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Wallowing
Wallowing in animals is Comfort behaviour in animals, comfort behaviour during which an animal rolls about or lies in mud, water or snow. Some definitions include rolling about in dust, however, in ethology this is usually referred to as dust bathing. Wallowing is often combined with other behaviours to fulfil its purpose; for example, elephants will often blow dirt over themselves after wallowing to create a thicker "coating", or pigs will allow the mud to dry before rubbing themselves on a tree or rock to remove Ectoparasitic infestation, ectoparasites stuck in the mud. Functions Many functions of wallowing have been proposed although not all have been tested by rigorous scientific investigation. Proposed functions include: *Thermoregulation – domestic pigs (''Sus scrofa''), great Indian rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), warthogs (''Phacochoerus aethiopicus''), elephants (family Elephantidae) *Providing a sunscreen – pigs, warthogs, elephants *Male-male conflict soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domestic Pigs
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an Omnivore, omnivorous, Domestication, domesticated, even-toed ungulate, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus ''Sus (genus), Sus''. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of ''Sus scrofa'' (the wild boar or Eurasian boar); other authorities consider it a distinct species. Pigs were domesticated in the Neolithic, both in China and in the Near East (around the Tigris, Tigris Basin). When domesticated pigs arrived in Europe, they extensively interbred with wild boar but retained their domesticated features. Pig farming, Pigs are farmed primarily for meat, called pork. The animal's skin or Hide (skin), hide is used for leather. China is the world's largest pork producer, followed by the European Union and then the United States. Around 1.5 billion pigs are raised each year, producing some 120 million tonnes of meat, often cured as bacon. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comfort Behaviour In Animals
Comfort behaviors in animals are actions that contribute to the maintenance of their pelage, feathers, integument, or musculoskeletal system, enhancing overall physical well-being and comfort. Comfort behaviors are exhibited from an early age and remain largely consistent throughout an animal's development. Certain comfort behaviors are associated with the onset of a rest period, such as grooming, while others, like stretching, occur at the end of rest, potentially serving to prepare the body for activities such as escape or hunting. Certain comfort behaviors, such as dust bathing, are performed only when both internal and external stimuli are appropriate (see also sham dustbathing). Animals typically engage in comfort behaviors when not occupied with essential activities such as feeding, drinking, hunting, or escaping, leading to their classification as luxury activities. However, some comfort behaviors, like dust bathing in hens, can be highly motivated, and restrictions on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Bison
The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. It is one of two extant species of bison, along with the European bison. Its habitat, historical range ''circa'' 9000 BC is referred to as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland spanning from Alaska south to the Gulf of Mexico, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater (geographic term), tidewater in some areas), as far north as New York (state), New York, south to Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and according to some sources, further south to northern Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750. Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (''B. b. bison''), smaller and with a more rounded hump; and the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dust Bathing
Dust bathing (also called sand bathing) is an animal behavior characterized by rolling or moving around in dust, dry earth or sand, with the likely purpose of removing parasites from fur, feathers or skin. Dust bathing is a Comfort behaviour in animals, maintenance behavior performed by a wide range of mammalian and bird, avian species. For some animals, dust baths are necessary to maintain healthy feathers, skin, or fur, similar to bathing in water or Wallowing in animals, wallowing in mud. In some mammals, dust bathing may be a way of transmitting Scent marking, chemical signals (or pheromones) to the ground which marks an individual's Territory (animal), territory. Birds Birds crouch close to the ground while taking a dust bath, vigorously wriggling their bodies and flapping their wings. This disperses loose substrate into the air. The birds spread one or both wings which allows the falling substrate to fall between the feathers and reach the skin. The dust bath is ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mud Buffalo
Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally called lutites). When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries, the resultant layers are termed bay muds. Mud has also been used for centuries as a construction resource for mostly houses and also used as a binder. An Old English word for it was fen, now in most dialects referring to a type of wetland. Building and construction Adhesive In the construction industry, mud is a semi-fluid material that can be used to coat, seal, or adhere materials. The term "mud" can be used for various semi-fluid materials used in construction including slurry, mortar, plaster, stucco, and concrete. Material Mud, cob, adobe, clay, and many other names are historically used synonymously to mean a mixture of subsoil and water possibly with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Rhinoceros
The white rhinoceros, also known as the white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum''), is the largest extant species of rhinoceros and the most Sociality, social of all rhino species, characterized by its wide mouth adapted for grazing (behaviour), grazing. The species includes two subspecies with dramatically different conservation outlooks: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 17,464 individuals in the wild as of the end of 2023, and the northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies is critically endangered and on the brink of extinction; its last known male, Sudan (rhinoceros), Sudan, died in March 2018, leaving behind only a very small number of females in captivity. Both subspecies have faced significant threats, primarily from poaching for their horns and habitat loss, which contribute to the species' overall Conservation status, conservation status of Near Threatened. Naming One popular, though widely discredited, theory for the origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whales
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, Cladistics, cladistic perspective. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest non-cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses, from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have had their Most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor around 34 million years ago. Mysticetes include four Neontology, extant (living) Family (biology), families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Deer Wallow - Geograph
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, '' a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest known ancestor of A is ''aleph''—the first letter of the Phoenician ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suppuration
Pus is an exudate, typically white-yellow, yellow, or yellow-brown, formed at the site of inflammation during infections, regardless of cause. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess, whereas a visible collection of pus within or beneath the epidermis is known as a pustule, pimple or spot. Description Pus consists of a thin, protein-rich fluid (historically known as ''liquor puris'') and dead leukocytes (white blood cells) from the body's immune response (mostly neutrophils). During infection, T helper cells release cytokines, which trigger neutrophils to seek the site of infection by chemotaxis. There, the neutrophils release granules, which destroy the bacteria. The bacteria resist the immune response by releasing toxins called leukocidins.Madigan, Michael T. and Martin, John M. Brock Biology of Microorganisms 11th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall. US. 2006: 734 As the neutrophils die off from toxins and old age, they are destroyed by mac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumatran Rhino 001
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago. Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra is near the Andaman Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa, being the only living species of deer to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source. The red deer is a ruminant, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetics, Genetic evidence indicates that the red deer, as traditionally defined, is a species group, rather than a single species, though exactly how many species the group includes remains disputed. The ancestor of the red deer probably originated in central Asia. Although at one time red deer were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (''Choeropsis liberiensis'' or ''Hexaprotodon liberiensis''). Its name comes from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (). After elephants and rhinoceroses, the hippopotamus is the next largest land mammal. It is also the largest extant land artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of the hippopotamids are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippos are recognisable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, pillar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
