#mammalia

[saritawolf]

North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[eiders]

this year's twins :)

[saritawolf]

Binturong (Arctictis binturong) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[historicalbookimages]

🐾 A hand-book to the British mammalia London, Edward Lloyd, 1896. Original source Image description: Illustration from an 1896 British book depicting four black rats in a rustic setting. Two adult black rats with dark fur and long tails are actively engaged near a metal food container, one nibbling on cheese. Two smaller rats, likely juveniles, are climbing nearby stalks of wheat or straw. The detailed drawing highlights the rats' fur texture, elongated whiskers, and sharp claws. Shaded with soft yellow and blue tones, the background suggests a farmhouse or grain storage area. The image is labeled "BLACK RAT" and titled "PLATE XXII," emphasizing its educational purpose within the context of British mammalia.

[saritawolf]

Transcaspian Urial (male) (Ovis vignei arkal) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[critter-of-the-day]

30th of July 2026: Manchurian Hare

Woah, look at that, a Manchurian Hare (Lepus mandshuricus)! They’re a hare species around half a metre in length [1] who inhabit eastern Russia, northeastern China, and perhaps parts of North Korea [2].

They’re found in mixed forests, preferring them to purely coniferous ones, and they entirely avoid open habitats or human settlements [2]. They’re herbivores, eating a wide variety of leaves, shrubs, fallen fruit, or tree twigs. They’re nocturnal, shy, and likely solitary. During the day they’ll find closed shelters such as holes in fallen trees, old badgers nests, or stony outcroppings. When alarmed or frightened, they may make noises which sound like sneezing [1].

While normally brown or grey [1], they do also have a melanistic form which is black. Said form was for a while thought to be an entirely independent species, however both skull shape analysis [3] and genetic evidence have since shown that the supposed L. melainus is just a variation on the Manchurian Hare [4]. Genetic analysis of the Lepus genus is however made difficult sometimes due to the fact that they quite enjoy hybridising. Male Manchurian Hares specifically seem to have hybridised with both the Chinese Hare (L. sinensis) and the Mountain Hare (L. timidus). While these pairings disrupt the pattern of males being the larger species in unidirectional hybridisation (as Manchurian Hares are small for their genus), they do follow the pattern of males being the more common species [5].

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [Image by Alexey Mozhaev] 

[saritawolf]

Nile Lechwe (Kobus megaceros) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[saritawolf]

Red-necked Wallaby (albino) (Notamacropus rufogriseus) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost