Dorcas Gazelle

Gazella dorcas

The Dorcas Gazalle is a small, desert dwelling species of antelope that can be found in North Africa and the Middle East. There are about half a dozen located-based subspecies, including the Moroccan Dorcas Gazelle and the Israeli Isabella's Gazelle.

Dorcas Gazelles thrive in the desert thanks to some great adaptations. They never have to drink actual water, since they can derive all of their needed moisture from the plants that they eat. They also can withstand extreme temperatures and derive their social habits from the harshness of the conditions. When the conditions are rough they tend to live in small groups where there is less competition, but when things are better they will often form small herds consisting of a male, several females, and their offspring.

Males can become incredibly territorial during the mating season, and they mark off their land by creating dung piles. Gestation lasts around 6 months, and typically only one fawn is born at a time. These newborns are very well developed and are able to stand within an hour. Fawns will spend their first few weeks of life hiding out in bushes while their mothers graze. After two weeks they are strong enough to follow their mothers more actively, and they are fulling weaned by three months.

Dorcas Gazelles are currently listed as Vulnerable. Though the species on the whole is widespread, several of the subspecies are becoming rare and threatened due to illegal hunting and habitat loss. Conservation efforts include protection within designated reserves and captive breeding programs.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : North Africa and the Middle East
Size : Height up to 2ft (.6m), Weight up to 45lbs (20kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Gazella -- Species : G. dorcas

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Priscacara

Priscacara liops

Priscacara is the name of a now extinct genus of fish that was once abundant over 50 million years ago. Three separate species have been uncovered in fossil form, all within the Green River Formation in the state of Wyoming.

The Green River Formation is a pretty remarkable area, in that it has wonderfully preserved dozens of different early Eocene species. Aside from the Priscacara fish, snakes, crocodiles, birds, and numerous plants have all been found in the Formation.

The three species of Priscacara are actually related to modern Perch, and belong to the same family. They range in size from a few inches to just over a foot, and had round bodies with lower jaws that protruded outwards in order to grab small invertebrates from lake and river bottoms.

Fossils of the Priscacara species are quite common despite their age, and are often sold to collectors for only a few hundred dollars.

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Status : Extinct for around 50 million years
Location : Fossils found in Wyoming
Size : Length up to 13in (33cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Perciformes
Family : Percidae -- Genus : Priscacara

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Steller's Eider

Male Polysticta stelleri

Hey look! Another Steller's animal! I think we're almost through all of them... Sea Cow, Sea Eagle, Sea Lion... and now an Eider.

Eiders are Sea Ducks, and there are four different species (Steller's Eider actually belongs to a separate genus from the other three). Today's animal is actually the smallest of the Eiders, measuring only around 18in in length. Males and females have different coloration- Males have white heads, light coloring on their sides and wings, and black barring. Females are more uniformly dark brown.

Steller's Eiders live in the Arctic, and are actually less tied to sea than others of their type. They tend to nest on the tundra near smaller bodies of water, and travel in very large flocks that can easily number into the thousands. Steller's Eiders are a migratory species. They breed further north in the summer, and then travel as far as 2,000miles to their southern wintering and molting grounds.

Unfortunately, Steller's Eiders are listed as Vulnerable. Habitat loss, climate change, hunting, and pollution are all factors have all contributed to their decline. They are protected in Russia and the United States, and captive breeding programs are underway.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Arctic
Size : Length around 18in (45cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Anseriformes
Family : Anatidae -- Genus : Polysticta -- Species : P. stelleri

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Tasmanian Mock Walrus

Why not spend April Fools learning about an animal that doesn't even exist? Meet the Tasmanian Mock Walrus, a hoax animal that caused quite a bit of confusion way back on Aprils Fools Days, 1984.

As a joke, the Orlando Sentinel ran a story about the Tasmanian Mock Walrus, a 4in long creature that was the absolute perfect pet! It looked like a tiny Walrus! It could be littler box trained! It purrs like a cat and can even keep your house Cockroach free!

The story even contained a photo of one of the little guys, who were being bred in the United States for the first time by a couple down in Florida. Allegedly, the Pest Control industry was harassing this couple, as they were afraid they would lose business because of these new miracle pets!

So what was the little animal behind the newspaper prank? Just a regular old Naked Mole Rat. The story resulted in a flood of calls and letters to both the newspaper, and to Florida pet stores. It even made its way around the world! The demand was quite high for a creature that was completely made up!

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Swordfish

Xiphias gladius

The three most interesting things that I learned while reading about Swordfish are that 1) they are the only living members of their entire family. 2) Their genus name actually is the Latin word for sword. Convenient! And finally, 3) they have the widest temperature tolerance of any fish. They can be found in waters that range from 41-80 degrees F (5-27C)

Swordfish look a heck of a lot like Marlins and Sailfish, but they actually belong to two totally different families, though they are at least distantly related. They are a pelagic species that can be found in temperate and tropical ocean waters all around the world. They tend to migrate, moving into warmer waters in the winter and colder waters during the summer, but they also have that previously mentioned temperature tolerance, so they are able to survive at a variety of latitudes.

The sword of a Swordfish can actually make up 1/3 of their entire body length. They use the bill to thrash about while hunting, as it can stun and kill prey. The are opportunistic feeders, eating various types of squid, fish, and anything else they can grab.

Swordfish can grow really big! Though 10ft is usually considered large, individuals measuring over 14ft long have been observed. For such huge fish they lay tiny, tiny eggs. Each female can carry literally millions of eggs, all of which measure less than 2mm in diameter.

The species has been popular with recreational fisherman because of their aggressive nature and hard-to-catch attitude. They are also harvested commercially, though the meat tends to be higher in Mercury than many other Fish types. Currently Swordfish are listed as being of Least Concern, but because of longline commercial fishing they are listed on the Greenpeace Red List. Longline fishing results in bycatches and harms other fish species.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Tropical and Temperate oceans worldwide
Size : Length around 10ft (3m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Perciformes
Family : Xiphiidae -- Genus : Xiphias-- Species : X. gladius

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Helicoplacus

Helicoplacus

Today's animal might just be the oldest creature I've ever talked about. It lived in the early Cambrian period around 525 million years ago!

Helicoplacus is the genus name for two species of absolutely ancient Echinoderm. They are the earliest Echinoderm fossils that have ever been studied, and the specimens are pretty well preserved for being half a billion years old!

Helicoplacus species had skinny pine-cone shaped bodies that were vertically oriented and attached to the sea floor. They had very primitive respiratory systems, and there is dispute about where the mouth actually was. It is believed that the grooves that circled the bodies actually helped move food into a mouth, wherever it was placed.

Members of the genus lived for around 15 million years before going extinct.

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Status : Extinct for over 500 million years
Location : Fossils found in North America
Size : Length up to 2.8in (7cm)

Classification : Phylum : Echinodermata -- Class : †Helicoplacoidea -- Genus : Helicoplacus

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West Indian Manatee

Trichechus manatus

As I write this there are four living Sirenian species in the world. Three are Manatees, and one is the Dugong. The order gets its name from the Sirens of Greek myth, and there are legends of sailors mistaking this giant aquatic mammals for mermaids!

The West Indian Manatee is one of the three living Manatees, with the African and the Amazonian being the other two. Though they live exclusively in the water like Whales do, they aren't closely related at all. Their nearest living relatives are actually the other members of the Afrotheria superorder- Elephants, Hyraxes, Sengis, and Aardvarks. The Manatees and Dugongs evolved from wading African herbivores millions of years ago.

West Indian Manatee eating

West Indian Manatees can be found in the Caribbean, as well as along the coast of Central and South America. They can live in both fresh and saltwater, and make their homes in rivers, estuaries, canals, and other coastal, slow-moving waters that give them a steady food supply. Manatees are herbivores that feed on floating, aquatic plants. They can eat up to 150lbs of food every single day!

Did you know that the West Indian Manatee is a migratory species? Though they normally only travel at around 5mph (a very brisk walking speed for a human), they can move hundreds of miles in a year. In the United States they have been seen as far north as Massachusetts and New York over the summer months, though those occurrences are very rare.

West Indian Manatees live long, slow lives when compared to some other mammals. They can live as long as 60 years, they have long gestation periods (up to 14 months), and very lengthy reproductive cycles that can mean several years between calves.

The slow reproductive rate has been one of the things holding back the conservation effort. You see, West Indian Manatees were once hunted for their meat, skins, and oil, and they continue to be threatened by fast moving watercraft and by habitat loss. They are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, and are protected by the United States Endangered Species act, but it is a a very slow path to recovery, since they breed so slowly and because the human population in their area only continues to grow.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : South America and Caribbean Islands
Size : Length up to 11ft (3.5m), Weight up to 1,200lbs (544kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Sirenia
Family : Trichechidae -- Genus : Trichechus -- Species : T. manatus

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