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Pugu Hills Forest Reserve
Pugu Forest Reserve is a forest reserve in Pwani Region, Tanzania. It is in the Pugu Hills area, near Dar es Salaam, adjacent to the Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve. Together with Kazimzumbwi, the Pugu Forest (previously known as Mogo Forest) is part of what is considered to be one of the oldest forests in the world. The area is characterized by a large variety of endemic species of animals and plants. Location The 22 km2 reserve extends over a large hilly area south-west of Dar es Salaam, the nearest populated place being Kisarawe. The source of the Msimbazi river, that flows into the Indian Ocean in the surroundings of Dar, is inside the reserve. The reserve borders both the Kazimzumbwi Reserve and the Selous Game Reserve. A large fraction of its vegetation is composed of evergreen plants, as rain is common and abundant throughout most of the year. One of the largest kaolinite deposits in the world is located inside the reserve. Environment The Pugu Forest has 14 endem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the United Nations, Tanzania has a population of million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania, such as 6-million-year-old Pliocene hominid fossils. The genus Australopithecus ranged across Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, and the oldest remains of the genus ''Homo'' are found near Lake Olduvai. Following the rise of '' Homo erectus'' 1.8 million years ago, humanity spread ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaolinite
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina () octahedra. Rocks that are rich in kaolinite are known as kaolin () or china clay. Kaolin is occasionally referred to by the antiquated term lithomarge, from the Ancient Greek ''litho-'' and Latin ''marga'', meaning 'stone of marl'. Presently the name lithomarge can refer to a compacted, massive form of kaolin. The name ''kaolin'' is derived from Gaoling (), a Chinese village near Jingdezhen in southeastern China's Jiangxi Province. The name entered English in 1727 from the French version of the word: , following François Xavier d'Entrecolles's reports on the making of Jingdezhen porcelain. Kaolinite has a low shrink–swell capacity and a low cation-exchange capacity (1–15 meq/100 g). It is a soft, earthy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma baboon. Each species is native to one of six areas of Africa and the hamadryas baboon is also native to part of the Arabian Peninsula. Baboons are among the largest non-hominoid primates and have existed for at least two million years. Baboons vary in size and weight depending on the species. The smallest, the Kinda baboon, is in length and weighs only , while the largest, the chacma baboon, is up to in length and weighs . All baboons have long, dog-like muzzles, heavy, powerful jaws with sharp canine teeth, close-set eyes, thick fur except on their muzzles, short tails, and nerveless, hairless pads of skin on their protruding buttocks called ischial callosities that provide for sitting comfort. Male hamadryas baboons have large white man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-backed Jackal
The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The other area is along the eastern coastline, including Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its widespread range and adaptability, although it is still persecuted as a livestock predator and rabies vector. Compared to members of the genus ''Canis'', the black-backed jackal is a very ancient species, and has changed little since the Pleistocene,Kingdon, J. (1977), ''East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa'', Volume 3, Part A: Carnivores, University of Chicago Press, p. 31 being the most basal wolf-like canine, alongside the closely related side-striped jackal. It is a fox-like a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Side-striped Jackal
The side-striped jackal (''Lupulella adusta)'' is a canine native to central and southern Africa. Unlike the smaller and related black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas''), which dwells in open plains, the side-striped jackal primarily dwells in woodland and scrub areas. Taxonomy and evolution Carl Jakob Sundevall named the species ''Canis adustus'' in 1847. Fossil remains date to the Pliocene era. A mitochondrial DNA sequence alignment for the wolf-like canids gave a phylogenetic tree with the side-striped jackal and the black-backed jackal being the most basal members of this clade, which means that this tree is indicating an African origin for the clade. In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group recommends that because DNA evidence shows the side-striped jackal (''Canis adustus'') and black-backed jackal (''Canis mesomelas'') to form a monophyletic lineage that sits outside of the Canis/Cuon/Lycaon clade, that they should be placed in a distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galago
Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are considered a sister group of the Lorisidae. According to some accounts, the name "bush baby" comes from either the animal's cries or its appearance. The Ghanaian name ''aposor'' is given to them because of their firm grip on branches. In both variety and abundance, the bush babies are the most successful strepsirrhine primates in Africa, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. Taxonomic classification and phylogeny Galagos are currently grouped into six genera. ''Euoticus'' is a basal sister taxon to all the other galagids. The 'dwarf' galagids recently grouped under the genus ''Galagoides'' have been found, based on genetic data, and supported by analysis of vocalisations and morphology, to actually consist of two clades, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civet
A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversity is found in southeast Asia. The best-known species is the African civet, ''Civettictis civetta'', which historically has been the main species from which a musky scent used in perfumery, also referred to as "civet", was obtained. Naming The common name is used for a variety of carnivoran mammal species, mostly of the family Viverridae. The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata'') is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, Nandiniidae. Civets are also called "toddycats" in English, "Mara Patti" in Malayalam, "musang" in Malay and Indonesian, and ''urulǣvā'' () in Sinhalese. There can be confusion among speakers of Malay because the indigenous word "musang" has been mistakenly applied to foxes by printed media in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. The Herpestidae originated about in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main genetic lineages between 19.1 and . Etymology The English word "mongoose" used to be spelled "mungoose" in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name is derived from names used in India for ''Herpestes'' species: or in classical Hindi; in Marathi; in Telugu; , and in Kannada. The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its "-goose" ending by folk etymology. The plural form is "mongooses". Characteristics Mongooses have long faces and bodies, small, rounded ears, short legs, and long, tapering tails. Most are brindled or grizzly; a few h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Shrew
Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perceived resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and their superficial similarity with shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Eulipotyphla. However, phylogenetic analysis has revealed that elephant shrews are not properly classified with true shrews, but are in fact more closely related to elephants than to shrews. In 1997, the biologist Jonathan Kingdon proposed that they instead be called "sengis" (singular ''sengi''), a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa, and in 1998, they were classified into the new clade Afrotheria. They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Leopard
The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion. Leopards have also been recorded in North Africa as well. Taxonomy ''Felis pardus'' was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India. In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including: * ''Felis pardus panthera'' proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1778 based on descriptions by earlier naturalists * ''Felis leopardus'' var. ''melanotica'' by Albert Günther in 1885 from the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa * ''Felis leopardus suahelicus'' by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Warthog
The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today that scientific name is restricted to the desert warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia. Subspecies *Nolan warthog (''P. a. africanus'') Gmelin, 1788 – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan *Eritrean warthog (''P. a. aeliani'') Cretzschmar, 1828 – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia *Central African warthog (''P. a. massaicus'') Lönnberg, 1908 – Kenya, Tanzania *Southern warthog (''P. a. sundevallii'') Lönnberg, 1908 – Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus sundevallii) female.jpg, Southern warthog ''P. a. sundevallii''female, South Africa Nolan wartho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dikdik
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females' alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators. Name The name ''dik-dik'' comes from an onomatopoeia of the repetitive ''dik'' sound female dik-diks whistle through their long, tubular snouts when they feel threatened. Physical characteristics Female dik-diks are somewhat larger than males. The males have horns, which are small (about ), slanted backwards and longitudinally grooved. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ribbed horns of the male. The upper body is gray-brown, while the lower parts of the body, including the legs, belly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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