Animal A Day!

Rhinophrynus dorsalis Mexican Burrowing Toads are the most evolutionarily distinct amphibians in the entire world. They are the only members of their genus, and of their entire family, and are separated from their nearest relatives by 190 million years of independent evolution!  That means that the last time they diverged from another modern family was at the beginning of the Jurassic Period! Though many evolutionarily distinct animals are rare and endangered, the Mexican Burrowing Toad is actually pretty common in its current range in Mexico and Central America. And before they died out millions of years ago, other members of this distinct family spanned across North America! Mexican Burrowing Toads are named for the burrows that they spend a great deal of time in. They remain in them during winter and times of drought. And they aren't often seen outside during the other times of year unless heavy rains force them above ground or they wish to mate. They...

Anguilla japonica Japanese Eels, sometimes referred to as Unagi, are creatures that live in both fresh and salt water. They can grow to lengths of around 5ft (1.5m), and have quite a remarkable life story!  As adults, they live in the freshwater rivers of East Asia. But when the times comes to spawn, the eels travel thousands of miles to a spawning ground near the Mariana Islands . They nearly starve in order to make the trip! After the spawning takes place, the eggs are carried off by currents into the open ocean, where the Japanese Eels hatch and grow through their larval phase. As they get larger and larger the ocean current brings them closer to the continent, where they swim upriver just as their parents did and begin the process anew.  Unfortunately, Japanese Eel populations have been hit hard in recent years. This is because of their high demand within the food industry and because of changes in the ocean environment. These Eels are placed on ...

Stellula calliope The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in North America, and is also the smallest long-distance migrating bird in the entire world!  Weighing only .1oz (3g), it is astonishing to think that these little guys are able to fly all the way from the Pacific Northwest down to their wintering ground in Mexico !  Calliope Hummingbirds are named after the Greek Muse of Epic Poetry. Like many birds, the males of the species are more brilliantly colored, with metallic green backs, stark white undersides, and pinkish-purple streaks on the neck. Females are green on the back, but have a more tan underside and no bright  neck coloration.  Calliope Hummingbirds often  live near bodies of water, and build their nests in forests near lakes and streams. They are also typically found at higher elevations; Calliope Hummingbirds have been seen as far up at 11,000 ft!  Calliope Hummingbird perching When Winter comes, t...

Fjord Horse I found a really old copy of one of those CD-ROM encyclopedias the other day, and while browsing around in its 13 year old database I stumbled upon the Norwegian Fjord Horse. I remembered the breed as a model in the Breyer Horse catalogs that I had drooled over as a child and decided to do some long overdue reading on the breed. (Upon further research that Breyer model, “Henry” was retired 6 years ago…) Fjord Horses with Foals Fjord Horses are one of the oldest domesticated breeds around, and have retained many of the same characteristics held by the Horses that roamed about Scandinavia after the last Ice Age. The dun coloration and primitive markings like stripes on the legs, down the back, and (rarely) on the withers cause them to resemble the earliest modern horses, including the rare, wild Przewalski’s Horse . Horses were domesticated in Norway over 4,000 years ago , and archaeological evidence shows that Fjord Horses specifically have been selectively...

I did my yearly venture to the Wisconsin State Fair this past weekend, and through the masses of Beef Cattle, Dairy Goats, and Pigs, I stumbled upon an unusual breed of Duck that I hadn’t encountered before- Indian Runner Ducks! (Unfortunately they were roped off while I was there and could not get any good pictures. Alas.) Indian Runner Ducks These strange looking birds resemble bowling pins more than regular ducks. They stand upright, like Penguins do, and they conveniently were once referred to as “ Penguin Ducks !” They are a hardy, but high-strung breed, and are excellent foragers . The name “Indian Runner Duck” is a bit confusing, as there is no evidence that these birds actually came from India itself. Rather, it is believed that they originated in the East Indies , on the islands of Bali, Java, and Lombok. “Penguin Ducks” were brought to England by the 1830’s, and may have been in the Netherlands even earlier, due to the trade conducted by the Dutch East In...

Chicago’s Field Museum has been on quite a roll regarding animal-related special exhibitions. Last year they presented an exhibit on Mammoths and Mastodons, this spring was a feature on Horses, and now we have Whales! Running until January 16, 2012,  Whales: Giants of the Deep  is a travelling exhibit initially developed by the Museum of New Zealand. Because of this, a nice chunk of its features relate to Whales in New Zealand and their relationship with Maori culture. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the exhibit, so I don’t have anything for you to gawk at other than some stock photos. However, I can point out a few of the highlights, and some of my favorite features. For one, they had a section devoted to whale evolution, including skeletons and information plaques about the various proto-whales that swam the prehistoric seas. They had numerous models and skeletons of modern whales as well, from massive Sperm Whales all the way down to the bathtub-siz...

Acanthaster planci The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is a very large sea star, sporting diameters of up to 20 inches across. They are actually the second largest of all the Sea Stars, beaten only by the massive, nearly meter wide Sunflower Starfish. Crown-of-Thorns Starfish can be found in the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as in the Red Sea. They are solitary creatures, and live on Coral Reefs.  Crown-of-Thorns Starfish get their name from the massive spines that grow out of their body. These spines are capable of piercing diving suits, and are full of a neurotoxin that can cause severe pain and swelling in humans. Coral plays a huge part in this Starfish’s life. They are predators  that feed off of the Coral Polyps, and their choice of meal can cause huge amounts of damage to the reefs. They pose one of the greatest natural threats to the Great Barrier Reef, for example, because they can feed on Coral faster than the Coral can grow back. Outbreaks of the Crown-of-Th...