The word raptor is descriptive rather than taxonomic. Raptors are birds with talons instead of claws and large, sharp beaks capable of holding and tearing prey. The other term, bird of prey, is also basically descriptive because this term encompasses…
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Hornbills are distinctive birds with large, brightly colored beaks that set them apart from every other order of birds. The 54 species of hornbills are classified in the order Bucerotiformes and divided into two families. In other classification systems, they are included…
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One of the fastest growing poplar trees in North America, the black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) grows approximately 100 ft. tall, and can live 100-200 years. It is the largest hardwood tree of its species, commonly known as Black Poplar. The…
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The mousebirds are a small family of birds, the Coliidae (order Coliiformes), that live exclusively in Africa. They are brown or grey in color but have long tails and conspicuous crests. Their feathers are thick, soft and almost fur-like, due to…
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On every continent, except Antarctica, you will find a variety of butterflies in their fragile beauty gracefully flitting from flower to flower, pollinating along the way. There are approximately 20,000 known species of butterflies in the world. In the majority…
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All animals are not of a social nature, but there are some that have some very interesting social behaviour. An animal social group would be defined when a group of animals do the majority of life’s events together. Some groups…
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While the most common Chinese word for panda translates as “large cat bear”, the giant panda is not a cat and may not be a bear. Although it is currently considered part of the bear family (Ursidae), until recently it…
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Taxonomy is the science of classifying species by assigning each species a degree of relatedness to other species. In general, the more alike one species to another, the closer together those two species will be classified. At its broadest, redwood…
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Hibernating mammals such as black and brown bears, the brown bats, marmots, woodchucks, arctic ground squirrels survive the cold winter by lowering their body temperatures and snoozing away the frigid time in Alaska, say Elizabeth Manning in her online article…
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How Tigers Hunt: The Parallels of Natural Predator Instincts and Martial Artistry The hunting instincts that a tiger exhibits in their kill techniques are a remarkable dynamic of energy preservation, lethal efficiency and, for lack of a more scientific word,…
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