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Brush-tailed Porcupine
The brush-tailed porcupines are a genus, ''Atherurus'', of Old World porcupines found in Asia and Africa. Characteristics The brush-tailed porcupines have bodies covered in quills like their New World relatives. These quills are shorter and not as visually prominent as those seen in the genus '' Hystrix'', but considerably more so than in '' Trichys''. They have a prominent tuft on the tip of their tails which leads to their common name. The tail breaks off easily when the animal is threatened. Their bodies are long and somewhat rat-like. They are forest dwellers and nocturnal, and feed on vegetation, but may take insects or carrion. The animals may live in social groups usually numbering six to eight. The longevity record for a captive animal was almost 23 years. Due to their small size (the typical brush-tailed porcupine weighs about 3 kg), it is a popular bushmeat to the urban and rural residents of Gabon, Nigeria, Cameroon or Congo. Species The two species of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek grc, label=none, πλεῖστος, pleīstos, most and grc, label=none, καινός, kainós (latinized as ), 'new'. At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama, causing a faunal interchange between the two reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds ''in situ''. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, '' Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020'' (FRA 2020) found that forests covered , or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are found around the globe. More than half of the world's forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and the United States). The largest share of forests (45 percent) are in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine
The Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (''Atherurus macrourus'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is found in China, Bhutan, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Taxonomy The synonyms of this species are ''Atherurus assamensis'' (Thomas, 1921), and ''Atherurus macrourus'' (Thomas, 1921) subspecies ''assamensis''. Habitat It is a nocturnal and fossorial species, occurring in subtropical and tropical montane forests. It is found on the forest floor, often in areas with profuse undergrowth interspersed with cane and bamboo brakes and palms. Breeding It constructs burrows, which may be occupied by up to three animals. The female produces one or two litters a year, of a single young, after a gestation period of 100 to 110 days.Andrew T. Smith: ''Asiatic Brush-Tailed Porcupine.'' In: Andrew T. Smith, Yan Xie: ''A Guide to the Mammals of China.'' Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, , S. 274. Conservation Known to be one of the rarest por ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Brush-tailed Porcupine
The African brush-tailed porcupine (''Atherurus africanus'') is a species of rat-like Old World porcupine, indigenous to a broad belt of Africa ranging from Guinea on the west coast to Kenya on the east. This is a common species with a very wide range, and despite it being used extensively for bushmeat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern". Description The brush-tailed porcupine reaches 40 to 50 cm in length, not counting the tail. The adult weighs about 3 kg. It has an elongated, rat-like face and body and short legs, tipped with clawed and webbed feet. Unlike most other porcupines, the brush-tailed porcupine has light, small quills. On the tail, these quills are thinner and brush-like. These can make noise when rattled. Distribution The brush-tailed porcupine occurs in Benin, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longevity
The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for " life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always defined statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth is the same as the average age at death for all people born in the same year (in the case of cohorts). Longevity is best thought of as a term for general audiences meaning 'typical length of life' and specific statistical definitions should be clarified when necessary. Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the brevity of human life and have included thinking about methods to extend life. Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientific community but also for writers of travel, science fiction, and utopian novels. In fact the legendary fountain of youth appeared in the work of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, condors, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia opossum, Tasmanian devils, coyotes and Komodo dragons. Many invertebrates, such as the carrion and burying beetles, as well as maggots of calliphorid flies (such as one of the most important species in ''Calliphora vomitoria'') and flesh-flies, also eat carrion, playing an important role in recycling nitrogen and carbon in animal remains. Carrion begins to decay at the moment of the animal's death, and it will increasingly attract insects and breed bacteria. Not long after the animal has died, its body will begin to exude a foul odor caused by the presence of bacteria and the emission of cadaverine and putrescine. Some plants and fungi smell like decomposing carrion and attract insects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Some animals, such as cats and ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both low-level and bright day levels of illumination (see metaturnal). Others, such as bushbabies and (some) bats, can function only at night. Many nocturnal creatures including tarsiers and some owls have large eyes in comparison with their body size to compensate for the lower light levels at night. More specifically, they have been found to have a larger cornea relative to their eye size than diurnal creatures to increase their : in the low-light conditions. Nocturnality helps wasps, such as '' Apoica flavissima'', avoid hunting in intense sunlight. Diurnal animals, including squirrels and songbirds, are ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trichys
The long-tailed porcupine (''Trichys fasciculata'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Trichys'', and is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Physical appearance Long-tailed porcupines’ appearances are somewhat rat-like. Their weight is usually around 1.7-2.3 kg but can be as small as 1.5 kg and their length can be between 27.9-48 cm excluding their tail which is usually up to 24 cm. To save themselves from predators including larger mammals, snakes and birds, their tails can be lost when grabbed but will not be regenerated. Long-tailed porcupine's broad paws allow them to be good climbers, hence they are able to climb trees and shrubs to search for food. Their front legs consist of four toes while the back legs consist of five toes. Long-tailed porcupines are commonly black or brown in colour while their underbody is usually white. The short dark brown flattened spines with white base cover their entire body with bristl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Museum Of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7.1 million visitors, it was the eighteenth most visited museum in the world and the second most visited natural history museum in the world after the Natural History Museum in London."The World's most popular museums", CNN.com, 22 June 2017. Opened in 1910, the museum on the National Mall was one of the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to hold the national collections and research facilities. The main building has an overall area of with of exhibition and public space and houses over 1,000 employees. The museum's collections contain over 145 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, the largest natural history collection in the world. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hystrix (porcupine)
''Hystrix'' is a genus of porcupines containing most of the Old World porcupines. Fossils belonging to the genus date back to the late Miocene of Africa. Hystrix (from Ancient Greek ὕστριξ (hústrix, “porcupine”)) was given name by the 18th century Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus. Species * Genus ''Hystrix'' **Subgenus ''Thecurus'' ***'' Hystrix crassispinis'' - thick-spined porcupine ***''Hystrix pumila'' - Philippine porcupine ***'' Hystrix sumatrae'' - Sumatran porcupine **Subgenus ''Acanthion'' ***'' Hystrix brachyura'' - Malayan porcupine or Himalayan crestless porcupine ***''Hystrix javanica'' - Sunda porcupine **Subgenus ''Hystrix'' ***'' Hystrix africaeaustralis'' - Cape porcupine ***'' Hystrix cristata'' - crested porcupine ***'' Hystrix indica'' - Indian crested porcupine Fossil species *†''Hystrix arayanensis'' - Late Miocene *†''Hystrix depereti'' - Pliocene *†''Hystrix paukensis'' - Late Miocene-Pliocene *†''Hystrix primigenia'' - Late Miocene-Pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, behind Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, the Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, and corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Afric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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