To celebrate the 4th of July, and the fact that I just got back from South Carolina with more animal pictures than I know what to do with, we're going to talk about the American Alligator! There are only two extant species of Alligator, and the American is the largest. They live in freshwater swamps in the South Eastern United States and can grow up to 15 feet in length, though even larger specimens have been recorded. Alligators and other Crocodylians are very old species, with their ancestors appearing during the mesozoic era and surviving the great extinction that finished off the dinosaurs.
American Alligators are opportunistic predators, and will eat just about anything. There have been documented human killings, and since the statistics began in 1948, there have been 20 killings in the state of Florida. While that number does seem a bit chilling, overall humans are not a major part of the Alligators' diet. They eat birds, reptiles, mammals, insects and carrion. Alligators do not need to feed daily, and when the temperature cools down enough (below a around 73 degrees) they stop feeding all together and subsist on their stored up reserves. They can go for weeks at a time without feeding. American Alligators are very quiet hunters, moving towards prey with all but their eyes and nostrils submerged, and then springing forward in one fast movement to capture their meals. They are wonderful swimmers, but awkward on land. Alligators cannot chew their food, so they need to either consume meals small enough to swallow whole, or they have to tear off pieces of their kill.
Adult!
As far as reproduction goes, males attract females by bellowing. Interestingly, American Alligators do not have vocal cords. Despite this, the bellows can be heard over a mile away. Females build nests on land that protect and incubate her eggs, and she guards it vigilantly during the incubation period. Upon hatching, the young alligators alert their mother, who then has to dig them out of the nest. Juveniles remain with the mother for several months. In another interesting fact, a new study shows that female American Alligators choose to stay with the same breeding partner 70% of the time.
Feeding Time!
A question that I've been asked a handful of times is "What is the difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile?" Well, there are a few visible cues. First, the Alligator has a more broad, square head, while the Crocodile's is more pointy and triangular. The teeth can also be a big giveaway. The lower teeth of an Alligator fit snugly into their upper jaw, so only the top teeth might stick out. Crocodile teeth interlock, so both the upper and lower sets are visible externally. A less visible difference is the fact that Alligators stick pretty much exclusively to freshwater, where Crocodiles are more tolerant to salt water due to glands that allow them to filter out all of the salt. These are of course just a handful of difference between the two, but the jaw and teeth differences should be helpful in determining what you are looking at.
Writing about extinct animals is always a challenge to me because in so many circumstances the information is just not there. We know about the creatures from fossils that are so often incomplete, or from unreliable sources in the case of the more recently extinct animals. The Baiji falls into neither of these categories, as its functional extinction was sadly announced only four year ago, in 2006. If there are still individuals out there, they would be the rarest mammals on earth.
Only a hundred years ago thousands of these freshwater dolphins, also known as Chinese River Dolphins, swam the length of the Yangtze. Industrialization and fishing practices have led to their fast decline, and in 2006 a six-week, multi-national expedition uncovered no specimens. Reports of an sighting surfaced in 2007, but even if a handful of individuals remain, the population is unlikely to be sustainable. They have never been bred in captivity, though the Chinese government and international agencies have made steps in the past to set up programs.
Baijis (Lipotes vexillifer) have existed for millions of years, and are recorded in Chinese history for nearly two millennia. They are one of five species of freshwater dolphin, all of whom are listed by the IUCN as between vulnerable and critically endangered.
Baijis, like all dolphins, hunt by means of echolocation. They typically feed during the day and consume a variety of fish species that are found on both the river bottoms and on the surface. Another similarity to their saltwater cousins is their social organization. They live in small groups and use a variety of clicks and whistles for communication.
Physically, the Baiji grows to be about 8 feet long and weighs 500lbs. They have grey bodies, very long snouts, low dorsal fins, and small eyes that are functional but not especially useful in the murky waters. Gestation is 10-11 months, and one calf is born at a time. Life expectancy is around 25 years, based upon dentition and captive individuals.
Chlamyphorus truncatus has to have one of the cutest names of any animal. Seriously. Pink. Fairy. Also known as the Pichiciego, it's the smallest of all the armadillos, measuring between 3 and 6 inches long. The Giant Armadillo, in contrast, can measure nearly 40 inches.
Pink Fairy Armadillos are native to Argentina and prefer dry grasslands and sandy areas where the habitat is abundant in scrub brush and cacti. They are nocturnal creatures and wonderful little diggers. They live in burrows that often lie close to ant hills, one of their favorite types of prey. Other prey types include worms, snails, and some plant materials.
Pink Fairy Armadillos spend most of their time underground, and will usually only eave their burrows when the ground becomes unbearably moist. They are wonderfully adapted to such a life, with long front claws and torpedo shaped bodies. Tunneling is accomplished by shoveling dirt under the body with the front feet, and then pushing it backwards with the back. When startled out in the open they can bury themselves in a matter of seconds. They are unique among armadillos in that their dorsal shell is barely connected to their body. Pink Fairy Armadillos also possess a rear plate that covers their tail and is used for backside protection when fleeing from enemies.
Unfortunately, the Pink Fairy Armadillos are an endangered species. In their native Argentinian homes the are threatened by habitat destruction and consumption by dogs. They do very poorly in captivity, and no specimen has ever lived beyond four years while in captivity.
I was given a suggestion to write an article about a salamander. Not a specific salamander, just one of the 500 different species. So I chose this guy! Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum)are found throughout the Eastern United States, though you won't spot them too often. They are part of the genus Ambystoma, which is commonly known as the mole salamanders. They are nocturnal and spend most of their time hiding underneath things, hence the name. Marbled Salamanders can be spotted during their breeding season, when they take part in some interesting activities.
What are these activities? Well, the Marbled Salamander is pretty unique in that it doesn't actually lay its eggs underwater. After the males and females mate in the fall, the males disappear off into the wilderness while the females go and find a suitable location to lay her eggs. This area may be a tree, a ditch, anything... just as long as it will eventually be covered with water. She lays her eggs there and guards over them, also a bit unusual for a salamander. When the rain comes, her eggs become submerged and then hatch. If they don't come... then they remain dormant and hatch during the spring wet season. After hatching the young salamanders grow rapidly, sometimes reaching metamorphosis after only a few months.
The Marbled Salamander is named because of the silvery bands that form patterns on their otherwise black bodies. They have long tails that comprise up to 40% of their body length, and they grow to be about 4inches long as adults. They have big appetites and consume (among other things) insects, worms and snails. Marbled Salamander have quite a few predators of their own, and in some local areas their habitats are being threatened by humans. Overall though, they are listed as being of Least Concern due to their wide range and overall stable population trend.
I feel like I've been writing a lot about poison and neurotoxins lately, but hey, interesting! Pitohuis (pronounced pit-oo-eey) are the six species found within the genus Pitohui. (clever) They are all brightly colored songbirds endemic to New Guinea. They are also among the most toxic birds in the world. One species, the Hooded Pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) takes the top prize as the most poisonous bird on earth! (It is also interestingly the first poisonous bird ever discovered)
Pitohuis do not actually produce their own poison. They consume beetles of the Choresine genus, who themselves produce high amounts of batrachotoxins (BTX), a type of neurotoxin. This is the same substance that makes Poison Dart Frogs so dangerous, and the word batrachotoxin itself comes from the Greek for "Frog" and "Poison." Anyway, after beetle consumption the toxin then finds its way into the skin and feathers of the Pitohuis, and serves to detract predators. The toxin is pretty dangerous, it "depolarizes nerve and muscle membranes by binding and activating voltage-dependent sodium channels." (SOURCE)
The man who first discovered the toxicity of these birds actually did so because he got scratched and bit by a specimen, and then put his finger in his mouth.... and then his tongue and lips went numb. Just touching the feathers of a Hooded Pitohui can cause eye irritation and sneezing. A rather interesting study was done on Pitohuis and Chewing Lice (the source I linked to above) that shows lice prefer to live in feathers that do not contain the toxin. So not only does it protect from larger predators that may want to eat the bird, but it protects them for parasites as well.
But now enough about the poison and on to some other information. As previously mentioned, Pitohuis consume beetle, though they also consume other insects, and will also eat fruits and seeds. All six species are brightly colored, typically with various shades of orange, red, and black. They lay 1-2 eggs at a time, and grow up to about 24cm in length.
The Portuguese Man Of War, found in the world's warm water oceans, is a very interesting animal indeed. First off, it is not a jellyfish. Even though it may look like a Jellyfish, and sting like a Jellyfish, (more on that later) it is a siphonophore, an animal that is actually made up of multiple organisms working together. How does this work exactly? Well, the Man Of War consists of four distinct parts, a gas-filled bladder (the pneumatophore), the tentacles which can detect and capture prey, a polyp containing digestive organs, and a polyp for reproduction.
The Man Of War takes its name from part #1- the gas-filled bladder. This polyp rests atop the water and has a sail like appearance ala a Portuguese battleship. This polyp can reach up to a foot in length and extend 6 inches above the water. The Man of War is only able to float and has very little control over its movements, which is why they tend to wash up on shore. The other three polyp types rest underneath the float. The long tentacles can reach lengths of 165ft, and are covered with nematocystic structures that sting and paralyze prey. Following that, muscles in the tentacles draw the meal up to the digestive polyps, which then cover and digest. The fourth polyp, as previously mentioned, relates to reproduction. The Man Of War (Men Of War?) fertilize externally, releasing the sperm and eggs into the sea.
The stingers of a Man Of War can be dangerous to humans, though are not often fatal. A sting causes immediate redness and burning pain followed by a string of lesions appeared at the sting site. Treatment for a sting involves the careful removal of any remaining tentacle pieces, rinsing with salt water, and the application of topical ointments. It can sometimes take 6-8 weeks for symptoms to fully disappear and more dangerous symptoms, including increased heart rate and difficulty breathing, can arise.
But enough of the scary stuff! The Portuguese Man Of War does have predators despite its nasty sting. Loggerhead Turtles have a fondness for them, as their skin is too thick to be affected by the stingers. There are also a handful of fish that are immune to the venom. This allows them to either eat the Man Of War, or to use it as a safe heaven to hide from other predators.
The Binturong (Arctictis binturong) also has an equally awesome alternate common name, the Bearcat! However, it really isn't much of a bear OR a cat. While it is true that it is part of the Feliforma suborder, it is not a member of family Felidae. Binturongs are a part of their own family, Viverridae, which is shared with Civets, Linsangs, and Genets. There are six subspecies of Binturong, all of which have slight differences based upon location and habitat. Binturongs range in body size from 60-100cm in length, (not including their tail which has roughly the same length) and weigh between 20 and 30lbs.
Binturongs are nocturnal animals native to the rain forests of South East Asia. The species range spans through several countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. They are tree dwelling mammals, and have fully prehensile tails that basically double their body length and can be used to cling to the trees or to grasp food. Binturongs are phenomenal climbers, and can even move upside down from branch to branch and rotate their back ankles to assist in grasping. However, they are quite awkward when it comes to ground movement, and tend to amble from side to side a bit like a bear. They are omnivores and will eat fruits, leaves, rodents, insects and even carrion. Binturongs are important to their habitat because their digestive system is able to break down tough strangler fig seed shells. Once the seeds pass through and are defecated they are capable of being planted.
I feel that one of the most interesting things about Binturongs is their smell. They smell like buttered popcorn. Their scent is produced by glands under the tail, and is left behind on the things that they climb over. The purpose of this scent is to mark territory, which can either help in finding mates, or act as an alert to trespassers. Another interesting fact is that the Binturong is one of only a few mammal species capable of delayed implantation. This means that they can breed year round, but time the birth of their young to favorable conditions. They have a gestation period of 91 days, and usually have litters of 2-3cubs. January through March are the peak months for giving birth.
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