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Galliformes and other animals for South America (ïðîäîëæåíèå)
JOrnitho: Hello! I'm back with ideas for some new species for South America. I found in my computer an archive with some ideas for fauna and flora that I had some time ago and decided to show there to ask your opinion about them. The first is about a descendant of the domestic chicken. [more]Copper jacumitan (Jacumita cuprinus) During the Holocene, the man introduced many species in other continents. The jacumitan is a descendant of domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) that are introduced in South America. It replaced the birds in the family Cracidae, which are extinct in the Neocene, in some areas. In a matter of fact, the name jacumitan is the junction of the words jacu, the popular name in Brazil for guans of the Genus Penelope, and the tupi word mitã (mitan) that means new, this way the name means “new guan”. The copper jacumitan is the type species of this genus and lives in the savannas and woodlands of Central South America. The copper jacumitan is sexually dysmorphic. The male measure 190 cm, due to the long tail, it has a bright coppery brown upperbody plumage and reddish-brown feathers below. They also have metallic dark green feathers on the tail and wings. Only males have a bright red naked skin on the face, with two wattles that conceal the sides of its head. This characteristic is shared by all males of the genus Jacumita. The males of the genus also have crests formed by white feathers with black tips. During courtship and panic moments, they rise the crests. The females have 75 cm of length and are cryptic brown and adapted to camouflage, its naked skin on the face is pale pink and don’t have flesh wattles. The young males are similar to the females until they reach 9 weeks, at this time the wattle begin to develop. Both sexes have long orange colored legs and grey beak. The males have spurs that they use in fights for dominance. The neck is long and slim. Copper jacumitans can fly, but prefer to run from the predators flying only as last resort. These birds are omnivorous and feed on insects, seeds, and fruits. Its forage for food by scratching the ground, usually near herbivores this way there is other animals observing for the presence of predators. Often the male sits on a high perch, to serve as a lookout for his group. He sounds an alarm call if predators are nearby. At night it will sleep perched on branches. Copper jacumitans are polygamous; the male will have a harem with 5 to 12 females and will guards the area where his females are nesting, and attack other males that enter his territory. To initiate courting, the males will dance in a circle around or near a female, raising their crests and lowering the wing which is closest to the hen. Then, he will vocalize and when she responds to his call, the male will mount her and proceed with the mating. The females make their nest in the ground, laying 6 to 14 red eggs which are incubated for 22 days. Chicks are precocious, leaving the nest shortly they are born. They fledge in about 4 to 5 weeks, and at 13 weeks old are chased out of the group by their mother, at which point the young males start to form a harem and the females join an existing one. Sexual maturity is reached at 6 months and the lifespan of this species is of 13 years, however is common for males to die early due to predation. Other species in the genus Jacumita are: Golden jacumitan (Jacumita aurea) Living in the forests of the Atlantic coast of South America, the males of this species has 200 cm of length, from beak to tail, while the females have 83 cm. The plumage of the male have a bright golden-yellow plumage in the upperparts, being scarlet in the chest and belly. They have dark metallic green wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. Red jacumitan (Jacumita amazonica) Living in the "terra firme" forests of the Amazon , the males of this species has 185 cm of length, from beak to tail, while females have 70 cm. The plumage of male is bright orange-red in the upperparts, while their chest and belly is yellow. The males also have dark metallic blue wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. Andean jacumitan (Jacumita andina) Living in the highland forests in the slopes of the Andes, the males of this species has 170 cm of length, from beak to tail, while females have 68 cm. The plumage of the males is white in the upperparts and yellowish-red in the belly and chest. The males also have dark metallic blue wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. This other one is about a descendant of the californian quail: Common austral grouse (Tetraoinus australis) During the Holocene, the man introduced many exotic species different habitats, the ancestor of the austral grouse was one of these species. Their ancestor was not a true grouse, but the Californian quail, due to evolutionary convergence they acquired characteristics similar to the true grouses of North America. Living in the forests of Southern South America, the male austral grouse are 55 cm long and the female have 44 cm of length. The male have a dark grey body plumage, black-and-white bridled head pattern, black back and a greyish-blue belly. They have a curving crest or plume, made of six feathers that droops forward (long and black in males /short and brown in females) and long forked blackish tail with white undertail coverts. Females and immature birds are mainly greyish-brown with a light-brown belly. Both sexes have a black bill and relatively long grey legs. Their diet consists mainly of seeds and leaves, but they also eat some berries and insects. In some regions their main source of food are the seeds of trees of the Genus Araucaria. These birds are not elegant fliers, however they sleep perched in branches. Given a choice, they will normally escape on foot. During the courtship, the male austral grouse do displays on a lek, each male have a “personal space”. The males strut around their chose space, doing a display. The display consists of the male posturing himself with the head near the ground. Then, they start to move it from right to left showing their crests, simultaneously they raising the tail feathers, showing their withe undertail coverts. After that, they will raise their heads abruptly and whilst make a highly distinctive mating call. When another male invade the personal space of other, a fight happens, in this case the male will try to take of the crest of the rival, this way they will not be capable to display for the females. The female usually lays approximately 12 spotted eggs. The nest is a shallow scrape lined with vegetation on the ground. Incubation lasts from 21–25 days, usually performed by the female and rarely by the male. The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest with their parents within hours of hatching. The male stay with the female until the young leave, with 3 months. The young reach sexual maturity with 1 year, with this age the young males acquire the coloration of an adult male. Their lifespan is of 27 years. In the forests of Tierra del Fuego another species lives, the Black boreal grouse (Tetraoinus nigrus). Their main difference to the other species is that the males have an all-black plumage, with only a faint shade of blue in the chest and brown undertail coverts. The females are similar to that of the common austral grouse. The males have 52 cm and the females 41 cm.[/more] I also have in this archive some names for possible species that I never developed bayond some few facts. Maybe someone could help me make their descriptions.
JOrnitho: wovoka ïèøåò: I'll try to finish the description of water rattlesnake tomorrow! Ok! I'm still in doubt about the serpent eaters. From a side, I think that a group of Dasyuridae-like opossums that are close relatives of the Neocene marten opossum would be interesting. However, the idea of the mongoose dispersing to South America and becoming specialized in hunting venomous and poisonous animals is also interesting. What do you think that is more interesting and plausible?
wovoka: Both ideas are interesting! But I'm supporter of evolution of aboriginal animals. That's why Dasyuridae-like opossums I like more. But we can also try to divide South America between these to groups of animals: opossums and mongooses: by geography, by proportions, by way of life, by diet and so on. For example we can give the Andes to the mongooses and pampas to opossums. We can even may try to make a chapter about coexistence and competition in the same territory of mongooses and opposums.
JOrnitho: wovoka ïèøåò: But we can also try to divide South America between these to groups of animals: opossums and mongooses: by geography, by proportions, by way of life, by diet and so on. For example we can give the Andes to the mongooses and pampas to opossums. We can even may try to make a chapter about coexistence and competition in the same territory of mongooses and opposums. I like these ideas! Mongooses are diurnal and opossums are mostly nocturnal. The mongoose could have remained in the Amazon and the Andes, while the opossums are present in the Atlantic forests, Cerrado and pampas. These two groups could overlap in the areas of transition between these biomes, but they would forage in different periods of time. What do you think?
ëÿãóøêà: JOrnitho I think it's not very good ideas, because moongooses are better adapted and more progressive. So, they'll jccupy most terrestrial niches and leave only trees and specialised nixhes to opossums. So, we can make many gliding ond arboreal opossums, bet not terrestrial or aqatic.
JOrnitho: ëÿãóøêà ïèøåò: I think it's not very good ideas, because moongooses are better adapted and more progressive. So, they'll jccupy most terrestrial niches and leave only trees and specialised nixhes to opossums. So, we can make many gliding ond arboreal opossums, bet not terrestrial or aqatic. Ok, so the mongoose are more plausible. Do you think that the populations introduced on Trinidad e Tobago could reach the continent? The island is close enough. The marsupials would stay as mostly arboreal and nocturnal.
ëÿãóøêà: JOrnitho Yes, I think they're close enough.
wovoka: ëÿãóøêà ïèøåò: because moongooses are better adapted and more progressive For example some opossums can eat more quick snakes that couldn't eat mongosses, opossums are less likely to get rabies. But ok, we can make a lot of species of marsupial group of Dasyuridae-like opossums that are close relatives of the Neocene marten opossum, let they be mostly arboreal and nocturnal. But we can make a couple of species of nocturnal terresrial species with specified diet and one or two aquatic species (maybe water snake eating species) of opossums somewere in the South lakes of South America: in Fagnano Lake or in General Carrera Lake. The other terestrial and aquatic nishes we can give to the mongooses. For example the niche of water rattlesnake eater in Maracaibo. Or we can just keep mongooses out of South America. Explaining this by their extinction from rabies to Neocene in this region. And create a unique order of South American opossums, occupying a variety of niches. I would just like to make South America another biodiversity site for marsupials, just like Australia. And the adaptive radiation of mongooses can be dealt with somewhere in Southeast Asia. Some mountain mongoose-bear there would be very interesting.
ëÿãóøêà: wovoka And create a unique order of South American opossums, occupying a variety of niches. It's very good idea for world after next K/Pg-sized exctinction, but not for Neocene. I think in stable world placentals will be more successful than marsiupals. Explaining this by their extinction from rabies If it's explanation, why placentals are still alive?! They can be attacked by rabies!!! I'm against this explanition, it's author's arbitrariness! Àustralia uis already was unrealistic left for marsiupals, why you need to do it with South America?
JOrnitho: wovoka ïèøåò: Or we can just keep mongooses out of South America. Explaining this by their extinction from rabies to Neocene in this region. And create a unique order of South American opossums, occupying a variety of niches. Mongooses in this regard are not so interesting; they have already demonstrated all their capabilities in Africa and South Asia. Although mongooses can evoluate mongooses in Central America, they were also introduced there in some places. Some mountain mongoose-bear in Central America would be interesting. I agree with it, the idea of specialized opossums is more interesting. The mongooses of Trinidad could have died with sickness, leaving only the populations of the other Caribbean Islands. This way, they could only reach Central America. In South America, a sister-genus of the marten opossum had evolved with a Dasyuridae-like appearence and with taste for venomous and poisonous animals. A non related species could be the fully semiaquatic descendants of the Lutreolina in areas not colonized by otterodents. With the mongoose in Central America, we could have that bear-like species and perhaps even some living in groups in the Mexican plateau, like suricates.
JOrnitho: JOrnitho ïèøåò: If it's explanation, why placentals are still alive?! They can be attacked by rabies!!! I'm against this explanition, it's author's arbitrariness! Àustralia uis already was unrealistic left for marsiupals, why you need to do it with South America? We also need to take in consinderation that even after the arrival of the placentals in South America, the marsupials survived. This is why I proposed the diference in period of foraging between the mongooses and opossums, or even the case of the mongooses only having reached Northern South America, not having crossed the Amazon and Hippolyte Rivers yet. These two bodies of water could be biogeographic barriers. There is also the case that the marten opossum is already a "canonical" species in the project, so the mongoose presence can't contradict it.
JOrnitho: wovoka What animals we still need for the Maracaibo Gulf chapter? I can make the description of the semiaquatic opossum if we are going to add it.
wovoka: I am finishing the description of asakaimo. When I finish, then it will be possible to describe a water opossum that eats snakes. Then I will finish writing two turtles. And we haven't finished with the fishes. I still need to come up with names for the fishes. Can you please make the last list of fishes species you have chosen? And only then, it will be possible to work on the chapter. About the confrontation between mongooses and opossums. It would not be sad, but it is worth agreeing with Ëÿãóøêà. We can really come up with about 9 species of descendants of the Javanese mongoose from the Caribbean islands, for different regions of South America, mainly diurnal and terrestrial, occupying different econiches, we can make one water and one marsh species for the Amazon and one arboreal also for the Amazon, mount spesies for Andes, pampas species, desert species and so on. But taking into account that the ecological radiation of oppossums started earlier, we can describe much more species of oppossums also for different regions of South America (perhaps not only Martenodelphidae). Some of them are diurnal arboreal with different econiches. Some of them are terrestrial, but nocturnal, also with different econiches, maybe we can come up with some interesting forms of lifestyle and diet. It would be cool to come up with a spiny opossum like Echymipera clara from New Guinea. And make three kinds of water possums. For Maracaibo gulf let there be a descendant of Didelphis marsupialis, which will become aquatic like Chironectes minimus and snakes-eating, and call him Parana-aware (sea opossum in carib), for the lakes of General Carerra we will create a species of aquatic snake-eating opossum from Lutreolina crassicaudata and for Lake Fagnano we will create a predatory a semi-aquatic opossum from Lestodelphys halli, feeding on all aquatic and semi-aquatic, but not very large living creatures.
wovoka: JOrnitho, I have finished the description of Asakaimo http://sivatherium.borda.ru/?1-0-1680810271559-00000176-000-10001-0#050 - but in Russian
JOrnitho: wovoka ïèøåò: Can you please make the last list of fishes species you have chosen? Abramites hypselonotus, Toxodes, Hydrolycus tatauaia, Ageneiosus magoi and Paracheirodon axelrodi. I'll work on their descroptions, using Ëÿãóøêà' s sugestions. wovoka ïèøåò: We can really come up with about 9 species of descendants of the Javanese mongoose from the Caribbean islands, for different regions of South America, mainly diurnal and terrestrial, occupying different econiches, we can make one water and one marsh species for the Amazon and one arboreal also for the Amazon, mount spesies for Andes, pampas species, desert species and so on. Amazon is perfect for a marsh mongoose. While it isn’t going to be an otter, it could hunt in swamp areas. Perhaps a mammal specialized in crushing snails and shellfishes. Another idea is the mongooses living in Cerrado being analogues to merkats. It’s a good habitat for such animals. More conservative forms could live in the the rainforests. wovoka ïèøåò: But taking into account that the ecological radiation of oppossums started earlier, we can describe much more species of oppossums also for different regions of South America (perhaps not only Martenodelphidae). Some of them are diurnal arboreal with different econiches. Some of them are terrestrial, but nocturnal, also with different econiches, maybe we can come up with some interesting forms of lifestyle and diet. It would be cool to come up with a spiny opossum like Echymipera clara from New Guinea. And make three kinds of water possums. For Maracaibo gulf let there be a descendant of Didelphis marsupialis, which will become aquatic like Chironectes minimus and snakes-eating, and call him Parana-aware (sea opossum in carib), for the lakes of General Carerra we will create a species of aquatic snake-eating opossum from Lutreolina crassicaudata and for Lake Fagnano we will create a predatory a semi-aquatic opossum from Lestodelphys halli, feeding on all aquatic and semi-aquatic, but not very large living creatures. I like these ideas! The spiny opossum is very ineresting. It could be nocturnal and frugivorous. wovoka ïèøåò: JOrnitho, I have finished the description of Asakaimo http://sivatherium.borda.ru/?1-0-1680810271559-00000176-000-10001-0#050 - but in Russian It's a very good species! I like it!
wovoka: JOrnitho ïèøåò: Abramites hypselonotus, Toxodes, Hydrolycus tatauaia, Ageneiosus magoi and Paracheirodon axelrodi. Ok, I'll look for good names for this fishes. JOrnitho ïèøåò: Perhaps a mammal specialized in crushing snails and shellfishes. Another idea is the mongooses living in Cerrado being analogues to merkats. I like the ideas. JOrnitho ïèøåò: It could be nocturnal and frugivorous. Or fungivourus JOrnitho ïèøåò: It's a very good species! I like it! Thank you! We can take a map of neocene South America identify geographic zones and determine in which zone and which niches mongooses can occupy, and which niches opossums can occupy.
JOrnitho: wovoka ïèøåò: Or fungivourus They could also be shrew-like. wovoka ïèøåò: We can take a map of neocene South America identify geographic zones and determine in which zone and which niches mongooses can occupy, and which niches opossums can occupy. Good idea! We can use the map of biomes that you posted here some time ago. The Cerrado and Gran Chaco are both possible places for the mongooses, they are similar to the savannas of Africa. Hence why I think that a meerkat-like species could live here.
wovoka: We can make the biggest mongoose-bear for Andes, he will be hunting on deers from the ambush, and the biggest opposum for the same place it'll be the scavenger and will be a little smaller and will follow at a respectful distance from the mongoose-bear, eating up the half-eaten remains of the deer after it and cracking the bones. It will be analogue of the Australian Gravipossum ursinus. Let there be also a descendant of Didelphis marsupialis. In some forrest we can settle arboreal monkey-eating mongoose.
ìåäâåäü: We can make the biggest mongoose-bear for Andes, he will be hunting on deers from the ambush, and the biggest opposum for the same place it'll be the scavenger and will be a little smaller and will follow at a respectful distance from the mongoose-bear, eating up the half-eaten remains of the deer after it and cracking the bones. It will be analogue of the Australian Gravipossum ursinus. Let there be also a descendant of Didelphis marsupialis. And what about the greater grison?
wovoka: ìåäâåäü ïèøåò: And what about the greater grison? We wanted to settle Sotaqui - bear like decsendent of lesser grison: hunting and gathering food along the banks of the rivers and lakes of Patagonia and in the wetlands around the rivers and lakes in the region of the General Carrera Lake it is Chilli and Argentina. Bear like mongoose and eating carrion after him bear like opposum can live in northern Andes (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia).
wovoka: JOrnitho ïèøåò: Abramites hypselonotus, Toxodes, Hydrolycus tatauaia, Ageneiosus magoi and Paracheirodon axelrodi I haven't look at the first time. None of these fishes you have chosen live in Lake Maracaibo and they are all freshwater. Abramites hypselonotus Rio Orinoco Acaronia vultuosa Rio Orinoco and Rio Negro Hydrolycus tatauaia Rio Amazon, Rio Orinoco and Rio Essequibo Paracheirodon axelrodi Rio Orinoco and Rio Negro The only way for them to get into the Gulf of Maracaibo is to become a marine species and from the Orinoco Delta to get to the bay along the Caribbean coast. May be better take a look on these Maracaibo lake fishes: Austrofundulus limnaeus, Rachovia pyropunctata, Austrofundulus leohoignei, Caquetaia kraussii, Chaetostoma sovichthys, Ctenolucius hujeta? Geophagus steindachneri, Gilbertolus maracaiboensis, Hemiancistrus maracaiboensis. And these salt water fishes living near gulf Maracaibo: Acanthemblemaria spinosa, Bollmannia boqueronensis, Elacatinus chancei, Mullus auratus. What we can do with them? And the fishes you are describing now, can live in delta of Orinoco. Delta of Orinoco river it's also good place for one of the future chapters
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