Results tagged “south america” on Earth Touch Blog
Flickr group: pic of the day – capybara Jun 9 2008
The capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) is the world’s largest living rodent. Adult capybaras can grow up to 130cm (4.3ft), and weigh up to 65kg (140lb). They are herbivores, living on grasses and aquatic plants.
Tags: capybara, flickr, mammal, photograph, photography, rodent, south america, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – armadillo Jun 3 2008
Armadillos (Euphractus sexcinctus) are small mammals with distinctive bony shells covering most of their bodies. According to the World Conservation Union, they are native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay.
Tags: armadillo, flickr, mammal, photograph, photography, south americaFlickr group: pic of the day – rockhopper penguin May 29 2008
Rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) are native to Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay and New Zealand. There are also vagrant populations in Antarctica and Brazil.
Tags: africa, antarctica, argentina, australia, bird, brazil, falkland islands, flickr, hile, new zealand, penguin, photograph, photography, rockhopper, south africa, south america, uruguay, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – guira bird May 13 2008
Guira birds (Guira guira) are a type of cuckoo, found only in South America. They are common in their native countries which include Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Tags: bird, flickr, guira, photograph, photography, south america, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – plumed basilisk May 8 2008
The plumed basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons) is a species of lizard native to South America. The male of the species has three crests on its head and body, the female has only one small crest on its head.
Tags: crest, flickr, lizard, photograph, photography, plumed basilisk, reptile, south america, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – gentoo penguin Apr 24 2008
Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) are an easily recognisable species, because of the distinctive white stripe across their foreheads. According to the International Union for Conservation, they are native in Antarctica; Argentina; Australia; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); French Southern Territories (Crozet Island, Kerguelen); Heard Island and McDonald Islands; South Africa (Marion and Prince Edward Islands); South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. They are currently classified as near threatened.
Tags: africa, antarctica, argentina, australia, bird, flickr, gentoo penguin, penguin, photograph, photography, south africa, south america, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – keel-billed toucan Apr 9 2008
Keel-billed toucans (Ramphastos sulfuratus) are also known as a sulfur-breasted toucan and rainbow-billed toucan. They are found exclusively in Central and South America.
Flickr group: pic of the day – Roseate spoonbill Apr 3 2008
Roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) are found in the south-eastern states of the United States such as Louisiana and Florida, down through the Caribbean and Central America, and into South America. They feed in shallow and coastal waters on small fish, frogs and other water creatures.
Tags: argentina, bird, caribbean, central america, coast, coastal, feed, fish, flickr, florida, lake, louisiana, north america, pink, roseate spoonbill, shallow, south america, spoonbill, waterFlickr group: pic of the day – lemon shark Mar 25 2008
Lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) are found in tropical and sub-tropical waters, usually along the Atlantic coast of the Americas.
Tags: america, bahamas, beach, central america, coast, fish, lemon shark, shark, sharks, south america, tropical, vertebrateFlickr group: pic of the day – poison dart frog Mar 7 2008
This photograph of a poison dart frog (Dendrobates ventrimaculatus) has been chosen as our Earth-Touch Flickr group “picture of the day”.
Tags: amphibian, arboreal, dart frog, frog, peru, poison dart frog, south america, vertebrateDid you know? Tamandua Jan 29 2008
There are two species of tamandua, the northern (Tamandua mexicana) and the southern (Tamandua tetradactyla).
These anteaters are found in Central and South America.
The northern tamandua has a distinct “v” marking on its back which occurs only in some southern tamanduas.
The animals have four digits on their front feet and five on their hind feet. They walk on the outer edge of their forepaws so as not to cut themselves with their sharp claws.
Tags: ant, anteater, back, brazil, central america, claw, digit, feet, fur, gizzard, hunt, limb, nest, nose, pantanal, paw, south america, tamandua, teeth, termite, tongueWildlife news from around the world
Three new salamander species found Jan 29 2008
Scientists have made a thrilling discovery of three new species of salamander in a remote forest reserve in Costa Rica. Two of the species are nocturnal, belonging to the Bolitoglossa genus, while the third is a dwarf variety from the Nototriton family, growing to little longer than a thumbnail. The three new finds bring the number of Costa Rican salamanders known to science to a total of 43.
“Discovering so many new species in one area is exciting, particularly as this is probably the only place in the world you can find these animals,” said Dr Alex Monro of London’s Natural History Museum, who is leading the project.
Tags: amphibian, bolitoglossa genus, colour, costa rica, gland, invertebrate, lizard, london’s natural history museum, nototriton, salamandar, skin, slug, south america, vertebrae, wormWildlife news from around the world
River dolphin count completed Jan 29 2008
BBC Wildlife magazine reports that the recent completion of a survey of pink (Inia geoffrensis and Inia boliviensis) and grey (Sotalia fluviatilis) river dolphins in South America’s Orinoco and Amazon Basins was “a triumph for freshwater dolphin conservation”.
Coatis in a palm grove Jan 29 2008
The coati (Nasua nasua) is a raccoon-like mammal with a ringed tail and a long, flexible nose which is somewhat turned up, allowing it to nose about under leaf litter for food. Watch a group of coatis doing this in the Earth-Touch clip, Coatis forage in a palm grove, filmed in the Pantanal of Brazil. These forest dwellers eat fruit and invertebrates.
Capybara dashes for safety Jan 7 2008
It looks like a guinea pig and behaves more like a hippopotamus: it’s the world’s largest rodent, the capybara (Hydrochaerus hydrochaeris).
Watch these grass-eating creatures catch the scent of possible danger and run for the water in the Earth-Touch video clip Capybara and caiman, filmed in the Pantanal of Brazil.
Tags: brazil, capybara, pantanal, rodent, south americaWhat’s coming in 2008 Jan 4 2008
In 2007, Earth-Touch users were treated to wildlife video and story packages from four continents – Africa, North America, South America and Asia – and a great variety of habitats.
Brazilian birds Jan 3 2008
The Earth-Touch film crew spent time in the Brazilian part of the Pantanal, a vast area of South America which is flooded for part of the year. Although also cattle-ranching country, it is full of wildlife – and birds in particular.
You can see jabirus, monk parakeets, bat falcons and white-throated toucans in the video clip Show of Brazilan birds.
Tags: bird, brazil, monk parakeet, pantanal, parakeet, south americaMammals of the world Dec 24 2007
There are more than 4 500 different species of mammals, from the largest, the blue whale, to the smallest, the pygmy shrew.
Wildlife news from around the world
Lessons in healing from sea cucumbers Nov 12 2007
Some species of animals can replace entire organs when they are damaged, but it has not been clear how similar this process of regeneration is to the process of wound healing.
Studying the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima, a species known for its regenerative powers, researchers at the University of Puerto Rico have now found that the cellular mechanisms in both processes are analogous.
Macaws in Ecuador Nov 8 2007
In the Earth-Touch clip Macaws roost high in the treetops, a variety of birds provide a rich musical background to the views of Ecuadorian jungle life.
The forest canopy along the Cuyabeno River in Ecuador is massive and is home to a diverse range of bird species including the iconic blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna).
Tags: bird, blue and yellow macaw, colour, cuyabeno river, equador, macaw, panama, paraguay, parrot, rainforest, roost, south americaDid you know? Giant anteater Oct 19 2007
This odd-looking animal is the largest member of the anteater family. The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) lives on ants and termites, as its name suggests.
Did You Know? Pantanal Oct 18 2007
The Pantanal wetland of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay supports 650 species of birds, 80 species of mammals, 260 fish species and 50 reptile species. It is estimated that there are 10 million caimans here. (See the Earth-Touch clip, Caimans swim and bask.)
This week’s most viewed stories Oct 12 2007
The most popular stories on Earth-Touch in the past week (from Friday 05 October to Thursday 11 October 2007) were:
Number 1
Two bull elephants take their time to drink and shower themselves with mud, rumbling contentedly as they amble around between the waterholes.
Tags: brazil, bull, elephant, giant otter, invertebrate, kelp, kwazulu-natal, otter, pantanal, south africa, south america
Our 250th story hits the site! Oct 11 2007
Today Earth-Touch published its 250th story, Seabirds forage in the intertidal zone.
New footage from Brazil Oct 9 2007
Earth-Touch has already published footage from the expedition crew in Ecuador. The same crew also went to the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil and Earth-Touch is now publishing that material.
Wildlife news from around the world
Kelp not gone after all Oct 2 2007
Researchers have found forests of a kelp species that was thought to be endangered or extinct.
The team, led by San Jose University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, used a mathematical model to pinpoint places where the kelp, Eisenia galapagensis, was likely to be found.
Tags: galapagos island, kelp, plant, san jose university, scuba, sea, south africa, south america, threatened, university of california, santa barbaraView rare chorongo monkeys Oct 1 2007
Woolly monkeys, commonly known as chorongo monkeys in Ecuador, are found in the rainforests of the western Amazon River basin.
Earth-Touch is on YouTube Oct 1 2007
Did you know there’s a way you can get even more out of Earth-Touch? On YouTube you’ll find preview video clips made by the Earth-Touch crew in their various locations, such as the Cuyabeno Reserve in Ecuador’s jungle, the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and along the coast of South Africa.
Did you know? Amazon Basin Sep 28 2007
The Amazon Basin in South America covers some 6.7-million square kilometres (2.6-million square miles), which is more than two-thirds the size of the USA. It produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen.
Help us to identify this butterfly species! Sep 25 2007
Identifying butterflies is notoriously difficult. We aren’t sure what this species is, captured on film by our crew along the Cuyabeno River in Ecuador. Perhaps it could be Glutophrissa Drusilla or Melete lycimnia?
Ecuador is in fact home to about 4 500 species of butterflies!
Have plant guilt, need counselling Sep 21 2007
By Pierre Minnie, field crew
When I arrived to film in Ecuador it took me a long time to overcome my ‘plant guilt’.
On occasion, when walking on jungle paths, we had to trample and machete our way through sections of the undergrowth that had become overgrown. I felt bad about destroying the plants but was reassured by my guide that we were not denuding the vegetation and that the plants would grow back quickly in the tropical climate.
Tags: ecuador, garden, machete, path, plant, south america, thai lime leaf tree, vegetationThis week’s most viewed stories Sep 21 2007
The most popular stories on Earth-Touch in the past week (from Friday 14 September to Thursday 20 September 2007) were:
Number 1
Blackfin sharks at close range
A small shoal of curious blackfin sharks gradually grows into a mob as more and more swim up close to investigate the strangers in their space.
Ants on the go Sep 20 2007
The creatures in the Earth-Touch clip The march of the leafcutter ant are truly amazing.
Leafcutter ants cut up leaves with their jaws, which act like miniature power tools and vibrate at a thousand times a second.
Tags: ant, ecuador, egg, fly, fungi, jaw, larvae, leaf, leafcutter ant, south americaDid you know? Hoatzin bird Sep 17 2007
Hoatzin birds are large, unusual-looking birds, with long, feathered crests, that inhabit the forest canopies of South America.
Tropical rainforests of Ecuador Sep 14 2007
We welcome footage of tropical rainforests shot in Ecuador, broadcast on Earth-Touch for the first time today.
Coming soon: Scenes from Ecuador Sep 13 2007
The culturally and environmentally diverse country of Ecuador in South America is the next location Earth-Touch will be screening footage from.
Tags: amazon basin, amphibian, bird, butterfly, crew, cuyabeno reserve, ecuador, fauna, flora, footage, monkey, plant, reptile, south america, titi monkeyWildlife news from around the world
Orchids flowered in dinosaur times, study suggests Sep 5 2007
This amber-preserved stingless bee carries pollen from Meliorchis caribea, the first unambiguous fossil orchid known to science. Photo: Santiago Ramírez
Orchid pollen attached to a bee that was trapped in amber, suggests that orchids were already blooming during the time of the dinosaurs, BBC News and others have reported.
Tags: amber, bee, dinosaur, dominican republic, flower, fossil, orchid, pollen, south americaWildlife news from around the world
New species of frog discovered Sep 4 2007
Scientists have discovered a tiny new species of poisonous frog in a forest in Colombia, several news agencies have reported, including Fox International and National Geographic News.
The golden frog’s range is limited to only about 20 hectares (50 acres) in a mountainous area in Colombia’s Cundimarca region.
Tags: columbia, conservation international, cundimarca, dart frog, discovery, frog, golden frog, mountain, reptile, south americaWildlife news from around the world
Deforestation in Brazil slows: Report Aug 28 2007
New figures suggest the rate of deforestation in Brazil may be slowing slightly – though it is still a fast-continuing trend. BBC News reports that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a 25% decrease in the destruction of Brazil’’s share of the forest (the biggest), between August 2005 and July 2006, the lowest rate since at least 2000.
This translates to saving 600 000 trees. Da Silva attributed the decline to stricter environmental policies, including a crackdown on illegal logging.
Wildlife news from around the world
Study counts rare river dolphins Aug 20 2007
A group of Bolivian, Colombian, and Argentine scientists are taking part in a year-long census of freshwater dolphins in the Amazon and Orinoco river basin. The river dolphins of South America are among the most endangered mammal species on earth.
Read the Christian Science Monitor’s in-depth reporting on this study of the rare powder-pink dolphins, entitled ‘A quest to save South America’s freshwater dolphins’.
Slouching hammock, hidden pain Aug 13 2007
By Pierre Minnie, field crew
My filming recce in the Pantanal in Brazil delivered some interesting experiences. I was on a three day camp excursion which had been organised from Ecuador. When preparing for the trip via e-mail, the organisers had impressed me with their attention to the details regarding my stay. I prepared myself mentally and braced myself for the cold showers I was informed we would have there, cold showers being yet another of my pet hates.
Donna Summer and the Anaconda Aug 7 2007
Photo: Dawson/Wikipedia
The search was on. We were scouting for an anaconda to film and the light – and our hopes – were fading fast. The day had been spent tracking and filming birds in the Pantanal in Brazil and we were now racing to reach an area in which anacondas had recently been seen. We were hurtling along a tooth-shattering and butt-bruising dirt road in a pickup. I was clutching the camera in the cab but my laptop was doing double half twist somersaults on the back
Tags: anaconda, brazil, footage, human, marsh, pantanal, snake, south america, wetlandTravels with an iguana Jul 27 2007
By Pierre Minnie, field crew
My guide pulled me back to look at the beautiful iguana I had walked past without seeing. It was a perfectly camouflaged Guichenot dwarf iguana. The creature was motionless and hanging on a moss-covered branch, obviously confident that it was well disguised.
I am currently in South America and have been sent to North Eastern Ecuador to evaluate the potential to film here for Earth-Touch.
Tags: branch, camouflage, cuyabeno reserve, ecuador, footage, guichenot dwarf iguana, iguana, plant, reptile, south americaEarth-Touch field crew VS the crew of the Black Pearl (Pirates of the Caribbean) Jul 23 2007
By Brian Palmer, head honcho
They might look pretty similar, and smell the same after a month or two in the field, but there are some essential differences:
Earth-Touch Field Crew
Crew of the Black Pearl
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