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#african wildlife
warcrimesimulator · 9 months
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Cape black-backed jackals (Lupulella mesomelas mesomelas) Okavango Delta, Botswana
Photos by Scott Ableman
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What's this? A male rock agama, nicknamed the Spider-Man lizard.
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dougdimmadodo · 6 months
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Italian Three-Toed Skink (Chalcides chalcides)
Family: Skink Family (Scincidae)
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
Like several other species of lizard, the Italian Three-Toed Skink has adapted to move through areas covered with dense vegetation by developing an elongated, flexible, snake-like body with highly regressed limbs, although unlike many other "snake-like lizards" members of this species still possess four tiny limbs, each ending in a stumpy three-toed foot. Said limbs are far too small to support the skink's weight and serve no role in movement (which is achieved through an elegant snake-like slithering motion,) which has led many to question what purpose, if any, they serve; it is generally assumed that the limbs are vestigial and that, given sufficient time, the descendants of modern Italian Three-Toed Skinks will lose them entirely, although some herpetologists and evolutionary biologists have suggested that the continued existence of this species' limbs suggests that they must serve some function, such as being moved as part of a courtship display or allowing mating individuals to hold onto one another (although as these behaviours have never been observed these suggestions are entirely speculative.) Found in damp, well-vegetated areas across most of mainland Italy as well as Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and the nearby island of Sardinia, members of this species are diurnal, feed mainly on insects and breed during the spring; like most skinks, females of this species give birth to live young, with newborns, which resemble miniature adults, being independent immediately after birth.
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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53646-Chalcides-chalcides
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colosseumcat · 9 months
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“Mandevo the lion tried to swipe a buffalo kill from the new mothers, not realising it was meant for their 11-strong brood of cubs. Mandevo suffered a nasty bite to his genitals during the fight in Maasai Mara, Kenya, that left vets no choice but to remove one of his testicles. Photographer Gren Sowerby captured the cat fight on camera, allowing him to raise the alert rangers who moved in to administer veterinary treatment.” x
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striped-civet · 1 year
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Yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)
Photo © James Tompkins
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jadeseadragon · 4 months
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Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia
Whew! That was close. (She escaped without a scratch.)
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animalsandanimals · 6 months
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Solly Levi
solly_levi (instagram)
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sitting-on-me-bum · 6 months
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Photographer Helps Build Waterhole to Capture Incredible Photos of African Wildlife Using Camera Traps - Kenya’s Shompole Wilderness Camp
Hyena
Photographer: Will Burrard-Lucas
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lost-lycaon · 2 months
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Cheetahs have an aristocratic demeanor.
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wildlifetracker · 9 months
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voidbirds · 8 months
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Im very amused by the fact that Australia's beloved bin chicken is so closely related to the African Sacred Ibis. So I've drawn them as cousins.
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lil-tachyon · 1 year
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Ostrich
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What’s this? A very rare type of black and white bat. Nicknamed the “panda bat,” it’s native to South Sudan.
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dougdimmadodo · 5 months
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October's Fossil of the Month - Simbakubwa (Simbakubwa kutokaafrika)
Family: Hyena Cat Family (Hyainailouridae)
Time Period: 23-22 Million Years Ago (Early Neogene)
Currently known only from fossilised teeth and lower jaws discovered in Kenya's Messa Bridge fossil site, Simbakubwa kutokaaffrika was originally described as a prehistoric species of hyena before reexamination of fossils housed at the Nairobi National Museum of Kenya led to it being reclassified as a hyaenadont (a member of the extinct order Hyaenadonta, the members of which were generally dog-like animals with similar jaws and teeth to modern hyenas, although their teeth differed from true carnivorans today in that they lacked modified molars used for crushing and tearing seen in animals such as bears and dogs, and seemed to grow their teeth in slower than most modern carnivores.) While the limited variety of Simbakubwa fossils means that much of its biology is a mystery, it is notable among the hyaenadonts because of its size; estimates of its body size based on the size of its jaws suggest that, while most hyaenodonts were comparable to a large dog in size, it was at least as large as a lion, with the most generous estimates suggesting that it may have weighed as much as 1,500kg/3,307lbs (surpassing even modern Polar Bears in size,) although as the more complete fossils of related species suggest that members of the "hyena-cat" family of hyaenodonts that Simbakubwa belonged to had extremely large heads compared to their bodies it is unlikely that it actually reached such as size. Based on the shape of its teeth and the presumed strength of its jaws it is likely that Simbakubwa was purely carnivorous and fed on large mammals such as rhinoceros and gomphotheres (extinct relatives of modern elephants,) although based on the lack of any preserved teeth showing adaptations for crushing it is unclear if members of this species also fed on bones as other hyaenodonts and modern hyenas are known to do. While the circumstances of Simbakubwa's extinction are unclear, it is plausible that as the earth gradually became cooler and drier as it approached a series of "ice ages" in the later neogene resources became scarcer and large carnivores were among the first species to be affected by this. While the binomial names of most species are derived from Greek and/or Latin, Simbakubwa kutokaaffrika is Swahili, translating roughly to "great lion from Africa."
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*Note - The second image above shows a Simbakubwa lower jaw (bottom) compared to a modern Lion skull (top.)
Image Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simbakubwa-kutokaafrika_2.jpg
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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/new-species-ancient-carnivore-was-bigger-than-polar-bear-hyaenodonts
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colosseumcat · 6 months
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“Lionesses have been known to attack male lions who upset them.” x
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Lion Cubs by Nicholas Ferrary Via Flickr: Photo taken with Nikon D810 camera. Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa.
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