THE DAILY SPECIES

The Daily Species #122:

Bateleur Eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus)

The Bateleur is a medium-sized eagle in the bird family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as buzzards, kites and harriers. It is the only member of the genus Terathopius and probably the origin of the “Zimbabwe bird”, national emblem of Zimbabwe. Global population is estimated at 10,000 - 100,000 individuals.

Bateleurs pair for life, and will use the same nest for a number of years. Unpaired birds, presumably from a previous clutch, will sometimes help at the nest. The eagle hunts over a territory of 250 square miles a day. The prey of this raptor is mostly birds, including pigeons and sandgrouse, and also small mammals; it also takes carrion.

The Bateleur is a colourful species with a very short tail (ecaudatus is Latin for tailless) which makes it unmistakable in flight. “Bateleur” is French for “tight-rope walker”. This name describes the bird’s characteristic habit of tipping the ends of its wings when flying, as if catching its balance.

The Daily Species #121:

Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)

The Patagonian Mara is a relatively large rodent in the mara genus (Dolichotis). It is also known as the Patagonian cavy or Patagonian hare. This herbivorous, somewhat rabbit-like animal is found in open and semi-open habitats in Argentina, including large parts of Patagonia. It is monogamous, but often breeds in warrens that are shared by several pairs.

The Patagonian mara is found only in Argentina. They prefer to live in habitats with lots of shrub cover. However, maras are well adapted to a cursorial lifestyle on the open plains and steppe, with its long legs, reduced clavicle and well-developed sensory organs making it capable of running and communicating in these open habitats. When running, maras have been compared to deer and antelope. Maras are largely herbivorous. Predators of maras, particularly the young, are felids, grisons, foxes and birds of prey.

The Patagonian mara is considered to be a near threatened species. Historically, maras have ranged from north-central Argentina south almost to Tierra del Fuego. Nevertheless, maras have been greatly affected by hunting and habitat alteration and have been extirpated in some areas including Buenos Aires Province.

The Daily Species #120:

Blue Sea Slug (Glaucus atlanticus)

Blue Sea Slugs, also known as the sea swallow, blue glaucus and blue ocean slug is a species of small-sized blue sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Glaucidae. This is the only species in the genus Glaucus.

This nudibranch is pelagic, and is distributed throughout the world’s oceans, in temperate and tropical waters. This species floats upside down on the surface tension of the ocean. Blue Sea Slugs prey on other, larger pelagic organisms: the dangerously venomous Portuguese Man o’ War, the by-the-wind-sailor, the blue button and the violet snail. Occasionally, individual slugs will become cannibals if given the opportunity.

Blue Sea Slugs are able to feed on the Portuguese Man o ‘War due to its immunity to the venomous nematocysts. The slug consumes the entire organism and appears to select and store the most venomous nematocysts for its own use. The venom is collected in specialized sacs (cnidosacs), on the tip of their cerata, the thin feather-like “fingers” on its body. Because the slug stores the venom, it can produce a more powerful and deadly sting than the Man o’ War upon which it feeds.

The Daily Species #119:

Juliana’s Golden Mole (Neamblysomus julianae)

Juliana’s Golden Mole is a golden mole endemic to South Africa. It is listed as an endangered species due to habitat loss and a restricted range. Golden moles are an ancient group of mammals who live mostly below ground. They have shiny coats of dense fur and a streamlined, formless appearance. They have no visible eyes or ears; in fact, they are blind - the small eyes are covered with hairy skin. The ears are small and are hidden in the animal’s fur. Golden moles eat invertebrates such as insects, earthworms and snails. 

Golden moles used to be regarded as rather ‘primitive’ creatures: their low resting metabolic rate and their ability to switch off thermoregulation when inactive, however, are no longer regarded as indications that golden moles are undeveloped ‘reptilian mammals’, but rather as essential adaptations to a harsh climate. By going into a torpor when resting or during cold weather, they conserve energy and reduce their need for food. Similarly, they have developed particularly efficient kidneys and most species do not need to drink water at all. 

Juliana’s Golden Mole is confined to sandy soils, often pockets of weathered sandstone associated with rocky ridges. Juliana’s Golden Mole is locally common in pockets of South Africa, but are increasingly being severely affected by intensive urbanization and a mining operation, and it is considered to be critically endangered. 

The Daily Species #118:

Dhole (Cuon alpinus)

The dhole or Indian Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus) is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats. The dholes are classed as endangered by the IUCN, due to ongoing habitat loss, depletion of its prey base, competition from other predators, persecution and possibly diseases from domestic and feral dogs.

The dhole is a highly social animal, living in large clans which occasionally split up into small packs to hunt. It primarily preys on medium-sized ungulates, which it hunts by tiring them out in long chases, and kills by disemboweling them. Unlike most social canids (but similar to African wild dogs), dholes let their pups eat first at a kill. Though fearful of humans, dhole packs are bold enough to attack large and dangerous animals such as wild boar, water buffalo, and even tigers.

Other names for the species include wild dogs, whistling dogs, chennai, red wolves  (not to be confused with Canis [lupus] rufus), red dogs and mountain wolves. Dholes are post-Pleistocene in origin, and are more closely related to jackals than they are to wolves. It has been theorized that dholes became social animals as an adaptation to living with tigers and leopards.

The Daily Species #117:

Waterbear (Psuedobiotus megalonyx)

Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or moss piglets) form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are small, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs.

Tardigrades were first described in 1773 by Johann August Ephraim Goeze, who called them kleiner Wasserbär, meaning ‘little water bear’. The name Tardigrada means “slow walker” and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear’s gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. 

Some 1,150 species of tardigrades have been described. Tardigrades occur over the entire world, from the high Himalayas (above 20,000 ft), to the deep sea (below 13,000 ft) and from the polar regions to the equator.

The most convenient place to find tardigrades is on lichens and mosses. Other environments are dunes, beaches, soil, and marine or freshwater sediments, where they may occur quite frequently (up to 25,000 animals per litre). Tardigrades often can be found by soaking a piece of moss in spring water.

Tardigrades are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. Some can survive temperatures of close to absolute zero or 0 Kelvin, temperatures as high as 304 °F, 1,000 times more radiation than other animals, and almost a decade without water. Since 2007, tardigrades have also returned alive from studies in which they have been exposed to the vacuum of outer space for a few days in low earth orbit.

The Daily Species #116:

Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria)

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with elegant blue lace-like crests, maroon breast and red iris. The bird may be easily recognized by the unique white tips on its crests and by it’s deep ‘whooping’ sounds made while calling. Both sexes are similar. It is on average 29” long and weighs 5.3 lbs. It is marginally larger than the other crowned pigeons on average and likely the largest species of pigeon of earth.

The name commemorates the British monarch, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. 

One of three superficially similar species of crowned pigeons (the others being the Western Crowned Pigeon and the Southern Crowned Pigeon), the Victoria Crowned Pigeon is distributed in the lowland and swamp forests of northern New Guinea and surrounding islands. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, figs, seeds and invertebrates. The female usually lays a single white egg.

Due to continuing habitat loss, being tame and easily hunted for its plumes and meat, the Victoria Crowned Pigeon is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Daily Species #115:

Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)

The olive baboon, also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys). The species is the most widely ranging of all baboons: it is found in 25 countries throughout Africa. It inhabits savannahs, steppes, and forests.

The olive baboon is named for its coat, which, at a distance, is a shade of green-grey. At closer range, its coat is multi-colored, due to rings of yellow-brown and black on the hairs. Its alternate name comes from the Egyptian god Anubis, who was often represented by a dog head resembling the dog-like muzzle of the baboon. Olive baboons are sexual dimorphic in body and canine tooth size. Like most cercopithecines, the olive baboon has a cheek pouch with which to store food.

The olive baboon lives in groups of 15–150, made up of a few males, many females, and their young. Each baboon has a social ranking somewhere in the group, depending on its dominance. Female dominance is hereditary, with daughters having nearly the same rank as their mothers, with adult females forming the core of the social system. A female will often form a long-lasting, social relationship with a male in her troop, known as a “friendship”. These relationships are sometimes enduring and the pair will groom and remain close to each other. They will also travel, forage, sleep and raise infants together as well as fight together against aggressive conspecifics.

The Daily Species #114:

Dall Sheep (Ovis dalli)

The Dall sheep (originally Dall’s sheep), Ovis dalli, is a species of sheep native to northwestern North America, ranging from white to slate brown in color and having curved yellowish brown horns. Its closest relative is the more southern subspecies, Stone sheep (also spelled Stone’s sheep) (Ovis dalli stonei), which is a slaty brown with some white patches on the rump and inside the hind legs. Research has shown the use of these subspecies designations is questionable. The latter half of the Latin binomial dalli is derived from William Healey Dall, an American naturalist. The common name Dall sheep or Dall’s sheep is often used to refer to the species Ovis dalli. 

Male Dall sheep have thick curling horns. The females have shorter, more slender, slightly curved horns. Males live in bands which seldom associate with female groups except during the mating season in late November and early December. Lambs are born in May.

During the summer when food is abundant, the sheep eat a wide variety of plants. The winter diet is much more limited, and consists primarily of dry, frozen grass and sedge stems available when snow is blown off, lichen and moss. The primary predators of Dall sheep are wolves, coyotes, black bears, and grizzly bears; golden eagles are predators of the young.

The Daily Species #113:

Common Pond Damsel  (Ceriagrion glabrum)

Ceriagrion glabrum is a species of damselfly in family Coenagrionidae. Its common names include Common Orange, Common Pond Damsel, Common Pond-damsel and Orange Waxtail. It is found throughout sub-saharan Africa. Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent rivers, marsh lands, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, and freshwater springs.

The males are orange and green colored whilst the females range from light brown to dark brown depending on their maturity. The darkened colors in females aid in reproduction.

Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but are members of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. Zygoptera comes from the Greek zygo meaning joined or paired and ptera meaning wings. They have two pairs of similar wings, unlike the dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera), whose hind wings are broader than their forewings. Damselflies also can fold their wings up over their backs, and dragonflies cannot. Damselflies are also usually smaller than dragonflies and weaker fliers in comparison, and their eyes are separated.