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CREATURE FEATURE: Wolverine

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The Wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a carnivorous mammal in the Mustelidae family It is a mustelid. Gulomeans ‘glutton’ in Latin. It is also known as the Glutton, Carajou, Skunk Bear, or Quickhatch. It is not a wolf and it is not a skunk and it is not a bear. It is closely related to the Weasel.

The Wolverine looks like a small bear. It is stocky and muscular, with thick, oily blackish-grey fur that is naturally frost resistant (hydrophobic). Its face has a light-silver mask. It has small eyes, and short, rounded ears.  It has short legs and wide paws that act like snow-shoes. It has sharp claws. Its tail is bushy. 

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Madagascar Tree Boa

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The Madagascar Tree Boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis) is a non-venomous, colubrid, arboreal reptile in the boa species of snakes. It is a boid (pronounced bow-id). It is also known as the Malagasy Tree Boa.

The Madagascar Tree Boa is greenish, such as olive-green or bright green, depending upon the colour of the rain forest leaves and trees. In dry areas, it can be orange-brown. It has patterned scales of dark markings with whitish inner markings. It has dark eyes. 

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Falcated Duck

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The Falcated Duck (Mareca falcata) is a wetlands bird in the dabbling duck family. It is related to the Gadwell, Mallard, Pintail, Wigeon, and Shoveler.

The Falcated Duck has a large head with a peaked forehead. The male has a purple-chestnut and bright green head and mane, with a white throat, white foreneck, and yellow beak. It has a green collar, grey body, and black crescents (sickle shapes) on its chest. The female is dark-brown with a long grey beak. Both the male and female have orange webbed feet. 

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Fallacy: All Bees Live in Hives

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A fallacy is something that is not true.

All bees live in hives is a fallacy.

Do all bees live in hives? No, not all bees live in hives. There are social bees and solitary bees.

A colony of bees—many thousands of bees—are social bees that live together in a hive. The Bumblebee and the Honeybee (or Honey Bee) are social bees, living in colonies, and living in hives.

However, solitary bees do not live in hives. 

Most bee species are, in fact, solitary bees.

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Abyssinian Ground Hornbill

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The Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) is a large terrestrial bird. It is also known as the Northern Ground Hornbill. 

The Abyssinian Ground Hornbill has black feathers with white primary feathers. The male has a patch of blue featherless skin around its eyes and an inflatable patch of bare red skin on its neck and throat. Its beak is long and black with a reddish base. On top of its beak is a black hard structure called a casque. The female is similar to the male, but with dark blue bare skin. Both the male and the female have long eye feathers that look like eyelashes. 

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Southern White-Lipped Peccary

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The Southern White-Lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari albirostris) is an ungulate (hoofed) mammal.

The Southern White-Lipped Peccary has a rounded body with a large head, long snout (nose) and short legs – similar to a wild pig. Its nose looks like a pig’s nose. It has black or brown bristly fur. It has longer hairs along its spine, which make a crest of hair that stands up when it is startled. It has white markings below its nose, cheeks, and under its eyes.

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Kafue Lechwe

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The Kafue Lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) is an ungulate (hoofed) mammal in the antelope family of waterbucks. It is a sub-species of the Southern Lechwe.

The Kafue Lechwe has golden-brown fur with a white underbelly. The male is darker than the female. The male has long, spiral horns, similar in shape to a lyre musical instrument. The female does not have horns. Its hind (back) legs are longer than other antelope legs. It is adapted to long-distance running. It has large ears with black markings. 

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California Sea Lion

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The California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) is an aquatic marine (saltwater) mammal in the Pinnipedia Clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is an otariid or otary – a seal with external ear flaps – and a pinniped – fin footed. 

The California Sea Lion has light to brown or black fur, although the female can have light grey or silver fur after moulting. It does not have a mane of hair on its back, like other sea lions. It has a sleek, slender build with a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a long, protruding face and nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It has small external ears on the sides of its face. 

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. It has a flexible spine (backbone). On land, it walks on its foreflippers (front flippers). Its fatty body, which keeps it warm and buoyant, is called blubber.

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Buru Babirusa

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The Buru Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) is a wild pig in the swine family. It is also known as the Hairy Babirusa, the Golden Babirusa, the Deer-Pig, and the Moluccan Babirusa. 

The Buru Babirusa looks like a pig with golden-brown hair. The male has prominent upward, in-curving canine tusks. The tusks curve over its face and towards its forehead. Both the male and female have lower canines, which grow upwards, but the female has smaller canine teeth than the male.

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Featherfin Squeaker

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The Featherfin Squeaker (Synodontis eupterus) is a freshwater fish in the catfish family. It is also known as the Featherfin Synodontis and the Featherfin Catfish. 

The Featherfin Squeaker is dark-brown with a high feather-like dorsal (back) fin. It has light, yellowish spotted markings all over its body and fins. It has a sucker mouth and a wide head. 

It is called a Squeaker because it communicates with each other in squeaking noises.

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What are the similarities and differences between the Black Bear and the Brown Bear?

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What are the similarities and differences between the Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) and the European Brown Bear (Ursus arctos arctos)? 

The Asian Black Bear has silky black fur and the European Brown Bear has dense brown fur.

The Asian Black Bear is arboreal (living in trees) and the European Black Bear is terrestrial (living on the ground).

The Asian Black Bear is lighter and thinner than the European Brown Bear.

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Asian Black Bear

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The Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) is a medium-sized mammal. It is also known as the Asiatic Black Bear, Moon Bear, and White-Chested Bear. It is closely related to the American Black Bear.

The Asian Black Bear is stocky and muscular with black, silky fur. It has a light brown nose and a distinct white patch on its chest. It has bell-shaped ears, which stick out sideways from its head. It has powerful jaws. Its heel pads are large, and it has long, hooked claws for climbing and digging. It has dark eyes, but its eyesight is poor.

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Mesopotamian Fallow Deer

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The Mesopotamian Fallow Deer (Dama mesopotamica) is an ungulate (hoofed), ruminant mammal in the Cervidae family. It is also known as the Persian Fallow Deer.

The Mesopotamian Fallow Deer is grey-brown to reddish-brown. The male has a short neck mane. The male has antlers, made from bone and covered with velvet. It is an even-toed ungulate with two toes on each hoof, like camels, goats, and cattle.

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Rough-Legged Buzzard

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The Rough-Legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) is a medium-sized bird of prey, and a raptor. It is also known as the Rough-Legged Hawk. 

The Rough-Legged Buzzard has brown feathers that can be light-brown or dark-brown, with a lot of speckles or specking. It has more white feathers on its underbelly. It has long, white tail feathers. Its feet are feathered. Its claws are smaller than the claws of most birds of prey. It has dark eyes and a light beige beak.

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