Results tagged “tail” on Earth Touch Blog
Macaques at both ends of the tail scale Jun 2 2008
Tags: asia, diet, feed, long-tailed, macaque, mammal, monkey, stump-tailed, tail, thailand, vertebrate
Did You Know? African wild dog Apr 4 2008
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is the only species in its genus and is only distantly related to the domestic dog.
Tags: africa, african wild dog, carnivore, hunt, mammal, mate, pack, tailDid you know? Flap-neck chameleon Mar 27 2008
The flap-neck chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis) of Southern Africa is named for the occipital (relating to the back part of the head) flap that extends from the back of its head over its neck. It raises this flap when agitated, to make itself appear larger, as well as hissing, gaping and changing colour. The size of the flap varies between populations of this species, as well as by sex and age.
Tags: africa, animal, back, black, chameleon, colour, feed, feet, flap-neck, forest, green, head, incubate, insect, kwazulu-natal, male, neck, occipital, reptile, size, tail, temperatureDark clouds and great whites Mar 25 2008
A blanket of apprehension lay over the day’s divers – the crew from Earth-Touch and a few British tourists. There were dark storm clouds making their way towards the area we were going to try to find the great white sharks, and the surface of the sea was windswept, with white caps dotted across the ocean surface.
The boats were loaded, and soon we were pounding our way to Skip Skop, an area 7km (4mi) off the coast, with a ferocious reputation for great whites (Carcharodon carcharias). As we sped from the base, the excitement seemed to drain from the faces with every kilometre we travelled.
Tags: adrenaline, animal, bait, bite, camera, coast, colour, eye, female, fin, fish, great white, green, jaw, nerves, ocean, power, sea, shark, skip skop, south africa, speed, storm, swim, tail, visibility, water, western cape, white, windDid you know? Oxpeckers on the back of mammals Jan 30 2008
Oxpeckers are often seen on the backs of animals like hippo, buffalo and kudu. They feed off parasites such as ticks and bloodsucking flies that live on the mammal’s skin. These birds have a mutual relationship with mammals, removing parasites in exchange for observing the surroundings from an aerial viewpoint and alerting them of danger.
Tags: adaptation, bath, bird, bloodsucking fly, buffalo, cattle egret, ear, egret, elephant, fly, groom, hippo, kudu, oxpecker, parasite, red-billed oxpecker, skin, south africa, tail, tick, trunkCoatis 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.
Did you know? The difference between black-backed and side-striped jackals Nov 6 2007
Despite the obvious difference between these two species – one has a black back and the other a side stripe – there are also other differences that distinguish these two jackals.
They differ in size, with the side-striped jackal (Canis adustus) being up to 10kg (22lb) heavier than the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas). The face and coat of the black-backed jackal are tan, whereas the side-striped jackal is grey in colour.
Tags: black-backed jackal, breed, colour, ear, jackal, scavenger, side-striped jackal, size, tailHaving a whale of a time Oct 26 2007
Earth-Touch has served some spectacular footage of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the south-eastern coast of South Africa in the past few weeks.
The whales come to these waters every year to calve, and have become so well known, South Africans now sometimes refer to the ‘Big Six’ (lion, rhino, elephant, leopard, buffalo and now whale) as must-see animals.
Tags: calve, fluke, head, power, sail, south africa, southern right whale, tail, western cape, whaleView 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.
Did you know? Bird bones Sep 10 2007
To be able to fly, a bird‘s skeleton needs to be lightweight and strong. To achieve this, nature has endowed birds with several adaptations for flight. They have fewer bones than mammals. Many of their bones, such as the middle and lower vertebrae, are fused together, and some tail, finger and leg bones are missing. Some of their bones are hollow, with internal struts for reinforcement, much like the lightweight wooden struts in early aeroplanes.
Gearing up for the great catfish run Aug 10 2007
By Andy Crawford, field crew
Things have been happening early in Botswana this year, probably due to the unseasonably warm weather. The temperature has been over 30 degrees celsius (86 degrees fahrenheit) for the majority of this week, no doubt the build-up to a long, hot summer. The skimmers arrived on the sandbank months ahead of schedule and are gearing up to breed already and it seems as if the annual catfish run may also be happening sooner than expected. In the evenings one can hear the tell-tale snapping of the papyrus as the catfish hunt.
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