Sand Cat, believe it or not that is its real name. People always say why are they called that, yes they live in the sand that’s why it got the name Sand Cat and its scientific name is Felis margarita.
They are very small cat found in Northern Africa, parts of Middle East and believe it or not they are found a little further north of Asia (more…)
The name Lynx comes from the Greek work to shine which is probably in reference to the reflective ability of the cats eyes. The Canadian Lynx looks very similar to its cousin the Siberian Lynx. Their dense fur ranges in colorful reddish brown to gray. They have a flared facial ruffs, black ear tufts and long hind legs with short tail. Their large wide-spreading feet are covered in fur which act as snow shoes and are effective in supporting the cats weight on snow.
They are often confused with their smaller feline cousin the Bobcat, but can be easily distinguished by their tail tips. The tail of the lynx looks like its been dipped in an inkwell being black all the way around, whereas the Bobcat’s tail appears to have been painted black on top and white on the bottom. Canadian Lynx is larger than on average than the Bobcat yet very less in size. So the largest Bobcats can outsize the Lynx.
Canadian Lynx are found in northern forests across almost all of Canada and Alaska as well in certain parts of North America. They are secretive and mostly nocturnal animal although they may be active at any time of the day. Unlike any other species of cat the Lynx depend on almost exclusively on its snowshoe hair. No other animal have such strong sign for prey-base to which it have become uniquely adapted. The snowshoe hair population peaks every ten years and with it so does the Lynx population. While Lynx will change their prey-base when hairs are low to include rodents, birds and larger prey such as deer. The overall population of Lynx is still synchronous with the hair population.
The greatest threat to the Canadian Lynx is being trapped for their fur, and when this is done during low numbers it makes the recovery of the population extremely difficult. And of course just like all the other wild species of cats destruction of their habitat by humans is also a bit concerned. One of the Lynx named Dances with Wolves was rescued from a game farm. They are the places where exotic animal are bred for photography and filming. These animals are often drugged and chained in place and surrounded by props that resembles their natural habitat. These are many of the photos that you see on calendars and commercials.
The largest feline predator in the Americas is the Jaguar. The belong to the Panthera of the Felidae family. The other three larger or greater cats the ones that can roar would be the lion, tiger and leopard. Sometimes jaguar is confused with the leopard since both the cats have spots on them. As you can see the spots on jaguar are heavier than that of the leopard.
Shown in the below image is the black jaguar. Its the rage color of the jag caused by melanin. The jaguar is a powerhouse that can reach up to 300 pounds. They have a tough build and a very strong jaw, reportedly the strongest jaw of all the cats and they use this powerful jaw to kill their pray with one crush enchanted to the skull. Other cars usually prefer to go for the throat. Their pray can be anything from a deer to rodents or reptiles. They also on occasionally live in close to people and kill cattle which ten can result in the cats being killed by the farmers. It has been seen that jags living close to humans will choose to hunt later in the evening when people aren’t around.
Their home range have been shrunk over the years but they can still be found in the southern tip of states like Arizona and New Mexico throughout south America. Majority of them are found in the places around Amazon rainforest. They prefer to live close to rivers and swamps. They can be strong swimmers like the most larger cats they can live 12-15 in the wild, if left alone in the protected land. They are still illegally hunted and their populations are spread out which results in some jags having hard time trying to find a mate of which they are related to.
We should be proud of this beautiful large feline and do what we can to protect it.
There still exists an animal in Madagascar that can give tantalizing clues about our earliest ancestors. All primates including ourselves evolved from a creature very like this one. Its the smallest primate in the world, but seems remarkable bold for its tiny size. Its a Pygmy Mouse Lemur and belong to a group called Prosimians the first primates.
Its large eyes face directly forward just like ours so it can judge the depth and distance in the branches. We Also have the same hands which can grasp and feel. It was these two features that allowed the first primates to take to the trees. But there is something else we have in common, a curiosity about the world around us. It feels like meeting a lost relatives, but we don’t know much about this tiny creature and to find out how our first primate ancestors actually lived. For that we need to look at Fat-tailed dwarf lemur which can give us some clues.
The forest where they reside provides fruits and flowers, also there are plenty of insects to eat in the canopy for those who can get at them. Dwarf lemur is well equipped to take full advantage. It has those same forward facing eyes and grasping hands, but it still has a few peculiar habits. Just like a dormouse it nests in tree holes.
It even hibernates during the dry season to save energy. The cozy home tucked out of sight. They use the fat stored in their tails to get them through lean months. These humble beginnings let more sophisticated way of life and the primates were set for the bright future.
Kakapo can only be found in New Zealand. You may not have ever heard or seen this beautiful bird, because of its rarity. Due to the island environment of this country as it was separated from the rest of the world 80 million years ago, many birds evolved here separately and due to the absence of predators many birds evolved without the ability to fly or protect itself. Kakapo is one of them and certainly one of the most beautiful. It is the only flightless parrot and the most heaviest.
Because of Polynesian and European colonization and the introduction of predators such as dogs, cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats, the Kakapo was almost wiped out, as there is no defense instinct in this bird, when attacked it just stand still. Only 40 were left in the wild. As of January 2009, surviving Kakapo are kept on two predator-free islands, Codfish (Whenua Hou) and Anchor islands, where they are closely monitored. As of today their population is 131.