I chose to research white rhinoceros species because it is the most populous rhinoceros species meaning I would have access to more information. There was not much of choice because African Savanna has only two rhinoceros species: white rhinoceros and black rhinoceros. Those species share many similar traits and differ in small features, but I chose one over the other because of the considerable difference between their populations. The statistics tells there are around 10,000 white rhinoceroses, while there are only 7 black rhinoceroses in the world. Information on white rhinoceroses is more accessible because government is less interested in protecting them while it has a greater problem on how to preserve another, close to extinction species. Prior to research, I knew nothing specific about white rhinoceroses, however, I knew that rhinoceros is a quite big animal with a bad temper.
White rhinoceros’ scientific name is Ceratotherium simum. It is attributed to kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Perissodactyla and family Rhinocerotidae (The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). The name of the species originates from Afrikaner word “weit”, meaning wide. While rhinoceros started becoming it’s own species 7 million years ago (Rhino World), white rhinoceros didn’t became part of African Savanna until 3,000 years ago. Some time later, affected by both biotic and abiotic factors it has developed two subspecies: northern white rhinoceros and southern white rhinoceros. Scientific name of northern subspecies is Ceratotherium simum cottoni and the scientific name of southern subspecies is Ceratotherium simum simum. The only difference between them is one lives on the north of the continent, while another lives on the ...
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"White Rhinoceros." Rhino Worlds. Infoqis Publishing, Co., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. .
Emslie, R. "Ceratotherium Simum." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2012. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. .
Lucero, Louis. "Experts Say Poaching Could Soon Lead to a Decline in the Rhino Population." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. .
Nicks, Denver. "Western Black Rhino Declared Extinct." Time Science & Space. Time, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. .
3 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. http://eol.org/pages/323582/details>. Evans, Arthur V., Rosser W. Garrison, Neil Schlager, and Michael Hutchins. Grzimeks' Animal Life Encyclopedia.
Not only are giraffes the tallest animals in the world, they are also one of the most recognizable. Their characteristic long necks quickly captivate any audience. That being said, it is not commonly known that there are thought to be nine subspecies of Giraffa camelopardalis. In fact, there is increasing evidence that these could potentially be separate species in their own right. This paper will discuss where giraffes fit in the Tree of Life and identify the giraffe’s closest relatives, differentiate and analyze the similarities and differences between the nine subspecies, and, finally, explore any debate revolving around the phylogeny of the subspecies.
...rupt native species and ecosystem hence making the restoration of both evolutional and ecological potential almost impossible. Whereas Donlan (2005) concluded that re-wilding North American is the best conservation strategy to the African and Asian threatened megafauna, meanwhile re-wilding will restores the evolutionary and ecological potentials in the process. In my point of view, Pleistocene re-wilding must not be implemented simply because the introduced species might fail to adapt to the new environment. High costs and disease outbreak are another challenge that can’t be ignored.
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Works Cited Bates, D. (1957, December 17). Letter from Roy Wilkins. Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America. Beals, M. P. (1994). The Species of the World.
The "White-Tailed Deer." Ccontario.org. Cornell University, 2001. http://www.cnu.edu/item/cnu Web. The Web.
Sources used in this piece were interviews with zoo staff and also visuals in the form of photographs of the elephant. Unknown, “Hattie, Central Park Elephant, Dies; News Hidden to keep Sad Children Away.” The New York Times. November 20,
The common name is the African Elephant, the scientific name is Loxodonta Africana, the phylum is Vertebrata, the class is Mammalia, the order is Proboscidea, and the family is Elephantidae. The Closest Relatives to the African Elephant are: the Asian Elephant, mammoths, primitive proboscidean (mastodons), sea cows, and hyraxes. Scientists believe that the African Elephant evolved from one of its closest relatives, the Sea Cow. The geographical location and range of the African elephant covers all of central and southern Africa. In Ethiopia there are isolated populations that exist around Lake Chad in Mali and Mauritania. Also in Kenya, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Zaire, and in National parks located in South Africa, as well as several other countries. African Elephants, originally, were found in all of the Sub-Saharan African habitats except desert steppes. Elephants still occupy diverse habitats such as: temperate grassland, tropical savanna and grass lands, temperate forest and rainforest, tropical rainforest, tropical scrub forest, and tropical deciduous forest despite their drastic decline in numbers. However, their migratory patterns and habitat use have changed, due to the fact that they are restricted to protected areas. The elephant can exist in many types of environments but it prefers places that have many trees and bushes, which the elephant needs both for food and shade. They also like warm areas that have plenty of rainfall.
For years tigers have been a symbol of grace, power, and majesty (“Tigers Threatened,” 2006), exhibiting mesmerizing beauty and limitless strength that has been recognized throughout the world. Because of this, tigers are highly valued, as their body parts are prized and worth an enormous fortune, consequently resulting in 3 of the 8 subspecies of tigers into extinction (“Tigers Threatened,” 2006). The remaining five tiger species went from hundreds of thousands, to only 3,000 – 5,000 combined, and one subspecies has been targeted tremendously for their prestigious status. In particular, Amur commonly referred to as the Siberian tiger, now face a great deal of danger, as poaching increases and destruction of their homes persist, leaving Amur on the brink of extinction as well. With approximately 500 left in the wild (Sartore, 2014, p. 1), the imperiled mammals status signifies severe endangerment, where recognition and assistance are in desperate need to put an end to prohibited hunting, and mindless deforestation. The following paper will incorporate aspects of both hunting and destruction of the ecosystem, as they are the two driving forces causing rapid tiger demise.
Ives, Mike. "Rhino Horn Craze Threatens Species." Los Angeles Times 8 Apr. 2012, sec. A: 3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Thousands of years ago, hunting may have been the cause of the extinction of the North American large land mammals. “Moving up into the 1940’s and 50’s some of today’s most prominent game animals were almost non-existent.”(Kerry G) Over-hunting will directly cause the decline in the particular animal’s species. This will effect everything around it, for example ...
Kaufman, Leslie. "To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 May 2012. Web. 12 May 2015.
Although it will contain specific facts not unlike the ones you just read, it will be more of an overview on the animal as a whole. There are 4 different species and subspecies of the Giraffe such as the southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa), comprising two distinct subspecies, the Angolan giraffe (Angolensis) and the South African giraffe (Giraffa). The Masai giraffe (Tippelskirchi), which
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.
The West african black rhinoceros are an example of endangerment and extinction. These animals were declared extinct in 2011. This has happened because of poaching and major demand for rhino horns. The Pyrenean ibex is another example. This wild goat became extinct in 2000. This population was thinned by hunting. In 2009, scientists were able to clone a female using DNA they had earlier gathered from its skin, but due to lung defects, the pyrenean ibex died shortly after