If you were to hear someone say "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker," you might think they were full of it: initially, it sure doesn't sound like it makes any sense. Interestingly, however, it seems as if this may, in fact, be true: our attempts to make our world a cleaner place, we are slowly and steadily weakening our own immune systems!
It all started yesterday as I was working at the Morrison Natural History Museum, watering and destroying the angiosperms from the Jurassic Garden with "extreme prejudice," as angiosperms do not appear to have inhabited Colorado during the Jurassic Period. I started wondering why there was so much dead plant material around the base of the plants in the garden, and, for lack of a better conclusion, decided that it was probably because the bacteria that would normally digest these plants didn't actually live here. (I still don't know whether that is true or not). The topic of bacteria triggered my brain to start thinking about digestive bacteria: I was quite hungry, you see. It had been brought to my attention in the past that, even if humans were somehow able to miraculously clone a dinosaur, we almost certainly couldn't keep them alive. Each animal on the planet has its own, unique set of bacteria that helps it to digest its food. With the extinction of the dinosaurs, it is almost certain that the bacteria that constantly accompanied them in their digest tracts went extinct, as well.
This line of thought made me think about the passing of bacteria from the parents to their offspring. How is it done? I assumed that they weren't born with it, but I wasn't sure. I ended up thinking that perhaps, in animals that regurgitate food into the mouths of their young (like penguins), perhaps this was how the bacteria was passed. With perfect timing, out came Matt Mossbrucker, the director and curator at the Morrison Museum. I asked him whether it was, indeed, regurgitation that passed the bacteria on, and he said yes: partially. You know how many animals (such as your dog and cat at home) will eat poop? That's at least part of the reason: they're trying to get bacteria from the poop to help them digest their food!
After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that humans (most of us, anyways) neither regurgitate our food for our young 'uns, nor do we eat each others poop. So I asked Matt whether humans get this bacteria through breast milk: turns out, we don't. So how do we get the bacteria?
According to recent research, humans aren't getting enough bacteria to digest their food. Much of this research seems to indicate that perhaps this is the reason why so many humans have digestive issues, allergies, and the like. Matt also said that, just like I said in the introduction, "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker." Still sound paradoxical? Well, ultimately, humans are trying so dang hard to sterilize their world with hand sanitizer, bleach, alcohol, and soap, that we aren't being exposed to as many pathogens. While in some cases this is a good thing, in other cases, our immune systems, just like the six-pack of someone who doesn't exercise, slowly weaken. And, of course, a weak immune system is good for no one!
So is the moral of the story to stop washing your hands? No, of course not. It's to go out there and eat poop. See you later, everyone!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Whales In Music: An Interview With Alex Shapiro, Composer
So a month or two ago, I went down to Greeley, Colorado to see my good friend Masaki Kleinkopf perfom in the All State Concert Band. One of the songs that they played there was a piece by composer Alex Shapiro entitled "Immersion." One of the movements in the piece was entitled "Beneath," and it was particularly interesting! In it, the band played with one of the most musical animals in the world: the whale! I was very interested in this piece and the work that went into it, so I contacted the composer and asked her a few questions, and she was kind enough to oblige! I found her answers very, very interesting, and I hope you guys find them as interesting too!
Alex Shapiro: Interestingly, the choice wasn't pre-meditated; the song found me, and I welcomed it in unexpectedly. To back-track for a moment, BENEATH-- for symphonic wind band and prerecorded electronics-- was originally a far more intimate piece for contrabass flute and that very same prerecorded electronic track, titled BELOW. Anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
Around the same time that I was beginning to think about a commission from the wonderful flutist Peter Sheridan for what ended up becoming BELOW, I happened to be poking around on the NOAA Vents Program website (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/index.html), fascinated by the sounds from our oceans. If I weren't a musician, I might have become a marine biologist, and I also have a fascination with the geology of the ocean floor. I found-- and ended up using to open and close the piece-- a recording of a volcanic eruption from the floor of the Pacific. Perusing the NOAA website, I clicked through to the area with whale songs (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/sounds_whales.html) and from there, I found my way to many other websites with marine mammal audio files. And that's how I discovered the whale who I realized would be a perfect duet partner with Peter. The song was so haunting, I just had to use it as the centerpiece of the music.
TNW: What specific whale did you choose?
AS: The recording I use is that of a male Pacific Humpback whale; I'm told that they're the ones who do the best singing. I actually listened to a couple of hundred whale songs from seven or eight different kinds of whales before I came across this heart-wrenchingly beautiful song. I became adept at hearing the differences in the vocalizations of each species, and could identify a Minke from a Blue from a Sperm just from the audio. Orcas-- the most familiar whales where I live on San Juan Island, Washington, are easy to discern because, as members of the dolphin family, they make high-pitched chirps. Like the Orcas, many whales don't have a song that lends itself as well to human composition needs when it comes to melody (I place the blame for this on the limitation of our musical language, not theirs!). Too many short blasts, pulses, and other non-linear sounds (all of which are great for rhythm, though!). But the Humpback really does sound much more like a human voice, and when I found this particular song, I was mesmerized. I went over to my piano and began improvising with it. Amazingly, the whale was perfectly pitched with my well-tempered instrument, and I immediately found harmonies that worked beautifully (thus making it a whale-tempered piece!). The only audio editing I needed to do was to use filters and equalization to "clean up" the sound of the audio file, so that the blanket of low-humming water noises picked up by the hydrophones that recorded the animal, didn't overpower the higher pitch of the song itself.
TNW: Are you planning on incorporating nature motifs into any later pieces?
TNW: Where did you get the idea to do a piece about Wyoming? Have you already come up with the ideas for the sounds you are going to use?
AS: The piece is an upcoming commission for wind band and prerecorded electronics, commissioned in part by a grant from The Biodiversity Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, to be premiered by conductor Bob Belser and the University of Wyoming Symphonic Band, that will entail me returning to Wyoming to capture the sonic essence of the environment. U of Wyoming gave a beautiful performance of IMMERSION last year (the piece that includes BENEATH, with the whale), and and you can imagine, this new piece is a perfect fit for me!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Shapiro for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with me! Hopefully we can ask a few more questions for her once her Wyoming piece is released! I feel as if I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to hearing more from her in the future, both blog-wise and music-wise!
 |
| Alex Shapiro! Photo Credit: Paul Chepikian |
The Natural World: What made you decide on including whale song in the piece?
Alex Shapiro: Interestingly, the choice wasn't pre-meditated; the song found me, and I welcomed it in unexpectedly. To back-track for a moment, BENEATH-- for symphonic wind band and prerecorded electronics-- was originally a far more intimate piece for contrabass flute and that very same prerecorded electronic track, titled BELOW. Anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
Around the same time that I was beginning to think about a commission from the wonderful flutist Peter Sheridan for what ended up becoming BELOW, I happened to be poking around on the NOAA Vents Program website (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/index.html), fascinated by the sounds from our oceans. If I weren't a musician, I might have become a marine biologist, and I also have a fascination with the geology of the ocean floor. I found-- and ended up using to open and close the piece-- a recording of a volcanic eruption from the floor of the Pacific. Perusing the NOAA website, I clicked through to the area with whale songs (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/sounds_whales.html) and from there, I found my way to many other websites with marine mammal audio files. And that's how I discovered the whale who I realized would be a perfect duet partner with Peter. The song was so haunting, I just had to use it as the centerpiece of the music.
TNW: What specific whale did you choose?
AS: The recording I use is that of a male Pacific Humpback whale; I'm told that they're the ones who do the best singing. I actually listened to a couple of hundred whale songs from seven or eight different kinds of whales before I came across this heart-wrenchingly beautiful song. I became adept at hearing the differences in the vocalizations of each species, and could identify a Minke from a Blue from a Sperm just from the audio. Orcas-- the most familiar whales where I live on San Juan Island, Washington, are easy to discern because, as members of the dolphin family, they make high-pitched chirps. Like the Orcas, many whales don't have a song that lends itself as well to human composition needs when it comes to melody (I place the blame for this on the limitation of our musical language, not theirs!). Too many short blasts, pulses, and other non-linear sounds (all of which are great for rhythm, though!). But the Humpback really does sound much more like a human voice, and when I found this particular song, I was mesmerized. I went over to my piano and began improvising with it. Amazingly, the whale was perfectly pitched with my well-tempered instrument, and I immediately found harmonies that worked beautifully (thus making it a whale-tempered piece!). The only audio editing I needed to do was to use filters and equalization to "clean up" the sound of the audio file, so that the blanket of low-humming water noises picked up by the hydrophones that recorded the animal, didn't overpower the higher pitch of the song itself.
TNW: Are you planning on incorporating nature motifs into any later pieces?
AS: Absolutely! I'm often recording the sounds around me-- from nature, and even from my travels through and across nature, such as last week when I was on the ferry from Friday Harbor to Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island, and used my iPhone to capture a hypnotic rhythmic passage created by the boat engine that I'll use in an upcoming work. And one of my upcoming 2014 symphonic wind band commissions will be centered around recording the sounds of the state of Wyoming, and using them in the digital audio track I create to accompany the band. The possibilities are endless, and inspiring.
AS: The piece is an upcoming commission for wind band and prerecorded electronics, commissioned in part by a grant from The Biodiversity Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, to be premiered by conductor Bob Belser and the University of Wyoming Symphonic Band, that will entail me returning to Wyoming to capture the sonic essence of the environment. U of Wyoming gave a beautiful performance of IMMERSION last year (the piece that includes BENEATH, with the whale), and and you can imagine, this new piece is a perfect fit for me!
And again, anyone curious can hear excerpts from both versions of the music: the original solo piece for contrabass flute and prerecorded electronics, BELOW:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Belowpg1.html
And the version I later created, using the exact same track, for symphonic wind band, titled BENEATH:
http://www.alexshapiro.org/Immersionpg1.html
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Shapiro for taking the time out of her busy schedule to chat with me! Hopefully we can ask a few more questions for her once her Wyoming piece is released! I feel as if I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to hearing more from her in the future, both blog-wise and music-wise!
Friday, May 24, 2013
The First Zoo
Where and when was the first zoo? Of course, depending on your definition of the word "zoo," different people might have different answers to this question. The oldest known zoological collection has been excavated at Hierakanopolis in Egypt, dating to around 3500 B.C. So far, the remains of numerous animals have been uncovered there. According to one source, 112 different animals have been found, including elephants, wildcats, hippos, cows, hartebeest, baboons, dogs, and an Aurochs, the subject of an Animal Spotlight awhile back! (Click HERE to check it out!) Since my source is a few years out of date, it is entirely possible that more discoveries have been made there since then! Despite all of this, most scientists don't believe this is the first "zoo," at least not by modern definitions, a place where anyone can come and look at these animals. It is thought that the site at Hierakanopolis is more of a private collection kind of thing.
Most people seem to agree that the first public zoo was created by Queen Hatshepsut, a zoo that people today would define as a zoo. Not a lot of data (at least not that I can find) exists to tell us what sort of animals Hatshepsut kept in her zoo. Some of the animals that we do know were imported include rhinos, cattle, giraffes, leopards, monkeys, and hounds. Presumably, some of the other animals that we mentioned before made it into the zoo, as well.
What other animals could have made it into the zoo? A lot of this is speculation on my part, but based on the animals of the surrounding area, here are some animals that I think likely made it into these zoos:
This was the birthday post of Grace Albers! Happy birthday, Grace! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Most people seem to agree that the first public zoo was created by Queen Hatshepsut, a zoo that people today would define as a zoo. Not a lot of data (at least not that I can find) exists to tell us what sort of animals Hatshepsut kept in her zoo. Some of the animals that we do know were imported include rhinos, cattle, giraffes, leopards, monkeys, and hounds. Presumably, some of the other animals that we mentioned before made it into the zoo, as well.
What other animals could have made it into the zoo? A lot of this is speculation on my part, but based on the animals of the surrounding area, here are some animals that I think likely made it into these zoos:
- Dromedary camels
- Jackals
- Hyenas
- Crocodiles
- Cheetahs
- Lions
- Jungle cats
There are many reports of other important Ancient Egyptians possessing captive lions, and it seems like captive lions would be a pretty impressive display of one's power. I find it very likely that both cheetahs and jungle cats were members of the zoos, as well, as cheetahs (generally fairly docile around humans, especially compared to other large African cats like lions and leopards) have been domesticated a number of times throughout history. These domestic cheetahs were used by many people, including Akbar the Great of India (who was thought to have around 9,000 cheetahs: not to be confused with Admiral Ackbar), for hunting, both for sport and for sustenance. Jungle cats, too are reported to have been domesticated by the Ancient Egyptians in order to hunt water birds. Mummified remains of the jungle cat are sometimes found in ancient tombs, put there by the burial people. (I don't actually know if they have a special name or something).
This was the birthday post of Grace Albers! Happy birthday, Grace! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Animal of the Day: Viscacha
Today's Animal of the Day is the viscacha and, in my opinion, the viscacha is one of the cutest animals in the world! There are five species of extant (still living, opposite of extinct) viscacha, composing two genera. The viscachas live in the South American Andes, with one species, the plains viscacha, inhabiting the Pampas of Argentina. The plains viscacha can apparently live in warrens (groups of interconnected burrows) of up to around one hundred individuals!
Now what exactly is the viscacha, anyways? Except for the long tail, it sure looks like a rabbit, now, doesn't it? Well, the rabbit-like features of the viscacha actually evolved through a fascinating biological process called convergent evolution, in which organisms evolve a similar adaptation to other organisms, but did not receive the adaptation from a common ancestor. For example, the antlers of the elk and the moose are not an example of convergent evolution, as the common ancestor of the two animals both had antlers.
However, the saber-teeth in the Chinese water deer and the musk deer DID evolve via convergent evolution, as their common ancestor did not have these features. And yes, that picture of the Chinese water deer to the right is a real picture. We'll talk about these fascinating animals at some point in the future.
Tangents aside, I never actually answered the question: what are the viscachas related to, if not rabbits? Rabbits, along with hares and pikas, are members of the order Lagomorpha, or the lagomorphs, contrary to the belief of many people, who (understandably) think that the rabbits are actually rodents. If you were to say that the viscacha was a rodent, however, then you would be correct! The viscacha is indeed a member of the order Rodentia, and are fairly closely related to the chinchillas, one of which is pictured off to the left. The chinchillas, just like the viscachas, are also native to the South American Andes. The chinchillas, despite being a very popular pet (I remember my preschool had one when I went there), are not doing too hot in the wild: both extant species, the short- and long-tailed chinchilla, are labeled as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN.
This was the birthday post of Isabel Lippincott! Happy birthday, Isabel! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
The Skull of the Otter: Alien Vs. Predator
So it's 2:20 in the morning, our Carbon monoxide alarm is going off, and the fire department is are their way. So that says to me it's time for another blog post! For a long time now, I have been struck at how creepy looking the skull of the otter is! Specifically the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis): it looks just like the head of the alien from the Alien movies! Don't believe me? Take a look below to see for yourself!
Now, not all otters have this terrifyingly creepy skull: the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and a few of the other otters all have fairly normal looking skulls. Their skulls all look more or less like the sea otter skull, pictured below.
There are some more otters that have that creepy Alien-looking skull going for them, though! These otters include the marine otter (Lontra felina)....
....the southern river otter (Lontra provocax).....
....the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra).....
....the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana)....
....and last, but not least (and in my opinion, the most), the most Alien-looking of the bunch, the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis)!
These animals would have the elongated skull so that they are more streamlined when swimming in the water. Their relatives, the weasels (also Mustelids), are often burrowing animals, or animals that have to squeeze through tight confines. For these guys, too, the Alien-like head makes sense!
Now, not all otters have this terrifyingly creepy skull: the sea otter (Enhydra lutris), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), and a few of the other otters all have fairly normal looking skulls. Their skulls all look more or less like the sea otter skull, pictured below.
There are some more otters that have that creepy Alien-looking skull going for them, though! These otters include the marine otter (Lontra felina)....
These animals would have the elongated skull so that they are more streamlined when swimming in the water. Their relatives, the weasels (also Mustelids), are often burrowing animals, or animals that have to squeeze through tight confines. For these guys, too, the Alien-like head makes sense!
Lions and Tigers: Less Than Meets The Eye
If you are in a zoo or out in the wild, differentiating between a lion and a tiger is much less impressive than many other feats, such as walking and chewing gum or recognizing that yellow snow is not for consumption. However, when all you have is their bones, differentiating between the two becomes much more of a challenge.
According to the authors of the excellent book "The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives," around the turn of the century (meaning the 1800s to the 1900s), French paleontologist Marcelin Boule devised a number of criteria to differentiate the skeletons of these two animals from each other. However, these criteria aren't just "the lion has an extra vertebra," or "the tiger has a striped femur." Nothing that simple. It's more like "the tiger has a slightly more pointy fronto-nasal suture as it reaches towards the posterior end of the skull." Yeah. For the most part, not all that explicit. In the picture below (scanned from the Big Cat book mentioned above, all photo credit goes to them), you can see how subtle these differences can be.
So what are the implications for paleontologists? Ultimately, it shows us all how very little we can actually figure out about animal behavior from their bones, as well as how very similar such different creatures can be. Sure, looking at the skull of a lion or a tiger, most people would have little difficulty figuring out that they ate meat. But would looking at that slightly pointier fronto-nasal suture in the tiger really show us how much less social it is compared to the lion? Would the minute differences in the fronto-parietal suture reveal that the male lion sports a mane? Would any sort of suture be able to tell us that the lion is one of very few cats to sport a solid colored coat (like the mountain lion and the jaguarundi), while the tiger sports orange and black stripes? In the end, these minute differences in the bones remind us that we will probably never be able to learn everything there is to know about ancient and extinct species, and that there are probably many more extinct animals out there that are waiting to be discovered. It's more than likely that we already have the bones: we just need to tools to differentiate between them.
This was the birthday post of Tom Bonan! Happy birthday, Tom! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
According to the authors of the excellent book "The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives," around the turn of the century (meaning the 1800s to the 1900s), French paleontologist Marcelin Boule devised a number of criteria to differentiate the skeletons of these two animals from each other. However, these criteria aren't just "the lion has an extra vertebra," or "the tiger has a striped femur." Nothing that simple. It's more like "the tiger has a slightly more pointy fronto-nasal suture as it reaches towards the posterior end of the skull." Yeah. For the most part, not all that explicit. In the picture below (scanned from the Big Cat book mentioned above, all photo credit goes to them), you can see how subtle these differences can be.
So what are the implications for paleontologists? Ultimately, it shows us all how very little we can actually figure out about animal behavior from their bones, as well as how very similar such different creatures can be. Sure, looking at the skull of a lion or a tiger, most people would have little difficulty figuring out that they ate meat. But would looking at that slightly pointier fronto-nasal suture in the tiger really show us how much less social it is compared to the lion? Would the minute differences in the fronto-parietal suture reveal that the male lion sports a mane? Would any sort of suture be able to tell us that the lion is one of very few cats to sport a solid colored coat (like the mountain lion and the jaguarundi), while the tiger sports orange and black stripes? In the end, these minute differences in the bones remind us that we will probably never be able to learn everything there is to know about ancient and extinct species, and that there are probably many more extinct animals out there that are waiting to be discovered. It's more than likely that we already have the bones: we just need to tools to differentiate between them.
This was the birthday post of Tom Bonan! Happy birthday, Tom! If you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animals, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Otters of the Old World
In the last post (which you can check out by clicking HERE), we learned all about the otters of the Americas In this post, we are going to look at the otters from the rest of the world! First though, we aren't going to be looking at the sea otter again, as we looked at it in the last post, and even though it can be found along the coast of Russia and Japan, you can just click the link above to learn about it from the last post. So, just like an otter, let's dive on in!
We'll start with the Eurasian otter, found from Europe down south to northern Africa, and as far east as India, China, and the Malay Archipelago!
Before heading over to Africa, let's focus more on the Asian otters! First off, we have the smooth-coated otter! The smooth-coated otter is one of my favorite otters for many reasons! First off, it has been tamed in some parts of India and Bangladesh to not only catch fish, but also to herd them into fishing nets! That's pretty awesome! This otter is very social, living in groups between around 2-11, and fighting off crocodiles. Wait, what was that? Did you say fighting off crocodiles? Technically, no, I wrote it, and you didn't really need to ask, you could have just reread that line again.
Anyways, yes, the smooth-coated otter will actually fight off crocodiles! More specifically, a certain type of crocodile called the mugger crocodile! I can sense that a few of you are a little skeptic, so below is the link to a video!
Our next Asian otter is the Asian small-clawed otter! We actually have these at the Denver Zoo, but I have never been able to get a good picture of them (nor the fishing cats!) due to the weird way the glass was built! Anyways, the Asian small-clawed otter is the smallest otter in the world, and, like the smooth-coated otter, is very social, living in groups of around 2-15.
Our next otter, our last Asian otter, is the hairy-nosed otter. Not a lot is known about the hairy-nosed otter: as a matter of fact, it was actually thought to be extinct until 1998. Since then, numerous pockets of the animal have been rediscovered, but it is still highly at risk. The hairy-nosed otter is currently labeled as "Endangered" by the IUCN.
On to the African otters! The African otter with the widest range is the Cape clawless otter, so we'll look at it first! As its name implies, the front foot of the Cape clawless otter is, in fact, clawless, except for vestigial fingernails. The Cape clawless otter will inhabit marine habitats, so long as fresh water for drinking is close by! The Cape clawless otter will dine on, amongst other things, octopus!
The African otter with the second widest range is the spotted-necked otter. The markings on the spotted-necked otter are unique to each individual animal: just like human thumbprints, no two are alike!
The final African otter (in fact, the final otter altogether), is the Congo clawless otter. The limited data that scientists have seems to indicate that, despite their similarities, the Congo clawless otter is, indeed, genetically distinct from the Cape clawless otter. One interesting fact about the Congo clawless otter pertains to its diet: earthworms form a very important component of the diet of this particular otter in many parts of its range! The otters will root around in the mud in search of their prey, oftentimes consuming up to three earthworms a minute!
Make sure to check out the first post in our "Otters of the World" duology by clicking HERE. Furthermore, this was the birthday post of Julie Neher! Happy birthday, Julie! Want to see some cute (or ugly) baby animals featured here on your birthday? Well, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
Before heading over to Africa, let's focus more on the Asian otters! First off, we have the smooth-coated otter! The smooth-coated otter is one of my favorite otters for many reasons! First off, it has been tamed in some parts of India and Bangladesh to not only catch fish, but also to herd them into fishing nets! That's pretty awesome! This otter is very social, living in groups between around 2-11, and fighting off crocodiles. Wait, what was that? Did you say fighting off crocodiles? Technically, no, I wrote it, and you didn't really need to ask, you could have just reread that line again.
Anyways, yes, the smooth-coated otter will actually fight off crocodiles! More specifically, a certain type of crocodile called the mugger crocodile! I can sense that a few of you are a little skeptic, so below is the link to a video!
Our next Asian otter is the Asian small-clawed otter! We actually have these at the Denver Zoo, but I have never been able to get a good picture of them (nor the fishing cats!) due to the weird way the glass was built! Anyways, the Asian small-clawed otter is the smallest otter in the world, and, like the smooth-coated otter, is very social, living in groups of around 2-15.
Our next otter, our last Asian otter, is the hairy-nosed otter. Not a lot is known about the hairy-nosed otter: as a matter of fact, it was actually thought to be extinct until 1998. Since then, numerous pockets of the animal have been rediscovered, but it is still highly at risk. The hairy-nosed otter is currently labeled as "Endangered" by the IUCN.
On to the African otters! The African otter with the widest range is the Cape clawless otter, so we'll look at it first! As its name implies, the front foot of the Cape clawless otter is, in fact, clawless, except for vestigial fingernails. The Cape clawless otter will inhabit marine habitats, so long as fresh water for drinking is close by! The Cape clawless otter will dine on, amongst other things, octopus!
The African otter with the second widest range is the spotted-necked otter. The markings on the spotted-necked otter are unique to each individual animal: just like human thumbprints, no two are alike!
The final African otter (in fact, the final otter altogether), is the Congo clawless otter. The limited data that scientists have seems to indicate that, despite their similarities, the Congo clawless otter is, indeed, genetically distinct from the Cape clawless otter. One interesting fact about the Congo clawless otter pertains to its diet: earthworms form a very important component of the diet of this particular otter in many parts of its range! The otters will root around in the mud in search of their prey, oftentimes consuming up to three earthworms a minute!
Make sure to check out the first post in our "Otters of the World" duology by clicking HERE. Furthermore, this was the birthday post of Julie Neher! Happy birthday, Julie! Want to see some cute (or ugly) baby animals featured here on your birthday? Well, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in! And if you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!
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