Black Squirrel Monkey

Saimiri vanzolinii

The Black Squirrel Monkey has the smallest geographic range of all the South American primates. They are found exclusively in a patch of Northern Brazil, near the convergence of the Japura and Amazon rivers. Altogether, this range only covers about 200 square miles!

Black Squirrel Monkeys have yellowish-brown undersides, with black backs and white rings around their eyes. They additionally sport long tails that can reach 3.5ft in length-- a contrast to their 2.5ft body sizes.

Black Squirrel Monkeys live in mixed-sex groups, and when it comes time to breed the males will fight each other over breeding rights (though a female may actually mate with multiple males each season). Only one infant is born at a time, and the females do all of the childrearing.

It should come as no surprise that these Monkeys are listed as Vulnerable. Having such a small geographic range puts them in danger of extinction. Luckily, they are easy to raise in captivity, and are found in numerous zoos. Should habitat loss continue to be a problem the Monkeys wont be completly wiped out, though maintaining their home range is greatly preferred.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : South America
Size : Body length up to 12in (31cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Primates
Family : Cebidae -- Genus : Saimiri -- Species : S. vanzolinii

Image : Giovanni Mari

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Purple-striped Jelly

Chrysaora colorata

The Purple-striped Jelly is a large Jellyfish that is named for the violet radial strip
es that cover its bell. They can be found off of the coast of California, primarily in the Monterey Bay area.

These Jellies can grow to a pretty good size-- their bell diameter can measure upwards of two feet! As adults they have the aforementioned Bell Stripes, but as juveniles they have a more subdued coloration, with very dark tentacles. As the Jelly ages, the bell stripes appear but the tentacles lighten in color. And did you know that Purple-striped Jellies often have hitchhikers-- certain species of Cancer crab will hitch rides in the bell!

These critters are popular in Aquariums, but they never really reach the large sizes that are found in the wild.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Coastal California
Size : Bell up to 2.3ft (.7m) in diameter

Classification : Phylum : Cnidaria -- Class : Scyphozoa Order : Semaeostomeae
Family : Pelagiidae -- Genus : Chrysaora -- Species  : C. colorata

Image : Captmondo

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Dibatag

Ammodorcas clarkei

The Dibatag is sometimes called "Clarke's Gazelle," though that name is misleading as they are not true Gazelles at all. They actually belong to their own genus entirely.

You've probably never heard of this Antelope (I know I hadn't until researching this) because they hail from an unstable and arid part of the planet, and because there are no captive populations whatsoever. If you wished to seek them out you would have to travel to the dry grasslands of Somalia and Ethiopia where they tend to be solitary or live in very small groups-- their mating system is unknown.

Their name comes from the Somali for "erect tail," because they lift their relatively long (up to 1ft) black tails when fleeing danger. They also have white facial stripes and dark horns, giving them markings that are similar to a true Gazelles.

 The Dibatag is listed as Vulnerable because human settlement and conflict has reduced their population to only a few thousand living members. They are also hunted for their meat and hides.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Ethiopia, Somalia
Size : Body length up to 66in (1.7m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Ammodorcas -- Species : A. clarkei

Image : Joseph Smit

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Paramylodon

Paramylodon harlani

See that skeletal reconstruction? That nearly 10foot tall, monstrously sized creature?

That's a sloth.

An extinct Ground Sloth to be exact. Meet Paramylodon, a distant cousin to the slow tree dwellers we know today. (And by distant... I mean really distant. Their last common ancestor lived about 30 million years ago!)

Paramylodon lived between 5 million and 11,000 years ago, and it's fossils have been found in the United States,  Canada, Mexico, and in Central America. Notable fossils have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits, and many (including those in the image) are on display at the Page Museum there.

One rather interesting fact about Paramylodon is that is had dermal ossicles. This means that they had bony growths under their skin that gave them some extra defense against predators. While there are a few other Ground Sloth species to have that characteristic, it is not common.

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Status : Extinct for 11,000 years
Location : North America
Size : Height up to 9.8ft (3m), Weight up to 2,400lbs (1090kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Pilosa
Family : †Mylodontidae -- Genus : †Paramylodon -- Species : †P. harlani

Image : David Monniaux

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Grey Junglefowl

Gallus sonneratii

The Grey Junglefowl is a wild chicken that is closely related to the Red Junglefowl-- the bird from which domesticated chickens descend from.

Like its cousin, the Grey Junglefowl lives in southern Asia, specifically in India, where is is endemic. They live in both dense and open areas, and are also found near human settlements. Because of their ability to adapt to human-shaped environments, the Grey Junglefowl aren't in any major conservation trouble.

You can identify these birds by the mottled brown and black feathers that give them a greyish appearance. Males also sport sleek black tails and a red crest-- though the crest and wattle aren't as large as those found in their relatives.

Grey Junglefowl feed on all sorts of things, including insects, berries, grains, and seeds. They breed once a year, usually sometimes between February and May, and produce up to 7 offspring per clutch.

Grey Junglefowl can be kept in captivity, and will often breed and produce hybrids with other Junglefowl, or with Domestic Chickens.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : India
Size : Length up to 18in (43cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Galliformes
Family : Phasianidae -- Genus : Gallus -- Species : G. sonneratii

Image : Der Irbis

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Eurypterus

Eurypterus sp.

The world of the Silurian period was very different from the world of today. Most noticeably, there were no land animals. All of the living animals could be found underwater, populating the oceans that covered many of our present continents.

In these oceans you could find all sorts of primitive life. Bony fish were just starting to make their appearance on the evolutionary timeline, for example. You could also find a massive array of invertebrates, including the members of the genus we'll be learning about today-- Eurypterus.

Eurypterus includes 15 different species of Sea Scorpion, all of whom lived between 432 and 418 million years ago. Their fossils have been uncovered in what is now eastern North America and Europe, and interestingly the first fossils dug up were confused for Catfish bones!

When we think about Scorpions today, we imagine small arachnids that are about the size of your hand. Eurypterus was much, MUCH larger. On average, the different species measured 1-2ft in length. However, the largest fossil showed a creature that was over 4ft long!

Eurypterus had a body made up of two segments-- the prosoma and the opisthosoma. The former contains the head, thorax, and appendages that are used for walked, eating, and swimming. The latter is segmented and contains the gills and reproductive organs.

Members of the genus were opportunistic feeders-- they both hunted and scavenged. While they could swim using their large paddle-like appendages, they did not swim in order to hunt. Eurypterus walked along the sea floor when it was searching for food.

The Eurypterus genus only lasted for 14 million years, which is a short amount of time when compared to other members of its Order. Amazingly though, despite that short amount of time they are the most represented Eurypterids in the fossil record-- nearly 95%!

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Status : Extinct for 418 million years
Location : Europe, North America
Size : Length up to 4.3ft (1.3m)

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Merostomata -- Order : †Eurypterida
Family : †Eurypteridae -- Genus : †Eurypterus

Image : Funkmonk

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Royal Starfish

Astropecten articulatus

Today's animal is the Royal Starfish, an Echinoderm that gets its name from it's royal purple coloration. These five armed creatures sport bright orange marginal plates, with a deep blue or purple interior. Quite the color combination!

The eastern coast of the United States is where the Royal Starfish calls home. Their normal habitat is the continental shelf, typically between 0 and 30 meters down.

It can be hard to imagine such a sedentary creature being a predator, but the Royal Starfish certainly is! They snatch up mollusks with their arms, and then guide the prey to the mouth cavity, where the prey is swallowed whole!

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IUCN Status : Not listed
Location : East coast of the United States
Size : Arm length up to 4in (9cm)

Classification : Phylum : Echinodermata -- - Class : Asteroidea -- Order : Paxillosida
Family : Astropectinidae -- Genus : Astropecten -- Species : A. articulatus
Image : Project Noah

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