Aguascalientia Camels

Aguascalientia Jawbone

Today we're going to talk about two very recently discovered animals, both from the same genus. Both also happen to be extinct, and have been for about 20 million years.

Meet Aguascalientia panamaensis and Aguascalientia minuta, the two oldest creatures to be found in the country of Panama. They are extinct Camels, but are not the ancestors to modern camels or llamas. They actually belong to a separate evolutionary tree that dead-ended. The two species are very alike to one another. They sport snouts that are much longer than those in modern camels, and an overall much smaller height. That also have shorter teeth, which suggest that they were browsers.

The genus that these Camels belonged to actually dates back more than 30 million years, but they lived further north. The Isthmus of Panama didn't even exist until about the time these two species lived, so the discovery sheds some light on animal movement through the newly joined continents of North and South America.

The Fossils were uncovered as part of a 5 year excavation that started in 2009. The story was only first published a month ago, so there is still much to learn about these ancient Camels.

Status : Extinct
Location : Panama
Size : Height up to 3ft (.9m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Camelidae -- Genus : †Aguascalientia

Comments

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km) from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status : Not Listed Location : Cent

Animal A Day!

Search This Blog