Colugos - Flying Lemurs

Commonly referred to as flying lemurs, colugos are gliding mammals found in Southeast Asia. They are not actually true lemurs, and unlike bats cannot truly fly. However, colugos are the most skilled fliers of all gliding mammals, capable of controlled flights of over 300 feet with little loss of altitude. In other words, they could leap from goalpost to goalpost on a football field!

Like flying squirrels, colugos rely on the large membranes of skin that extend between their limbs to provide lift. While this makes these 4lb mammals capable gliders, they are relatively helpless on the ground, cannot stand upright, and do not have strong limbs for walking. Therefore, colugos spend their days resting in trees, only gliding through the forest canopy at night in search of leaves to snack on.

Legless Lizards

One look at the California legless lizard and it would be easy to believe you’re looking at a snake. However, there are several key differences that make this lizard decidedly un-snakelike.

For one, the legless lizard has movable eyelids, a trait snakes do not possess. Also, unlike snakes the California legless lizard is unable to open its jaws extremely wide to swallow large prey items and is therefore restricted to eating small insects and spiders.

There are eight families of lizards with members possessing either small legs, or no legs at all living throughout the world. So the next time you think you see a snake, look again!

The Smallest Reptiles Ever?

Scientists have recently discovered four new chameleon species around Madagascar that may prove to be some of the smallest reptiles in the world.

At only about one inch long, these chameleons may represent a severe case of island dwarfism, a condition in which a species grows smaller over time to adapt to conditions. It’s no surprise that these reptiles were just now discovered; they wouldn’t exactly be easy to spot in the wild!

Via Discovery News.

The Long-Crested Eagle

Visually the complete opposite of the bald eagle, the long-crested eagle has perhaps the most striking hairdo of any bird of prey.

 

 

Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson

Long-crested eagles inhabit all types of woodland areas throughout parts of Senegal, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Namibia. At less than two feet long they are quite small for eagles, and thus feed primarily on small rodents and lizards. Long-crested eagles aren’t currently considered threatened, but any loss of woodland habitat can have a negative effect on their population.

The Elephant Seal

Elephant seals are very large seals named for the trunk-like proboscis possessed by adult males. This appendage allows them to make loud roars during the mating season, and also reabsorbs moisture when they exhale. This second attribute is very important as during mating season the usually aquatic bulls will not leave the beach and must conserve as much body moisture as possible. 

There are two species of elephant seals; the northern elephant seal, which occupies the Pacific coast of Mexico, the United States and Canada, and the southern elephant seal, native to the southern hemisphere. Southern elephant seals are the larger of the two, with males reaching lengths of sixteen feet and weights of 6,600lbs. Females of both species are significantly smaller.

Elephant seals hold the distinction of being able to hold their breath longer than any other non-cetacean (non-whale) mammal, up to two hours! They are able to dive to depths of over 2,000 feet to hunt for a variety of prey such as sharks, rays, squid and penguins.

8 Common Animal Misconceptions

We do our best here on the Jungle Store Blog to bring you daily interesting animal facts, but we have no problem deferring to someone else from time to time! Youtube user GCPGrey makes all sorts of interesting videos that bust common misconceptions about a variety of topics, and his most recent is about animals! From bats to frogs, here are 8 common misconceptions about animals…

Of course, our regular readers already know the origin of the myth behind lemmings, which we covered in this post. And do people really think the daddy long legs is a spider?

Jumping Baby Trout

You would have to be quite a photographer, with impeccable timing and have just the right equipment to capture an image of a jumping trout like this.

And while wildlife photographer Kim Taylor is indeed talented, he didn’t capture these images in the wild. Instead, these stunning pictures were taken in a tank at Taylor’s own studio. He trained the 3-4 inch long trout to leap from the water by dangling bait above them, and then used a high-speed camera to capture the results. The images were then combined with the backdrop of a local stream to illustrate a scene that happens often, but is rarely seen.

Story and photos via The Daily Mail.

What Type Of Animal Is A Kinkajou?

As with many small mammals in South America, kinkajous live in trees, hang by their tails and love to eat fruit and honey. However, they are not primates. Actually more closely-related to raccoons, kinkajous are one of only two members of the Carnivora order with prehensile tails, the other being the binturong.

Fully-grown kinkajous weigh 3-10lbs and have a total body length of 16-24 inches. In addition, their powerful tails may equal or exceed their bodies in length. Kinkajous have five toes on each foot and possess the ability to turn their back feet backwards. This allows them to descend trees headfirst.

Despite being considered carnivores, most of the kinkajou’s diet is made up of ripe fruit such as figs as well as honey. Small mammals, insects, and eggs are also eaten as well as flowers and nectar. The kinkajou’s particular feeding habits make it an important plant pollinator in the rainforest ecosystem.

Kinkajous live in the rainforest canopy ranging from southern Mexico to much of South America. They are nocturnal animals that usually forage alone in the dark of night, returning to sleep in tree holes with a family unit during daylight hours. Kinkajous can live for well over twenty years.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Every February 2nd in cities all across the U.S. and Canada, attendees of Groundhog Day festivals look to these famous rodents to predict whether Old Man Winter is on his way out or planning to stick around for another six weeks.

Photo: Aaron Silvers

 

This tradition can be linked to ancient European lore, where bears and badgers were used for the same purpose. Groundhog Day in the United States can be traced back to the mid-1800’s in Pennsylvania, a region where festivals for the holiday are still very popular.

There are several reasons the groundhog, also known as the woodchuck, became the focus of this holiday in North America. First of all, they are quite widely distributed, with stable populations across nearly the entire eastern half of the U.S. and coast to coast in southern Canada. Also, groundhogs are some of the few animals that truly hibernate, sometimes for as long as seven months per year!

Unfortunately, groundhogs only successfully predict the end of winter about 40% of the time, so they’re not the best weather forecasters. However, there’s also a chance that they just want to go back to sleep!

The Massive-Looking Muskox

Muskoxen are wild arctic mammals indigenous to northern Canada and Greenland, with introduced populations living in Alaska and Siberia. Despite their common name and appearance, muskoxen are more closely-related to sheep and goats than to cattle, and are the only members of the Ovibos genus.

On average, muskoxen measure five to eight feet in length and weigh 400-900lbs; however, their thick, double-layer coats can make them appear to be much larger animals. This coat is necessary for surviving arctic temperatures and may nearly reach the ground on some animals. Muskoxen also have large heads in proportion to their bodies and feature large, curved horns on both sexes.

Muskoxen are herd animals that live within a hierarchy. Bulls will often challenge one another for dominance, especially during mating season, by charging or intimidating one another. In some cases the losers of these contests will leave the herd to live with other bachelors or on their own. However, if threatened by a predator they are usually allowed to return for safety. Muskoxen must contend with predation by grizzly bears, polar bears, and arctic wolves. If the heard is threatened they will take up a defensive posture with the strongest members forming a ring around the herd’s calves.

The muskox has long been a food source for native peoples living in its range. However, increased colonization in these areas often resulted in overhunting, wiping out muskox populations in many areas by the early twentieth century. Since then, muskoxen have been reintroduced to many areas such as Alaska and Siberia, and are protected in most others. The estimated current muskox population has climbed to 80,000-125,000, with nearly half living on Canada’s Banks Island.