zoologytopics - Tumblr blog

[zoologytopics]

The Bobcat is the most abundant and widespread wild cat in North America.

[zoologytopics]

Cats lack the gene to taste sugar, and are considered "sugar blind". This likely aided them in their carnivorous lifestyle.

[zoologytopics]

Ceratopsia

Ceratopsia is a suborder that consists of beaked herbivores which thrived in North America, Asia, and Europe during the Jurassic to Cretaceous Period. The earliest recorded Ceratopsian was Yinlong downsi, while the Triceratops was the last recorded.

[zoologytopics]

Ankylosauria

Ankylosauria is another suborder inside the order Ornithischia. They existed from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. They are known for their bony osteoderm armor.

[zoologytopics]

Why Do Lions Have Manes?

This question has always made its rounds in zoologist circles, however Dr. Craig Packer was able to find a solid answer to this question.

Before, his experiment and conclusion, the major theory was that it was some sort of shield for their neck, which didn’t really add up considering fighting lions typically go for their back, hindquarters, etc. Not their throat.

Dr. Craig Packer was able to find that the darker a lion’s mane, the higher its testosterone levels were. Males with dark manes are the preferred mate of lionesses, due to their elevated aggressive nature: males with darker manes’ cubs also had higher survival rates.

Dr. Craig Packer is a biologist, zoologist, and ecologist. He is known for his research on the lions of Serengeti National Park. He is the founder and director of both the Lion Research Center and Whole Village Project, as well as the co-founder of Savannahs Forever Tanzania.

[zoologytopics]

Stegosauria

The Stegosauria suborder consisted of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs who lived during the Jurassic to the early Cretaceous period. The earliest Stegosauria was Huayangosaurus.

[zoologytopics]

From 1979 to 1980, over a quarter million of Geoffroy's Cat skins were sold.

[zoologytopics]

Felidae

Felidae is a family which is classified in the order Carnivora. They have the most diverse fur pattern in land carnivores.

They have: retractile claws, slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. Outside of lions, they remain solitary outside of mothers and cubs.

They occur in nearly every continent: Africa, Europe, Asia, South and North America.

They were originally divided into 3 subamilies(Pantherinae, the Felinae and Acinonychinae) by Reginald Innes Pocock. However, in recent years they have been re-assigned to the 2 subfamilies: Pantherinae, and Felinae. *Pantherinae contains 2 genuses and 7 species *Felinae contains 10 genuses and 34 species

The oldest Felid was Proailurus and Pseudaelurus, and existed 25 million years ago.

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Feliformia Family: Felidae

[zoologytopics]

Trying to move cats has always been a difficult process, with them more often than not making a trip back to their old territory/home. A good example of this is when two male mountain lions were moved 310 miles from their home in New Mexico. Male #1 traveled 288 miles in 469 days, while the other traveled 305 miles in 166 days. Both reclaimed their territories successfully.

[zoologytopics]

White Lions

White Lions occur due to a recessive mutation in the gene Tyrosinase, and cause a lack of pigmentation. This cause the genetic trait Leucistic to appear, and them to gain this near white to blonde coloring.

A seemingly common misconception is that the White Lion is its own species. It's not. As mentioned before, it is a mutation, it occurs in the subspecies South African Lion.

This species is technically extinct in the wild, however, they are slowly but surely being reintroduced into the wild by the Global White Lion Protection Trust.

Worry has been raised over putting the lions in the wild, and the White Lion becoming extinct again by breeding with tawny lions. However, even if the White Lion produces tawny cubs, they will still carry the Leucistic-causing gene.

[zoologytopics]

Lions roar to a) advertise status, b) determine where a rival/dominant male is located or a challenger's location, c) to communicate between coalition members, d) females attempting to find a mate, e) females searching for their pride.

Lions' roars can be heard up to 5 miles away.

[zoologytopics]

Margays have excellent eyesight and can spot a single fly up to 30 feet away.

[zoologytopics]

Diplodocids

Diplodocids are just as recognizable as sauropods, however instead of incredibly long necks, they had incredibly long bodies. Some reached lengths of 42 meters.

[zoologytopics]

Sauropoda

Sauropods are a recognizable clade with their incredibly long necks, long tails, small head, and pillar-like legs. They were some of the largest animals to ever walk the land. They existed from the Early Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous.

[zoologytopics]

Recent DNA tests have shown that African Golden Cat is closely related to the Serval and Caracal, unsurprising if you've read my post about the Caracal's close relatives.

[zoologytopics]

Ornithopoda

Ornithopods started off as small, bipedal herbivores however quickly evolved into larger species and became one of the most successful clades in the Cretaceous. They are recognized for three-toed feet, horny beaks, and elongated pubis.

[zoologytopics]

The holy grail of searching through academic literature is coming across a string of publications that are like:

Here’s An Idea. Smith et al. 2016

Terrible Idea; a comment on Smith et al. 2016. Johnson 2016.

You’re Wrong Too; a response to Johnson 2016. Nelson 2016.

Guys Just Stop Fighting, None Of Us Know What’s Going On; a Review of the Current Literature. McBrien 2017.