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Pangolins
Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: ''Manis'', ''Phataginus'', and ''Smutsia''. ''Manis'' comprises the four species found in Asia, while ''Phataginus'' and ''Smutsia'' include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa. These species range in size from . A number of extinct pangolin species are also known. Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales, similar in material to fingernails and toenails, covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature. They live in hollow trees or burrows, depending on the species. Pangolins are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues. They tend to be solitary animals, meeting only to mate and produce a litter of one to three offspring, which they raise for about two years. Pangolins ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pangolin Trade
The pangolin trade is the illegal poaching, wildlife smuggling, trafficking, and sale of pangolins, parts of pangolins, or pangolin-derived products on the black market. Pangolins are believed to be the world's most trafficked mammal, accounting for as much as 20% of all Wildlife trade, illegal wildlife trade. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than a million pangolins were poached in the decade prior to 2014. The animals are trafficked mainly for their Scale (anatomy), scales, which are believed to treat a variety of health conditions in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and as a luxury food in Vietnam and China. In Africa, pangolins are sold as a form of bushmeat, for ritual or spiritual purposes, and use in traditional African medicine. Many times the animal is trafficked just for clothing and fashion. The CITES, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates the international wildlife trade, has pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manis Culionensis
The Philippine pangolin or Palawan pangolin (''Manis culionensis''), also locally known as ''balintong'', is a pangolin species endemic to the Palawan province of the Philippines. Its habitat includes primary and secondary forests, as well as surrounding grasslands. This species is moderately common within its limited range, but is at risk due to heavy hunting because of its valued scales and meat. This species is distinguished from the closely related Sunda pangolin by its smaller body-to-tail ratio, smaller scales, and a shorter head. It is listed as ''Critically Endangered'' by the IUCN, and ''Critically Endangered'' by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD). Taxonomy The species was first described by Casto de Elera in 1885; it was also mentioned by de Elera in an 1895 work. In the past, this species has been included with the Sunda pangolin, ''Manis javanica'', but has been considered a distinct species since 1998. Five distinct morphological characteristics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manidae
Manidae is the only extant family of pangolins from superfamily Manoidea. This family comprises three genera ('' Manis'' from subfamily Maninae, ''Phataginus'' from subfamily Phatagininae, and ''Smutsia'' from subfamily Smutsiinae), as well as extinct Fayum pangolin. Classification and phylogeny History of classification All species of living pangolin had been assigned to the genus ''Manis'' until the late 2000s, when research prompted the splitting of extant pangolins into three genera: '' Manis'', ''Phataginus'', and ''Smutsia''. Taxonomy * Family: Manidae (pangolins) ** Subfamily: Maninae (Gray, 1821) *** Genus: '' Manis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Asiatic pangolins) **** ''Manis crassicaudata'' (Gray, 1827) (Indian pangolin) **** ''Manis pentadactyla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chinese pangolin) **** ''Manis'' sp. (''Scale_H4'' & ''Scale_H8'')Jingyang Hu, Christian Roos, Xue Lv, Weimin Kuang, Li Yu (2020."Molecular Genetics Supports a Potential Fifth Asian Pangolin Species (Mammalia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manis Pentadactyla
The Chinese pangolin (''Manis pentadactyla'') is a pangolin native to the northern Indian subcontinent, northern parts of Southeast Asia and southern China. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2014, as the wild population is estimated to have declined by more than 80% in three pangolin generations, equal to 21 years. It is threatened by poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Characteristics The Chinese pangolin has the appearance of a scaly anteater. Its head and body measure about and its tail measures about . A mature Chinese pangolin weighs from . It has 18 rows of overlapping scales accompanied by hair, a rare combination in mammals. It has a small, narrow mouth and a little, pointed head. Also its claws grow in as it grows older. The female gives birth to a single offspring at a time. A newborn pangolin weighs about , its length is about . The Chinese pangolin reproduces in April and May when the weather warms. The young are born wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wildlife Smuggling
Wildlife smuggling or trafficking involves the illegal gathering, transportation, and distribution of animals and their derivatives. This can be done either internationally or domestically. Estimates of the money generated by wildlife smuggling vary, in part because of its illegal nature. "Wildlife smuggling is estimated at $7.8bn to $10bn a year, according to the U.S. State Department. The U.S. State Department also lists wildlife trafficking as the third most valuable illicit commerce in the world." The illegal nature of such activities makes determining the amount of money involved incredibly difficult. When considered with illegal timber and fisheries, wildlife trafficking is a major illegal trade along with narcotics, human trafficking, and counterfeit products. Products demanded by the trade include exotic pets, food, traditional medicine, clothing, and jewelry made from animals' tusks, fins, skins, shells, horns, and internal organs. Smuggled wildlife is an increasing glob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammals
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 with Saur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phataginus
African tree pangolin (''Phataginus'') is a genus of African pangolins from subfamily small African pangolins (Phatagininae), within family Manidae. Its members are the more arboreal of the African pangolins. The number of illegally trafficked pangolins from genus ''Phataginus'' were at least a shocking 895,000 from the years 2010 to 2019. The animal is hunted and poached for its scales and meat and is often used for the making of traditional medicine in places such as China and Vietnam. Attempts are still being made to help protect these mammals from trafficking and extinction, unfortunately their slow reproduction rate isn't much of assistance to this effort. Currently the tree pangolin is listed as vulnerable. All of the pangolins species have been listed as vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered.Gaubert, P. (2020). "Development and characterization of 20 polymorphic microsatellite markers for the white-bellied pangolin ''Phataginus tricuspis'' (Mammalia, Pholidota). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smutsia
''Smutsia'' is a genus of African pangolins, better known as the African ground pangolins, from subfamily Smutsiinae, within family Manidae. It was formerly considered a subgenus of '' Manis''. Its members are the more terrestrial of the African pangolins. Etymology British naturalist John Edward Gray named ''Smutsia'' for South African naturalist Johannes Smuts (1808–1869), the first South African to write a treatise on mammals in 1832 (in which he described the species ''Manis temminckii''). Taxonomy * Subfamily: Smutsiinae (large African pangolins) ** Genus: ''Smutsia'' (African ground pangolin) *** ''Smutsia gigantea'' (giant pangolin) *** '' Smutsia temminckii'' (ground pangolin) *** †''Smutsia olteniensis ''Smutsia olteniensis'' is an extinct species of the genus ''Smutsia'', more commonly known as the African ground pangolins. This species lived during the Pleistocene epoch. Fossilized remains of the species were found in Romania, providing evi ...'' Phylogeny ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manis
''Manis'' is a genus of South Asian and East Asian pangolins, the Asiatic pangolins, from subfamily Maninae, within family Manidae. Etymology Carl Linnaeus (1758) invented the Neo-Latin generic name ''Manis'' apparently as a feminine singular form of the Latin masculine plural Manes, the Ancient Roman name for a type of spirit, after the animal's strange appearance. Taxonomy * Subfamily: Maninae (Asiatic pangolins) ** Genus: ''Manis'' (Asiatic pangolins) *** ''Manis crassicaudata'' (Indian pangolin) *** ''Manis pentadactyla'' (Chinese pangolin) *** ''Manis'' sp. (Scale_H4 & Scale_H8)Huarong Zhang, Mark P. Miller, Feng Yang, Hon Ki Chan, Philippe Gaubert, Gary Ades, Gunter A. Fischer (2015."Molecular tracing of confiscated pangolin scales for conservation and illegal trade monitoring in Southeast Asia" Global Ecology and Conservation, Volume 4, Pages 414-422Jingyang Hu, Christian Roos, Xue Lv, Weimin Kuang, Li Yu (2020."Molecular Genetics Supports a Potential Fifth Asian Pangol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurotamandua
''Eurotamandua'' ("european ''Tamandua''") is an extinct genus of mammal from extinct family Eurotamanduidae that lived some 40-35 million years ago, during the middle Eocene. A single fossil is known, coming from the Messel Pit in southwestern Germany. ''Eurotamandua'' was about long. Most palaeontologists now classify ''Eurotamandua'' as a pangolin. When its fossils were first discovered, ''Eurotamandua'' was originally thought to be an anteater, as it lacked the characteristic fused-hair scales of other pangolins. ''Eurotamandua'' placement within the pangolins was made primarily because of a lack of the characteristic "xenarthran" joints found in all xenarthrans, including tamanduas. There is still much ambiguity in the taxonomy of all mammals prior to the Eocene, so there is the possibility that ''Eurotamandua'' was a primitive xenarthran. However, this is highly unlikely because all known fossil evidence indicates that xenarthrans existed exclusively in South America from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eomanis
''Eomanis'' ("dawn pangolin") is the earliest known true (and scaled) pangolin from extinct family Eomanidae (and extinct superfamily Eomanoidea) within suborder Eupholidota. It lived during the Eocene in Europe. ''Eomanis'' fossils found in the Messel Pit in Germany are very similar in size and anatomy to living pangolins of the genus '' Manis'', indicating that pangolins have remained largely unchanged in morphology and behavior for 50 million years. However, unlike modern pangolins, its tail and legs did not bear scales. According to the stomach contents of the excellently preserved Messel specimens, ''Eomanis’'' diet consisted of both insects and plants. Another early mammal discovered in the Messel Pit that was similar in anatomy and likely also had an insectivorous diet was ''Eurotamandua''. Despite its name, ''Eurotamandua'' was almost certainly not a xenarthran because it lacked the characteristic xenarthran joints present in all living and extinct xenarthrans. In add ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patriomanidae
Patriomanidae ("fathers of pangolins") is a extinct family of pangolins from superfamily Manoidea that includes two extinct genera ''Patriomanis'' and '' Cryptomanis''. Taxonomy * Family: †Patriomanidae ** Genus: †'' Cryptomanis'' *** †''Cryptomanis gobiensis'' ** Genus: †''Patriomanis ''Patriomanis'' ("father of pangolins") is an extinct genus of pangolin from extinct family Patriomanidae. It lived during the Eocene of North America and it currently represents the only pangolin known from the Western Hemisphere. The genus co ...'' *** †''Patriomanis americana'' Phylogeny Phylogenetic position of family Patriomanidae within superfamily Manoidea. References Prehistoric pangolins Prehistoric mammal families {{Paleo-mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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