A.k.a.'s in the animal kingdom

Hindu deity, Vishnu is known for having 1000 names.  Animal kingdom has some animals who take pride in having, if not 1000, multiple names.
 
Aardvark, Africa's ant-eater characterized by its long snout and spade like claws used for digging out burrows quickly and use them as a resting place and also as a place for feasting on ants and termites. Its etymology from Afrikaans suggests that its name means 'earth pig' giving.This strange looking creature has few other names like -

* Earth hog. 
* Ant bear.
* Cape anteater.

Wolverines thriving in the cold boreal northern forests have  appearance like a bear but boasting a longer tail.Their appearance and a trait of emitting foul smell has given many other names like-

* Skunk bear.
* Nasty cat.

Ocelot, the majestic small wild cat inhabiting the rain forests and swamps of tropical America is identified by its size.Due to its much similar appearance to a leopard it is called as-

* Painted leopard.
* Dwarf leopard.

Now comes the record holder for boasting 40 names in English language alone, more than any other  animal in the animal kingdom. It is actually the mountain lion, one of the  highest jumpers of the animal kingdom. To name a few -

* Puma.
* Cougar.
* Catamount.
* Mountain screamer.
* Mountain devil.
* Panther etc.

 Image courtesy of [by anankkml] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The mountain lion, a wild cat only of the Western hemisphere (both the Americas), is smaller than lions and tigers but still ferocious predator. Also a multi-habitat animal known to inhabit varieties of habitats like forests (rain forests, colder forests etc.), deserts, canyon crevices, grasslands. In short, it prefers where there is undergrowth bush but avoids agricultural areas and others. 
 
Quite a smart animal, to attract so many names, isn't it?

 


  







 

Teams of predation

We most often see herbivores animals in groups. But, there are predators too who not only live but also hunt  in groups. That's why this blog is titled teams of predation.

Image courtesy of [ tratong] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

• There are many predators who are impressive team players. Here are a few form different habitats-
• The king of the beasts- the mighty lion is an impressive team hunter as it is the only wild cat to lead social lives. Many strategies, tips & tricks are used to bring down preys of various sizes. Like - only one lioness is required to hunt a zebra but it takes two or entire team to bring down an adult buffalo or a giraffe.

• Even, the canids (dogs) also have many team hunters like wolves, African wild dogs and Dholes (Indian wild dogs).

• The aquatic ecosystem also boasts a popular predatory team of orcas (killer whales). As they are impressive predators. Each member is given a job of its own. Along with that, they use their powerful heads to toss their prey into the air and as it falls, its feasting time. Incidentally, they are the largest species of dolphins and use echolocation like them, however their echolocation also tells their prey's condition like whether is it injured. Smart! ain't it?

Hello hello 2

As the title states, it is a continuation of my earlier Hello hello blog and it was a request from my father's good friend who had loved reading Hello hello part-1, to write a second part mentioning about communication in aquatic creatures.

Image courtesy of puttsk at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is true that marine mammals posses excellent communication skills as it was also mentioned in the first part of this blog stating whales known to posses infra sound communication especially baleen whales (baleen whales are those that have bristle like teeth, remember the whale in which Dory & Marlin of Finding Nemo, end up inside of) which also includes rorquals  i.e. large ones like blue whales, humpback whales etc.

Apart from that, whales are known to communicate underwater with other sounds which are common in many animals  some of which travel for long distances. The purposes for such communication can be many, like, to stay in touch with the gam (group of whales is known as gam), to attract mates(courtship) etc.  For instance, Humpback whales are one of the vocal species known for emitting wide varieties of noises, such as howls, lows (akin to that of cattle), grunts ,groans, whistles etc. Right whales are known to emit trumpets,belches etc.

Image courtesy of tiverylucky at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Known to be the friendliest marine mammals, dolphins are no exception in possessing great communication skills like squeals, chirps, clicks, whistles etc. Click is a special sound that travels for large distances as it is used for echolocation i.e. to find their prey.

Image courtesy of criminalatt at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sounds crazy to mention hippos in a blog of aquatic animals! well, they are partly land and partly water beasts, but the surprise is that hippos are more related to cetaceans ( whales and dolphins) than to other large terrestrial herbivores. Also, it will be good to mention that hippos are known to grunt, bellow and emit infra sound even when  underwater.