Random Animal of The Day

Learn about a new randomly selected animal each day! (all photos and art belong to their respective owners)

[randomanimaloftheday]

Introduction

Hello,

I'm a big animal lover and I wanted to create a blog where I info-dump about a new animal every day! I have a randomizer with a number of species (both living and extinct) and each day I will randomly select a new species to talk about. Right now, the list is at 513 1,000 3,459 4,547 species, but as time goes on I will add to it. Feel free to suggest a species to add to the list! Hope y'all enjoy and learn something new about the amazing species we share our planet with!

Oh, and since I'm not an expert or anything (just a very dedicated layman) I'll probably make a mistake at some point. If that happens, feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to correct it!

All images will be credited to their respective owners.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 400#: Tasmanian Devil

Today's animal of the day is the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)!

Photo credit: Brett Vercoe

Also known as the Purinina in the Palawa Kani language, this dog-like species of marsupial is native to the island of Tasmania, which is located about 149 miles off the coast of Australia. Speaking of which, this species was once native there as well and could be found across the continent, but became extinct there approximately 3,500 years ago due to a combination of natural climate change and the arrival of the ancestors of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. These early human settlers also brought the ancestors of the dingoes with them to Australia, and they also contributed to the extinction of the mainland devils.

Photo credit: Calum Burgess Wylie

Tasmanian devils are currently the largest carnivorous species of marsupial on Earth and are around the size of a small dog, at around 30 inches long and weighing up to 26 pounds. That title used to belong to the thylacine (also known as the Tasmanian tiger), but they sadly went extinct in 1936 due to farmers incorrectly assuming that they posed a threat to their livestock and killing them all. Tasmanian devils are actually distant cousins of the thylacine, though they are more closely related to another type of marsupial called the quoll.

Photo credit: Australia Zoo

Tassie devils, as they are sometimes called, aren't picky eaters and feed mostly on carrion. They are capable of eating even the most rancid of rotting meats, and their powerful bite force allows them to easily crack open bones to get to the marrow inside. In fact, they have the strongest bite force of any living land animal relative to their body size at around 550 PSI. Because they're able to feed on carrion that most other carnivores would get sick from, Tasmanian devils actually help serve as Tasmania's natural cleanup crew and even help reduce the amount of flies and other pest insects since, by cleaning up the excess carrion, they reduce the amount of food that the maggots have to eat. They also apparently will sometimes even sleep in rotting carcasses, and as such they reportedly stink to high heaven.

Photo credit: Philip Griffin

Just because they feed mostly on carrion doesn't mean that these guys don't actively hunt prey as well. They're called "devils" for a reason, and that's because they're surprisingly vicious for their size. It's also because they like to scream and often get into fights with each other, but my point still stands. Their favorite prey seems to be wombats, but they've been known to take on animals as large as kangaroos and even domestic animals like sheep and goats! What's even more impressive is that they are solitary hunters, which means that they're capable of taking down animals much larger than themselves without any help! There are even reports back before the thylacine went extinct of Tasmanian devils sneaking into their dens and eating any unattended joeys! There are also numerous rumors and legends of Tasmanian devils attacking and eating lost campers who strayed too far into the Tasmanian wilderness. However, these are all just stories, and there have been no recorded human deaths caused by these rowdy little guys. Though I wouldn't put it past them to scavenge on the body of someone who was already dead. As I said before, they prefer carrion, since it's an easy meal, and even when they do hunt live prey, they're more likely to go after smaller creatures like wallabies, birds, frogs, lizards, and insects. They've also been observed occasionally eating fruits and vegetables.

Photo credit: Crystal Kelehear

Tasmanian devils are most active at night and will spend the day either in a burrow or hiding in some thick brush to avoid detection from predators such as eagles. They are surprisingly good at climbing (though only as juveniles) and are decent swimmers too. They've been observed swimming to cross rivers that are up to 160 ft across and are icy cold, and are apparently "enthusiastic" while doing so. While they spend much of their time alone, these devils will often share overlapping territories, and contrary to what was formerly believed, they do seem to interact peacefully with each other sometimes outside of the mating season. Well, at least females will interact with other females and males and won't become aggressive unless they have joeys and the other devils are getting too close to their dens.

Photo credit: Staurt Gordon

Like all marsupials, females give birth to very premature babies and raise them in their pouches long after giving birth so they can continue to develop. However, while other marsupials only give birth to one or sometimes a small litter of joeys at a time, female Tassie devils can have anywhere from 20 to 30 babies in a single litter. Despite this, females only have four nipples, so the jellybean-like joeys have to race from the birth canal to their mother's pouch in order to claim a nipple. Once a joey latches on, the nipple swells inside their mouth and seals the joey in place for the next 100 days.

Photo credit: Healesville Sanctuary

Once all four nipples are taken, the rest of the joeys end up starving to death. Interestingly, significantly more females seem to win this race compared to males. After 105 days, the joeys are ready to begin leaving the pouch, which faces backwards and prevents the mother from being able to interact much with her babies before then. After they've left the pouch, the joeys will usually stay in their mother's den for three more months before they are ready to venture out with her. Once they do, she'll often carry them on her back while they're still small, like a momma opossum does! It takes almost an entire year for the joeys to become fully weaned, and most of them seem to survive this process (at least out of the four in each litter who were able to find a nipple). Sadly, after they leave their mothers, Tassie devil juveniles have a very high mortality rate, probably due to them being more active at dawn and dusk, which makes them more likely to encounter threats such as birds of prey and humans.

Photo credit: Wayne McLean

Historically, the Tasmanian devil population has not had a very good time ever since European colonists arrived in Tasmania. Early settlers often hunted them for food, since they apparently tasted like veal. Farmers also accused them of killing their livestock, much like they did with the thylacine. While the Tassie devils were probably much more capable of killing sheep than the thylacines were (since, despite their larger size, they had much weaker bite forces), these incidents of livestock killings are thought to have mostly been caused by feral dogs, but that did not stop the Australian government from putting bounties on both the Tassie devils and tigers. Thankfully, after the thylacines were tragically lost, the government decided to stop their witch hunt and help protect the Tasmanian devils, which were on the brink of extinction.

Photo credit: Brett Vercoe

While the Tasmanian devil population did originally bounce back a bit, they are still endangered today due to a new threat: Devil Facial Tumor Disease. This is a type of contagious cancer that is spread when a sick devil bites a healthy one. It causes tumors to rapidly grow around the devil's face, which makes it hard for them to eat, and they eventually starve to death. While Tasmanian devils are mostly solitary, they will often form small groups when feeding on a large carcass. During these feedings, it's normal for the devils to bite and fight with each other to assert dominance in their social hierarchy.

Photo credit: Menna Jones

However, this makes it super easy for DFTD to spread, and it's estimated that the disease has caused an 80% decline in the total wild population in recent years! It didn't help that before 2017 there was no available treatment or vaccine for this disease, so conservationists were stuck just capturing sick devils and euthanizing them. Luckily, there is now a way to treat devils with early signs of DFTD, but it's impossible for conservationists to go out and treat every sick devil in the wild. There's currently only one remaining population of Tasmanian devil to be 100% DFTD-free, mostly because they've become isolated from the rest of the overall population. Sadly, as a result of this, this population has also become super inbred and is now becoming infertile.

Photo credit: Philip Griffin

Sorry for the late post! As you can see, there was A LOT of info to cover for this species, and it took more longer than I thought it would to write it all down.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 399#: West Usambara Two-Horned Chameleon

Today's animal of the day is the West Usambara Two-Horned Chameleon (Kinyongia multituberculata)!

Photo credit: Jan Ohlson

Also known as the Usambara blade-horned chameleon, this species of chameleon is found only (as its name suggests) in the temperate forests of the West Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. They were previously thought to be a population of Fischer's chameleon, since they look very similar and are in the same genus, but in 2008 genetic testing showed that they were actually their own separate species. It turns out that there aren't actually any Fischer's chameleons in the West Usambara Mountains. In fact, the West Usambara two-horned chameleon is the only species of chameleon in its genus found in this region. Though the closely related (oh god this is a long ass name) giant monkey-tailed East Usambara two-horned chameleon as well as Vosseler's blade-horned chameleon can be found in the Eastern Usambara Mountains.

Photo credit: Alla S. Urala

They are quite a large species within their genus (though kind of small compared to other types of chameleons), with the largest individuals growing up to 13 inches in length. However, more than half of their total length is made up of their tails, which are prehensile and help them to hold onto tree branches as they climb. Like with other chameleons, males tend to be larger than the females and also possess larger horns on their noses. It's theorized that these horns may be used for both territorial disputes and to attract mates. They're also capable of changing the color of their skin, but like I mentioned when I covered the Malagasy giant chameleon on day 234 and Meller's chameleon on day 333, they don't do so to blend in. Instead, they use this ability to communicate with other chameleons how they are feeling, for example, if they want to mate or are angry and want them to go away.

Photo credit: John Lyakurwa

These chameleons spend most of their time up in the trees and are very slow and vulnerable to predation when traveling on the ground. As such, they have been heavily affected by the logging that occurs in the region, which can prevent the chameleons from traveling from one patch of forest to another in search of food or mates. It's also suspected that a large number of these chameleons were captured and exported out of Africa for the international pet trade. However, since most of these exports took place when they were still classified as Fischer's chameleons, it's hard to estimate the exact number that were stolen from the wild. Some experts believe that more than 95% of "Fischer's chameleons" exported out of Tanzania were actually West Usambara two-horned chameleons. Thankfully, since 2017, the Tanzanian government has banned the export of this species.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 398#: La Gomera Giant Lizard

Today's animal of the day is the La Gomera Giant Lizard (Gallotia bravoana)!

Photo credit: Jaime A. de Urioste

This herbivorous species of lizard is a member of the lacertid family, which is collectively known as wall lizards, and, like the Palma green bush-cricket that I covered a few days ago, is endemic to the Canary Islands. However, while the Palma green bush-cricket is native to the Island of La Palma, the La Gomera giant lizard is (obviously) found on the Island of La Gomera. They typically grow to a little over a foot and a half long (not including their tails) and are mostly a dark brown or black color with a bright white patch covering their neck, chest, and mouth.

Photo credit: Christoph Moning

The species was first documented by explorers in the 19th century, but disappeared shortly afterwards. The species wouldn't be formally described until 1985, but it was believed to have already gone extinct since, at the time, all scientists had of these lizards were subfossil remains. That is, until 1999, when a team of Spanish biologists led by Dr. Juan Carlos Rando found six living specimens that had managed to survive in the most remote parts of La Gomera!

Photo credit: Jim Pether

The species is believed to have originally disappeared due to a combination of factors. For starters, much of the island's vegetation that these lizards relied on for food had been overgrazed by livestock that people brought to La Gomera. In addition to this, invasive cats and rats often preyed upon the young lizards as well as their eggs. Because of this, the lizards' range was greatly reduced to just a pair of steep cliffs, the inaccessibility of which helped to protect the lizards from invasive species and destructive humans.

Photo credit: Linné's Nightmare on iNaturalist

However, these areas are also prone to rock falls, which sometimes end up killing these rare lizards. It also makes it very hard for conservationists to study them in the wild. The latest data I could find about their population came from 2004. The total population seems to have been around 134 individuals, with 44 in captivity and around 90 in the wild. Since then, captive breeding programs have successfully released many more individuals back into the wild. However, unless the invasive cats and rats are removed, the lizards will remain trapped in their cliffs, which, even combined, have less space than a single hectare.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 397#: Honey Blue-Eye

Today's animal of the day is the Honey Blue-Eye (Pseudomugil mellis)!

Photo credit: Neil Armstrong

Previously thought to be just a rare color variant of the Pacific blue-eye until 2004, this species of fish inhabits the ponds and streams flowing through the Wallum Sand Heaths of southeastern Queensland. They usually only grow to about an inch long (though some specimens have been recorded as being as big as an inch and a half), and as their name suggests, they are a honey yellow color with blue eyes. They also possess faint blue markings on their cheeks. Males have black bands with white margins on their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins; meanwhile, the fins of the females are clear.

Photo credit: Rudie H. Kuiter

These fish tend to live in water that is slightly acidic and often stained brown by tannins, which is a substance commonly found in the leaves, seeds, and bark of plants and can leak into the water if submerged for an extended period of time and turn it brown. Their diet consists mostly of algae, as well as some aquatic insects, and they spend much of their time foraging for food up near the water's surface in schools of anywhere from 25 to up to 70 individuals!

Photo credit: Moonlight Aquatics

Sadly, much of the Wallum Sand Heaths have been destroyed by human development, which has caused this species to become endangered. To make matters worse, their remaining habitat often lies on the outskirts of urban areas, which puts them at risk of becoming polluted. The honey blue-eyes also have to deal with several invasive predators, such as the eastern mosquitofish, the green swordtail, and the southern platyfish, all of which were brought to the region by humans and released into the wild. The eastern mosquitofish is apparently especially aggressive and has become invasive in many other parts of the world as well because people incorrectly believe they can help keep mosquito populations down and keep releasing them in places where they don't belong. They are also sometimes stolen from the wild to be sold as pets, though this doesn't seem to be as big of a threat as habitat loss and invasive species are. Still, we shouldn't be capturing endangered species to keep as pets.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 396#: Puritan Tiger Beetle

Today's animal of the day is the Puritan Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera puritana)!

Photo credit: Steve Collins

This endangered species of predatory beetle is found in just three states within the northeastern region of the United States: Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts. They prefer to inhabit either sandy or rocky beaches, such as those surrounding Chesapeake Bay or along the Colorado River. Interestingly, the exact type of habitat, as well as their behavior, depends on which state they are found in. Those in Connecticut and Massachusetts prefer to live near the water's edge on sandy beaches, while those in Maryland prefer narrower stretches of beaches that are up against rocky cliffs.

Photo credit: Chris Rorabaugh

Adult Puritan tiger beetles are around 0.56 inches long with either bronze or greenish-brown wings with pale markings and long black legs. They spend much of their time on the ground, searching for small insects like ants, flies, and fleas to eat, as well as any other small invertebrate. They've also been known to occasionally scavenge on the carcasses of already dead fish and crabs. The mature beetles capture their prey by chasing after them with their long legs and then grabbing them with their jaws in a very "tiger-like" manner, hence their name.

Photo credit: Sloan Tomlinson

The larvae of this species are also predatory, but they need to stay within the burrows that their mothers dug and laid their eggs in. So, instead of chasing after their prey, they attach themselves to the entrance to their burrows and wait until prey walks by before quickly grabbing and then dragging them back into their burrows. This larval form lasts around 22 months, and after that, they will pupate and then emerge as their adult forms around the end of June. It takes another two years for the adult beetles to reach sexual maturity. Sadly, wild females typically die after mating and producing one (or rarely more) offspring. However, in captivity they can survive for much longer and are capable of producing around 100 offspring!

Photo credit: Rick Rosalie

These beetles are sadly endangered nowadays due to the vast majority of their habitat having been destroyed by human development. While some populations are around a few thousand strong, others, such as the one at Massachusetts' Rainbow Beach, have as few as just 60 remaining adult individuals. In addition to habitat loss, these beetles are also often preyed upon by parasitic wasps, which go after their larvae, as well as competition from the very similar-looking bronzed tiger beetle. Thankfully, the species is protected under the Endangered Species Act, and a recovery plan was made in 1993 to help protect the remaining patches of habitat for these beetles as well as help restore beaches where they have gone locally extinct so that they may one day be reintroduced there.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 395#: German Deathlayer

Today's animal of the day is the German deathlayer breed of domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)!

Photo credit: Green Fire Farms

Also known in Germany as the Westfälischer Totleger, this beautiful breed of chicken originates from the Westphalia region of northwestern Germany and is estimated to be around 400 years old. While their name makes them sound like some sort of demon chicken, it's actually the result of some mixing of the two main dialects of the German language. Originally, these chickens were known as either 'Altagslegers' or 'Dauerlegers', which both translate to "daily layer of eggs", since this breed is known for being great layers. However, eventually some influence from the Low German dialect would cause the name to change to 'Daudtleijer' and then eventually 'Totleger', which means "death layer". There's another theory going around that claims that their name comes from the fact that the hens lay eggs until the day they die, but this is just a common misconception.

Photo credit: Green Fire Farms

Despite being great layers, German deathlayers aren't a commonly kept breed of chicken. While beautiful, they're very skittish birds and will freak out anytime you approach them. Because of this, you either need to free-range them or keep them in a coop with a large run, or else they could become super stressed out and accidentally hurt themselves trying to escape. They're also terrible mothers, so while you'll have no problem breeding them, to hatch the eggs you'll need to get an incubator or convince a broody hen of a more maternal breed to adopt them.

Photo credit: chickenfans.com

Like many other chicken breeds, the German deathlayer comes in a few different color variants. The two standard colors are golden-penciled and silver-penciled; however, some breeders have begun crossing these two color morphs to create what's called lemon deathlayers. Though these "hybrids" aren't considered official. In my opinion, it's good that people have started breeding these two different color morphs since this breed is considered critically endangered, and restricting breeding to keep specific color lines "purebred" puts the breed at risk of becoming inbred.

Photo credit: Maine Homestead Magazine

The last census I could find of this breed was in 2016, and it recorded only around 176 roosters and 798 hens, all of which were kept by just 12 different farms in Germany. Luckily, the breed has since been imported into the U.S., where it is considered more of a fancy/novelty breed instead of a utility or pet breed. Livestock conservation groups are working hard to help preserve this breed and prevent inbreeding, but due to the numerous drawbacks of the breed, it's unlikely that they'll ever become a popular breed kept by farmers or even backyard chicken keepers. Personally, I wouldn't mind keeping a small flock one day just for conservation purposes, but I'm a crazy chicken person, and I understand why other people aren't too keen on keeping them.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 394#: Mangrove Hummingbird

Today's animal of the day is the Mangrove Hummingbird (Chrysuronia boucardi)!

Photo credit: Andrew Spencer

This rare species of hummingbird is endemic to the mangrove forests that grow along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Males have bluish-green feathers on their heads and throats with white underbellies and bronze wings. Females look similar to the males, but have less green on their underparts, and their outermost tail feathers are tipped with gray. Both sexes are around the same size, around 3.7 to 4.3 inches long, with a slightly decurved bill that is black on top and reddish on the bottom.

Photo credit: Jorge Obando

These hummingbirds are non-migratory and usually stay in the same general area for most of their lives. They are most commonly found near patches of tea mangroves, since the nectar from their flowers makes up a majority of their diet. They have also been observed feeding on the nectar from various flowering plants, such as Inga, Heliconia, and Maripa. They've even occasionally been seen feeding on insects.

Photo credit: Andrew Spencer

Hummingbirds in general have very high metabolisms and need to constantly feed on sugary nectar in order to survive. Because of this, they're constantly traveling from one flower to another, which makes them excellent pollinators. As such, many of the flowering plants I mentioned before rely on them for pollination and have evolved long, tube-shaped flowers that are either bright red or orange, since those are the colors that birds see best.

Photo credit: Juan Diego Vargas

Sadly, because this species can only survive in mangrove forests, they have been greatly affected by habitat loss. While it's now illegal to cut down mangrove trees in Costa Rica, this law isn't always enforced, and mangrove forests are disappearing at a rapid rate due to deforestation. The construction of various roads and dikes often alters the flow of water into these mangrove forests, which is another factor causing the mangroves to die off, and as a result, the mangrove hummingbirds as well. It's estimated that there are at most 7,000 adult mangrove hummingbirds left, with some estimates being as low as just 1,500 individuals.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 393#: Palma Green Bush-Cricket

Today's animal of the day is the Palma Green Bush-Cricket (Calliphona palmensis)!

Photo credit: Volker Boehlke

This species of katydid can only be found in the laurel and Canary pine forests of the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands archipelago. Like many other members of the Tettigoniidae family, they are bright green in color with long antennae, which is why this group is sometimes also called "long-horned grasshoppers", though they aren't actually grasshoppers. They aren't crickets either; they are instead close relatives that look pretty similar.

Photo credit: Pedro Oromi

Sadly, this species is at risk of extinction due to a series of wildfires that have destroyed much of the bush-cricket's habitat in recent years. Anthropogenic climate change has caused the region to experience record-breaking heatwaves and droughts, which makes it much easier for wildfires to spread and grow out of control. La Palma is also a volcanic island, and a recent eruption in 2021 that lasted 85 days also destroyed a large portion of this species' remaining habitat.

Photo credit: Diego Rodríguez Hernández

This is a sad reality for many island-dwelling species, since their naturally small ranges make it easy for them to be wiped out by just one or two big natural disasters. It doesn't help that these katydids are pretty poor flyers, which makes it difficult for them to escape the area when disaster strikes. To make matters worse, there are also no current conservation efforts to help protect the species, though some of their remaining habitat is part of the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, which does have some fire reduction and prevention programs in place.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 392#: Spectacled Flying Fox

Today's animal of the day is the Spectacled Flying Fox (Pteropus conspicillatus)!

Photo credit: Kayla Dick

Named after the pale yellow fur surrounding their eyes, which makes it look like they're wearing glasses, this species of fruit bat can be found in the tropical rainforests of northeastern Australia and New Guinea, as well as some nearby smaller islands. They are members of the family Pteropodidae, which are commonly known as the "megabats" due to their large size. While not the largest bat in the world (that title goes to the giant golden-crowned flying fox), these fruit bats can still grow pretty big, with wingspans of up to 3.9 ft!

Photo credit: Justin Welbergen

Like most other bats, they are nocturnal and come out at night in order to forage for food. However, unlike their insectivorous cousins, most fruit bats don't use echolocation. Instead, they use their large eyes and powerful sense of smell to locate ripe fruit in the dark. Also, just want to put it out there that even the bats that do use echolocation can still see. It's a myth that bats are blind or have poor eyesight. In fact, most bats can see just as well as humans can. Granted, we can't see that well in the dark either, but that's why those bats use echolocation.

Photo credit: John Hill

Spectacled flying foxes feed mainly on fruit, such as figs, as well as flower nectar. They are highly social and prefer to forage and rest in large groups, called colonies. These colonies usually have around a few thousand bats, though the largest colony recorded had over 50,000 individuals! Bats often form close bonds with other members of their colonies, and they've been known to become very depressed when separated from other bats, which can cause them to become somewhat aggressive towards humans. Females especially form tight-knit bonds with each other, and non-pregnant individuals will often help tend to those who are about to give birth by bringing them food and protecting them from predators.

Photo credit: David White

Natural threats to these bats include mainly owls and pythons, though sometimes freshwater crocodiles will snatch them up when they swoop down to get a drink of water. Sadly, it's becoming more and more common for these bats to die unnatural deaths, caused mostly by humans. Bats often become tangled in nets, barbed wire, and even telephone wires, which, even if the bats survive, can severely damage their sensitive wing membranes and prevent them from ever flying again. The Australian government also used to give farmers permits to kill these bats since they would often "steal" fruit from their orchards. Since these bats play an important role as both pollinators and seed dispersers, I personally think they've earned the right to eat as much fruit as they want.

Photo credit: Liz Noble

Thankfully, farmers are no longer permitted to shoot the bats, but they are sadly facing an even bigger crisis. In 2019, a heat wave brought on by climate change killed over one-third of the species' total population! As a result, the Australian government changed their conservation status from vulnerable to endangered. Sadly, despite the legal protections this status provides them, it's believed that very few wild bats manage to survive to the expected 12 to 15 years. It's almost certain that no wild bats are capable of getting anywhere close to 30 years, which some individuals have reached in captivity.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 391#: Japanese Eagle Ray

Today's animal of the day is the Japanese Eagle Ray (Myliobatis tobijei)!

Photo credit: Luis Perez Berrocal

Also known as the cowhead eagle ray or the kite ray, this species of stingray lives in the tropical waters off the coasts of China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and, as its name suggests, Japan. These rays are usually a yellowish-brown color with dark spots scattered across their bodies. Like many other species of rays, they possess stinging spines near the base of their tails, which are serrated and help to protect the rays from predators. These spines are theoretically dangerous to humans, but there are currently no recorded instances of this species ever attacking, let alone killing, a human. They belong to the family Myliobatidae, which are commonly known as "eagle rays" due to their wing-like fins making it seem like they are flying through the water like an eagle soars through the sky.

Photo credit: Luis Perez Berrocal

Japanese eagle rays spend most of their time close to the sea floor, where they search for small fish, crustaceans, and other marine creatures hidden underneath the sand. Their snouts are well-suited for shifting through the sand in search of prey, which vaguely resembles a cow grazing, hence why they're sometimes called "cowhead eagle rays". They've even been observed occasionally eating marine plants while foraging. They typically travel alone, but are sometimes seen in small groups, which are called fevers. Sadly, due to both purposeful overfishing as well as being caught as accidental bycatch, this species has undergone a somewhat significant population decline. They are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN; however, no laws have yet been made to help protect this species from being overharvested.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 390#: Russian Sturgeon

Today's animal of the day is the Russian Sturgeon (Huso gueldenstaedtii)!

Photo credit: Dennis Jacobsen

This species of critically endangered sturgeon spends most of its life swimming in the saline waters of the Black, Azov, and Caspian Seas. They are typically found near the sea floor, where they like to search the sand and mud for crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish to eat. They sense their prey from within the muck using three pairs of special barbels located on the tips of their snouts, which are super sensitive and can easily detect movement in the water. These sturgeon are capable of growing almost 7 ft long (around 83 inches)! However, these giant individuals are exceptionally rare, and most only grow to around 3 to 4.5 ft long.

Photo credit: gernotkunz on iNaturalist

While they spend most of their lives in saltwater, they're actually born in the freshwater lakes and rivers of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Once they mature, the young sturgeon will make their way out to sea and live solitary lives until they reach sexual maturity. Starting in April, mature fish who are ready to spawn will form large schools and make their way upstream in order to reach the spawning grounds by June. Unlike salmon, which only spawn once and then die shortly after, sturgeon will return to the ocean after spawning and can spawn multiple times within their lifetimes. However, this does take up a lot of energy, so males usually only spawn once every other year, while females spawn once every two to three years.

Photo credit: Tennessee Aquarium

Sadly, spawning becomes harder and harder for these fish every year due to the construction of dams and pollution preventing them from traveling back and forth between the ocean and their spawning grounds. They are also regularly hunted for their unfertilized eggs, which are eaten as caviar. Usually, the female is killed in order to harvest her eggs, though there are non-lethal harvesting methods. Sadly, this is time-consuming and impractical for large-scale harvesting, so most fish caught are slaughtered. Thankfully, it is now illegal to hunt this species, and most caviar comes from farmed fish, which are somewhat better suited for the non-lethal harvesting method. Sadly, poaching still occurs, and even if it didn't, the various obstacles blocking their paths to the spawning grounds make it impossible for them to replenish their population.

A: Russian sturgeon, B and C: sturddlefish, D: American paddlefish / photo credit: Jenő Káldy and colleagues

Also, fun fact: in 2020, it was found out that the Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish are able to hybridize somehow. These hybrids are known as sturddlefish, which is an amazing name. I don't want to talk about these guys too much now, since they definitely deserve their own post someday, but it's so weird that these two species are even able to hybridize since they aren't even in the same family!

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 389#: White-Winged Guan

Today's animal of the day is the White-Winged Guan (Penelope albipennis)!

Photo credit: BluesyPete

Also sometimes known as the pava aliblanca, this endangered species of bird is found only in the forested ravines of northwestern Peru. They can be identified by their blackish-brown feathers that have a glossy green sheen to them, as well as the pale gray streak on their forehead, red dewlap, and the patch of bare, purplish skin surrounding their red eyes. As their name suggests, the primary feathers on their wings are white, which contrasts against their dark bodies.

Photo credit: Zieger M.

They are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active at dawn and dusk. They usually spend the afternoon resting in the shade of the forest to avoid overheating, and at night they fly up and roost in tall trees to avoid any nocturnal predators. Their diet consists mostly of fruit and seeds, as well as other types of vegetation like leaves and flowers. They usually forage in small family groups or in pairs, and mated pairs tend to form close bonds with each other that last for multiple years.

Photo credit: Nick Athanas

It seems that due to these birds only being found in a handful of forested ravines at specific elevations, the species has always been somewhat rare. They were first discovered in 1876 but then went unseen until over a hundred years later in 1977! Since then, numerous surveys have been done to map out their range and determine their exact population. It is currently estimated that there are around 200 adult white-winged guans alive today, and while they're still endangered, their population doesn't seem to be decreasing. However, the species remains at risk due to several roads having been built between several of the known sites where these birds live. This makes it difficult for the guans to meet up and mate with individuals from other populations, thus increasing the risk of inbreeding. This is known as habitat fragmentation, and is among the leading causes for endangered species around the world having low genetic diversity, which can increase the rate at which they go extinct.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 388#: Mantled Howler Monkey

Today's animal of the day is the Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata)!

Photo credit: Dr. Ariel Roriguez-Vargas

This species of New World monkey inhabits the tropical rainforests of Central America, as well as a tiny sliver of South America and the southernmost tip of Mexico. They are called howler monkeys because males have an enlarged hyoid bone, which is a hollow horseshoe-shaped bone located near their vocal cords. This greatly increases the volume of their vocalizations, which they use to communicate with each other over long distances. The "mantled" part of their name comes from the long guard hairs on their sides, which are coarser than the rest of their coats and help to protect the softer fur underneath.

Photo credit: Manuel Raab

These monkeys tend to live in large groups that usually have somewhere between 10 and 20 members. However, they've occasionally been seen in groups as large as 40 individuals! Adults in these groups tend to be unrelated, since juveniles leave their families before reaching sexual maturity in order to avoid inbreeding, and are led by a dominant male. Mantled howler monkeys will form a territory that can range in size from 25 to 148 acres. Different groups will often have overlapping territories, but will try to avoid encountering each other while foraging. If two groups meet, they usually end up trying to bully each other into going away. However, unlike some other types of primates, they won't super aggressively patrol their borders and try to kill any and all intruders.

Photo credit: Arturo de Frias Marques

Their diet mostly consists of leaves, as well as occasionally fruit. However, leaves make up the majority of their diet. Unlike many other types of New World monkeys, mantled howlers have full three-color vision, which means that they can see all three primary colors and all their different combinations. Most New World monkeys only have two-color vision and thus can't see as many different colors as the mantled howlers can. This ability helps them to find younger leaves, which tend to be more reddish since the trees haven't pumped them full of chlorophyll yet. Younger leaves are easier to chew than older ones, and depending on the species, also tend to have less toxins in them. Because leaves don't provide the monkeys a lot of energy, they spend most of their time resting. They are most active during the day, but still only spend about 3/4ths of that time resting. Compared to many other primates, they spend surprisingly little time socializing with one another, with much of their time not resting being used to forage for food.

Photo credit: Manuel Raab

While the species as a whole is considered to be vulnerable by the IUCN, there are three distinct subspecies, all of which have different conservation statuses. The nominate subspecies is the golden-mantled howler (A. p. palliata), which can be commonly found throughout Central America and is considered to currently have a stable population. Meanwhile, the Ecuadorian mantled howler (A. p. aequatorialis) is considered to be vulnerable, and the Mexican howler (A. p. mexicana) is full-on endangered! Like many other rainforest animals, habitat loss is the biggest threat to this species' survival.

Photo credit: Andrés León-Reyes

As more and more forests are cut down, these monkeys not only have nowhere to live but are also running out of food. Not every type of leaf is edible to them, and malnutrition has caused some populations to experience an increase in illnesses and physical ailments, like rickets. These monkeys play an important role in the rainforest as seed dispersers, since when they do occasionally eat fruit, they transport the seeds away from the parent tree and then poop them out in a place where the seedling doesn't have to compete with its parent or siblings. There are even some species of plant that require their seeds to pass through an animal's digestive tract in order to germinate. In addition to this, there are certain types of dung beetles that rely on these monkeys as a food source, since they poop A LOT! Luckily, the sedentary lifestyle and small home ranges of this species seem to have helped it fare better than some other monkey species that need more room to roam. But we should still try to protect as much of the remaining rainforests as we can, not just for this species but for the countless other organisms that rely on them as well, which includes humans!

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 387#: Hot Creek Toad

Today's animal of the day is the Hot Creek Toad (Anaxyrus monfontanus)!

Photo credit: Gary Nafis

This critically endangered species of amphibian is endemic to Nye County, Nevada, in the Hot Creek Mountain Range, hence its name. The marshes that these toads inhabit are fed by hot springs and surrounded by the arid sagebrush steppe, which greatly restricts the toad's native range to just this area. It is believed that the ancestors of this species were able to first arrive in the Hot Creek Mountains by following the White River, which once flowed through the region. However, eventually the river flow changed directions and trapped the toads there.

Photo credit: William Flaxington

For a long time, this species wasn't actually considered to even be a true species, or even a subspecies for that matter. They were originally believed to just be a population of western toads (Anaxyrus boreas). However, recent genetic and morphological analysis showed that many types of toads previously classified as western toads were actually totally separate species! The Hot Creek toad became separated from the western toad in 2020 along with the Railroad Valley toad, and so was the Dixie Valley toad just a few years earlier. Due to it only being recently discovered and it being pretty rare even within its already small range, very little is known about these toads, and scientists have so much more to learn about them.

Photo credit: Gary Nafis

Sadly, we might not have much time to study these newly described toads, since their small native range puts them at a high risk for extinction. Invasive American bullfrogs also pose a threat to this species, since they not only prey on smaller species of frogs (yes, toads are frogs) but also carry deadly diseases, such as chytridomycosis. This deadly fungal infection has already caused many species of frogs around the world to go extinct, such as the golden toad and both the northern and southern species of gastric-brooding frog. The already small population size of the Hot Creek toad makes them even more susceptible to this disease, since even just one major outbreak could spell doom for the species.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 386#: Purple-Winged Ground Dove

Today's animal of the day is the Purple-Winged Ground Dove (Paraclaravis geoffroyi)!

Photo credit: Carlos Keller

This critically endangered species of dove is believed to inhabit the Atlantic Forest, a large region that consists of broadleaf rainforests along the Atlantic coast of South America. It has historically been observed in parts of southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and in the Misiones province of northeastern Argentina. However, the species hasn't been seen in years, and it's feared that these rare birds may have already gone extinct.

Image credit: Martin Elliott

These pigeons were specialists that relied on the mass fruiting events of two very specific species of bamboo, Guadua chacoensis and Guadua trinii. Groves of these bamboos would take turns simultaneously flowering, producing seeds, and then dying, and the purple-winged ground doves would travel from grove to grove to feed on all the seeds. By only feeding on these two specific species of bamboo, they avoided competing with other species of seed-eating birds, such as their close relative the maroon-chested ground dove, which also feeds on bamboo seeds but only those of Andean bamboo. However, it also made them totally reliant on the bamboo, and as a result, they were always pretty rare outside of groves that were undergoing mass seeding events.

Photo credit: Luiz Claudio Marigo

This specialization made these doves extremely vulnerable to deforestation. More than 85% of the Atlantic Forest region has been cut down by humans to use as lumber, firewood, or to turn into farms and pasture lands. This has caused the extinction of countless species of plants, animals, and probably many other types of organisms, including those that hadn't even been discovered yet. Because the purple-winged ground dove filled such a specific niche, it likely was hit harder by the loss of its forest compared to species with more generalist lifestyles. There have been no verifiable sightings of this species since 1985, though they haven't been declared extinct yet, since there have been a couple of unconfirmed sightings, with the latest one being in 2017 in Argentina. Though even if they are still alive somewhere in the rainforest, it's feared that their population might be too small for the species to last much longer.

Image credit: Coenraad Jacob Temminck

Ok, so this part actually makes me really mad. While rarely seen in the wild, there were actually over 150 individuals held in captivity by various aviaries and private owners. These captive individuals could have been used to create a captive breeding population, like what was done with the Spix's macaw. However, the Brazilian government ended up changing its laws regarding keeping these birds in the 1980s, which forced keepers to register their birds or release them back into the wild. Any keepers who didn't do this had their birds taken and sent to a government facility that didn't really know how to care for them, so most ended up dying or being released without any sort of tracking device since it wasn't realized how endangered they were at the time. The last captive individuals died sometime in the mid-1990s, and with them went our best chance at saving this species. Honestly, so infuriating! Now, the best thing we can do to save them is to put protections on the remaining patches of forests with guadua bamboo, just in case there's still a small wild population hanging on out there.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 385#: Black-Bellied Pangolin

Today's animal of the day is the Black-Bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla)!

Photo credit: Tessa Ullmann

Also known as the long-tailed pangolin or ipi, this bizarre species of mammal can be found in the tropical forests and swamps of western and central Africa and is unique because it is one of only ten species of living mammals to possess scales. These scales are made of keratin, the same stuff that human hair and fingernails are made out of, and help to protect the pangolin from predators. When threatened, the pangolin will roll up into a tight ball, which both shields its vulnerable underbellies but also exposes the sharp edges of its scales. In addition to this defense, the coloration of its scales, combined with the black fur on its belly, helps to camouflage the pangolin as it maneuvers through the forest canopy.

Photo credit: Rod Cassidy

Unlike the nine other species of pangolins, black-bellied pangolins are most active during the day. This is believed to help reduce competition with their sister species, the white-bellied/tree pangolin, which has a very similar lifestyle but is more active at night. These pangolins spend most of their lives in the trees and are capable of using their long, prehensile tails to hold onto tree branches. Their tails are even strong enough for the pangolin to dangle down from a tree branch with just its tail! Their sharp front claws also help them to climb, but are also used to dig into tree bark to seek out burrowing ants and termites, which they then slurp up using their long tongues.

Photo credit: Rod Cassidy

Sadly, while the pangolin's scales might protect it from predators like leopards and pythons, they have become a hot commodity in certain Asian markets. They are believed to have certain healing properties, which is untrue, but are also considered a delicacy. While the African species of pangolins aren't as heavily targeted compared to the Asian species, poaching combined with habitat loss has caused the IUCN to label the black-bellied pangolin as vulnerable. To make matters worse, because these animals are so shy and sensitive, it is virtually impossible to keep them in zoos.

Photo credit: Sean Brogan

For those wondering, the nine other species of scaly mammals are the other species of pangolins. Most sources will tell you that there are only eight species, but recently genetic testing of pangolins and pangolin scales confiscated by poachers has revealed two new, previously unknown species of pangolins! The cryptic pangolin (Manis mysteria), which has yet to ever be seen alive (other than by the poachers who killed it for its scales), and the Indo-Burmese pangolin (Manis aurita), which was thought to be the same species as the Chinese pangolin until just last year. Btw I covered the Chinese pangolin all the way back on day 7#, if you wanted to check it out.