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Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s website can watch naked mole-rats on the webcam.
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Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Maasai Mara Game Reserve
Hippo's Mouth
The hippo's jaw is powered by a large masseter (a muscle that runs through the rear part of the cheek from the temporal bone to the lower jaw on each side and closes the jaw in chewing)
and a well developed digastric (each of a pair of muscles that run under the jaw and act to open it) the latter loops up behind the former to the hyoid.
The jaw hinge is located far back enough to allow the animal to open its mouth at almost 180°.
Dr. Brady Barr measured the bite force of an adult female hippo at 1821 lbf;
Hippopotamus teeth sharpen themselves as they grind together. The lower canines and lower incisors are enlarged, especially in males, and grow continuously. The incisors can reach 16 in, while the canines reach up to 20 in).
Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored. The secretion is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat," but is neither blood nor sweat. This secretion is initially colorless and turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown. Two distinct pigments have been identified in the secretions, one red (hipposudoric acid) and one orange (norhipposudoric acid). The two pigments are highly acidic compounds. Both pigments inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria; as well, the light absorption of both pigments peaks in the ultraviolet range, creating a sunscreen effect. All hippos, even those with different diets, secrete the pigments, so it does not appear that food is the source of the pigments. Instead, the animals may synthesize the pigments from precursors such as the amino acid tyrosine.
I learned that late Mr. Shankerbhai M. Patel of my village as well as of my street use to collect hipposudoric acid and norhipposudoric acid from hippo. He was doing business of this solvent. These are are seeds of pharmaceutically important compounds. The secretions are not technically sweat because hippos don't have the small sebaceous glands that produce it. The deeper and bigger glands release liquid through skin holes that are visible to the naked eye.This secretions play much of a role in regulating body temperature and inhibits growth of two disease causing bacteria. The pigment in secretion absorbs light in ultraviolet range. Hippo synthesize the pigment from common precursors such as the amino acid tyrosine.
The Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is a large ungulate mammal of the Bovid family and one of two species of wildebeest. It grows to 1.7 meters shoulder height and attains a body mass of up to 380 kilograms. They range the open plains, bushveld and dry woodlands of Southern and East Africa, realizing a life span in excess of twenty years. This herbivore is a grazing animal that is often sighted in open grasslands or clearings in a savanna. The male is highly territorial using scent markings and other devices to protect his domain. The largest population is in the Serengeti, numbering over one million animals.
It has a beefy muscular front-heavy appearance with a distinctive robust muzzle, it strides with relatively slender legs and moves gracefully and quietly most of the time, belying the reputation for stampeding in herds; however the stampeding characteristic may sometimes be observed.
Probably the most conspicuous feature of the Blue Wildebeest are the large horns shaped like parentheses, extending outward to the side and then curving up and inward . In the male the horns can attain a total span of almost 90 centimeters, while the female's horn width is about half the size of the male. These cow-like horns of both sexes are somewhat broad at the base and are without ridges. However, as further sexual dimorphism, the male horns have a boss-like structure joining the two horns. The male is larger than the female with a total body length of up to 2.5 meters.
Young Blue Wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult colouration at age nine weeks. The adult's hue actually varies from a deep slate or bluish gray all the way to light gray or even grayish-brown. The dorsal coat and flanks are slightly lighter in hue than the ventral hide and underparts. Dark brown vertical bands of slightly longer hair mark the neck and forequarters, and from a distance lend a perception of skin wrinkling. The manes of both sexes appear long, stiff, thick and jet black, a colour assumed by the tail and face as well. Sexual dichromism is exhibited by the males displaying decidedly darker colouration than the females. All features and markings of this species are bilaterally symmetric for both sexes.
Blue Wildebeest are found in open and bush-covered savanna in south and east Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. They can be found in places that vary from overgrazed areas with dense bush to open woodland floodplains. Wildebeests prefer the bushveld and grasslands of the southern savanna. The terrestrial biome designations for these preferred habitats are savanna, grassland, open forest and scrub forest.
Large herds numbering into the thousands may be observed on the Tanzania Serengeti equatorial plain, and in Zambia in Liuwa Plain National Park, in their annual migration. Smaller herds of about thirty are found in northern Botswana, Zimbabweand the South African locations of Waterberg, Kruger National Park and Mala Mala. Some herds can be found almost to the southern tip of South Africa.
Blue Wildebeests can tolerate arid regions, as long as a potable water supply is available. Since all Wildebeests require a long drink every day or two, they must have water within about 15 or 25 kilometers distance. Their blunt muzzles are best equipped for biting short green grasses, since a wide incisor row prevents more selective feeding. Short grasses of these type are usually only found on alkaline or volcanic soils.The Serengeti herds are purely migratory and abandon the usual plains after the rainy season has ended, in order to seek higher grasses in wetter areas. Grasslands bordering alkaline lakes or pans are particularly choice dry season (winter) habitats. Herds may be mixed gender with a dominant male, female only or bachelor only. Blue Wildebeest often graze together with other species such as Plains zebras for purposes of mutual protection. Zebras in particular are beneficial to co-exist with since they mow down highly vegetated areas leaving the wildebeests to eat the newly exposed and more nutritional short grasses, which is what they prefer. A Blue Wildebeest can attain maximum a speed of up to 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph).
Blue Wildebeests are a favorite prey item to lions and spotted hyenas. They also fall prey to cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and Nile crocodiles. The latter stalk them at river crossings.
Blue Wildebeest are unusually territorial, adult males occupying their territories for a month or for the entire year. The physical size of territories ranges from one to two hectares. The bucks mark territory boundaries with dung heaps, preorbital gland secretions, hoof scent glands and pawing of the earth. When competing over territory, males grunt quite loudly, make a thrusting motion with their horns and perform other displays of aggression.
Territories are advertised by actions of the bull as well as scent marking. Body language used by the territorial male include standing at an erect posture, profuse ground pawing and horning, frequent defecation, rolling on his back and bellowing the sound "ga-noo". To attract the opposite sex at the beginning of courtship the male (and less frequently the female) will rub its preorbital gland on a tree and then proceed with a destructive horning of said tree. This behaviour is not only effective in enticing a mate, but serves the function of providing more grassland for future Wildebeest generations by promoting grassland extent.
Males exhibit rivalry when staking out territory and when competing for females. In the actual clashes between males, they face off resting on bent front knees, exchanging horn thrusts for brief periods. Elaborate individual displays are made in the rivalry and courtship process, where males bellow, snort and protrude their horns into the soil. The mating process is thought to begin at the first full moon at the end of the rainy season. Once territory is established, the male attempts to lure or corral the female into his domain. A female may copulate with several different males, visiting several different territories. Most mating occurs during a three to four week period at the end of the rainy season (March to April), when this species is at its maximum vigour.
The female reaches sexual maturity at age three, and the male at age four; however, it is more typically age five when the male has developed sufficient strength and experience to defend territory. Generally fewer than half of the adult males create territories in a given year. In the Serengeti, population densities are so high that there may be 270 territorial bulls within one square kilometer. Estes terms the total volume of noise created during the Serengeti rutting season as “indescribable” in its amplitude and variety of snorting, bellowing and fighting. When the dry season is well underway about August, territories cease to exist.
The gestation period is approximately 8.5 months, with calves able to stand within seven minutes and run with the herd in less than two hours from birth. These precocial features are warranted since the calves are vulnerable to predators. To escape predation calves remain close to the mother for a significant time, and in fact may suckle for up to one year. In large herds 80 percent of Wildebeest offspring survive the first month, compared to a 50 percent survival rate within small herds.
African Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are the largest living terrestrial animals, male African elephants can reach a height of 4m and weigh 7000kg. These animals have several distinctive features, including a long proboscis or trunk used for many purposes, particularly for grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which serve as tools for moving objects and digging and as weapons for fighting. The elephant's large ear flaps help to control the temperature of its body. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannas, forests, deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments. The African elephant is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range States.
For any form of publication, please include the link to this page:
This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: Peter Prokosch
African Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are the largest living terrestrial animals, male African elephants can reach a height of 4m and weigh 7000kg. These animals have several distinctive features, including a long proboscis or trunk used for many purposes, particularly for grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which serve as tools for moving objects and digging and as weapons for fighting. The elephant's large ear flaps help to control the temperature of its body. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannas, forests, deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments. The African elephant is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range States.
For any form of publication, please include the link to this page:
This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: Peter Prokosch
BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
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Name: Jack
Species: Virginia Opossum
Sex: Male
Location from: Ohio
Other: An adult male that dropped dead in my barn when I lived in a rural area in Ohio. He was found in the morning, already beginning to decay, likely died early in the night before. He has evidence of a severe infection in his lower left jaw, and a broken right top canine with sign of beginning infection in the bone of the root canal of the same tooth. His incisors are missing post mortem.
Species Info: Opossums are known for their playing-dead characteristic, which helps preserve them when faced with a threat. They have an unusually short lifespan of up to 2 years (4 in captivity) and are omnivorous, preferring fruit, grain, insects, worms, and small animals like birds and snakes.
Opossum are native to Central and East North America and most of Mexico. They are not native to West US, but a small percentage have been introduced. Opossums do not do well in cold environments and thus are not found in the majority of Canada or North-West states.
The Southeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okavango Delta, and the grasslands of the Transvaal region in South Africa. In Namibia, cheetahs are mostly found in farmlands.
The cheetah is a medium-sized cat. An adult male cheetah's total size can measure from 168 to 200 cm (66 to 79 in) and 162 to 213 cm (64 to 84 in) for females. Adult cheetahs are 70 to 90 cm (28 to 35 in) tall at the shoulder. Males are slightly taller than females and have slightly bigger heads with wider incisors and longer mandibles.
The cheetah has a bright yellow or sometimes a golden coat, and its fur is slightly thicker than that of other subspecies. The white underside is very distinct, especially on the neck and breast, and it has less spotting on its belly. The spots on the face are more pronounced, and as a whole its spots seem more dense than those of most other subspecies. The tear marks are notably thicker at the corners of the mouth, and almost all of them have distinct brown mustache markings. Like the Asiatic cheetah, it is known to have fur behind its tail and have both white and black tips at the end of its tail. However, the cheetah may also have only a black tip at the end of its tail.
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo
"With a body and head length of 20 to 32 inches, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo are much smaller than Australia's well-known red kangaroo. An adult male weighs between 20 and 25 lb (9–11 kg). An adult female weighs between 15 and 20 lb (7–9 kg).
There is no particular season in which they breed. Gestation lasts 32 days and joeys of captive bred individuals leave the pouch after 13 ½ months. The average life span of the Matschie's Tree-kangaroo in the wild is unknown, but is at least 14 years. The life span of the kangaroo in a zoo is about 20 years.
The most distinctive trait of all tree kangaroos is the hair whorl they possess. It is a patch of hair that goes out in many directions and its location ranges from up near the shoulders all the way down to the tail. The Matschie’s tree kangaroo is golden on its ventral side, lower parts of its limbs, ear edges, belly, and tail, and the rest of its body is a chestnut brown color, except for usually having a dark stripe down its back. Their faces are typically an array of yellow and white colors. The Matschies’ are similar in color and size to Dendrolagus dorianus, the Doria’s tree kangaroo. Matschies’ ears are small and bear-like looking and they do not have a good sense of hearing because of it. They have curved claws on their forelimbs and soft pads on their hind limbs that aid in their climbing ability, and they have some independent movement of their digits as well as good dexterity due to their forelimbs being able to bend a great deal. The 4th and 5th digit of their feet are enlarged, the 1st digit is absent, and the 2nd and 3rd digits are syndactylous (two digits that look like one fused together). Scientists have discovered that the Matschie’s are able to walk bipedally and there’s a lot of rotation in their limbs for climbing. Out of all of the Dendrolagus species, the Matschie’s tree kangaroo is the best vertical climber and has more strength in its muscles than any others. Their tails help to offset their balance while moving swiftly through the trees since their tails are about the same length as their head and body size. Sexual dimorphism is very low, with males and females being of about equal sizes. The upper and lower jaws of the Matschie’s tree kangaroos are different too in addition to them being different in body size. The upper jaw has three incisors, one canine, one premolar, and four molars, while the lower jaw has one very sharp incisor, no canines and low crowned molars.
Ecology and Behaviour:
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo lives in the mountainous rainforests at elevations of between 1000 and 3300m. The kangaroo tends to live either alone or with very small groups, usually comprising of just a mother, joey and a male. They spend most of their time in the trees and come down occasionally to feed. They are very adept at hopping and can leap up to 30 feet (9 m).
Instead of sweating, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo licks its forearms and allows the evaporation to help cool its body.
In the wild, it will usually feed on leaves, fruits and mosses. When kept in zoos, it feeds on apples, carrots, yams, corn on the cob, celery, kale/romaine, high fiber monkey biscuits, tofu, hard boiled eggs, and various types of tree boughs (elm, willow, etc.)
Matschies’ appear to be scared of humans because they scramble around when humans are nearby and they are very difficult to find in the forests. They spend about 14 to 15 hours of their days sleeping and resting. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos are known for defending their home territory and marking their boundaries.
Range:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are restricted to the Huon peninsula of Papua New Guinea, a subdivision of Tumbanan faunal province, and are the only tree kangaroos found there. They are also residents on the island of Umboi which is just off the coast of Papua New Guinea.. The Matschies’ prefer to live in deciduous forests and tropical rainforests because they remain in trees for most of their days.
Diet:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are mainly folivorous, eating anything from leaves, sap, insects, flowers, and nuts. It was also found that they have eaten chickens in captivity as well as feeding on a variety of plants, carrots, lettuce, bananas, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and yams. Since they eat high fiber foods, they only eat maybe about 1 to 2 hours throughout the day and the other time of the day they are resting and digesting their food. Their digestion is similar to that of the ruminants; they have a large, “tubiform forestomach”, where most of the fermentation and breakdown of tough material takes place at; in the hind stomach, there is a mucosa lining with many glands that help absorption begin here.
Reproduction:
Tim Flannery documents the mating techniques of the Matschies’ in his text Mammals of New Guinea by stating mating occurs when a female advances on a male while on the ground; they touch each other’s noses and click their tongues. Usually the female is aggressive and hits the male but permits him to climb on her within ten minutes, and copulation can last up to sixty minutes afterwards. The gestation period lasts approximately 44.2 days, which is known to be the longest for any of the marsupials. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos have no embryonic diapauses or delayed implantations and are able to get pregnant as soon as the joey leaves the pouch. The joey usually peeks out of the pouch around 22 weeks, will feed on its own about 27.5 weeks, will leave the pouch around 28 weeks, and permanently leave for good around 41 weeks. These tree kangaroos have been found to reach fourteen years in age. In captivity, the tree kangaroos can get pregnant at any time of the year and are known to breed well. The female oestrus cycle is between 54.2 and 56.8 days and is able to produce young between the ages of 2 and 2.5 years of age."
- Courtesy of Wikipedia
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BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
BIG 5. Elephant. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. South Africa. Dec/2019
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found
Due to conservation efforts, the park in 2008 had the largest population of white rhino in the world
Umfolozi
This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.
Hluhluwe
The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area,[3] while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Hluhluwe–Imfolozi
O Parque Hluhluwe – Imfolozi, anteriormente Reserva de Caça Hluhluwe – Umfolozi, é a mais antiga reserva natural proclamada da África. Consiste em 960 km² (96.000 ha) de topografia montanhosa a 280 quilômetros (170 milhas) ao norte de Durban, no centro de KwaZulu-Natal, África do Sul e é conhecida por seus ricos esforços de vida selvagem e conservação. O parque é o único parque estatal em KwaZulu-Natal, onde cada um dos cinco grandes animais de caça pode ser encontrado.
Devido aos esforços de conservação, o parque em 2008 teve a maior população de rinocerontes brancos do mundo
Umfolozi
Essa área está situada entre os dois rios Umfolozi, onde se dividem no Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') ao norte e o Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') ao sul. Essa área fica ao sul do parque e geralmente é quente no verão, e temperatura amena no inverno, embora ocorram períodos de frio. A topografia na seção de Umfolozi varia desde as planícies do leito do rio Umfolozi até a região montanhosa íngreme, que inclui alguns vales largos e profundos. Os habitats nesta área são principalmente pradarias, que se estendem até a savana de acácias e bosques.
Hluhluwe
A região de Hluhluwe possui topografia montanhosa, onde as altitudes variam de 80 a 540 metros (260 a 1.770 pés) acima do nível do mar. As altas cordilheiras sustentam florestas costeiras escarpadas em uma região bem regada, com vales em níveis mais baixos. O norte do parque é mais acidentado e montanhoso, com florestas e campos e é conhecido como a área de Hluhluwe, enquanto a área de Umfolozi fica ao sul, perto dos rios Umfolozi, onde há savanas abertas.
Fonte: Wikipedia (tradução livre)
BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
Although a great many fossil fishes have been found and described, they represent a tiny portion of the long and complex evolution of fishes, and knowledge of fish evolution remains relatively fragmentary. In the classification presented in this article, fishlike vertebrates are divided into seven categories, the members of each having a different basic structural organization and different physical and physiological adaptations for the problems presented by the environment. The broad basic pattern has been one of successive replacement of older groups by newer, better-adapted groups. One or a few members of a group evolved a basically more efficient means of feeding, breathing, or swimming or several better ways of living. These better-adapted groups then forced the extinction of members of the older group with which they competed for available food, breeding places, or other necessities of life. As the new fishes became well established, some of them evolved further and adapted to other habitats, where they continued to replace members of the old group already there. The process was repeated until all or almost all members of the old group in a variety of habitats had been replaced by members of the newer evolutionary line.
The earliest vertebrate fossils of certain relationships are fragments of dermal armour of jawless fishes (superclass Agnatha, order Heterostraci) from the Upper Ordovician Period in North America, about 450 million years in age. Early Ordovician toothlike fragments from the former Soviet Union are less certainly remains of agnathans. It is uncertain whether the North American jawless fishes inhabited shallow coastal marine waters, where their remains became fossilized, or were freshwater vertebrates washed into coastal deposits by stream action.
Jawless fishes probably arose from ancient, small, soft-bodied filter-feeding organisms much like and probably also ancestral to the modern sand-dwelling filter feeders, the Cephalochordata (Amphioxus and its relatives). The body in the ancestral animals was probably stiffened by a notochord. Although a vertebrate origin in fresh water is much debated by paleontologists, it is possible that mobility of the body and protection provided by dermal armour arose in response to streamflow in the freshwater environment and to the need to escape from and resist the clawed invertebrate eurypterids that lived in the same waters. Because of the marine distribution of the surviving primitive chordates, however, many paleontologists doubt that the vertebrates arose in fresh water.
Heterostracan remains are next found in what appear to be delta deposits in two North American localities of Silurian age. By the close of the Silurian, about 416 million years ago, European heterostracan remains are found in what appear to be delta or coastal deposits. In the Late Silurian of the Baltic area, lagoon or freshwater deposits yield jawless fishes of the order Osteostraci. Somewhat later in the Silurian from the same region, layers contain fragments of jawed acanthodians, the earliest group of jawed vertebrates, and of jawless fishes. These layers lie between marine beds but appear to be washed out from fresh waters of a coastal region.
It is evident, therefore, that by the end of the Silurian both jawed and jawless vertebrates were well established and already must have had a long history of development. Yet paleontologists have remains only of specialized forms that cannot have been the ancestors of the placoderms and bony fishes that appear in the next period, the Devonian. No fossils are known of the more primitive ancestors of the agnathans and acanthodians. The extensive marine beds of the Silurian and those of the Ordovician are essentially void of vertebrate history. It is believed that the ancestors of fishlike vertebrates evolved in upland fresh waters, where whatever few and relatively small fossil beds were made probably have been long since eroded away. Remains of the earliest vertebrates may never be found.
By the close of the Silurian, all known orders of jawless vertebrates had evolved, except perhaps the modern cyclostomes, which are without the hard parts that ordinarily are preserved as fossils. Cyclostomes were unknown as fossils until 1968, when a lamprey of modern body structure was reported from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Illinois, in deposits more than 300 million years old. Fossil evidence of the four orders of armoured jawless vertebrates is absent from deposits later than the Devonian. Presumably, these vertebrates became extinct at that time, being replaced by the more efficient and probably more aggressive placoderms, acanthodians, selachians (sharks and relatives), and by early bony fishes. Cyclostomes survived probably because early on they evolved from anaspid agnathans and developed a rasping tonguelike structure and a sucking mouth, enabling them to prey on other fishes. With this way of life they apparently had no competition from other fish groups. Cyclostomes, the hagfishes and lampreys, were once thought to be closely related because of the similarity in their suctorial mouths, but it is now understood that the hagfishes, order Myxiniformes, are the most primitive living chordates, and they are classified separately from the lampreys, order Petromyzontiformes.
Early jawless vertebrates probably fed on tiny organisms by filter feeding, as do the larvae of their descendants, the modern lampreys. The gill cavity of the early agnathans was large. It is thought that small organisms taken from the bottom by a nibbling action of the mouth, or more certainly by a sucking action through the mouth, were passed into the gill cavity along with water for breathing. Small organisms then were strained out by the gill apparatus and directed to the food canal. The gill apparatus thus evolved as a feeding, as well as a breathing, structure. The head and gills in the agnathans were protected by a heavy dermal armour; the tail region was free, allowing motion for swimming.
Most important for the evolution of fishes and vertebrates in general was the early appearance of bone, cartilage, and enamel-like substance. These materials became modified in later fishes, enabling them to adapt to many aquatic environments and finally even to land. Other basic organs and tissues of the vertebrates—such as the central nervous system, heart, liver, digestive tract, kidney, and circulatory system— undoubtedly were present in the ancestors of the agnathans. In many ways, bone, both external and internal, was the key to vertebrate evolution.
The next class of fishes to appear was the Acanthodii, containing the earliest known jawed vertebrates, which arose in the Late Silurian, more than 416 million years ago. The acanthodians declined after the Devonian but lasted into the Early Permian, a little less than 280 million years ago. The first complete specimens appear in Lower Devonian freshwater deposits, but later in the Devonian and Permian some members appear to have been marine. Most were small fishes, not more than 75 cm (approximately 30 inches) in length.
We know nothing of the ancestors of the acanthodians. They must have arisen from some jawless vertebrate, probably in fresh water. They appear to have been active swimmers with almost no head armour but with large eyes, indicating that they depended heavily on vision. Perhaps they preyed on invertebrates. The rows of spines and spinelike fins between the pectoral and pelvic fins give some credence to the idea that paired fins arose from “fin folds” along the body sides.
The relationships of the acanthodians to other jawed vertebrates are obscure. They possess features found in both sharks and bony fishes. They are like early bony fishes in possessing ganoidlike scales and a partially ossified internal skeleton. Certain aspects of the jaw appear to be more like those of bony fishes than sharks, but the bony fin spines and certain aspects of the gill apparatus would seem to favour relationships with early sharks. Acanthodians do not seem particularly close to the Placodermi, although, like the placoderms, they apparently possessed less efficient tooth replacement and tooth structure than the sharks and the bony fishes, possibly one reason for their subsequent extinction.
The aye-aye is one of Madagascar's most endangered animal species.
Long persecuted in its native Madagascar as an omen of death and evil, the aye-aye, like most of its lemur relatives, faces imminent extinction because of the added pressure of deforestation.
The aye-aye prefers dense, tropical and coastal rainforest where there is plenty of cover but they are also known to inhabit secondary forest, bamboo thickets, mangroves and even coconut groves along the eastern coast of Madagascar.
This elusive species is the largest nocturnal primate and is the island’s answer to the woodpecker, as its specially adapted, flexible and skeletal third finger is used to find nutritious grubs and winkle them out from their woody burrows, in much the same way as a woodpecker’s beak.
The aye-aye is a primate that is most closely related to Lemurs but is one of the most unique animals on the planet due the fact that it possesses a number of very distinct adaptations. Their body and long tail are covered in coarse, shaggy black or dark brown fur with a layer of white guard hairs that helps them to blend into the surrounding forest in the dark. The aye-aye has very large eyes on its pointed face, a pink nose and rodent-like teeth with incisors that grow continuously to ensure that they never become blunt. Their large rounded ears are incredibly sensitive giving the aye-aye excellent hearing when listening for grubs beneath the tree bark and are able to be rotated independently. The aye-aye has long and bony fingers with sharp pointed claws on the ends to help when dangling from branches, but it is the middle fingers on their front feet which are their most distinctive feature. Much longer than the others, these fingers are opposable with a double-jointed tip and a hooked claw on the end and are used for both detecting grubs in dead wood and then extracting them.
The aye-aye is a nocturnal and arboreal animal meaning that it spends most of its life high in the trees. Although they are known to come down to the ground on occasion, aye-ayes sleep, eat, travel and mate in the trees and are most commonly found close to the canopy where there is plenty of cover from the dense foliage. During the day aye- ayes sleep in spherical nests in the forks of tree branches that are constructed out of leaves, branches and vines before emerging after dark to begin their hunt for food. The aye-aye is a solitary animal that marks its large home range with scent with the smaller territory of a female often overlapping those of at least a couple of males. Male aye-ayes tend to share their territories with other males and are even known to share the same nests (although not at the same time), and can seemingly tolerate each other until they hear the call of a female that is looking for a mate.
After a gestation period that lasts for about five months, a single infant is born and spends its first two months in the safety of the nest, not being weaned until it is at least 7 months old. Young aye-ayes will remain with their mother until they are two years old and leave to establish a territory of their own. A female aye-aye is thought to be able to start reproducing when she is between 3 and 3.5 years old where males seems to be able to do so at least 6 months earlier.
The aye-aye is an omnivorous animal that feeds on both other animals and plant matter, moving about high up in the trees and under the cover of night. Males are known to cover distances of up to 4km a night in their search for food, feeding on a variety of fruits, seeds, insects and nectar. They are however specially adapted to hunt in a very unique way as they use their elongated middle finger to tap dead wood in search of the hollow tunnels created by wood-boring grubs, listening for even the slightest sound with their sensitive bat-like ears. Once the aye-aye has detected its prey it uses its sharp front teeth to gnaw a hole into the wood before inserting the long middle finger, hooking the grub with its claw and extracting it (filling the same ecological niche as a Woodpecker). The aye-aye is also known to use this long digit to eat eggs and coconut flesh and is thought to be the only primate to use echolocation when searching for food.
This is meant to be used as anatomy reference or use in art. Please see my profile for usage rules!
Name: Jack
Species: Virginia Opossum
Sex: Male
Location from: Ohio
Other: An adult male that dropped dead in my barn when I lived in a rural area in Ohio. He was found in the morning, already beginning to decay, likely died early in the night before. He has evidence of a severe infection in his lower left jaw, and a broken right top canine with sign of beginning infection in the bone of the root canal of the same tooth. His incisors are missing post mortem.
Species Info: Opossums are known for their playing-dead characteristic, which helps preserve them when faced with a threat. They have an unusually short lifespan of up to 2 years (4 in captivity) and are omnivorous, preferring fruit, grain, insects, worms, and small animals like birds and snakes.
Opossum are native to Central and East North America and most of Mexico. They are not native to West US, but a small percentage have been introduced. Opossums do not do well in cold environments and thus are not found in the majority of Canada or North-West states.
BIG 5. Elephant. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. South Africa. Dec/2019
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found
Due to conservation efforts, the park in 2008 had the largest population of white rhino in the world
Umfolozi
This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.
Hluhluwe
The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area,[3] while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Hluhluwe–Imfolozi
O Parque Hluhluwe – Imfolozi, anteriormente Reserva de Caça Hluhluwe – Umfolozi, é a mais antiga reserva natural proclamada da África. Consiste em 960 km² (96.000 ha) de topografia montanhosa a 280 quilômetros (170 milhas) ao norte de Durban, no centro de KwaZulu-Natal, África do Sul e é conhecida por seus ricos esforços de vida selvagem e conservação. O parque é o único parque estatal em KwaZulu-Natal, onde cada um dos cinco grandes animais de caça pode ser encontrado.
Devido aos esforços de conservação, o parque em 2008 teve a maior população de rinocerontes brancos do mundo
Umfolozi
Essa área está situada entre os dois rios Umfolozi, onde se dividem no Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') ao norte e o Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') ao sul. Essa área fica ao sul do parque e geralmente é quente no verão, e temperatura amena no inverno, embora ocorram períodos de frio. A topografia na seção de Umfolozi varia desde as planícies do leito do rio Umfolozi até a região montanhosa íngreme, que inclui alguns vales largos e profundos. Os habitats nesta área são principalmente pradarias, que se estendem até a savana de acácias e bosques.
Hluhluwe
A região de Hluhluwe possui topografia montanhosa, onde as altitudes variam de 80 a 540 metros (260 a 1.770 pés) acima do nível do mar. As altas cordilheiras sustentam florestas costeiras escarpadas em uma região bem regada, com vales em níveis mais baixos. O norte do parque é mais acidentado e montanhoso, com florestas e campos e é conhecido como a área de Hluhluwe, enquanto a área de Umfolozi fica ao sul, perto dos rios Umfolozi, onde há savanas abertas.
Fonte: Wikipedia (tradução livre)
Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s website can watch naked mole-rats on the webcam.
# # #
Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s website can watch naked mole-rats on the webcam.
# # #
Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s website can watch naked mole-rats on the webcam.
# # #
Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
This was taken at the Beaver Pond in Flesherton Hills Educational Centre, there are some great trails, all right in town. I believe this was Mama beaver trying to keep me from getting to close to the lodge. You can just see the top of her tail riding out of the water lol!
North American Beaver
"This beaver is the largest rodent in North America and the third largest rodent in the world, after the South American capybara and the Eurasian beaver. Adults usually weigh 15 to 35 kg (33–77 lbs), with 20 kg (44 lbs) a typical mass, and measure around 1 m (3.3 ft) in total body length. Very old individuals can weigh as much as 45 kg (100 lbs).
Like the capybara, the beaver is semi-aquatic. The beaver has many traits suited to this lifestyle. It has a large flat paddle-shaped tail and large, webbed hind feet reminiscent of a human diver's swimfins. The unwebbed front paws are smaller, with claws. The eyes are covered by a nictitating membrane which allows the beaver to see underwater. The nostrils and ears are sealed while submerged. A thick layer of fat under its skin insulates the beaver from its cold water environment.
The beaver's fur consists of long, coarse outer hairs and short, fine inner hairs. The fur has a range of colors but usually is dark brown. Scent glands near the genitals secrete an oily substance known as castoreum, which the beaver uses to waterproof its fur.
Beavers are mainly active at night. They are excellent swimmers but are more vulnerable on land and tend to remain in the water as much as possible. They are able to remain submerged for up to 15 minutes. The flat, scaly tail is used to signal danger and also serves as a source of fat storage.
They construct their homes, or "lodges," out of sticks, twigs, and mud in lakes, streams, and tidal river deltas. These lodges may be surrounded by water, or touching land, including burrows dug into river banks. They are well known for building dams across streams and constructing their lodge in the artificial pond which forms. When building in a pond, the beavers first make a pile of sticks and then eat out one or more underwater entrances and two platforms above the water surface inside the pile. The first is used for drying off. Towards winter, the lodge is often plastered with mud which when it freezes has the consistency of concrete. A small air hole is left in the top of the lodge. In the event of danger, a beaver slaps its tail on the water to warn other family members.
The dam is constructed using sections of deciduous trees, especially birch, aspen, willow and poplar. The inner bark, twigs, shoots and leaves of such trees are also an important part of the beaver's diet. The trees are cut down using their strong incisor teeth. Their front paws are used for digging and carrying and placing materials. Some researchers have shown that the sound of running water dictates when and where a beaver builds its dam. Besides providing a safe home for the beaver, beaver ponds also provide habitat for waterfowl, fish, and other aquatic animals. Their dams help reduce soil erosion and can help reduce flooding.
Beavers are most famous, and infamous, for their dam-building. They maintain their pond-habitat by reacting quickly to the sound of running water, and damming it up with tree branches and mud. Early ecologists believed that this dam-building was an amazing feat of architectural planning, indicative of the beaver's high intellect. This theory was disproved when a recording of running water was played in a field near a beaver pond. Despite the fact that it was on dry land, the beaver covered the tape player with branches and mud. The largest beaver dam is 2,790 ft (850 m) in length — more than half a mile long - and was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007. It is located located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and is twice the width of the Hoover dam which spans 1,244 ft (379 m).
C. c. canadensis, feeding in Winter
Normally, the purpose of the dam is to provide water around their lodges that is deep enough that it does not freeze solid in winter. The dams also flood areas of surrounding forest, giving the beaver safe access to an important food supply, which is the leaves, buds, and inner bark of growing trees. They prefer aspen and poplar, but will also take birch, maple, willow and alder. They will also eat cattails, water lilies and other aquatic vegetation, especially in the early spring (and contrary to widespread belief, they do not eat fish). In areas where their pond freezes over, beavers collect food in late fall in the form of tree branches, storing them underwater (usually by sticking the sharp chewed base of the branches into the mud on the pond bottom), where they can be accessed through the winter. Often the pile of food branches projects above the pond and collects snow. This insulates the water below it and keeps the pond open at that location.
Beavers usually mate for life. The young beaver "kits" typically remain with their parents for up to two years.
Common natural predators include gray wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. Less significant predators include bears, which can dig into a lodge, wolverines, river otters, Canadian lynx, bobcats, and mink."
- Courtesy of Wikipedia
Wow, you can learn a lot when you go looking lol!
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Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s websites can watch naked mole-rats on the Animal Webcam.
# # #
Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
BIG 5. Elephant. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. South Africa. Dec/2019
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found
Due to conservation efforts, the park in 2008 had the largest population of white rhino in the world
Umfolozi
This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.
Hluhluwe
The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area,[3] while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Hluhluwe–Imfolozi
O Parque Hluhluwe – Imfolozi, anteriormente Reserva de Caça Hluhluwe – Umfolozi, é a mais antiga reserva natural proclamada da África. Consiste em 960 km² (96.000 ha) de topografia montanhosa a 280 quilômetros (170 milhas) ao norte de Durban, no centro de KwaZulu-Natal, África do Sul e é conhecida por seus ricos esforços de vida selvagem e conservação. O parque é o único parque estatal em KwaZulu-Natal, onde cada um dos cinco grandes animais de caça pode ser encontrado.
Devido aos esforços de conservação, o parque em 2008 teve a maior população de rinocerontes brancos do mundo
Umfolozi
Essa área está situada entre os dois rios Umfolozi, onde se dividem no Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') ao norte e o Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') ao sul. Essa área fica ao sul do parque e geralmente é quente no verão, e temperatura amena no inverno, embora ocorram períodos de frio. A topografia na seção de Umfolozi varia desde as planícies do leito do rio Umfolozi até a região montanhosa íngreme, que inclui alguns vales largos e profundos. Os habitats nesta área são principalmente pradarias, que se estendem até a savana de acácias e bosques.
Hluhluwe
A região de Hluhluwe possui topografia montanhosa, onde as altitudes variam de 80 a 540 metros (260 a 1.770 pés) acima do nível do mar. As altas cordilheiras sustentam florestas costeiras escarpadas em uma região bem regada, com vales em níveis mais baixos. O norte do parque é mais acidentado e montanhoso, com florestas e campos e é conhecido como a área de Hluhluwe, enquanto a área de Umfolozi fica ao sul, perto dos rios Umfolozi, onde há savanas abertas.
Fonte: Wikipedia (tradução livre)
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo
"With a body and head length of 20 to 32 inches, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo are much smaller than Australia's well-known red kangaroo. An adult male weighs between 20 and 25 lb (9–11 kg). An adult female weighs between 15 and 20 lb (7–9 kg).
There is no particular season in which they breed. Gestation lasts 32 days and joeys of captive bred individuals leave the pouch after 13 ½ months. The average life span of the Matschie's Tree-kangaroo in the wild is unknown, but is at least 14 years. The life span of the kangaroo in a zoo is about 20 years.
The most distinctive trait of all tree kangaroos is the hair whorl they possess. It is a patch of hair that goes out in many directions and its location ranges from up near the shoulders all the way down to the tail. The Matschie’s tree kangaroo is golden on its ventral side, lower parts of its limbs, ear edges, belly, and tail, and the rest of its body is a chestnut brown color, except for usually having a dark stripe down its back. Their faces are typically an array of yellow and white colors. The Matschies’ are similar in color and size to Dendrolagus dorianus, the Doria’s tree kangaroo. Matschies’ ears are small and bear-like looking and they do not have a good sense of hearing because of it. They have curved claws on their forelimbs and soft pads on their hind limbs that aid in their climbing ability, and they have some independent movement of their digits as well as good dexterity due to their forelimbs being able to bend a great deal. The 4th and 5th digit of their feet are enlarged, the 1st digit is absent, and the 2nd and 3rd digits are syndactylous (two digits that look like one fused together). Scientists have discovered that the Matschie’s are able to walk bipedally and there’s a lot of rotation in their limbs for climbing. Out of all of the Dendrolagus species, the Matschie’s tree kangaroo is the best vertical climber and has more strength in its muscles than any others. Their tails help to offset their balance while moving swiftly through the trees since their tails are about the same length as their head and body size. Sexual dimorphism is very low, with males and females being of about equal sizes. The upper and lower jaws of the Matschie’s tree kangaroos are different too in addition to them being different in body size. The upper jaw has three incisors, one canine, one premolar, and four molars, while the lower jaw has one very sharp incisor, no canines and low crowned molars.
Ecology and Behaviour:
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo lives in the mountainous rainforests at elevations of between 1000 and 3300m. The kangaroo tends to live either alone or with very small groups, usually comprising of just a mother, joey and a male. They spend most of their time in the trees and come down occasionally to feed. They are very adept at hopping and can leap up to 30 feet (9 m).
Instead of sweating, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo licks its forearms and allows the evaporation to help cool its body.
In the wild, it will usually feed on leaves, fruits and mosses. When kept in zoos, it feeds on apples, carrots, yams, corn on the cob, celery, kale/romaine, high fiber monkey biscuits, tofu, hard boiled eggs, and various types of tree boughs (elm, willow, etc.)
Matschies’ appear to be scared of humans because they scramble around when humans are nearby and they are very difficult to find in the forests. They spend about 14 to 15 hours of their days sleeping and resting. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos are known for defending their home territory and marking their boundaries.
Range:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are restricted to the Huon peninsula of Papua New Guinea, a subdivision of Tumbanan faunal province, and are the only tree kangaroos found there. They are also residents on the island of Umboi which is just off the coast of Papua New Guinea.. The Matschies’ prefer to live in deciduous forests and tropical rainforests because they remain in trees for most of their days.
Diet:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are mainly folivorous, eating anything from leaves, sap, insects, flowers, and nuts. It was also found that they have eaten chickens in captivity as well as feeding on a variety of plants, carrots, lettuce, bananas, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and yams. Since they eat high fiber foods, they only eat maybe about 1 to 2 hours throughout the day and the other time of the day they are resting and digesting their food. Their digestion is similar to that of the ruminants; they have a large, “tubiform forestomach”, where most of the fermentation and breakdown of tough material takes place at; in the hind stomach, there is a mucosa lining with many glands that help absorption begin here.
Reproduction:
Tim Flannery documents the mating techniques of the Matschies’ in his text Mammals of New Guinea by stating mating occurs when a female advances on a male while on the ground; they touch each other’s noses and click their tongues. Usually the female is aggressive and hits the male but permits him to climb on her within ten minutes, and copulation can last up to sixty minutes afterwards. The gestation period lasts approximately 44.2 days, which is known to be the longest for any of the marsupials. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos have no embryonic diapauses or delayed implantations and are able to get pregnant as soon as the joey leaves the pouch. The joey usually peeks out of the pouch around 22 weeks, will feed on its own about 27.5 weeks, will leave the pouch around 28 weeks, and permanently leave for good around 41 weeks. These tree kangaroos have been found to reach fourteen years in age. In captivity, the tree kangaroos can get pregnant at any time of the year and are known to breed well. The female oestrus cycle is between 54.2 and 56.8 days and is able to produce young between the ages of 2 and 2.5 years of age."
- Courtesy of Wikipedia
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BIG5 Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Jan/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
BIG 5. Elephant. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. South Africa. Dec/2019
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found
Due to conservation efforts, the park in 2008 had the largest population of white rhino in the world
Umfolozi
This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.
Hluhluwe
The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area,[3] while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Hluhluwe–Imfolozi
O Parque Hluhluwe – Imfolozi, anteriormente Reserva de Caça Hluhluwe – Umfolozi, é a mais antiga reserva natural proclamada da África. Consiste em 960 km² (96.000 ha) de topografia montanhosa a 280 quilômetros (170 milhas) ao norte de Durban, no centro de KwaZulu-Natal, África do Sul e é conhecida por seus ricos esforços de vida selvagem e conservação. O parque é o único parque estatal em KwaZulu-Natal, onde cada um dos cinco grandes animais de caça pode ser encontrado.
Devido aos esforços de conservação, o parque em 2008 teve a maior população de rinocerontes brancos do mundo
Umfolozi
Essa área está situada entre os dois rios Umfolozi, onde se dividem no Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') ao norte e o Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') ao sul. Essa área fica ao sul do parque e geralmente é quente no verão, e temperatura amena no inverno, embora ocorram períodos de frio. A topografia na seção de Umfolozi varia desde as planícies do leito do rio Umfolozi até a região montanhosa íngreme, que inclui alguns vales largos e profundos. Os habitats nesta área são principalmente pradarias, que se estendem até a savana de acácias e bosques.
Hluhluwe
A região de Hluhluwe possui topografia montanhosa, onde as altitudes variam de 80 a 540 metros (260 a 1.770 pés) acima do nível do mar. As altas cordilheiras sustentam florestas costeiras escarpadas em uma região bem regada, com vales em níveis mais baixos. O norte do parque é mais acidentado e montanhoso, com florestas e campos e é conhecido como a área de Hluhluwe, enquanto a área de Umfolozi fica ao sul, perto dos rios Umfolozi, onde há savanas abertas.
Fonte: Wikipedia (tradução livre)
Loki's yawn reveals that at the age of 161 days (23 weeks) his teeth seem to be still emerging – those canines aren't full-size and his incisors seem to have barely broken the surface of his gums.
That's his twin sister, Luna, behind.
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal, meglio conosciuto come il Canaletto (Venezia, 17 o 18 ottobre 1697 – Venezia, 19 aprile 1768), è stato un pittore e incisore italiano, noto soprattutto come vedutista.
I suoi quadri, oltre a unire nella rappresentazione topografica architettura e natura, risultavano dall'attenta resa atmosferica, dalla scelta di precise condizioni di luce per ogni particolare momento della giornata e da un'indagine condotta con criteri di scientifica oggettività, in concomitanza col maggiore momento di diffusione delle idee razionalistiche dell'Illuminismo. Insistendo sul valore matematico della prospettiva, l'artista, per dipingere le sue opere si avvaleva talvolta della camera ottica.
Nascita e formazione
Nacque a Venezia da Bernardo quondam Cesare Canal e Artemisia Barbieri. Esisteva una famiglia Canal ascritta al patriziato, ma quasi certamente non aveva legami con quella di Giovanni Antonio che, comunque, era di estrazione benestante[1]. Il soprannome "Canaletto" gli venne dato per distinguerlo dal padre, che era pure pittore (di scenografie teatrali), o forse per la bassa statura[1].
Sarà proprio attraverso il padre che il giovane Giovanni Antonio viene avviato alla pittura. Così come il padre, anche il fratello maggiore, Cristoforo, si occupa della pittura di fondali per il teatro. Antonio comincia così a collaborare con il padre e il fratello e le prime commissioni, nel 1716, riguardano la realizzazione dei fondali per alcune opere di Antonio Vivaldi. Tra il 1718 e il 1720 il giovane si trasferisce, insieme a Bernardo e a Cristoforo, a Roma per realizzare le scene di due drammi teatrali di Alessandro Scarlatti.
Il viaggio a Roma è decisivo per Giovanni Antonio Canal in quanto proprio a Roma ha i primi contatti con i pittori vedutisti. In particolare, i suoi modelli di riferimento sono tre importanti artisti che si cimentarono con il genere della veduta: il primo è Viviano Codazzi, che Antonio non può conoscere da vivo in quanto scomparso nel 1670, il secondo è Giovanni Paolo Pannini, famoso per le sue vedute fantastiche, molte delle quali ispirate alle antichità romane, e il terzo è Gaspar van Wittel, olandese, considerato tra i padri del vedutismo.
Non è però possibile attribuire un peso più o meno importante a ognuno dei tre: certo è che il giovane Canal prende notevoli spunti e suggestioni dalle opere dei succitati artisti e nel frattempo continua a perfezionare la sua tecnica. Agli anni del soggiorno a Roma risalgono le prime opere a lui attribuite (benché non ci sia grande certezza): la Santa Maria d'Aracoeli e il Campidoglio e il Tempio di Antonino e Faustina, opere in cui Giovanni Antonio Canal comincia a prendere confidenza con il genere della veduta, come si vede dalla non impeccabile resa prospettica
Le prime importanti committenze a Venezia
Tornato nella città natale, il Canaletto stringe contatti con i vedutisti veneziani, tra i quali spiccavano i nomi di Luca Carlevarijs e di Marco Ricci e comincia a dedicarsi a tempo pieno alla pittura di vedute: ai primi anni venti del Settecento risalgono quattro importanti opere che entrarono poi a far parte delle collezioni dei reali del Liechtenstein: il Canal Grande verso il ponte di Rialto, dipinto giocato sui contrasti tra luce e ombra, il Bacino di San Marco dalla Giudecca, una Piazza San Marco che rappresenta una delle prime realizzazioni della piazza che sarà poi uno dei soggetti preferiti del Canaletto, e il Rio dei Mendicanti, interessante in quanto opera raffigurante un rione popolare, nel quale viveva un suo parente Gaspare di Francesco da Canal che sposerà nel 1709 Anzola del Pio Loco della Pietà, un'allieva di Antonio Vivaldi. Al 1723 risalgono le prime due opere firmate e la cui data è certa: sono due Capricci, ossia raffigurazioni di elementi tratti dalla realtà insieme a elementi di fantasia, ambedue conservati in collezioni private.
Il canal Grande verso Rialto (1723 Venezia, Museo del Settecento Veneziano)
Grazie alla sua notevole abilità e alla sua tecnica che nel giro di pochi anni aveva fatto grandi progressi, il Canaletto riesce in breve tempo a diventare uno dei pittori più affermati di Venezia, e, nel corso della seconda metà degli anni venti, per lui le committenze cominciano ad aumentare. Uno dei primi importanti committenti è il mercante lucchese Stefano Conti, che attraverso la mediazione del pittore Alessandro Marchesini, fa realizzare al Canaletto quattro opere, tra le quali una veduta di Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Al 1727 risale invece la prima composizione a carattere celebrativo dell'artista, il Ricevimento dell'ambasciatore francese a Palazzo Ducale, conservata al Museo dell'Ermitage di San Pietroburgo: è la prima di una lunga serie di opere che, descrivendo le feste della Repubblica di Venezia, riescono a dare un'immagine del lusso e dello splendore delle celebrazioni della Serenissima.
Il Bacino di San Marco verso est (1730 circa, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts)
Un altro importante cliente del Canaletto in questi anni è il feldmaresciallo Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, che prestò anche servizio per la Repubblica di Venezia e ne riformò l'esercito. Appassionato di arte, nella sua residenza di Ca' Loredan sulle rive del Canal Grande raccolse un'importante collezione nella quale figuravano opere di artisti come Raffaello, Correggio, Giorgione, Giulio Romano e altri ancora. Schulenburg commissiona a Giovanni Antonio Canal alcune opere tra le quali una veduta di Corfù, per celebrare la vittoria ottenuta dal tedesco nell'isola greca contro gli Ottomani, e una Riva degli Schiavoni oggi conservata al Sir John Soane's Museum di Londra.
Molte opere realizzate dal Canaletto durante la prima fase della sua carriera, al contrario delle abitudini del tempo, sono state dipinte "dal vero" (piuttosto che da abbozzi e da studi presi sul luogo per poi essere rielaborati nello studio dell'artista). Alcuni dei suoi lavori tardi tornano a questa abitudine, suggerita dalla tendenza per le figure distanti a essere dipinte come macchie di colore - un effetto prodotto dall'uso della camera oscura, che confonde gli oggetti distanti. I dipinti del Canaletto comunque si distinguono sempre per la loro grande accuratezza.
L'incontro con Joseph Smith
Acquisita una notevole fama, il Canaletto comincia a essere notato dai committenti inglesi: durante il Settecento Venezia era molto frequentata dai giovani dell'aristocrazia britannica che svolgevano il loro Grand Tour, del quale la città lagunare era una delle tappe preferite. Il Canaletto ebbe i primi contatti con i committenti inglesi tramite l'appoggio di Owen McSwiny, impresario teatrale e mercante d'arte irlandese. Oltre alle vedute, sul finire degli anni venti il Canaletto comincia a cimentarsi con il genere delle rappresentazioni celebrative, tra le quali spicca in questo periodo uno dei capolavori più famosi dell'artista, il Bucintoro al Molo il giorno dell'Ascensione, datato 1729 e oggi conservato a Barnard Castle, in Inghilterra. L'opera raffigura quella che era forse la festa maggiormente sentita da parte dei veneziani, e cioè lo sposalizio del mare, che si teneva ogni anno il giorno dell'Ascensione. Nel dipinto, l'artista raffigura il ritorno del Bucintoro verso Palazzo Ducale, con la grande nave da parata attorniata dalle imbarcazioni del corteo. I dipinti celebrativi del Canaletto sono molto spettacolari e offrono una tangibile testimonianza dello splendore delle celebrazioni della Serenissima, che continuava a cullarsi sui suoi fasti nonostante stesse conoscendo un declino irreversibile, che si sarebbe poi concluso, nel 1797, con la fine della millenaria indipendenza della Repubblica.
Nel frattempo Giovanni Antonio Canal entra in contatto con Joseph Smith, personaggio che si rivelò poi decisivo per la carriera dell'artista. Smith, ricchissimo collezionista d'arte e poi console britannico a Venezia tra il 1744 e il 1760, diventa il principale intermediario tra il Canaletto e i collezionisti inglesi. Inizialmente Smith fu un cliente del pittore, uno tra i più facoltosi, e quindi durante i primi anni del loro rapporto, il Canaletto realizzò anche per lui alcune opere d'arte, come la Regata sul Canal Grande e un suggestivo Interno di San Marco di notte (uno dei pochi dipinti notturni della produzione dell'artista): sono due opere celebrative, risalenti ai primi anni trenta e oggi conservate nelle collezioni dei reali d'Inghilterra.
Quindi Smith, dopo essere stato cliente dell'artista, svolge per lui un ruolo di "mecenate" e di intermediario con la ricca clientela inglese: questo anche per facilitare i rapporti, visto che, secondo le fonti dell'epoca, il Canaletto non aveva un carattere particolarmente accogliente. L'attività di Joseph Smith raggiunge il suo culmine durante la seconda metà degli anni trenta: importanti nobili come il Conte di Fitzwilliam, il Duca di Bedford, il Duca di Leeds e il Conte di Carlisle iniziano a richiedere i quadri del Canaletto.
A questo periodo risalgono importanti opere come Il doge alla festa di San Rocco, altra opera dal carattere celebrativo, conservata alla National Gallery di Londra, e un'altra veduta di Piazza San Marco, conservata a Cambridge negli Stati Uniti, interessante perché permette un confronto diretto con la veduta che apparteneva ai reali del Liechtenstein e consente così di scoprire i progressi fatti dal Canaletto in circa dieci anni. Altre opere, realizzate per i committenti inglesi, sono la Riva degli Schiavoni verso est, risalente al 1738-40 circa e conservata nei musei del Castello Sforzesco di Milano, una veduta di Piazza San Marco verso sud-est conservata a Washington e una veduta dell'angolo nord-est della principale piazza di Venezia, conservata a Ottawa.
Il trasferimento in Inghilterra
Verso il 1740 il mercato del Canaletto si riduce drasticamente quando la Guerra di successione austriaca (1741-1748) portò a un forte decremento dei visitatori britannici a Venezia. Smith non riusciva più a garantire l'elevato numero dei clienti di un tempo, anche perché ormai tutti i più importanti committenti inglesi che frequentavano Venezia avevano acquistato un elevato numero di opere di Giovanni Antonio Canal. Joseph Smith non era quindi più in grado di garantirgli committenze e nel 1746 il Canaletto decide di trasferirsi a Londra: l'artista scrive una lettera al suo primo "agente", Owen McSwiny pregandolo di introdurlo presso il Duca di Richmond, che tra l'altro era già stato cliente del Canaletto durante gli anni venti.
La rotonda di Ranelagh (1754, Londra, National Gallery)
Il Canaletto comincia quindi a creare i rapporti con i suoi nuovi clienti, tra i quali figuravano il principe boemo Johann Georg Christian von Lobkowitz e il nobile inglese Hugh Percy, futuro Duca di Northumberland. Accolto con iniziale diffidenza, riesce a ricevere comunque diverse commissioni da parte dell'aristocrazia inglese: tra le opere di questi anni si segnala Il Parco di Badminton da Badminton House, del 1748, realizzato per Charles Somerset, quarto duca di Beaufort.
Si tratta di un dipinto interessante perché mostra un Canaletto diverso: se infatti l'artista era abituato a dipingere gli scorci urbani di una Venezia ricca di edifici e piena di persone indaffarate, in Inghilterra il Canaletto comincia a raffigurare i tipici paesaggi calmi e privi di architetture complesse della brughiera inglese. Esemplificativi in tal senso sono anche alcuni dipinti come Il castello di Warwick, realizzato per Francis Greville Brooke, futuro duca di Warwick, e alcune vedute del Tamigi, nelle quali il pittore poteva utilizzare gli artifici di cui si serviva per raffigurare i canali e i bacini di Venezia.
Interessante è anche un dipinto conservato presso l'Abbazia di Westminster che raffigura l'abbazia stessa con la processione dei cavalieri dell'Ordine del Bagno: si tratta di un dipinto a scopo celebrativo nel quale Giovanni Antonio Canal poteva servirsi della sua esperienza maturata nel dipingere le lussuose feste della Repubblica di Venezia. Dopo aver interrotto il soggiorno inglese una prima volta nel 1750 e una seconda volta nel 1753, il Canaletto torna a Londra e stringe rapporti con Thomas Hollis, uno dei più importanti committenti del periodo inglese: per lui l'artista dipinge il Ponte di Walton e L'interno della Rotonda di Ranelagh, quest'ultimo uno dei rari interni realizzati dal pittore.
Il ritorno a Venezia e gli ultimi anni
Il Canaletto torna nella città natale tra il 1756 e il 1757 per non spostarsi più. Le ultime committenze prestigiose sono quelle del mercante tedesco Sigismund Streit e quelle per le "Solennità dogali". Per il primo, un committente molto esigente, l'artista realizza alcuni dipinti tra i quali due suggestivi notturni, la Veglia notturna a San Pietro di Castello e la Veglia notturna all'arzere di Santa Marta, entrambi conservati alla Gemäldegalerie di Berlino ed entrambi risalenti a un periodo collocabile tra il 1758 e il 1763. Sono tra i pochi notturni prodotti da Giovanni Antonio Canal e raffigurano i momenti salienti di due importanti celebrazioni: la gente festosa sulle imbarcazioni e sulle rive è illuminata soltanto dalla luce soffusa della luna. Per le Solennità dogali invece l'artista realizza un ciclo di disegni completati nel 1766.
Durante l'ultima fase della sua carriera, il Canaletto approfondisce il tema del capriccio, già affrontato in gioventù: importante in questo senso è il celeberrimo Capriccio palladiano, conservato presso la Galleria nazionale di Parma e risalente a un periodo compreso tra il 1756 e il 1759: si tratta di una veduta del quartiere di Rialto con il Ponte raffigurato secondo il progetto di Andrea Palladio e con la Basilica Palladiana di Vicenza. L'opera coniuga elementi reali (il quartiere di Rialto) a elementi altrettanto reali ma collocati altrove (la Basilica di Vicenza) e a elementi di fantasia (il Ponte di Rialto secondo il progetto palladiano), e in più è interessante perché permette di vedere come sarebbe stato il quartiere di Rialto se fosse stato scelto il progetto di Andrea Palladio piuttosto che quello di Antonio da Ponte.
Nel 1763 Giovanni Antonio Canal viene nominato socio dell'Accademia Veneziana di Pittura e Scultura, e da questo momento in avanti non si hanno più notizie sicure sulla sua attività: è probabile che abbia continuato a dipingere fino alla sua scomparsa, avvenuta il 19 aprile del 1768, dopo “lungo compassionevole male” – annota il Gradenigo nei Notatori – nella sua casa di Corte della Perina, tuttora esistente, circondato dall'affetto dei famigliari, e venne sepolto nella chiesa di San Lio; a Venezia, la tradizione vuole che la sua tomba si trovi sotto il pavimento della quattrocentesca Cappella Gussoni, nella Chiesa di San Lio (Pelusi, 2007).
Nel frattempo, in questi anni, Joseph Smith vende gran parte della sua collezione al re Giorgio III, che ha così modo di creare la base per la grande collezione di dipinti di Canaletto di proprietà della Royal Collection. Ci sono molti quadri dell'artista in altre collezioni britanniche tra cui la Wallace Collection di Londra, e in più c'è un insieme di una ventina di opere nella Sala da Pranzo della Woburn Abbey, nel Bedfordshire.
Critica
La fortuna critica del Canaletto ha conosciuto fasi alterne: ci sono stati e ci sono critici che lo apprezzano in modo incondizionato, mentre ci sono altri critici che si sono espressi in modo poco tenero nei suoi confronti. Questo perché secondo alcuni, il Canaletto non sarebbe altro che un "pittore-fotografo", un meccanico riproduttore della realtà circostante (Cottino, 1991).
Il primo a dare un giudizio su di lui è Anton Maria Zanetti, erudito veneziano: in una sua opera del 1733, intitolata Descrizione di tutte le pubbliche pitture della città di Venezia e isole circonvicine, Zanetti definisce il Canaletto come pittor di vedute, al quale e nella intelligenza e nel gusto e nella verità, pochi tra gli scorsi e nessuno tra i presenti si può trovar che si accostino. Un altro contemporaneo, Charles de Brosses, dice nelle sue Lettere familiari del 1739 che la specialità di Giovanni Antonio Canal è di dipingere le vedute di Venezia; in questo genere supera tutto ciò che è mai esistito. La sua maniera è luminosa, gaia, viva, trasparente e mirabilmente minuziosa.
Luigi Lanzi nella sua famosa Storia pittorica dell'Italia del 1831, dice che l'artista usa qualche libertà pittoresca, sobriamente però e in modo che il comune degli spettatori vi trova natura e gl'intendenti vi notan arte, arte che secondo Lanzi il Canaletto possedé in grado eminente. L'Ottocento si dimostra il secolo in cui la fortuna critica dell'artista scende ai "minimi storici": l'arte del Canaletto in particolare viene letteralmente stroncata da John Ruskin nella sua opera Modern painters, uscita in quattro edizioni (la prima è del 1843. Ruskin dice: il manierismo del Canaletto è il più degradato che io conosca in tutto il mondo dell'arte. Esercitando la più servile e sciocca imitazione, esso non imita nulla se non la vacuità delle ombre, e ne offre singoli ornamenti architettonici, per quanto esatti e prossimi [...]: si tratta di un piccolo, cattivo pittore.
Niccolò Tommaseo, nella sua opera Bellezza e civiltà del 1857, propone un ritratto singolare del pittore veneziano, cercando di non sbilanciarsi troppo: negar lode a tale artista, vissuto in tempi sì miseri, che quando l'arte periva per ogni dove, aggiunse all'Italia una novella corona, sarebbe ingiustizia; ma soprabbondar nelle lodi, e quello ch'egli toccò, dire il sommo dell'arte, sarebbe stoltezza. Tommaseo conclude dicendo che il Canaletto artista valente, non è che una porzione d'artista: questo perché secondo Tommaseo l'arte è nata non già per essere imitatrice dell'arte [...] ma per illustrare la natura e rinnovarla d'affetto generoso. Tommaseo cerca di riconoscere al Canaletto il merito di essere stato un artista sincero in tempi corrotti, ma comunque sottolinea tutti i limiti della pittura vedutista, in particolar modo delle vedute di architetture (Pelusi, 2007).
Gino Damerini, nella monografia del 1912 dedicata a Francesco Guardi, riconosce la superiorità di quest'ultimo nei confronti del Canaletto: Guardi, infatti, si impadronisce del nostro spirito quando già il nostro spirito trova Canaletto antiquato o soverchiamente rigido. Più positiva è l'interpretazione di Gino Fogolari, che nell'opera Il Settecento italiano del 1932 dice che nel dar significato alle vedute e nel taglio del quadro e nella prospettiva, è un costruttore, come è un poeta della luce nel rattenerne nelle lontananze tutta la chiarità solare.
A partire dalla seconda metà del Novecento i giudizi sull'arte del Canaletto cominciano a diventare sempre più positivi, a cominciare da quello di Roberto Longhi che nel 1946 lo chiama il grande Antonio Canal. Nel 1967 Pietro Zampetti, nell'opera Vedutisti veneziani del Settecento, descrive il Canaletto come il primo vero vedutista, per via della sua nuova forza e del suo nuovo senso della natura: finalmente nasce la veduta pura, la realtà schietta e sincera, il senso delle cose scrutate nella loro essenza più vera e profonda. Inoltre di recente molti storici dell'arte hanno cominciato a prendere le distanze dalla critica che vede il Canaletto come un "pittore-fotografo": per esempio, nel 1974 André Corboz dice che la supervalutazione del valore "oggettivo" di Canaletto è stata la conseguenza di una mentalità positivista della quale la critica ha da molto tempo sottolineato le insufficienze. La linea che valuta il rigorismo prospettico del Canaletto in chiave positiva ha trovato riscontro anche negli sviluppi più recenti della critica: il rigore di un preciso telaio prospettico, uno spazio liberamente inteso, preciso nei particolari ma non fedele al vero, una pittura sciolta in un soffio di poesia personalissima sono le caratteristiche dell'arte del Canaletto secondo Alessandro Bettagno (Canaletto prima maniera, 2001).
Gérard Genette (The Stonemason's Yard, 2005), individua in Canaletto due livelli: un “primo livello”, quello dei motivi di ammirazione più ovvi e immediati – per esempio, la seduzione principale dell'oggetto dipinto: “bel” paesaggio, modello affascinante – e un secondo, quello che riguarda un oggetto che nulla segnalerebbe all'ammirazione estetica, a priori e indipendentemente dal fatto che il pittore lo riproduce per mezzo del proprio trattamento pittorico. La “secondarietà” specifica, per Genette, che predilige il "Laboratorio dei marmi a San Vidal" al "Ritorno del Bucintoro", dipende dalla secondarietà generale che consiste nel preferire, in ogni caso, agli oggetti immediatamente seducenti ciò che Arthur Danto ha, in una prospettiva diversa, chiamato la “trasfigurazione del banale”, cioè il modo in cui l'arte del pittore si esercita e si manifesta su di un oggetto che l'osservatore profano avrebbe forse giudicato meno degno della sua attenzione e del suo interesse (Pelusi, 2007).
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
Giovanni Antonio Canal, Canaletto;
Raccolta Foto de Alvariis;
Twenty years ago today, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo welcomed naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) into its collection. These rodents, which are more closely related to porcupines and guinea pigs than to their namesake, are one of only a handful of mammals that exhibit eusocial behavior. Like insects such as termites and bees, naked mole-rats follow a hierarchical social structure that consists of one breeding female called the queen, up to three breeding males and many non-breeding workers and soldiers. In the wild, a single colony may contain as few as 20 individuals or as many as 300 individuals.
Eleven naked mole-rats are currently on exhibit at the Zoo’s Small Mammal House, though two other colonies, each comprised of nine individuals, live off-exhibit. Nearly 300 naked mole-rat pups have been born here and survived to adulthood since 1991. However, no pups have survived in the last 10 years. For unknown reasons, it is common for captive colonies to self-regulate their population. In the wild and in human care, these animals can live upwards of 30 years old.
Naked mole-rats are native to the arid-desert and semi-grassy regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in Eastern Africa and spend most of their lives navigating through dark underground tunnels. Because they have poor eyesight, they rely on smell, touch and hearing to get around. Measuring only three inches long, these rodents sport very little hair and have bare, wrinkly skin which varies in color from pink to grayish-pink. In addition to hairy feet, they also have hairy mouths that prevent them from swallowing dirt while they dig with their large incisor teeth.
Visitors to the Zoo’s websites can watch naked mole-rats on the Animal Webcam.
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Photo Credit: Meghan Murphy, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Here we have the massive bone-crushing teeth of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). The other hyena species, excluding the aardwolf, are overall pretty similar. The most massive tooth, all the way on the right in the upper row, is the carnassial (premolar four or P4), which is plesiomorphic or primitive for all carnivoran mammals (some groups, such as pinnipeds, bears, raccoons, etc, have reduced the carnassial) that is adapted for cutting and serrating flesh. Here in the hyena, it is much larger and blunter, but so are the other premolars, which makes the hyena exceptional among mammamlian bone-crushers (for example, the wolverine only has a highly modified P4, while the other premolars are not as exaggerated in size. See the link below). The only true molar is highly reduced, and sometimes absent. You can see it in some of the other adjacent photos in the stream.
You can see the rest of the skull is very robust and impressive, like the teeth. I should have included a photo of the sagittal crest, as there's a whole other interesting story to tell there...
For the wolverine, see: www.flickr.com/photos/31867959@N04/3243598040/
Compare with another hyaenid carnivore, the aardwolf: www.flickr.com/photos/31867959@N04/4121244926/
Il Castello di Segonzano è una tipica fortezza medioevale, fornita di mura e torri merlate; fu costruito nel XIII secolo su uno sperone roccioso, circa cento metri sopra il fondovalle.
Il luogo in cui sorge era presumibilmente già stato sede di un castelliere preistorico: era infatti una postazione ideale per sorvegliare il guado dell'Avisio presso Cantilaga.
Solitamente sia i castellieri che i castelli medioevali sorgono in luoghi elevati: nei dintorni, una delle posizioni più adatte sembrerebbe il Dos Venticcia (il luogo dove è ambientata la leggenda del Capelon del Dos), dove in effetti si trovava un castelliere preistorico. Evidentemente tale fu l'importanza del guado in epoca storica che il castello fu costruito presso il torrente.
Una delle ragioni della rilevanza della zona nel Medioevo è legata a Venezia ed alla sua flotta: l'albero maestro delle navi, infatti, era costruito con legno di abete rosso (il più adatto per solidità, flessibilità e omogeneità). La miglior qualità di abeti proviene dalla Foresta di Panevéggio, in Val di Fiemme (detta anche la Foresta dei violini poiché il suo eccellente legno è usato per strumenti ad arco e casse armoniche dei pianoforti): da lì gli alberi erano portati a Venezia per via fluviale (attraversando prima l'Avisio e poi l'Adige).
Questo fatto ha dato anche un notevole peso alla Val di Fiemme, che ha goduto di una forte indipendenza: nacque così la “Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme” (denominazione di cui la valle tuttora si fregia).
Anche Verona trasse vantaggio dal transito del legname: i dazi che i Signori della città, gli Scala, esigevano per il passaggio dei tronchi sull'Adige hanno costruito infatti la ricchezza di Verona e reso possibile la sua espansione politica ed artistica nel Rinascimento.
Rodolfo Scancio fu il primo proprietario del castello, a partire dal 1216. La sua famiglia diede il nome alla frazione Scancio di Segonzano nel 1938 (e l'emblema nobiliare ne è diventato lo stemma). Nella sua lunga storia, alla guida dell'edificio si alternarono molti Signori: oltre agli Scancio la lista comprende i Rottemburgo, i Greifenstein, diversi capitani dei Duchi del Tirolo, i Lichtenstein ed infine gli a Prato, che ne sono gli attuali proprietari. Proprio i baroni a Prato promossero nel XVI secolo la maggior parte dei rimaneggiamenti del castello.
Le parti ancora in piedi dell'edificio si possono raggiungere facilmente: si trovano a poche decine di metri dall'abitato di Piazzo di Segonzano, alla fine del sentiero della Corvaia.
Da secoli nessuno abita più il castello: dopo l'incendio causato dalla battaglia napoleonica del 1796, i baroni hanno trasferito la dimora a “Palazzo a Prato”, in frazione Piazzo, dove tuttora risiedono e amministrano un'azienda agricola. I resti dell'antico maniero si trovano ora circondati da vigne e meleti.
Devo a Padre Donato un'osservazione che riguarda l'edificio: nell'architettura medioevale veronese si riscontra spesso una peculiare alternanza di mattoni e pietra calcarea (per esempio a Palazzo Vecchio).
Nella torre “delle prigioni” del Castello di Segonzano si notano simili alternanze di mattoni e porfido: è pertanto possibile che tra le maestranze che hanno progettato e costruito l'edificio vi fossero architetti od operai veronesi.
Nel 1495 le vicende del castello si sono intrecciate a quelle del pittore ed incisore tedesco Albrecht Dürer (vedi la sezione di questo sito dedicata al cosiddetto Sentiero del Dürer).
Nel sito ufficiale del Sentiero del Dürer c'è una sezione dedicata al castello, con un confronto fra le vedute eseguite dal pittore e fotografie recenti prese dalla stessa angolazione.
Come si vede, tra l'edificio della fine del XV secolo e quello attuale c'è una bella differenza!
Una delle ragioni, al di là delle distruzioni operate durante la Battaglia di Segonzano, è che il castello, come spesso succedeva nei tempi andati, è stato utilizzato negli anni come “cava” per materiale da costruzione a buon mercato: senza dubbio diverse case del circondario (specialmente in frazione Piazzo) sono tuttora costituite da pietre provenienti dal castello.
Descriziona tratta da Val di Cembra, la bella.
Castello di Segonzano
Segonzano - Trento - Italy
These are located in Riverwood, Mississauga. I did not see a full damn nearby, but several large piles of wood that could have been the beginnigs of a Dam or Lodge.
North American Beaver
"This beaver is the largest rodent in North America and the third largest rodent in the world, after the South American capybara and the Eurasian beaver. Adults usually weigh 15 to 35 kg (33–77 lbs), with 20 kg (44 lbs) a typical mass, and measure around 1 m (3.3 ft) in total body length. Very old individuals can weigh as much as 45 kg (100 lbs).
Like the capybara, the beaver is semi-aquatic. The beaver has many traits suited to this lifestyle. It has a large flat paddle-shaped tail and large, webbed hind feet reminiscent of a human diver's swimfins. The unwebbed front paws are smaller, with claws. The eyes are covered by a nictitating membrane which allows the beaver to see underwater. The nostrils and ears are sealed while submerged. A thick layer of fat under its skin insulates the beaver from its cold water environment.
The beaver's fur consists of long, coarse outer hairs and short, fine inner hairs. The fur has a range of colors but usually is dark brown. Scent glands near the genitals secrete an oily substance known as castoreum, which the beaver uses to waterproof its fur.
Beavers are mainly active at night. They are excellent swimmers but are more vulnerable on land and tend to remain in the water as much as possible. They are able to remain submerged for up to 15 minutes. The flat, scaly tail is used to signal danger and also serves as a source of fat storage.
They construct their homes, or "lodges," out of sticks, twigs, and mud in lakes, streams, and tidal river deltas. These lodges may be surrounded by water, or touching land, including burrows dug into river banks. They are well known for building dams across streams and constructing their lodge in the artificial pond which forms. When building in a pond, the beavers first make a pile of sticks and then eat out one or more underwater entrances and two platforms above the water surface inside the pile. The first is used for drying off. Towards winter, the lodge is often plastered with mud which when it freezes has the consistency of concrete. A small air hole is left in the top of the lodge. In the event of danger, a beaver slaps its tail on the water to warn other family members.
The dam is constructed using sections of deciduous trees, especially birch, aspen, willow and poplar. The inner bark, twigs, shoots and leaves of such trees are also an important part of the beaver's diet. The trees are cut down using their strong incisor teeth. Their front paws are used for digging and carrying and placing materials. Some researchers have shown that the sound of running water dictates when and where a beaver builds its dam. Besides providing a safe home for the beaver, beaver ponds also provide habitat for waterfowl, fish, and other aquatic animals. Their dams help reduce soil erosion and can help reduce flooding.
Beavers are most famous, and infamous, for their dam-building. They maintain their pond-habitat by reacting quickly to the sound of running water, and damming it up with tree branches and mud. Early ecologists believed that this dam-building was an amazing feat of architectural planning, indicative of the beaver's high intellect. This theory was disproved when a recording of running water was played in a field near a beaver pond. Despite the fact that it was on dry land, the beaver covered the tape player with branches and mud. The largest beaver dam is 2,790 ft (850 m) in length — more than half a mile long - and was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007. It is located located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and is twice the width of the Hoover dam which spans 1,244 ft (379 m).
C. c. canadensis, feeding in Winter
Normally, the purpose of the dam is to provide water around their lodges that is deep enough that it does not freeze solid in winter. The dams also flood areas of surrounding forest, giving the beaver safe access to an important food supply, which is the leaves, buds, and inner bark of growing trees. They prefer aspen and poplar, but will also take birch, maple, willow and alder. They will also eat cattails, water lilies and other aquatic vegetation, especially in the early spring (and contrary to widespread belief, they do not eat fish). In areas where their pond freezes over, beavers collect food in late fall in the form of tree branches, storing them underwater (usually by sticking the sharp chewed base of the branches into the mud on the pond bottom), where they can be accessed through the winter. Often the pile of food branches projects above the pond and collects snow. This insulates the water below it and keeps the pond open at that location.
Beavers usually mate for life. The young beaver "kits" typically remain with their parents for up to two years.
Common natural predators include gray wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. Less significant predators include bears, which can dig into a lodge, wolverines, river otters, Canadian lynx, bobcats, and mink."
- Courtesy of Wikipedia
Riverwood, Mississauga
"Located in central Mississauga and nestled along the banks of the historic Credit River, the 60-hectare (150-acre) Riverwood property is a special place where history, nature, beauty and peace blend together to create an enjoyable and lasting outdoor experience.
Visitors to this unique all-season destination will enjoy the freshness and new beginnings of wildflowers, bulbs and grasses in the spring; the cooling shade of 200- to 350-year-old trees and mixed old growth forests during the summer; the spawning salmon and breathtaking artist’s palette of vibrant yellows, oranges and reds in the fall; and the tranquility and beauty of the trees and ground blanketed in white snow during the winter. With woodland trails, splendid wildlife and glorious views, Riverwood is the ideal site to observe and enjoy the best of what Mother Nature has to offer!"
Courtesy of Riverwood Conservacy
www.riverwoodconservancy.org/Riverwood.html
© All Rights Reserved - Miles Away Photography
Please! No usage allowed without the consent of Mandi A. Miles
Based out of Flesherton, ON, please write for prices and information!
The unusual-looking aye-aye is covered with a coat of coarse blackish-brown hair, which overlays a denser coat of short white hair. The animal has very large, sensitive ears that stick out from its small, rounded head. It has sharp, rodent-like incisor (front) teeth and long, claw-like fingers and toes.
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo
"With a body and head length of 20 to 32 inches, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo are much smaller than Australia's well-known red kangaroo. An adult male weighs between 20 and 25 lb (9–11 kg). An adult female weighs between 15 and 20 lb (7–9 kg).
There is no particular season in which they breed. Gestation lasts 32 days and joeys of captive bred individuals leave the pouch after 13 ½ months. The average life span of the Matschie's Tree-kangaroo in the wild is unknown, but is at least 14 years. The life span of the kangaroo in a zoo is about 20 years.
The most distinctive trait of all tree kangaroos is the hair whorl they possess. It is a patch of hair that goes out in many directions and its location ranges from up near the shoulders all the way down to the tail. The Matschie’s tree kangaroo is golden on its ventral side, lower parts of its limbs, ear edges, belly, and tail, and the rest of its body is a chestnut brown color, except for usually having a dark stripe down its back. Their faces are typically an array of yellow and white colors. The Matschies’ are similar in color and size to Dendrolagus dorianus, the Doria’s tree kangaroo. Matschies’ ears are small and bear-like looking and they do not have a good sense of hearing because of it. They have curved claws on their forelimbs and soft pads on their hind limbs that aid in their climbing ability, and they have some independent movement of their digits as well as good dexterity due to their forelimbs being able to bend a great deal. The 4th and 5th digit of their feet are enlarged, the 1st digit is absent, and the 2nd and 3rd digits are syndactylous (two digits that look like one fused together). Scientists have discovered that the Matschie’s are able to walk bipedally and there’s a lot of rotation in their limbs for climbing. Out of all of the Dendrolagus species, the Matschie’s tree kangaroo is the best vertical climber and has more strength in its muscles than any others. Their tails help to offset their balance while moving swiftly through the trees since their tails are about the same length as their head and body size. Sexual dimorphism is very low, with males and females being of about equal sizes. The upper and lower jaws of the Matschie’s tree kangaroos are different too in addition to them being different in body size. The upper jaw has three incisors, one canine, one premolar, and four molars, while the lower jaw has one very sharp incisor, no canines and low crowned molars.
Ecology and Behaviour:
Matschie's Tree-kangaroo lives in the mountainous rainforests at elevations of between 1000 and 3300m. The kangaroo tends to live either alone or with very small groups, usually comprising of just a mother, joey and a male. They spend most of their time in the trees and come down occasionally to feed. They are very adept at hopping and can leap up to 30 feet (9 m).
Instead of sweating, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo licks its forearms and allows the evaporation to help cool its body.
In the wild, it will usually feed on leaves, fruits and mosses. When kept in zoos, it feeds on apples, carrots, yams, corn on the cob, celery, kale/romaine, high fiber monkey biscuits, tofu, hard boiled eggs, and various types of tree boughs (elm, willow, etc.)
Matschies’ appear to be scared of humans because they scramble around when humans are nearby and they are very difficult to find in the forests. They spend about 14 to 15 hours of their days sleeping and resting. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos are known for defending their home territory and marking their boundaries.
Range:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are restricted to the Huon peninsula of Papua New Guinea, a subdivision of Tumbanan faunal province, and are the only tree kangaroos found there. They are also residents on the island of Umboi which is just off the coast of Papua New Guinea.. The Matschies’ prefer to live in deciduous forests and tropical rainforests because they remain in trees for most of their days.
Diet:
Matschie’s tree kangaroos are mainly folivorous, eating anything from leaves, sap, insects, flowers, and nuts. It was also found that they have eaten chickens in captivity as well as feeding on a variety of plants, carrots, lettuce, bananas, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and yams. Since they eat high fiber foods, they only eat maybe about 1 to 2 hours throughout the day and the other time of the day they are resting and digesting their food. Their digestion is similar to that of the ruminants; they have a large, “tubiform forestomach”, where most of the fermentation and breakdown of tough material takes place at; in the hind stomach, there is a mucosa lining with many glands that help absorption begin here.
Reproduction:
Tim Flannery documents the mating techniques of the Matschies’ in his text Mammals of New Guinea by stating mating occurs when a female advances on a male while on the ground; they touch each other’s noses and click their tongues. Usually the female is aggressive and hits the male but permits him to climb on her within ten minutes, and copulation can last up to sixty minutes afterwards. The gestation period lasts approximately 44.2 days, which is known to be the longest for any of the marsupials. The Matschie’s tree kangaroos have no embryonic diapauses or delayed implantations and are able to get pregnant as soon as the joey leaves the pouch. The joey usually peeks out of the pouch around 22 weeks, will feed on its own about 27.5 weeks, will leave the pouch around 28 weeks, and permanently leave for good around 41 weeks. These tree kangaroos have been found to reach fourteen years in age. In captivity, the tree kangaroos can get pregnant at any time of the year and are known to breed well. The female oestrus cycle is between 54.2 and 56.8 days and is able to produce young between the ages of 2 and 2.5 years of age."
- Courtesy of Wikipedia
© All Rights Reserved - Miles Away Photography
Please! No usage allowed without the consent of Mandi A. Miles
Based out of Flesherton, ON, please write for prices and information!
BIG 5. Elephant. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. South Africa. Dec/2019
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found
Due to conservation efforts, the park in 2008 had the largest population of white rhino in the world
Umfolozi
This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.
Hluhluwe
The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area,[3] while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Hluhluwe–Imfolozi
O Parque Hluhluwe – Imfolozi, anteriormente Reserva de Caça Hluhluwe – Umfolozi, é a mais antiga reserva natural proclamada da África. Consiste em 960 km² (96.000 ha) de topografia montanhosa a 280 quilômetros (170 milhas) ao norte de Durban, no centro de KwaZulu-Natal, África do Sul e é conhecida por seus ricos esforços de vida selvagem e conservação. O parque é o único parque estatal em KwaZulu-Natal, onde cada um dos cinco grandes animais de caça pode ser encontrado.
Devido aos esforços de conservação, o parque em 2008 teve a maior população de rinocerontes brancos do mundo
Umfolozi
Essa área está situada entre os dois rios Umfolozi, onde se dividem no Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') ao norte e o Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') ao sul. Essa área fica ao sul do parque e geralmente é quente no verão, e temperatura amena no inverno, embora ocorram períodos de frio. A topografia na seção de Umfolozi varia desde as planícies do leito do rio Umfolozi até a região montanhosa íngreme, que inclui alguns vales largos e profundos. Os habitats nesta área são principalmente pradarias, que se estendem até a savana de acácias e bosques.
Hluhluwe
A região de Hluhluwe possui topografia montanhosa, onde as altitudes variam de 80 a 540 metros (260 a 1.770 pés) acima do nível do mar. As altas cordilheiras sustentam florestas costeiras escarpadas em uma região bem regada, com vales em níveis mais baixos. O norte do parque é mais acidentado e montanhoso, com florestas e campos e é conhecido como a área de Hluhluwe, enquanto a área de Umfolozi fica ao sul, perto dos rios Umfolozi, onde há savanas abertas.
Fonte: Wikipedia (tradução livre)
The brown-throated sloth has grayish-brown to beige-color fur over the body, with darker brown fur on the throat, the sides of the face, and the forehead. The face is generally paler in color, with a stripe of very dark fur running beneath the eyes.
Brown-throated sloths sleep 15 to 18 hours every day and are active for only a few brief periods, which may be during either the day or night.
Although they can walk along the ground, and even swim, they spend most of their lives in the high branches of trees, descending once every eight days or so to defecate in the soil
Each foot has three fingers, ending in long, curved claws.
The head is rounded, with a blunt nose and inconspicuous ears. As with other sloths, the brown-throated sloth has no incisor or canine teeth, and the cheek teeth are simple and peg-like. They have no gall bladder, cecum, or appendix.
taken at Sarapiqui, Costa Rica.
BIG5 Elephant. Kruger National Park. South Africa. Jul-Aug/2021
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of around 20,000 square kilometres in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from east to west.
Source: Wikipedia
Parque Nacional Kruger
O Parque Nacional Kruger é a maior área protegida de fauna bravia da África do Sul, cobrindo cerca de 20 000 km2. Está localizado no nordeste do país, nas províncias de Mpumalanga e Limpopo e tem uma extensão de cerca de 360 km de norte a sul e 65 km de leste a oeste.
Os parques nacionais africanos, nas regiões da savana africana são importantes pelo turismo com safári de observação e fotográfico.
O seu nome foi dado em homenagem a Stephanus Johannes Paul Kruger, último presidente da República Sul-Africana bôere. Foi criado em 31 de Maio de 1926
Fonte: Wikipedia
Marradi(FI): Un fotografo amatoriale della Romagna Toscana la sa lunga nel cliccar delle sue Genti e chi vede vive nel suo pulsar l’attimo fuggente..e Dino Campana risorge a Sublime esaltazione del Poetico Canto..con Raparo ,Galeotti Naife,e il Maestro di Marradi che dell’Arte fecer scrigno dorato di gemme inestimabili..e io ricordo alzate sensuali manine..
Ripercorrer le foto dell’amico Franco BILLI, fotografo amatoriale di Marradi, nel cuor e nella mente è un rovistar che fa letizia e tornano come attuali Storia, Usanze, Costumi, Tradizioni, Fasti, Tristezze e Ardori; quassù tra questo mare di verde intenso, che tutto avvolge quasi a sovrastare persone e cose: ma l’Arte, la Poesia, l’Alitar su quanto scorre inesorabile sempre primeggiano, nonostante il passar del Tempo che tutto assopisce e poi svanisce, senza intaccare però le Sublimi Esaltazioni del Creato..e Dino Campana ne è un esempio e non da poco per tutto il 900..mentre Franco BILLI con le sue foto omaggia di tutto ciò chi ancora crede nella vitalità, che zampilla dalle immagini catturate con abilità unica qui attorno tra case ponti boschi e sentieri e austeri monti.
Ha scritto su Maestro di Marradi Livietta Galeotti Pedulli Edizioni Polistampa di AUSER Università dell’Età Libera del Mugello. Note:Maestro di Marradi autore di diverse opere pittoriche del '400 esposte in Marradi, ma qualcosa è stato scoperto pure in Inghilterra. Pittore Marradese illustre purtroppo rimasto ignoto; discepolo della scuola di Domenico Ghirlandaio da Firenze, a sua volta autore degli affreschi del coro di S.Maria Novella e seguace del Verrocchio. Si noti il particolare del Cassone ligneo dipinto con la Storia del Maestro di Falerio, seconda metà del secolo XV conservato presso la National Gallery di Londra. Note Storiche : i forzierinai o creatori di forzieri detti impropriamente CASSONI erano artigiani artisti specializzati in questo genere di mobile che solitamente serviva per il corredo da matrimonio portato in dote dalla sposa o dallo sposo nel giorno di nozze e che in seguito rimaneva come elemento d’arredo importante nella camera matrimoniale.
Hanno scritto su Francesco Galeotti Naife:
Pietro Annigoni, Alberto Banami,Piero Bargellini,Paolo Bassetti,SandroBassi,Renzo Battiglia,Mar Ber,Oto Bihalji,Livio Blini,Giovanni Boggio,UmbertoBonafini,Walter Carlini,Luigi Carluccio,Raffaele Carrieri,Antonio Cassigoli,Lena Corni,Giorgio Crema,Marzio Dall'Acqua,M.J.De Giorgi,Mario De Micheli,Antony De Witt,Sigrid De Witt,FRancesco Donati,Cecilia Filippini,Fortunata Filipponi,Mirna Gentilini,Gianfranco Greco,Silva Gurioli,Anatole Jakovsky,Georges Kasper,Elio Iacchia,Nevio Iori,Giuseppe Mattioli,Renzo Morgonari,Michelangelo Masciotta,Dino Menozzi(D.M.),Cacho Millet,Mario Monteverdi,Flaminio F.Novelli,Mario Novi,Tommaso Paloscia,Claudio Panzavolta,Wanda Papini,Gayot Pascal,Adolfo Pistelli,Arsèn Pohribny,Victore Querel,Carlo L.Ragghianti,Renato Ridolfi,Rodolfo Ridolfi,Giogio Ruggeri,Plinio Sidoli,Italo Spinetti,Giuseppe Tarabusi,Nebojsa Tomasevic,Marco Valsecchi,Dino Villani,Cesare Zavattini.
Documenti su Francesco Galeotti
1960 Selearte,Luovico Ragghianti,n.48
1963 4 Dicembre – Documentario di Pier Paolo Ruggerini -La Parete(Da Pino)
1966 Giugno -OGGI R.Battaglia,n°23
1967 Novembre – La cucina Italiana, P. Alemagna
1967 Peintres Naifs, Anatole Jakovsky, Ed. Basilius Presse, Basel
1971 800 Pittori allo specchio, Dino Villani, Ed. Cavour, Milano
1972 I Naif Italiani, De Micheli e Margonari, Ed. Passera e Toto, Parma
1973 Naif, Renzo Margonari, Ed. La Nazionale, Parma
1974Naif Italiani Oggi, L. Blini e W. Carlino, Ed. Seletecnica, Milano
1975 Annuario artisti Italiani, M. Monteverdi, Ed. Seletecnica, Milano
1977 L'Arte NAIVE, n.14, DinoMenozzi, Ed.AGE, Reggio Emilia
1978 Catalogo Nazionale di grafica naive, W. Carlino e D. Menozzi, Ed. AGE, Reggio Emilia
1980 NAIFS, Ente Fiera Lombardia, Milano
1984Enciclopedia mondiale di Arte Naive, Bihalji-Merin e Tomasevic, Ed. Edita, Losanna
1991 Nevio Iori, Omaggio a Francesco Galeotti, Ed.Tecnostampa(RE) – Settembre 1991
2001 Promenade Catalogo 1990 – 1991 – 1992
2010 Giugno - “Novant'anni di vita a colori” a cura di Rodolfo Ridolfi , Ed. Tipo-litografia Fabbri di Modigliana (FC).
PERSONALI DI FRANCESCO GALEOTTI
1960 Maggio - Pres. Antony De (Witt) – Galleria LA STROZZINA, Firenze
1962 Gennaio - A.d.W., estratto da C.L. Ragghianti e Italo Spinetti – Galleria d'ArteSpinettiFI
1963 dICEMBRE - (a.D.w. 1962 )- La Parete (da Pino), Milano
1965 Apr.Mag.-A.d.W. e I.S. - Galleria d'Arte Spinetti, Firenze
1967 Ottobre – Novembre- Nevio Iori -Le Scalelle- Pro Loco Marradi
1968 Maggio – Giugno – (Interv.Battiglia) – Galleria d'Arte Spinetti, Firenze
1970 Aprile (A.d.W. 1962) – Galleria d'Arte VIOTTI, Torino
1970 Maggio – Giugno -Mischelangelo Masciotta – Galleria d'Arte Spinetti Firenze
1990 Mostra Antologica – Marradi, Sala del Consiglio Comunale
1991 5 Ottobre – Teatro degli Animosi -Marradi – Giorgio Crema
1992 14 Maggio – 14 Giugno – Castelnaudary (Francia ),Galleria Paul Sibra
1994 22Ottobre – 1 Novembre – Slovenskà galèria Bratislava
1998 10 Febbraio – 31 Marzo -Credito Cooperativo Faenza, Piazza della Libertà
2002 San Cassiano di Brisighella (RA)
2010 Giugno – Teatro degli Animosi, Marradi “Novant'anni di vita a colori”. R.Ridolfi, C.Filippini, M.Gentilini
Si ringrazia Rodolfo Ridolfi per l'utilizzo del suo libro "Novant'anni di vita a Colori" stampa di Litografia Fabbri Modigliana in distribuzione a Marradi.
Fonti di approfondimento www.marradifreenews.com
..e del Chiarissimo Prof. Lanfranco Raparo Emerito Cittadino di Marradi, indimenticabile fautore dell’immortalare la sua dolce ed impervia vallata con pennello ineguagliabile PARLO IO, collega per 30 anni di questo imprevedibile e geniale esaltatore del Piccolo e Grande Mondo Mugellano della Romagna Toscana, Mondo captato sempre nella sua essenziale bellezza e misteriosa essenza, che poi trapela da ogni dipinto che sa di poesia nel raccontar delle cose del cuore e della mente, ripetendo come mi confidava a momenti..il pitturar mi è dolce in questo verde mare..Per 30 anni ci siamo collocati in fondo agli interminabili Collegi e Consigli di Istituto; io a ripensar della mia flora e fauna e Matematica, Lui a improvvisar piccoli dipinti o bozze, caricature e vignette e quanto si rideva dell’interminabile susseguirsi di sensuali manine alzate, per relazionar non so più mai cosa e poi programmazioni, giudizi tipo quasi sufficiente,sufficiente,buono,distinto,ottimo decretati a fiumana con l’Eterno finale”potrebbe fare di più ma..”Un giorno il Preside, l’austero Dr. Prof. Aldo Caroli rivolto a Lanfranco..”Mi rilegga il suo giudizio pocanzi riferito al Consiglio!..Raparo allora stralunato mostrò distrattamente una vignetta balbettando qualcosa, tra una risata generale..era la caricatura del Capo di Istituto…e non fu una tragedia. Posso infine parlarvi della sua Cittadinanza Onoraria, dei Quadri e Affreschi disseminati ovunque in case e luoghi pubblici, persino in Municipio, e di quando li realizzava correndo, per staccar un po’ la spina, su per i monti da solo col suo pennello, con i suoi incisori in un’auto che tutto pareva tranne che un mezzo di trasporto e rideva, rideva con un ci rivedremo presto! Le Signore del Posto mi hanno riferito di come mai era bello al suo arrivo in Marradi dall’Africa..avea i boccoli d’oro e il pennello già a portata di mano..!
VEDI
Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
A tribesman with filed middle top incisors poses for a portrait with his machete on est nacional 280, bibala, namibe
One of the religious ceremonies that the Balinese tradition to this day, the tradition ofcutting teeth (usually the Balinese call it metatah or mapandes or masangih). This tradition must be done by the entire Hindu community in Bali that both men and women so that at the time of death, a person can meet with his ancestors in heaven. In actualpractice, it does not mean cutting teeth cut teeth until exhausted, but only six spruce orfiling of teeth in upper jaw, the four incisors and two canines left and right are believed toeliminate the six bad qualities inherent in a person, that is kama (passions), greedy(greedy), krodha (anger), mada (drunk), moha (confusion), and matsarya (jealousy orenvy). The six vices are usually referred to the sad ripu. This tradition is usually held during the cutting teeth of boys or girls adulthood is marked by the arrival of menstruationfor women and the growing voice for menOne of the religious ceremonies that the Balinese tradition to this day, the tradition ofcutting teeth (usually the Balinese call it metatah or mapandes or masangih). This tradition must be done by the entire Hindu community in Bali that both men and women so that at the time of death, a person can meet with his ancestors in heaven. In actualpractice, it does not mean cutting teeth cut teeth until exhausted, but only six spruce orfiling of teeth in upper jaw, the four incisors and two canines left and right are believed toeliminate the six bad qualities inherent in a person, that is kama (passions), greedy(greedy), krodha (anger), mada (drunk), moha (confusion), and matsarya (jealousy orenvy). The six vices are usually referred to the sad ripu. This tradition is usually held during the cutting teeth of boys or girls adulthood is marked by the arrival of menstruationfor women and the growing voice for men
As for the meaning contained in this tooth filing ceremony, first as symbolic that someoneadulthood. Therefore, someone new may perform this ceremony after puberty. Second,as a form of devotion of parents (mothers and fathers in terms of people who will cut your teeth) to the ancestors who have been transformed as a child, to developkeperibadiannya grown. The third person who has sanctified it easier to connect to theIda Sang Hyang Widhi, the gods, and ancestors, which is expected to meet later diedwith his ancestors in heaven. In addition to the above meaning, cutting teeth also haveaesthetic significance, namely for the beauty or the beauty of the teeth to be morepresentable.