Mammalz

Would You Like 1 Hump or 2 With Your Dinosaur?

Thu, 9 Sep 2010 08:16 GMT

The weird world of dinosaurs has just gotten a tad more bizarre. Scientists found a nearly complete fossil of a new dinosaur that sports a noticeable hump, maybe as possible advertising.

The hump on the dinosaur's back, which was at least 16 inches tall, may have been used to help this meat-eating theropod communicate among its own species, scientists theorize. Discoverer Francisco Ortega of Spain named it Concavenator corcovatus which means "the hunchback hunter from Cuenca."

Ortega said the hump could have been used to store fat or regulate body temperature, but there is also the distinct possibility that it was used by concavenators to somehow differentiate themselves or communicate with each other. But with only one of these dinos, it's only speculation and is hard to figure out what the humps were meant to convey if they were tools of communication, he said.

Northern Australian mammals face extinction

Wed, 8 Sep 2010 07:22 GMT

NORTHERN AUSTRALIA'S NATIVE MAMMALS are under serious threat, with 10 on track to become extinct within the next 10 to 20 years if nothing is done, and perhaps another dozen vulnerable to extinction, experts say.

"We've had signs of decline for more than a decade now, but there's always been some chance that what we were witnessing was just part of a natural oscillation," says John Woinarski, director of biodiversity for the Northern Territory Government, and co-author of a new report on the problem. "But over the last 12 months, we've completed a major series of monitoring and other studies, and all the results are bleak.

Zoo animals in China to get larger home

Tue, 7 Sep 2010 06:58 GMT

The scheduled move of animals from the 54-year-old Changsha Zoo to a new and more spacious home on Monday afternoon was postponed because animals were not cooperative, zoo officials said. As of Monday afternoon, the animals were still at their old homes. Transportations are scheduled for Wednesday, according to zoo staffers. Local media Sanxiang City Express reported that the zoo conducted a day-long drill on Sunday but found many animals, especially the beasts, were not cooperative.

"Before the actual move takes place, it was necessary to conduct a rehearsal on getting the animals into cages and sheds," said Ma Zaiyu, director and senior engineer of the zoo's veterinary hospital.

Cheetah - the Fastest Land Mammal!

Mon, 6 Sep 2010 07:32 GMT

Honed to a sleek and slender physique Cheetah ranges in weight from 100 to 150 lbs, with its long body and tail assisting it in high speed pursuits. The coat is generally yellowish with small black spots running throughout its length. The belly, like most cats, is whitish. Evolutionary adaptations that enable Cheetah to generate tremendous speed include large nostrils, heart and lungs (that enable maximum oxygenation during rapid pursuits), big adrenal glands (for the adrenaline rush!), rudder-like tail (for balancing and rapidly turning to match the clever Thomson gazelle) and non-retractable claws (to provide 'grip' on the ground during the chase).

Some Really Interesting Facts About Mammals

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 15:43 GMT

Given below are some really interesting facts about mammals. I am sure you will love and enjoy reading them.
Almost all the mammals live on land. Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Dolphins and whales are the aquatic mammals. With a couple of exceptions, mammals give birth to live young. Platypus and Echidna are the two mammals that lay eggs.

Elephants have huge feet and can weigh more than five tons. But their feet are big, soft and spongy that spread their weight out so well they barely even leave footprints. Eucalyptus is used to make cough drops; now because koala bears eat so much eucalyptus, they smell like cough drops. This smell helps them keep fleas away. Giraffes protect themselves by being big, so their goal is to grow as large as they can, as fast as they can.
Do you know why bats hang upside-down? They hang upside-down because they can't stand right-side up. Their leg bones are too thin to hold up their bodies.

Mammal-Like Reptiles

Sat, 4 Sep 2010 13:02 GMT

Amniotes are the group of the vertebrates that evolved from early tetrapod amphibians, and developed eggs suited to life in a terrestrial environment. They are believed to have evolved during the early Carboniferous period, perhaps around 340 million years ago. They are subclassified into various groupings based on the design of their skulls (or in some cases the skulls of their ancestors).

* Anapsids are amniotes with solid box-like skulls. Many early reptiles, like Scutosaurus were of this type. Additionally, it is possible, although it is not entirely clear whether turtles fall within this group - they may be anapsids (they have the right skull type), or they may be diapsids (see below) which re-evolved an anapsid-type skull.

Three Fast Tips To Breeding In Zoo World

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 07:37 GMT

Breeding in Zoo World is incredibly important. It is the sole way you will be able to make free Wildlife Points once you get to a certain point in the game, and while there is a cap on how many of those free points you can make, it is pretty high – so you'll have opportunities to keep making them for quite some time – assuming you set yourself up right when you get started.

1. Start Early

Start breeding as soon as you can with your Bald Eagle. This will allow you to get a good jump start on the process, required of you at level 4. Ideally, by doing this, you can have a few points already set up for you to get your Bronze Mastery reward for easy animals. You can also get a hang of the process and prep the space and cash you'll need for the larger and harder animals later in the game.

The Different Exotic Animal Behavior

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 07:46 GMT

The Different Exotic Animal Behavior: The old adage "you can clue an animal to water, but you can't make him choice" was definitely coined by somebody who knew nothing about affection-based animal teaching. If that anyone had known about, and had practical the principles of education animals based ahead affection and relationship-edifice strategies, the slogan most maybe would not even survive.

Female ostrich dies at Nehru zoo

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:30 GMT

A seven-month-old female ostrich died at the Nehru Zoological Park on Thursday. The exotic bird measuring five feet procured only a month ago along with a male died before it was released into an enclosure. The 10-month-old male ostrich, however, survived the quarantine period.

Zoo officials said that the post mortem reports are yet to come. "The supplier has given an undertaking that if anything happens to the bird during the quarantine period, he would restore the loss," said K Varaprasad, education officer, zoo park. The pair was procured for Rs 3 lakh.

Makeover on mind, zoo to map its greens

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:42 GMT

Do you know how many elephants there are at Byculla’s Jijamata Bhosale Udyan? Two. But do you know how many shrubs there are the zoo? Or what kind?

The questions would leave most scratching their heads. However, that might change soon. At a meeting chaired by Additional Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta and attended by well-known botanist Dr M R Almeida and other officials from the zoo and garden department.

It was decided that a bio-diversity mapping of the zoo would be conducted. This would be the first exercise of its kind in the zoo’s 149-year history.The decision was taken after concerns were raised that that the Rs 433-crore makeover of the zoo would take a toll on the rich flora there.