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Fauna of Europe
JOrnitho: I found some other descriptions in the files of my pc, this time for European animals. These two are of two species of geese. [more]Western diving goose (Brantamergus occidentalis) During the Holocene, humans interfered with nature through several ways. While some local species suffered and had their populations reduced, others were introduced to many other continents. Sometimes, the local and introduced species were close enough to each other, being part of the same Genus. In these cases, they could reproduce with each other, giving origin to hybrids that would share the genes of both species. The western diving goose is an example of species that originated under these conditions. These birds originated from Western Europe and are the result of the long time hybridization between the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) and the Canadian goose (Branta canadensis), which was introduced in European lands by the humans. This species spends the summer in the coastal and estuarine areas of Scandinavia and in islands of the Barents Sea and Kara Sea. During the winter, these birds migrate in large flocks to the Bay of Biscaya. They are small and compact birds, with a short neck. Both male and female have 54 cm of length and a wingspan of 87 cm. They have a black neck with a white "chinstrap", while their head has a black strip crossing their eyes and joining the black of the neck. The top of the head is white. They also have grayish brown backs and wings, silver-gray rump, black tail feathers. Its belly is white, while the chest is pale gray. Adults also have a white neck ring at the base of the neck. The beak, legs and feet are dark gray. The main characteristic of this species are their large webbed feet, which they use to swim underwater. Due to that, these birds are slow and clumsy when moving on land. The western diving goose feeds on algae, crustaceans, molluscs and sometimes small fish that it catches by diving underwater. While doing it, these birds only use their large feet for propulsion. This adaptation allows these birds to avoid competition with the larger species of goose that feed on land, such as Hemiswans and the Gainsboro geese. During the second year of their lives, western diving geese find a mate. They are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives. If one dies, the other may find a new mate. The female lays from two to nine eggs, and both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate, but the female spends more time at the nest than the male. The nest is frequently built high on mountain cliffs close to the sea and away from predators. Like all geese, the goslings are not fed by the adults. Instead of bringing food to the newly hatched goslings, the parents show them the way to jump from the cliff and the goslings follow them by instinct and take the plunge. Unable to fly, the goslings jump off the cliff and fall. However, their small size, feathery down, and very light weight helps to protect some of them from serious injury when they hit the rocks below, but many die from the impact. While some families still need to do a clumsy walk toward the water, others are lucky enough to have nests so close to the sea that the goslings fall directly on the water. The goslings enter the fledgling stage with 8 weeks of age. They do not leave their parents until after the spring migration, when they return to their birthplace. The sexual maturity of this species is reached when they have two years and the lifespan is of 27 years. The western diving goose has a subspecies called American diving goose (B. o. americana), which nests in Greenland and in areas close to the Baffin and Labrador Sea. During winter, they migrate to the Gulf of Mexico. The plumage between the two is similar, but the American one is smaller. The eastern diving goose (Brantamergus leucocephalus) is another representative of the Genus Brantamergus. With 50 cm of length and 83 cm of wingspan, this species is the smallest of the Genus. Their plumage is similar to that of its western counterpart, with the exception of the head that is totally white. This species nests on the islands in the seas of Okhotsk and Bering, with their largest colony being located in the cliffs of the Kuril Islands. During winter, they migrate to the coastal areas of the East China Sea. Steppe goose (Geochen migratorius) During the Holocene, humans introduced many species to other continents. With their extinction, some of these creatures continued to thrive, giving rise to new genera. The steppe goose of the Genus Geochen is a representative of this situation. This bird is a descendant of the Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) who had been introduced by humans to Western Europe. This species evolved to live in forested steppes and grassland of Europe, with the easternmost part of its range being North of the Fourseas. During winter, this species migrates to the savannas of Africa and Zinj Land. This species only forms flocks when they are in their wintering areas. While breeding, the pairs will not tolerate the presence of others of the same species. The steppe goose has 64 cm of length and 110 cm of wingspan. This species is highly dysmorphic, with the males being slightly larger than the females. The plumage between the two is also different. The males have a black neck and head, with a bright auburn circle around their eyes. Their chest is chestnut and their body is white. The wing coverts are black, the primary are dark grey, and the secondaries green and chestnut. The females have a pale gray neck and head, with a brownish-red circle around their eyes. Like the males, they also have a chestnut chest and white body, but their wing coverts are pale gray, with the primary and secondaries being brown. Both male and female of this species have a serrated beak, which allows them to crush their food and catch small animals. Both the beak, legs and feet are red. Their legs are longer than that of their ancestors, which allows them to run swiftly through the grassland. During its evolution, the web present on the feet of the steppe goose became greatly reduced. This was an adaptation for the terrestrial lifestyle that this species adopted. Even then, they will occasionally appear in shallow freshwater reservoirs to eat molluscs, plants and crustaceans. However, they swim poorly, only staying in places where the water doesn't cover their legs. With the exception of the occasional aquatic food that they eat, most of the steppe goose's diet comes from things that they can find in the grasslands and steppes. They eat seeds, leaves, grasses and plant stems. However, they have preference for locusts, worms, or other invertebrates, which increases during the nesting season. This species is monogamous, with pairs staying together even during the migration. Usually, their nests are built on hollowed trees, rock crevices and empty nests of other birds that are high enough from the ground. It forces the goslings to jump down from there. However, some will also build nests in the ground, hidden among the vegetation. During the breeding season, these birds are very aggressive, not tolerating individuals of the same species to make nests near them. Predators that approach the nest are attacked mercilessly, including birds of prey. In these cases, the female will distract them by flying while the male targets their wings, seeking to make them fall off the sky. Even peaceful herbivores that decide to graze near the nest will be attacked. Individuals that make nests in the ground are more agressive. The female lays eight eggs in a nest made of reeds, leaves and grass and both parents take turns incubating them. The incubation period lasts for 33 days with only the female looking after the nest, the male remains near the nest, protecting it against predators. The goslings leave the nest immediately after hatch The fledging period for the downy young lasts on average eight weeks. The young remain with the parents during the migration, but once arriving on their wintering grounds they leave them. [/more]
Ответов - 51, стр:
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JOrnitho: It's more a curiosity, but do you think that the red-necked wallabies introduced in the United Kingdom could survive in the Neocene? I read in a news article that their sightings are becoming more common and that breedings happens. They are becoming adapted to the region.
Биолог: JOrnitho I agree with Лягушка, very unlikely.
лягушка: I think no, because great "Dixon's" glaciation will kill them.
JOrnitho: Would be possible for the Italian populations of African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata) to survive in the Neocene? Even if they were introduced by the Romans, they already became part of the local fauna. Their descendants could have became adapted to live in the montane woodlands where once was Italy.
Автор: I think, during the "Dixonian" Ice Age it may become extinct in Europe, but there are no obstacles for the Asian or African populations of Early Neocene porcupine descendants to re-colonize Europe via Gibraltar bridge or Asia Minor.
лягушка: Автор I also think so.
Биолог: Автор I agree. Also, the climate of former Italy will change dramatically as the Mediterranean Sea dries off.
JOrnitho: Автор пишет: I think, during the "Dixonian" Ice Age it may become extinct in Europe, but there are no obstacles for the Asian or African populations of Early Neocene porcupine descendants to re-colonize Europe via Gibraltar bridge or Asia Minor. Makes sense, the porcupines lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and later became extinct. Then they were reintroduced by the Romans. In this it would be the third time that they recolonized European lands. Perhaps there could be two populations of different species, one in Iberia and other in the steppes. The first descends of North African porcupines while the later from Asian species.
JOrnitho: Anyone knows a good name in Slavuc language for the species of porcupine living in the European steppes? I wanted a name that pay homage to culture of the location during the Holocene.
Биолог: JOrnitho Slavic? I tried to check Wikipedia, but Czech, Slovak and Croatian are all dikobraz, like Russian, and Serbian is like "pricky pig", so, no more variants.
медведь: In Polish it is jeżozwierz, literally "hedgehog-beast", and in Ukrainian it is їжатець, also pointing to its similarity to hedgehogs.
JOrnitho: Would dikobraz be a good name? I was going to call the Iberian species as Puercoespín, which is a name in Spanish for the porcupine.
Биолог: JOrnitho Ironically, dikobraz is a Latin transliteration of Cyrillic word "дикобраз" which means any porcupine of any continent, quite like finch in English (any fringillid bird).
лягушка: I think dikobraz is a good name, but how it can be translated in Russian? Word "дикобраз" means every animal from family Hystricidae - it's almost 15 species. So, we'll need concrete name, and all meaning and russian "charm" will dissolute. So, I think that "yezhozverets" or "ijatets" will be better.
медведь: "yezhozverets" Jeżozwierz is better transliterated as "yezhozviezh".
JOrnitho: лягушка The steppe porcupine "full name" would be collared dikobraz, since it would have dark fur around its neck. Same for the Iberian species that would be the Iberian puercoespín. Their genus would still be Hystrix, though.
Биолог: JOrnitho But when the description is translated into Russian that word (dikobraz) will be lost. So why not collared porcupine?
JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: But when the description is translated into Russian that word (dikobraz) will be lost. So why not collared porcupine? Ok, then. It'll be the collared porcupine.
JOrnitho: I finished the description of the porcupines: Iberian porcupine (Hystrix iberiensis) Order: Rodentia Family: Histricidae Habitat: Woodlands of the Iberian region During the Holocene, the Italian Peninsula was the home of a population of African crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata). These animals had been introduced here by the Romans, but during the Pleistocene the continent was the home of an extinct species of porcupine. Due to the climatic changes during the transition between the Holocene and Neocene, these rodents died out in Italy. However, Europe didn’t see the last of these rodents. Crested Porcupines from North Africa crossed the Gibraltar Strait and colonized the woodlands of the region that once was the Iberian Peninsula. Their descendants are the Iberian porcupine, a large rodent that has a head to body length of 85 cm. His morphology is similar to that of their ancestors, with their entire body being covered with bristles which are dark brown and coarse. The underparts are light brown. They have quills that can also be raised in a crest, although smaller than their Holocenic ancestor. These structures are light gray and shorter than that of their predecessor. When these quills are vibrated, they produce a hiss-like rattle that is used as a warning to predators. If continually bothered, the Iberian porcupine will stamp its feet, whirr the quills, and charge the disturber back end first trying to stab the enemy with the thicker, shorter quills. The Iberian porcupine is for the most part herbivorous, eating roots, bulbs, and leaves, but occasionally they will consume insects, small vertebrates, and carrion. To ingest calcium and sharpen incisors, they often gnaw on bones. These animals often travel long distances looking for food. They forage during the night. Being among one of the few monogamous rodents, the Iberian porcupine takes care of the young for an extended period, and small family groups consist of the adult pair and young of various ages. The female has one litter every year, with the births happening during early spring. One or two well developed young are born in a chamber within the burrow that is usually lined with grass, after on average a 66-day gestation period. They leave the den after one week and at this time the spines begin to harden. They reach adult weight at one to two years and are often sexually mature just before then. The Iberian porcupine has a lifespan of 24 years. Collared porcupine (Hystrix nigrocollaris) Order: Rodentia Family: Histricidae Habitat: Steppes and woodlands of Central and Eastern Europe It wasn’t only through human intervention that the animals were able to reach new habitats. The ancestors of the collared porcupine, an inhabitant of the steppes and woodlands of Central and Eastern Europe, had reached these lands through the Middle East. They are direct descendants of the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica). The collared porcupine is a large rodent, with a head to tail length of 100 cm. Their fur is light brown, with a white underparts. They have a distinctive black collar around their necks. The quills have black bases with alternating white and black bands. These structures are connected to a muscle at its base, allowing the porcupine to raise its quills when it feels threatened. The longest quills are located on the neck and shoulder, being able to grow up to 51 cm long. Smaller and more rigid quills are packed densely on the back and rump. These smaller quills are used to stab at potential threats. The base of the tail contains shorter quills that appear white in color, with longer, hollow quills that the porcupine can rattle to produce a warning sound when threatened. They have a very broad and mostly herbivorous diet. Their diet includes roots, bulbs, fruits, grains, drupe and tubers, along with insects and small vertebrates. During winter, they will eat bark and even carrion. Because they are cecal digesters, they are able to exploit low quality forage. They have also been known to chew on bones to acquire minerals, such as calcium, that aid in quill growth. The collared porcupines can make collections of bones inside their dens. Like their ancestors, the collared porcupine is nocturnal. Both adults and weaned juveniles spend an average of 7 hours foraging every night. During the day, they remain in their dens, but throughout the winter, they occasionally emerge from their dens during daylight hours to bask in the sun. Their dens usually are natural caves or excavated burrows. When excited or scared, a porcupine stands its quills up to appear larger. It can also rattle the hollow quills at the base of its tail, stomp its feet, growl, grunt, or charge backward into the threat. Collared porcupines mate during the middle of the winter and the gestation lasts an average of 240 days. A female gives birth to one brood of two to four offspring per year. Young are born with open eyes and are covered in short, soft quills that harden within a few hours after birth. Young are fully weaned 13 weeks after birth, but remain in the den with parents and siblings until sexual maturity around 2 years of age. They are usually monogamous and like their ancestors, this species mates every night throughout its life, not only for reproduction, but also to maintain and strengthen the pair bond. Collared porcupines have a lifespan of 27 years.
медведь: Interesting porcupines!
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