Knobbed Hornbill

Aceros cassidix (male)

The Knobbed Hornbill is a large Hornbill that is endemic to the lowland forests of Indonesia. They are primarily herbivores, and feed on fruits and berries. They also will snatch up the occasional insect.

Knobbed Hornbills are monogamous, often for life, and are usually found in pairs. Both sexes have large yellow bills and pale blue skin around the eyes and throat. Males have a very large red casque on their heads, and light colored feathers on the neck. Females are smaller in size over, have short yellow casques, and black necks.

Female

The Knobbed Hornbills have an interesting nesting style. When it comes time to mate, the pair will build a nest inside of a tree cavity. The female will then enter that cavity and be sealed in with a wall of mud, saliva, and other debris. A small hole will be left in the wall to pass in food and to keep the nest clean. The male will  spend more than four months slipping regurgitated food into the nest for his mate and their offspring. When his food supply is not enough, the female will break out, leaving the chicks inside to be fed and kept safe for a few more weeks!

One other fun fact that I found about these birds is that they are sometimes referred to as "Year Birds" by the locals. This name references the red stripe-plates on the sides of the bills, which were thought to identify the bird's age. In truth, those plates can fall off and be replaced, so they aren't very good indicators!

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Indonesia
Size :  Length up to 3ft (.9m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Coraciiformes
Family : Bucerotidae -- Genus : Aceros -- Species : A. cassidix

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Butikaw

Varanus bitatawa

Today's animal goes by two different common names. The first is the titles of this post- Butikaw. This is the name given to the Lizard by the local residents. The second is Northern Seirra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard. Which is a bit of a mouthful. You can see why we'll be using the shorter name, right?

The Butikaw is actually a relatively new species to science-- they were first described and catalgoed as a species only a few years ago. The Butikaw is quite notable because it is one of only three frugivorous Monitor Lizard species in the entire world. They are actually close relatives to the Komodo Dragon, which makes their diet all the more surprising!

Doubly interesting is that this is a new species that is very, very large. Oftentimes the new animals that we find are very small, and are not as easily noticed. The Butikaw can grow to be 2m long! Granted, the indigenous people of the region had known about the large reptiles for hundreds of years, but it wasn't until 2001 that biologists noticed a picture and began to investigate. They also probably avoided detection because they rarely come to the ground. They live as high as 60ft up in the trees, and may only descend once a week for a very short period of time.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Philippines
Size :  Length up to 6.5ft (2m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Reptilia -- Order : Squamata
Family : Varanidae -- Genus : Varanus-- Species : V. bitatawa

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American Cheetah

Miracinonyx trumani

The American Cheetah is a cat surrounded in taxonomic controversy. Are they Cheetahs? Are they Pumas? Are they both? Unfortunately, the two species, M. inexpectatus and M. trumani, are known only from fragmentary fossils, so until more turns up it will be difficult to know for sure!

What we do know is that the two species lived in North America during the Pleistocene, from around 3 million to 10,000 years ago. They had characteristics that were very similar to modern Cheetahs (who themselves are taxonomically distinct from all other extant cats). Flat faces, short nasal cavities, flexible backs, and long legs are all similarities between the modern and extinct cats.

However, those similarities might just be due to a case of convergent evolution. There is some evidence to suggest that these Cats are actually relatives of Pumas and Cougers, not Cheetahs. They may have just evolved in the same way as the Cheetah, due to the fact that they lived in the same open plains and hunted the same type of prey. Interestingly, there is a theory that Pronghorn Antelopes, some of the fastest land animals alive, evolved their speed directly as a response to the fast American Cheetahs that hunted them!

There will continue to be questions about the American Cheetahs until we uncover more fossils and information. It may even come to pass that the two species are split up from one another-- M. trumani, for example, is more Cheetah-like than M. inexpectatus.

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Status : Extinct for around 10,000 years
Location : North America
Size :  Body length up to 67in (1.7m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Carnivora
Family : Felidae -- Genus : Miracinonyx

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Vulturine Guineafowl

Acryllium vulturinum

Meet the Vulturine Guineafowl, the largest of all the Guineafowl species. These strange looking birds can be found in eastern Africa, where they inhabit dry grass and scrublands.

Vulturine Guineafowl get their name, of course, from their Vulture-like appearance. While all Guineafowl have bare heads, this species lacks feathers all the way down the neck as well, giving it a very strong resemblance to the scavenging birds.

This bird is also interesting because they much prefer to run rather than fly. When alarmed, they scamper off to hide instead of flying away. They do roost high up in trees, but forage on the ground for small invertebrates, rodents, reptiles, roots, and seeds. Even young Guineafowl are excellent runners. They are precocial and are on their feet not long after hatching.

Vulturine Guineafowl are kept in aviculture. They are hardy, heat tolerant birds.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Africa
Size :  Body length up to 27in (70cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Galliformes
Family : Numididae -- Genus : Acryllium -- Species : A. vulturinum

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Driver Ants

Dorylus sp.

Today we're going to learn about a genus of Ant called Dorylus. Their are sometimes referred to as  "Driver Ants" or "Safari Ants." There are 63 different species within this genus, and they can be found mostly in Africa, with a few ranges extending into southern Asia. Driver Ants are known for their ground scavenging raids, where large numbers of ants will find, take, and steal food.

Driver Ants are also interesting because of the seasonal migrations that they make in search of food. When supplies run short, the colonies (which can number in the tens of millions) form a massive marching column that slowly moves to a new supply. These columns are very defensive, and will attack anything that gets in their way-- including humans! The soldiers have very strong jaws that can leave significant puncture wounds. Large numbers of ants can even kill and consume much larger creatures than them, like Rats.

Queens within this genus are some of the largest ants in the world. D. molestus, an East African species, has queens that can grow nearly 3in long! As with most ants, the drones are all sterile females. Males (sometimes called "Sausage Flies for their huge abdomens) actually leave the colony soon after hatching, but will be drawn back to the smell of them once they are mature. When the Drones find a male, they rip off his wings and bring him to the queen for mating. He dies shortly afterward.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Africa, Asia
Size :  Worker size from 3-11mm

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Order : Hymenoptera
Family : Formicidae -- Genus : Dorylus

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Kouprey

Bos sauveli (the only captive Kouprey)

Meet the Kouprey, one of the rarest hoofed mammals still alive on our planet-- in fact, it may actually extinct. These large bovines are close relatives  to the Guar and the extinct Aurochs, and could be found in only a very tiny range that includes parts of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Koupreys live in partially forested areas, where they live in small herds and feed on grasses during the night time. (It is believed they may have been diurnal once, but they adapted to avoid human contact). They have long, narrow bodies, very long legs, and have small humps on their back. Males and females can be told apart by their size, their horns, and their necks. Males have larger bodies and much larger horns that branch upwards. They also have dewlaps on their necks. Females are smaller, have shorter curved horns, and no dewlap.

The Kouprey was only first discovered in 1937, and the only captive specimen was taken that same year. There have been no official sightings since 1988, though tracks have been found and bones have turned up. If they are still out there, there are probably less than 50 left. Koupreys are protected in all countries of their range, and were named the national animal of Cambodia in the 1960s. There are no captive Koupreys currently, so the wild bunch is all we have left.

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IUCN Status : Critically Endangered
Location : Southeast Asia
Size :  Body length up to 7.5ft (2.3m), Weight up to 2,000lbs (910kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Bos -- Species : B. sauveli

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Spotted Jelly

Mastigias papua

The Spotted Jelly is a neat little Jellyfish that hails from the shallow lagoons and bays of the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Theya re also sometimes referred to as Lagoon Jellyfish). They aren't especially, large, but aren't by any means tiny either. They can grow to lengths of around 1ft (30cm), with bell diameters of about 4in (12cm).

Each Spotted Jelly has four interesting little arms that each have mouth openings on them. That's right, they don't have just one mouth, they have a whole bunch of mouths! They use all those tiny mouths to feed on different kinds of Zooplankton.

Because they only eat really tiny things, small fish sometimes hang out near the Jellies. Like many jellyfish, this particular species has the ability to inject toxins into attackers, so the little fish will actually swim up inside the bell to stay safe! (The toxin will cause pain and nausea in humans, but there have been no reported deaths)

Spotted Jellies are normally solitary, but sometimes groups will form when they swim towards the surface during the daytime (they then descend deeper at night). They are able to reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexually reproduction takes places only during times when water is cooler, but asexual reproduction (through budding) can happen year round.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Southern Pacific Ocean
Size :  Body diameter around 4in (12cm)

Classification : Phylum : Cnidaria -- Class : Scyphozoa -- Order : Rhizostomeae
Family : Mastigiidae -- Genus : Mastigias -- Species : M. papua

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