo metamorphosis within their eggs, and then hatch as tiny frogs which simply grow larger over time.

They come in a variety of different colors, from golden to duller browns, and are sometimes referred to as "eyelash" frogs due to the growths over their eyes that help to give them a more leafy appearance. They are sometimes kept as pets, and it is advised to not keep them where you are sleeping, since they are nocturnal creatures, and can produce some rather loud sounds.

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Alaska Week Complete!

Well, I can finally post an update here now that Blogger is back online. Alaska Week is over! And it didn't actually last two weeks! (just 8 days...) I had so many animals I wanted to include, so the few that I was able to force myself to cut out will be showing up sometime soon...

Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for the great comments and feedback. The animal randomness will be going back to normal for a bit. Keep sending over suggestions!

Oh, and you may have noticed yet another new layout. This blog is still new and I'm still messing around with things, so bear with me on the changes :)

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