Sri Lankan Spotted Chevrotain
What we know about nature is never carved on stone. What at some point in history we believe is the irrefutable truth, deeper studies of the subject often prove us wrong.
It was until 2005 that this species was separated from its closest relative, The Indian Spotted Chevrotain (Which I introduced last week) and today is recognized as a whole new species. Is obvious to say now, that not much is known about this
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Sei Whale
Is the third-largest rorqual before the Fin whale and the Blue whale. Heavily hunted in the XIX and XX century its numbers dropped from 250.000 to 80.000 which in other words mean less than a third of the pre whaling population. Today luckily is protected.
Mass deaths events have been recorded numerous times and the reason why isn't clear but it appears to be endemic poisoning called red tide. It is a phenomenon of decoloration of the sea surface that occurs by an overpopulation of certain microorganisms, apparently caused by the unprecedented warming of the Pacific Ocean. The biggest mass death event documented happened in Chile in June 2015 where 337 death Sei Whales were counted.
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Rice's Whale I can proudly say this is one of the few illustrations done of this new species, the Rice's Whale. Named in 2021, It was previously thought to be a subpopulation of the Bryde's Whale until further studies proved the opposite.
The sad news is that is critically endangered and along with the vaquita, those are two of the most scarce cetaceans in the world which happened to inhabit the same environment. The causes of its decline are still unclear but are believed to be because of the industrialization of the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil spill disaster in 2010 killed nearly 20% of its population.
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The Bryde's Whale has been a kind of puzzle for scientists because three species use to fall into its category. This is called complex in taxonomy. In other words, three (or maybe four) species of whales were thought to be subspecies, (or just the same species) as the Bryde's whale.
I wonder why not just name all four species the same if they are so closely similar? The devil is in the details. Those little differences that make one species become different from others can be the starting point for a completely new animal in million years. On the other hand, those tiny changes also may be the ones that make the animal adapt better than its relatives and therefore survive the changes of the environment.
So if is similar in appearance, as it seems in the cetaceans, there are movements and changes that are only perceptible in millions of years of evolution.
Can I suppose that the Balaenopteridae family is a young one, therefore many of its members are closely similar? Could be...
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Now we are moving to a small but vey charismatic family: The hippos. I think this is an animals that is loved by the majority. Looking at its massive size combined with its features is understandable why.
However don’t get mistaken. This animal is a fierce and the one to blame for the most fatalities in Africa. it is a very territorial animal that won’t hesitate to charge if threatened or feeling its territory invaded. The biggest problem with humans happens usually at nights, when the animal leaves the rivers to graze moving various kilometers away from river basins, encountering unaware humans. Running it’s the only option but not a sure escape since despite its weight, hippos can reach up to 50km/h.
Hippos depends on rivers because it’s skin, which is actually pink, cannot resist the sunlight and will dry fast. And despite living its majority of time in water, they are unable to swim.
5 subspecies have been named but just three are recognized nowadays and they are still subjected to changes.
Male hippos fights are barbaric and they mostly happen to get the best spot in the river which will attract the most females. Once a male is dethrone, the new king won’t hesitate on killing the offspring of the old king in order to began leaving its own genes.
Hippos in Colombia? Unfortunately, yes. Not because I don’t like them (I’m Colombian) but because they have become a threat to other endemic species of the country. Hippos were brought to Colombia illegally by narco’s most famous Pablo Escobar and were put in its private zoo. When he was killed, the zoo closed but the hippos and some other animals were left in the area. While some animals died, the hippos however, flourished. Today, they occupied a vast area of the country and they begin to clash with other animals such as the inoffensive manatees.
While they yet don’t represent a threat to humans (some attacks have been registered) because they are not as territorial as in Africa. (It is believe because they have a larger area to develop) if the quantity keeps growing, they will become as dangerous as in Africa. For now, people greeted in towns because of its natural charm and can become touristic attraction. There are some possible solutions to this issue. One will be to sterilize all males, which is kind of unthinkable because of how expensive this could be. Other will be to send them to various zoos around the world, which is still not enough and the last one will be to kill them all. I have an opinion about it but I would love to hear yours.
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New design, Better Illustrations! I was thinking for a while in a way to improve the layout of this blog and I feel that this way is much better. I think the layout should highlight the drawings so I decided to remove many other elements that somehow stole its attention. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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