From the category archives:

Marsupials

World Cup: The Rest of Group D

by JR Kinyak on June 28, 2010

in Bats, Marsupials, Theme Weeks, Ungulates

Topi (click image to enlarge)

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Because I missed a few days and because if I don’t step on the gas the World Cup will end before the World Cup of Mammals does, tonight I’m posting the final three mammals of Group D (the other being Serbia’s marbled polecat from the other day). This first one is the topi (Damaliscus korrigum), an antelope representing Ghana. Ghana was the only African nation to make it to the Round of 16, in which they beat the USA. Ghana plays Uruguay in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Bechstein

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Die Bechsteinfledermaus (Myotis bechsteinii), of course, represents Germany and is known as Bechstein’s bat in English. It was named after a German naturalist named Johann Matthäus Bechstein. Germany beat England in the Round of 16 and is going up against Argentina in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Long-nosed bandicoot (click image to enlarge)

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We must have a marsupial to represent Australia, and the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) has volunteered for the task. This bandicoot lives only in western Australia, and right now it’s widespread, but the rate at which its population is declining is a bit disturbing. Australia didn’t make it out of the group stage in the World Cup.

Group D Results

We read about how the marbled polecat is a virtuoso of killing, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it should win this group. Of the others, I think the topi has the edge because of its size and the hardness of its hooves. So the two mammals continuing on from Group D are:

Marbled Polecat (Serbia)
and
Topi (Ghana)

Tagged as: antelope, bat, World Cup

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Greater Glider (Petauroides volans)

by JR Kinyak on June 5, 2010

in Marsupials, Operations

Greater glider (click image to enlarge)


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Here’s our 300th mammal! That’s right, in almost exactly three years of drawing mammals, I have less than a year’s worth of drawings to show for it. We could celebrate this milestone or rue its inadequacy: your choice.

By request, here’s the greater glider! This adorable marsupial, which surely has the world’s cutest ears, lives in the eucalyptus forests of Australia. Up in the treetops, it glides by using the membrane that stretches from its elbow to its wrist as a sail. When it gets cold, it uses that same membrane as a built-in blanket. Coco drew one, too.

Greater glider by Coco, age 11

Tagged as: coco, request

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Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)

by JR Kinyak on April 10, 2010

in Marsupials

Common wombat (click image to enlarge)

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Wombats are Australian marsupials, and the common wombat is, naturally, the most common of the three wombat species. Common wombats live along the coast of southeastern Australia, in alpine areas and sandy places. The wombats’ claim to fame is that they are the only known large, herbivorous burrowing mammals: all the other burrowing herbivores are small, and all the other large burrowers are carnivores or insectivores. That’s because being a herbivore requires a lot of time and energy spent on foraging (don’t I know it), and being a burrower requires a lot of time and energy spent on digging. Large herbivores usually don’t have that kind of free time.

And wombats are large! The common wombat ranges from about 50 pounds to nearly 90, or about the size of a pretty-big dog to about the size of a really big dog. They look like they’d be about rabbit-sized, or at least they do to me, but no, they’re humongous. However, they have extraordinarily slow metabolisms and really don’t need to eat much at all: only about half as much as a kangaroo does, and a kangaroo weighs about the same as a wombat. That means the wombat can nocturnally forage at its leisure and spend most of its time lazing underground.

Coco drew a wombat, too!

Common wombat by Coco, age 11 (click image to enlarge)

Tagged as: evolution

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Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa)

by JR Kinyak on September 13, 2009

in Marsupials

Brush-tailed phascogale (click image to enlarge)

Brush-tailed phascogale (click image to enlarge)


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The brush-tailed phascogale (also called the tuan or the brush-tailed marsupial mouse) is a marsupial that lives in a few scattered regions around the edges of Australia. Brush-tailed phascogales (perhaps I’ll call them BTPs) are arboreal, nocturnal, and solitary—in other words, they scamper around the treetops at night, all alone in the moonlight. They like to eat lizards, birds, insects, and small mammals like mice, and they’re pretty agonistic, a zoological word meaning combative. BTPs can make a few different noises, and I like the way Walker’s describes them:

“When disturbed, P. tapoatafa utters a low, rasping hiss, which apparently is an alarm note. When angered, tuans emit a series of staccato ‘chit-chit’ sounds. Sometimes, when excited, tuans slap the pads of their forefeet down together while holding an alert, rigid pose, thus producing a sharp rapping sound. At times they also make a rapid drumming noise by quick vibrations of the tail.”

That all sounds quite similar to my daughter’s 5th-grade band in their first week together after the teacher told them, “You can make as much noise as you want before you pack up.”

The IUCN classifies the BTP as near threatened. Its numbers have been declining because of habitat loss and alteration and, to a lesser extent, being eaten by foxes and cats.

Tagged as: walker's, words

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Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

by JR Kinyak on May 29, 2009

in Mammal News, Marsupials

Tasmanian devil (click image to enlarge)

Tasmanian devil (click image to enlarge)


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Tasmanian devils are feisty, aggressive guys, with a screech that’s invariably described as bloodcurdling or bone-chilling. They dine on carrion, and they especially love to eat dead wallabies and opossums. They get into scuffles over their food, during which they nip at each other’s faces, and their complicated, violent mating rituals also involve rival males biting each other’s faces. Tasmanian devils have extremely strong jaws, which let them crunch on bones. Their genus name, Sarcophilus, means “flesh lover.” Listen to their screams in this video:

But Tasmanian devils are in big trouble: over the past 13 years, the wild devil population has fallen by 70 percent.

The devils are falling victim to a vicious, communicable cancer called devil facial tumor disease. Their face-biting just helps the cancer spread. The Australian government declared the devils endangered last week, and frantic efforts to save the species include captive breeding programs on the Australian mainland, the quarantine of non-affected populations with devil-proof fences, and the release of breeding pairs on isolated islands, in addition to a search for a vaccine for their cancer. If these attempts don’t work, the Tasmanian devil could be extinct within a decade or two.

  • Save the Tasmanian Devil
  • Tassie Devil Cancer Awareness
  • Tassie Devil Appeal: breed a virtual devil
  • National Geographic: “‘Teen Sex’ Rising for Cancer-Affected Tasmanian Devils”

    • Tagged as: endangered, threats

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    Scientific Names Week: Little Red Kaluta (Dasykaluta rosamondae)

    by JR Kinyak on May 2, 2009

    in Marsupials, Theme Weeks

    Little Red Kaluta (click image to enlarge)

    Little Red Kaluta (click image to enlarge)

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    This little marsupial is widespread in the desert of northwestern Australia, where it likes to eat insects and small vertebrates. The young are born in November, and they’re old enough to mate by the time kaluta mating season rolls around the following September. Sadly, all males die shortly after the mating season, apparently from the stress of competing for females!

    In this little guy’s Latin name, kaluta is an aboriginal word for the animal, and dasy means hairy. Rosamondae is in honor of Rosamund Clifford, a legendarily beautiful redhead of the 12th century. She was the mistress of Henry II from her teen years until shortly before her death, in a convent, in her 20s. Many tales have arisen about her over the years, the most persistent, perhaps, being that she was poisoned by Henry’s jealous wife, Eleanor of Aquitane. This is probably not true, but artists have long been intrigued by the story. Below is a painting by J.W. Waterhouse from 1905. See evil Eleanor poking her head through the curtains behind the unsuspecting Rosamund? She has followed Rosamund’s embroidery thread through a labyrinthine garden to find the king’s mistress in her secret castle.

    Fair Rosamund by J.W. Waterhouse, 1905

    Fair Rosamund by J.W. Waterhouse, 1905

    Here’s another painting of the same scene. This one is from 1862 and was painted by Edward Coley Burne-Jones.

    Fair Rosamund and Queen Eleanor by E.C. Burne-Jones, 1862

    Fair Rosamund and Queen Eleanor by E.C. Burne-Jones, 1862

    This beautiful striped rose was named for Rosamund Clifford, too.

    Rosa Mundi (Rosa gallica versicolor) by Sebastian Crump

    Rosa Mundi (Rosa gallica versicolor) by Sebastian Crump

    Tagged as: humans, marsupial, names

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    Hibernators Week: Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus)

    by JR Kinyak on February 5, 2009

    in Marsupials, Theme Weeks

    click image to enlarge

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    These teensy marsupials live in the Australian alps (and boast the saddest IUCN range map I’ve ever seen). They hibernate in the winter under a thick layer of snow. In the warmer months, they eat lots and lots and lots of moths, along with some other things, and also store berries and seeds to munch on when they occasionally wake from torpor. They’re the only marsupial that stores food, and I think they’re the only marsupial that hibernates, although I haven’t confirmed that for sure. They’re only about 4 inches long, with their prehensile tails adding another 6 inches on to that.

    A recent study found that animals that hibernate or burrow are less likely to become endangered or extinct. The theory is that hibernation and burrowing protects them from environmental changes. Sadly, that isn’t the case for the mountain pygmy possum, whose population is being ravaged by the Australian skiing industry. Is it more important to have perfectly groomed slopes to schuss down, or to keep this evolutionarily distinct mammal alive? We may find out too late.

    (I’m not purposely picking the most sad-case endangered animals to share with you, by the way. Not at all. It just turns out that we humans have a whole lot to answer for when it comes to the other animals on the planet. I think my next theme week should be Mammals There Are Too Darn Many Of, just to cheer us up. But then again, there are often Too Darn Many of a mammal because there are Too Darn Few of another one, usually because of something humans did.)

    ARKive has some nice videos of the adorable mountain pygmy possum. I like the one that’s catching moths to eat.

    Tagged as: endangered, hibernation, humans, threats

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