Delicate Mouse

Mus tenellus

Today's creature is one of those animals that not very much is written about. Maybe it is due to their small size? Maybe specific mouse species just aren't distinguishable enough from one another? Well, we're going to try and learn as much about the Delicate Mouse as possible anyway (though it may not be much). Because who couldn't be interested in a tiny creature with a name like that?

The Delicate Mouse is one of many, many species found within the Mus genus. What makes them (sort of) stand out is their location-- Mice are divided into five different location-based subgenera, and the Delicate Mice belong to the group that is exclusively found in Sub-Saharan Africa. They have been recorded in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and were first described in 1903.

Within their range, the Delicate Mice live in dry savanna habitats that are at low elevations. They feed on different grains and grasses, and they themselves serve as prey for an absolute plethora of predators, including snakes, birds of prey, and a wide range of mammals.

Their are no major threats affecting the Delicate Mice, and they are common throughout their range. Their population is presently considered to be stable, though it is unknown how adaptable they will be should they encounter increased habitat loss.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Sub-Saharan Africa
Size : Length around 9cm

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Rodentia
Family : Muridae -- Genus : Mus -- Species : M. tenellus

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Tufted Puffin

Fratercula cirrhata

Meet the Tufted Puffin, a seabird from the Northern Pacific that is the largest of the Puffin species.

These birds are best identified by their breeding plumage, which shows up only during the summer months. Their normally yellow/orange bills and feet turn bright red, their black faces change to white, and both sexes grow large yellow feather tufts.

The Tufted Puffins breed in large colonies-- some of them have literally tens of thousands of pairs! They build very crude nests, placing a soft lining of feathers and plants in a rock crevice, or in a burrows scratched out with their feet. Only one egg is laid at a time, and the chick is incubated and cared for by both parents.

Tufted Puffins are much better in the water than they are on land. They are able to dive after their fishy food, and they typically eat their meals while still under water. The exception to this is when they have offspring to take care of. A Puffin parent can hold as many as 20 fish horizontally in their beak in order to take the food home to feed their chick.

Tufted Puffins are currently listed as being of Least Concern, but their population was not always doing so well.These birds thrive in areas that are free of mammalian predators, which unfortunately were introduced to several Puffin islands during the 19th and 20th centuries. The mammals destroyed the Puffin colonies, but efforts to remove the invasive hunters have allowed the Puffins to rebound spectacularly. Native peoples have also traditionally hunted the Puffins for their meat, feathers, and hides, but the practice is now discouraged (or even illegal) in many areas.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : North Pacific
Size : Length around 15in (35cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Charadriiformes
Family : Alcidae -- Genus : Fratercula -- Species : F. cirrhata

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Catahoula Leopard Dog

Red Merle Catahoula Leopard Dog

The Catahoula Leopard Dog (also known as the Catahoula Cur) is an American dog breed that has an ancestry dating back hundreds of years. Many believe that they are the result of crossings between native bred dogs and the sight-hounds and molossers brought over by European explorers in the 16th century. An alternative theory is that their origin may be more recent-- when 19th century French Settlers brought over Beaucerons those dogs bred with the native stock.

Regardless of their exact date of origin (heck, both theories could even be true!), a mixing of European and North American bloodlines certainly created this interesting looking breed, which is named after a Parish in Louisiana and was designated as their State Dog in 1979.

Catahoula Leopard Dogs were bred to be working dogs, and their most common purposes are for tracking and hunting, and also for livestock herding. They also serve as search and rescue dogs as as drug snigging dogs.

Because the working ability was more important than the appearance, Catahoula Leopard Dogs come in a huge variety of coat colors and lengths, though the short merle and patchwork coats are the most iconic. They can also be found in other combinations of black, grey, and brown, and have coats that are more coarse or more woolly. They even have variations when it comes to their tails! Most are born with tails, while some are born without!

These dogs are described as being incredibly energetic, immensely intelligent, and incredibly hard working. They crave interaction and require a great amount of stimulation in order to stay at their happiest.

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Status : Domesticated
Location : Originated in the Southeastern United States
Size : Height 20-26in (51-66cm), Weight 40-90lbs (18-40kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Carnivora
Family : Canidae -- Genus : Canis -- Species : C. lupus -- Subspecies : C. l. familiaris

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Giant Pangasuis

Pangasius sanitwongsei

Meet the Giant Pangasuis, who certainly is one monster of a fish! These dwellers of the Mekong and Chao Phraya River basins can grow nearly 10ft long, and they are second in Catfish size only to the Mekong Giant Catfish. The species is also sometimes referred to as the Paroon Shark and the Chao Phraya Giant Catfish.

In the wild, the Giant Panasuis is a migratory creature, moving upstream in order to spawn just before the monsoon season hits. And when it comes to feeding they are technically omnivores, though they tend to consume meat more often then not. Adults live in the large rivers, while juveniles are found in smaller tributaries.

Unfortunately.. like many large fish in developed areas, they are becoming very, very rare. The Giant Pangasuis is now listed as Critically Endangered. Overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, and capture for the (doomed) pet trade have all been factors for their decline. (I say "doomed" because even though hundreds, if not thousands enter the trade, very few actually live to adulthood, due to their demands, size, and skittish nature that can result in injury.) The Catfish have also had religious rites and ceremonies associated with their capture.

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IUCN Status : Critically Endangered
Location : Southeast Asia
Size : Length up to 9ft (2.75m), Weight up to 660lbs (300kg)

Classification : Phylum: Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Siluriformes
Family : Pangasiidae -- Genus : Pangasius -- Species : P. sanitwongsei

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Cape Lobster

Homarinus capensis

The Cape Lobster is a species of Crustacean that lives off the coast of South Africa. The main things to know about these guys is that they are incredibly elusive. From 1792 to 1992 only fourteen specimens were collected.

In 1992 the discovery of one of these rare Lobsters prompted a surge in discovery, and another 20 or so have been identified since... though most have been as parts regurgitated by fish.

Why are Cape Lobsters so hard to find? South Africa's waters have been more explored, studied, and cataloged than any other country's on the continent, why is the story here? Well, the Cape Lobsters are very small, especially when compared to the lobsters we normally think of. Their entire length is only around 4in, and their main carapace tops out around 2. This keeps them out of most Lobster traps.

Another cause for their elusiveness is that very little is known about their habitat and biology, and much of the existing information has been proven incorrect (they don't live in fresh water, for example). Cape Lobsters most likely live in rocky substrate areas, which are difficult to dredge or trawl in, so the Lobsters don't show up as a bycatch.

Cape Lobsters were once placed in the same genus as their larger American and European cousins. In 1995 it was determined that their relationship is more distant than previously thought, and they are now members of a monotypic genus.

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IUCN Status : Data Deficient
Location : South Africa
Size : Length up to 4in (10cm)

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Subphylum : Crustacea -- Class
: Malacostraca
Order : Decapoda -- Family : Nephropidae -- Genus : Homarinus -- Species : H. capensis

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Variegated Fairywren

Malurus lamberti (male and females)

I just love the look of today's animal-- the Variegated Fairywren. Their name means "having streaks or patches of different colors," which is very true for the males. They sport black chests, bright chestnut patches on the shoulders, and brilliant blue heads. (Females are shades of grey).

You can find the Variegated Fairywren (and most other Fairywrens) in Australia, where they are the most common and widespread members of their genus. There are four different subspecies, each found in a different location across the continent.

These little birds are incredibly active, spending large chunks of their day hopping about on the ground and in low foliage in search of food. Their long tails help them to balance while bouncing around, searching for insects to eat.

The social structure of the Variegated Fairywren is rather interesting. After breeding (which can occur at any time of the year but is most frequent in Spring and Summer) the females do all the incubating on their own. However, they do get chick-raising help from non-breeding helpers, who are oftentimes children from previous broods.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Australia
Size : Length up to 6in (15cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Passeriformes
Family : Maluridae -- Genus : Malurus -- Species : M. lamberti

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Pleurosaurus

Pleurosaurus

A long, long time ago we talked about the Tuatara-- the last living reptiles that belong to an incredibly ancient Order that dates to the Mesozoic. Though only two species of Tuatara survive today, there were once several other different Sphenodontians roaming the planet, and today's animal is one of them.

Meet Pleurosaurus, a very snake like reptile that lived an aquatic lifestyle in what are now the lakes of Western Europe. Pleurosaurus was a small little guy, measuring only about 2ft long, and its entire body was streamlined for marine hunting efficiency. They had incredibly thin bodies, very short appendages, and a long, powerful tail. They most likely swam in an undulating motion, as Sea Snakes do, and probably didn't use their small arms much at all.

Pleurosaurus also had nostrils that were placed closer to their eyes than to their snout. This adaptation probably allowed them to hunt fish easier in the shallow lakes where they lived.

Fossils of the species were first found in Bavaria, Germany in the 1830s. They date back to the late Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago.

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Status : Extinct since the Late Jurassic - 150 million years
Location : Western Europe
Size : Length up to 2ft (61cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Sauropsida -- Order : Sphenodontia
Family : Pleurosauridae -- Genus : Pleurosaurus

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