|
Hartmann's Mountain Zebra
Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae'') is a subspecies of the mountain zebra found in far south-western Angola and western Namibia, easily distinguished from other similar zebra species by its dewlap as well as the lack of stripes on its belly. Habitat and behaviour They are agile climbers and are able to live in arid conditions and steep mountainous country. Hartmann's mountain zebras prefer to live in small groups ranging from as little as 3 individuals to as many as 12. Herds will either be a breeding herd comprising one stallion and potentially many mares or it will be a bachelor group and consist primarily of young males. Young males raised as a foal within the breeding herds will generally be sent away in as little as 24 months and they themselves may become the stallion of their own breeding herd in as little as 5 years. When two breeding herds come into contact with one another each respective stallion will engage the other in an elaborate posturing ritu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as ''Wildschutzgebiet'' in 1958, and was elevated to the status of a national park in 1967 by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa. It spans an area of and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. With an area of , the Etosha pan covers 23% of the total area of the national park. The area is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa. History Areas north of the Etosha pan were inhabited by Ovambo people, while various Otjiherero-speaking groups ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Mountain Zebra
The Cape mountain zebra (''Equus zebra zebra'') is a subspecies of mountain zebra that occurs in certain mountainous regions of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. It is the smallest of all existing zebra species and also the most geographically restricted. Although once nearly driven to extinction, the population has now been increased by several conservation methods, and is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Taxonomy The Cape mountain zebra is one of two geographically separated subspecies of the species ''Equus zebra'' (mountain zebra), the other being Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae''). The Cape mountain zebra was once regarded as a separate species from Hartmann's mountain zebra based on taxonomic evidence, but recent genomic evidence has led to the two populations now being reclassified as subspecies of ''Equus zebra''. Appearance Like all zebra species, the Cape mountain zebra has a characteristic black and white striping pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammals Of Namibia
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles (including birds) from which they diverged in the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described divided into 29 orders. The largest orders, in terms of number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and others). The next three are the Primates (including humans, apes, monkeys, and others), the Artiodactyla ( cetaceans and even-toed ungulates), and the Carnivora (cats, dogs, seals, and others). In terms of cladistics, which reflects evolutionary history, mammals are the only living members of the Synapsida (synapsids); this clade, together wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammals Of Angola
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Angola. Of the mammal species in Angola, one is critically endangered, five are endangered, eight are vulnerable, and ten are near threatened. There are 291 extant species of mammals in Angola and 67 fossil species. The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature: Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories: Order: Afrosoricida (tenrecs and golden moles) ---- The order Afrosoricida contains the golden moles of southern Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar and Africa, two families of small mammals that were traditionally part of the order Insectivora. *Family: Tenrecidae (tenrecs) **Subfamily: Potamogalinae ***Genus: ''Potamogale'' **** Giant otter shrew, ''Potamogale velox'' LC *Family: Chrysochloridae **Sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zebras
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebra''). Zebras share the genus ''Equus'' with horses and asses, the three groups being the only living members of the family Equidae. Zebra stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. Several theories have been proposed for the function of these stripes, with most evidence supporting them as a deterrent for biting flies. Zebras inhabit eastern and southern Africa and can be found in a variety of habitats such as savannahs, grasslands, woodlands, shrublands, and mountainous areas. Zebras are primarily grazers and can subsist on lower-quality vegetation. They are preyed on mainly by lions, and typically flee when threatened but also bite and kick. Zebra species differ in social behaviour, with plains and mountain zebra l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Zebra -uenozoo2010
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (1,000 feet) above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism, which act on time scales of up to tens of millions of years. Once mountain building ceases, mountains are slowly leveled through the action of weathering, through slumping and other forms of mass wasting, as well as through erosion by rivers and glaciers. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level at similar latitude. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammal Species Of The World
''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, which was edited by Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn M. Reeder. An online version is hosted by Bucknell University, from which the names of the species can be downloaded as a custom dictionary. A partial online version is available at Google Books (see "External links" below). The Checklist Committee is charged with compiling and updating MSW. In its Annual Report for 2015, the Committee noted that it is under contract with Johns Hopkins Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ... for the 4th edition of MSW, which will be edited by D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Zebra
The mountain zebra (''Equus zebra'') is a zebra species in the family Equidae, native to southwestern Africa. There are two subspecies, the Cape mountain zebra (''E. z. zebra'') found in South Africa and Hartmann's mountain zebra (''E. z. hartmannae'') found in south-western Angola and Namibia. Taxonomy The mountain zebra comprises two subspecies: In 2004, C. P. Groves and C. H. Bell investigated the taxonomy of the zebras (genus ''Equus'', subgenus ''Hippotigris''). They concluded that the mountain zebra (''Equus zebra zebra'') and Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae'') are distinct, and suggested that the two would be better classified as separate species, ''Equus zebra'' and ''Equus hartmannae''. However, in a sexual genetic study that included 295 mountain zebra specimens, Moodley and Harley (2005) found nothing to support the separation of the two mountain zebra populations into separate species. They concluded that the Cape mountain zebra and Hartmann' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in the 19th century in Brno, was the first to study genetics scientifically. Mendel studied "trait inheritance", patterns in the way traits are handed down from parents to offspring over time. He observed that organisms (pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete "units of inheritance". This term, still used today, is a somewhat ambiguous definition of what is referred to as a gene. Trait inheritance and molecular inheritance mechanisms of genes are still primary principles of genetics in the 21st century, but modern genetics has expanded to study the function and behavior of genes. Gene structure and function, variation, and distribution are studied within the context of the cell, the organism (e.g. dominance), and within the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microsite (ecology)
A microsite is a term used in ecology to describe a pocket within an environment with unique features, conditions or characteristics. Classifying different microsites may depend on temperature, humidity, sunlight, nutrient availability, soil physical characteristics, vegetation cover, etc. Being a sub environment within an environment, we will examine the qualities that differentiate a microsite from another within an environment in this piece. Microsite features Microsites being a subset of the environment can be identified with its own: Temperature It refers to the temperature of the surrounding environment measured in degree FahrenheiThe temperature of one microsite may not necessarily be the same with another one even if they are closely related in terms of location Humidity It refers to the relative amount of moisture that could be held in the air. The more saturated the air is with water vapor in a microsite the more relative it is in humidity. Sunlight Plants uses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although Kazungula, it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi, Zambezi River separates the two countries. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations. The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San people, San, Damara people, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigration, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dust Bathing
Dust bathing (also called sand bathing) is an animal behavior characterized by rolling or moving around in dust, dry earth or sand, with the likely purpose of removing parasites from fur, feathers or skin. Dust bathing is a maintenance behavior performed by a wide range of mammalian and avian species. For some animals, dust baths are necessary to maintain healthy feathers, skin, or fur, similar to bathing in water or wallowing in mud. In some mammals, dust bathing may be a way of transmitting chemical signals (or pheromones) to the ground which marks an individual's territory. Birds Birds cower close to the ground while taking a dust bath, vigorously wriggling their bodies and flapping their wings. This disperses loose substrate into the air. The birds spread one or both wings which allows the falling substrate to fall between the feathers and reach the skin. The dust bath is often followed by thorough shaking to further ruffle the feathers which may be accompanied with p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
