|
Myosorex Varius
The forest shrew (''Myosorex varius'') is a species of shrew in the mouse shrew family, Soricidae. It is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini. Its natural habitats include temperate forests, dry savanna, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and temperate grassland. The term "forest shrews" in the plural is sometimes confusingly used to collectively refer to a different genus, ''Sylvisorex''. Description The forest shrew grows to a length around with a tail of and an average mass of about . In KwaZulu-Natal and the Drakensberg region, the males are larger than the females, but in the Cape Colony, the sexes are of similar sizes. This shrew is covered in short, dense fur, dark grey or brown above and paler underneath. Distribution and habitat The forest shrew is native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. In upland areas, it is often the commonest small mammal, but it is less common in coastal areas. It is found in a wide range of primary and secondary habitats, inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different families or orders. Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent, as mice are. It is, in fact, a much closer relative of hedgehogs and moles; shrews are related to rodents only in that both belong to the Boreoeutheria magnorder. Shrews have sharp, spike-like teeth, whereas rodents have gnawing front incisor teeth. Shrews are distributed almost worldwide; among the major tropical and temperate land masses, only New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand have no native shrews; in South America shrews appeared only relatively recently, as a result of the Great American Interchange, and are present only in the northern Andes. The shrew family has 385 known species, making it the fourth-most spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centipede
Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which includes millipedes and other multi-legged animals. Centipedes are elongated segmented (metameric) creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. All centipedes are venomous and can inflict painful bites, injecting their venom through pincer-like appendages known as forcipules. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs, ranging from 30 to 382. Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs; no centipede has exactly 100. Like spiders and scorpions, centipedes are predominantly carnivorous. Their size ranges from a few millimetres in the smaller lithobiomorphs and geophilomorphs to about in the largest scolopendromorphs. Centipedes can be found in a wide variety of environments. They ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Although environmental pollution can be caused by natural events, the word pollution generally implies that the contaminants have an anthropogenic source – that is, a source created by human activities. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. In 2015, pollution killed nine million people worldwide (one in six deaths). This remained unchanged in 2019, with little real progress against pollution being identifiable. Air pollution accounted for of these earlier deaths. Major forms of pollution include air pollution, light pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasites & Vectors
''Parasites & Vectors'' is a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal published by BioMed Central. The journal publishes articles on the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens. ''Parasites & Vector'' was established in 2008 as a merger of ''Filaria Journal'' and ''Kinetoplastid Biology,'' and its launch editor-in-chief was Chris Arme. Since 2013 it has published an associated blog for the parasites and vectors community called BugBitten, and it awards the 'Odile Bain Memorial Prize' (OBMP) to perpetuate the memory of the parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ... Odile Bain who died in 2012. References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parasites and Vectors BioMed Central academic journals Biol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariostralis Nebulosa
''Ariostralis nebulosa'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusk in the family Oopeltidae. Distribution This is a species of non-marine mollusc found in South Africa only.Sirgel, W. F.; Artigas, P.; Bargues, M. D.; Mas-Coma, S. (2012). "Life Cycle of ''Renylaima capensis'', a Brachylaimid Trematode of Shrews and Slugs in South Africa: Two-host and Three-host Transmission Modalities Suggested by Epizootiology and DNA Sequencing". ''Parasites & Vectors'' 5: 169. . Ecology ''A. nebulosa'' is readily found throughout the whole year. ''A. nebulosa'' serves as the first intermediate host for a parasite, the brachylaimid trematode '' Renylaima capensis''. Branched, cercariogenous sporocysts of this parasite massively develop in ''A. nebulosa''. These sporocysts are attached to the hepatopancreas, body wall, pallial floor and even to the genital system. This fluke is highly specific at the first intermediate host level. The forest s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trematode
Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host, where the flukes sexually reproduce, is a vertebrate. Infection by trematodes can cause disease in all five traditional vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. Etymology Trematodes are commonly referred to as flukes. This term can be traced back to the Old English name for flounder, and refers to the flattened, rhomboidal shape of the organisms. Taxonomy There are 18,000 to 24,000 known species of trematodes, divided into two subclasses — the Aspidogastrea and the Digenea. Aspidogastrea is the smaller subclass, comprising 61 species. These flukes mainly infect bivalves and bony fishes.https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3918.3.2 Digenea — which comprise the majority of trematodes — ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachylaimidae
Brachylaimidae is a family of parasitic flukes in the sub-class Digenea. Adults are usually found within the digestive tracts and other organs of mammals or birds and have a complex three-stage life cycle.Olson, P. D.; Cribb, T. H.; Tkach, V. V.; Bray, R. A.; Littlewood, D. T. J. (2003). "Phylogeny and classification of the Digenea (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda)". ''International Journal for Parasitology'' 33(7): 733–755. Characteristics The adult body is elongate or occasionally oval or subglobular. sometimes with fine spines. The suckers are well-developed and usually at the anterior end. There is usually a prepharynx, the pharynx is muscular, the oesophagus, if present, is short and the caeca long, terminating near the posterior end. The gonads are posterior to the ventral sucker and the genital pore opens on the ventral surface. Hosts Adult flukes in this family are found in mammals, birds and occasionally amphibians. There are two intermediate hosts, both terrestrial mollu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Striped Polecat
The striped polecat (''Ictonyx striatus''), also called the African polecat, zoril, zorille, zorilla, Cape polecat, and African skunk, is a member of the family Mustelidae that resembles a skunk (of the family Mephitidae). The name "zorilla" comes from the word "zorro", which in Spanish means "fox". It lives predominantly in dry and arid climates, such as the savannahs and open country of Central, Southern, and sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the Congo basin and the more coastal areas of West Africa. Physical characteristics Striped polecats are about in length, including their tails, and tall to the shoulders on average. They weigh from , generally, with the males being the larger of the two sexes. Their specific coloring varies by location. Generally they are black on the underside, white on the tail, with stripes running from their heads down their backs and on their cheeks. The legs and feet are black. Their skulls are usually around long, and they have unique face-mask co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Striped Weasel
The African striped weasel (''Poecilogale albinucha''), the lone member of the genus ''Poecilogale'', is a small, black and white weasel native to sub-Saharan Africa. Description The African striped weasel is one of the smallest mammalian carnivores in Africa, and has an elongated body and short legs. Adults have a head-body length of , with the tail adding a further . Males are larger than females, weighing an average of , compared with . The fur is mostly black, with four white to pale yellowish bands running down the back, a white patch on the top of the head, and a white tail. The head is elongated, with small eyes, a short, broad snout, and short ears. The carnassial teeth are short, and the canine teeth long. The claws are sharp and curved, and the tail is long and bushy. Females typically have four teats. Like many other mustelids, the African striped weasel has well-developed scent glands in the perineal region that can spray a noxious fluid when the animal feels threat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh Mongoose
The marsh mongoose (''Atilax paludinosus''), also known as the water mongoose or the vansire, is a medium-sized mongoose native to sub-Saharan Africa that inhabits foremost freshwater wetlands. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Taxonomy The generic name ''Atilax'' was introduced in 1826 by Frédéric Cuvier. In 1829, Georges Cuvier referred to a mongoose in the marshes of the Cape Province using the scientific name ''Herpestes paludinosus''. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Atilax'', although an extinct ancestral species from the Early Pleistocene known as ''Atilax mesotes'' was also a member of the genus. Characteristics The marsh mongoose's fur is dark reddish brown to black with white and fawn coloured guard hairs. The hair behind the neck and in front of the back is short, but longer on the hind legs and on the tail. Its muzzle is short with a fawn coloured mouth, short whiskers and a naked rhinarium. It has teeth. Its short ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
