Some Great Books - Just in Time For Christmas!

Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm guessing that some of you are not quite done with your holiday shopping, so I thought I would compile a list of some of my favorite animal and nature related books for you!  Check them out, I GUARANTEE you will like at least ONE of them!  Also, these aren't necessarily in order from favorite to least favorite, especially more towards the bottom.  Enjoy!

1.  Raptor Red - This fantastic novel by esteemed paleontologist Dr. Robert T. Bakker is unique, as far as I know, when it comes to the combination of accurate scientific information and a story told from the first-person viewpoint of a Utahraptor.  It might sound weird, to be sure, but don't judge it until you read it: this is one of the best books I have ever read!  I have only heard one person ever say that she didn't like it, but then I discovered that she had not read past the first chapter....oh well, fun isn't for everyone, I suppose!

2.  The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction - This is another one of my most favorite books.  Written by David Quammen, it explores islands from all over the world, as well as some from the past, too, and also discusses how island biogeography can be used today to help stop the extinction of mainland species.  Fans of the well-known Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel) will certainly enjoy this book and, in fact, Quammen references Diamond throughout the book, as well as many other eminent scientists.  Quammen's quick but subtle wit helps to make this book a classic.

3.  ZooBorns - Any book in this series will do.  I swear, I can look at these books for days upon end without getting bored.  These books are what inspired our very own "Zoo Babies" feature, and provide hours of entertainment, while being cute and informative at the same time.  As a report from the Seattle Post Intelligence says, "ZooBorns pulls off the difficult task of being cute and interesting for people of all ages while also being informative. Many books seek this lofty goal but most fail."  Couldn't have said it better myself, which is why I copied and pasted that sentence from the ZooBorns website.

4.  Tasmanian Tiger - The Tragic Tale of How the World Lost Its Most Mysterious Predator - This excellent, albeit sad, chronicle of the downfall of the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, is an absolute must-have for any nature fan out there.  Written by David Owen who, along with David Pemberton, wrote the similar book entitled Tasmanian Devil: A Unique and Threatened Animal (a book which I also highly recommend), both books are excellent reads.

5.  Dinosaur Odyssey - I believe that, on this blog, this book has been referenced more than any other and, in fact, I have built several posts around it, including our POST ABOUT ODDLY NAMED CREATURES, as well as our POST ABOUT WHAT REALLY KILLED THE DINOSAURS.  Written by Dr. Scott D. Sampson (or "Dr. Scott" to Dinosaur Train fans: yes, he is an actual paleontologist!), this book chronicles all of the essentials for anyone interested in dinosaurs, including their origin, their extinction, what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, and so much more.  Definitely a top-pick!

6.  Chasing Kangaroos - Written by kangaroo expert Tim Flannery, this book talks all about the authors adventures with kangaroos across Australia and New Guinea, and talks about the evolution of kangaroos as well.  He delves into other aspects of Australia's history that have affected the kangaroos as well, including dingos, the arrival of humans, and the Ice Age, amongst other things.  Be sure to read about the ever-fascinating carnivorous kangaroo, Propleopus, one of my all-time favorite animals!

7.  Gorgon - Similar to Chasing Kangaroos in the style of writing, this book talks a great deal about the causes and effects of the great and mysterious Permian Extinction.  Written by the esteemed paleontologist Peter D. Ward, this book talks about the vast and dangerous Karoo Desert in South Africa, and also talks about the political events that were going on at the time, such as Apartheid.  An incredibly interesting, funny, but sometimes sad, book, Gorgon is an excellent read.

8.  Penguins: Past and Present, Here and There - Written by the late and highly-esteemed mammalian paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson, this book, though a bit dated, still seems to be one of the best extinct penguin books you can find.

9.  The Dinosaur Heresies - Another book by Dr. Bakker, this book, like the penguin one above, is also a bit dated, but nevertheless highly informative.  As we have talked about IN A PREVIOUS POST, Dr. Bakker and his mentor, John Ostrom, were highly instrumental in bringing about the so-called Dinosaur Rennaisance, an event that turned the long-standing idea of dinosaurs being slow, sluggish, and stupid on its head.  This book primarily talks about the various aspects of this idea, and is really quite interesting!

10.  Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages - Written by esteemed paleontologist Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, chock-full of excellent illustrations by the talented paleoartist Luis V. Rey, and equipped with "contributions by thirty-three of the world's leading paleontologists," this book is fantastic for people of all ages, and takes in the dinosaurs as a whole.  Fantastic book!

11.  Cheetah (Big Cat Diary) - If you aren't a fan of Big Cat Diary, well then GET ON THE TRAIN!  AMAZING SHOW!  THE SOAP OPERA OF THE SERENGETI!  But seriously, though, this FANTASTIC (and yes, I am quoting Jonathan Scott when I say that) show comes with several companion books, of which the cheetah one is easily my favorite.  Written by Mr. Scott and his wife, Angela Scott, this book has tons of amazing photographs and talks all about both cheetahs in general, as well as the specific cats on the show.

12.  Life of Mammals - Written by one of my personal heroes, Sir David Attenborough, this book is a companion book to the popular TV show by the same name.  The book has so many color photographs, and will introduce you hundreds of mammals from around the globe, many of which you probably have never heard of: I know I haven't heard of them all!

13.  Alex and Me - Written by famous scientist Dr. Irene Pepperberg, this book chronicles her work with the famous African gray parrot named Alex: one of my most favorite books, this book is a fascinating glimpse into the minds of those supposedly mindless automatons.  

14.  Planet Dinosaur - Just like Life of Mammals, this book is also a companion book to the TV show of the same name.  Many of the dinosaur-related topics that we have discussed on this blog I first learned from Planet Dinosaur, including the dwarf dinosaurs of Hațeg Island and the fact that Spinosaurus probably ate fish.  But be warned: when they tell you that Sinornithosaurus had a poisonous bite, just remember that this has been proven almost completely wrong.  

15.  The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives - This book goes into the various big cats from around the world and across time, and talks about various aspects of their fascinating anatomy.  Written by Mauricio Anton and Alan Turner.

16.  Tideland Treasure - Written by Todd Ballantine, this book is a compilation of the years of newspaper spots that he did.  Kind of hard to describe, but its almost like a comic.  Just buy the book to find out about what I am talking about, as well as learn all about the east coast of the United States!

17.  Forest Cats of North America - Written by Jerry Kobalenko (what a great last name!), this excellent book talks about the bobcat, Canadian lynx, and the mountian lion, and is quite entertaining: I got it at The Living Desert and read it all in one day, quite a good book!  It's where I got the information regarding the Canadian lynx/snowshoe hare population fluctuations from, back in our post about Propleopus.  

18.  Life-Size Dinosaurs - Should be pretty self explanatory!  Written by David Bergen.   

So let me know if you live near me and are interested in borrowing any of these books!  I have most of them and the ones that I don't currently have I will most likely be getting soon (boy that sounds ominous doesn't it).  Let me know!

Simba, Pumbaa, and Other Swahili Names From "The Lion King"

Recently I decided to learn a bit of Swahili, and I have stumbled across a few things that I thought were quite interesting!  For instance, did you know that "Safari" meant "Trip" in Swahili?  I certainly didn't!  And the old movie entitled "Hatari!" actually means "Danger!" in Swahili!  Who knew! 

As I continued to learn more, I came across something else interesting.  As I was learning the animal names, I found that "Duma" meant "Cheetah," which excited me, as one of the main cheetah stars from BBC's "Big Cat Diary," one of the later seasons, is named Duma.  Next, I found out that "Chui" meant "Leopard...." and guess what?  There was a leopard named Chui, too!

Then, I found that "Simba" meant "Lion."  There was, of course, a lion that went by the name of Simba, in the first season of Big Cat Diary, I believe.  I had just assumed he was named after Simba from "The Lion King," which is still a possibility, but it could really go either way.


But I think it clear where the name of "Simba" came from for the Lion King.  As a matter of fact, many of the characters have names that mean something else in other languages.  For example, Ed, the hyena, is actually short for "Edward" in English.  Below is a list of others.

1. Nala - Gift
2. Pumbaa - Simpleton
3. Rafiki - Friend
4. Sarabi - Mirage
5. Shenzi - Uncouth
6. Sarafina - Bright Star
7. Banzai - Skulk, or Lurk

The Making of Planet Earth: The Snow Leopard

It was obviously not an easy feat for BBC to get all of the footage that they needed for their fantastic television series "Planet Earth," narrated by the equally fantastic David Attenborough.  Clearly, some segments would be easier to film than others.  One of the goals of "Planet Earth" was to get as much unique, never-before-filmed events and creatures, which would clearly make things a bit more difficult.  Below are listed some of the scenes that had apparently never been seen before on television.

1. The oceanic whitetip shark.
2. A piranha feeding frenzy, being filmed while the cameraman was actually in the water.
3. Arctic wolf hunt filmed from a helicopter.
4. Starving lions attacking and killing an elephant in the dead of night.
5.  Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, U.S.
6. Amur leopard mother and cub in the Primorye region of Russia.
7. Bactrian camels in the Gobi desert in Mongolia eating snow to keep from getting dehydrated.
8. "The highest-ever aerial footage of Mount Everest and the Karakoram."
9. African wild dog hunt filmed from a helicopter.

And, finally, the subject of today's post:

    10. A snow leopard hunting a markhor in Pakistan.

The snow leopards are another one of my favorite animals, but due to their elusive nature, they are very difficult to capture on film.  Much more difficult than they are for poachers to capture them, anyhow.  Hunting in large part for their fur has greatly reduced the wild population, forcing the IUCN to list them as "Endangered."

Due to their elusive nature, and their difficulty to film, the "Story of the Snow Leopard," if you will, proved to be a most excellent candidate for the "Planet Earth Diaries" (which I generally refer to on this blog as "The Making of Planet Earth."  For the DVD release, a ten minute or so long "making of" feature was included, highlighting the difficulties of each shoot.  Below is the list of the episodes of Planet Earth, and what their respective "Making Of" featurettes talk about.

The chart.  The Shallow Seas episode, with the
Planet Earth Diaries about the great white shark hunts, is filmed by Big Car Diary co-host Simon King.

When it came to filming the snow leopard, the makers of "Planet Earth" first turned to veteran cameraman Doug Allan, the same man who filmed the polar bears.  But after a few months of fruitless searching (in Nepal, I believe), all he had to show for his work were a few long distance shots, too far away to be of much use.  There were plenty of signs of the snow leopard being around, however.  One of my favorite things to hear from the entire "Planet Earth" series came from this predicament.  The film crew would track the snow leopard by following its footprints in the snow, in the hopes of getting close enough to learn more, or to even film it.  However, they would follow the tracks in a large circle, until they were seeing signs of human footprints too: their own.  The snow leopards were following them!

"Planet Earth" then decided to film along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, but were not allowed to, as the search for Al-Qaeda was taking place there, and only news crews were allowed in.  One year later, however, the "Planet Earth" crew were granted access, in December of 2004.  Below is a link to part two of the "Planet Earth Diaries" about the snow leopard.  The first part was unfortunately taken off of youtube, but anyways, here is the second part.

Planet Earth Diaries: Snow Leopard Quest Part 2

Below is another fascinating video of the snow leopard: the first ever snow leopard/markhor hunt recorded on film.  SPOILER ALERT: and don't you worry you animal lovers out there; the video has a happy ending for the markhor, but not so for the snow leopard.

First Ever Snow Leopard/Markhor Hunt

Redington Beach on Dwellable

Predators of Baby Leopards: You Might Be Surprised

One of my favorite TV shows is BBC's Big Cat Diary, which I believe I have already mentioned once or twice.  It has been called by critics as "The soap opera of the Serengeti," and has played for a number of seasons, under various other titles.  Essentially, the shows premise is a log of what two prides of lions (the Marsh and Ridge Prides) are doing, as well as my two favorites, the leopards and the cheetahs.

This is neither a leopard nor a cheetah, but a baboon skeleton.  It's probably poor planning on my part to not put a picture of what I've already talked about so far, but you're going to have to deal with it.  Or just pretend that's a cheetah, baboons and cheetahs are practically the same animal anyways.

In one episode I was recently watching, one of the co-hosts, Saba Douglas-Hamilton, said something that I thought was very interesting about leopard cubs.  She said that the top three animal threats to African leopards (besides humans, forcing the IUCN to label the African leopard as "Near Threatened,") are lions, hyenas....and baboons.  Check out the baboon skeleton (above) and mounted stuffed specimen from the American Museum of Natural History below!

I was actually completely kidding before, baboons and cheetahs are not really that closely related at all, and very few people have an excuse to confuse the two.

I knew baboons were an issue to leopards as one of the leopard stars of the earlier series, dubbed Half-Tail, was missing half her tail, hence her name.  The two hosts at the time, Jonathan Scott and Simon King, said that they thought the missing half of her tail was due to either a lion attack or, more likely, baboons.

Chilling like a villain: a leopard takes a break after staring out the window all day and stressing out about those stupid robins in that stupid birdbath.  Those robins better consider themselves lucky that there's glass between them, you mark my words.  Photo Credit: Ted and Gail Neher

I had never really thought about it before, but when I heard Saba mention it, I thought that was kind of strange.  Well, I looked up "baboon skulls" on Google Images, and I think I get it now; their canines can grow up to two inches long.  As a good comparison, the average lion typically possesses two inch long canines.  Now that is some serious dental hardware; I'm glad I'm not a baboon dentist!  (That, and I'm guessing that you don't get paid very much).

A baboon skull mounted at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, New York.  Check out those nasty canines, they're frickin' huge!!

Baboons, like many primates (actually I believe all except for tarsiers), are omnivores, so theoretically they could use their canines to subdue and consume their prey.  However, it seems that male vs. male competition is the primary reason why baboons have such enormous canines.  Check out the "mandrill" webpage on the website for Bone Clones (for the lazy amongst you, HERE is a link), and you can see that the male has enormous teeth, while the female has a dentition that is much less impressive.  This seems to support the idea that baboons (at least the males) primarily use their teeth in interspecific intimidation, in order to frighten off other males and secure breeding rights to the females.

Works Cited:

Cloning the Cheetah: Why Bother?

In an attempt to discover why the cheetah has such a low fertility rate, a team of scientists, including David Wildt and Stephen O'Brien, decided to take a look at blood samples from a number of cheetahs, labeled "Vulnerable" by the IUCN.  What they found was startling, and very worrying; the cheetahs appeared to be dangerously, perilously inbred; they were all practically clones of each other. 

Wildt and O'Brien decided to confirm this hypothesis by taking skin samples from a number of cheetahs, and attempting to graft them onto a number of other cheetahs.  In a healthy population of animals, the skin grafts would be immediately rejected.  This is because the body of the animal who received the skin graft would recognize the skin to be from another individual, a foreign body, and attack it, just as it would attack any foreign body (i.e., germs or bacteria.)  Even in humans, skin grafts are often rejected, even ones from close relatives.

Normally a very majestic looking animal, this particular cheetah seems to have been caught at a bad time.  Photo Credit: Ted and Gail Neher

So when every single one of the cheetah skin grafts were accepted by the other animals, this did not bode well for the cheetah.  This meant the genetic diversity of the cheetah was incredibly, shockingly low.  But why is genetic diversity so important?  Well, without genetic diversity, the DNA of the individuals comprising a given population are very similar.  These individuals essentially become clones of each other, with many similar attributes, most important among them their immune systems.  In a healthy population of, say, cheetahs, say that fifty percent of them are immune to a certain disease, most of them evolving from a common ancestor.  The other fifty percent of the population has absolutely no protection against said disease, and the illness ravages their population.  An unfortunate (and oversimplified) event, to be sure, but fifty percent of the individuals remain to rebuild the population to what it once was.  With the low genetic diversity seen in the cheetah, if a similar disease in the hypothetical above sweeps through Africa, it is quite likely that a much lower percent than fifty would survive.  It is also possible that this disease would so ravage the global population of cheetahs that they would simply be unable to recover from this catastrophic event.

A cheetah scratching a log at the Denver Zoo.  The cheetahs incredibly slender build can help distinguish it from other cats. 

So why is the cheetah so catastrophically inbred?  Most of the time, low genetic diversity is due to a given species having passed through a "bottleneck."  20,000 years ago, cheetahs spanned the entire globe; ranging all over Europe, Asia and Africa, two species of cheetah, or "proto-cheetahs" if you will, even roamed North America (Miracinonyx inexpectatus and M. trumani.)  When the most recent Ice Age drew to a close around 10,000 years ago, the dramatic climatic changes (and likely human influences, as well) resulted in the extinction of much of the world's mammalian megafauna. Researchers think that this mass-extinction managed to knock the cheetah's numbers down to a very small population, likely comprising a mere handful of individuals.  (In fact, I remember reading once that at one time, some people thought that a single pregnant female mother was able to survive, but I don't think that this idea is all that highly regarded anymore).  While the cheetahs were obviously able to build their population numbers and density by a significant amount than that seen 10,000 years ago, this bottleneck came with a price; genetic diversity was, and is, miniscule.

Works Cited: