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Lifespan: 8 – 10 years (In the wild)

Speed: 30 – 40 mph (Adult, In Short Bursts)

Species: P. tigris

Class: Mammalia

Mass: 200 – 680 lbs (Adult), 140 – 390 lbs (Adult)

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https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/tiger

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A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!

The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 80 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.

Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger's territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.

Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers seem to enjoy water and swim well.

Some tigers live where it gets very cold-in India and parts of southeast Asia. The whole species is endangered throughout its range.

Tigers have been overhunted for their fur as well as for other body parts that many people use in traditional medicines. Tigers' habitat has also dwindled seriously as humans have developed land for uses such as farming and logging. However, in the Siberian region of Russia, there's hope that these big cats are making a comeback.

Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, tigers are considered one of the "big cats." Lions, cheetahs, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping.

Tiger stripes are special to each individual, and their tails help them to keep their balance. The big cats share all but 4.4% of their DNA with domestic cats.

Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you're most like with our personality quiz.

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Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids.

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The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks. Poisonous puffers are believed to synthesize their deadly toxin from the bacteria in the animals they eat.

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Please click here if you are not redirected within a few seconds. The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks. Poisonous puffers are believed to synthesize their deadly toxin from the bacteria in the animals they eat.

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what is this picture, another google search

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what is this picture, another google search

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do puffer fish live alone or in groups - Google Search

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Sometimes, young Puffers are found in large groups. However, as they mature these Puffers usually go their separate ways. From this point on, Puffers begin to live a solitary life where interaction with conspecifics is usually limited to mating season and the occasional territorial dispute.

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Like reptiles and amphibians, fish are cold-blooded poikilothermous vertebrates -meaning they get their body temperature from the surrounding water.

What animals are cold-blooded

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are puffer fish cold blooded - Google Search

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Please click here if you are not redirected within a few seconds. Like reptiles and amphibians, fish are cold-blooded poikilothermous vertebrates -meaning they get their body temperature from the surrounding water. What animals are cold-blooded

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A book about pufferfish, with more information!

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A book about pufferfish, with more information!

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very epik book about pufferfish

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Sand tiger sharks are also known as sand tigers and gray nurse sharks. Like all sharks, they breathe underwater, through their gills. But sand tigers have one unique habit. They are the only sharks that come to the surface to gulp air, but not to breathe. The air ends up in its stomach. The air makes the shark more buoyant, so it can float motionless in the water as it watches for prey.

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Sand tiger sharks are also known as sand tigers and gray nurse sharks. Like all sharks, they breathe underwater, through their gills. But sand tigers have one unique habit. They are the only sharks that come to the surface to gulp air, but not to breathe. The air ends up in its stomach.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica | View Edit History

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phalanger, any of several species of Australasian marsupial mammals. They are called possums in Australia and Tasmania. True phalangers are of the family Phalangeridae, which includes the cuscus. They are tree-dwelling animals: the clawless innermost hind digit and, sometimes, the first and second

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https://www.google.com/search?q=panda+lifecycle+pictures&rlz=1CAYHGP_enUS970&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=oyB-pZOFYEcvRM%252CRo3rIBmIe-vOzM%252C_%253BiaSlgm6r5G2n4M%252C5dDE1LeXGkiN2M%252C_%253BKy2M90Ke-eYdoM%252CHzeLzp8mh86NEM%252C_%253BH9a3TO3jqU_tNM%252CCrAr6T1NHMgB3M%252C_%253BXl7WYAf8ms8UDM%252C_eLddOMgVeiXXM%252C_%253BgD4rjxU3j8gwTM%252CL1kSnWNwYII_NM%252C_%253BQhOXFUKrmNsOdM%252CjWQP2T03-8tFQM%252C_%253B_8stzz7tsKBdSM%252CGOBPbIQ67Fw-6M%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSemU4noz9HotrYHyhGfbcWQ11mLQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD4v744J31AhVDJt8KHf9pDcYQ9QF6BAgOEAE&biw=1100&bih=690&dpr=1.25&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=Ky2M90Ke-eYdoM

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panda lifecycle pictures - Google Search

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cute diagram giant panda information red newborn red panda facts giant worksheets baby panda cub

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How pufferfish behave, what they eat, and where they live!

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How pufferfish behave, what they eat, and where they live!

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You can look up there ^ and click to access the info!

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Pufferfish can inflate into a ball shape to evade predators. Also known as blowfish, these clumsy swimmers fill their elastic stomachs with huge amounts of water (and sometimes air) and blow themselves up to several times their normal size.

Scientific Name:

Tetraodontidae

Some pufferfish species also have spines on their skin to ward off predators. Even if a predator gobbles up a puffer before it inflates, it won't enjoy the snack. Most pufferfish contain a toxic substance that makes them foul tasting and potentially deadly to other fish. The toxin is deadly to humans. There is enough poison in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.

In Japan, they are called fugu and are a very expensive, delicious treat. They are prepared only by trained, licensed fugu chefs. Most puffers are found in tropical and subtropical ocean waters, but some species live in brackish and even fresh water. Some species of pufferfish are considered vulnerable due to pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing, but most populations are considered stable.

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Pufferfish can inflate into a ball shape to evade predators. Also known as blowfish, these clumsy swimmers fill their elastic stomachs with huge amounts of water (and sometimes air) and blow themselves up to several times their normal size. Some species also have spines on their skin to ward off predators.

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https://kids.britannica.com/kids/search/articles?query=pandas

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Termites are insects that eat wood. They can damage buildings, furniture, and other wooden items. There are more than 1,500 species, or kinds, of termites. They are most common in tropical rainforests.

Termites build damp nests in wood or underground. Some underground nests rise partly above the ground as mounds or towers. The nests are made of dirt, clay, and chewed wood.

Termites live in organized groups called colonies. Each colony has three kinds of termites: royalty, soldiers, and workers. Each kind of termite has a certain job within the colony.

The royalty is made up of a king and queen. They are responsible for reproduction. These termites have wings and eyes. A queen can grow to more than 4 inches (10 centimeters). Kings are smaller.

Once a year pairs of young kings and queens leave the nest. Each pair starts a new colony. Soon the young queens begin laying 3,000 to 5,000 eggs a day.

The soldiers and the workers are grayish white, blind, and wingless. They are usually less than 0.25 inch (1 centimeter) long. Soldiers guard the nest against enemies, mainly ants. Workers provide the colony with food.

Termites eat mostly wood. They attack and often destroy trees, fence posts, houses, and furniture. But termites also help nature by breaking down dead wood into nutrients. The nutrients can then be recycled and used by bacteria and plants.

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Termites are insects that eat wood. They can damage buildings, furniture, and other wooden items. There are more than 1,500 species, or kinds, of termites. They are most common in tropical rainforests. Termites build damp nests in wood or underground. Some underground nests rise partly above the ground as mounds or towers.

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The Gila (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States. Their black bodies are covered in beadlike scales with bright spots, blotches, or bands of pink, orange, or yellow, which probably warn other animals to stay away.

Their bulky bodies, slow-moving stride, thick forked tongue, and snorting hisses reinforce the name Gila monster. They live in the dry, arid regions such as the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. They are named after the Arizona Gila River Basin, where they were first discovered.

Gila monsters are more likely to use their venom on a predator than on prey. They clamp their jaws down with the power of a vise grip. Then the venom in their bottom jaw flows through their grooved teeth into the victim. Although the Gila's bite is extremely painful, no human death has been reported. Gilas are sluggish creatures that feed primarily on eggs raided from bird nests and newborn mammals, such as rabbits and squirrels. They sometimes eat quail eggs whole without crushing the shells.

They spend about 95 percent of their time underground and emerge only to hunt for food or to take a sunbath. They don't need to eat very often because they can store fat in their large tails.

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The Gila monster is one of only a few poisonous lizards in the world. The Gila (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States. Their black bodies are covered in beadlike scales with bright spots, blotches, or bands of pink, orange, or yellow, which probably warn other animals to stay away.

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Tarantulas give people the creeps because they have large, hairy bodies and legs. While these large spiders can take a painful bite out of a human, a tarantula's venom has a low toxicity to people.

Tarantulas move slowly on their eight hairy legs, but they are accomplished nocturnal predators. Insects are their main prey, but they also target bigger game, including frogs, toads, and mice. Tarantulas are burrowers and typically live in the ground.

There are hundreds of tarantula species found in most of the world's tropical, subtropical, and desert regions. They vary in color and behavior according to their specific environments. A tarantula doesn't use a web to trap its prey, though it may spin a trip wire to signal an alert when something approaches its burrow. These spiders grab with their legs, inject paralyzing venom, and then bite their prey with their fangs. They also secrete digestive enzymes to liquefy their victims' bodies so that they can suck them up through their strawlike mouth openings. Yum!

Tarantulas have few natural enemies, except for the parasitic pepsis wasp, which can paralyze a tarantula with its sting and lay its eggs on the spider's body. When the wasp eggs hatch, the larvae chow down on the still living tarantula. Tarantulas shed their external skeletons in a process called molting. During the process, they also replace internal organs, such as stomach lining, and can even regrow lost legs.

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Tarantulas give people the creeps because they have large, hairy bodies and legs. While these large spiders can take a painful bite out of a human, a tarantula's venom has a low toxicity to people. Tarantulas move slowly on their eight hairy legs, but they are accomplished nocturnal predators.

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A queen stretches out in her spacious home as her subjects scurry around her. The queen's workers try to make her comfortable and keep her dwelling clean. This "royal" is well cared for, but you couldn't exactly call her lifestyle luxurious. That's because she's a termite!

LARGE AND IN CHARGE

Over 2,000 species of termites can be found around the world. Termite colonies, which can include thousands of individuals, often live in large dirt mounds. When a female termite hits breeding age, she may emerge from her colony and find a mate. The pair then creates a burrow in the ground and the female (called a queen) begins to produce eggs- a lot of them. In fact this female generates around 30,000 eggs a day! Once her offspring hatch, they become part of her colony.

As the female produces more and more eggs, she begins to grow. Over time she can become the length of an adult human's index finger. That's a hundred times bigger than any of the termites that surround her. Eventually the queen gets so large that she can barely move. Luckily members of the queen's community are there to wait on her, um, antenna and foot.

TERMITE TOWERS

Many of the offspring that hatch from the queen's eggs become worker termites. They help the queen by keeping her clean, feeding her plant fibers, and looking after newly laid eggs. These insects may also double as construction workers, carrying up soil from underground to create the colony's mound. Some termite mounds can reach over 17 feet in height. Sounds like the termite queen and her workers really know how to go big!

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A queen stretches out in her spacious home as her subjects scurry around her. The queen's workers try to make her comfortable and keep her dwelling clean. This "royal" is well cared for, but you couldn't exactly call her lifestyle luxurious. That's because she's a termite!

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A red panda totters along the branch of an evergreen tree, placing one paw in front of the other like a gymnast on a balance beam. But then ... whoops! The panda loses its footing. A fall from this height-about a hundred feet-could be deadly. But the panda quickly grips the branch with all four paws and some seriously sharp claws, steadies itself, and keeps moving.

FOREST ACROBATS

Red pandas and giant pandas share a similar name-and a love for bamboo-but they aren't closely related. Scientists think that red pandas are more closely related to weasels, raccoons, and skunks. And while giant pandas spend most of their time plodding around on the ground looking for food, red pandas spend about 90 percent of their time in the trees in the misty mountains of Nepal, Myanmar, and central China where they live.

In fact, red pandas have adapted so well to life in the trees that they're famous for their incredible acrobatic skills. They even have a special thumb-like wrist bone that helps them get an extra grip when climbing. While they can't exactly extend their arms like an acrobat to keep their balance, they can use their tails. If a red panda starts to lean in one direction, it can swing its tail the opposite way to steady itself.

Spending time in trees is how these animals avoid predators, such as snow leopards. Their reddish coats and white face markings provide camouflage in the red-brown moss and white lichen of trees where they live. About the only time red pandas go to the ground is to, um, go. And they scamper down tree trunks headfirst. How? They rotate their ankles 180 degrees-that's like being able to turn your foot backward. The move gives their curved claws a better angle to hang on to the bark.

SAVING RED PANDAS

Red pandas are endangered. Their forest homes are being cut down, and poachers hunt them for their fur. And their adorableness might put them in more danger, since they're ideal targets for the illegal pet trade.

Luckily people are trying to help. For instance, the Red Panda Network hires local people to be forest guardians. These panda pals keep watch over the red pandas in Nepal, replant bamboo, and help paying tourists observe them without disturbing the creatures. Other organizations are using high-tech methods to track poachers. By taking a DNA sample from a red panda rescued from the black market, conservationists can learn where the animals are being taken from.

RED PANDA FAST FACTS

* Red pandas lick themselves clean, just like house cats do.

* Newborns hardly have any fur on the bottoms of their feet. The fur grows as they get older.

* Red pandas wrap their tails around themselves to keep warm in their chilly habitat.

* They eat about 20,000 bamboo leaves every day.

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These mammals spend most of their time in trees and are famous for their incredible acrobatic skills.

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Many young giraffes, called calves, die from lion attacks during their first year of life. Once a giraffe reaches adulthood its height is often enough to protect it from lions. Adult giraffes, however, must still be careful of lions when they are bending down to drink water or rest. Usually giraffes will drink or rest in shifts so that at least one giraffe is always on the lookout for approaching predators.​

​The giraffes' height and excellent vision give them a wide view of the grasslands where they live, making it easy to spot predators from a distance. Some scientists believe that other animals-such as zebras, antelope, and wildebeests-often congregate near giraffes to take advantage of their ability to see danger from a distance. The giraffe could be considered the early warning system of the African grasslands.

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Giraffes grow about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in their first year of life. A newborn giraffe is about 6 feet (1.9 meters) tall at birth and weighs about 150 pounds (68 kilograms). Many young giraffes, called calves, die from lion attacks during their first year of life.

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https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/giant-panda

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https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/koala

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Koalas are marsupials, related to kangaroos.

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TONGUE TIME

Pangolins live in many different habitats, including rainforests and grasslands. Four species of pangolins live throughout Asia: Chinese, Sunda, Indian, and Philippine pangolins. The other four-ground, giant, white-bellied, and black-bellied-live in Africa.

Solitary animals, pangolins are active mostly at night. Many live on the ground, but some, like the black-bellied pangolin, also climb trees. Like anteaters, pangolins have long snouts and even longer tongues, which they use to snack on ants and termites they dig up from mounds with their powerful front claws. Up to 28 inches, a pangolin's sticky tongue is sometimes as long as its body, minus the tail!

PLAYING DEFENSE

All pangolins are covered in scales made of keratin-the same material as human fingernails-which gives them the nickname "scaly anteater." The pangolin's armor is so tough that even predators such as lions can't bite through it.

When threatened, pangolins roll into a ball like an armadillo, making them less than half their normal size. This helps them shield their stomach and face, which aren't covered in protective scales. From this position, pangolins can release a stinky fluid from a gland at the base of their spiky tails to keep predators away.

SAVING PANGOLINS

All pangolins face declining populations because of illegal trade. In fact, they're believed to be the world's most trafficked non-human mammal. Their scales, like rhino horns, have no proven medicinal value, yet they're used in traditional Chinese medicine to help with health problems such as arthritis. The scales are typically dried and ground up into powder, which are sometimes turned into pills. Tens of thousands of pangolins are poached for their scales each year, as well as for their meat.

Government officials, conservationists, and investigative journalists in Asia and Africa are working together to protect these shy, harmless animals. By revealing the methods poachers use to capture these animals, activists hope to prevent criminals from harming pangolins.

* A single pangolin can eat up to 70 million insects in a year.

* Pangolins are more closely related to cats, dogs, and bears than to armadillos and anteaters.

* These animals close their ears and nostrils to keep out insects while eating.

* A pangolin's scales make up about 20 percent of its weight.

* Pangolins are the only mammals with scales.

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Dozens of ants spill out of a nearby bush, each insect scrambling to outrun a strange-looking object lumbering toward them. A pinecone with legs? An artichoke with eyes? No-it's a pangolin, an animal covered in hard scales that uses its long tongue to slurp up insects for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

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Hoffman’s Two-Toed Sloth | National Geographic

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Get to know the world’s slowest mammal. Learn what it does all day in the treetops of Central and South America.

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Name: Mylodon ‭(‬Peaceful tooth‭)‬.
Phonetic: My-low-don.
Named By: Richard Owen‭ ‬-‭ ‬1840.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Xenarthra,‭ ‬Pilosa,‭ ‬Mylodontidae,‭ ‬Mylodontinae.
Species: M.‭ ‬darwinii‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 3 meters long.‭ ‬Weight estimates at‭ ‬200‭ ‬kilograms.
Known locations: South America.
Time period: Pleistocene to early Holocene‭ ‬10,000‭ ‬years ago.
Fossil representation: Many specimens including exceptionally preserved hair and dung samples.

Compared to other giant ground sloths Mylodon is closely related to Glossotherium.‭ ‬While analysis of dung samples has confirmed it was a herbivore,‭ ‬Mylodon would have also been especially resilient to attack from predators due to the presence of thick bony plates called osteoderms.‭ ‬These osteoderms were just under the skin and in the living animal,‭ ‬unseen due to Mylodon's hairy body.‭ ‬Large claws on the hands usually relied upon for feeding could also have been used with devastating consequences against any predators that attempted to attack it.
Mylodon inhabited a broad range of habitats with varying climatic conditions which has resulted in some confusion as to how such a seemingly adaptable creature could go extinct.‭ ‬One theory could be hunting from ancient humans that had made their way‭ ‬across‭ ‬the Bering land bridge and down through North America into Central and South America.‭ ‬Human hunters would have been intelligent enough to locate vulnerable parts of the body and then use their weapons to hit them.‭ ‬Another possibility could be a change in South America‭'‬s general climate that may have triggered a change in the flora‭ (‬plant life‭)‬.‭ ‬This could have indirectly affected Mylodon as its preferred food plants became scarce,‭ ‬resulting in starvation from increased competition with other herbivores as well as increased contact and conflict with others.
Hair and even dung from Mylodon has been readily found and dated to ten thousand years ago.‭ ‬However because these remains were so well preserved they were thought by some to have come from a recently deceased animal that suggested Mylodon was still alive during the early twentieth century.‭ ‬Despite the fact they have been accurately dated to ten thousand years ago,‭ ‬rumours still persist about Mylodon's continued survival.

Further reading
- Nuevos restos de mamferos fsiles Oligocenos recogidos por el Profesor Pedro Scalabrini y pertenecientes al Museo Provincial de la ciudad del Parana. - Boletn de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Crdoba 8:1-205. - F. Ameghino - 1885.
- Informe preliminar de los progresos del Museo La Plata, durante el primer semestre de 1888. - Boletim del Museo de La Plata II:1-35. - F. P. Moreno - 1888.
- Mylodon darwini Owen (Xenarthra, Mylodontinae) from the Late Pleistocene of Mesopotamia, Argentina, with Remarks on Individual Variability, Paleobiology, Paleobiogeography, and Paleoenvironment. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(5):1547-1558. - Diego Brandoni, Brenda S. Ferrero & Ernesto Brunetto - 2010.

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Information about the ground sloth Mylodon and other prehistoric creatures.

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Name: Megatherium ‭(‬Giant beast‭)‬.
Phonetic: Meg-ah-fee-ree-um.
Named By: Georges Cuvier‭ ‬-‭ ‬1796.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ Xenarthra, ‬Pilosa,‭ ‬Megatheriidae.
Species: M.‭ ‬americanum‭ (‬type‭)‬, ‭ ‬M.‭ ‬altiplanicum,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬gallardoi,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬istilarti,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬medinae,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬parodii,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬sundti,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬altiplanicum.
Diet: Primarily a herbivore,‭ ‬but possibly omnivorous.
Size: 6‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: South America.
Time period: Zanclean of Pliocene through to end of Pleistocene/start of Hologene.
Fossil representation: Many fossil specimens allowing for complete reconstruction.

With the possible exception of the woolly mammoth‭ ( ‬Mammuthus primigenius‭)‬,‭ ‬Megatherium is arguably the most famous of the giant mammals that once roamed this planet after the decline of the dinosaurs.‭ ‬Megatherium was also one of the last to disappear with remains appearing in the fossil record until as recently as the start of the Hologene,‭ ‬the period that has seen the rise of mankind and the dawn of civilisation.
Aside from its large size,‭ ‬Megatherium's skeleton is extremely robust in its construction,‭ ‬and seems to be built not just to support its large body but to provide the maximum amount of stability.‭ ‬The lower bones of the short hind legs are comparable to the femur in thickness and development.‭ ‬Combined with a short but thick tail and a broad pelvis,‭ ‬the lower body effective becomes a seat for which the upper body can rest on.‭ ‬The price of this lower body development is that Megatherium certainly would not have broken any records for speed,‭ ‬and may have been one of the slowest animals in its ecosystem.‭ ‬However this would not be a problem as Megatherium probably would not have had to run to or from anything.
The upper body construction is along similar lines in its robust build,‭ ‬but has more of a focus upon flexibility.‭ ‬The arms are still built solid and strong for weight bearing,‭ ‬but they are also much longer to provide additional reach.‭ ‬This reach would have also been increased even further by the large claws on its hands,‭ ‬allowing taller branches and foliage to be brought down to the level of the mouth.‭ ‬The strong jaw is an adaptation more suited for mashing plant material though a combination of strong muscle attachment and robust molar teeth.
The most classic posture that fossil remains and artistic renderings of Megatherium are posed in is of a large shaggy coated sloth that is rearing up on its hind legs.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬even though Megatherium was certainly capable of shifting its weight to its hind legs,‭ ‬and even walking on just the hind legs as indicated by fossil footprints,‭ ‬Megatherium probably adopted a quadrupedal posture when resting and normally walking extended distances.‭ ‬Aside from Megatherium's large body making a quadrupedal posture more stable for weight distribution,‭ ‬the large claws on its hands and feet meant that it had to walk on the‭ ‬sides,‭ ‬and not the flats of its feet.

What did Megatherium eat‭?
Continuing studies about Megatherium and giant ground sloths in general,‭ ‬have yielded a number of theories as to its diet.‭ ‬One thing which is absolute is that Megatherium would have eaten plants like other giant ground sloths and would have used its large size to reach up into trees to pick out vegetation that was beyond the scope of smaller herbivores.‭ ‬This meant that competition for food between giant ground sloths like Megatherium and other herbivores was comparatively low,‭ ‬and is one of the reasons why giant ground sloths were able to spread upwards into North America when it became connected to South America during the Pliocene.
Megatherium would have used its ability to walk on just its hind legs to reach further up,‭ ‬where it could use its large claws to pull down branches towards its mouth.‭ ‬Megatherium is also thought to have had a long tongue which it could then use to wrap around the branches,‭ ‬stripping off leaves and soft fresh growth.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬just because Megatherium could reach up high to feed,‭ ‬it does not mean that it only fed this way.‭ ‬Megatherium would have been quite capable of feeding upon lower vegetation,‭ ‬and here it may have used its claws for digging at plant roots.‭ ‬The strong teeth and robust jaw‭ ‬suggest that Megatherium was quite capable of chewing tough vegetation,‭ ‬and this adaptation further suggests that Megatherium was capable of adapting to different plant types.
A more controversial theory about Megatherium's diet is the inclusion of meat.‭ ‬Although generally considered a herbivore,‭ ‬Megatherium has‭ ‬also been portrayed as an occasional scavenger of carcasses,‭ ‬even driving off predators from their kills.‭ ‬This idea is centred around the theory that Megatherium,‭ ‬and possibly other giant ground sloths,‭ ‬may have needed to supplement their diet with meat in order to obtain nutrients that were lacking in their usual herbivorous diet.‭ ‬By approaching carcasses they could feed out of opportunity rather than actively aggressing against other animals.‭ ‬The massive size and power of its body would have also worked in Megatherium's favour,‭ ‬making it virtually immune to attack from the much smaller predators of the time.
However,‭ ‬some have gone even further than just the scavenger theory and have even suggested that Megatherium could actively hunt and attack other animals if it was so inclined.‭ ‬The idea for this has been based upon the possibility of Megatherium attacking glyptodonts‭ (‬armadillo like herbivores‭ ‬such asDoedicurus‭)‬,‭ ‬flipping them over and then killing them with its claws.‭ ‬While the mechanics of this scenario are quite easy to imagine,‭ ‬the actual motivation for it has been too much for most palaeontologists to believe.‭ ‬Unless new fossil evidence and/‭ ‬or new study proves otherwise,‭ ‬Megatherium continues to be regarded as an exclusively,‭ ‬or at the very least primarily herbivorous animal.

Further reading
- Nuevos restos de mamferos fsiles Oligocenos recogidos por el Profesor Pedro Scalabrini y pertenecientes al Museo Provincial de la ciudad del Parana. - Boletn de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Crdoba 8:1-205. - F. Ameghino - 1885.
- Juan Bautista Bru (1740-1799) and the description of the genus Megatherium. - Journal of the History of Biology 21 (1): 147-163. - J. M. L. Piero - 1988.
- Bipedalism and quadrupedalism in Megatherium: An attempt at biomechanical reconstruction. - Lethaia 29: 87-96. - A. Casinos - 1996.
- Megatherium, the stabber. - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 263 (1377): 1725-1729. - R. A. Faria & R. E. Blanco - 1996.
- The smallest and most ancient representative of the genus Megatherium Cuvier, 1796 (Xenarthra, Tardigrada, Megatheriidae), from the Pliocene of the Bolivian Altiplano. - Geodiversitas 23(4):625-645. - P. A. Saint-Andre & G. De Iuliis - 2001.
- The ground sloth Megatherium americanum: Skull shape, bite forces, and diet. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 46 (2): 173-192. - M. S. Bargo - 2001.
- Mamferos extintos del Cuaternario de la Provincia del Chaco (Argentina) y su relacin con aqullos del este de la regin pampeana y de Chile. - Revista geolgica de Chile 31(1):65-87. - A. E. Zurita, A. A. Carlini, G. J. Scillato-Yan & E. P. Tonni - 2004.
- A new species of Megatherium (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Megatheriidae) from the Pleistocene of Sacaco and Tres Ventanas, Peru. - Palaeontology 47(3):579-604. - F. Pujos and R. Salas - 2004.
- Megatherium celendinense sp. nov. from the pleistocene of the Peruvian Andes and the phylogenetic relationships of Megatheriines. - Palaeontology 49(2):285-306. - F. Pujos - 2006.
- Systematic and taxonomic revision of the Pleistocene ground sloth Megatherium (Pseudomegatherium) tarijense (Xenarthra: Megatheriidae). - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29 (4): 1244. - G. De Iuliis, F. O. Pujos & G. Tito - 2009.
- Morphology and Function of the Hyoid Apparatus of Xenarthran Fossils (Mammalia). - Journal of Morphology. Vol: 271. Issue: 9, 1119-1133.- L. M. Perez, N. Toledo, G. De Lullis, M. S. bargo & S. F. Vizcaino - 2010.
- New Pleistocene remains of Megatherium filholi Moreno, 1888 (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from the Pampean Region: Implications for the diversity of Megatheriinae of the Quaternary of South America. - Neues Jahrbuch fr Geologie und Palontologie - Abhandlungen. 289 (3): 339-348. - Federico L. Agnolin, Nicols R. Chimento, Diego Brandoni, Daniel Boh, Denise H. Campo, Mariano Magnussen & Francisco De Cianni - 2018.
- Campo Laborde: A Late Pleistocene giant ground sloth kill and butchering site in the Pampas. - Science Advances. 5 (3): eaau4546. - Gustavo G. Politis, Pablo G. Messineo, Thomas W. Stafford & Emily L. Lindsey - 2019.

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Information about the extinct ground sloth Megatherium and other prehistoric creatures.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Closeup of hand, showing claws

Closeup of skull

Megatheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 23 mya-11,000 years ago.[3]

Megatheriids appeared during the Late Oligocene ( Deseadan in the SALMA classification), some 29 million years ago, in South America. The group includes the heavily built Megatherium (given its name 'great beast' by Georges Cuvier[4]) and Eremotherium. An early genus that was originally considered a megatheriid, the more slightly built Hapalops, reached a length of about 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). The nothrotheres have recently been placed in their own family, Nothrotheriidae.[5]

The skeletal structure of these ground sloths indicates that the animals were massive. Their thick bones and even thicker joints (especially those on the hind legs) gave their appendages tremendous power that, combined with their size and fearsome claws, provided a formidable defense against predators.

The earliest megatheriid in North America was Sibotherium which arrived 5.3 million years ago, after crossing the recently formed Panamanian land bridge. At more than five tons in weight, 6 metres (20 ft) in length, and able to reach as high as 5.2 metres (17 ft), Eremotherium was taller than an African bush elephant bull. Unlike relatives, this species retained a plesiomorphic extra claw. While other species of Eremotherium had four fingers with only two or three claws, E. eomigrans had five fingers, four of them with claws up to nearly 30 centimetres (1 ft) long.[6]

Phylogeny [ edit ]

The following sloth family phylogenetic tree is based on collagen and mitochondrial DNA sequence data (see Fig. 4 of Presslee et al., 2019).[7]

The following phylogeny is based on Varela et al. 2019.[8]

References [ edit ]

1. ^ Eli Amson; Christian de Muizon; Timothy J. Gaudin (2017). "A reappraisal of the phylogeny of the Megatheria (Mammalia: Tardigrada), with an emphasis on the relationships of the Thalassocninae, the marine sloths" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 179 (1): 217-236. doi:10.1111/zoj.12450.

2. ^ Varela, L.; Tambusso, P.S.; McDonald, H.G.; Fariña, R.A.; Fieldman, M. (2019). "Phylogeny, Macroevolutionary Trends and Historical Biogeography of Sloths: Insights From a Bayesian Morphological Clock Analysis". Systematic Biology. 68 (2): 204-218. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy058. PMID 30239971.

3. ^ Paleobiology Database: Megatheriidae

4. ^ G. Cuvier (1796)

5. ^ Muizon, C. de; McDonald, H. G.; Salas, R.; Urbina, M. (June 2004). "The Youngest Species of the Aquatic Sloth Thalassocnus and a Reassessment of the Relationships of the Nothrothere Sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (2): 387-397. Bibcode:2004JVPal..24..387D. doi:10.1671/2429a. S2CID 83732878.

6. ^ De Iuliis and Cartelle (1999)

7. ^ Presslee, S.; Slater, G. J.; Pujos, F.; Forasiepi, A. M.; Fischer, R.; Molloy, K.; Mackie, M.; Olsen, J. V.; Kramarz, A.; Taglioretti, M.; Scaglia, F.; Lezcano, M.; Lanata, J. L.; Southon, J.; Feranec, R.; Bloch, J.; Hajduk, A.; Martin, F. M.; Gismondi, R. S.; Reguero, M.; de Muizon, C.; Greenwood, A.; Chait, B. T.; Penkman, K.; Collins, M.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (2019). "Palaeoproteomics resolves sloth relationships" (PDF). Nature Ecology & Evolution. 3 (7): 1121-1130. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0909-z. PMID 31171860. S2CID 174813630.

8. ^ Varela, L.; Tambusso, P. S.; McDonald, H. G.; Fariña, R. A. (2018). "Phylogeny, Macroevolutionary Trends and Historical Biogeography of Sloths: Insights From a Bayesian Morphological Clock Analysis". Systematic Biology. 68 (2): 204-218. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy058. PMID 30239971.

External links [ edit ]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Megatheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 23 mya-11,000 years ago.[3] Megatheriids appeared during the Late Oligocene ( Deseadan in the SALMA classification), some 29 million years ago, in South America.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mylodon is a genus of extinct ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from the Pampas and Patagonia in Chile and Argentina in southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m, it is one of the best-known and largest representatives of the group. The oldest finds probably date to the Lower Pleistocene; however, most of the fossil remains date from the Upper Pleistocene period. One of the most important sites of this phase is the Cueva del Milodón in southern Chile. Shortly after, about 10,200 BP,[1] Mylodon became extinct. At this point in time, it coexisted with the first human colonists in America.

In Mylodon's case, not only bones and teeth are known, but also various soft tissue including preserved skin and hair. The diet of Mylodon is known in great detail due to fossilized faeces. Its skull is greatly elongated and, compared to other large mylodontids, is narrower, possessing a completely closed nasal arch. Other distinguishing features concern the dental structure.

Mylodon was a terrestrial ground sloth. A thick coat with long hair can be interpreted as an adaptation to a life under cold climatic conditions, as they prevailed in southern South America during the last glacial period. A diet based predominantly on grasses also corresponds to this in this region. The widespread distribution of Mylodon into the pampas region and some features on the skull show, however, that the animals had a much larger ecological range and could also cope with warmer temperature conditions and possibly a mixed vegetable diet. Some of the animals fell victim to larger predators.

The genus was described in 1840, and only one species, Mylodon darwini is usually recognized. The type material comes from the area of the Pampas, where it was collected by Charles Darwin during his voyage with HMS Beagle. Mylodon was one of the first extinct sloths on which genetic studies were carried out.

Toenails, dung and skin, Natural History Museum, London

Mylodon was named by Richard Owen on the basis of a nearly complete lower jaw with teeth, which was found by Charles Darwin in a consolidated gravel cliff at Bahía Blanca, during the survey expedition of HMS Beagle.[2] At several sites, preserved hide and dung have been discovered, and are in such a state of conservation that the people who first discovered them believed they belonged to a living animal, instead of to an extinct species. The discovery of fresh-looking samples of skin and dung sparked a small wave of expeditions during the early 20th century to search for a living example of the animal.[3] The samples have since been found to be around 10,000 years old, although they look fresh because of the extreme cold and stable conditions in the caves in which they were found.

Fossils assigned to Mylodon have also been found in the Ñuapua Formation of Bolivia.[4] Well preserved samples of Mylodon remains have been discovered in the Cueva del Milodón site in Patagonia, Chile along the southern flank of Cerro Benítez in the year 1896. Associated with bones of other early Patagonian animals, these remains of Mylodon date from an era earlier than 10,000 BC.[5] The American Museum of Natural History has exhibited a sample of Mylodon dung from Argentina with a note that reads "deposited by Theodore Roosevelt".[6][7][8][9]

Mylodon was a large representative of the Mylodontidae. Its total length was estimated to be around 3 to 4 m. Based on the size of the skull, a weight between 1 and 2 tonnes is assumed, with an approximate estimate of 1.65 tonnes.[10] Thus, Mylodon had about the size of related forms such as Glossotherium or Paramylodon, but was significantly smaller than the giant Lestodon. In terms of physique, it largely corresponded with the other large ground-living sloths.[6][11]

Especially in the construction of the skull, Mylodon differed significantly from other related forms. Its length varied between 59 and 71.5 cm, which is significantly longer than Glossotherium or Lestodon. At the skull it was between 16.5 and 22.5 cm wide, in the front nasal area between 11.3 and 15.5 cm. The height of the posterior skull was 14.0 to 19.0 cm and the anterior 15.0 to 23.5 cm.[12] The skull was thereby elongated and narrow, unlike Glossotherium and Lestodon that had a short and very broad skull. The extraordinary length of the skull of Mylodon was mainly due to elongations in the rostrum. Seen from above, the rostrum narrowed towards the front. This is where the most important difference to most of the other representatives of the Mylodontidae can be found: The nasal bone was long and narrow and curved downwards in the front area. At the front end, it connected to the middle jawbone, which was lengthened by an appendage, and which in turn fused with the upper jaw. This resulted in a completely closed nasal arch in adult individuals, which is largely unknown in other sloths. In comparison, the skulls of Glossotherium and Lestodon, but also of Paramylodon, showed a nasal area, seen from above, which was rather short and looked clearly cut off when viewed from the side; the roof of the skull was largely straight in Mylodon, only a slight indentation could occur above the orbit. On parietal, significant temporal lines were present, but no head crest formed. The zygomatic arch was slim, the anterior attachment began above the third and fourth molars. It did not form a solid end with the rear arch attachment. As is usual with sloths, the front arch base consisted of three appendages: one ascending, one horizontal, and one descending, the former of which was the longest. The rear arch formed a triangular plate. The occiput bent at an angle of 120° from the roof of the skull. The underside of the occiput was at about the level of the occlusal plane. When viewed from behind, the occiput appeared almost circular and not as depressed as in Glossotherium and Lestodon.[13] The palate was narrow and was more or less triangularly oriented towards the front of the skull. Numerous small bone openings were characteristic here. The glenoid pit, in which the joint of the lower jaw engages, corresponding to that of other mylodonts with its weak form, but this provided free rotation overall.[12][14][15]

Lower jaw of Mylodon

The lower jaw of Mylodon varied in length between 42 and 48 cm. It was elongated, more noticeable than in Glossotherium and Lestodon, since in Mylodon the area in front of the teeth, in particular, is strongly elongated. The horizontal bone body increased continuously in height towards the rear, below the last molar it was about 10.5 to 12.7 cm. The symphysis at the front end for the jointing of the two halves of the lower jaw was about 12.4 cm long. Here the lower edge of the body of the lower jaw rose at an angle so that the anterior end of the symphysis was above the occlusal plane of the teeth. As with other sloths, the symphysis extended forward, it ended slightly rounded. According to the rostrum of the skull, Mylodon's symphysis was narrow and not as wide as in Glossotherium and Lestodon. The mandible foramen opened shortly behind the symphysis. The ascending branch started behind the last molar and formed an angle of 140° to the occlusal plane. The crown process rose up to 20 cm. In contrast, the articular process was lower, roughly at the level of the occlusal plane, resulting in a low cranial-mandibular connection. The angular process at the rear end of the lower jaw was clearly visible. Sometimes it tipped down and was below the lower edge of the horizontal bone body. The upper side of the angular process does not reach the occlusal plane.[12][14][15]

The dentition of Mylodon differs greatly from that of the other placental mammals and usually consists of five teeth at the top and four teeth at the bottom per jaw arch, meaning a total of 18 teeth. In the mylodonts, the first tooth was often caniniform while the rear teeth were more molariform. Within the sloth, this structure of the teeth can be called original. A special feature of Mylodon was that the upper canine-like tooth of each row was completely regressed and only the molar-like four rear teeth were found here. In the lower row of teeth, the anterior caniniform tooth was transformed into a molariform. The dentition thus consisted of a total of 16 teeth. This is somewhat reminiscent of Paramylodon, in which the upper canine-shaped teeth were also missing, but the lower ones had retained their strikingly pointed shape. In contrast to this, Glossotherium and Lestodon had the original decayed teeth. The flat, flap-like and largely indented structure of the molariform teeth can be emphasized as a characteristic of the mylodonts, which clearly differs from that of the Megatheriidae and Megalonychidae with their two transverse raised ridges per tooth. The shapes of the teeth present in Mylodon were simpler. In the upper jaw row, they had a rather round to oval outline, in the lower jaw row a more diamond-shaped outline. The typically more complex bilobed design of the molar-like teeth of Glossotherium and Lestodon, caused by a central constriction, only occurred on the lower rearmost tooth in Mylodon. In general, the rows of teeth diverged to the front, and the teeth were very high crowned ( hypsodont). The upper row of teeth ranges in length from 10.9 to 13.3 cm, the lower row was between 12.0 and 15.0 cm in length.[14][12][15][16]

Postcranial skeletons are far rarer in Mylodon than in the other large mylodontid sloths. As a result, the skeleton is less well documented. Only individual elements of the spine, such as the atlas and various thoracic vertebrae, have been described. The humerus was massive and extremely long at 46 to 48 cm. The joint head, the diameter of which was over 10 cm, stood out due to its hemispherical, but laterally somewhat flattened shape. A distinct deltopectoral ridge ran down the shaft, which acted as an anchor point for the shoulder muscles. As with many ground sloths, the lower end of the joint extended far and brought it here to a width of almost 26 cm. In part, this was caused by a massive internal epicondyle. The articular surfaces (capitulum and trochlea) were almost perpendicular to each other and did not form such an obtuse angle as in Glossotherium. The cubit was built gracefully. Their length was around 37 cm. The olecranon, i.e. the upper articular process, took up about 8.1 cm of it, which corresponds to about 22% of the total length and is significantly less than in comparison with Glossotherium and Lestodon. It was laterally narrowed, which is also found in Paramylodon. The spoke largely resembled that of Glossotherium and was compact and straight built with a length of about 30 cm. The head was oval in shape with a prominent lip. The pelvis was extremely expansive and 114 cm wide between the two iliac bones. The thigh bone measured between 55 and 59 cm in length. It was typical of ground sloths, being flat in shape. Its width decreased significantly on the shaft, the lowest value was reached just below the midpoint. Here the width was about 18 cm, the thickness about 7.5 cm. The joint ends, on the other hand, were markedly wider, around 30 cm at the knee end and around 26 cm at the foot end. The thighbone reached the shin with only about half of its length, a characteristic of mylodonts. This bone, too, was clearly flat with a thickness that was only half the value of the width at the shaft. The fibula is so far only fragmented. It was drawn in on the shaft and widened at the joint ends, with the upper joint end showing more pronounced curves than in Glossotherium.[17][18][19]

The hand comprised a total of five digits (I to V), whereby the metacarpal bone was fused with the large polygonal bone on the first digit. This created the so-called Metacrapal Carpal Complex (MCC for short), which is typical for many ground sloths. As a special feature of the wrist, the pea bone was clearly flat, its shape resembled that of Glossotherium, but differed from the corresponding bone of other Mylodonts with spherical, walnut-like or a pyramidal shape. The fourth digit had formed the longest metacarpal bone, while that of the fifth was only slightly shorter. The respective bones measured there around 12.5 and 10.7 cm in length. As with Glossotherium and Paramylodon, only the three inner digits were probably clawed, but only of the second digit have all bone elements been documented. The metacarpal bone was 7.8 cm long and was built very gracefully. The first phalanx was extremely short and only about 2.5 cm long, the second was about 4.2 cm long and the third at least 11.5 cm. It was tubular and went forward into an extension on which the claw rested. The first phalanges of the two outer digits were significantly reduced in length. Only individual root bones of the foot, such as the talus, are present.[18]

Fur and skin at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Mylodon is one of the few extinct mammals that has mummified skin remains. The most important location for such finds is the Cueva del Milodón in the Chilean province of Última Esperanza, where the first skin parts were brought to light at the end of the 19th century.[20][21] Individual pieces have lengths of up to 150 cm, but have shrunk through drying processes. Its thickness is up to 1.5 cm in some places, but it is usually around 1 cm. The skin is densely covered with stiff, slightly wavy hair, with only the top hair being developed, while the undercoat is missing. This feature is similar to the two-toed sloths but less so than the three-toed sloths, which possess an undercoat. The length of the individual hairs vary between 5 and sometimes over 20 cm with the shortest in the area of the back of the head, medium-length hair on the back and very long hair on the limbs. Their known color ranges from yellowish to reddish-brown. The hair shafts are uniformly tubular, at the upper end they form blunt tips. As with today's sloths, the hair did not have a pith (medulla). In contrast to the hair of the two-toed sloth, they lack their characteristic longitudinal ribbing.[20][21][22][23][24]

The mylodonts are the only representatives of the sloths to have bony plates embedded in their skin. Such structures, called osteoderms, are known today to a greater extent only in armadillos. In contrast to the outer armor of the armadillos, the bone platelets of the mylodonts were rather loosely scattered. Hermann Burmeister published the first finds of individual osteoderms of Mylodon as early as the 1860s.[25][26] The remains of skin found in the caves of Última Esperanza give an impression of how they were embedded in the skin and distributed over the body. The bone platelets are all located in the lower section of the skin, while the hairs originate in the upper sections. The distribution turned out to be very inconsistent. Some areas with a dense array of osteoderms contain between 83 and 95 platelets per 10 cm². For others, however, the number is very thin. However, even with a close arrangement, the osteoderms never unite to form a closed shell, but are always separated from one another by individual skin folds. In accordance with the armadillos' shells, the bone platelets form a single layer and do not appear stacked. Since all skin residues were found isolated from the body skeletons, it is sometimes difficult to assign the skin areas with a dense and thin arrangement of bone platelets to a specific part of the body. However, it can be assumed that the back was largely armored and the stomach was free. In the sections with dense osteoderm formation, these were larger than in the clear areas. The bone platelets of Mylodon were mostly of irregular oval shape with dimensions of 0.5 to 2.5 cm in length, 0.3 to 1.8 cm in width and 0.2 to 1.1 cm in thickness, with weights of a maximum of 2g. On the surface, they showed individual dimples.[27] In cross-section, they consisted of numerous bundles of fibers mixed with hard bone blades (osteoma). This made their structure much simpler than that of the armadillos, and they probably lacked the keratin layer known from the armadillos. In principle, the osteoderms of Mylodon were similar to those of other large mylodonts.[20][21][28][29][27][30]

Mylodon was mainly distributed in the southern part of South America. Fossil finds are available from Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil. Thus, the colonized regions include very far southern sites on the island of Tierra del Fuego as well as most of Patagonia northward to the Pampa region. Its southern limit reached the range at about 53° southern latitude. The Tres Arroyos site on Tierra del Fuego and the region around Cueva del Milodón in southwestern Patagonia are among the southernmost known records of a sloth representative in the Pleistocene.[31][32] In the Pampa region, the northern limit was found approximately at the Chuí River in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul around 30 degrees south latitude. Even more northerly points of discovery, such as Ñuapua in Bolivia, are tangent to the 20th parallel south. Finds reported from Paraguay, however, are considered rather uncertain.[33][34][35]

The first occurrence of Mylodon may have been in the Lower Pleistocene, but finds are rather rare.[36][37] During this period, the possibly closely related form Archaeomylodon also occurred in the Pampas region, whose foremost canine teeth of the upper dentition were greatly reduced in size, but not yet completely reduced.[38] Among the early and more northerly finds of Mylodon is, for example, a skull from the El Palmar Formation in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, which dates to the end of the last warm period about 80,000 years ago.[12] Also from the northern distribution areas two partial skeletons are worth mentioning, one of which was found at the Río Anisacate in the Argentine province of Córdoba and the other in Arroyo Quequén Salado near Oriente in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires. Mainly in the Pampas, there was an overlap in the occurrence of Mylodon with the two other major mylodontid sloth representatives Glossotherium and Lestodon during the Upper Pleistocene. However, actual co-occurrence is rarely attested. These include the important archaeological site of Paso Otero in Buenos Aires Province, the locality of Arroyo de Vizcaíno in southern Uruguay, and the Chuí River.[39]

As with many of the other large ground sloths, most of the Mylodon material is from the Upper Pleistocene, with a focus toward the end of the last glacial period. It is also the phase when Mylodon again disappeared from the fossil record. From a global perspective, numerous larger animals became extinct during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene, which is why this event is considered a Quaternary extinction wave. In South America, this coincides with the first appearance of humans. Whether the two are causally related is the subject of much controversy. In addition to potential hunting and possible landscape overprinting by early human hunter-gatherer groups, climatic changes may also have had an influence.[40] Numerous archaeological sites, especially in the Pampa region and in the Patagonian area, are between 13,500 and 10,000 years old. The majority of these attest to at least a coexistence of humans and ground sloths over an extended period of time. Direct associations of human cultural products and fossil remains of Mylodon are found, among others, at Gruta del Indio in the eastern foothills of the Andes, at Piedra Museo or Las Buitreras, all in Argentina, and at Tres Arroyos in Tierra del Fuego, respectively.

Mylodon is often represented by isolated osteoderms, bones or in the form of coprolites, while human remains are limited to stone artifacts and/or hearths. Whether this also involved a more or less intensive raw material use of sloth bones on the part of humans is in many cases unproven. Numerous bone marks that were originally interpreted as anthropogenically caused are, according to recent studies, due to predation. Evidence of direct hunting by humans of the large ground sloths is even more difficult. One piece of evidence is often considered to be Quebrada de Quereo, a site on an ancient coastline in northern Chile. From here come, among other things, skeletal remains of two individuals of Mylodon, distributed in each case over a narrowly defined area, but in two different stratigraphic units and at a spatial distance of 21 m from each other. One of the individuals was associated with about 70 stone objects, whose anthropogenic origin is under discussion. No cut marks are found on the bones as evidence of any human manipulation. The age of the site is given as 11,600 to 10,900 years before present.[41][42]

Entrance of Cueva del Milodón

Various finds of Mylodon from Cueva del Milodón (femur, mandible, hair)

One of the most important sites is the Cueva del Milodón near Lago Sofía in the Chilean province of Última Esperanza, known mainly for its surviving skin remains. It is part of a whole system of caves in the region, such as the Cueva del Medio[43][44] or the Cueva Chica,[45] which line the southern flank of the 556 m high Cerro Benitez like pearls. Cueva del Milodón is a large cave 250 m long, 140 m wide and 30 m high at the entrance and 10 m at the back, respectively. It was discovered in 1895 by the German captain Hermann Eberhard, who also found the first skin remains. The great importance of these finds led to the cave, initially known as "Cueva Eberhardt", being subsequently visited and explored by numerous scientists. As a result, a large number of finds accumulated over time, among which Mylodon with bone remains, and numerous coprolites has a large share. Other finds belong to camels such as Lama, horses such as Hippidion or South American ungulates such as Macrauchenia, in addition, several predators are represented, including the jaguar, Smilodon as a member of the saber-toothed cats, and the giant bear form Arctotherium. Some of the mammal bones have marks that were originally associated with human activity, but the current view is that they are more likely due to predator browsing. In addition to faunal remains, the cave also held a myriad of botanical material. It also yielded one of the most extensive data sequences from the Upper Pleistocene. Several radiocarbon dates, measured from a wide variety of Mylodon finds, span a period from about 16,700 to 10,200 years ago. The upper data are among the most recent obtained directly from finds of the sloth vertebrate.[46][42][47][48][49]

Mylodon's close relatives include the ground sloths of the genera Glossotherium and Paramylodon. The latter genus has often been confused with Glossotherium, but Paramylodon is a distinct genus that was restricted to the Pleistocene of North America.[15] Glossotherium also shares a long history of taxonomic confusion with Mylodon, and currently the only recognized species is Mylodon darwini. At one time, the elephant-sized Megatherium was thought to be closely related, but is recognized as belonging to a separate family ( Megatheriidae).

Below is a phylogenetic tree of the Mylodontidae, based on the work of Boscaini et al. 2019.[50]

Recent molecular sequence results obtained using collagen[51] and mitochondrial DNA[52] extracted from fossils indicate that the closest living relatives of Mylodon are the two-toed sloths of genus Choloepus. This revelation came as a surprise, since morphological analyses had previously suggested that two-toed sloths were close to Caribbean sloths and Megalonyx, now regarded as representing two separate and distant branches of the sloth evolutionary tree.

Richard Owen (1856)

The holotype of Mylodon used by Owen in his initial description

The taxonomic history of Mylodon is complex. It has involved confusion and equivocation with other mylodont forms such as Glossotherium and Paramylodon over a long period of time. Some of this complexity can be attributed to the first describer of the genus itself, who is Richard Owen (1804-1892). Owen, one of the most important explorers of the Victorian era, was concerned from 1836 with fossil finds brought back by Charles Darwin from his pioneering voyage on HMS Beagle to South America. The collection also included a mandible from Punta Alta near Bahía Blanca in the south of the Argentina Buenos Aires Province (specimen number NHM 16617). The nearly complete specimen was distinguished by a row of teeth consisting of a total of four molar-like Teeth. In an extensive 1840 paper, Owen referred the mandible to the new genus he had created, Mylodon, and named the species M. darwinii ( darwinii is the spelling used by Owen, but in modern times darwini is also often used; according to the Regulations of Zoological Nomenclature, the former version is correct.[53]) He related the genus name to the molar-like teeth (from Greek μυλη ( myle) for "molar" and ὀδούς ( odoús) for "tooth", thus translating as much as "molar tooth"), with the species epithet darwinii honoring Darwin as finder of the voucher specimen. As a second species besides M. darwinii Owen referred in his paper to M. harlani. This form was based on a mandible and clavicle, both of which came from the Big Bone Lick in Boone County in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and which Richard Harlan had already described in 1831 under the species assignment Megalonyx laqueatus.[54] Owen, however, recognized similarities in the construction of the mandible to his M. darwinii and renamed Harlan's form.[55] Harlan used an essay two years later to comment on Owen's choice of name regarding Mylodon, which he felt was not very descriptive. According to him, the name could be applied to almost any extinct mammalian form because almost all of them had the posterior molars. Moreover, the name would be inappropriate because, starting from the Latin version dens molaris for "molar tooth" and the second part of speech don (from dens for "tooth"), there is a duplication that would translate as "molar tooth-tooth".[56] Regardless, Owen's establishment of the genus Mylodon with two species resulted in the extinct sloth representative being distributed in both South and North America.[56][57]

Glossotherium, Grypotherium and Paramylodon

Skull of Glossotherium with typical short and broad snout and open nasal cavity

Owen, in his 1840 work, established the genus Glossotherium in addition to Mylodon, but without designation of a specific species. The basis here was a posterior skull fragment taken from the riverbed of the Arroyo Sarandi in the Uruguay department of Soriano. In contrast to Mylodon, for which Owen assumed a kinship proximity to the other large ground sloths known at the time, such as Megatherium or Megalonyx, he placed Glossotherium in a series with the anteaters and with the pangolins, respectively, and postulated an insectivorous lifestyle for the animals.[55] Two years later, however, Owen discarded the name Glossotherium again. This occurred in the course of processing a nearly complete skeleton that had been discovered the year before in the flood plains of the Río de la Plata north of Buenos Aires. The largely intact skull was characterized by a short and broad snout and by a dentition consisting of a total of 18 teeth, of which the foremost tooth in each case showed a canine design. Based on the similarities in dental structure with the flat, molar-like teeth, Owen placed the skeleton in the genus Mylodon and introduced the new species M. robustus. The skull fragment that he had originally placed in Glossotherium he now associated with M. darwinii.[58] As a result of this study, three species of the genus Mylodon already existed in the 1840s.[56][59]

A skull including mandible found at Pergamino in Buenos Aires Province served the Danish zoologist Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (1816-1882) in 1879 as the basis for a comprehensive description. Characteristic of the skull was the narrow snout and a closed nasal arch, which was formed by the firm adhesion of the nasal bone to the middle jaw bone. Furthermore, the dentition consisted of a total of 16 teeth, the upper front canine-like tooth was reduced in each case, in the lower jaw, however, sat four molar-like teeth each. Reinhardt noticed similarities to M. darwinii in the construction of the lower jaw, but in the skull design his find deviated clearly from the broad-nosed M. robustus by the narrow snout. However, according to Reinhardt, there were matches in Owen's Glossotherium skull fragment with corresponding skull sections in M. robustus. Based on the clear parallels between M. darwinii and his narrow-beaked skull finding, Reinhardt propagated the new genus Grypotherium with Grypotherium darwinii as the type species.[60] A different approach was taken by Florentino Ameghino (1854-1911) about ten years later. He confirmed in 1889, the separation of both M. darwinii and M. robustus not only at the species level, but also at the genus level. Deviating from Reinhardt, but agreeing with Owen, he considered the mandible of M. darwinii and the skull fragment of Glossotherium to belong together. Since in this scenario Glossotherium possessed priority over Mylodon (Owen mentioned the former over the latter in 1840) and Grypotherium, Ameghino introduced the species Glossotherium darwinii. In contrast, he left the status of M. robustus untouched.[61] Arthur Smith Woodward (1864-1944), in turn, followed Reinhardt's reasoning. In a paper published in 1900, he presented findings from ground sloths of southern Patagonia and at the same time revised Charles Darwin's collection. In doing so, he equated the mandible of M. darwinii with Reinhardt's Grypotherium and subsequently recovered Grypotherium darwinii. Smith Woodward assigned the skull fragment of Glossotherium to M. robustus by analogy with Reinhardt.[23][62][56][59]

Model in Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument where fossils were found in 1896

The mylodontids (particularly Mylodon itself) are often considered to be pronounced grazers because of their dental structure with flat chewing surfaces on the molar-like teeth. This is also supported by the high (hypsodont) tooth crowns and the wide mouth with numerous shapes. The ungulates are mostly used as analogous examples, in which shapes with high tooth crowns and broad-lipped mouths are usually grass-eating, such as various cattle, horses or the white rhinoceros. In contrast, those with low tooth crowns and narrow snouts such as the duiker or the black rhinoceros feed largely selective from various leaves and other soft vegetable foods. In contrast to other large mylodontid sloths such as Glossotherium, Paramylodon or Lestodon, the mouth of Mylodon is relatively narrow. A special feature is the closed nasal arch, which is heavily roughened in its front area and thus offers muscle attachment points for a mobile upper lip. Something similar can be said about individual depressions in the vicinity of the infraorbital foramen, which also functioned as starting points for individual muscle strands in the nose and lip area. Maybe Mylodon was more well-adapted to a mixed-vegetation diet, which was picked up with the help of a movable upper lip. The loss of the front teeth in the upper row of teeth also leads to the assumption that, comparable to cattle, there was a horn-like structure on the middle jawbone that could be used to pluck the food.[63][14]

The entire anterior cranial structure of Mylodon is relatively solid, combined with a partially ossified nasal septum, it can be assumed that relatively high chewing forces acted when the food was chopped up. In contrast to the sometimes huge representatives of the Megatheriidae, the joint between the lower jaw and the skull of the Mylodonts was relatively low, roughly at the chewing level of the teeth. The resulting decreasing lever arm of the masseter muscle experiences through the structure of the zygomatic arch, mainly of the descending process, a certain compensation, so that there should have been only minor differences to the Megatheria with regard to the biting force. The extended mandibular joint allows a wide freedom of movement when chewing. Against this, however, is the zygomatic arch, which is not closed and therefore could only withstand the opposing forces of the masseter and musculus pterygoideus to a limited extent. It can therefore be assumed that forwards and backwards directed chewing movements dominated in Mylodon.[63][14] The flat tooth crowns lead to a comparatively small size of the total available chewing surface. In Mylodon, this amounts to a good 1320 mm² corresponding to other mylodonts of the same size. The Indian rhinoceros, which is comparable in terms of its dimensions, has, on the other hand, double to four times the value with 2660 to 5190 mm². The situation is similar with the hippopotamus, the total surface area of which is between 3290 and 5410 mm². The small total occlusal surface of the teeth in Mylodon probably resulted in a rather low processing capacity for the food in the mouth. This can result in either a high rate of fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract and/or a very slow metabolism concluded. The latter is the case with today's sloths. This is due to the long passage time of the food of up to a week through the large, multi-chambered stomach. It can be assumed that this also applies to the extinct sloths. Possibly this made the stomach of the mylodonts a functional equivalent to the complex stomach of the ruminants, whereby a long passage time of the food enabled efficient digestion, in which even more difficult to access nutrients could be provided, for example from foods with a greater fiber content. Such a digestive system could reduce the amount of processed food in the mouth and thus ultimately also have compensated for the small total chewing surface in Mylodon.[64][65]

Restoration of Mylodon darwini with an excrement and skin fragment.

Direct analysis of the food resources used is possible, among many other things, due to the numerous dung residues in the form of coprolites. These are available not only from the Cueva del Milodón in the Chilean part of Patagonia, but also from other caves. The coprolites of Mylodon have a diameter of up to 18 cm.[48] Investigations of the plant residues showed 80 to 95% grasses and 5 to 20% sedges. Herbaceous plants, on the other hand, could only be detected in traces. Accordingly, Mylodon led, at least in southwestern Patagonia, a diet consisting almost exclusively of grasses. The food is reflected in the paleohabitat, as pollen analyzes show that the landscape at that time was tundra-like in character and was therefore almost free of trees with only a few low bushes. Occasional evidence of false beeches is interpreted as pollen carried by the wind.[66][67][68]

A 2021 study on stable isotope ratios concluded that Mylodon must have been at least sporadically omnivorous.[69]

In general, large mylodonts are ground-dwelling animals. The lower section of the hind leg, which is very short compared to the upper, is also found in Mylodon, whose tibia is 27 cm in length and only half as long as the thigh bone, 59 cm in length. In comparison, the Megatheriidae possess significantly longer lower leg portions, about the almost equally-proportioned Pyramiodontherium possessing to a 47 cm long shin to a 49 cm long femur. Possibly these differences in the hind leg structure result in much more agile locomotion in the Megatheria in relation to the mylodonts.[70] Similar to other large ground sloths, the hand of Mylodon made contact with the ground with the outer side edge and thus sat up rotated. This is indicated by the long metacarpal bones of the external digits and the decreasing number of phalanges on them. The special hand position protected the long claws of the inner digits, which did not penetrate the ground while walking. A functionally similar but fundamentally different hand position can be found in the ankle duct of the distantly related present-day great anteater. The elbow joint was pointed slightly outwards when standing on four feet and the arms were thus angled slightly inwards, which is evident from the position of the olecranon yields. The hands came to rest slightly within the width of the elbow. Such an orientation of the arms can effectively support the large mass of Mylodon. As a result, the hands would also be in a line with the feet, which is also conveyed, among other things, by footprints from Paramylodon. The laterally limited articular surface of the femoral head severely restricted the mobility of the hindlimbs. The same applies to the forearm, the straight spoke with the laterally elongated head of which did not allow any major rotational movements. These features can be interpreted as adaptations to a purely terrestrial lifestyle. Finally, the muscle attachment points on the first cervical vertebra referenced, which are more developed than for example with Paramylodon. Correspondingly, the occipital joint surfaces are also somewhat further apart. Both can be interpreted as meaning that the more massive skull of Mylodon, caused by the lengthening of the snout region, required greater muscle support.[17][18]

For some of the mylodonts of South America, such as Glossotherium, a partially burrowing way of life is being reconstructed, which results from the construction of the foreleg, among other things. An indicator for this is the upper articular process (olecranon) of the ulna. The longer the olecranon, the higher the leverage of the forearm, since more attachment surface is available for the forearm muscles. In Glossotherium, the olecranon takes up up to 35% of the total length of the ulna. The resulting ability to dig would be comparable to that of the Tolypeutes armadillos, which seldom build their own burrows, but can do so.[71] The previous analyses for Mylodon resulted in a much shorter olecranon, which accounts for only about 22% of the total length of the ulna. However, the fact that proportional estimates for Mylodon refer to a not fully grown specimen is problematic.[72] Other clues can be derived from the construction of the hand. In Mylodon, for example, the metacarpal bones of the second and third ray are very delicate, in contrast to Glossotherium. A weakly pronounced central ray does not seem to support a digging activity, as this is usually most strongly developed in underground mammals. However, the distal articular facet of the third metacarpal bone is flat, which means that the middle finger is generally stiff and stable. The same articulation surface on the second metacarpal is significantly more rounded and thus supports greater mobility of the finger when gripping. This obviously resulted in functional differences between the individual rays of the hand. The rare signs of wear and tear on the last phalanx, which are isolated from the Cueva del Milodón several times, can serve as an additional indicator of digging activities.[18][72]

Especially in southern and southwestern Patagonia, numerous bone changes in finds of Mylodon can be proven to be caused by predatory animals. This includes, above all, the remains from the Cueva del Milodón in southwestern Chile. Some caves in their immediate vicinity, such as Cueva Lago Sofía 4 and Cueva Chica, are interpreted as clumps of predators.[73][45] The same applies to the Cueva del Puma or the Cueva Fell in the Pali-Aike area of southern Chile. Some of the caves mainly contain smaller skeletal elements such as hand and foot bones or bone plates, which indicate that only part of the carcass was carried into the shelter. Whether this is the result of direct foraging or scavenging cannot be determined in many cases. Other caves, in turn, contained a larger proportion of young Mylodon animals.[74][42] The largest predators occurring at that time are the puma and the jaguar, as well as the saber-toothed cat Smilodon populator and the extinct bear Arctotherium. The latter two could have reconstructed body weights of over 400 kg, with prey sizes between 1 and 2 t being assumed for the saber-toothed cat, which makes Smilodon a likely predator of Mylodon.[75][74][42][76]

In various coprolites produced by Mylodon, eggs of nematodes are preserved. The eggs are ovaloid in shape with lengths of almost 50 µm in length and 29 µm in thickness.[77] In addition, individual beetles could be detected.[48]

Mylodon became extinct 12-10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene as part of the Quaternary extinction event, along with all other mainland ground sloths and most large animals in the Americas. The timing co-incides with the arrival of humans in the Americas, as well as climactic change.[78] There is evidence that humans exploited Mylodon for food. At Fell's cave (Cueva Fell) in Chilean Patagonia, fractured and burned bones of Mylodon darwinii have been found in association with human artifacts, dating to around 12,766-12,354 cal years Before Present (BP). At Piedra Museo in Argentine Patagonia, bones of Mylodon are found in association with human artefacts, dating to around 15,517-12,352 cal yr BP. This exploitation may have been a factor in its extinction.[79]

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mylodon is a genus of extinct ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from the Pampas and Patagonia in Chile and Argentina in southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m, it is one of the best-known and largest representatives of the group.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Green sloth

Sloths are a Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. Sloths are considered to be most closely related to anteaters, together making up the xenarthran order Pilosa.

There are six extant sloth species in two genera - Bradypus (three-toed sloths) and Choloepus (two-toed sloths). Despite this traditional naming, all sloths have three toes on each rear limb-- although two-toed sloths have only two digits on each forelimb.[3] The two groups of sloths are from different, distantly related families, and are thought to have evolved their morphology via parallel evolution from terrestrial ancestors. Besides the extant species, many species of ground sloths ranging up to the size of elephants (like Megatherium) inhabited both North and South America during the Pleistocene Epoch. However, they became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event around 12,000 years ago, along with most large bodied animals in the New World. The extinction correlates in time with the arrival of humans, but climate change has also been suggested to have contributed. Members of an endemic radiation of Caribbean sloths also formerly lived in the Greater Antilles but became extinct after humans settled the archipelago in the mid-Holocene, around 6,000 years ago.

Sloths are so named because of their very low metabolism and deliberate movements. Sloth, related to slow, literally means "laziness," and their common names in several other languages (e.g. French: paresseux, Spanish: perezoso) also mean "lazy" or similar. Their slowness permits their low-energy diet of leaves and avoids detection by predatory hawks and cats that hunt by sight.[3] Sloths are almost helpless on the ground, but are able to swim.[4] The shaggy coat has grooved hair that is host to symbiotic green algae which camouflage the animal in the trees and provide it nutrients. The algae also nourish sloth moths, some species of which exist solely on sloths.[5]

Taxonomy and evolution

Sloths belong to the superorder Xenarthra, a group of placental mammals believed to have evolved in the continent of South America around 60 million years ago.[6] One study found that xenarthrans broke off from other placental mammals around 100 million years ago.[7] Anteaters and armadillos are also included among Xenarthra. The earliest xenarthrans were arboreal herbivores with sturdy vertebral columns, fused pelvises, stubby teeth, and small brains. Sloths are in the taxonomic suborder Folivora[2] of the order Pilosa. These names are from the Latin 'leaf eater' and 'hairy', respectively. Pilosa is one of the smallest of the orders of the mammal class; its only other suborder contains the anteaters.

The Folivora are divided into at least eight families, only two of which have living species; the remainder are entirely extinct ( †):[8]

†Megalocnidae: the Greater Antilles sloths, a basal group that arose about 32 million years ago and became extinct about 5,000 years ago.[8]

Superfamily Megatherioidea

Bradypodidae, the three-toed sloths, contains four extant species:

†Megalonychidae: ground sloths that existed for about 35 million years and went extinct about 11,000 years ago. This group was formerly thought to include both the two-toed sloths and the extinct Greater Antilles sloths.

†Megatheriidae: ground sloths that existed for about 23 million years and went extinct about 11,000 years ago; this family included the largest sloths.

†Nothrotheriidae: ground sloths that lived from approximately 11.6 million to 11,000 years ago. As well as ground sloths, this family included Thalassocnus, a genus of either semiaquatic or fully aquatic sloths.

Superfamily Mylodontoidea

Choloepodidae, the two-toed sloths, contains two extant species:

†Mylodontidae: ground sloths that existed for about 23 million years and went extinct about 11,000 years ago.

†Scelidotheriidae: collagen sequence data indicates this group is more distant from Mylodon than Choloepus is, so it has been elevated back to full family status.[8]

Megatherium americanum (Megatheriidae, London)

Evolution

Nothrotheriops shastensis (Nothrotheriidae, La Brea)

The common ancestor of the two existing sloth genera dates to about 28 million years ago,[8] with similarities between the two- and three- toed sloths an example of convergent evolution to an arboreal lifestyle, "one of the most striking examples of convergent evolution known among mammals".[13] The ancient Xenarthra included a significantly greater variety of species, with a wider distribution, than those of today. Ancient sloths were mostly terrestrial, and some reached sizes that rival those of elephants, as was the case for Megatherium.[4]

Megalonyx wheatleyi (Megalonychidae) fossil (AMNH) and restoration

Paramylodon harlani (Mylodontidae, San Diego)

Sloths arose in South America during a long period of isolation and eventually spread to a number of the Caribbean islands as well as North America. It is thought that swimming led to oceanic dispersal of pilosans to the Greater Antilles by the Oligocene, and that the megalonychid Pliometanastes and the mylodontid Thinobadistes were able to colonise North America about 9 million years ago, well before the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. The latter development, about 3 million years ago, allowed megatheriids and nothrotheriids to also invade North America as part of the Great American Interchange. Additionally, the nothrotheriid Thalassocnus of the west coast of South America became adapted to a semiaquatic and, eventually, perhaps fully aquatic marine lifestyle.[14] In Peru and Chile, Thalassocnus entered the coastal habitat beginning in the late Miocene. Initially they just stood in the water, but over a span of 4 million years they eventually evolved into swimming creatures, becoming specialist bottom feeders of seagrasses, similar to extant marine sirenians.[15]

Both types of extant tree sloth tend to occupy the same forests; in most areas, a particular species of the somewhat smaller and generally slower-moving three-toed sloth ( Bradypus) and a single species of the two-toed type will jointly predominate. Based on morphological comparisons, it was thought the two-toed sloths nested phylogenetically within one of the divisions of the extinct Greater Antilles sloths.[16] Though data has been collected on over 33 different species of sloths by analyzing bone structures, many of the relationships between clades on a phylogenetic tree were unclear.[17] Much of the morphological evidence collected to support the hypothesis of diphyly has been based on the structure of the inner ear.[18]

Recently obtained molecular data from collagen[8] and mitochondrial DNA sequences[19] fall in line with the diphyly (convergent evolution) hypothesis, but have overturned some of the other conclusions obtained from morphology. These investigations consistently place two-toed sloths close to mylodontids and three-toed sloths within Megatherioidea, close to Megalonyx, megatheriids and nothrotheriids. They make the previously recognized family Megalonychidae polyphyletic, with both two-toed sloths and Greater Antilles sloths being moved away from Megalonyx. Greater Antilles sloths are now placed in a separate, basal branch of the sloth evolutionary tree.[8][19]

Phylogeny

The following sloth family phylogenetic tree is based on collagen and mitochondrial DNA sequence data.[8]

Folivora

Megalocnidae (Greater Antilles sloths)

Extinctions

The marine sloths of South America's Pacific coast became extinct at the end of the Pliocene following the closing of the Central American Seaway; the closing caused a cooling trend in the coastal waters which killed off much of the area's seagrass (and which would have also made thermoregulation difficult for the sloths, with their slow metabolism).[20]

Ground sloths disappeared from both North and South America shortly after the appearance of humans about 11,000 years ago. Evidence suggests human hunting contributed to the extinction of the American megafauna. Ground sloth remains found in both North and South America indicate that they were killed, cooked, and eaten by humans.[4] Climate change that came with the end of the last ice age may have also played a role, although previous similar glacial retreats were not associated with similar extinction rates.

Megalocnus and some other Caribbean sloths survived until about 5,000 years ago, long after ground sloths had died out on the mainland, but then went extinct when humans finally colonized the Greater Antilles.[21]

Biology

Feeding brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus), Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica

Morphology and anatomy

Sloths can be 60 to 80 cm (24 to 31 in) long and, depending on the species, weigh from 3.6 to 7.7 kg (7.9 to 17.0 lb). Two-toed sloths are slightly larger than three-toed sloths.[22] Sloths have long limbs and rounded heads with tiny ears. Three-toed sloths also have stubby tails about 5 to 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in) long.

Sloths are unusual among mammals in not having seven cervical vertebrae. Two-toed sloths have five to seven, while three-toed sloths have eight or nine. The other mammals not having seven are the manatees, with six.[23]

Physiology

Sloths have colour vision, but have poor visual acuity. They also have poor hearing. Thus, they rely on their sense of smell and touch to find food.[24]

Sloths have very low metabolic rates (less than half of that expected for a mammal of their size), and low body temperatures: 30 to 34 °C (86 to 93 °F) when active, and still lower when resting. Sloths are heterothermic, meaning their body temperature may vary according to the environment, normally ranging from 25 to 35 °C (77 to 95 °F), but able to drop to as low as 20 °C (68 °F), inducing torpor.[24]

The outer hairs of sloth fur grow in a direction opposite from that of other mammals. In most mammals, hairs grow toward the extremities, but because sloths spend so much time with their limbs above their bodies, their hairs grow away from the extremities to provide protection from the elements while they hang upside down. In most conditions, the fur hosts symbiotic algae, which provide camouflage[25] from predatory jaguars, ocelots,[26] and harpy eagles.[27] Because of the algae, sloth fur is a small ecosystem of its own, hosting many species of commensal and parasitic arthropods.[28] There are a large number of arthropods associated with sloths. These include biting and blood-sucking flies such as mosquitoes and sandflies, triatomine bugs, lice, ticks and mites. Sloths have a highly specific community of commensal beetles, mites and moths.[29] The species of sloths recorded to host arthropods include[29] the pale-throated three-toed sloth, the brown-throated three-toed sloth, and Linnaeus's two-toed sloth. Sloths benefit from their relationship with moths because the moths are responsible for fertilizing algae on the sloth, which provides them with nutrients.[30]

Activity

Their limbs are adapted for hanging and grasping, not for supporting their weight. Muscle mass makes up only 25 to 30 percent of their total body weight. Most other mammals have a muscle mass that makes up 40 to 45 percent of their total body weight.[31] Their specialised hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside down from branches without effort,[32] and are used to drag themselves along the ground, since they cannot walk. On three-toed sloths, the arms are 50 percent longer than the legs.[24]

Sloths move only when necessary and even then very slowly. They usually move at an average speed of 4 metres (13 ft) per minute, but can move at a marginally higher speed of 4.5 metres (15 ft) per minute if they are in immediate danger from a predator. While they sometimes sit on top of branches, they usually eat, sleep, and even give birth hanging from branches. They sometimes remain hanging from branches even after death. On the ground, the maximum speed of sloths is 3 metres (9.8 ft) per minute. Two-toed sloths are generally better able than three-toed sloths to disperse between clumps of trees on the ground.[33]

Sloths are surprisingly strong swimmers and can reach speeds of 13.5 metres (44 ft) per minute.[34] They use their long arms to paddle through the water and can cross rivers and swim between islands.[35] Sloths can reduce their already slow metabolism even further and slow their heart rate to less than a third of normal, allowing them to hold their breath underwater for up to 40 minutes.[36]

Wild brown-throated three-toed sloths sleep on average 9.6 hours a day.[37] Two-toed sloths are nocturnal.[38] Three-toed sloths are mostly nocturnal, but can be active in the day. They spend 90 per cent of their time motionless.[24]

Behavior

Sloths are solitary animals that rarely interact with one another except during breeding season,[39] though female sloths do sometimes congregate, more so than do males.[40]

Sloths descend about once every eight days to defecate on the ground. The reason and mechanism behind this behavior have long been debated among scientists. There are at least five hypotheses: 1) fertilize trees when feces are deposited at the base of the tree;[41] 2) cover feces and avoid predation;[42][43][44] 3) chemical communication between individuals;[45] 4) pick up trace nutrients in their claws, that are then ingested;[46] and 5) favor a mutualistic relationship with populations of fur moths.[44][46] More recently, a new hypothesis has emerged, which presents evidence against the previous ones and proposes that all current sloths are descendants from species that defecated on the ground, and there simply has not been enough selective pressure to abandon this behavior, since cases of predation during defecation are actually very rare.[47]

Diet

Hoffman's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) feeding in Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica

Baby sloths learn what to eat by licking the lips of their mother.[48] All sloths eat the leaves of Cecropia.

Two-toed sloths are omnivorous, with a diverse diet of insects, carrion, fruits, leaves and small lizards, ranging over up to 140 hectares (350 acres). Three-toed sloths, on the other hand, are almost entirely herbivorous (plant eaters), with a limited diet of leaves from only a few trees,[39] and no other mammal digests its food as slowly.

They have made adaptations to arboreal browsing. Leaves, their main food source, provide very little energy or nutrients, and do not digest easily, so sloths have large, slow-acting, multi-chambered stomachs in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves.[39] As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth's body weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete.

Three-toed sloths go to the ground to urinate and defecate about once a week, digging a hole and covering it afterwards. They go to the same spot each time and are vulnerable to predation while doing so. Considering the large energy expenditure and dangers involved in the journey to the ground, this behaviour has been described as a mystery.[49][50][51] Recent research shows that moths, which live in the sloth's fur, lay eggs in the sloth's feces. When they hatch, the larvae feed on the feces, and when mature fly up onto the sloth above. These moths may have a symbiotic relationship with sloths, as they live in the fur and promote growth of algae, which the sloths eat.[5] Individual sloths tend to spend the bulk of their time feeding on a single "modal" tree; by burying their excreta near the trunk of that tree, they may also help nourish it.[52]

Reproduction

The pale- and brown-throated three-toed sloths mate seasonally, while the maned three-toed sloth breeds at any time of the year. The reproduction of pygmy three-toed sloths is currently unknown. Litters are of one newborn only, after six months' gestation for three-toed, and 12 months' for two-toed. Newborns stay with their mother for about five months. In some cases, young sloths die from a fall indirectly because the mothers prove unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to retrieve the young.[53] Females normally bear one baby every year, but sometimes sloths' low level of movement actually keeps females from finding males for longer than one year.[54] Sloths are not particularly sexually dimorphic and several zoos have received sloths of the wrong sex.[55][56]

The average lifespan of two-toed sloths in the wild is currently unknown due to a lack of full-lifespan studies in a natural environment.[57] Median life expectancy in human care is about 16 years, with one individual at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo reaching an age of 49 years before her death.[58]

Distribution

Depiction of a pygmy three-toed sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) (Thomas Landseer, 1825)

Although habitat is limited to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, in that environment sloths are successful. On Barro Colorado Island in Panama, sloths have been estimated to constitute 70% of the biomass of arboreal mammals.[59] Four of the six living species are currently rated "least concern"; the maned three-toed sloth ( Bradypus torquatus), which inhabits Brazil's dwindling Atlantic Forest, is classified as "vulnerable",[60] while the island-dwelling pygmy three-toed sloth ( B. pygmaeus) is critically endangered. Sloths' lower metabolism confines them to the tropics and they adopt thermoregulation behaviors of cold-blooded animals such as sunning themselves.[61]

Human relations

Three-toed sloth in the Dallas World Aquarium

The majority of recorded sloth deaths in Costa Rica are due to contact with electrical lines and poachers. Their claws also provide another, unexpected deterrent to human hunters; when hanging upside-down in a tree, they are held in place by the claws themselves and often do not fall down even if shot from below.

Sloths are victims of animal trafficking where they are sold as pets. However, they make very poor pets, as they have such a specialized ecology.[62]

The Sloth Institute Costa Rica is known for caring, rehabilitating and releasing sloths back into the wild.[63] Also in Costa Rica, the Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary cares for sloths. It has rehabilitated and returned about 130 individuals to the wild.[64] However, a report in May 2016 featured two former veterinarians from the facility who were critical of the sanctuary's efforts, accusing it of mistreating the animals.[65]

References

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2. Delsuc, Frédéric; Catzeflis, François M.; Stanhope, Michael J.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (7 August 2001). "The evolution of armadillos, anteaters and sloths depicted by nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies: implications for the status of the enigmatic fossil Eurotamandua". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 268 (1476): 1605-1615. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1702. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1088784. PMID 11487408.

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11. ^ White, J.L.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (2001). "The sloths of the West Indies: a systematic and phylogenetic review". In Woods, C.A.; Sergile, F.E. (eds.). Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives. Boca Raton, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.: CRC Press. pp. 201-235. doi:10.1201/9781420039481-14. ISBN 978-0-8493-2001-9. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021.

12. ^ Raj Pant, Sara; Goswami, Anjali; Finarelli, John A (2014). "Complex body size trends in the evolution of sloths (Xenarthra: Pilosa)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 14: 184. doi:10.1186/s12862-014-0184-1. PMC 4243956. PMID 25319928.

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31. Pauli, J. N., Mendoza, J. E., Steffan, S. A., Carey, C. C., Weimer, P. J., & Peery, M. Z. (2014). A syndrome of mutualism reinforces the lifestyle of a sloth. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1778), 20133006. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.3006

32. Chiarello, A. G. (2008). Sloth ecology: an overview of field studies. ^ The biology of the Xenarthra, 269-280.

33. Voirin, B., Kays, R., Wikelski, M., & Lowman, M. (2013). Why Do Sloths Poop on the Ground? In M. Lowman, S. Devy, & T. Ganesh (eds). Treetops at Risk(pp. 195-199). Springer, New York, NY.

34. Monge Nájera, J. (2021). Why sloths defecate on the ground: rejection of the mutualistic model. ^ UNED Research Journal, 13(1), 4-4.

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36. ^ Pauli, Jonathan N.; Mendoza, Jorge E.; Steffan, Shawn A.; Carey, Cayelan C.; Weimer, Paul J.; Peery, M. Zachariah (7 March 2014). "A syndrome of mutualism reinforces the lifestyle of a sloth". Proceedings of the Royal Society. The Royal Society Publishing. 281 (1778).

37. ^ Montgomery, Sy. "Community Ecology of the Sloth". Cecropia: Supplemental Information. Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009.

38. ^ Soares, C. A.; Carneiro, R. S. (1 May 2002). "Social behavior between mothers × young of sloths Bradypus variegatus SCHINZ, 1825 (Xenarthra: Bradypodidae)". Brazilian Journal of Biology. 62 (2): 249-252. doi:10.1590/S1519-69842002000200008. ISSN 1519-6984. PMID 12489397.

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40. ^ Eisenberg, John F.; Redford, Kent H. (15 May 2000). Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. University of Chicago Press. pp. 624 (see p. 96). ISBN 978-0-226-19542-1. OCLC 493329394. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020.

External links

The dictionary definition of sloth at Wiktionary

Media related to Folivora at Wikimedia Commons

Data related to Folivora at Wikispecies

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sloths are a Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America.

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Take a peek at the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. Read on to learn about life in the slow lane.

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These animals are amazing hosts.

Sloth fur is home to a whole ecosystem, or community of living things. Tiny animals burrow into a sloth's hair to eat delicious algae that often grows there. Hundreds of moths, beetles, cockroaches, and worms can reportedly be found on some sloths.

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These animals have a reputation for being slow-but they'll quickly amaze you. Here are five cool things about sloths.

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In the latest update to the digitisation of Darwin's fossil mammals project, researchers have uploaded the specimens of Megatherium collected by Darwin on the Voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s.

The Megatherium fossils are two halves of the same skull, one held at the Royal College of Surgeons of England Museum and the other at Down House (looked after by English Heritage). The fossils confirmed that, despite weighing up to four tonnes, the extinct animals were indeed related to modern-day sloths.

But what actually was Megatherium?

Megatherium americanum is the scientific name for an extinct species of giant ground sloth. The name means 'great beast from America'.

Discovered in 1787 by Manuel Torres in Argentina, the first M. americanum fossils were shipped to the Museo Nacional de Ciencias in Madrid, where the original skeleton is still on display.

Present day sloths are relatively small mammals. They are less than a metre in length, average around 5 kg in weight and spend most of their time suspended from branches in trees. They are currently restricted to South and Central America.

Sloths are notable for their low energy levels and slow, deliberate movements (hence their name). They are part of a larger group known as the Xenarthra, which includes their distant relatives the armadillos and anteaters.

In contrast to the present day, most extinct sloths lived on the ground and some were many times larger than modern tree sloths.

Megatherium americanum was up to 10 times the size of living sloths reaching weights of up to four tonnes (similar to a present day bull elephant). On its hind legs, M. americanum would have stood a full 3.5 metres (12 feet) tall.

Megatherium americanum is known from Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia. Fossils of the animals have been found in deposits dating from the Middle Pleistocene (around 400,000 years ago) to the beginning of the Holocene (around 8,000 years ago).

We know that they overlapped with humans in time as Megatherium fossils have been found with cut marks on them, suggesting that these giant sloths were on the menu thousands of years ago.

Despite its magnificent claws, M. americanum was a vegetarian. This has been confirmed through chemical analysis of its teeth which record what it ate during life.

It was able to stand and walk on its hind legs, making it the largest bipedal mammal of all time.

Footprints attributed to M. americanum dating to around 14,000 years old have been found in Argentina, just 40 km from a site where the young Charles Darwin collected the remains of this animal between 1832 and 1833.

These specimens collected by Darwin are historically and scientifically important, but also very fragile meaning that physical access to these specimens has had to be restricted to protect the specimens from further damage.

By creating and openly releasing 3D versions of Megatherium specimens' on the Museum's Data Portal we hope to increase access and use of the specimens online.

The Megatherium fossil scans will join those of the specimens - scanned and released earlier this year - in the Darwin Fossil Mammals Dataset on the Museum's portal. They will also be released on 3D model platform Sketchfab.

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Darwin collected fossils of these ancient giant sloths when he visited South America.

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Published February 28, 2018Everybody knows that sloths are slow. It's true the tropical tree dwellers possess the lowest metabolic rates of any non-hibernating mammals.

But when it comes to their biology, the Central and South American critters are anything but boring.

For instance, sloths are actually three times faster in water than they are on land, says Becky Cliffe, a zoologist and founder of the Costa Rica-based Sloth Conservation Foundation. What's more, they float. ( See ridiculously cute pictures of baby sloths.)

"Thirty percent of their body weight is just digesting, fermenting leaves," says Cliffe. "So they've quite a lot of gas in there as well. They're like big balls of air with arms and legs."

Sloth immobility is just one of the many misconceptions Cliffe hopes to dispel with her new book, Sloths: Life In The Slow Lane.

"I really wanted to paint a picture of an animal that is actually perfectly adapted for survival," she says.

Slow Is Not Stupid

How long do you think you could hang upside down in a tree? A minute? Ten? Sloths do it all day, every day.

The six species of sloth have evolved long claws that act like hooks and tendons that draw their digits closed when at rest. Sloths also have a network of blood vessels running through their forearms to keep their muscles cool and reduce energy usage.

Sloths are also shockingly strong, even though their muscle mass is 30 percent less than that of similarly sized animals. That's because their muscles are composed of slow-twitch fibers that provide loads of endurance while not using a lot of energy.

One thing these muscles cannot do is shiver, so sloths bask in sunlight to raise their body temperatures-sort of like a reptile.

Even their digestion is sluggish-Cliffe says it can take up to 30 days to process a single leaf.

Sadly, their slowness has earned sloths a bum rapfor being stupid. ( Watch how sloths slowly navigate the world.)

Some people say if "you fire a gun next to a sloth's head, it won't even turn around," says Cliffe.

In fact, sloths benefit by slowly reacting to danger. The tropical tree dweller evolved alongside the harpy eagle, a bird of prey that can detect even the tiniest of movements.

"They're as smart as they need to be, in their own way."

Watching and Waiting

Though sloths seem easy to follow and photograph, it took wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas about six years to capture all the shots in the new book. On one expedition, Eszterhas and Cliffe and spent eight weeks letting a mother sloth, nicknamed Apple, and her newborn, Pie, acclimate to their presence.

"She used to stay like a hundred feet up in the air, and then she slowly started to come down a little bit more often and give us these little glimpses," says Cliffe.

Patience also paid off on another trip to study and photograph pygmy three-toed sloths, a critically endangered species that lives on a remote island off Panama. (See " Pictures: Pygmy Sloth Among 100 Species Most At Risk.")

Theanimals are smaller than your average housecat and famous for swimming between mangroves, a behavior Cliffe and Eszterhas sat in a boat for five days waiting to see.

"When finally got it on the last day, we were like, 'Yes! Let's go home!'" says Cliffe.

Unfortunately, a tropical storm rolled in, and the pair had to ration water for two days and sleep curled up on the boat. The only good news?

"We were able to pay some fishermen to catch us some lobster and cook it on a fire," says Cliffe.

"And we got the shots, so that's all that matters."

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Sloths May Be Slow, But They're Not Stupid

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A new book challenges misconceptions about the Central and South American tree dwellers.

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It's a good thing sloths don't have to go to school. They'd never make it on time. These drowsy tree-dwellers sleep up to 20 hours a day! And even when they are awake, they barely move at all. In fact, they're so incredibly sluggish, algae actually grows on their fur.

Sloths live in the tropical forests of Central and South America. With their long arms and shaggy fur, they resemble monkeys, but they are actually related to armadillos and anteaters. They can be 2 to 2.5 feet (0.6 to 0.8 meters) long and, depending on species, weigh from 8 to 17 pounds (3.6 to 7.7 kilograms).

There are two main species of sloth, identified by whether they have two or three claws on their front feet. The two species are quite similar in appearance, with roundish heads, sad-looking eyes, tiny ears, and stubby tails. Two-toed sloths are slightly bigger and tend to spend more time hanging upside-down than their three-toed cousins, who will often sit upright in the fork of a tree branch. Three-toed sloths have facial coloring that makes them look like they're always smiling. They also have two extra neck vertebrae that allow them to turn their heads almost all the way around!

Some scientists think sloths developed their slow-motion lifestyle so they would be less noticeable to predators such as hawks and cats, which rely heavily on their eyesight when hunting. The algae that grows on sloths' fur also helps them avoid predators by letting them blend in with green leaves. They rarely come down from the trees. About once every week, they descend to go to the bathroom, slowly moving about by digging their front claws into the dirt and dragging their bodies. If they are caught by a predator, sloths turn from sluggish to slugger, biting fiercely, hissing, slashing with their claws, and shrieking.

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It's a good thing sloths don't have to go to school. They'd never make it on time. These drowsy tree-dwellers sleep up to 20 hours a day! And even when they are awake, they barely move at all. In fact, they're so incredibly sluggish, algae actually grows on their fur.

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How many different species of elephants are there?

How long is the gestation period for elephants?

Are elephants endangered?

elephant, (family Elephantidae), largest living land animal, characterized by its long trunk (elongated upper lip and nose), columnar legs, and huge head with temporal glands and wide, flat ears. Elephants are grayish to brown in colour, and their body hair is sparse and coarse. They are found most often in savannas, grasslands, and forests but occupy a wide range of habitats, including deserts, swamps, and highlands in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia.

The African savanna, or bush, elephant ( Loxodonta africana) weighs up to 8,000 kg (9 tons) and stands 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 feet) at the shoulder. The African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis), which lives in rainforests, was recognized as a separate species in 2000 and is smaller than the savanna elephant. It has slender, downward-pointing tusks. The common belief that there existed "pygmy" and "water" elephants has no basis; they are probably varieties of the African forest elephants.

The Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus) weighs about 5,500 kg and has a shoulder height of up to 3.5 metres. The Asian elephant includes three subspecies: the Indian, or mainland ( E. maximus indicus), the Sumatran ( E. maximus sumatranus), and the Sri Lankan ( E. maximus maximus). African elephants have much larger ears, which are used to dissipate body heat.

Form and function

The trunk (proboscis)

The trunk, or proboscis, of the elephant is one of the most versatile organs to have evolved among mammals. This structure is unique to members of the order Proboscidea, which includes the extinct mastodons and mammoths. Anatomically, the trunk is a combination of the upper lip and nose; the nostrils are located at the tip. The trunk is large and powerful, weighing about 130 kg (290 pounds) in an adult male and capable of lifting a load of about 250 kg. However, it is also extremely dexterous, mobile, and sensitive, which makes it appear almost independent of the rest of the animal. The proboscis comprises 16 muscles. A major muscle covering the top and sides functions to raise the trunk; another covers the bottom. Within the trunk is an extremely complex network of radiating and transverse muscle fascicles that provide fine movement. A total of nearly 150,000 muscle fascicles have been counted in cross sections of trunk. The trunk is innervated by two proboscidean nerves, which render it extremely sensitive. Bifurcations of this nerve reach most portions of the trunk, especially the tip, which is equipped with tactile bristles at regular intervals. At the end of the trunk are flaplike projections enabling it to perform amazingly delicate functions, such as picking up a coin from a flat surface or cracking a peanut open, blowing away the shell, and putting the kernel in the mouth. African elephants have two such extremities (one above and one below); Asian elephants have one. An Asian elephant most often curls the tip of its trunk around an item and picks it up in a method called the "grasp," whereas the African elephant uses the "pinch," picking up objects in a manner similar to that of a human's use of the thumb and index finger. The trunk of the African elephant may be more extendable, but that of the Asian elephant is probably more dexterous.

Elephants use the trunk like a hand in other ways as well. Tool use in elephants involves holding branches and scratching themselves in places that the trunk and tail cannot reach. Large branches are sometimes wielded, and objects may be thrown in threat displays. When elephants meet, one may touch the face of the other, or they will intertwine trunks. This "trunk-shake" can be compared to a human handshake in that it may be associated with similar functions such as assurance and greeting or as a way of assessing strength.

Breathing, drinking, and eating are all vital functions of the trunk. Most breathing is performed through the trunk rather than the mouth. Elephants drink by sucking as much as 10 litres (2.6 gallons) of water into the trunk and then squirting it into the mouth. They eat by detaching grasses, leaves, and fruit with the end of the trunk and using it to place this vegetation into the mouth. The trunk is also used to collect dust or grass for spraying onto themselves, presumably for protection against insect bites and the sun. If danger is suspected, elephants raise and swivel the trunk as if it were "an olfactory periscope," possibly sniffing the air for information.

Elephants produce two types of vocalization by modifying the size of the nostrils as air is passed through the trunk. Low sounds are the growl, rolling growl, snort, and roar; high sounds are the trump, trumpet, pulsated trumpet, trumpet phrase, bark, gruff cry, and cry. Rumbling sounds initially thought to be caused by intestinal activity are now known to be produced by the voice box ( larynx) and are considered to be similar to purring in cats. Vocalizations originate in the larynx and a special structure associated with it, the pharyngeal pouch. In the vast majority of mammals, the throat contains nine bones connected in a boxlike structure, the hyoid apparatus, that supports the tongue and the voice box. Elephants have only five bones in the hyoid apparatus, and the gap formed by the missing bones is filled by muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These looser attachments allow the larynx a great degree of freedom and enable the formation of the pharyngeal pouch just behind the tongue. This unique structure facilitates sound production and has voluntary muscles that allow the pouch to be used as a resonating chamber for calls emitted at frequencies below the range of human hearing. These low-frequency (5-24 hertz) calls are responded to by other elephants up to 4 km (2.5 miles) away. Low-frequency sound waves travel through the ground as well as the air, and results of experiments indicate that elephants can detect infrasonic calls as seismic waves. Elephants can produce a variety of other sounds by beating the trunk on hard ground, a tree, or even against their own tusks.

In addition to sound production, the pharyngeal pouch is presumed to be used for carrying water. For centuries people have observed that on hot days and in times when there is no water nearby, elephants insert their trunks into their mouths, withdraw liquid, and spray themselves with it. The source of this liquid and the ability of elephants to withdraw it have posed a mystery even though the pharyngeal pouch was described in 1875. Two plausible sources of the liquid are the stomach and the pharyngeal pouch. Stomach contents, however, are acidic and would irritate the skin. In addition, the sprayed liquid contains small food particles commonly found in the pharyngeal pouch, as opposed to digested food from the stomach. Finally, repeated field observations attest that elephants can spray themselves while walking or running. As it would be difficult to suck liquid from the stomach while running, the most likely explanation for the liquid's source is the pharyngeal pouch. Another possible function of the pouch is heat absorption, especially from the sensitive brain area above it.

Elephant tusks are enlarged incisor teeth made of ivory. In the African elephant both the male and the female possess tusks, whereas in the Asian elephant it is mainly the male that has tusks. When present in the female, tusks are small, thin, and often of a uniform thickness. Some male Asian elephants are tuskless and are known as muknas. Tusk size and shape are inherited. Tusks are used for defense, offense, digging, lifting objects, gathering food, and stripping bark to eat from trees. They also protect the sensitive trunk, which is tucked between them when the elephant charges. In times of drought, elephants dig water holes in dry riverbeds by using their tusks, feet, and trunks.

Elephants have six sets of cheek teeth (molars and premolars) in their lifetime, but they do not erupt all at once. At birth an elephant has two or three pairs of cheek teeth in each jaw. New teeth develop from behind and slowly move forward as worn teeth fragment in front and either fall out or are swallowed and excreted. Each new set is successively longer, wider, and heavier. The last molars can measure nearly 40 cm (almost 16 inches) long and weigh more than 5 kg (about 11 pounds). Only the last four molars or their remains are present after about 60 years of age. Sometimes tooth loss is the cause of death, as it brings on starvation.

Natural history

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Elephant | Description, Habitat, Scientific Names, Weight, & Facts

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Elephant, largest living land animal, characterized by its long trunk, columnar legs, and huge head with temporal glands and wide, flat ears. Elephants are grayish to brown in color, and their body hair is sparse and coarse. They are found most often in the savannas, grasslands, and forests of Africa and Asia.

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Situs Judi Bola terpercaya Citibet88 juga memberikan pelayanan 24 jam online yang memuaskan terhadap member setia, kami juga membuka pendaftaran baru bagi anda yang tertarik bermain judi bola secara online. Agar anda lebih semangat dalam menikmati permainan taruhan judi online, Citibet88 memberikan bonus-bonus terhadap member-member baru hingga mencapai 10%. Adanya bonus rollingan yang diberikan setiap minggu tentu saja akan membuat kalian semakin betah. para pemain juga bisa melihat penjelasan yang lebih lengkap di menu halaman bonus.

Jika anda berminat pada permainan judi online tersebut, cara daftar yang mudah dengan mengisi formulir pendaftaran di menu daftar yang sudah di sediakan di halaman kami atau anda bisa bertanya kepada customer service yang siap melayani anda dengan cepat dan profesional melalui live chat, whatsapp atau pun line.

Kemananan dan legalitas Judi bola di Sbobet

Sebelum anda memulai taruhan pastikan anda telah memahami terlebih dahulu penting nya keamanan dan legalitas perusahaan Tersebut, Sbobet saat ini telah menjadi situs judi bola yang paling populer dan paling banyak di pilih para pemain judi bola di indonesia maupun internasional karena memiliki beberapa aspek penting yang harus anda ketahui.

Situs Sbobet yang terpercaya akan memiliki keamanan yang kuat untuk melindungi informasi pribadi dan keuangan pemain. Ini termasuk enkripsi data, perlindungan terhadap akses yang tidak sah, dan kebijakan privasi yang ketat.

Platform Sbobet yang andal akan memiliki informasi yang transparan tentang aturan dan ketentuan, termasuk cara mereka mengelola dana pemain dan menangani kecurangan.

Sbobet adalah merek taruhan olahraga online yang dikelola oleh First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corporation, yang diatur dan memiliki lisensi di Filipina. Ini menunjukkan komitmen terhadap praktik bisnis yang legal dan etis.

Sbobet biasanya menggunakan generator angka acak (RNG) untuk memastikan bahwa permainan di situs tersebut adil dan tidak dimanipulasi. Permainan kasino online mereka diuji secara independen untuk keadilan.

Situs taruhan yang andal akan memiliki layanan pelanggan yang responsif. Ini memungkinkan pemain untuk mengatasi masalah atau pertanyaan mereka dengan cepat.

Legalitas perjudian online bervariasi dari satu negara ke negara lain. Penting untuk memahami hukum perjudian online di negara tempat Anda tinggal. Beberapa negara mungkin mengizinkan perjudian online, sementara yang lain melarangnya atau memiliki regulasi yang ketat.

Situs Sbobet biasanya hanya mengizinkan pemain yang berusia 18 tahun ke atas untuk bergabung. Pastikan Anda mematuhi persyaratan usia minimum di negara Anda.

Beberapa negara memiliki badan regulasi yang mengeluarkan lisensi untuk situs taruhan online. Pastikan situs Sbobet memiliki lisensi yang diperlukan di yurisdiksi Anda jika diperlukan oleh hukum setempat.

Di beberapa negara, pendapatan dari perjudian online dapat dikenakan pajak. Pastikan Anda memahami kewajiban pajak dan pelaporan yang berlaku di negara Anda.

SBOBET Judi Online Terbaik Di Indonesia

SBOBET awalnya merupakan perusahaan yang fokus pada penyediaan pasar judi bola online dan taruhan bola. SBOBET memiliki dua lokasi operasi resmi, dilisensikan oleh pemerintah Filipina (Asia) dan Isle of Man (Eropa). Di kawasan ini sendiri terdapat banyak jenis pasar, karena tidak terbatas pada sepak bola saja.

Agen SBOBET secara resmi memasuki Indonesia pada tahun 2000 dan menjadi situs taruhan olahraga online pertama di Indonesia. Khusus untuk pasar taruhan sepak bola, anggota dapat bermain secara online. Seiring waktu dengan agen SBOBET yang terus menyebarkan ke seluruh media. SBOBET tidak lagi terbatas pada taruhan sepak bola, tetapi juga menyediakan pasar taruhan online dari seluruh dunia. bukan cuma taruhan bola, sekarang pengguna sbobet dapat menikmati judi online lainnya, seperti mesin slot, arcade, casino langsung, dan balapan. Setelah waktu pengembangan, SBOBET sekarang menyediakan pasar taruhan untuk game e-sports, menargetkan Bettor Milenium.

Selain agen taruhan sepakbola online paling lengkap, agen SBOBET Indonesia sangat menghargai setiap penggunanya dan selalu memprioritaskan kepuasan pemain dengan menyediakan situs web taruhan sepakbola yang dapat diakses dengan cepat. Sebelum pertandingan dimulai. Agen SBOBET secara resmi memasuki Indonesia pada tahun 1999 dan menjadi situs taruhan olahraga online pertama di Indonesia. Khusus untuk pasar taruhan sepak bola, anggota dapat menginstal langsung atau virtual. Seiring waktu, agen SBOBET terus menyebarkan sayapnya dan terbang tinggi. SBOBET tidak lagi terbatas pada taruhan sepak bola, tetapi juga menyediakan pasar taruhan online untuk olahraga populer lainnya dari seluruh dunia. Tidak lagi berolahraga, sekarang pengguna sbobet dapat menikmati judi online lainnya seperti slot, arcade, mesin kasino langsung, dan balapan. Setelah berkembang, SBOBET sekarang menyediakan taruhan untuk permainan lain nya sebagai berikut.

Arcade cocok untuk pemain yang suka berbagai game konsol bertema. Menyajikan grafik yang indah dengan kualitas gambar terbaik. Apabila langkah tersebut berhasil menyelesaikan tantangan permainan judi arcade, mereka memiliki hak untuk menang. sebagai contohnya adalah perjudian arcade online populer adalah menembak ikan, pancing ikan, bola tangkas dan keno.

Sbobet menyediakan berbagai jenis taruhan olahraga, termasuk sepak bola, basket, tenis, bulu tangkis, balap kuda, tinju, dan masih banyak lagi. Anda dapat memasang taruhan pada berbagai jenis acara olahraga di seluruh dunia.

Sbobet juga menawarkan taruhan langsung atau in-play, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk memasang taruhan saat pertandingan atau acara olahraga Yang sedang berlangsung. Anda dapat mengikuti permainan secara langsung dan mengambil keputusan taruhan secara real-time.

Sbobet memiliki sejumlah permainan kasino online seperti blackjack, roulette, mesin slot, poker, dan permainan meja lainnya. Anda dapat bermain dengan uang asli atau dalam mode demo untuk bersenang-senang.

Sbobet juga menawarkan permainan kasino langsung dengan dealer sungguhan. Ini menciptakan pengalaman kasino yang lebih autentik dengan pemain dapat berinteraksi dengan dealer secara langsung melalui video streaming.

Selain olahraga konvensional, Sbobet juga menawarkan taruhan pada kompetisi esports seperti Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, dan banyak lagi. Esports semakin populer di kalangan penjudi online.

Sbobet juga memiliki permainan togel atau lotere yang beragam. Pemain dapat memilih nomor-nomor untuk berharap mendapatkan hadiah besar.

Sbobet juga menawarkan berbagai permainan lainnya seperti bingo, keno, scratch cards, dan permainan arcade.

Jenis Permainan kasino Online SBOBET

Permainan judi baccarat online menggunakan media kartu. Pemain dapat memilih Pemain atau bankir dengan jumlah yang lebih besar. Atau pilih salah satu di antara keduanya.

Judi roulette online menggunakan bola besi kecil sebagai medianya. Kemudian masukkan bola ke dalam piring berbentuk kubah yang berputar. Tugas pemain adalah memilih di mana bola besi akan berhenti nanti.

Sic Bo adalah permainan judi klasik dari China. Di sini, petugas akan mengocok tiga dadu dalam wadah kedap udara. Tugas pemain adalah menebak jumlah total dadu setelah di kocok dan berhenti. Di Sic Bo, Anda dapat menempatkan besar (hasil jumlah tiga dadu antara 11 dan 17), kecil (hasil jumlah ketiga dadu adalah 4 hingga 10), dan angka ganjil (hasil dari jumlah) tiga Hasil pelemparan dadu ganjil), genap (hasil pelemparan tiga dadu genap), triple spesifik (hasil pelemparan dadu ganda 3), spesifik ganda (hasil pelemparan tiga dadu adalah 2 dadu menunjukkan angka) kembar), sembarang Triple (hasil pelemparan dadu adalah kembaran dari tiga dadu).

Sama seperti baccarat, blackjack menggunakan kartu sebagai media permainannya. Untuk memenangkan permainan ini di Amerika Serikat, nilai total kartu pemain tidak boleh melebihi 21. Jika nilai kartu lebih besar dari kartu bandar, maka pemain juga akan dinyatakan kalah.

Dragon Tiger merupakan permainan bisa dikatakan sebagai versi sederhana dari game Baccarat. Game ini hanya menggunakan dua kartu. Satu kartu bernama Dragon, dan kartu lainnya bernama Tiger. Tugas pemain menebak apakah kartu naga atau harimau memiliki angka tertinggi untuk memenangkan permainan.

Jenis Taruhan Judi di Sbobet Online

Ini adalah taruhan sederhana di mana Anda memilih tim yang akan menang atau pertandingan berakhir imbang. Taruhan akan diselesaikan pada akhir dari permainan dengan durasi yang semestinya, tidak termasuk babak tambahan dan tendangan penalti

Anda bertaruh pada apakah total jumlah gol dalam pertandingan akan melebihi atau kurang dari jumlah gol yang ditetapkan oleh bandar taruhan.

Ini adalah taruhan kombinasi di mana Anda memasang taruhan pada beberapa pertandingan dalam satu taruhan. Untuk memenangkan taruhan parlay, semua pilihan Anda harus benar. Ini bisa menghasilkan pembayaran yang lebih tinggi daripada taruhan tunggal.

Anda memasang taruhan pada hasil pertandingan pada babak pertama (Half-Time) dan hasil keseluruhan (Full-Time). Misalnya, Anda dapat memasang taruhan bahwa tim akan unggul pada babak pertama dan memenangkan pertandingan secara keseluruhan.

Anda memasang taruhan pada skor akhir yang tepat dari pertandingan.

Taruhan Pencetak Gol Pertama

Anda memilih pemain yang Anda yakini akan mencetak gol pertama dalam pertandingan.

Taruhan Kartu dan Pelanggaran

Anda dapat bertaruh pada jumlah kartu kuning, kartu merah, atau jumlah pelanggaran dalam pertandingan.

Anda memasang taruhan pada jumlah tendangan sudut dalam pertandingan.

Keamanan bermain di Agen Sbobet Terpercaya

Karena permintaan akan judi online yang modern dan mudah diakses. Selain itu, keamanan pemain atau member adalah konten utama yang disediakan oleh SBOBET. Tidak ada lagi pasar acak, karena setiap pasar SBOBET didasarkan pada BetRadar (sumber pemasok pasar olahraga yang diakui dunia). Anda tidak perlu lagi menunggu pasar dari kota. Atau, kehilangan uang karena kesalahan yang dibuat oleh komunikasi yang buruk di masa lalu. Penting juga bahwa Anda dapat meninjau riwayat taruhan.

Agen SBOBET juga memberikan Anda User ID (User ID) khusus yang dapat diperoleh melalui agen SBOBET di Indonesia. Kata sandi dilampirkan sesuai kebutuhan, tetapi harus dirahasiakan. Setelah berhasil mengakses SBOBET dengan username pribadi Anda, Anda dapat melihat dan mengkategorikan semua pasar olahraga, dari jenis olahraga, level liga, waktu pertandingan hingga jenis taruhan yang Anda inginkan.

Menjunjung tinggi kepercayaan member adalah faktor utama yang membuat SBOBET bertahan hingga saat ini. SBOBET memastikan bahwa setiap anggota dapat mengunjungi situs web penyedia pasar taruhan bola paling aman, di mana informasi pribadi anggota dilindungi dan dilindungi secara ketat. Artinya data member tidak akan bocor ke pihak manapun.

Pilihan SBOBET juga tidak terlepas dari kualitas dan inovasi permainan judi online. Seperti disebutkan di atas, anggota memiliki beberapa jenis taruhan. Kemudian juga ditunjang dengan kecepatan yang sudah dibutuhkan oleh para member judi online. Misalnya, kecepatan dan kenyamanan dalam melakukan transaksi. Nilai deposit terendah cukup terjangkau. Sementara itu, mereka menggunakan bank ternama seperti BRI, BNI, BCA dan Mandiri dalam proses transfernya. Sekarang lebih mudah, karena transaksi bisa dilakukan dengan mata uang digital (Dana, Ovo, GoPay atau LinkAja).

Strategi Judi Bola Meraih Kemenangan di Sbobet

Saat ini banyak sekali pemain atau pemula yang belum memahami cara bermain judi bola dengan baik di situs sbobet, berikut ini adalah strategi terbaik cara untuk meraih kemenangan di sbobet dari Situs Judi Citibet88 sebagai berikut:

Melakukan penelitian menyeluruh tentang tim, pemain, dan pertandingan sangat penting. Tinjau statistik, sejarah pertemuan, cedera pemain, performa terbaru, dan faktor lain yang dapat memengaruhi hasil pertandingan.

Fokus pada Liga yang Anda Pahami

Pilih liga atau kompetisi sepak bola yang Anda pahami dengan baik. Pengetahuan mendalam tentang tim dan gaya bermain mereka dapat memberikan keunggulan dalam membuat taruhan yang cerdas.

Manajemen Bankroll yang Bijak

Tetapkan batasan harian, mingguan, atau bulanan pada jumlah uang yang Anda siapkan untuk bertaruh. Jangan pernah melebihi batasan ini, bahkan jika Anda mengalami kekalahan.

Pilih Taruhan dengan Hati-Hati

Jangan bertaruh pada setiap pertandingan. Pilih taruhan dengan hati-hati berdasarkan analisis Anda, dan pertimbangkan untuk fokus pada jenis taruhan tertentu yang Anda kuasai.

Pantau Perkembangan Pertandingan

Saat bermain di pertandingan langsung (live betting), perhatikan perkembangan pertandingan secara langsung. Ini memungkinkan Anda untuk membuat taruhan yang lebih akurat.

Manfaatkan Bonus dan Promosi

Jika situs Sbobet menawarkan bonus atau promosi, manfaatkan mereka dengan bijak untuk meningkatkan peluang Anda.

Jaga emosi Anda tetap terkendali. Hindari membuat keputusan taruhan impulsif berdasarkan emosi, terutama saat mengalami kekalahan.

Pertimbangkan untuk menggunakan teknik seperti taruhan dengan variasi kecil (flat betting) atau strategi taruhan yang lebih konservatif untuk mengurangi risiko kerugian besar

Jangan Ikuti kerumuman

Hindari mengikuti pendapat umum atau tren saat ini. ikutin prediksi anda sendiri, Kadang-kadang, peluang yang paling menguntungkan mungkin berlawanan dengan mereka.

Setelah taruhan selesai, tinjau kembali hasilnya. Apa yang bisa dipelajari dari taruhan Anda? Apakah Anda membuat keputusan yang cerdas?

Tetapkan aturan dan patuhi. Jangan melanggar dan ikutin perturan yang sudah anda tentukan dari awal.

Pelajari dari para ahli taruhan atau pemain berpengalaman. karena Mereka mungkin memiliki wawasan berharga yang dapat membantu Anda.

Cara Mudah Daftar Akun SBOBET

Sebelum bertaruh pada taruhan bola online, Anda harus memiliki ID SBOBET terlebih dahulu. Anda bisa mendapatkan akun ini dengan mendaftar di agen SBOBET terpercaya. Caranya sangat sederhana dan hanya membutuhkan waktu kurang dari 5 menit. Cukup isi data-data valid pada formulir pendaftaran, salah satu syarat utamanya adalah calon member harus berusia di atas 18 tahun. Setelah itu, lanjutkan konfirmasi dengan agen layanan pelanggan SBOBET. Jika demikian, silakan deposit untuk mulai bertaruh.

Anggota bisa mendapatkan layanan obrolan waktu nyata dari SBOBET Center. Situs utama SBOBET ditandai dengan kombinasi biru muda dan biru tua. Namun, perlu juga dicatat bahwa situs web SBOBET telah berubah karena rencana Internet yang sehat di Indonesia. Untuk masuk, agen sbobet biasanya selalu memberikan tautan alternatif kepada member. Tautan sbobet juga dapat disajikan dalam berbagai model, dari desktop ke seluler.

Harap dicatat bahwa anggota SBOBET harus memahami semua aturan dan risiko yang terlibat saat bermain game di situs web ini. Agen SBOBET juga sangat memperhatikan anggotanya yang kecanduan judi bola. Fungsi yang mereka berikan adalah untuk mengatur anggaran pemasangan Anda dalam taruhan. SBOBET juga memiliki fitur yang dapat memblokir Anda untuk mengakses akun SBOBET Anda selama 7, 30, atau 90 hari. Daftar sekarang juga dengan agen SBOBET resmi terpercaya di Indonesia dan dapatkan penawaran terbaiknya.

Apa itu SBOBET88 ?

SBOBET88 adalah situs judi online yang menyediakan taruhan olahraga, termasuk taruhan bola. Mereka menawarkan beragam pasar taruhan dan akses ke liga sepak bola dari seluruh dunia.

Apakah SBOBET88 Aman dan Terpercaya?

SBOBET88 adalah situs judi yang telah lama beroperasi dan memiliki reputasi yang baik. Mereka memiliki lisensi resmi dan menggunakan teknologi keamanan canggih untuk melindungi data pemain.

Apakah SBOBET88 Menyediakan Aplikasi Mobile?

Ya, SBOBET88 menyediakan aplikasi mobile yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melakukan taruhan melalui perangkat seluler. Anda dapat mengunduh aplikasi ini untuk pengalaman taruhan yang lebih praktis.

Apakah SBOBET88 Menyediakan Layanan Pelanggan 24/7?

SBOBET88 menyediakan layanan pelanggan 24/7. Anda dapat menghubungi dukungan mereka melalui live chat, sms, atau nomor telepon yang tersedia untuk menjawab pertanyaan atau membantu dengan masalah teknis.

Apakah SBOBET88 Menawarkan Taruhan pada Olahraga Selain Sepak Bola?

Selain sepak bola, SBOBET88 juga menawarkan taruhan pada berbagai olahraga lain seperti tenis, bulu tangkis, basket, pacuan kuda, dan masih banyak lagi.

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Citibet88 : Situs Agen SBOBET | Agen Judi Bola Online Terpercaya

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Citibet88 adalah Agen SBOBET Terpercaya Dan Situs judi bola online Indonesia yang menyediakan permainan Seperti SBOBET, Maxbet, Slot ,Casino dengan bonus menarik.

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What do elephants eat? Not surprisingly, elephants eat massive amounts of food - in the case of the African elephant, as much as 660 pounds (~300 kg) in a single day. The smaller Indian elephant eats less - but still a lot for you or me - a maximum of about 330 pounds (~150 kg) - an human adult only eats about four pounds of food a day.

An African elephant can weigh as much as 16,500 pounds, making it the largest terrestrial animal.* Keeping a body that massive moving requires many football-fields-full of vegetation. It also takes huge amounts of water. Wild elephants spend most of their time either looking for food or eating it once they find it.

African elephants can drink as much as 50 gallons (~190 liters) of water in a single day. Because they drink so often and so much, in the wild they are never far from water, though they may live in a variety of habitats, from thick jungle to open savannas.

Elephants are not only grazers but also browsers, which makes it easier for them to find food. They eat plants of almost any size, from grass up to trees.

What do elephants eat in captivity? Their keepers (such as the mahout shown at right, feeding his elephant) may give them cabbage, lettuce, sugar cane, apples, and bananas, as well as other fruits and vegetables. But hay is the mainstay of a captive elephant's diet. And on a daily basis, elephants eat much less than the maximum amounts mentioned above. For example, according to the website of the National Zoo in Washington, Indian elephants eat only "125 pounds of hay, ten pounds of herbivore pellets, ten pounds of vegetables and fruits, and a few leafy branches."

On one winter visit to the Atlanta Zoo, the author even saw Indian elephants eating Christmas trees! They just put their feet on the trunk, ripped the branches off and ate them whole.

Elephants use their trunks to bring food to their mouths, ripping up grass from the ground or pulling leaves from trees. They also use their trunks to drink. They do this by sucking water part way up their trunks and then squirting it into their mouths.

What do elephants eat in the wild?

Under natural conditions, elephants eat mostly grass, tree leaves, flowers, wild fruits, twigs, shrubs, bamboo, and bananas. Their main food is grass when it's available, along with some leaves.

But if the weather turns dry and grass dies back, they will eat almost any kind of vegetation they can find. They will knock down trees to eat their foliage. They will even turn to bark and the woody parts of plants.

Also elephants use their tusks to dig for roots. Much of this coarse food passes through their system without being thoroughly digested. They also use their tusks to dig for water, making it available not only to themselves, but also to other types of animals.

Of course, female elephants eat even more when they're pregnant - and they are pregnant for a long, long time - longer than any other terrestrial animal. The Indian elephant gestation period usually lasts a little over 21 months (~646 days), while African elephant gestation usually lasts even longer - around 22 months ( Nowak 1999), nearly two years. That's a lot of time for extra snacks!

Tipping in at 5,500 to 13,000 pounds (~2,500-5,900 kg), the Indian elephant loves sugar cane and other crops so much that it has become an agricultural pest, raiding and ruining gardens and rice paddies. As people continue to cultivate more and more land that once was elephant habitat, conflicts between farmers and elephants are bound to increase.

Baby elephant eating

Elephant teeth

As you might expect, eating so much food has an impact on elephant teeth. When elephants eat, they grind their massive back teeth together. Over time this action wears down the tooth enamel. But unlike most other animals, for them, it's not a problem. Throughout their lives, elephants grow new teeth, which push forward from the back of their mouths, replacing the old, worn-out ones, which are pushed out at the front, usually in pieces. Beats going to the dentist!

Next page >>

Elephant hybrids >>

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* That is, about 7,500 kg. However, the normal weight range for an African elephant is less, 9,000-14,000 pounds (~4,100-6,350 kg) for males, and 5,300-7,700 pounds (~2,400-3,500 kg) for females;

What do elephants eat? - © Macroevolution.net

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What do elephants eat? - Online Biology Dictionary

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What do elephants eat? You might not know what they enjoy for lunch, but an elephant never forgets!

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As the world’s largest land mammal, elephants have quite the commanding presence. But did you know elephants can’t jump? Or that baby elephants lose their first set of teeth and tusks, just like humans? Learn about both Asian and African elephants and the threats facing these highly intelligent animals today.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Abundant fossil bones, teeth, trackways, and other hard evidence have revealed that Earth was the domain of the dinosaurs for at least 230 million years. But so far, not a single trace of dinosaur remains has been found in rocks younger than about 66 million years. At that point, as the Cretaceous period yielded to the Paleogene, it seems that all nonavian dinosaurs suddenly ceased to exist.

Along with them went fearsome marine reptiles such as the mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs, as well as all the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs. Ancient forests seem to have flamed out across much of the planet. And while some mammals, birds, small reptiles, fish, and amphibians survived, diversity among the remaining life-forms dropped precipitously. In total, this mass extinction event claimed three quarters of life on Earth.

Piecing together what happened has been a massive effort for paleontologists, and theories for what killed the dinosaurs and the rest of the planet's Cretaceous inhabitants have ranged from the plausible to the downright zany. For now, two leading ideas are battling it out within the scientific community: Were dinosaurs victims of interplanetary violence, or more Earthly woes?

Death from above

One of the most well-known theories for the death of the dinosaurs is the Alvarez hypothesis, named after the father-and-son duo Luis and Walter Alvarez. In 1980, these two scientists proposed the notion that a meteor the size of a mountain slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, filling the atmosphere with gas, dust, and debris that drastically altered the climate.

Their key piece of evidence is an oddly high amount of the metal iridium in what's known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg, layer-the geologic boundary zone that seems to cap any known rock layers containing dinosaur fossils. Iridium is relatively rare in Earth's crust but is more abundant in stony meteorites, which led the Alvarezs to conclude that the mass extinction was caused by an extraterrestrial object. The theory gained even more steam when scientists were able to link the extinction event to a huge impact crater along the coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. At about 93 miles wide, the Chicxulub crater seems to be the right size and age to account for the dino die-off.

In 2016, scientists drilled a rock core inside the underwater part of Chicxulub, pulling up a sample stretching deep beneath the seabed. This rare peek inside the guts of the crater showed that the impact would have been powerful enough to send deadly amounts of vaporized rock and gases into the atmosphere, and that the effects would have persisted for years. And in 2019, paleontologists digging in North Dakota found a treasure trove of fossils extremely close to the K-Pg boundary, essentially capturing the remains of an entire ecosystem that existed shortly before the mass extinction. Tellingly, the fossil-bearing layers contain loads of tiny glass bits called tektites-likely blobs of melted rock kicked up by the impact that solidified in the atmosphere and then rained down over Earth.

Volcanic fury

However, other scientists maintain that the evidence for a massive meteor impact event is inconclusive, and that the more likely culprit may be Earth itself.

Ancient lava flows in India known as the Deccan Traps also seem to match nicely in time with the end of the Cretaceous, with massive outpourings of lava spewing forth between 60 and 65 million years ago. Today, the resulting volcanic rock covers nearly 200,000 square miles in layers that are in places more than 6,000 feet thick. Such a vast eruptive event would have choked the skies with carbon dioxide and other gases that would have dramatically changed Earth's climate.

Proponents of this theory point to multiple clues that suggest volcanism is a better fit. For one, some studies show that Earth's temperature was changing even before the proposed impact event. Other research has found evidence for mass die-offs much earlier than 66 million years ago, with some signs that dinosaurs in particular were already in a slow decline in the late Cretaceous. What's more, volcanic activity is frequent on this planet and is a plausible culprit for other ancient extinctions, while giant meteor strikes are much more rare. This all makes sense, supporters say, if ongoing volcanic eruptions were the root cause of the world-wide K-Pg extinctions.

Why not both?

Increasingly, scientists trying to unravel this prehistoric mystery are seeing room for a combination of these ideas. It's possible the dinosaurs were the unlucky recipients of a geologic one-two punch, with volcanism weakening ecosystems enough to make them vulnerable to an incoming meteor.

But that notion depends a lot on more precise dating of the Deccan Traps and the Chicxulub crater. In 2019, two independent studies looked at geochemical clues from Deccan Traps lava and came to slightly different conclusions, with one paper suggesting the volcanoes played a supporting role in the dinosaurs' demise by causing pre-impact declines, and the other saying the eruptions came after the impact event and may have played only a small role in ushering along their end.

This debate may rage for years, as scientists dig up new clues and develop new techniques for understanding the past. But whether space invaders or loads of lava are to blame, it's clear that scientists studying the dinosaurs' last gasp are revealing vital lessons about the effects of dramatic climate change on Earth's inhabitants.

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Learn about the mass extinction event 66 million years ago and the evidence for what ended the age of the dinosaurs.

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Dinosaur | Definition, Types, Pictures, Videos, & Facts

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Dinosaur, the common name given to a group of reptiles, often very large, that first appeared roughly 245 million years ago and thrived worldwide for nearly 180 million years. Most died out by the end of the Cretaceous Period. Many lines of evidence show that one lineage evolved into birds about 155…

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Discover dinosaur news, videos, quizzes and crafts. Find out facts about dinosaurs, including Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, and uncover what science is revealing about the appearance and lives of these prehistoric animals.

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Ready for a roar-some prehistoric adventure? Then join NG Kids as we meet seven of our favourite dinosaurs!

The most famous dino of them all, the T-rex was armed with jaws which remain the most powerful weapon nature has ever created. Its thick, sharp teeth could rip almost 100kg of flesh off its victims in a single bone-crunching chomp!

It was also one of the smartest of the meat-eating dinosaurs with a brain twice as big as those of other giant carnivores. More than 20 almost-complete skeletons have been found, and the most perfect, nicknamed Sue, was unearthed in South Dakota, USA, 20 years ago. Experts together spent more than 25,000 hours restoring Sue's bones for exhibition. Awesome!

Name: Velociraptor
Lived: 80 million years ago
Size: Up to 2m long
Discovered: Mongolia
Say it: Veh-loss-ih-rap-tore

In 1924, the first velociraptor remains were discovered in Mongolia's Gobi Desert by the American Roy Chapman Andrews - the man believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character!

Although small, velociraptors were quite clever and could move very fast (the name means 'speed thief'), using their long tails for balance as they ran after their tasty prey. These carnivorous creatures hunted in packs, and probably ate mostly small lizards and mammals. They may have even eaten other velociraptors' babies. Yikes!

With its long, thick skull, crowned with bony spikes and horns, this plant-eater has caused debate among experts. Some think the fossils found are from a previously unknown animal. Others believe that it died young, and that if it had lived longer, its sharp horns would have grown into deer-like antlers until it became a stygimoloch, an already-known dinosaur. It's full name is actually dracorex hogwartsia, so it's the only dino to be named after Harry Potter's school!

Some dinosaurs were taller. Some were just as long. But overall, the argentinosaurus was the biggest, and by far the heaviest, weighing up to 100 tonnes - that's as much as 20 elephants! Still, it didn't look so big in the "monkey puzzle" forests where it lived - these giant trees can grow to 25m tall! But even the planet's most colossal creature wasn't safe from predators. Although being 10 times lighter, mapusauruses, the largest known meat-eating dinosaurs, would hunt argentinosaurus in packs!

Discovered just 10 years ago, the nothronychus' distinctive features show scientists that it is related to the therizinosaurus, which lived far, far away in what is now Central Asia! With bird-like hips, a big "pot belly" and four, forward-turning toes on each foot, it walked - slowly! - on its hind legs, leaving its huge but nimble clawed arms free to tear down branches and plants to eat. It seems this creature has a lot to teach us. Before it was found, experts believed that the area where it lived had been under the sea!

This hefty, horned herbivore still holds the record for the largest skull of any land animal ever! Measuring 3m long, its spectacular skull featured five horns, as well as a huge "frill" at the back of its head which may have evolved to protect its neck. Experts believe that the horns were too thin to be much use for fighting off big predators and that perhaps they were more for showing off! Pentaceratops also had a parrot-like beak for chomping through tough plants. Who's a pretty boy, then?

When it comes to being well-defended, this mighty plant-eater is pretty hard to beat. Weighing in at about a tonne - as heavy as a large car - its body was covered in tough bony plates. Huge spikes up to 30cm long grew from the gastonia 's shoulders, back and along its sides, while thick layers of bone protected its brain and a smooth plate across its hips guarded its spine. On its powerful tail, double rows of jagged barbs lined each side so the animal could lash out at attackers. Nasty!

For more dino-mite adventures, check out the National Geographic Kids Dinopedia book, available at Waterstone's and other good book retailers now.

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Meet Some Deadly Dinos! - National Geographic Kids

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Take a prehistoric journey with NG Kids to meet seven amazing dinosaurs! Learn all about these brilliant beasts - when dinosaurs lived, how big they were, what they ate and more!

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Each Wednesday, One Earth's "Species of the Week" series highlights a relatively unknown and fascinating species to showcase the beauty, diversity, and remarkable characteristics of our shared planet Earth.
You may be surprised to find that Grimpoteuthis is the name of neither a Muppet nor a Disney character. Rather, it's a genus of pelagic umbrella octopuses known as the dumbo octopuses. With features as adorable as its name suggests, the dumbo octopus is small, compared to other octopods, at only an average 20-30 cm - slightly larger than an adult guinea pig. It propels itself through the water and navigates currents with specialized flippers on top of its head that look just like ears - hence the moniker, Dumbo, after the fictitious elephant that used its ears to fly.

Grimpoteuthis's other unusual traits are adaptations to life in the cold, pressurized depths of the ocean. There are 13 recognized species of umbrella octopuses, which exhibit a variety of shapes and colors and have the ability to "flush" or camouflage themselves to their environment. Unlike most octopuses, the Dumbo octopus doesn't have an ink sac because it rarely encounters predators in the deep sea.

As the ocean depths and seafloor remain largely unexplored, dumbo octopuses are a rare sight for researchers, and are largely unaffected by human activity. But that doesn't mean they don't have worries: since they live in such deep water, prey are almost as scarce as predators. They forage for their food, eating pelagic invertebrates that swim above the sea floor, like polychaete worms, pelagic copepods, isopods, amphipods, and other crustaceans for food. When they find something to eat, they swallow it whole.

Since dumbo octopuses are naturally rare, they've developed behaviors that increase their chances of successfully reproducing anytime they can find a mate. Females always carry eggs in different stages of development, and are able to store the sperm packets handed off to them by males for long periods of time. That way, they can transfer sperm to their most developed eggs any time the environmental conditions are right for reproducing. They lay their eggs on the bottom of the sea floor, attached to rocks or other hard surfaces. The young octopuses are large when they are born and must survive on their own immediately. A dumbo octopus typically lives only around 3 to 5 years, making them inviable as pets, or as captive animals - in addition to the fact that they cannot survive outside of the highly pressurized waters of the deep sea: that's why you'll never find one in an aquarium or a pet store.

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Fun facts about the fantastic deep sea dumbo octopus | One Earth

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As the ocean depths and seafloor remain largely unexplored, dumbo octopuses are a rare sight for researchers, and are largely unaffected by human activity.

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The dozen or so species that make up Grimpoteuthis are called Dumbo octopuses because of the two large fins-one on either side of the mantle-that protrude like ears.

Add in the octopus's small size (generally around eight inches), relatively short arms, bell-shaped body, pale coloring, and tendency to hover over the seafloor, and you've got a cephalopod that's often called the cutest octopus in the world.

Deepest known octopus

Dumbo octopuses live at extreme depths in oceans around the world-up to 13,000 feet below the surface-and are the deepest-living octopuses known. They feed on snails, worms, and other creatures they hoover up from the ocean floor.

They are "cirrate" octopuses, a group of deep-sea octopuses that have slender protrusions trailing from their suckers called cirri. The role of cirri is not known, but it's thought to have something to do with feeding.

They propel themselves through the water by flapping their strong fins, not by expelling water forcefully from their siphons-a process called jet propulsion-as other octopuses do. Webbing between their arms aids them in swimming.

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The Dumbo octopus is known as the cutest octopus in the world because of its pudgy shape and fins that look like gigantic ears.

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Grimpoteuthis spp, are known as the deepest living of all octopus species. They live on the seafloor or hover just slightly above it at depths of depths of 3000 to 4000 m (9800 to 13000 ft), The similarity of the ear-like fins protruding from the top of the mantle of the Dumbo octopus to the ears of the Disney character, Dumbo, the Flying elephant, led to the common name, dumbo. There are about 17 species of Dumbo octopus that belong to a group called “umbrella octopus,” because they are able to float with an umbrella-like look to their mantle. While these species can “flush” color as do more shallow species, their mouth structure is different. It has a degenerated radula-type opening that allows it to swallow prey whole instead of having to tear and grind it. This feeding characteristic unique to the genus Grimpoteuthis.

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When you think of "dumbo," you might automatically picture the elephant from the classic Disney film famous for his big ears. Yes, that Dumbo is pretty adorable, but what if I told you that deep down in the ocean there lived an even cuter dumbo that is much smaller than its namesake?
Meet the deep-sea octopus, also known as the dumbo octopus!
The dumbo octopus got its name due to its prominent ear-like fins that help propel it slowly through the water. (And yes, it is named after the fictional flying figure!) There are a whopping 17 recognized species of dumbo octopuses in the genus Grimpoteuthis. They are a group of umbrella octopuses, which means they have webbed skin connecting their tentacles that gives them a bell shape.

Measuring at an average of just eight to 12 inches in length, the dumbo is the deepest-living octopus and can be found-that is, if you can see in the dark and stand the cold-water temperature-between about 1,000-13,000 feet beneath the ocean surface. The deepest recorded sighting of a dumbo octopus was in 2020 at more than 20,000 feet below the surface! Because it lives so deep in the sea, the dumbo octopus rarely encounters predators. In turn, the cute little creature doesn't have an ink sac like most octopuses do since the defense mechanism is not needed. When it's time to eat, the dumbo octopus doubles as a Dyson and vacuums up worms, snails and other critters from the ocean floor and swallows them whole.

The dumbo octopus reproduces in an uncommon way compared to other marine animals as there isn't necessarily a "breeding season." Instead, a female can continuously lay eggs in various spots, such as coral, shells or rocks. A male conveniently hands over an encapsulated sperm packet, which the female can then use for fertilization at any time. The average life expectancy of the dumbo octopus is three to five years.

Though it is believed that the dumbo octopus could be living worldwide, species have been found off the coast of California, Oregon and in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Australia, the Azores, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and New Zealand. Much remains to be known about this elusive, endearing creature because it lives at nearly immeasurable depths.
But there is one thing we do know for sure: The dumbo octopus is one of the most adorable animals we've ever sea-n!

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A Deep Dive with the Dumbo Octopus - Ocean Conservancy

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It's not a deep sea-cret: they're delightfully adorable

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The name dumbo octopus refers not just to one species but to an entire genus of deep-sea umbrella octopuses, noted for their fins that resemble Dumbo the elephant's ears (of Disney fame). There are at least 15 species of dumbo octopuses, and like all umbrella octopuses, their arms are connected by a web of skin, causing them to resemble umbrellas when their arms are spread apart.

Dumbo octopuses live in the deep open ocean down to depths of at least 13,100 feet (4000 m) and perhaps much deeper, making this group the deepest living of all known octopuses. Life at these extreme depths requires the ability to live in very cold water and in the complete absence of sunlight. Dumbo octopuses are naturally rare, and the deep sea is enormous, so these species have specialized behaviors to increase the likelihood that they can successfully reproduce anytime that they find a mate. Females apparently always carry eggs in different stages of development, and they are able to store sperm for long periods of time after mating with a male. Using these advantages, female dumbo octopuses can transfer sperm to their most developed eggs any time the environmental conditions are right for reproducing. Though they spend much of their lives suspended above the seafloor, dumbo octopuses lay their eggs on the bottom, attached to rocks or other hard surfaces.

Dumbo octopuses move by slowly flapping their ear-like fins, and they use their arms to steer. They are foraging predators and eat pelagic invertebrates that swim above the sea floor. As there are few large predators in the deep sea, dumbo octopuses' primary predators are diving fishes and marine mammals, including tunas, sharks, and dolphins. Due to their preference for extreme depths, they are only very rarely captured in fishing nets and are probably not threatened by human activities.

1. The Dumbo octopus is named after Disney's Dumbo the elephant character, from the eponymous movie, that was famous for its big ears.

2. Unlike most octopuses, the Dumbo octopus doesn't have an ink sac because it rarely encounters predators in the deep sea.

3. The Dumbo octopus uses its ear-like fins to propel through the water and steers using its webbed arms. ¹

4. The Dumbo octopus is the deepest-living genus of all known octopuses. It lives at least 13,100 feet (4,000 m) below the surface.

5. The largest Dumbo octopus ever recorded was 5 feet 10 inches (1.8 m) long and weighed 13 pounds (5.9 kg), but most species are an average size of 7.9 to 12 inches (20-30 cm) long. ²
References:
¹ The MarineBio Conservation Society

² Aquarium of the Pacific

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The name dumbo octopus refers not just to one species but to an entire genus of deep-sea umbrella octopuses, noted for their fins that resemble Dumbo the elephant's ears (of Disney fame). There are at least 15 species of dumbo octopuses, and like all umbrella octopuses, their arms are connected by a web of skin, ...

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Dolphin, toothed whale of the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) or the families Platanistidae and Iniidae (river dolphins).

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Here are our top 10 facts about dolphins

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From rivers to oceans, dolphins can be found all over the world and in nearly all aquatic environments.

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Here's a conversation worth talking about: A mother dolphin chats with her baby...over the telephone! The special call was made in an aquarium in Hawaii, where the mother and her two-year-old calf swam in separate tanks connected by a special underwater audio link. The two dolphins began squawking and chirping to each other-distinctive dolphin chatter.

Cracking the Code

"It seemed clear that they knew who they were talking with," says Don White, whose Project Delphis ran the experiment. "Information was passing back and forth pretty quickly." But what were they saying? That's what scientists are trying to find out by studying wild and captive dolphins all over the world to decipher their secret language. They haven't completely cracked the code yet, but they're listening ... and learning.

Chatty Mammals

In many ways, you are just like the more than 30 species of dolphins that swim in the world's oceans and rivers. Dolphins are mammals, like you are, and must swim to the surface to breathe air. Just as you might, they team up in pods, or groups, to accomplish tasks. And they're smart.

They also talk to each other. Starting from birth, dolphins squawk, whistle, click, and squeak. "Sometimes one dolphin will vocalize and then another will seem to answer," says Sara Waller, who studies bottlenose dolphins off the California coast. "And sometimes members of a pod vocalize in different patterns at the same time, much like many people chattering at a party." And just as you gesture and change facial expressions as you talk, dolphins communicate nonverbally through body postures, jaw claps, bubble blowing, and fin caresses.

Thinking Dolphin

Scientists think dolphins "talk" about everything from basic facts like their age to their emotional state. "I speculate that they say things like 'there are some good fish over here,' or 'watch out for that shark because he's hunting,'" says Denise Herzing, who studies dolphins in the Bahamas.

When the going gets tough, for instance, some dolphins call for backup. After being bullied by a duo of bottlenose dolphins, one spotted dolphin returned to the scene the next day with a few pals to chase and harass one of the bully bottlenose dolphins. "It's as if the spotted dolphin communicated to his buddies that he needed their help, then led them in search of this guy," says Herzing, who watched the scuffle.

Language Lessons

Kathleen Dudzinski, director of the Dolphin Communication Project, has listened to dolphins for more than 17 years, using high-tech gear to record and analyze every nuance of their language. But she says she's far from speaking "dolphin" yet. Part of the reason is the elusiveness of the animals. Dolphins are fast swimmers who can stay underwater for up to ten minutes between breaths. "It's like studying an iceberg because they spend most of their lives underwater," Dudzinski says.

Deciphering "dolphin speak" is also tricky because their language is so dependent on what they're doing, whether they're playing, fighting, or going after tasty fish. It's no different for humans. Think about when you raise a hand to say hello. Under other circumstances, the same gesture can mean good-bye, stop, or that something costs five bucks. It's the same for dolphins. During fights, for example, dolphins clap their jaws to say "back off!" But they jaw clap while playing, too, as if to show who's king of the underwater playground.

"I have not found one particular dolphin behavior that means the same thing every time you see it," says Dudzinski. "If you like mysteries and detective work, then this is the job for you." And who knows-maybe someday you'll get a phone call from a dolphin.
Text by Crispin Boyer

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Find out how dolphins "speak" to each other.

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The 36 dolphin species share more than a few characteristics. Among them, the aquatic mammals look like they’re smiling, and they seem to love to play.

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Arctic fox, ( Vulpes lagopus), northern fox of the family Canidae, found throughout the Arctic region, usually on tundra or mountains near the sea.

Fully grown adults reach about 50-60 cm (20-24 inches) in length, exclusive of the 30-cm (12-inch) tail, and a weight of about 3-8 kg (6.6-17 pounds). As an adaptation to the climate, Arctic foxes have short rounded ears, a short muzzle, and fur-covered soles. Coloration depends on whether the animal is of the "white" or the "blue" colour phase. Individuals of the white phase are grayish brown in summer and white in winter, while those of the blue phase (blue foxes of the fur trade) are grayish in summer and gray-blue in winter.

The Arctic fox is a burrow dweller and may be active at any time of day. It feeds on whatever animal or vegetable material is available and often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of their kills. During summer it preys primarily on rodents, such as lemmings; however, it may also take birds. In the winter the Arctic fox hunts birds (such as ptarmigan, grouse, and puffins) and even reindeer, in addition to rodents. The Arctic fox falls prey to larger carnivores, such as polar bears, wolves, and wolverines, and to hunting by humans.

It usually breeds once yearly, producing a litter of up to 20 dark-furred pups that are born between April and June; gestation is about 52 days. The pups are weaned at about 45 days after birth and leave the den to live on their own starting in September or October of the same year. Young become sexually mature at 9-10 months of age. Arctic foxes can live up to 10 years in zoos; in the wild their life expectancy is about 3 years.

Worldwide, the population of the Arctic fox is thought to be several hundred thousand animals, and thus the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the Arctic fox as a species of least concern. Hunting the animal for its fur remains common among native Arctic peoples. However, the population pressure once applied by the fur hunting industry has fallen drastically with the industry's substantial decline since the end of the 20th century.

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Arctic fox | Adaptations, Habitat & Diet

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Arctic fox, (Vulpes lagopus), northern fox of the family Canidae, found throughout the Arctic region, usually on tundra or mountains near the sea. Fully grown adults reach about 50-60 cm (20-24 inches) in length, exclusive of the 30-cm (12-inch) tail, and a weight of about 3-8 kg (6.6-17 pounds).

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Not far from the North Pole, the world is frozen for thousands of miles. Suddenly a snowy mound wiggles and reveals two dark eyes. The lump is transformed into the furry white body of a lone arctic fox. The canine casually shakes the blanket of snow off her thick coat-the key to her survival. But warm fur alone might not keep this fox alive during the polar winter, when temperatures rarely get above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Until spring arrives, this arctic fox will rely on some freeze-defying strategies, making it a champion of the cold.

BUILT FOR THE ARCTIC

Arctic foxes live on the land and sea ice within the Arctic Circle. Winter in the Arctic is unlike winter in most parts of the world. From October to February, the sun never rises to shine warmth and light.

Luckily, these small foxes have some useful adaptations for living in the icy Arctic. Their thick fur coat keeps the fox's body at a toasty 104°F. Their long, fluffy tails act like a blanket, keeping the fox warm when it wraps the tail around its body to sleep.

Their feet also have a layer of thick fur, like built-in snow boots. This helps muffle an arctic fox's footsteps, making it harder for prey to hear them. And their white coats make it difficult for predators such as wolves, polar bears, and golden eagles to spot them among the ice and snow.

FINDING FOOD

When it's not trying to keep warm or avoid predators, an arctic fox is on the hunt for food. They prefer to eat small rodents called lemmings, but when times are tough they'll eat whatever they can find: insects, berries, and even the droppings of other animals. Sometimes an arctic fox will follow a polar bear on a hunting trip and eat the bear's leftovers.

If a fox can't find food, or if the weather gets really bad, it can dig a snow den and hunker down for up to two weeks. As long as a fox is warm, it can slow down its heart rate and metabolism, which helps the animal save energy so it doesn't have to eat as much. It's sort of like how bears hibernate, but for a shorter period of time.

Once the animal emerges from its den, it'll try to hunt again. With food in its belly, the arctic fox has a better chance of making it through another long, dark winter.

ARCTIC FOX FAST FACTS

* An arctic fox can smell a seal den a mile away.

* Arctic foxes can be white, brown, or even blueish-gray. Its color depends on the time of year.

* Arctic fox dens are used for generations-some are as old as 300 years.

* These foxes have small ears. That reduces heat loss because less is exposed to the cold.

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Not far from the North Pole, the world is frozen for thousands of miles. Suddenly a snowy mound wiggles and reveals two dark eyes. The lump is transformed into the furry white body of a lone arctic fox. The canine casually shakes the blanket of snow off her thick coat-the key to her survival.

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Watch Meet and Greet: Seraphina the Red Fox on Epic

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The Cheetah's Wild Life

There are three stages in the life cycle of the cheetah: cub (birth to 18 months), adolescence (18 to 24 months) and adult life (24 months and on).

The gestation (pregnancy) period for the cheetah is 93 days, and litters range in size from one or two up to six cubs (the occasional litter of eight cubs has been recorded, but it is rare). Cub mortality is higher in protected areas like national parks and wildlife reserves where proximity to large predators is greater than in non-protected areas. In such areas, the cheetah cub mortality can be as high as 90%.

Adult life for a cheetah in the wild is difficult. Cheetahs in the wild (both male and female combined) have an average age span of 10 - 12 years. The average lifespan of an adult male in the wild skews lower (8 years), due in part to territorial conflicts with competing groups of males. Adult mortality is one of the most significant limiting factors for the growth and survival of the wild cheetah population.
Captive Population Info
Physical Characteristics of Adult Cheetahs

Adult cheetahs' weight averages between 75 and 125 pounds. They can measure from 40 to 60 inches in length, measured from the head to the hind quarters. The tail can add a further 24 to 32 inches bringing the total overall length up to 7.5 feet. On average, cheetahs stand 28 to 36 inches tall at the shoulder.

The cheetah is a sexually dimorphic species though it is difficult to identify cheetahs' sex by appearance alone. Male cheetahs are slightly bigger than females and they have larger heads, but they do not display the same degree of physical difference between the sexes of other big cat species like lions.

Cheetahs have a thin frame with a narrow waist and deep chest. They have large nostrils that allow for increased oxygen intake. Cheetahs have a large lungs and hearts connected to a circulatory system with strong arteries and adrenals that work in tandem to circulate oxygen through their blood very efficiently.

With its long legs and very slender body, the cheetah is quite different from all other cats and is the only member of its genus, Acinonyx. The cheetah's unique morphology and physiology allow it to attain the extreme speeds for which it's famous.

Markings

The cheetah's undercoat ranges in color from light tan to a deep gold and is marked by solid black spots. These spots are not open like the rosettes found on a leopard or jaguar's coat, which is one way to quickly identify the cheetah.

Distinctive black tear stripes run from the eyes to the mouth. The stripes are thought to protect the eyes from the sun's glare. It is believed that they have the same function as a rifle scope, helping cheetahs focus on their prey at a long distance range by minimizing the glare of the sun.

Cheetah tails end with a bushy tuft encircled by five or six dark rings. These markings provide them with excellent camouflage while hunting and make them more difficult for other predators to detect. The tail is also thought to be a signaling device, helping young cubs follow their mothers in tall grass. The tip of the tail varies in color from white to black among individuals.

Built for Speed

The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal and Africa's most endangered big cat. Uniquely adapted for speed, the cheetah is capable of reaching speeds greater than 110 kilometers per hour in just over three seconds. At top speed, their stride is seven meters long. The cheetah's unique body structure: flexible spine, semi-retractable claws, long legs and tail allow it to achieve the unbelievable top speed of 110 km/hr (70 mph). The cheetah's body is narrow and lightweight with long slender limbs. Specialized muscles allow for a greater swing to the limbs increasing acceleration.

Cheetahs' foot pads are hard and less rounded than the other cats. The pads function like tire treads providing them with increased traction in fast, sharp turns. The short blunt claws, which are considered semi-retractable, are closer to that of a dog than of other cats. The claws work like the cleats of a track shoe to grip the ground for traction when running to help increase speed.

Fast and Flexible

The flexibility of the cheetah's spine is unique. The cheetah's long muscular tail works like a rudder, stabilizing, and acting as a counterbalance to its body weight. Swinging the tail back and forth continually adjusting to the movement of prey allows for sudden sharp turns during high speed chases. The cheetah's shoulder blade does not attach to the collar bone, thus allowing the shoulders to move freely.

The hips pivot to allow the rear legs to stretch far apart when the body is fully extended. The hip and shoulder extension allows for a large range of extension during running, thus making both its exceptional stride length. The length between their steps is six to seven meters (21 ft) and four strides are completed per second. There are two times in one stride when the cheetah's body is completely off the ground: once when all four legs are extended and once when all four legs are bunched under the body.

Cheetah Cubs

At birth, the cubs weigh 8.5 to 15 ounces and are blind and helpless. Their mother will groom them patiently, purring quietly and providing them warmth and security. After a day or so, the mother will leave the cubs to hunt for herself, so she can continue to care for the cubs. This is the most vulnerable time for the cubs, as they are left unprotected. They will live in a secluded nest until they are about six to eight weeks old, being regularly moved by their mother from nest to nest to avoid detection by predators. The mother will care for her cubs on her own for the next year and a half.

At about six weeks of age

The cubs begin following their mother on her daily travels as she is looking for prey. During these first few months she cannot move far or fast and cub mortality is highest. Fewer than one in 10 cubs will survive during this time, as they perish from predation by other large predators such as lions and hyenas, or from injuries. This is the time when life skills are taught.

Cheetah cubs have a thick silvery-grey mantle down their back. The mantle helps camouflage the cubs by imitating the look of an aggressive animal called a honey badger. This mimicry may help deter predators such as lions, hyenas, and eagles from attempting to kill them. Cubs lose their mantle at about three months of age.

Between four to six months of age

Cheetah cubs are very active and playful. Trees provide good observation points and allow for development of skills in balancing. The cubs' semi non-retractable claws are sharper at this age and help them grip the tall 'playtrees' they climb with their siblings. Learning to hunt is the most critical survival skill that the cubs will develop. At one year of age, cheetah cubs participate in hunts with their mother.

At about 18 months of age

The mother and cubs will finally separate. Although not fully adept at hunting on their own, independent male and female cubs will stick together for a few more months to master their hunting skills. When the adolescent females begin cycling, dominant males will court them and drive their brothers away.

Male Coalitions

As the female siblings become sexually mature they will split from the group to lead a largely independent life. Male siblings remain together for the rest of their lives, forming a group known as a coalition. Coalitions increase hunting success and act as a defense against other predators.

When the split from sisters occurs, the males will roam until they can find and defend a territory. This process can take a few years and males may travel hundreds of miles, being moved out of one area to another, pushed on by more experienced male coalitions. Eventually, the group will find a place where they can settle. This will become the coalition's territory and could span 15 to 30 square miles.

Cheetahs that become orphaned at a young age, and are brought into a rehabilitation situation, can be paired with non-related individuals to form a coalition. When these cheetahs are released back into the wild, the created coalitions will often remain intact throughout the life of the individuals.

Mating

Females lead solitary lives unless they are accompanied by their cubs. Unlike male cheetahs that prefer to live in set territories with their coalition, females travel within "home ranges" that overlap multiple male groups' territories. Female cheetah home ranges depend on the distribution of prey. If prey is roaming and widespread, females will have larger ranges.

Estrus in female cheetahs is not predictable or regular. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to breed cheetahs in captivity. Mating receptivity depends on environmental factors that, researchers have found, are triggered by the proximity of males and their scent markings. Estrus lasts up to 14 days and females will mate with multiple males during this time period. Male cheetahs that encounter a female cheetah in estrus will stay with her and mate up to three days and at intervals throughout the day. When it comes to mating, there are no dominant males within the coalition that claim exclusive access to females. All males within a coalition will mate.

Genetic Diversity

During the last Ice Age the world's population of cheetahs plummeted to just a handful of individuals. This event caused an extreme reduction of the cheetah's genetic diversity, known as a population bottleneck, resulting in the physical homogeneity of the species' current population. Cheetahs are so genetically similar that in experiments, reciprocal skin grafts from unrelated cheetahs were accepted by the other's immune system due to the animals having similar major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotypes.

Researchers have discovered that suitable levels of genetic diversity are vital to any population's ability to adapt and overcome environmental changes and unexpected disasters. Unsustainable human expansion and irresponsible consumption can cause pressure on ecosystems worldwide. Population research has shown that when habitat is destroyed and populations become fragmented and isolated, the rate of inbreeding increases and the genetic diversity lowers.

Physiological impairments such as: poor sperm quality, focal palatine erosion, susceptibility to infectious diseases, and kinked tails are a result of low genetic diversity within both the wild and captive cheetah population.

Hunting

Cheetahs are visual hunters. Unlike other big cats cheetahs are diurnal, meaning they hunt in early morning and late afternoon. Cheetahs climb 'playtrees' or termite mounds to get an optimal vantage point for spotting prey against the horizon. The hunt has several components. It includes prey detection, stalking, the chase, tripping (or prey capture), and killing by means of a suffocation bite to the throat.

Diet and Eating

The prey species on which the cheetah depends have evolved speed and avoidance techniques that can keep them just out of reach. Cheetahs prey includes: gazelles (especially Thomson's gazelles), impalas and other small to medium-sized antelopes, hares, birds, and rodents. Cheetahs will also prey on the calves of larger herd animals.

Cheetahs generally prefer to prey upon wild species and avoid hunting domestic livestock. The exception happening in sick, injured and either old or young and inexperienced cheetahs. Generally, the livestock animals that are lost to predation by cheetahs are also sick, injured and old/young. Keeping livestock in kraals and utilizing non-lethal means of protection can dramatically reduce livestock predation.

Activity

While cheetahs can reach remarkable speeds, they cannot sustain a high speed chase for very long. They must catch their prey in 30 seconds or less as they cannot maintain maximum speeds for much longer. Cheetahs spend most of their time sleeping and they are minimally active during the hottest portions of the day. They prefer shady spots and will sleep under the protection of large shady trees. Cheetahs do not hunt at night, they are most active during the morning and evening hours.

Role in the Ecosystem

The cheetah serves a special role in its ecosystem. Cheetahs are one of the most successful hunters on the savanna but their kills are very often stolen by larger carnivores or predators that hunt in groups. Predators play an important role in any ecosystem. They keep prey species healthy by killing the weak and old individuals. They also act as a population check which helps plants-life by preventing overgrazing. Without predators like the cheetah, the savanna ecosystem in Namibia would be very different and the current ecological trend toward desertification would be accelerated.

Vocalizations

Unlike other "big cats", a classification that includes: lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars) cheetahs don't roar. They growl when facing danger, and they vocalize with sounds more equivalent to a high-pitched chirp or bubble and they bark when communicating with each other. The cheetah can also purr while both inhaling and exhaling.

Species Then and Now

Relatives of the modern cheetah had worldwide distribution until about 20,000 years ago, when the world's environment underwent dramatic changes during the Great Ice Age. Only a handful of individuals remained.

The population of cheetahs rebounded. Up until ~10,000 years ago their range spread across the entire African continent (minus the Congo Basin and the Sahara Desert) and into Asia from the Arabian Peninsula to eastern India. Today, cheetahs are found in only 9% of their historic range and are functionally extinct. Once found throughout Asia and Africa, today there are fewer than 7,100 adult and adolescent cheetahs in the wild.

Protected Status

Currently, cheetahs are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In Namibia, they are a protected species. Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, they are considered Endangered. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists them as an Appendix 1 species. Most wild cheetahs exist in fragmented populations in pockets of Africa, occupying a mere 9 percent of their historic range. In Iran, fewer than 50 Asiatic cheetahs (a sub-species) remain.

The largest single population of cheetahs occupies a six-country polygon that spans Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Zambia. Namibia has the largest number of individuals of any country, earning it the nickname, "The Cheetah Capital of the World." More than 75 percent of remaining wild cheetahs live on rural farmlands alongside human communities.

Cheetahs in Captivity

In captivity cheetahs can live from 17 - 20 years. In countries across Africa, like Namibia, it is illegal to capture and take live cheetahs from the wild. Also in the majority of African countries, like Namibia, it is illegal to keep cheetahs under private ownership or as pets. Cheetah Conservation Fund and other Africa-based NGOs keep populations of injured or orphaned animals in captivity as part of rehabilitation and rewilding efforts.

Suitability for release is dependent on:

the age of the individuals when they became orphaned

the degree to which human intervention was required for their survival

Very young and extremely ill animals will have greater degrees of contact with human caretakers. Survival in the wild depends on an aversion to humans and avoidance of human populations. Cheetahs that require hand-rearing and prolonged medical treatment do not possess an adequate fear of humans for life in the wild, especially when their territories are increasingly likely to be shared by human settlements.

Zoos and Conservation

Accredited zoos around the world participate in captive breeding programs that track the genetic suitability for mating pairs. Accreditation criteria differs between accrediting organizations. Accreditation in most cases requires that zoos holding captive cheetahs must support conservation work. Cheetah Conservation Fund lists the zoos that fund our conservation work here.

Cheetah Conservation Fund manages the International Cheetah Studbook for captive cheetah populations.

Specialized Conservation Needs

As with all other species fighting extinction, the problem facing the cheetah is complex and multifaceted. However, most of the reasons for the cheetah's endangerment can be grouped into three overarching categories:

human-wildlife conflict,

loss of habitat and loss of prey,

poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking, with cubs being taken from the Horn of Africa and smuggled into the exotic pet trade, primarily in the Gulf States.

Human-Wildlife Conflict

Unlike other large cats and pack predators, cheetahs do not do well in wildlife reserves. These areas normally contain high densities of other larger predators like the lion, leopard, and hyena. Predators such as these, compete with cheetahs for prey and will even kill cheetahs given the opportunity. In such areas, the cheetah cub mortality can be as high as 90%. Therefore, roughly 90% of cheetahs in Africa live outside of protected lands on private farmlands and thus often come into conflict with people.

When a predator threatens a farmer's livestock, they also threaten the farmer's livelihood. Farmers act quickly to protect their resources, often trapping or shooting the cheetah. Because cheetahs hunt more during the day, they are seen more often than the nocturnal predators which contributes to a higher rate of persecution on the cheetah.

Habitat Loss

Cheetahs require vast expanses of land with suitable prey, water, and cover sources to survive. As wild lands are destroyed and fragmented by the human expansion occurring all over the world, the cheetah's available habitat is also destroyed. Available habitat is fragmented, and degraded reducing the number of animals an area can support. Numerous landscapes across Africa that could once support thousands of cheetahs now struggle to support just a handful.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

In many parts of the world there are strong cultural associations to keeping cheetahs as companions. There is a long history of the practice and it is commonly seen in ancient art.

In contemporary times, cheetahs are still viewed as status symbols. Though cheetah ownership and exotic pet ownership has been outlawed in many countries, there is still a high demand for cheetahs as pets. Cubs are illegally captured from the wild and only one in six survives the journey to a potential buyer.

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About Cheetahs * Cheetah Facts * Cheetah Conservation Fund *

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Learn about cheetahs from Cheetah Conservation Fund. CCF has the world's leading experts on cheetahs including our founder Dr. Laurie Marker.

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These cats are nimble at high speeds, able to make quick and sudden turns in pursuit of prey. Cheetahs' bodies are uniquely adapted to help them reach top speeds, from their long, slender limbs and hard foot pads to the flexible spine that gives them their long stride.

Cheetahs are famous for their tawny coats covered in black spots, each arranged in a unique pattern to help the animals identify one another. Bold black stripes streak like tears from the inner corners of their eyes down to both sides of their mouths, and the ends of their bushy tails have black rings.

The cheetah's excellent eyesight helps it find prey during the day. The cheetah is hard to see because its spotted coat blends with the tall, dry grass of the plains.

Cheetahs eat small- to medium-size animals, such as hares, impalas, wildebeest calves, and gazelles.

Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, some scientists consider cheetahs to be one of the "big cats." Tigers, lions, leopards, and jaguars are also part of this grouping. Unlike the rest of the group, cheetahs can't roar, though they can they purr.

Although they typically prefer open grasslands, cheetahs live in a range of habitats across eastern and southern Africa.

Once found throughout Asia and Africa, cheetahs today are racing toward extinction. Loss of habitat and declining numbers of their prey combine to threaten the future of these cats.

Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you're most like with our personality quiz.

(AD) Check out Hoops to Hippos!: True Stories of a Basketball Star on Safari by Boris Diaw for more animals.

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Fastest mammal on land, the cheetah can reach speeds of 60 or perhaps even 70 miles (97 or 113 kilometers) an hour over short distances. It usually chases its prey at only about half that speed, however. After a chase, a cheetah needs half an hour to catch its breath before it can eat.

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What is the cheetah?

The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. With acceleration that would leave most automobiles in the dust, a cheetah can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in only three seconds. Wild cheetahs are thought to be able to reach speeds of nearly 70 miles an hour -although they can only sustain that speed for about 30 seconds. These cats are nimble at high speeds, able to make quick and sudden turns in pursuit of prey.

There's some debate over whether cheetahs are "big cats." Some scientists argue that the term only refers to cats that are capable of roaring: lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. Cheetahs can't roar, though they can they purr. Still, conservation groups tend to embrace the wider definition of " big cats " that also includes snow leopards and cougars.

Even though their speed makes them fearsome hunters, cheetahs are the most vulnerable of the world's big cats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature currently lists the cheetah as vulnerable to extinction. However, in recent years, scientists have argued that cheetahs should be considered endangered instead, pointing to sizable losses in cheetah populations. There are fewer than 7,000 adult cheetahs remaining in the wild.

Appearance and habitat

Cheetahs are famous for their tawny coats covered in black spots, each arranged in a unique pattern to help the animals identify one another. Bold black stripes streak like tears from the inner corners of their eyes down to both sides of their mouths, and the ends of their bushy tails are encircled by black rings. As the only big cat with a semi-retractable claw-rather than the fully retractable claws that help lions tear flesh and climb trees-cheetahs are the sole member of the genus Acinonyx.

Cheetahs' coats can vary depending on their habitat. Although they typically prefer open grasslands, cheetahs live in a range of habitats across eastern and southern Africa. One subspecies, the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah, can only be found in Iran, and only a few hundred are believed to be left.

Cheetahs in desert regions are sometimes smaller with paler coats, while some cheetahs in southern Africa have a genetic mutation that gives them larger spots and even stripes. There have also been rare sightings of spotless cheetahs in Kenya.

Speed and hunting

Cheetahs' bodies are uniquely adapted to help them reach top speeds, from their long, slender limbs and hard foot pads to the flexible spine that gives them their long stride. The cat's light tail acts like a rudder, and its semi-retractable claws act like the spikes on a sprinter's shoe to offer stability during the chase. Cheetahs also have large nasal cavities that help them gulp in oxygen, while the shape of their inner ears allows them to maintain balance and keep their heads still as they run. (Explore the mesmerizing physics of animal locomotion.)

Before unleashing their speed, cheetahs use their exceptionally keen eyesight to scan the grassland for signs of prey- especially antelopes and warthogs, although cheetahs also prey on smaller animals such as hares and birds. The cheetah is a daylight hunter that benefits from stealthy movement and a spotted coat that allows it to blend easily into high, dry grasses.

Cheetahs begin a hunt by stalking their prey. When the moment is right, a cheetah will sprint after its quarry and attempt to knock it down. Such chases cost the hunter a tremendous amount of energy and are usually over in less than a minute. If successful, the cheetah begins eating its kill quickly to prevent opportunistic animals like lions and hyenas from getting in the way. Cheetahs rarely scavenge for food and stay hydrated by drinking the blood or urine of their prey.

Social structure and reproduction

Unlike lions, cheetahs don't live in groups. Female cheetahs live on their own, each with a large home range. Females in areas such as the Serengeti, where the prey is migratory, typically follow the herds. Meanwhile, males are either solitary or form small coalitions with one or two other males, typically their littermates. Some males establish small territories in areas where they are likely to find mates.

Both male and female cheetahs mate with several partners, and studies show that cubs of the same litter can have different fathers. Female cheetahs typically have a litter of three cubs that live with them for about a year and a half. Young cubs spend that time learning from their mother and practicing hunting techniques with playful games. After leaving their mother, littermates stick together for another six months before the females strike out on their own.

Threats to survival

Cheetah populations are under pressure as the open grasslands they favor are disappearing to human occupation and development. Given their solitary lives and the size of their home ranges, cheetahs need large areas of connected habitat- likely upwards of 3,800 square miles-to find mates and ultimately survive as a species. However, human settlements have fragmented their habitat, and most protected areas are not large enough to sustain cheetah populations.

Conflict with humans, who they're increasingly sharing space with, is another significant threat. If a cheetah kills a goat or sheep, the livestock owner may kill the cheetah in retaliation.

Cheetahs also face threats from hunting and the illegal wildlife trade, where they're sold for their skins and as pets. No one knows how many cubs are taken from the wild for the pet trade each year, but some estimates say it may be several hundred.

Cheetahs also face fierce competition for prey, and their cubs are particularly vulnerable to predation from lions.

Compounding all these problems, cheetahs have an extremely low level of genetic variation, which is essential for a species to evolve in the face of environmental changes and disease. This lack of genetic variation is thought to have nearly caused their extinction at the end of the last ice age -and scientists fear it leaves them vulnerable to extinction today.

Conservation

Cheetah conservation is particularly difficult given their wide geographic range-it requires large-scale, regional collaboration across countries. Hunting cheetahs is illegal in most of the countries where they can be found, as is owning them as pets. They've been protected from international commercial trade since 1975, under the Convention on Trade in International Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

In Africa, almost all of the countries in the cat's range participate in regional conservation efforts that aim to address habitat loss by improving land planning, raising awareness of the need to save cheetahs, and promoting the peaceful coexistence of cheetahs and humans.

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The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. With acceleration that would leave most automobiles in the dust, a cheetah can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in only three seconds. Wild cheetahs are thought to be able to reach speeds of nearly 70 miles an hour -although they can only sustain that speed for about 30 seconds.

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Australian Cashmere goat

The Australian Cashmere goat is a breed of Cashmere domestic goats originating in Australia. Whilst retaining the fertility and hardiness of the bush goat, the Australian Cashmere is quite different in appearance and temperament. In midwinter, it has an excellent overall coverage of long, dense cashmere.

Goats were liberated on the islands off the coast of Australia by Dutch and Portuguese navigators long before the British settlement of Australia. The introduced goats came from a great variety of backgrounds and they acclimatised readily to the Australian environment. Most pre-1830 prints of early Australia show the animals on the hills in the background as goats. Some early efforts were made to develop a goat fleece industry in Australia. William Riley, in 1832 imported "Angora-Cachemire" animals to his property, Raby, New South Wales. In that year, he delivered a paper to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of New South Wales in an effort to encourage the development of a Cashmere/Angora fleece industry in Australia. A further 150 years were needed for Australian graziers to develop some of his concepts. An advertisement also appeared in 1832 in the Western Australia publication "Colonial Paper" for young half-bred Cashmere bucks offered for sale at three pounds each by W. Tanner of Caversham.

The gold rush period likely brought the demise of the infant goat industry. Prior to the gold rush, flocks of grazing animals, goats and sheep were controlled by shepherds. Most abandoned their charges in favour of making their fortune on the gold fields. The landowners then had to make some attempt at fencing their runs. Rudimentary fences could be erected to control sheep, which on large runs without fences would keep to the open plains. The goats were not controlled by fences and actively sought the rougher country as their browsing environment, thus forming the large herds of wild (or bush) goats that became well established in much of inland Australia. Eventually, the spread of settlement pushed these herds back into the semiarid, sparsely settled areas of the country.

Other introductions occurred in Australia in the 1800s. Wilson (1873) records that Dr. Chalmers imported 49 Cashmere goats through Melbourne in 1863 from Chinese Tartery. At this time, Wilson was running his own flock of Cashmere goats at Longerenong in Western Victoria. These were descendants of one male and two females imported from India.

Through the intervening years, history records many references to goats in Australia. In 1879, herds of goats roaming the streets of Sydney created such a nuisance that police action was required to get them away. Goat racing in which goats were driven by youths in light gigs became very popular at the end of the century, particularly in Queensland. The famous opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, was so taken with the spectacle at Rockhampton, Queensland, that she arranged for the running of the Melba Derby.

Cashmere kids playing

Cashmere was effectively rediscovered on Australian goats in 1972 when two Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) researchers, Dr. Ian Smith and Mr. Wal Clarke, identified cashmere on some feral goats under inspection at the property of the Australian Mohair Company at Brewarrina. For a number of years, the CSIRO maintained a small research herd of selected animals at their Prospect laboratory until budget restraints forced their dispersal. Some important early histological work was carried out during this period.

By the late 1970s, a number of breeders were toying with the concept of developing and breeding an Australian Cashmere goat. Much of this early breeding was hampered by a lack of knowledge of the problems involved and by lack of a fibre market.

Interest and morale were given a major boost when in August 1980 Dawson International Limited PLC, Scotland, then the world's largest cashmere processors, purchased a property at Adelong, N.S.W., with the view to setting up a demonstration farm to encourage Australian cashmere production. The chairman of Dawson International Limited, Sir Alan Smith, saw the world cashmere supply situation tightening. Although cashmere represented only a small percentage of the volume of fibre handled by the company, it accounted for 50% of the turnover and was a major contributor to company profitability.

Gilroy, Clinton (1844). The Art of Weaving, by Hand and by Power: With an Introductory Account of Its Rise and Progress... New York: George D. Baldwin. pp. 270-271. cashmere france.

Simmonds, A.J. (2001). Australian Goat Notes. Albury Australia: Thompson Printing Pty. Ltd. ISBN 0-9590950-2-0. Archived from the original on 2019-10-03.

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The Australian Cashmere goat is a breed of Cashmere domestic goats originating in Australia. Whilst retaining the fertility and hardiness of the bush goat, the Australian Cashmere is quite different in appearance and temperament. In midwinter, it has an excellent overall coverage of long, dense cashmere.

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more about goats

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Why do goats' eyes look like they do?

When do a goat's horns stop growing?

How are a goat's horns removed?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

goat, any ruminant and hollow-horned mammal belonging to the genus Capra. Related to the sheep, the goat is lighter of build, has horns that arch backward, a short tail, and straighter hair. Male goats, called bucks or billys, usually have a beard. Females are called does or nannys, and immature goats are called kids. Wild goats include the ibex and markhor.

Domesticated goats are descended from the pasang ( Capra aegagrus), which is probably native to Asia, the earliest records being Persian. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America, the domestic goat is primarily a milk producer, with a large portion of the milk being used to make cheese. One or two goats will supply sufficient milk for a family throughout the year and can be maintained in small quarters, where it would be uneconomical to keep a cow. For large-scale milk production, goats are inferior to cattle in the temperate zone but superior in the torrid and frigid zones. Goat flesh is edible, that from young kids being quite tender and more delicate in flavour than lamb, which it resembles. Some breeds, notably the Angora and Cashmere, are raised for their wool ( see also wool; cashmere; Angora goat); young goats are the source of kid leather.

Selected breeds of goats are provided in the table.

name

use

distribution

characteristics

comments

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Goat | Description, Breeds, Milk, & Facts

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Goat, any ruminant and hollow-horned mammal belonging to the genus Capra. Related to the sheep, the goat is lighter of build, has horns that arch backward, a short tail, and straighter hair.

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Breeds of Goats - Oklahoma State University

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Learn more about the various goat breeds across the world in a list organized alphabetically.

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Wikipedia

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The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mostly on the tundra. It has a number of unique adaptations to its habitat and lifestyle, which are quite distinct from other extant owls. One of the largest species of owl, it is the only owl with mainly white plumage. Males tend to be a purer white overall while females tend to more have more extensive flecks of dark brown. Juvenile male snowy owls have dark markings that may appear similar to females until maturity, at which point they typically turn whiter. The composition of brown markings about the wing, although not foolproof, is the most reliable technique to age and sex individual snowy owls.

Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the snowy owl is often active during the day, especially in the summertime. The snowy owl is both a specialized and generalist hunter. Its breeding efforts and global population are closely tied to the availability of tundra-dwelling lemmings, but in the non-breeding season, and occasionally during breeding, the snowy owl can adapt to almost any available prey - most often other small mammals and northerly water birds, as well as, opportunistically, carrion. Snowy owls typically nest on a small rise on the ground of the tundra. The snowy owl lays a very large clutch of eggs, often from about 5 to 11, with the laying and hatching of eggs considerably staggered. Despite the short Arctic summer, the development of the young takes a relatively long time and independence is sought in autumn.

The snowy owl is a nomadic bird, rarely breeding at the same locations or with the same mates on an annual basis and often not breeding at all if prey is unavailable. A largely migratory bird, snowy owls can wander almost anywhere close to the Arctic, sometimes unpredictably irrupting to the south in large numbers. Given the difficulty of surveying such an unpredictable bird, there was little in-depth knowledge historically about the snowy owl's status. However, recent data suggests the species is declining precipitously. Whereas the global population was once estimated at over 200,000 individuals, recent data suggests that there are probably fewer than 100,000 individuals globally and that the number of successful breeding pairs is 28,000 or even considerably less. While the causes are not well understood, numerous, complex environmental factors often correlated with global warming are probably at the forefront of the fragility of the snowy owl's existence.

The snowy owl was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name Strix scandiaca. The genus name Bubo is Latin for " horned owl" and scandiacus is Neo-Latin for "of Scandinavia". The former generic name Nyctea is derived from Greek meaning "night". Linnaeus originally described the different plumages of this owl as separate species, with the male specimens of snowy owls being considered Strix scandiaca and the likely females considered as Strix nyctea. Until recently, the snowy owl was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo and the species is now thusly often considered inclusive with that genus. However, some authorities debate this classification, still preferring Nyctea. Often authorities are motivated to retain the separate genus on the grounds of osteological distinctions.

The engraving Snowy Owl, Plate 121 of The Birds of America by John James Audubon. Male (top) and female (bottom).

Genetic testing revealed a reasonably distinct genetic makeup for snowy owls, being about 8% genetically distinct from other Bubo owls, perhaps giving credence to those who count the species as separate under Nyctea. However, a fairly recent shared origin in evolutionary history has been illustrated through a combination of genetic study and fossil review and there is little, other than osteology of the tarsometatarsus, to outright distinguish the snowy owl from other modern species like the Eurasian eagle-owl ( Bubo bubo). Genetic testing has indicated that the snowy owl may have diverged from related species at around 4 million years ago. Furthermore, it has determined that the living species genetically most closely related to the snowy owl is the great horned owl ( Bubo virginianus). On a broader scale, owls in general have, through genetic materials, been determined to be a highly distinct group, with outwardly similar groups such as Caprimulgiformes revealed to not be at all closely related. Within the owl order, typical owls are highly divergent from barn-owls. Furthermore, the Bubo genus likely clustered at some point during the evolutionary process with other largish owls, such as , and , based on broad similarities in their voice, reproductive behaviors (i.e. hooting postures) and a similar number and structure of chromosomes and autosomes. A number, but not all, of extant typical owls seem to have evolved from an ancient shared common ancestor with the Bubo owls. In addition to the question of relationship of the traditional Bubo owls to the snowy owls, ongoing ambiguity of the relationship of other similarly large-sized owls has been persistent. These have sometimes either been included in the genus or within separate genera, i.e. the or fish owls and the Scotopelia or fishing owls. Despite the adaptive distinctions, the grouping of these large owls (i.e. Bubo, snowy, fish and perhaps fishing owls) appears to be borne out via research of karyotypes.

The fossil history of snowy owls is fairly well documented despite some early confusion on how to distinguish the skeletal structure of the snowy owls from eagle-owls. It was determined that the snowy owl once was distributed much more widely and far farther to the south during the Quaternary glaciation when much of the Northern Hemisphere was in the midst of an ice age. Fossil records shows that snowy owls once could be found in Austria, Azerbaijan, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sardinia and Spain as well as in the Americas in Cape Prince of Wales, Little Kiska Island, St. Lawrence Island, and in Illinois. In the Late Pleistocene the range expanded southward even more so to Bulgaria (80,000-16,000 years, Kozarnika Cave, W Bulgaria). and much of the Italian Peninsula. Pleistocene era fossils from France, i.e. B. s. gallica, showed that the snowy owls of the time were somewhat bulkier (though still notably smaller than contemporary eagle-owls of the times, which were larger than the eagle-owls of today) and osteologically more sexually dimorphic in size than the modern form (9.9% dimorphism in favor of females in the fossils against 4.8% in the same features today). There are no subspecific or other geographical variations reported in the modern snowy owls, with individuals of vastly different origins breeding together readily due to their nomadic habits. Despite apparent variations in body size, environmental conditions are the likely variant rather than genetics. No evidence could be found of phylogeographic variation in snowy owls upon testing. Furthermore, the snowy owl appears to have a similar level of genetic diversity as other European owls.

Snowy owls are not known to interbreed with other owl species in the wild, and accordingly, no hybrids of snowy owls and other owl species have yet been sighted in the wild. However, a hobby falconer in Kollnburg, Germany, bred hybrids from a male snowy owl and a female Eurasian eagle-owl ( Bubo bubo) in 2013. The two resulting male hybrid owls possessed the prominent ear-tufts (generally absent in snowy owls), general size, orange eyes, and the same pattern of black markings on their plumage from their Eurasian eagle-owl mother, while retaining the generally black-and-white plumage colours from their snowy owl father. The hybrids were dubbed " Schnuhus" from the German words for snowy owl and Eurasian eagle-owl ( Schnee-Eule and Uhu, respectively). As of 2014, the hybrids had grown to maturity and were healthy.

Description

The snowy owl is mostly white. They are purer white than predatory mammals like polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) and Arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus). Often when seen in the field, these owls can resemble a pale rock or a lump of snow on the ground. It usually appears to lack ear tufts but very short (and probably vestigial) tufts can be erected in some situations, perhaps most frequently by the female when she is sitting on the nest. The ear tufts measure about 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in) and consist of about 10 small feathers. The snowy owl has bright yellow eyes. The head is relatively small and, even for the relatively simply adapted hearing mechanism of a Bubo owl, the facial disc is shallow and the ear is uncomplicated. 1 male had ear slits of merely 21 mm × 14 mm (0.83 in × 0.55 in) on left and 21 mm × 14.5 mm (0.83 in × 0.57 in) on the right. Females are almost invariably more duskily patterned than like-age males. In mature males, the upper parts are plain white with usually a few dark spots on the miniature ear-tufts, about the head and the tips of some primaries and secondaries whilst the underside is often pure white. Despite their reputation for being purely white, only 3 out of 129 Russian museum specimens of adult males showed an almost complete absence of darker spots. The adult female is usually considerably more spotted and often slightly barred with dark brown on the crown and the underparts. Her flight and tail feathers are faintly barred brown while the underparts are white in base color with brown spotting and barring on the flanks and upper breast. In confusingly plumaged snowy owls, the sex can be determined by the shape of wing markings, which manifest as bars more so in females and spots in males. However, the very darkest males and the lightest females are nearly indistinguishable by plumage. On rare occasion, a female can appear almost pure white, as has been recorded in both the field and in captivity. There is some evidence that some of the species grow paler with age after maturity. One study's conclusions were that males were usually but not always lighter and that correctly aging is extremely difficult, sometimes individuals either get lighter, darker or do not change their appearance with age. On the other hand, with close study, it is possible to visually identify even individual snowy owls using the pattern of markings on the wing, which can be somewhat unique in each individual. After a fresh moult, some adult females that previously appeared relatively pale newly evidenced dark, heavy markings. On the contrary, some banded individuals over at least four years were observed to have been almost entirely unchanged in the extent of their markings. In another very pale owl, the barn owl ( Tyto alba), the sexual dimorphism of spotting appears to be driven by genetics while, in snowy owls, environment may be the dictating factor instead.

The chicks are initially grayish white but quickly transition to dark gray-brown in the mesoptile plumage. This type of plumage camouflages effectively against the variously colored lichens that dot the tundra ground. This is gradually replaced by plumage showing dark barring on white. At the point of fledging, the plumage often becomes irregularly mottled or blotched with dark and is mostly solidly dark gray-brown above with white eyebrows and other areas of the face white. Recently fledged young can already be sexed to a semi-reliable degree by the dark marking patterns about their wings. The juvenile plumage resembles that of adult females but averages slightly darker on average. By their second moult fewer or more broken bars are usually evidenced on the wing. The extent of white and composition of wing patterns become more dimorphic by sex with each juvenile moult, culminating in the 4th or 5th pre-basic moult, wherein the owls are hard to distinguish from mature adults. Moults usually occur from July and September, non-breeding birds moulting later and more extensively, and are never extensive enough to render the owls flightless. Evidence indicates that snowy owls may attain adult plumage at 3 to 4 years of age, but fragmentary information suggests that some males are not fully mature and/or as fully white in plumage that they can attain until the 9th or 10th year. Generally speaking, moults of snowy owls occur more quickly than do those of Eurasian eagle-owls.

The toes of the snowy owl are extremely thickly feathered white, while the claws are black. The toe feathers are the longest known of any owl, averaging at 33.3 mm (1.31 in), against the great horned owl which has the 2nd longest toe feathers at a mean of 13 mm (0.51 in) Occasionally, snowy owls may show a faint blackish edge to the eyes and have a dark gray cere, though this is often not visible from the feather coverage, and a black bill. Unlike many other whitish birds, the snowy owl does not possess black wingtips, which is theorized to minimize wear-and-tear on the wing feathers in the other whitish bird types. The conspicuously notched primaries of the snowy owl appear to give an advantage over similar owls in long-distance flight and more extensive flapping flight. The snowy owl does have some of the noise-canceling serrations and comb-like wing feathers that render the flight of most owls functionally silent, but they have fewer than most related Bubo owls. Therefore, in combination with its less soft feathers, the flight of a snowy owl can be somewhat audible at close range. The flight of snowy owls tends to be steady and direct and is reminiscent to some of the flight of a large, slow-flying falcon. Though capable of occasional gliding flight, there is no evidence that snowy owls will soar. It is said that the species seldom exceeds a flying height of around 150 m (490 ft) even during passage. While the feet are sometimes described as "enormous", the tarsus is in osteological terms relatively short at 68% the length of those of a Eurasian eagle-owl but the claws are nearly as large, at 89% of the size of those of the eagle-owl. Despite its relatively short length, the tarsus is of similar circumference as in other Bubo owls. Also compared to an eagle-owl, the snowy owl has a relatively short decurved rostrum, a proportionately greater length to the interorbital roof and a much longer sclerotic ring surrounding the eyes while the anterior opening are the greatest known in any owl. Owls have extremely large eyes which are nearly the same size in large species such as the snowy owl as those of humans. The snowy owl's eye, at about 23.4 mm (0.92 in) in diameter, is slightly smaller than those of great horned and Eurasian eagle-owls but is slightly larger than those of some other large owls. Snowy owls must be able to see from great distances and in highly variable conditions but probably possess less acute night vision than many other owls. Based on the study of dioptres in different owl species, the snowy owl was determined to have eyesight better suited to long-range perception than to close discrimination, while some related species such as great horned owls could probably more successful perceive closer objects. Despite their visual limits, snowy owls may have up to 1.5 times more visual acuity than humans. Like other owls, snowy owls can probably perceive all colors but cannot perceive ultraviolet visual pigments. Owls have the largest brains of any bird (increasing in sync with the size of the owl species), with the size of the brain and eye related less to intelligence than perhaps to increased nocturnality and predatory behavior.

Young owl on the tundra at Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Snowy owls lose their black feathers with age, although individual females may retain some

The snowy owl is a very large owl. They are the largest avian predator of the High Arctic and one of the largest owls in the world. Snowy owls are about the sixth or seventh heaviest living owl on average, around the fifth longest and perhaps the third longest winged. This species is the heaviest and longest winged owl (as well as the second longest) in North America, the second heaviest and longest winged owl in Europe (and third longest) but is outsized in bulk by about 3 to 4 other species in Asia. Despite being sometimes described as of similar size, the snowy owl is somewhat larger in all aspects of average size than the great horned owl while the similarly specialized taiga-dwelling great grey owl ( Strix nebulosa), is longer in total length and of similar dimensions in standard measurements, but is shorter winged and much less heavy than the snowy owl. In Eurasia, the Eurasian eagle-owl is larger in all standards of measurements than the snowy owl not to mention two additional species each from Africa and Asia that are slightly to considerably heavier on average than the snowy owl. Like most birds of prey, the snowy owl shows reverse sexual dimorphism relative to most non-raptorial birds in that females are larger than males. Sexual dimorphism that favors the female may have some correlation with being able to more effectively withstand food shortages such as during brooding as well as the rigors associated with incubating and brooding. Females are sometimes described as "giant" whereas males appear relatively "neat and compact". However, the sexual dimorphism is relatively less pronounced compared to some other Bubo species.

Standard measurements have been even more widely reported than length and wingspan. The wing chord of males can vary from 351 to 439 mm (13.8 to 17.3 in), averaging from 380.1 to 412 mm (14.96 to 16.22 in) with a median of 402.8 mm (15.86 in). The wing chord of females can vary from 380 to 477.3 mm (14.96 to 18.79 in), averaging from 416.2 to 445 mm (16.39 to 17.52 in) with a median of 435.5 mm (17.15 in). The tail length of males can vary on average from 209.6 to 235.4 mm (8.25 to 9.27 in), with a full range of 188 to 261 mm (7.4 to 10.3 in) and a median of 227 mm (8.9 in). The tail length of females can average from 228.5 to 254.4 mm (9.00 to 10.02 in), with a full range of 205 to 288 mm (8.1 to 11.3 in) and a median of 244.4 mm (9.62 in). Data indicates that slightly longer wing chord and tail lengths were reported on average in Russian data than in American research, however the weights were not significantly different in the two regions. Less widely taken measurements include the culmen, which can measure from 24.6 to 29 mm (0.97 to 1.14 in) with a median average of 26.3 mm (1.04 in) in males and 27.9 mm (1.10 in) in females, and the total bill length which is from 25 to 42 mm (0.98 to 1.65 in), with an average in both sexes of 35.6 mm (1.40 in). Tarsal length in males averages about 63.6 mm (2.50 in), with a range of 53 to 72 mm (2.1 to 2.8 in), and averages about 66 mm (2.6 in), with a range of 54 to 75 mm (2.1 to 3.0 in), in females.

Identification

The snowy owl is certainly one of the most unmistakable owls (or perhaps even animals) in the world. No other species attains the signature white stippled sparsely with black-brown color of these birds, a coloring which renders their bright yellow eyes all the more detectable, nor possesses their obvious extremely long feathering. The only other owl to breed in the High Arctic is the short-eared owl ( Asio flammeus). Both species inhabit open country, overlap in range and are often seen by day, but the short-eared is much smaller and more tan or straw-colored in coloration, with streaked brown on chest. Even the palest short-eared owls conspicuously differ and are darker than the snowy owl; additionally the short-eared most often hunts in extended flights. More similar owls such as the Eurasian eagle-owl and the great horned owl attain a fairly pale, sometimes white-washed look in their northernmost races. These species do not normally breed nearly as far north as snowy owls but overlaps certainly do occur when snowy owls when the latter owl sometimes comes south in winter. However, even the most pale great horned and Eurasian eagle-owls are still considerably more heavily marked with darker base colors than snowy owls (the whitest eagle-owls are paler than the whitest great horned owls), possess much larger and more conspicuous ear tufts and lack the bicolored appearance of the darkest snowy owls. While the great horned owl has yellow eyes like the snowy owl, the Eurasian eagle-owl tends to have bright orange eyes. The open terrain habitats normally used by wintering snowy owls are also distinct from the typical edge and rocky habitats usually favored by the great horned and Eurasian eagle-owls, respectively.

Vocalizations

The snowy owl differ in their calls from other Bubo owls, with a much more barking quality to their version of a hooting song. Perhaps as many as 15 different calls by mature snowy owls have been documented. The main vocalization is a monotonous sequence that normally contains 2-6 (but occasionally more), rough notes similar to the rhythm of a barking dog: krooh krooh krooh krooh... The call may end with an emphatic aaoow, which is somewhat reminiscent of the deep alarm call of a great black-backed gull ( Larus marinus). They will call mainly from a perch but also sometimes do so in flight. The krooh call of the male snowy owl may perform multiple functions such as competitive exclusion of other males and advertising to females. The calls of this species may carry exceptionally far in the thin air of Arctic, certainly over more than 3 km (1.9 mi), and maybe even to as much 10 to 11 km (6.2 to 6.8 mi) away. The female has a similar call to male but can be higher-pitched and/or more guttural as well as single notes which are often disyllabic, khuso. Female snowy owls have also been known to utter chirps and high screaming notes, similar to those of the nestlings. Both sexes may at times give a series of clucking, squeals, grunts, hisses and cackles, perhaps such as in circumstances when they are excited. The alarm call is a loud, grating, hoarse keeea. Another raspier bark is recorded, sometimes called a "watchman's rattle" call, and may be transcribed as rick, rick, rick, ha, how, quack, quock or kre, kre, kre, kre, kre. A female attacking to protect her nest was recorded to let out a crowed ca-ca-oh call, whilst other owls attacking to protect the nest did a loud version of the typical call while circling before dropping down. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak. Though largely only vocal in the breeding season, leading to some erroneous older accounts describing the snowy owl as completely silent, some vocalizations have been recorded in winter in the northern United States. Initially, the young of the snowy owl have a high pitched and soft begging call which develops into a strong, wheezy scream at around 2 weeks. At the point when the young owls leave the nest around 3 weeks, the shrill squeals they emit may allow the mothers to locate them.

Distribution and habitat

Breeding range

The snowy owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60° north though sometimes down to 55 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. Although the total breeding range includes a little over 12,000,000 km ² (4,600,000 sq mi), only about 1,300,000 km ² (500,000 sq mi) have a high probability of breeding, i.e. breeding at no more than 3-9-year intervals. Snowy owls nest in the Arctic tundra of the northernmost stretches of Alaska, Northern Canada, and the Euro-Siberian region.

Bobby Tulloch, the Shetland RSPB warden, at the site of the snowy owl nest on the island of Fetlar, Shetland, in August 1967

Between 1967 and 1975, snowy owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of mainland Scotland, discovered by the Shetland RSPB warden, Bobby Tulloch. Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor to Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms. Vagrant snowy owls have occasionally been found as far south as Lincolnshire. Older records show that the snowy owls may have once semi-regularly bred elsewhere in the Shetlands. They range in northern Greenland (mostly Peary Land) and, rarely in "isolated parts of the highlands", Iceland. Thence, they are found breeding at times across northern Eurasia such as in Spitsbergen and western and northern Scandinavia. In Norway, they normally breed in Finnmark and seldom down as far south as Hardangervidda and in Sweden perhaps down to the Scandinavian Mountains while breeding is very inconsistent in Finland.

They also range in much of northern Russia, including northern Siberia, Anadyr, Koryakland, Taymyr Peninsula, Yugorsky Peninsula, Sakha (especially the Chukochya River) and Sakhalin. Breeding has also been reported sporadically to the south in the Komi Republic and even the Kama River in southern Perm Krai. Although considered part of their regular range, the last breeding by snowy owls in the Kola Peninsula was in the early 1980s; similarly, breeding maps show the species in Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Pay-Khoy Ridge but no breeding records are known in at least 30 years in either. They range throughout most of the Arctic isles of Russia such as Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, Commander and Hall Islands.

In North America, the breeding range has been known in modern times to include the Aleutians (i.e. Buldir and Attu) and much of northern Alaska, most frequently from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Utqiaġvik, and more sporadically down along the coastal-western parts such as through Nome, Hooper Bay, the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, and rarely even south to the Shumagin Islands. The snowy owl may breed extensively in northern Canada, largely making its home in the Arctic Archipelago. Their Canadian breeding range can include broadly Ellesmere Island up to Cape Sheridan, north coastal Labrador, the northern Hudson Bay, perhaps all of Nunavut (especially the Kivalliq Region), northeastern Manitoba, most of northern mainland and insular Northwest Territories (including the delta of the Mackenzie River) and northern Yukon Territory (where breeding is mostly confined to Herschel Island). Since breeding and distribution is very small, local and inconsistent in northern Europe, northern Canada and northern Alaska represent the core part of the breeding range for snowy owls along with several parts of northern and northeastern/coastal Russia.

Regular wintering range

During the winter months, many snowy owls leave the dark Arctic to migrate to regions further south. Southern limits of the regular winter range are difficult to delineate given the inconsistency of appearances south of the Arctic. Furthermore, not infrequently, many snowy owls will overwinter somewhere in the Arctic through the winter, though seldom appear to do so in the same sites where they have bred. Due in no small part to the difficulty and hazardousness of observation for biologists during these harsh times, there is very limited data on overwintering snowy owls in the tundra, including how many occur, where they winter and what their ecology is at this season. The regular wintering range has at times been thought to include Iceland, Ireland and Scotland and across northern Eurasia such as southern Scandinavia, the Baltics, central Russia, southwestern Siberia, Sakhalin southern Kamchatka and, rarely, north China and sometimes the Altai Republic. In North America, they occasionally regularly winter in the Aleutian island chain and do so broadly and with a fair amount of consistency in much of southern Canada, from British Columbia to Labrador. Recent research has indicated that snowy owls regularly winter in several of the northern seas during wintertime, following the leads of sea ice as perching sites and presumably hunting mostly seabirds in polynyas. In February 1886, a snowy owl landed on the rigging of the Nova Scotia steamship Ulunda on the edge of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, over 800 km (31,000,000 in) from the nearest land. It was captured and later preserved at the Nova Scotia Museum. Surprisingly, some studies have determined that after a high lemming year in North America, a higher percentage of snowy owls were using marine environments rather than inland ones.

Irruptive range

Large winter irruptions at temperate latitudes are thought to be due to good breeding conditions resulting in more juvenile migrants. These result in irruptions occurring further south than the typical snowy owl range in some years. They have been reported, as well as in all northerly states in the contiguous states, as far south as the Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, nearly all the Gulf Coast of the United States, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Utah, California and even Hawaii. In January 2009, a snowy owl appeared in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the first reported sighting in the state since 1987. Also notable is the mass southern migration in the winter of 2011/2012, when thousands of snowy owls were spotted in various locations across the United States. This was then followed by an even larger mass southern migration in 2013/2014 with the first snowy owls seen in Florida for decades. The nature of irruptions is less well-documented in Eurasia, in part due to the paucity of this owl in the European side, but accidental occurrence, presumably during irruptions, has been described in the Mediterranean area, France, Crimea, the Caspian part of Iran, Kazakhstan, northern Pakistan, northwestern India, Korea and Japan. Stragglers may too turn up as far south as the Azores and Bermuda.

Snowy owls are one of the best known inhabitants of the open Arctic tundra. Frequently, the earth in snowy owl breeding grounds is covered with mosses, lichens and some rocks. Often the species preferentially occurs in areas with some rising elevation such as hummocks, knolls, ridges, bluffs and rocky outcrops. Some of these rises in the tundra are created by glacial deposits. The ground is usually rather dry in tundra but in some areas of the southern tundra can also be quite marshy. Not infrequently, they will also use areas of varied coastal habitat, often tidal flats, as a breeding site. Breeding sites are usually at low elevations, usually less than 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, but when breeding to the south in inland mountains, such as in Norway, they may nest at as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Outside the breeding season, snowy owls may occupy nearly any open landscape. Typically wintering sites are rather windswept with meager cover. These open areas can include coastal dunes, other coastal spots, lakeshores, islands, moorlands, steppes, meadows, prairies, other extensive grasslands and rather shrubby areas of the Subarctic. These may be favored due to their vague similarity to the flat openness of the tundra. Manmade open sites are now perhaps even more used than natural ones, often agricultural fields and rangeland, as well as large areas of cleared forests. During irruption years when they are found in the northeastern United States, juveniles frequent developed areas including urban areas and golf courses, as well as the expected grasslands and agricultural areas that older birds primarily use. On the plains of Alberta, observed snowy owls spent 30% of their time in stubble-fields, 30% in summer fallow, 14% in hayfield and the remainder of the time in pasture, natural grasslands and sloughs. The agricultural areas, large untouched by the farmers in winter, may have had more concentrated prey than the others in Alberta. Perhaps the most consistently attractive habitat in North America to wintering snowy owls in modern times may be airports, which not only tend to have the flat, grassy characteristics of their preferred habitats but also by winter host a particular diversity of prey, both pests which rely on humans as well as wildlife attracted to the extensively grassy and marshy strips that dot the large airport vicinities. For example, Logan International Airport in Massachusetts has relatively one of the most reliable annual populations known in the United States in winter. All ages spend a fair amount of their time over water in the Bering Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and even the Great Lakes, mostly on ice floes. These marine and ocean-like freshwater areas were observed to account for 22-31% of habitat used in 34 radio-tagged American snowy owls over two irruptive years, with the tagged owls occurring a mean of 3 km (1.9 mi) from the nearest land (while 35-58% used the expected preferred habitats of grassland, pasture and other agricultural land).

Snowy owls will fight with conspecifics in all seasons occasionally but this is relatively infrequent during breeding and rarer still during winter. Dogfights and talon interlocking may ensue if the fight between two snowy owls continues to escalate. A study determined that snowy owls are able to orient the whitest parts of their plumage towards the sun, spending about 44% of time oriented as such during sunny days and much less on cloudy days. Some authors interpret this as a presumed signal to conspecifics, but thermoregulation could also be a factor. It is known that during winter in Alberta that female snowy owls are territorial towards one another and may not leave an area for up to 80 days but males are nomadic, usually only staying 1-2 days in an area (seldom to 3-17 days). The females spent on average seven times as long in a given area than did males. During threat displays, individuals will lower the front of the body, stretch the head low and forward, with partially extended wings and feathers on the head and raise their back. If continuously threatened or cornered, the posture in the threat display may become still more contoured and, if pressed, the owl will like back and attempt to slash with its large talons. The threat displays of males are generally more emphatic than those of females. Although snowy owls have been considered as semi-colonial, they do not appear to fit this mold well. Nesting sites can be loosely clustered but this is a coincidental response to concentrated prey and each pair tends to be somewhat intolerant of each other. During winter, snowy owls are usually solitary but some aggregations have been recorded, especially nearer the Arctic when more narrow food selection can lead to up to 20-30 owls gathering in an area of about 20 to 30 ha (49 to 74 acres). Congregations were also recorded in the winter in Montana, where 31-35 owls wintered in a 2.6 km ² (1.0 sq mi) area, owls mostly grouped in loose aggregations of 5-10 owls each or occasionally side-by-side or about 20 m (66 ft) apart. In extreme cases in Utqiaġvik, the owls may have exceptionally close active nests that may be down to only 800 to 1,600 m (2,600 to 5,200 ft) apart. Juvenile males appear to be especially prone to loose associations with one another, appearing to be non-territorial and able to hunt freely in front of one another. In a 213 km ² (82 sq mi) area in and around Utqiaġvik, productive years may have about 54 nests while none may be found in poor years. Utqiaġvik may have about 5 owls in early summer every 1.6 km (0.99 mi), have a nest spacing of 1.6 to 3.2 km (0.99 to 1.99 mi) and the owls territory size is about 5.2 to 10.2 km ² (2.0 to 3.9 sq mi). In Churchill, Manitoba, nest spacing averaged about 3.2 km (2.0 mi). In Southampton Island in a year when the owls nested there, nest spacing averaged 3.5 km (2.2 mi), with the closest two 1 km (0.62 mi) apart and density per nest was 22 km ² (8.5 sq mi). In Nunavut, densities could go from 1 owl per 2.6 km ² (1.0 sq mi) in a productive year to 1 owl per 26 km ² (10 sq mi) in a poor year and from 36 nests in a 100 km ² (39 sq mi) area to none at all. Owl density on Wrangel Island in Russia was observed be a single bird each 0.11 to 0.72 km ² (0.042 to 0.278 sq mi). The first known study of winter territories took place in Horicon Marsh where owls ranged from 0.5 to 2.6 km ² (0.19 to 1.00 sq mi) each. In Calgary, Alberta, mean territory size of juvenile females in winter was 407.5 ha (1,007 acres) and adult females was 195.2 ha (482 acres). Wintering owls in central Saskatchewan were radio-monitored, determining that 11 males had an average range of 54.4 km ² (21.0 sq mi), while that of 12 females was 31.9 km ² (12.3 sq mi) with the combined average being 53.8 km ² (20.8 sq mi).

It is fair to say that the snowy owl is a partial, if fairly irregular, migrant, having a very broad but patchy wintering range. 1st year birds tend to disperse farther south in winter than older owls with males wintering usually somewhat more to the south than females of equivalent ages, adult females often wintering the farthest north. The snowy owl likely covers more ground than almost any other owl in movements but many complex individual variations are known in movements, and they often do not take the traditional north-south direction that might be assumed. Migratory movements appear to be somewhat more common in America than in Asia. A study of wintering owls in the Kola Peninsula determined that the mean date of arrival of owls was 10 November with a departure date of 13 April, covering an average of 991 km (616 mi) during the course of the wintering period and clustering where prey was more concentrated. Some variety of movements recorded each autumn and snowy owls winter annually in plains of Siberia and Mongolia and prairies and marshlands of Canada. The Great Plains area of southern Canada host wintering snowy owls about 2 to 10 times more frequently than other areas of the continent. Some weak correlation has made with individuals having some level of fealty to certain wintering sites. Wintering snowy owls, a total of 419, recorded in Duluth, Minnesota from 1974 to 2012 would occur in larger numbers in years where rats were more plentiful. The amount of individual returns among 43 Duluth-wintering owls was fairly low in subsequent winters (8 for 1 year, a small handful in the next few years, and 9 in non-consecutive years). Sometimes surveys appeared to reveal hundreds of wintering snowy owls on coastal sea ice during an irruptive year. Three siblings that hatched in same nest in Cambridge Bay were recovered in drastically different spots at least a year later: one in eastern Ontario, one in Hudson Bay and one in Sakhalin Island. A nestling banded in Hordaland was recovered 1,380 km (860 mi) to the northeast in Finnmark. In the Logan Airport, 17 of 452 owls were recorded to return, eleven the following year, three 2 years later, and then singles variously 6, 10 and 16 years later. A banded female from Utqiaġvik was recorded to migrate over 1,928 km (1,198 mi) along seacoast down to Russia, returning over 1,528 km (949 mi) and covering at least 3,476 km (2,160 mi) in total. Another banded young female from Utqiaġvik went to the same Russian areas, returned to Utqiaġvik and then onto Victoria Island, but did appear to breed, while another also covered a similar route but ended up nesting on Banks Island. Another female migrated to the Canada-United States border, then moved back to the Gulf of Alaska, then to winter in the same border areas and then finally to both Banks and Victoria Island. Snowy owls from the Canadian Arctic were monitored to have covered an average of 1,100 km (680 mi) in one autumn then covered an average of 2,900 km (1,800 mi) a year later. In late winter, owls from the same area were found to have covered a mean of 4,093 km (2,543 mi) of ground in the tundra and spent a mean of 108 days, apparently searching for a suitable nesting situation the entire time.

In no fewer than 24 winters between 1882 and 1988, large numbers have occurred in Canada and the United States. These were irruption years. Record breeding irruptive years were recorded in the winters of 2011-2012 and 2014-2015. In the 1940s, it was calculated that the mean gape in time between large irruptions was 3.9 years. Southbound movements as such are much more conspicuous after peak vole years, once thought to be separated by periods of around 3-7 years. However, more extensive research has weakened the argument that irruptions are entirely food-based and the data indicates that irruptive movements are far from predictable. This is because a statewide survey in Alaska found no statewide synchrony in lemming numbers. Therefore, rather than decline of lemmings, it is the successful productivity of several pairs that plays the role, resulting in a large number of young owls that then irrupt. However, the snowy owls cannot breed in high numbers unless lemmings are widely available on the tundra. This connection of irruptions to high years of productivity was confirmed in a study by Robillard et al. (2016). About 90% of the snowy owls seen in irruptive years from 1991 to 2016 that were ageable were identified as juveniles.

Diet and Hunting

Hunting techniques

Snowy owls may hunt at nearly any time of the day or night, but may not attempt to do so during particularly severe weather. During the summer solstice, the owls appear to hunt during "theoretical nightfall". Night-vision devices have allowed biologists to observe that snowy owls hunt quite often during the extended nighttime during the northern winter. Prey are both taken and eaten on the ground. Snowy owls, like other carnivorous birds, often swallow their small prey whole. Strong stomach juices digest the flesh, while the indigestible bones, teeth, fur, and feathers are compacted into oval pellets that the bird regurgitates 18 to 24 hours after feeding. Regurgitation often takes place at regular perches, where dozens of pellets may be found. Biologists frequently examine these pellets to determine the quantity and types of prey the birds have eaten. When large prey are eaten in small pieces, pellets will not be produced. Larger prey is often torn apart, sometimes including removal of the head, with the large muscles, such as the humerus or breast, typically eaten first. The scattering of remains that results from the increment feeding on larger prey is thought to result in under-identification of them compared to smaller prey items. The aptitude for hunting by day, hunting from the ground and hunting in almost always completely open and treeless areas are the primary ways in which the snowy owl differs in hunting from other Bubo owls. Otherwise, the hunting habits are similar. It is thought, due to their less refined hearing compared to other owls, prey is usually perceived via vision and movement. Experiments indicate that snowy owls can detect prey from as far as 1.6 km (0.99 mi) away. Snowy owls generally use a rise or, occasionally, a perch while hunting. 88% of observed 34 hunts in Utqiaġvik were undertaken from an elevated watch-site (56% mounds or rises, 37% telephone poles). Their hunting style may recall that of buzzards, with the hunting owl sitting rather low and perching immobile for a long spell. Although their usual flight is a slow, deliberate downbeat on the broad, fingered wings, when prey is detected from their perch, flight may be undertaken with a sudden, surprisingly quick accelerated style with interspersed wing beats. In Utqiaġvik, snowy owls may most frequently engage in a brief pursuit hunting style. In high winds capable of keeping their bulk aloft, snowy owls may too engage in a brief hovering flight before dropping onto prey. When hunting fish, apparently, some snowy owls will hover in a style reminiscent of the osprey ( Pandion haliaetus), although in at least one other case a snowy owl was observed to capture fish by lying on its belly upon a rock by a fishing hole. A dashing stoop or pounce down onto their prey, ending in a high-impact "wallop", is fairly commonly recorded. Another common technique is the "sweep", wherein they fly by and grasp the prey while continuing to fly. In winter, snowy owls have been shown to be able to "snow plunge" to capture prey in the subnivean zone, under at least 20 cm (7.9 in) of snow. Perhaps least frequently, snowy owls may pursue their prey on foot, in doing so never taking wing. Snowy owls have been known to capture night-migrating passerines and shorebirds, sometimes perhaps on the wing, as well as large and/or potentially dangerous birds that were caught in air by snowy owls during daylight. On the wing pursuits against other various other carnivorous birds are sometimes undertaken as well to kleptoparasitize the prey caught by the other birds. Few variations of hunting technique were observed in winter observations from Alberta, almost all of the hunts being with the sit-and-wait method (also known as still-hunts). Adult females in Alberta had a considerably better hunting rate than juvenile females. Much as in Alberta, in Syracuse, New York, 90% of 51 hunts were still-hunting, with the sweep variant used after perch departure in 31% of hunts and the pounce method in 45% of hunts. The Syracuse-wintering owls used tall perches, a mixture of manmade objects and trees of around 6 m (20 ft) high, in nearly 61% of hunts, while nearly 14% were from low perches (i.e. fence-posts, snow banks and scrap piles) about half as high as the tall perches and started from a ground position nearly 10% of the time. In Sweden, males hunted from a perch more so than did females and adults both focused on significantly smaller prey (small mammals) and may have had more success hunting than juvenile snowy owls. Some snowy owls can survive a fast for up to about 40 days off of fat reserves. These owls were found to have extremely thick subcutaneous fat deposits of 19 to 22 mm (0.75 to 0.87 in) and it is likely owls that overwinter in the Arctic rely heavily on these to survive during this scarce time, in combination with lethargic, energy-conserving behavior.

Snowy owls may not infrequently exploit prey inadvertently provided or compromised by human activities, including ducks injured by duck hunters, birds maimed by antenna wires, various animals caught in human traps and traplines as well as domestic or wild prey being bred or farmed by humans in enclosures. A wide variety of accrued reports show that the snowy owl that scavenging on carrion is not uncommon (despite having once been thought to be very rare in all owls), including instances of reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus) body parts brought to nests and owls following polar bears to secondarily feed on their kills. Even huge marine mammals such as walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus) and whales can be fed upon by these owls when the opportunity occurs. Snowy owls produce a pellet that in different areas averages a median of about 80 mm × 30 mm (3.1 in × 1.2 in), averaging up to 92 mm (3.6 in) in length as in Europe.

Prey spectrum

The snowy owl is primarily a hunter of mammals. Most especially, they often live off of the northerly lemmings. Sometimes other similar rodents like voles and mice can also be found frequently in the snowy owl's foods. It is R-selected, meaning that it is an opportunistic breeder capable of taking advantage of increases in prey numbers and diversity, despite its apparent specialization. Birds are commonly taken as well, and may regularly include passerines, northern seabirds, ptarmigan and ducks, among others. Sometimes infrequent consumption of other prey such as beetles, crustaceans and occasionally amphibians and fish is reported (of these only fish are known to have been identified to prey species). It also takes carrion outside the breeding season. All told, more than 200 prey species have been known to be taken by snowy owls around the world. Generally, like other large owls (including even bigger owls like the Eurasian eagle-owl), prey selection tends toward quite small prey, usually small mammals, but they can alternate freely with prey that is much larger than typical given the opportunity or even bigger than themselves, including relatively large mammals and several types of large bird of almost any age. One study estimated for the biomes of Alaska and Canada, mean prey sizes for snowy owls were 49.1 g (1.73 oz), in western North America, the mean prey size was 506 g (1.116 lb) and in eastern North America was 59.7 g (2.11 oz), while the mean prey size in northern Fennoscandia was similar (at 55.4 g (1.95 oz)). The mean number of prey species for snowy owls per biome ranged from 12 to 28. The opportunistic nature of snowy owls has long been known during their primarily winter observed feeding habits (leading to their unpopular nature and frequent persecution well into the 20th century).

Summer diet

Lemmings such as Norway lemmings are the primary prey of breeding snowy owls.

The snowy owl's biology is closely tied to the availability of lemmings. These herbivorous rodents are largish members of the vole clan that are the predominant mammal of the tundra ecosystem alongside the reindeer and probably make up the majority of the mammalian biomass of the ecosystem. Lemmings are key architects of the soil, microtopography and plant life of the entire tundra. In the American lower Arctic areas, brown lemming of the Lemmus genus are predominant and tend to be found in lower, wetter habitats (feeding by preference on grasses sedges and mosses) while collared lemmings of the Dicrostonyx genus were in more arid, often higher elevation habitats with heathland and ate by preference willow leaves and forbs. The southerly brown lemmings behave differently than more northern collared lemming type, increasing almost limitlessly within preferred habitat whereas the collared type tends to spread to suboptimal habitats and therefore does not appear reach the high regional densities of the brown. Authorities now generally agree that there appears to be no synchrony between the brown and collared lemmings and the feeding access of snowy owls is irregular as a result, but snowy owls can likely alternate between the two lemming types as one or the other increases as they nomadically use different parts of the Arctic. It is possible that the rare coincidental mutual peak of both lemming types within a year results in the erratic high productivity that results in irruptions. Within individual Arctic lemming species, historically, populations can vary in rough 4- to 5-year trends. As a result, in areas such as Banks Island, the breeding rate of snowy owls can vary within a decade by about tenfold. Weights of lemmings taken can range from 30 to 95 g (1.1 to 3.4 oz) on Baffin Island, while those taken in Utqiaġvik averaged 70.3 and 77.8 g (2.48 and 2.74 oz) in female and male lemming, respectively. It was estimated based on captive daily food intake that a snowy owl may consume about 326 g (11.5 oz) of lemmings a day, though other estimates using voles show a daily need for about 145 to 150 g (5.1 to 5.3 oz). On Southampton Island, 97% of the diet was lemmings. A very similar number of lemmings (nearly 100%) were found over 25 years of study in Utqiaġvik, amongst 42,177 cumulative prey items. Of 76 lemmings that could be identified to sex at a cache, male lemmings were found in the cache twice as often as female lemmings. While initial findings indicated on Wrangel Island that female lemmings outnumbered males in prey remains, to the contrary osteology indicated that, like Utqiaġvik, males were more often taken. However, the slightly larger, slower-moving females may be preferred when available.

In some areas, snowy owls can breed where lemmings are uncommon to essentially absent. Even in Utqiaġvik, where the diet is quite homogenously based in lemmings, the hatching of passerines, shorebirds, seabirds and waterfowl can provide a key resource when lemmings are not found regularly and may be the only means by which the young can survive at such lean times. In the Nome, Alaska area, the locally nesting snowy owls reportedly switched from lemmings to ptarmigans when the latter's chicks hatched. A somewhat varying diet was also reported in Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut where 78.3% of the biomass was lemmings, with 17.8% from waterfowl, 3.3% from weasel and about 1% from other birds. In Fennoscandia, among 2,700 prey items only a third were Norway lemmings ( Lemmus lemmus) and a majority were voles at 50.6%, probably largely the tundra vole ( Microtus oeconomus). A more detailed glance at Finnish Lapland showed that amongst 2,062 prey items, 32.5% of the foods were Norway lemmings (though in some years the balance could range up to 58.1%), 28% were grey red-backed voles ( Myodes rufocanus) and 12.6% were tundra voles, with birds constituting a very small amount of the prey balance (1.1%). In northern Sweden, a more homogenous diet was found with the Norway lemming constituting about 90% of the foods. In the Yamal Peninsula, 40% of the diet was collared lemmings, 34% were Siberian brown lemming ( Lemmus sibiricus), 13% were voles and ptarmigan and ducks both constituting 8% and with other birds making up much of the remaining balance. In some parts of the tundra, snowy owls may opportunistically prey upon Arctic ground squirrels ( Spermophilus parryii). In the Hooper Bay area (much farther south than they usually nest), various rodents, in highland areas, and waterfowl, in marshland, were taken while breeding. When historically breeding on Fetlar in Shetland, the main prey for snowy owls was European rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus), Eurasian oystercatcher ( Haematopus ostralegus), parasitic jaegers ( Stercorarius parasiticus) and Eurasian whimbrel ( Numenius phaeopus), in roughly that order, followed by other bird species with most (rabbits and secondary birds) prey taken as adults but for the oystercatchers and jaegers which were taken largely as fully grown but only recently fledged juveniles. 22-26% of oystercatcher and jaeger young in the island were estimated to be taken by snowy owls.

Bird predation by nesting snowy owls is highly opportunistic. Willow ( Lagopus lagopus) and rock ptarmigan ( Lagopus muta) of any age are often fairly regular in the diet of breeding snowy owls but they cannot be said to particularly specialize on these. Evidence was found in the Yamal Peninsula that the snowy owls became the primary predator of willow ptarmigan and that the predation was so frequent, it may have been the cause of the change of their habitat usage to willow thickets by the local ptarmigan. The reliance on ptarmigan has caused some conservation trickle-down concern for the owls because ptarmigan are hunted in large numbers, with the hunters of Norway permitted to cull up to 30% of the regional population. In North America, avian prey on the breeding ground regularly varies from small passerines like snow buntings ( Plectrophenax nivalis) and Lapland longspurs ( Calcarius lapponicus) to large waterfowl like king ( Somateria spectabilis) and common eider ( Somateria mollissima) and usually the goslings but also occasionally adults of geese such as brants ( Branta bernicla), snow geese ( Anser caerulescens) and cackling geese ( Branta hutchinsii). Drake eiders of often similar size to the owls themselves are not infrequently the largest prey amongst remains around the nest mound. One nest had the bodies of all eiders that attempting to nest in the vicinity around it. The threatened and declining Steller's eider ( Polysticta stelleri) when nesting in the Utqiaġvik area would appear to avoid the vicinity of snowy owl nests when selecting their own nesting sites due to the predation risk. Intermediately sized seabirds are often focused on in lieu of available lemmings. Foods were studied intensively in Iceland. Among 257 prey items found with a total prey mass of 73.6 kg (162 lb), birds made up 95% of the diet. The leading prey were adult rock ptarmigan, at 29.6% by number and 55.4% by biomass and adult European golden plover ( Pluvialis apricaria), at 10.5% by number and 7.2% biomass. The rest of the balance was largely other shorebirds, which were taken slightly more often as chicks than adults. Pink-footed geese ( Anser fabalis) were taken in equal number as goslings and adults, with respectively estimated average weights at these ages of 800 and 2,470 g (1.76 and 5.45 lb). On the isle of Agattu, the diet consisted entirely of birds, as there are no mammals found there. The much favored food in Agattu was the ancient murrelet ( Synthliboramphus antiquus), at 68.4% of the biomass and 46% by number, while the secondary prey were followed numerically by smaller Leach's storm-petrels ( Oceanodroma leucorhoa) (20.8%) and Lapland longspurs (10%) and in biomass by smallish ducks, the green-winged teal ( Anas carolinensis) and harlequin duck ( Histrionicus histrionicus) (13.4% biomass collectively). In the Murman Coast of Russia, also in the absence of lemmings, seabirds formed the largest part of the diet.

Winter diet

Snowy owl carries its kill, an American black duck, Biddeford Pool, Maine

On the wintering grounds, mammals often predominate in the snowy owl's food inland doing so less in coastal areas. Overall wintering snowy owls eat more diverse foods they do whilst breeding, furthermore coastal wintering snowy owls had more diverse diets than inland ones. As in summer, moderately sized water birds such as teal, northern pintail ( Anas acuta) and numerous alcids and the like are often focused on when hunting birds. The diet in 62 pellets, amongst at least 75 prey items, from coastal Oregon showed the main foods as black rat ( Rattus rattus) (at an estimated 40%), red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius) (31%) and bufflehead ( Bucephala albeola) (19%). Witnessed attacks were mostly upon buffleheads in Oregon. In coastal southwestern British Columbia, the diet among 139 prey items was 100% avian. The predominant prey were water birds, mostly snatched directly from surface of the water and largely weighing 400 to 800 g (0.88 to 1.76 lb), i.e. buffleheads (at 24% by number and 17.4% by biomass of foods) and horned grebes ( Podiceps auritus) (at 34.9% by number and 24.6% by biomass), followed by variously other water birds, often the slightly larger species of glaucous-winged gull ( Larus glaucescens) and the American wigeon ( Mareca americana). A different study of this area also showed the predominance of ducks and other water birds to wintering snowy owls here, although Townsend's vole ( Microtus townsendii ) (10.65%) and snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus) (5.7%) were also notably in a sample of 122 prey items.

During winter, snowy owls consume more strongly nocturnal prey than lemmings such as Peromyscus mice and northern pocket gophers ( Thomomys talpoides). In southern Alberta, 248 prey items were found with North American deermouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus), at 54.8% by number, and meadow voles ( Microtus pennsylvanica), at 27% by number, as the main foods of snowy owls over two years. Other prey in Alberta were grey partridge ( Perdix perdix) (at 5.79% of total), jackrabbits, weasels and owls. Richardson's ground squirrels ( Urocitellus richardsonii) were consumed heavily in the Alberta study in a brief converged times of hibernation emergence and overwintering snowy owls. The sexual dimorphism in prey selection was also studied here, with male owls mainly focusing exclusively on the small rodents, females also took the same rodents but supplemented the diet with all alternate and larger prey. Overall, the meadow and montane voles ( Microtus montanus) constituted 99% of over 4500 prey items in Montana. In Horicon Marsh in winter, 78% of the diet was meadow vole, with 14% being muskrats ( Ondatra zibethicus), 6% ducks and smaller balances of rats and other birds. Snowy owls found in Michigan took meadow voles for 86% of the diet, white-footed mouse ( Peromyscus leucopus) for 10.3% and northern short-tailed shrew ( Blarina brevicauda) for 3.2%. Of 127 stomachs in New England in four irruptive winters from 1927 to 1942, of 155 prey items, 24.5% were brown rats, 11.6% were meadow voles and 10.3% were dovekie ( Alle alle), with a smaller balance of snowshoe hare and birds from snow buntings to American black ducks ( Anas rubripes). During the same years, stomach contents in Ontario included 40 identified prey items, led by brown rats (20%), white-footed mice (17.5%) and meadow voles (15%); of 81 prey items from Pennsylvania in 60 stomachs that were not empty, eastern cottontail ( Sylvilagus floridanus) (32%), meadow vole (11.1%), domestic chicken ( Gallus gallus domesticus) (11.1%) and northern bobwhite ( Colinus virginianus) (5%) were the most often identified prey species. Introduced common pheasants were found to be somewhat more vulnerable than native American gamebirds like ruffed grouse due to their tendency to crouch rather than flush when approached by a flighted predator like the snowy owl in a glade or field. Some snowy owls wintering on rocky coasts and jetties were known in New England to live almost entirely off of purple sandpipers ( Calidris maritima). The availability of brown rats may draw snowy owls to seemingly unattractive settings such as garbage dumps and under bridges. Meanwhile, snowy owls wintering in Lowell, Massachusetts were seen to live largely off of rock doves ( Columba livia) caught off of buildings. Of 87 prey from stomachs in Maine, 35% were rats or mice, 20% were snowshoe hares and 10% were passerines. A small study of 20 prey items in an irruptive winter in Kansas found that 35% of the prey were red-winged blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus), 15% prairie voles ( Microtus ochrogaster) and 10% each by American coot ( Fulica americana) and hispid cotton rats ( Sigmodon hispidus).

On the isle of St. Kilda, 24 pellets were found for non-breeding snowy owls that stayed through the early summer. Of 46 prey items, the St Kilda field mouse ( Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis) was predominant by number at 69.6% but constituted 16.8% of biomass while adult Atlantic puffin ( Fratercula arctica) constituted 63.5% of the prey biomass and 26% by number (rest of the balance being juvenile puffins and great skuas ( Stercorarius skua)). The main subspecies of wood mouse was similarly dominant in the diet within County Mayo, Ireland and were presumably snatched at night due to their strict nocturnality. In Knockando, the winter diet was led by European rabbits (40.1%), red grouse ( Lagopus lagopus scotica) (26.4%) and adult mountain hare ( Lepus timidus) (20.9%) (in 156 pellets); in Ben Macdui, the diet was led by rock ptarmigan (72.3%), field voles ( Microtus agrestis) and juvenile mountain hare (8.5%) (33 pellets); in Cabrach, the diet was led by red grouse (40%), mountain hare (20%) and European rabbit (15%) (16 pellets). Among 110 prey items found for snowy owls found wintering during irruption in southern Finland, all but 1 prey item were field voles (the only other prey being a single long-tailed duck ( Clangula hyemalis)). Far to the east, wintering owls in the Irkutsky District were found to subsist mostly on narrow-headed voles ( Microtus gregalis). In a wintering population in Kurgaldga Nature Reserve of Kazakhstan, the main foods were grey red-backed voles at 47.4%, winter white dwarf hamster ( Phodopus sungorus) at 18.4%, steppe pika ( Ochotona pusilla) at 7.9%, muskrat at 7.9%, Eurasian skylark ( Alauda arvensis) at 7.9%, grey partridge at 5.3%, and both steppe polecat ( Mustela eversmanii) and yellowhammer ( Emberiza citrinella) at 2.6%. On the Kuril Islands, wintering snowy owls' main foods were reported as tundra voles, brown rats, ermines, and whimbrel, in roughly that order.

While most of the prey species are relatively small, snowy owls can prey on a fairly diverse size of birds and mammals. Data from the Logan Airport in over 6,000 pellets shows that meadow vole and brown rats predominated the diet in the area, supplanted by assorted birds both small and large. American black ducks were primarily taken among bird species with other birds taken here including relatively large and diverse species up to the size of Canada geese ( Branta canadensis) and great blue herons ( Ardea herodias) along with brants, American herring gulls ( Larus argentatus), double-crested cormorants ( Phalacrocorax auritus). Additionally, other birds as large as western capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus) (of both sexes), greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus), yellow-billed loons ( Gavia adamsii) and cygnets of Bewick's swans ( Cygnus columbianus bewickii) can be taken by snowy owl. Among large mammalian prey species, snowy owls prey on both young and adults of large leporids such as Arctic hare ( Lepus arcticus), Alaskan hare ( Lepus othus), mountain hare and white-tailed jackrabbits ( Lepus townsendii). On rare occasions, they also capable of taking large mammalian carnivores. Both juvenile and adult Arctic foxes have been known to fall prey to snowy owls, while predation by snowy owls on red foxes was reported in the Irkutsky District of Russia. A wintering snowy owl in Saskatchewan was observed to have preyed on an adult red fox ( Vulpes vulpes) weighing around 6 kg (13 lb) which may be the largest known prey known for snowy owls. Other relatively large carnivoran prey include house cat ( felis catus), American mink ( Mustela vision), and striped skunk ( Mephitis mephitis). At the other end of the scale, the snowy owl has been known to take birds down to the size of 19.5 g (0.69 oz) dark-eyed juncos ( Junco hyemalis) and mammals down the size of 8.1 g (0.29 oz) common shrews ( Sorex araneus). Fish are rarely taken anywhere but the snowy owl has been known to prey upon Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus) and lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush).

Interspecific predatory relationships

A waterlogged snowy owl in winter victim to the very swift mobbing of a peregrine falcon.

The snowy owl is in many ways a very unique owl and differs from other species of owl in its ecological niche. Only one other owl, the short-eared owl, is known to breed in the High Arctic. However, the snowy owl shares its primary prey, the brown and collared lemmings, with a number of other avian predators. In sometimes differing parts of the Arctic, competing predators for lemmings are, in addition to short-eared owls, pomarine jaegers ( Stercorarius pomarinus), long-tailed jaegers ( Stercorarius longicaudus), rough-legged buzzards ( Buteo lagopus), hen harriers ( Circus cyaenus), northern harriers ( Circus hudsonius) and generally less specialized gyrfalcons ( Falco rusticollis), peregrine falcons ( Falco peregrinus), glaucous gulls ( Larus hypoboreus) and common ravens ( Corvus corax). Certain carnivorous mammals, especially the Arctic fox and, in this region, the ermine, are also specialized to hunt lemmings. Most of the lemming predators are intolerant of the competition given the scattered nature of lemming populations and will displace and/or kill one another given the chance. However, given the need to conserve energy in the extreme environment, the predators may react passively to one another. When unusually breeding south in the Subarctic such as western Alaska, Scandinavia and central Russia, the number of predators with which the snowy owls are obligated to share prey and compete with may be too numerous to name. The taking of the young and eggs of snowy owls has been committed by a large number of predators: hawks and eagles, the northern jaegers, peregrine and gyrfalcons, glaucous gulls, common ravens, Arctic wolves ( Canis lupus arctos), polar bears, brown bears ( Ursus arctos), wolverines ( Gulo gulo) and perhaps especially the Arctic fox. Adult snowy owls on the breeding grounds are far less vulnerable and can be justifiably qualified as an apex predator. Instances of the killing of adult snowy owls on the breeding grounds have been witnessed to be committed by a pair of pomarine jaegers on an incubating adult female snowy owl (possibly merely a competitive attack as she was left uneaten) and by an Arctic fox that killed an adult male snowy owl.

An early illustration showing snowy owl predation upon a gyrfalcon.

When it goes south to winter outside of the Arctic, the snowy owl has the potential to interact with a number of additional predators. By necessity, it shares its wintertime diverse prey with a number of formidable predators. These are known to include their cousins, the great horned owl and the Eurasian eagle-owl. They are relieved of heavy competition from the related species by differing temporal activity, i.e. being more likely to actively hunt in the daytime, and by habitat, using rather more open (quite often nearly treeless) habitats than them. During a study of wintering snowy owls in Saskatchewan, the authors indicated that the snowy owls may avoid areas inhabited and defended by great horned owls. Although they usually occurred here outside of an 800 m (2,600 ft) radius of central great horned owl ranges, they did not avoid the 1,600 m (5,200 ft) radius and different habitat usage may be a dictating factor. Given their mildly slighter size, it is unlikely that great horned owls (unlike the larger eagle-owl) would regularly dominate snowy owls in interactions and either species may give way to others depending on the size and disposition of the owls involved. Little study has been undertaken into the trophic competition of snowy owls with other predators during winter and, due to their scarcity, few predators are likely to expel much energy on competitive interactions with them, although many other predators will engage in anti-predator mobbing of snowy owls. Largely in winter, snowy owls have been the victim of a number of larger avian predators, though attacks are likely to be singular and rare. Instances of predation on snowy owls are known to have been committed several times in winter only by Eurasian eagle-owls. Additionally, golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos) have been known to prey on snowy owls as well as all northern sea eagles: the bald ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus), white-tailed ( Haliaeetus albicilla) and Steller's sea eagles ( Haliaeetus pelagicus). Snowy owls are also sometimes killed by birds that are mobbing them. In one instance, a peregrine falcon killed a snowy owl in a stoop after the owl had killed a fledgling falcon. Anecdotal reports indicate predation by gyrfalcons (on snowy owls of unknown age and condition) but it was possibly also an act of mobbing. In another, a huge throng of Arctic terns ( Sterna paradisaea) relentlessly swarmed and attacked a snowy owl until it met its demise.

Almost certainly more often than being a victim of other predators, snowy owls are known to dominate, kill and feed on a large diversity of other predators. Snowy owls, much like other Bubo owls, will opportunistically kill other birds of prey and predators. Although they will readily plunder the nests of other raptorial birds given the opportunity, most predations are on full-grown raptorial birds during winter due to the scarcity of raptor nests in the open tundra. In addition, most competing predators of the Arctic, except the very large mammals, are probably vulnerable to a hungry snowy owl. In data from the Logan Airport alone over different winters, the snowy owls were observed to have preyed upon an impressive diversity of other raptorial birds: rough-legged buzzards, American kestrels ( Falco sparverius), peregrine falcons, barn owls, other snowy owls, barred owls ( Strix varia), northern saw-whet owls ( Aegolius acadicus) and short-eared owls. While owls are likely encountered during corresponding hunting times, it is likely that the swift falcons are usually ambushed at night (much as other Bubo owls will do). In both the tundra and the wintering ground, there are several accounts of predation by snowy owls on short-eared owls. In addition, snowy owls have been known to prey on northern harriers, northern goshawks ( Accipiter gentilis) and gyrfalcons. Besides aforementioned predation on foxes, domestic cats, and skunks, several members of the weasel family, both small and relatively large, are known to be opportunistically hunted by snowy owls. As a result of its potential predator status, the snowy owl is frequently mobbed at all times of the year by other predatory birds, including fierce dive-bombing by several of the northern falcons on the wintering grounds, including even by the relatively tiny but fierce and very agile merlin ( Falco columbarius). The much bulkier snowy owls cannot match the speed and flight ability of a falcon and may be almost relentlessly tormented by some birds such as peregrines.

Pair bond and breeding territory

In Utqiaġvik, of 239 recorded breeding attempts, 232 were monogamous, the other 7 social bigamy. On Baffin Island, 1 male bred with 2 females and sired 11 total fledged young. Another case of bigamy was reported in Norway where the 2 females bred to one male were 1.3 km (0.81 mi) apart in nest site location. On Feltar from 1967 to 1975, a male bred with two females, 1 younger and was possibly his own daughter. In the Feltar males first time breeding with both females, he did not bring food to the younger female. However, when older female disappeared the following year, the male and younger female producing 4 young, but disappeared the subsequent year altogether in 1975. There are also unconfirmed cases of polyandry, with 1 female being fed by 2 males. Snowy owls can breed once per year but when food is scarce many do not even attempt to breed. Despite frequent wandering in search of food, they generally adhere more so than to a strict breeding season than short-eared owls nesting in the tundra. 9 radio-tagged female snowy owls about Bylot Island were tracked to study how pre-laying snow cover effects their searching behavior for breeding area. These tracked females searched an average of 36 days and covered an average of 1,251 km (777 mi). It is thought that the male and female mutually find an attractive breeding spot independently and converge. The breeding territory normally averages about 2.6 km ² (1.0 sq mi) as in both Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island but varies in accordance to abundance of food and density of owls. Nesting territories average at Baffin island in the range of 8 to 10 km ² (3.1 to 3.9 sq mi) during poor lemming years. Nesting territories may up to 22 km ² (8.5 sq mi) on Southampton Island and had a mean distance of 4.5 km (2.8 mi) between active nests. In Utqiaġvik, nesting pairs can vary from none to at least 7 and the territories average 5 to 10 km ² (1.9 to 3.9 sq mi), with mean nest distances of 1.5 to 6 km (0.93 to 3.73 mi). In the Norwegian highlands, nesting occurs only at times of plenty distances of 1.2 to 3.7 km (0.75 to 2.30 mi) between nests, averaging 2.1 km (1.3 mi). Males marks territory with singing and display flights and likely always initiates. During the display, he engages in exaggerated wing beats with a shallow undulating and bouncy courtship flight with wings held in a dihedral. He often drops to the ground but then flies again to only glide gently back down. Overall, the flight is somewhat reminiscent of the flight of a moth. Females will answer her mate with her song during courtship. While courting, the male often also carries a lemming in his bill, then bows with cocked tail, similarly as in related owls (seldom displaying some other prey like snow buntings). He then flaps his wings open in an emphatic manner, with the ground display being relatively brief (about 5 minutes). The female may possibly refuse to breed if ritual not performed. A possible courtship was engaged in by a male in southern Saskatchewan when a female was sighted. On Southampton Island, at least 20 males observed in late May in a "lemming year". Nesting territory defense displays, not highly different from courtship displays, includes undulating flight and stiffly raised wings with bouts of exaggerated, delayed wing beats, looking like enormous white moths exposing their white wings under the sun. At times, competing males will interlock claws in mid-air. Territorial and nuptial displays are followed by a ground display by the male with the wings arched up in an "angel" posture, visible for well over a mile.

Snowy owls often seek out polygons such as these in the tundra.

Most individuals arrive at the nest site by April or May with a few overwintering arctic exceptions. Males advertises potential nest sites to his mate by scratching the ground and spreading his wings over it. The nest is usually a shallow depression on a windswept eminence in the open tundra. There seems to be a variety of qualifiers for appropriate nest sites. The nest site is typically snow-free and dry relative to the surrounding environment, usually with a good view of the surrounding landscape. The nest may be made of ridges, elevated mounds, high polygons, hummocks, hills, human-made mounds and occasionally rocky outcrops. If covered with vegetation, taller plants that may obstruct view are plucked away sometimes. The nest sites are often long-established and naturally created by the freeze-thaw process of the tundra. Gravel bars may be used as well. The female may take the most active role in the nest's condition of any owl species. No owl build their own nests but female snowy owls take about three days constructing a scrape, digging with her claws and rotating until a fairly circular bowl is formed. She will still not construct or add foreign materials to the nest (despite some circumstantial evidence of moss and grass from outside the nest mound being found). In two separate cases in Utqiaġvik, two separate females dug out a second scrape to the side and below the main nests and appeared to have called all chicks to the more secluded nest to ride out severe weather until the skies cleared. The Utqiaġvik nest scrapes averaged 47.7 cm × 44 cm (18.8 in × 17.3 in) in 91 with a mean depth of 9.8 cm (3.9 in) while the scrapes were smaller in Hooper Bay, reportedly 25 to 33 cm (9.8 to 13.0 in) diameter and 4 to 9 cm (1.6 to 3.5 in) in depth. Occasionally, in the lower tundra, snowy owls may too use old nests of rough-legged buzzards as well as abandoned eagle nests. Unlike other northerly breeding raptorial birds, the snowy owl is not known to nest on cliffs and the like, so do not enter into direct competition with eagles, falcons, ravens or other Bubo owls when nesting to the relative south. The area of nest mound often has a relatively rich plant life which attract the lemmings, which may tunnel right under and around the owl's nest. Geese, ducks and shorebirds of several species known to gain incidental protection by nesting close to snowy owls. Conversely, the snowy owls will sometimes kill and eat both young and adults of these birds, which implies a trade-off in the benefits.

An illustration of 8 European owl species' eggs, with the snowy owl in the middle of the right row. Note the much larger egg of the Eurasian eagle-owl at bottom.

Parental behavior

Food is brought to the nest by males and surplus food is stored nearby. Females in breeding season often develop a very extensive brood patch which in this species is a fairly enormous, high vascularized featherless area of pink belly skin. Incubation lasts 31.8-33 days (unconfirmed and possibly dubious reports from as little as 27 to as much as 38-day incubations). The female alone broods the young, often while simultaneously incubating still unhatched eggs. Sometimes older chicks incidentally brood their younger siblings and females may shelter the young under her wings during inclement weather. When first feeding the young, the female may dismantle prey to feed the young only the softer body parts then gradually ramping up the size of proportions until they eat a whole prey item. Aggressive encounters with parent snowy owls are said to be "genuinely dangerous" and one resource claimed the snowy owl to be the bird species with the most formidable nest defense displays towards humans. The usual response to sighted humans near the nest is mild but continued approach begins to increasingly irritate the parents. At times, humans are forcefully dive-bombed upon, while other potential threats are dealt with in a "forward-threat" where the male walks towards the intruders, engaging in impressive feather-raising and fanning out of half-spread wings until they run forward and slash with both their feet and bill. Fairly serious injuries have been sustained in the worst of snowy owl defensive attacks, including cranial trauma, requiring researchers to make the long trek back to medical care, although human fatalities are not known. Snowy owl parents have been seen to aggressively attacked glaucous gulls, arctic fox and dogs in breeding ground in Utqiaġvik. Non-predatory animals like caribou in Utqiaġvik and sheep ( Ovis aries) in Fetlar are attacked as well, possibly to avoid potential trampling of the eggs or the young. Males are said to do the majority of nest defense but the female will also often become involved as well. Analysis showed in Lapland, Sweden, that females in nest defense against people engaged in vocal displays (warning and mewing calls) and that males did not engage in mewing but did engage in most hooting calls, many warning calls and almost all physical attacks. In other instances, distraction displays are engaged in against predators, with a "broken-wing act" including high, thin squeals interspersed with weird squeaks, often taking flight only to quickly fall from the sky and imitate a struggle. One author recorded a male to draw him about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the nest before ceasing. 77% of 45 distraction displays in Lapland, Sweden were by females.

Development of young

An old photo of snowy owl nestlings on Baffin Island.

Hatching intervals are generally from 1 to 3 days, quite often within 37-45 hours apart. New chicks are semi-altricial (i.e. typically helpless and blind), initially being white and rather wet but dry by the end of the first day. The weight of 7 hatchlings was 35 to 55 g (1.2 to 1.9 oz), with an average of 46 g (1.6 oz) while 3 were 44.7 g (1.58 oz). Due to the pronounced asynchrony of the egg-laying and hatching, the size difference between siblings can be enormous and in some cases when the smallest chick weighs only 20 to 50 g (0.71 to 1.76 oz), the biggest chick already has attained a weight of around 350 to 380 g (12 to 13 oz). When the oldest chick is about 3 weeks, the female will start to hunt as well as the male and both may directly feed the young although in some cases they may not need hunt very much if lemmings are particularly numerous. Caches of lemmings around a nest may include more than 80 lemmings that can support the family. Unlike many owls, the chicks of snowy owls are not known to behave aggressively toward one another or to engage in siblicide, perhaps in part due to the need for energy conservance. Some cases of cannibalism of chicks by the family group were thought to be cases where chicks die from other causes. When they are about 2 weeks, the chicks may begin to walk around the nest site which they leave by 18-28 days, although they are still unable to fly and may find safety in nooks and crannies of vegetation and rocks usually only about 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) from the nest mound, as well as via their parents defense. Leaving the nest is thought to likely be an anti-predator strategy. The male snowy owl may drop fresh prey deliveries directly on the ground near the wandering young. After about three weeks of age, the young may wander fairly widely, rarely to 1 km (0.62 mi), but usually stay within 500 m (1,600 ft) of the nest mound. Threat postures by young in reaction to researchers were first noticeable at about 20-25 days of age and common at about 28 days and the chicks can be impressively quick and agile-footed. The first fledgling occurs at around 35-50 days, and by 50-60 days the young can fly well and hunt on their own. The total care period is for 2-3.5 months, increasing in length with increased size of the brood. Although independence was once thought to be sought by late August or early September but is more likely by late September to October when migration season for the species begins. The nesting cycle is similar in length to the Arctic short-eared owls and faster than Eurasian eagle-owls by up to 2 months.

Maturity and nesting success

The snowy owl can live a long life for a bird. Records show that the oldest snowy owls in captivity can live to 25 to even 30 years of age. Typical lifespans probably reach around 10 years in the wild. The longest known lifespan in the wild was of a snowy owl initially banded (possibly in its first winter) in Massachusetts and recovered dead in Montana 23 years and 10 months later. The annual survival rate for twelve females on Bylot Island was estimated at around 85-92.3%. It is often reputed that snowy owls frequently died from starvation, with historical accounts opining that they "had to" leave their breeding grounds due to lemming "crashes" but would starve to the south. However, it was proven fairly early on that snowy owls often do survive throughout the winter. This is reinforced somewhat by small radio-tracking and banding studies of snowy owls in the northern Great Plains and the intermountain valleys of the northwestern United States. More circumstantial evidence shows a lack of starvation in the eastern part of North America as well. There is evidence that some adults are known to return to the same wintering areas in ensuing years, areas which are far south of their breeding range. At Logan Airport, most snowy owls that are seen appear to be in good condition. Of 71 dead snowy owls found in winter in the northern Great Plains, 86% died from assorted traumas, including collisions with automobiles and other, usually manmade, objects as well as electrocutions and shootings. Only 14% of the 71 deaths were due to apparent starving. Data showed some owls appeared to incur injuries but healed and survived. More evidence was found in wintering snowy owls in New York of healed fractures, though some may require surgery to recover. 537 wintering birds in Saskatchewan were studied based on fat reserves, which were superior in females over males and adults over juveniles; while 31% of females lacked fat reserves, at least 45% of males found starving or in a state of infirmity were males and 63% turned into Wildlife rehabilitation centres were also males. In British Columbia, of 177 snowy owl deaths, of owls to die, only a small percentage were due to natural causes, such as assumed starvation at 13% and 12% were "found dead". One fledgling on Fetlar died due to pneumonia and Staphylococcus, while a second died from Aspergillosis. Evidence shows that in Utqiaġvik during exceptionally prolonged rains (i.e. 2 to 3 days), nest-departed young were vulnerable to starvation, leading to hypothermia and pneumonia. Due to their natural history, the snowy owl may be affected more severely by blood parasitism than other raptors, due to lowered immunity. Conversely, they appear to have lower levels of ectoparasites such as chewing lice than other large owls per large samples from Manitoba. The snowy owls averaged about 3.9 chewing lice per host against 7.5 for great grey owls and 10.5 for great horned owls.

This species presence and numbers is dependent on amount of food available. In "lemming years", snowy owls can appear to be quite abundant in habitat. Numbers of snowy owls are difficult to estimate even within studies that take place over decades due to the nomadic nature of adults. The population of Scandinavia has long been perceived as very small and ephemeral with Finland holding 0-100 pairs; Norway holding 1-20 pairs and Sweden holding 1-50 pairs. A low breeding population within European Russia has been estimated to hold 1,300-4,500 pairs and Greenland to have 500-1,000 pairs. Other than northern part of the American continent, a majority of the snowy owl's breeding range is in northern Russia, but overall estimates are not known. An exact count of 4,871 individuals were seen on surveys between the Indigirka and Kolyma rivers. The numbers estimated by Partners in Flight and other authors by the 2000s was that North America held about 72,500 snowy owls, about 30% of which were juveniles. The Canadian population of snowy owls was estimated at 10,000-30,000 (in the 1990s) or even to 50,000-100,000 individuals, perhaps improbably. Within Canada, the population on Banks Island was once claimed at up to 15,000-25,000 in productive years and in Queen Elizabeth Islands at about 932 individuals. Alaska is the only state with breeding snowy owls but has probably quite a bit fewer breeding owls than does Canada. Furthermore, the Partners in Flight and the IUCN estimated that the world population was roughly 200,000-290,000 individuals as recently as the 2000s. However, in the 2010s, it has been discovered that all prior estimates were extremely excessive and that more precise numbers could be estimated with better surveying, phylogeographic data and more insights into the owl's free-wheeling wanderings. It is now believed that there are only 14,000-28,000 mature breeding pairs of snowy owls in the world. During lemming declines, the number of nesting females may drop down to as low as 1,700 worldwide, a dangerously low number, and the number of snowy owls worldwide is less than 10% of what it was once thought to be. Due to the small and rapidly declining population, the snowy was uplisted in 2017 to being a vulnerable species by the IUCN. A 52% decline has been inferred for the North American population since the 1960s with another even more drastic estimate placing the decline from 1970 to 2014 at 64%. Trends are harder to delineate in Scandinavia but a similar downward trend is thought to be occurring. Snowy owls are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international trade (including in parts and derivatives) is regulated.

Anthropogenic mortality and persecution

Snowy owls often favor airports, such as this one at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, in winter but the risk of birdstrike is high in such areas.

Of 438 band encounters in the USG banding laboratory, almost all causes of death that could be determined, whether intentional or not, were correlated with human interference. 34.2% or 150 were dead due to unknown causes, 11.9% were shot, 7.1% were hit by automobiles, 5.5% were found dead or injured on highways, 3.9% were collision from towers or wires, 2.7% were in animal traps, 2.1% in airplane birdstrikes, 0.6% were entangled while the remaining 33.3% recovered injured due to assorted or unknown causes. Snowy owls are endangered by heavy airport usage resulting in birdstrikes. Many such collisions are known in Canada and likely also in Siberia and Mongolia . Despite their danger to planes, no human fatalities have been recorded in collisions with this species. Snowy owls are always far outnumbered in Canadian airports in winter by short-eared owls. However, relative to its scarcity, the snowy accounts for a very large balance of the birdstrikes recorded at American airports due to the attractiveness of the habitat, accounting for 4.6% of 2456 recorded collisions (the barn owl is the most frequently involved in birdstrikes). The species is locally vulnerable to pesticides. The placement of buildings in the Utqiaġvik is now thought to have displaced some snowy owls. In Norway, potential sources of disturbance near the nests include tourism, recreation, reindeer husbandry, motorized traffic, dogs, photographers, ornithologists and scientists. Some biologist have expressed concern that radio-tagging of snowy owls may cause some unclear detrimental effect on snowy owls but little evidence is known if they actually make the owls more susceptible to death.

Snowy owls can be quite wary, as they are not infrequently hunted by Circumpolar peoples. Historically, the snowy owl was one of the most persecuted owl species. In the irruption of 1876-77, an estimated 500 snowy owls were shot, with similar numbers in 1889-90 and an estimated 500-1,000 killed in Ontario alone during 1901-02 invasion and about 800 killed in the 1905-06 invasion. Indigenous people of the Arctic historically killed snowy owls as food but now many communities in northern Alaska are fairly modernized, therefore biologists feel that the permitted killing of snowy owls by the indigenous is outdated. The consumption of snowy owls by humans has been proven as far back as ancient cave deposits in France and elsewhere, and they have even been considered as one of the most frequent food species for early humans. They do not shun developed areas especially with old field that hold rodents and, due to lack of human experience, can be extremely tame and unable to escape armed humans. In British Columbia, of 177 snowy owl deaths, the most often diagnosed cause of death was shootings at 25%, often well after legal protection of the species. The number poached snowy owls in Ontario is opined to be unusually high considering their scarcity. While the species was once otherwise killed as food and then later shot out of resentment for perceived threats against domestic and favored game stock, the reasoning behind ongoing shooting of snowy owls into the 21st century is not well-understood. Siberian snowy owls are frequently victim to baited fox traps, with possibly up to around 300 killed in a year based upon very rough estimates. Warfarin poisoning in use as rodenticides are known to kill some wintering snowy owls, including up to six at Logan Airport alone. Mercury concentrations, most likely through bioaccumulation, have been detected in snowy owls in the Aleutian Islands but it is not known whether fatal mercury poisoning has occurred. PCBs may have killed some snowy owls in concentration. Some airports have advocated and instituted the practice of shooting owls to avoid birdstrikes but successful translocation is possible and preferred given the species protected status.

Climate change is now widely perceived to perhaps the primary driver of the snowy owl's decline. As temperatures continue to rise, abiotic factors such as increased rain and reduced snow are likely to effect lemming populations and, in turn, snowy owls. These and potentially many other issues (possibly including modifying migrating behavior, vegetation composition, increased insect, disease and parasite activities, risk of hyperthermia) are a matter of concern. Additionally, reduction of sea ice, which snowy owls are now known to rely extensively on, as a result of warming climates, impacts could be significant. The effect of climate change was essentially confirmed in northern Greenland where a perhaps irrevocable collapse of the lemming population was observed. From 1998 to 2000, the lemming numbers appeared to have quickly declined. The number of lemmings per hectare (ha) is less than one-fifth of what it once was in Greenland (i.e. from 12 lemmings per ha to less than 2 per ha at peak). This is almost certainly correlated with a 98% decline in owl productivity as well as that of the local stoats (the long-tailed jaeger and Arctic foxes, though previously thought to be almost as reliant on lemmings, seem to be more loosely coupled and more generalized and did not decline as much). The amount of lemming mounds is much less than it once in northern Greenland and any variety of population cycle has been apparently abandoned by what remains of the lemmings.

In popular culture

References

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23. ^ Robillard, A.; Therrien, J. F.; Gauthier, G.; Clark, K. M.; Bêty, J. (2016). "Pulsed resources at tundra breeding sites affect winter irruptions at temperate latitudes of a top predator, the snowy owl". Oecologia. 181 (2): 423-433. Bibcode:2016Oecol.181..423R. doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3588-3. PMID 26920901. S2CID 10938486.

24. ^ Royer, Aurélien; Montuire, Sophie; Gilg, Olivier; Laroulandie, Véronique (2019). "A taphonomic investigation of small vertebrate accumulations produced by the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) and its implications for fossil studies" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 514: 189-205. Bibcode:2019PPP...514..189R. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.10.018. S2CID 134132621.

25. Johnsgard, P. A. (1988). North American owls: biology and natural history. Smithsonian Institution.

26. Winter, R. E. (2016). ^ Hunting Behaviors and Foraging Success of Winter Irruptive Snowy Owls in New York Archived 16 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Thesis.

27. ^ König, Claus, Friedhelm Weick, and Jan-Hendrik Becking. Owls of the World. 2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. Web. 23 May. 2023.

28. Fitzgerald, B.M. (1981). "Predatory birds and mammals". In ^ Tundra ecosystems: a comparative analysis. Eds L.C. Bliss, 0.W. Heal & J.J. Moore, pp. 485-508. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9780521227766

29. Krechmar, A.V. & Dorogoy, I.V . (1981). "Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca)". In: Ecology of mammals and birds in Wrangel Island. Vladivostok: DVNZ AN SSSR: pp. 56-81.

30. ^ Andersson, N. Å. & Persson, B. (1971). "Något om fjällugglans Nyctea scandiaca näringsval i Lappland". Vår Fågelvärld. 30: 227-231.

31. ^ Potapova, O. (2001). "Snowy owl Nyctea scandiaca (Aves: Strigiformes) in the Pleistocene of the Ural Mountains with notes on its ecology and distribution in the Northern Palearctic". Deinsea. 8 (1): 103-126.

32. Heggøy, O., & Øien, I. J. (2014). Conservation status of birds of prey and owls in Norway. NOF/BirdLife Norway-Report, 1, 1-129.

33. ^ Valenziano, R. L.; Labedz, T. E. (September 2014). "Stomach Content Analysis of Recent Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) Specimens from Nebraska". Neb. Bird Review. 80 (3): 122-127.

34. ^ Dove, Carla J.; Coddington, Charles P. J. (September 2015). "Forensic techniques identify the first record of Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) feeding on a Razorbill (Alca torda)". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 127 (3): 503-506. doi:10.1676/14-176.1. S2CID 84091677.

35. Campbell, R. W.; Preston, M. I. (2009). "Featured Species - Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)". Wildlife Afield. 6 (2): 173-255.

36. ^ Murrey, T.; Sleeman, D. (2005). "Dietary analysis from the Snowy Owls pellets Nyctea scandiaca Linnaeus 1958, from the Mullet Peninsula, Co, Mayo". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 283: 136.

37. ^ Duncan, James R. Owls of the world: their lives, behavior and survival. Firefly Books, 2003.

38. ^ Conover, Michael R.; Roberts, Anthony J. (2017). "Predators, predator removal, and sage-grouse: A review". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 81: 7-15. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21168.

39. ^ Wiklund, C. G., Angerbjörn, A., Isakson, E., Kjellén, N., & Tannerfeldt, M. (1999). "Lemming predators on the Siberian tundra". Ambio. 281-286 (3): 281-286. JSTOR 4314894.

40. ^ Therrien, Jean-François; Pinaud, David; Gauthier, Gilles; Lecomte, Nicolas; Bildstein, Keith L.; Bety, Joël (2015). "Is pre-breeding prospecting behaviour affected by snow cover in the irruptive snowy owl? A test using state-space modelling and environmental data annotated via Movebank". Movement Ecology. 3 (1): 1. doi:10.1186/s40462-015-0028-7. PMC . PMID 25709836.

41. ^ Tremblay, J. P., Gauthier, G., Lepage, D., & Desrochers, A. (1997). "Factors affecting nesting success in greater snow geese: Effects of habitat and association with snowy owls" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 109 (3): 449-461. JSTOR 4163840.

42. ^ Schenker, A. (1978). Höchsalter europaischer Vögel im Zoologischen Garten Basel. Ornithol. Beob. 75: 96-97.

43. ^ Curk, T.; McDonald, T.; Zazelenchuk, D.; Weidensaul, S.; Brinker, D.; Huy, S.; Smith, N.; Miller, T.; Robillard, A.; Gauthier, G.; Lecomte, N.; Therrien, J.-F. (2018). "Winter irruptive Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) in North America are not starving". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 96 (6): 553-558. doi:10.1139/cjz-2017-0278. S2CID 89965465.

44. ^ Kirk, D. A., Hussell D. & Dunn, E. (1995). "Raptor population status and trends in Canada". Bird Trends. 4: 2-9.

45. ^ Alaska Department of Fish and Game. State of Alaska special status species 2011.

46. PIFSC. ^ Partners in Flight Science Committee (2013). Population estimates database (Version 2.0) 2013. Available from http://rmbo.org/pifpopestimates Archived 1 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine.

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External links

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The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus ), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mostly on the tundra.

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Bio Explorer

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Snowy Owl (bubo scandiacus) | Bio Explorer

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Snowy Owl is one of the largest owls and they are found in the Arctic tundra of North America and Eurasia. Find its anatomy, diet, lifespan & more here.

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Oceanwide- expeditions

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Intro facts about snowy owls

The snowy owl ( Bubo scandiacus), also known as the great white owl or Arctic owl, is one of the most distinctive bird species on the planet. While you won't find them in all areas of the Arctic - they don't exist in Svalbard due to the lack of lemmings - snowy owls are seen in the polar regions of Eurasia and North America and are a potential visitor during Greenland cruises. The binomial species name," scandiacus," is derived from Scandinavia, as this is where the bird was first discovered. The snowy owl is the official bird of Quebec, and they are a must-see for countless bird watchers and naturalists.

Snowy owl specs: colouring, wingspan, size

The snowy owl is noted for its beautiful white plumage and startling yellow eyes. The owlets (juvenile owls) hatch white. Their first plumage is dark grey and mottled to provide camouflage while they are still in the nest. As they get older, they start to grow their signature white plumage. Adult males are mostly white but can have some dark colouring on their wing tips. Female snowy owls have a more mottled appearance to provide camouflage for nesting on the ground, and they are also larger than males. Their beak and talons are black. Snowy owl eyes are proportionately smaller than most owl eyes are. They also cannot move their eyes, so they look around by turning their heads. Like all owls, snowy owls have a very flexible neck, which can rotate approximately 270 degrees. Their wingspan is 1.2 - 1.5 meters (4 - 5 feet), and they stand about .6 meters tall (2 feet).

The harsh tundra habitat of the snowy owl

Spanning the northern regions of Canada, Alaska, Europe, and Russia, the tundra is a habitat generally found north of 71.2 degrees latitude. The environment is cold and dry, and it begins where the taiga forest regions end. Trees do not grow on the tundra, but the habitat is rich in grass, herbs, moss, lichens, and low shrubs. The ground is rocky and hard with permafrost. The snowy owl shares this severe habitat with many species, such as the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and polar bear ( Ursus maritimus), to name a few.

Not quite a night owl

As the snowy owl lives in a mostly treeless environment, they can often be spotted resting on the ground or on natural perches, such as mounds or rocks. In settled areas, snowy owls will be seen perching on fences and buildings. Most of us know owls to be nocturnal (active at night), but the snowy owl is actually diurnal (active during the day). More specifically, they are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dawn and at dusk.

The lone wolf of the bird world

Snowy owls are solitary except during the breeding season, when the male assists with nesting and chick rearing. Although they are nomadic, snowy owls will become extremally territorial during the nesting and breeding season. They aggressively chase away intruders or any other predators that threaten their eggs or hatchlings. Snowy owls breed in May and June, and hatchlings can be seen over July and August. Only the female sits on the eggs, and the male provides food for her while she incubates. After snowy owl chicks are hatched, the male brings food back to the nest, and the female feeds the chicks. The chicks will be cared for by their parents for the first five or six weeks, while they grow their plumage and learn to fly and hunt.

The watch-and-wait trait of snowy owl hunting

Like all predatory birds, the snowy owl is a capable hunter. The regions of the Arctic tundra are home to the prolific and proverbial rodent, the lemming ( Lemmus lemmus), and a range of other small rodents, such as voles and mice. These are a staple in the snowy owl diet. Larger prey items include the ptarmigan ( Lagopus, a grouse-like bird), hares ( Lepus), rabbits ( Lagomorpha), and various species of ducks and geese. Hunting is done with a watch-and-wait technique. Snowy owls perch on a regular lookout point and use their highly tuned hearing and vision to locate prey. Their hearing is so good that they can even hear prey moving under the snow. Snowy owl ears are asymmetrically positioned on their heads to assist with pinpointing the source of the sounds. The feathers of the snowy owl are very soft, which helps muffle the sound of their approach when hunting.

Snowy owl Arctic adaptations

The Arctic tundra is a harsh environment, but the snowy owl is well adapted to surviving and thriving in the cold habitat. They are quite round-bodied, which helps them maintain their body heat, and they have thick plumage. Most birds have bare legs, but the snowy owl has feathers covering its legs and feet to further insulate it from the cold. Its abundant coat helps make it one of the heaviest members of the owl family, with adults weighing approximately 1.8 kilos (4 pounds). As part of their survival technique in this harsh environment, snowy owls expend as little energy as necessary. Flights are short and low to the ground, and they wait for prey as opposed to flying and searching.

Bird watching for snowy owls

Unlike many of the predatory birds from warmer regions, snowy owls are nomadic. They do not keep a regular range, as their prey can be quite scarce and seasonable. During the northern hemisphere winter, they have been known to travel as far south as Scotland. Snowy owls are active during the day and prefer weather that is dry, with little wind. Such predatory birds have regular places that they perch and scan for prey, so look for snowy owls in high areas like mounds, buildings, and fences. Snowy owls do not usually perch in trees. They are more active and abundant during the northern hemisphere summer, when their prey is breeding.

Four finishing facts about the snowy owl

1. Many birds of prey swallow their prey whole. They digest the flesh, then regurgitate the bones and fur as a pellet. Scientists can use these pellets to gain information about the owl's diet and hunting habits.

2. The snowy owl is considered vulnerable by the IUCN (the International Union of Conservation for Nature).

3. Snowy owls play an essential role in controlling the numbers of rodents in the Arctic tundra environment. One snowy owl can eat up to 1600 rodents in a year.

4. The Harry Potter movies were responsible for a sudden boom in the interest of snowy owls as pets. However, these birds are large, strong, and have a fierce bite. This resulted in many snowy owls being abandoned at animal centres around the world.

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Secrets of the Snowy Owl: Habitat, Adaptations, and Other Facts

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The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), also known as the great white owl or Arctic owl, is one of the most distinctive bird species on the planet. While you won't find them in all areas of the Arctic - they don't exist in Svalbard due to the lack of lemmings - they are seen in the polar regions of Eurasia and North America and are a potential visitor during Greenland cruises.

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Animalia Bio

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife

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It's that time of year again, when birders and wildlife enthusiasts hope to catch a magical glimpse of a snowy owl. Historically the birds travel southward (well outside their normal range) every four years or so. This is called an . But, for many reasons, not all understood, snowies have been "irrupting" more often, and some predict another banner year for Southern sightings. We figured people might start talking about snowies as sightings increase, and wanted to equip you with some interesting facts to share.

Their feet are covered with feathers, like fluffy slippers. This provides ample insulation for the cold Arctic climate.

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8 Fascinating Facts About Snowy Owls | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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It's that time of year again, when birders and wildlife enthusiasts hope to catch a magical glimpse of a snowy owl. Historically the birds travel southward (well outside their normal range) every four years or so. This is called an irruption.

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Owl Research Society

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SNOWY OWL FACTS:

​

Large, white owl with bright yellow eyes, a dark beak, and thickly feathered feet

Males: adult males are pure white

Females: white with dark bars or spots

Young: resemble females

​

OTHER NAMES: Snow Owl

FAMILY: Strigidae

CLOSEST RELATIVE: Great Horned Owl

​

SNOWY OWL SIZE:

​

Females outsize males.

Height: Males 55-64 cm (21-23 in), Females 60-75 cm (22-26 in)

Weight: Males 700-2500g (1.5-5.5 lbs), Females 790-2950 g (2-6.5 lbs)

​

SNOWY OWL RANGE:

​

Circumpolar; summer in Arctic, often spend winter in southern Canada, northern U.S.,
and similar latitudes around the world

SNOWY OWL HABITAT:

Tundra, meadows, marshes, dunes; during nesting season, lives on the tundra

​

SNOWY OWL DIET:

​

Mostly lemmings, voles, and other rodents; often birds, sometimes rabbits and other small mammals

​

SNOWY OWL VOICE:

​

Mostly silent, but a wide variety of calls heard around breeding sites

Males: loud, booming "hoo, hooo"; when disturbed, a rapid, "kre-kre-kre"

Females: whistle, mew, or scream

​

SNOWY OWL NESTING:

​

Nest Site: on the ground, atop low mounds (1m, 3 ft)

Eggs: 4-8 round, white eggs, laid asynchronously one every 2-3 days

Incubation: 31-33 days

​

SNOWY OWL HUNTING HABITS:

​

Mostly diurnal, but will hunt any time of day in the constant daylight of Arctic summer

​

SNOWY OWL CONSERVATION STATUS:

​

Not globally threatened; species of "Least Concern", but appears to be declining in northern Europe.

​

SNOWY OWL RESEARCH:

​

Read about the Owl Research Institute's Snowy Owl study in RESEARCH.

​

ALSO OF INTEREST:

​

* Snowy Owls nest on small mounds in the arctic tundra
* One of the few species of owl that builds its own nest
* It takes several years for males to turn totally white
* Irruptions (great numbers of birds migrating to an area)
take place in the northern US after a productive breeding
year

* Use a 'wallop' hunting method - swooping down and
snatching prey with their strong talons
* Fledglings leave the nest and spend nearly a month hiding & toddling around the tundra before they are able to fly
* Food is often delivered to the female by the male during courtship displays

© Ly Dang/nature2pixels.com

SNOWY OWL DISTRIBUTION IN NORTH AMERICA

Maps provided by The Birds of North America Online and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

​

It's no wonder Harry Potter chose this owl to be his right hand man. Snowy Owls- the large, white owls of the north- appear almost magical when seen flying silently overhead. They're quite mysterious too. Considered nomadic, these hardy hunters travel many miles in search of their favorite foods. Even the scientists who study them never know where they'll be seen next! Snowy Owls prey mostly on rodents like lemmings, and can show up most anywhere rodent populations are high.

Unlike many other owls, Snowy owls are not nocturnal, and can be seen hunting any time of the day or night. Consider yourself lucky if you spot one though, because these owls tend to inhabit places where humans don't live.

​

Snowy Owls spend their summers in the Arctic, hunting and nesting out on the tundra in places few people visit. When moving south in the winter, they don't choose warm, sunny locations like many other migrating birds do. These snowy white raptors spend their winters where they'll blend in- on snow-covered farmlands, dunes, or marshes. Most any flat, open land will do... as long as the hunting is good!

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Unlike many other owls, Snowy Owls are diurnal, and can be seen hunting any time of the day or night. Snowy Owls tend to inhabit places where humans don't live. Snowy Owls spend their summers in the Arctic, hunting and nesting out on the tundra.

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Audubon Society

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A large, powerful owl of the high Arctic tundra, colored for camouflage during northern winters. In summer it may be nomadic, concentrating and nesting where there are high populations of the small…