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Dik-dik
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females' alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators. Name The name ''dik-dik'' comes from an onomatopoeia of the repetitive ''dik'' sound female dik-diks whistle through their long, tubular snouts when they feel threatened. Physical characteristics Female dik-diks are somewhat larger than males. The males have horns, which are small (about ), slanted backwards and longitudinally grooved. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ribbed horns of the male. The upper body is gray-brown, while the lower parts of the body, including the legs, belly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirk's Dik-dik
Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. It is believed to have six subspecies and possibly a seventh existing in southwest Africa. Dik-diks are herbivores, typically of a fawn color that aids in camouflaging themselves in savannah habitats. According to MacDonald (1985), they are also capable of reaching speeds up to 42 km/hour. The lifespan of Kirk's dik-dik in the wild is typically 5 years, but may surpass 10 years. In captivity, males have been known to live up to 16.5 years, while females have lived up to 18.4 years. Etymology The dik-dik's name is derived from its call. When they feel threatened, dik-diks lie low to prevent detection. If they are discovered, they run in a swift, zigzag-like pattern until they reach refuge in a nearby thicket. During this ‘flight’, they emit trumpet-like "zik-zik" calls to raise an alarm or to harass predators and publicize the presence of a mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dik-dik (male) -Tarangire National Park -Tanzania
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females' alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators. Name The name ''dik-dik'' comes from an onomatopoeia of the repetitive ''dik'' sound female dik-diks whistle through their long, tubular snouts when they feel threatened. Physical characteristics Female dik-diks are somewhat larger than males. The males have horns, which are small (about ), slanted backwards and longitudinally grooved. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ribbed horns of the male. The upper body is gray-brown, while the lower parts of the body, including the legs, belly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dikdik Eating
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females' alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators. Name The name ''dik-dik'' comes from an onomatopoeia of the repetitive ''dik'' sound female dik-diks whistle through their long, tubular snouts when they feel threatened. Physical characteristics Female dik-diks are somewhat larger than males. The males have horns, which are small (about ), slanted backwards and longitudinally grooved. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ribbed horns of the male. The upper body is gray-brown, while the lower parts of the body, including the legs, belly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madoqua Saltiana
Salt's dik-dik (''Madoqua saltiana'') is a small antelope found in semidesert, bushland, and thickets in the Horn of Africa, but marginally also in northern Kenya and eastern Sudan. It is named after Henry Salt, who was the first European to acknowledge the species in Abyssinia in the early 19th century. Description Salt's dik-diks are long, high, and weigh . Kingdon, J. (1997). ''The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals.'' Academic Press. As in other dik-diks, the small, pointed horns are only present in the male. Their colour varies significantly depending on the subspecies. Taxonomy Together with the closely related silver dik-dik, this species forms the subgenus ''Madoqua'' in the genus ''Madoqua'' (other dik-diks are also in the genus ''Madoqua'', but the subsgenus ''Rhynchotragus'').Ansell, W. F. H. (1972). Order Artiodactyla. Part 15. Pp. 1-84. ''in'': Meester, J., and H. W. Setzer, eds (1972). ''The mammals of Africa: An identification manual''Smithsonian Institution ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preorbital Gland
The preorbital gland is a paired exocrine gland found in many species of hoofed animals, which is homologous to the lacrimal gland found in humans. These glands are trenchlike slits of dark blue to black, nearly bare skin extending from the medial canthus of each eye. They are lined by a combination of sebaceous and sudoriferous glands, and they produce secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. Ungulates frequently deposit these secretions on twigs and grass as a means of communication with other animals. The preorbital gland serves different roles in different species. Pheromone-containing secretions from the preorbital gland may serve to establish an animal's dominance (especially in preparation for breeding), mark its territory, or simply to produce a pleasurable sensation to the animal. Because of its critical role in scent marking, the preorbital gland is usually considered as a type of scent gland. A further function of these glands may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Wild Dog
The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lycaon'', which is distinguished from ''Canis'' by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and by a lack of dewclaws. It is estimated that about 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) live in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution, and outbreaks of disease. As the largest subpopulation probably comprises fewer than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990. The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of antelopes, which it catches by chasing them to exhaustion. Its natural enemies are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where possible, whilst hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites. Like oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as ''Wildschutzgebiet'' in 1958, and was elevated to the status of a national park in 1967 by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa. It spans an area of and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. With an area of , the Etosha pan covers 23% of the total area of the national park. The area is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa. History Areas north of the Etosha pan were inhabited by Ovambo people, while various Otjiherero-speaking gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called ''prides''. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, lions typically don't actively seek out and prey on humans. The lion inhabits grasslands, savannas and shrublands. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia from Southeast Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae of the order Artiodactyla. A stricter definition, also known as the "true antelopes," includes only the genera '' Gazella'', '' Nanger'', '' Eudorcas'' and ''Antilope''. One North American species, the pronghorn, is colloquially referred to as the "American antelope," but it belongs to a different family from the African and Eurasian antelopes. A group of antelope is called a herd. Unlike deer antlers, which are shed and grown annually, antelope horns grow continuously. Etymology The English word "antelope" first appeared in 1417 and is derived from the Old French ''antelop'', itself derived from Medieval Latin ''ant(h)alopus'', which in turn comes from the Byzantine Greek word ἀνθόλοψ, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acacia Sensu Lato
''Acacia s.l.'' (pronounced or ), known commonly as mimosa, acacia, thorntree or wattle, is a polyphyletic genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. It was described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773 based on the African species '' Acacia nilotica''. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not. All species are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves often bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives. The genus ''Acacia'' constitutes, in its traditional circumspection, the second largest genus in Fabaceae ('' Astragalus'' being the largest), with roughly 1,300 species, about 960 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas (see List of ''Acacia'' species). The genu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chewing The Cud
Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The process, which takes place in the front part of the digestive system and therefore is called foregut fermentation, typically requires the fermented ingesta (known as cud) to be regurgitated and chewed again. The process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called rumination. The word "ruminant" comes from the Latin ''ruminare'', which means "to chew over again". The roughly 200 species of ruminants include both domestic and wild species. Ruminating mammals include cattle, all domesticated and wild bovines, goats, sheep, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and antelopes.Fowler, M.E. (2010).Medicine and Surgery of Camelids, Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. Chapter 1 General Biology and Evolution addresses th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Geographic (magazine)
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely read magazines of all time. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine months after the establishment of the society, but is now a popular magazine. In 1905, it began including pictures, a style for which it became well-known. Its first color photos appeared in the 1910s. During the Cold War, the magazine committed itself to present a balanced view of the physical and human geography of countries beyond the Iron Curtain. Later, the magazine became outspoken on environmental issues. Since 2019, controlling interest has been held by The Walt Disney Company. Topics of features generally concern geography, history, nature, science, and world culture. The magazine is well known for its distinctive appearance: a thick s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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