You are here
Magnoliopsida
B
EOL Text
The species is distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but is now generally confined to protected areas, within which it is well represented, and other areas which are sparsely settled. In West Africa, they are now extinct in The Gambia, probably occur only as vagrants in Guinea, and the population in Mali’s Bafing Faunal Reserve is probably the country’s last (East 1999; Prins and Sinclair in press). African Buffalo are also extinct in Eritrea (East 1999). In South Africa, they have been reintroduced to areas from which they were formerly extirpated; likewise, they were reintroduced in Swaziland, where the indigenous population was extirpated.
African Buffalo were probably extirpated from Bioko Island sometime between 1860 and 1910 (Butynski et al. 1997).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/21251 |
The red knot is a long-distance migrant, covering between 5,000 and 15,000 kilometres, and stopping at least once along the way to feed and build up body fat and protein stores. It probes amongst the sand of estuaries and on shorelines for intertidal invertebrates, mainly small molluscs, but feeds also on crustaceans, horseshoe crab eggs and insects (2). Molluscs are ingested whole and cracked with their muscular gizzard. The size of its gizzard varies flexibly throughout the year, as a consequence of energetic demands and food quality (8). Red knots have unique sensory organs in their bill tips enabling them to detect buried prey without touching them, via water pressure differences in the sediment (comparable to the echolocation of bats) (9). Knots often form mixed species flocks with other shorebird species such as godwits (Limosa species), dunlins (Calidris alpina) and dowitchers (Limnodromus species) (5). Breeding in the tundra of the Arctic Circle, the red knot constructs a nest in a dip between lichen-covered rocks and lays three to four buff-coloured eggs spotted with brown. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 21 to 22 days, but the female departs immediately after hatching. The male takes care of the chicks up to fledging, which takes 18 to 20 days, and then leaves the tundra before the young, to head south to the wintering grounds. At the tundra, knots eat insects, beetles, spiders, small crustaceans, snails and worms (2).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/red-knot/calidris-canutus/ |
The African buffalo is a gregarious animal, the savanna subspecies forming large, imposing herds consisting of over one thousand individuals (3). The forest buffalo, due to its more restricted habitat, forms small groups of up to 12 animals, consisting of related females and their offspring and one or more males (2). Males not belonging to a herd are solitary, or form bachelor herds (2). Living in a herd has its advantages; information can be shared regarding the best places to feed, and it offers increased protection against predators (6). Bonds between females in a herd are strong (2), and if one is attacked by a predator such as a lion, the rest of the herd will respond to its bellowing distress calls and rush to its defence. A herd of buffalo are easily capable of driving away a whole pride of lions to protect a herd member (5). Living in large herds is not as important for the forest buffalo as they live in a habitat that does not suit carnivores, such as the lion, and they can easily retreat into cover if required (2). African buffalos spend most of their day lying in the shade to escape the heat. They can often be found drinking water in the early morning and late afternoon, and most feeding takes place during the cooler night (3). The African buffalo grazes extensively on fresh grass, turning only to herbs, shrubs and trees when there is a deficiency of grass (5). Their dietary habits are responsible for opening up areas of long grassland for other species with more selective feeding habits, and thus they play an important ecological role in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa (5). March to May is the primary period of mating in the African buffalo, resulting in a pregnancy of about 11 months (2), with calves born from January to April (5). The bond between the mother and calf is very strong (2), and within just a few hours, the newborn calf is capable of keeping up with its herd (3). African buffalo are known to live for 26 years (2).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/african-buffalo/syncerus-caffer/ |
Red List Criteria
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/21251 |
Immature Brahminy Kite.
Major Threats
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/22736562 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1
Böhm's spinetail (Neafrapus boehmi), also known as the bat-like spinetail, is a species of swift in the Apodidae family.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It occurs in the vicinity of Baobab trees and nests in cavities in the trees.
The name of this bird commemorates the German zoologist Richard Böhm.
References[edit]
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Neafrapus boehmi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Böhm's_spinetail&oldid=616455454 |
Major Threats
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/22693093 |
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
There are 5 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.
Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.
See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
-- end --