Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 27, 2015 0:09:49 GMT -5
are you giving me a week to do something on each?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2015 0:10:47 GMT -5
are you giving me a week to do something on each? sure, why not?
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 27, 2015 0:17:31 GMT -5
are you giving me a week to do something on each? sure, why not? Well, I'm taking it as a challenge even if it wasn't meant as such! One each day next week but far smaller and not on Wednesday!
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 27, 2015 1:01:33 GMT -5
(PS - I think photo #4 might actually be a fallow deer) I'm thinking so too, not sure how I missed the markings.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 27, 2015 2:17:56 GMT -5
Well, I'm taking it as a challenge even if it wasn't meant as such! One each day next week but far smaller and not on Wednesday! Whaaaaaaat? Is the forum truly ready for an entire week-long extravaganza of fact fowl?!
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 27, 2015 2:29:13 GMT -5
Well, I'm taking it as a challenge even if it wasn't meant as such! One each day next week but far smaller and not on Wednesday! Whaaaaaaat? Is the forum truly ready for an entire week-long extravaganza of fact fowl?! Yep but it's not going to be interesting because turns out, they're not interesting but yes, a week-long extravaganza with a tapir in the middle of it all.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 27, 2015 2:33:47 GMT -5
Whaaaaaaat? Is the forum truly ready for an entire week-long extravaganza of fact fowl?! Yep but it's not going to be interesting because turns out, they're not interesting but yes, a week-long extravaganza with a tapir in the middle of it all. Good. I've been wondering what their deal is.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 28, 2015 1:44:34 GMT -5
12 Days of Birdmas First day: Partridge
Partridges: Small, dumb, edible. There are several species within the genus of Perdix to which the partridges relate to, the one we think of is the grey partridge.
All partridges are ground birds, they can fly but not very high and not very far so do most of their living at ground level. It is for this reason that if you find a partridge in a pear tree, it got thrown up there.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 28, 2015 2:09:23 GMT -5
Not to be confused with ruffed grouse, known colloquially as 'partridge' (actually another form of Phasianidae), which I used to shoot of an occasional autumn day, and which are also dumb and tasty.
|
|
|
Post by haysoos on Dec 28, 2015 9:43:08 GMT -5
The grey partridge (also known as the Hungarian partridge) is native to Europe and Asia. It was introduced to many other areas, because they are tasty, and are now common across the Canadian prairies and most of the northern states. Meanwhile, in the British Isles they are having difficulty, mostly due to habitat loss.
The genus name Perdix is the name of Daedalus' nephew, who was thrown off Athena's sacred hill in a fit of jealous rage. Athena, who admired Perdix's ingenuity, saved him by turning him into a partridge. The fall apparently gave him quite the fright however, and the partridge still avoids heights and builds its nest on the ground. It is thought that the "in a pear tree" part of the Christmas song is a corruption from this name. In French, one partridge would be "une perdrix".
I know nothing at all about the paleontological history of the partridge, though. The pheasants in general trace back to the Oligocene (about 30 million years ago).
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 28, 2015 13:32:54 GMT -5
The grey partridge (also known as the Hungarian partridge) is native to Europe and Asia. It was introduced to many other areas, because they are tasty, and are now common across the Canadian prairies and most of the northern states. Meanwhile, in the British Isles they are having difficulty, mostly due to habitat loss. The genus name Perdix is the name of Daedalus' nephew, who was thrown off Athena's sacred hill in a fit of jealous rage. Athena, who admired Perdix's ingenuity, saved him by turning him into a partridge. The fall apparently gave him quite the fright however, and the partridge still avoids heights and builds its nest on the ground. It is thought that the "in a pear tree" part of the Christmas song is a corruption from this name. In French, one partridge would be " une perdrix". I know nothing at all about the paleontological history of the partridge, though. The pheasants in general trace back to the Oligocene (about 30 million years ago). I do like the backstory on the genus naming, all very fun how they weave a story like that, Aesop knew what was up.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 29, 2015 1:58:12 GMT -5
12 6 Days of Birdmas Second day: Turtle Dove
The turtle dove is another mid-sized birdy animal, this one however does large migratory flights across Africa. The one spoken of in the song is the European Turtle Dove, given as turtle doves have a long lineage in folk tales and songs as a representation of everlasting love.
The turtle dove is so named because of the "turr turr" noise it makes on the return to northern Africa and chunks of Europe in the spring, the "turtle" thing is just a corruption so Turrturr Dove is the true name, don't let anyone tell you different.
|
|
|
Post by haysoos on Dec 29, 2015 10:00:46 GMT -5
Doves in general (although not necessarily the turtle dove) appear widely in mythology. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim sends out a dove from his ark to see if the waters have receded. It flies around the boat, but comes back. Then he sends out a swallow, which flies farther away, but still comes back. Then he sends out a raven, which doesn't come back, so he assumes it found land. In the remake, Noah sends out a dove that brings back an olive branch, which is how Noah knows there's land. I'm a little unclear how that became a symbol for peace, though.
Doves are a symbol of love in many mythologies, because of their strong pair bonds. Zoologists have found that neither partner is actually that faithful, though, often having side affairs with SLF doves.
The Family Columbidae (doves and pigeons) is unusual amongst birds, as they produce a fat-rich nourishing fluid in their crop (often called pigeon milk) which they feed to their young. Both sexes produce the milk, and the formation of the fluid is governed by the hormone prolactin, the same hormone that regulates milk production in mammals.
The fossil history of doves is fragmentary, with most of the fossils known being from extant genera. They are widespread on almost every continent, with the largest diversity being in the Australoasian region. This could be due to their propensity for adapting to island conditions, and there are many species endemic to certain islands throughout Indonesia and the South Pacific. Genetic tests, and the regional abundance suggest that the Australian area is indeed their center of evolution, and likely where the earliest species would have evolved.
One of the most famous island pigeon species was the dodo, sadly a poster child for human-caused extinction. They were essentially huge, flightless doves, and the multiple misfortune of being docile, tasty, and nesting on the ground - making them vulnerable to hunting, habitat loss and nest robbing by rats, cats and goats.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 30, 2015 2:22:14 GMT -5
Final animal of this year, the tapir! Hard to think that for 18 weeks I've been doing this, huh? Anyway, let's keep doing it but it can't be done without you, suggest your animals for next year or I probably won't make it to 52 weeks. 12 6 Days of Birdmas continues tomorrow!
Tapirs live in the jungles of South America and parts of Asia, there are 5 species within the Tapir genus and is within the order of odd-toed ungulates so has relations with pigs, giraffes and even rhinos. We're in danger of losing these pig-aardvarks as four of them are classed as endangered with one classed as vulnerable. As ungulates, it's all shoots and leaves all the time and like a few animals covered here, have a poor digestive system which allows seeds within their dung to successfully grow into plants making them a keystone species much like the otters. The purpose of their elongated prehensile snouts is to sniff as a lot of the tapir's navigation is down to scent in a practice known as the flehmen response (you might have seen it in horses) and to wrap around high branches or leaves to strip them. The tapir is not a huge creature, standing at a metre tall, 2 metres in length and a weight of 200kg but does live a decent length of time, living upto 30 years even in the wild. Though shy and timid creatures, they can also attack humans quite viciously due to their powerful jaws and there are many documented incidents. However, even though they may seem like dangerous beasts they generally will just hide in the water until the threat passes or lacking water just run into the jungle.
So we finish with pictures as usual, please donate suggestions and make them good.
|
|
|
Post by haysoos on Dec 30, 2015 9:04:52 GMT -5
Yay for baby tapirs in stripy pyjamas!
You may notice the distribution of living tapir species and think "That is perhaps a tad disjointed". You would be correct.
Based on the biogeography, you might think that they evolved in South America, and one species (perhaps floating on a raft of vegetation) somehow got transplanted to Southeast Asia. This time, you would be wrong.
Tapirs have been around since the Eocene (55 million years ago), but didn't arrive in South America until 3 million years ago, during the Pliocene Interchange when North American critters like jaguars, raccoons and tapirs moved south, and South American critters like opossums, armadillos and porcupines moved north.
There were at least six species of tapir found in Florida alone, ranging from the Miocene (about 20 million years ago) right up to about 11,000 years ago! In North America, where the earliest fossils are found, they ranged up even the Ellesmere Island which is the furthest north of the Canadian Arctic islands. Even then the island was above the Arctic Circle, but the Earth was so warm then, it supported a forest with gigantic trees, tapirs and flying lemurs! In China and Vietnam, the giant tapir (Megatapirus) survived until about 4000 years ago!!
There were even tapirs in Europe, found as early as 3.5 million years ago in Spain, and disappearing in the early Pleistocene about 2 million years ago. They never reached Australia, Antarctica, or Africa - despite being shown in the movie 2001 as hanging around Australopithecus and enigmatic black monoliths.
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Dec 30, 2015 9:11:55 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 19:02:09 GMT -5
done foxes yet?
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 30, 2015 20:52:11 GMT -5
How about hyenas? They're woefully maligned animals, you could set the record straight! She could. Or she could engage in even further calumny. There's only one way to find out!
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Dec 30, 2015 23:53:16 GMT -5
I have many suggestions - I've been holding out to give other people a chance to participate! Add these to your waiting list if you like, or put them right onto the schedule. Crow Hedgehog Red Panda Galapagos Tortoise *** Tasmanian Devil*** - oh my goodness, just look at that little devil! Please include audio.Orangutan I have lots more!! But I'll be good. FYI seconding the Hyena - those guys are crazy
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 31, 2015 1:39:54 GMT -5
Oooh, replies! @cub : Foxes are upcoming, I moved them way way down into season three earlier today but clearly that was a mistake so it's back to being around six weeks from now. @patrickbatman , songstarliner , Lord Lucan : Hyenas were actually on the subs bench for a while but got booted off at the last moment when I started arranging the slots for each week but I'll move them up seeing as they've kinda been on the list a while now. As for that long list of animals, they're all on the list with red pandas up in two weeks. I may also be dabbling in light calumny for some birds in the next few days.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 31, 2015 1:47:38 GMT -5
12 6 Days of Birdmas Third day: French Hens
The French hen refers to the Faverolles breed of Gallic chicken, brought over from France to the UK in the late 19th century just to look fancy.
It's just a chicken so not much to remark on, very friendly and docile as far as cluckers go, make good eggs but generally is bred more just to be showy and not as much for eating so... um, there, the Faverolles and like sheep or Canada Geese, the plural is the singular.
|
|
|
Post by haysoos on Dec 31, 2015 9:35:58 GMT -5
Chickens in general are descended from several species of jungle fowl from Southeast Asia - mostly the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus gallus), but with genetic contributions by several other jungle fowl species as well. These jungle fowl have been around for a long time, diverging from the quails, partridge and other ground fowl about 32-38 million years ago, and being pretty recognizably chickens since then.
Domestication probably occurred in the area around Vietnam by at least 8000 years ago. Archaeological sites that old with chicken bones have been found in China and India - indicating that domestication must have taken place before then. Oddly, the genetic distance between red jungle fowl and modern domesticated chickens suggest that domestication may have occurred as long as 58,000 years ago - but the genetic history is muddled due to both wild populations of other jungle fowl interjecting their own genetic material into the domestic chicken pool over the ages, but also the pools of all of the wild species have been muddled with imported domestic chicken genes over the last several thousand years.
For most of the history of domestic chickens, they were raised for eggs and cockfighting more than for meat. Eating was more or less incidental, and cockfighting in particular was more influential in their selective breeding. Roman legions brought chickens with them whereever they went, but more for their use in divination than as food. Sometimes they were sacrificed and the entrails read, but more commonly their behaviour while feeding was seen as an auger of upcoming events. If the chickens didn't feed, it was seen as a bad omen, and plans were abandoned.
It wasn't until modern times that factory farming has produced enough chicken meat that it is now our most consumed animal protein. The global popularity of chicken as food is helped by the fact that pretty much all of the major religions are able to eat chickens. Hindu, Mormon, Moslem, Jew and Christian can all settle down and share a nice big bucket of KFC.
|
|
heroboy
AV Clubber
I must succeed!
Posts: 1,185
|
Post by heroboy on Dec 31, 2015 11:07:41 GMT -5
Here's a quick graph showing meat consumption in the US (I'm guessing lamb and mutton is negligible):
Pork has remained surprisingly flat, though I wonder if the recent bacon nonsense has shifted it in any meaningful amounts.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 31, 2015 11:08:31 GMT -5
12 6 Days of Birdmas Third day: French Hens
The French hen refers to the Faverolles breed of Gallic chicken, brought over from France to the UK in the late 19th century just to look fancy.
It's just a chicken so not much to remark on, very friendly and docile as far as cluckers go, make good eggs but generally is bred more just to be showy and not as much for eating so... um, there, the Faverolles and like sheep or Canada Geese, the plural is the singular.Just putting the hens on the new page for you.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 31, 2015 11:23:04 GMT -5
Here's a quick graph showing meat consumption in the US (I'm guessing lamb and mutton is negligible):
Pork has remained surprisingly flat, though I wonder if the recent bacon nonsense has shifted it in any meaningful amounts.
Bacon popularity is down to the Pork lobby.
|
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,096
Member is Online
|
Post by moimoi on Dec 31, 2015 13:03:47 GMT -5
Here's a quick graph showing meat consumption in the US (I'm guessing lamb and mutton is negligible):
Pork has remained surprisingly flat, though I wonder if the recent bacon nonsense has shifted it in any meaningful amounts.
Bacon popularity is down to the Pork lobby. And I'm going to hypothesize that the steady increase in chicken consumption is due to the advent of nuggets.
|
|
Hippo
Prolific Poster
Posts: 6,743
|
Post by Hippo on Dec 31, 2015 13:24:28 GMT -5
Bacon popularity is down to the Pork lobby. And I'm going to hypothesize that the steady increase in chicken consumption is due to the advent of nuggets. Yeah, I'd reckon more likely on the popularity of fried chicken in general, helped by the Colonel.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2015 17:10:57 GMT -5
speaking of the Colonel, haysoos , Gallus gallus gallus is my favorite Elvis movie.
|
|
|
Post by Festive Desperation Barber on Dec 31, 2015 17:27:22 GMT -5
Speaking of foxes, a neighbor who was cutting some wood the other day said he saw a fox in our woods. We have had foxes around the farm since I was a kid, including a family that was seen a lot in the 70's, but I hadn't spotted one on our place for several years. I'd love to get a picture of a fox on our property, and if I ever do, Ill share it, but I'm not getting my hopes up for that. They tend to be pretty people-shy, so while it doesn't mean they haven't been around, sightings are really rare. Having dogs on the property also tends to keep our wildlife more back in the woods.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2015 19:51:42 GMT -5
Speaking of foxes, a neighbor who was cutting some wood the other day said he saw a fox in our woods. We have had foxes around the farm since I was a kid, including a family that was seen a lot in the 70's, but I hadn't spotted one on our place for several years. I'd love to get a picture of a fox on our property, and if I ever do, Ill share it, but I'm not getting my hopes up for that. They tend to be pretty people-shy, so while it doesn't mean they haven't been around, sightings are really rare. Having dogs on the property also tends to keep our wildlife more back in the woods.
|
|