Tuesday, 17 January 2017

Echidna Facts

1) Echidnas are a kind of spiny anteaters.
2) Echidnas belong to the family Tachyglossidae that means "fast tongues."
3) Echidnas belong to the order monotreme including egg-laying mammals.
4) Echidnas belong to Prototheria including the first milk giving animals.
5) Echidnas and platypus are the only surviving egg-laying mammals.
6) The anteaters that do not relate to Echidnas are aardvark, numbat, and pangolins.
7) The giant anteater is Myrmecophaga tridactyla,  (not an Echidna).
8) Echidnas live in scrublands, deserts, and montane forests of Australia, Tasmania, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
9) Echidnas are terrestrial mammals.
10) Actually Echidna means a half-woman and half-snake creature in Greek mythology.
11) Echidnas were perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles.
12) Echidnas are brown or black medium-sized, independently living solitary mammals covered with coarse hair and spines.
13) Externally Echidnas resemble the anteaters of the South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines.
14) Echidnas have elongated and slender snouts that function both as both mouth and nose.
15) The bill of Echidnas has about 2000 electrosensors, whereas the platypus has 40,000 electroreceptors.
16) Echidnas are powerful diggers with very short and strong limbs that equipped with large claws.
17) Echidnas have tiny mouths with toothless jaws.
18) Echidnas tear open anthills and logs by using a long and sticky tongue.
19) Echidnas have ear slits on either side of the head, hidden under spines.
20) The external ears of Echidnas are a pair of cartilaginous funnels situated deep in the muscle.
21) Tachglossus, the short-beaked Echidnas live on ants and termites, while the Zaglossus species on earthworms, worms and insect larvae.
22) The body temperature of Echidnas is lower than that of other mammals.
23) Echidnas do not tolerate extreme temperatures.
24) Echidnas use caves and rock crevices to shelter themselves from harsh weather conditions.
25) Echidnas are live under debris, roots and  vegetation in forests.
26) Echidnas occupy burrows of other animals like rabbits and wombats.
27) Echidnas are good swimmers.
28) The tongues of echidnas have sharp, tiny spines to capture the prey.
29) Faeces of Echidnas are about 7 cm long.
30) The lifespan of wild echidnas is 16 years.
31) Female echidnas weigh  4.5 kg (9.9 lb) and a males 6 kg (13.2 lbs).
32) Echidnas exhibit sexual dimorphism, males are 25% larger than females.
33) Both sexes have a common cloaca to urinate, defecate and mate.
34) Male echidnas have spurs on the hind feet.
35) The neocortex makes up half of the echidna's brain, compared to 80% of a human brain.
36) Echidnas live longer due to low metabolic rate and  stress resistance.
37) Captive echidnas live for 50 years and wilder ones for 45 years.
38) Echidnas show REM sleep at 25 °C (77 °F).
39) Female echidnas lay one single soft-shelled, leathery egg into the pouch once in a year.
40) Gestation period of echidnas is 22 days.
41) The baby echidna hatches out of the leather shell with a reptile-like egg tooth.
42) Incubation period for echidnas is 10 days.
43) Baby Echidnas are larval and foetus-like of the size of a grape, smaller than a jelly bean.
44) Echidnas have two milk patches without nipples. Puggles lap up milk from patches.
45) Baby echidnas lives in mother's pouch for 45 to 55 days.
46) The mother echidna digs a nursery burrow to deposit the young ones.
47) The mother echidna visits nursery burrow to suckle the baby every 5-10 days.
48) Baby echidnas are weaned at seven months.
49) Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two.
50) The penis of male echidnas is retracted inside a preputial sac in the cloaca. 51) The male echidna's penis is 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long when erect.
52) The shaft of the penis of Echidnas is covered with penile spines.
53) The penile spines induce ovulation in the female Echidnas.
54) Male Echidnas for mating lines up to ten individuals.
55) The youngest echidna trailing last mates the female mostly.
56) Switching of Echidnas between mating lines  during a mating season is known as the "train" system.
57) The egg of Echidnas is 1.5 – 2 gm and about 1.4 cm long.
58) The young echidna is called a puggle.
58) Echidnas are very timid animals.
59) Predators of Echidnas are wild cats, foxes, domestic dogs, dingoes, goannas and snakes.
60) Snakes prey on the young spineless puggles.
61) Humans grabbing may cause stress and picking up improperly may result in injury.
62) Oviparous mammals diverged into viviparous mammals during the Triassic period.
63) Zaglossus and Tachyglossus are two extant genera of Echidnas
64) Echidna is a food delicacy for aboriginal Australians.
65) The echidna is on the Australian five-cent coin.
66) The mascot for the 2000 Summer Olympics was Millie, an Echidna.
67) Echidnas are diurnal, crepuscular and nocturnal as per convenience.
68) The eyesight of Echidnas is not as acute as sense of hearing and smell.
69) The beige-and-black spines on echidnas are about 2 inches (5 centimeters) long.
70) The hind legs point backward with an extra-long claw on the second toe.
71) Echidnas escape danger by running away and faces by curling up the body.
72) The echidna is an excellent swimmer and tree climber.
74) Both male and female echidnas have a pouch on the belly.
75) Gynecomastism is seen in Echidnas that means males have mammary glands
76) The echidna’s snout is very sensitive to touch and can feel vibrations.
77) The Sir David's long-beaked echidna is named after Sir David Attenborough, a British naturalist famous for his nature films.

Saturday, 14 January 2017

Kangaroo Facts

1) The kangaroo is a marsupial. 
2) Animals with young ones nurtured in mother's pouch are called marsupials.
3) Marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, possums, opossums, quokkas, pademelons wombats, and Tasmanian devils.
4) Kangaroos belong to the genus Macropus.
5) Kangaroos are endemic to Australia. There is a myth that kangaroo means "I don't understand you," in local language.
6) More than 30 million kangaroos live in Australia.
7) The family Macropodidae includes kangaroos, wallaroo and wallaby.
8) The smallest species of Macropodidae are called "wallabies".
9) The largest species of Macropodidae are called "kangaroos."
10) The smallest macropod is the dwarf wallaby whose length is 46 cm and weight 1.6 kg.
11) The largest macropod is kangaroos.
12) A large male kangaroo can be 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall and  90 kg (200 lb) weight. (Small kangaroo is 0.5 kg and larger up to 95 kg)
13) Kangaroos have large, powerful hind legs and large feet for leaping.
14) A long muscular tail of the kangaroo is meant for balance.
15) Female kangaroos have a pouch called the marsupium.
16) In the marsupium joeys complete their post-natal development.
17) The kangaroo is an unofficial recognized symbol of Australia.
28) The kangaroo is an official symbol of Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force.
29) Wild kangaroos are sometimes shot for meat, leather hides, and to protect grazing lands.
40) "Roos" is a colloquial name of Kangaroos.
41) Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers, jacks, or old men.
42) Female kangaroos are called does, flyers, or jills.
43) Young kangaroos are called joeys.
44) A group of kangaroos is called a mob, troop, or court.
45) The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial.
46) The scientific name of the red kangaroo is Macropus rufus.
47) The range lands of the western New South Wales consist of the highest population density of the red kangaroo.
48) Kangaroos with the largest population are the  eastern greys.
49) The largest hopping animal is kangaroo.
50) The normal hopping speed of a red kangaroo is 20–25 km/h (12–16 mph).
51) The maximum hopping speed of a kangaroo can be 70 km/h (43 mph).
52) Kangaroos exhibit pentapedal locomotion where four limbs and a tail are used.
53) Two hind legs and a tail form a tripod in locomotion.
54) Kangaroos are adept swimmers.
55) Kangaroos are herbivorous ruminants with chambered stomachs. Kangaroos eat grasses, flowers, leaves, ferns, mosses and even insects.
56) The smaller species of kangaroos eat hypogeal fungi.
57) Many species of kangaroos are nocturnal (night lovers) and crepuscular (twilight lovers). 58) Kangaroos show polyphyodonty that is getting several sets of new teeth  during lifetime.
59) Elephants and manatees also show polyphyodonty.
60) Kangaroos do not emit digestive methane.
61) Kangaroos communicate through sniffing.
62) Male kangaroos exhibit the flehmen response by  sniffing females' urine to detect oestrus.
63) Kangaroos fight is "boxing" or "wrestling."
64) The natural predators of kangaroos are dingos, foxes, feral cats, domestic and feral dogs.
64) A large kangaroo use its forepaws to drown its predator enemy in water.
65) The gestation period of kangaroos is 31–36 days.
66) The newly born joey is about the size of a lima bean or a grain of rice, or as big as a bee, at 5 to 25 millimeters (0.2 to 0.9 in).
67) The staying period of a  joey in the mother's pouch is about nine months (180 days); 320 days for the WesternGrey.
68) A joey feeds milk for 18 months.
69) The female kangaroo is usually pregnant in permanence, except on the day she gives birth.
70) The ability of the female kangaroo to freeze the development of an embryo until the previous joey is able to leave the pouch or in unfavourable conditions is known as diapause.
71) The composition of the milk of a female kangaroo varies according to the needs of the joey.
72) A female kangaroo produces two different kinds of milk simultaneously for the newborn and the older joey.
73) Male kangaroos cannot produce sperms during unfavourable dry periods.
74) Female kangaroos conceive only during favourable wet conditions with sufficient green vegetation.
75) Kangaroos and wallabies have large, elastic tendons in their hind legs.
76) A kangaroo's tail acts as a third leg.
77) Kangaroos may get blindness due to a virus called the Wallal virus through carriers called midges.
78) The neonate or newly born joey is blind and hairless.
79) The newly born joey climbs up with front legs in 3-5 minutes.
80) The hindlegs of a newly born are mere stumps.
81) The mother's sexual cycle starts immediately after the birth of a new joey.
82) The lifespan of kangaroos is six years in the wild and 20 years in the captivity. Larger species live around 12-18 years, while smaller rat kangaroos live for 5-8 years.
83) Kurnai tribes use stuffed kangaroo scrotum as a ball for the traditional football game of marngrook.
84) Aherrenge is a kangaroo dreaming site in the Northern Territory.
85) A small vehicle may be destroyed and a larger vehicles may suffer engine damage if they counteract with a kangaroo. 
86) "kangaroo crossing" signs are common places in Australia.
87) Vehicles are often fitted with "roo bars" to minimise damage caused by kangaroo collision.
88) Bonnet-mounted ultrasound devices are used to scare kangaroos off the road.
89) Any joey in the pouch of an accident met female kangaroo is sent to a wildlife sanctuary or veterinary surgeon for rehabilitation.
90) There are five kangaroos on the Australian one dollar coin.
91) The Australian made logo consists of a golden kangaroo in a green triangle.
92) Kangaroo meat is high in protein with only about 2% fat.
93) Most kangaroo meat is from wild animals as a byproduct of population control programs.
94) Mammary glands of kangaroos are present in pouches.
95) The smallest kangaroo is the musky rat-kangaroo which is 15.24 to 20.32 cm (6 to 8 in) long and weighs 340 grams (12 ounces).
96) The springy hind legs and feet of kangaroos are much stronger and larger than forelimbs.
97) Kangaroos can cover 15 feet (7 m) in a single hop.
98) The fifth leg of the kangaroo is its tail.
99) Joeys urinate and defecate in the mother's pouch. Though some of the mess is absorbed by the lining of the pouch, major part is cleaned by mother's  tongue.
100) According to the IUCN 16 species of tree-kangaroos and rat-kangaroos are nearly threatened, threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.
101) The desert rat-kangaroo and the Nullarbor dwarf bettong are considered extinct.
102) Global warming could kill off the world's smallest kangaroo.
103) Hopping is a fast and energy efficient means of travelling among kangaroos.
104) There are more kangaroos than humans in Australia.
105) A slow movement of a kangaroo with its tail to form a tripod with its two forelimbs is called "crawl-walking."
106) Each nipple of mother kangaroo  varies the composition of the milk it produces to suit the stage of development of its young ones.
107) The reproductive strategy of kangaroos is that there are 3 stages of foetus or baby development to reproduce at maximum speed in favourable conditions. 
108) Mother kangaroo stops milk production during unfavourable dry conditions. 
109) Each young kangaroo takes 600 days to reach the stage where it can live independently.
110) Most kangaroos have a very low standard metabolic rate, SMR, 70 % of the mean for mammals to survive during severe hot conditions. 
111) Kangaroos cool themselves by spreading saliva on their forearms during extremely hot conditions

Thursday, 12 January 2017

Giraffe Facts

2) The giraffe is the tallest living land animal.
3) The giraffe is the largest ruminant.
4) The Southern giraffe is Giraffa giraffa
6) The closest relative of giraffe is the okapi.
7) Giraffes are mostly found in the African continent.
8) Giraffes are usually found in the savannahs and woodlands.
11) The main predators of giraffes are lions and leopards.
12) Giraffes are gregarious as they live in groups.
21) Male giraffes are taller than females.
24) Giraffes see in colour.
34) Each individual giraffe has a unique coat pattern.
35) Giraffe fur has about  11 aromatic chemicals.
39) Ossicones are formed due to the oscification of cartilage.
48) Giraffes can float but can't  swim efficiently.
53) The elongation of the neck takes place after birth.
55) The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints.
68) Giraffes heart rate is 150 beats per minute.
72) The Angolan giraffe is found in deserts.
77) During sexual courtship males emit loud coughs.
78) Females call their young by bellowing.
83) Giraffe's gestation period 400- 460 days.
84) The mother gives birth standing up.
88) Giraffe's lifespan is up to 25 years.
89) Giraffes are commonly prey to lions.
93) Old Egyptian kept giraffes as pets.
96) The giraffe's memorabilia is called "giraffanalia"
99) Giraffe's meat was used as food.
106) Nubian giraffe was the most threatened of all giraffes.
107) Giraffe is the national animal of Tanzania.