Critter News

DECEMBER 12, 2009

The Calgary Zoo is again under scrutiny as details emerged Friday about how a capybara, a species of giant South American rodent, died after becoming caught in a hydraulic door last weekend as it was being moved from one area to another. The fatality is one in a string of animal deaths in recent years.

Zoos 100

Zoos Animal Welfare Welfare Elephants 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2011

But that is because we often have the relationship between dinosaurs and birds reversed in our little primate minds; Much of what is bird-like is not exclusive to birds, but rather, to a larger group of dinosaurs. Among mammals, bipedalism is found in several rodents, a number of marsupials, and one primate.

Birds 268

Birds Primates Marsupials Whales 268

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2016

Think about that for a moment … Anyway, we now know that the forebrain of some birds is more densely packed than mammals (primates and rodents, anyway). From Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain by Seweryn Olkowicz, Martin Kocourek, Radek K. an, Michal Porteš, W.

Mammals 108

Mammals Zebras Birds Primates 108

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

Fortunately for we humans, placing primates properly phylogenetically in relation to the other mammals requires an act or two of faith at the deeper ends of the family tree, but it is probably true that primates and rodents share a common stock to the exclusion of others, so maybe we are all mice.

Camels 196

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 196

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2012

which was a comparative look at apparent, visible, often in your face biomass we observe when we as diurnal primates look around us. 1) The total percentage of a species that is killed by some force may have a very large evolutionary or adaptive effect even if the percentage is very small, like in the 0.5 Is this a problem?

Cats 178

Cats Boston Ferrets Killing 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

There are also dry areas but this great diversity has resulted in an incredible bird list of over 900 species including Africa’s 2nd highest count of endemics (after South Africa). A two-week birding tour could expect around 400 species and up to 550 in 3 weeks, including sightings of most of Ethiopia’s endemic and near-endemic birds.

Ethiopia 264

Ethiopia Eritrea Africa Mammals 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

For instance, I can lay my hands on data for primates and rodents (because I’ve collected those data for research) but I don’t have comparable data for bovids (just selected data) and zero data for birds (in spreadsheets on my computer). If we were to remove the hooved animals and non-Mustelidae carnivores (i.e.,

Mammals 173

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 173