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Magnoliopsida
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Northern Shovelers are very popular with aviculturists, are rather easy to propagate, and can be found in almost any waterfowl collection. (Todd 1979.)
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Anas_clypeata/ |
Northern Shovelers are very popular with aviculturists, are rather easy to propagate, and can be found in almost any waterfowl collection. (Todd 1979.)
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Anas_clypeata/ |
Otocyon megalotis is the only species in the genus Otocyon.
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Otocyon_megalotis/ |
Fortunately, individual lions can be dependably identified in an unobtrusive manner. Lion whisker spots are similar to our finger prints. Every individual lion has a unique whisker spot pattern. More specifically, the number and relative position of whisker spots on the top row are used to identify individuals.
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Panthera_leo/ |
It seems that no animal has inspired the imagination of man more than the lion. Characterised as fearsome, courageous and majestic, the lion's strength and ferocity has earned it accolades such as 'King of Beasts' in many cultures (2). As the largest African carnivore and rivalling the tiger (Panthera tigris) as the largest of the 'big cats', the lion is built to prey on animals many times its size, its strong jaws and muscular build emanating an image of sheer power. Males are larger than females and typically posses a mane of hair around their heads, a feature unique amongst the cat family (Felidae) (4). The rest of the coat is short and tawny in colour for both sexes, paler on the underside, without markings. The backs of the ears and the tuft of hair at the tip of the tail are dark brown or black (5). Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes that disappear with maturity, although some lions retain faint spots (6). Asiatic lions (P.l. persica), the only subspecies found outside the African continent, are slightly smaller than their African cousins, and have shorter, thinner manes, clear of the ears, and a fold of skin running the length of their belly that is rare in African lions (7) (8).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/lion/panthera-leo/ |
The Bat-eared Fox has a disjunct distribution range, occurring across the arid and semi-arid regions of eastern and southern Africa in two discrete populations (representing each of the known subspecies) separated by about 1,000 km. Subspecies O. m. virgatus ranges from southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia down through Uganda and Kenya to south-western Tanzania; O. m. megalotis occurs from Angola through Namibia and Botswana to Mozambique and South Africa (Coetzee 1977; Kingdon 1977; Nel and Maas 2004, 2013; Skinner and Chimimba 2005). There are no confirmed records from Zambia (Ansell 1978). The two ranges were probably connected during the Pleistocene (Coe and Skinner 1993). This disjunct distribution is similar to that of other endemic, xeric species e.g., Aardwolf Proteles cristatus and Black-backed Jackal Canis mesomelas. Range extensions in southern Africa documented in recent years (e.g., Stuart 1981, Marais and Griffin 1993) have been linked to changing rainfall patterns (MacDonald 1982).
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Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/15642 |
Lions are the only truly social cats, with related females residing together in prides and related or unrelated males forming coalitions that compete for tenure of prides in fierce and often fatal battles (1). Despite maternal defence, infanticide by the victorious males is common following a pride takeover. This seemingly horrific practice means the lionesses are capable of breeding again sooner, and the reproductive potential of the males is maximised in their often relatively short period of pride tenure. Females are able to breed at four years, males at five, and one to six cubs are born after a 3.5 month gestation period. Females are the predominant care-givers to cubs, which are dependent upon adults until about 16 months old. Related females within a pride are often found to reproduce in synchrony and then cross-suckle their cubs (7). Prides usually consist of four to six adults and their young, which break into smaller groups when hunting (1). Lions are predatory carnivores, with females performing most of the hunting, usually at night to avoid detection (4). They feed upon almost any animal, from rodent to rhino, but medium- to large-sized ungulates, such as antelope, zebra and wildebeest, form the bulk of their prey. They will also scavenge, chasing other predators away from their kills (1).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/lion/panthera-leo/ |
Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) BREEDING: Holarctic. In North America, primarily from Alaska east to Manitoba, south to California, New Mexico, Nebraska, western Iowa, locally eastward; also in Eurasia. NON-BREEDING: southwestern British Columbia, Arizona, east to Gulf Coast, coastal Georgia and South Carolina south to northern Colombia (rarely northern Venezuela), West Indies, and Hawaii, rarely north to north-central and northeastern U.S.; also Old World. In the U.S., the highest winter densities occur in the San Joaquin and Imperial valleys and the Clear Lake refuge in California, and the Bitter Lake refuge in New Mexico; winter abundance may vary greatly from year to year at a particular location (Root 1988).
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Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Anas+clypeata |
African lions (Panthera leo) live in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in desert and rainforest habitats. Lions were once exterminated from South Africa, where they remain in Kruger and Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks and possibly some other protected areas. Lions once ranged throughout southwest Asia and north Africa. Asiatic lions (P. l. persica) belong to the single remaining subspecies in this region. Once roaming from Greece to central India, Asiatic lions persist in the Gir forest of northwest India.
In addition to the asiatic subspecies, many taxonomists contend that there are five extant African subspecies. Each subspecies is identified by geographic region. Panthera leo senegalensis (west African or Senegalese lions), P. l. azandica (north east Congo lions), P. l. bleyenberghi (Katanga, Angolan, or south Congo lions), and P. l. krugeri (south African or Transvaal lions). Panthera leo krugeri includes Kalahari lions (sometimes denoted as P. l. verneyi). Lastly, there are East African lions (P. l. nubica). These animals have been categorized as Somali lions (P. l. somaliensis), Masai lions (P. l. massaicus), Serengeti lions (P. l. massaicus), Congo lions (P. l. hollisteri), and Abyssinian lions (P. l. roosevelti). It should be noted, however, that there is some debate as to the validity of the African subspecies classifications, leaving only the Asiatic subspecies, P. l. persica, uncontested.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
- Estes, R. 1993. The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals. Vermont, United States of America: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
- Alden, P., R. Estes, D. Schlitter, B. McBride. 1998. National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife. New York, United States of America: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc..
- O'Brien, S., J. Martenson, C. Packer, L. Herbst, V. de Voss, P. Jocelyn, J. Ott-Jocelyn, D. Wildt, M. Bush. 1987. Biochemical genetic variation in geographically isolated populations of African and Asiatic lions. National Geographic Research, 3/1: 114-124.
- 2001. "Asiatic Lion Information Center" (On-line). Accessed February 09, 2004 at http://www.asiatic-lion.org.
- Urban, M., P. West. 2002. "Lion Research Center" (On-line). Accessed February 10, 2004 at http://www.lionresearch.org/.
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Panthera_leo/ |
The lion (Panthera leo) is the second-largest living cat after the tiger - with some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb). Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with an endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, across Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru. The lion is vulnerable, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range. Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, in captivity they may live longer than twenty years. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have been known to do so. Highly distinctive, the male lion is easily recognised by its mane, and its face is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. Depictions have existed from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves, through virtually all ancient and medieval cultures where they once occurred. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies.