Отправлено: 04.05.22 04:20. Заголовок: Fauna of Africa

I'm making this new topic after Биолог mentioned some interesting ideas for descendants of the tree hyraxes with more adaptations for an arboreal lifestyle. I was also thinking that they could be adapted to jump between branches and even trees.
Биолог, do you have more ideas about these animals?

 Отправлено: 07.01.23 13:10. Заголовок: JOrnitho Great! I u..

JOrnitho
Great! I used to read about Olitiau cryptid some time ago.

 Отправлено: 07.01.23 13:25. Заголовок: Good bat...

Good bat.

 Отправлено: 16.02.23 21:40. Заголовок: I finished the descr..

I finished the description for a fruit bat that could be a potential prey for the olitiau and the main character for a chapter regarding their migration.

Red-collared fruit bat (Neoeidolon rubrocollaris)
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Habitat: Savannas, rainforests and semi deciduous forests of sub saharan Africa
The anthropogenic onslaught over nature during the Holocene had damaged several ecosystems and brought several species to extinction. The disappearance of humanity gave some respite to the survivors and they continue to evolve, allowing several new species to appear in the Neocene. The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) had survived and gave rise to the genus Neoeidolon, which is widespread in sub saharan Africa, Comoros Islands and Zinj Land.

The main representative of this group is the red-collared fruit bat, an inhabitant of the savannas, rainforests and semi deciduous forests of sub saharan Africa. These mammals have 18 cm of length and a wingspan of 76 cm. Males are generally larger than females. Their head is dark brown, nearly black. The wings are black, and the fur is silky with the back being reddish-brown, while the belly is yellowish or tawny colored. Males have bright red patches of fur around their neck, while in females it’s dull.

The red-collared fruit bat usually eats bark, flowers, leaves, nectar, and fruits. These bats pollinate flowers and disperse seeds through the forests.

The species is highly social, living in groups of over 100,000 and at times that number may increase to almost one million. At night the bats leave the roost in smaller groups to find food by sight and smell. The largest congregations of these animals are formed during October and December. During this period, they will repeat the migration of their ancestors to the swamp forests of the region that once was Zambia to feast on the several fruits that grow there. Bats of several areas of Africa migrate to this region, forming a huge flock.

Their mating season shows the same strategy of their ancestor. It happens from April to June, but implantation is delayed until October and is synchronized with all females implanting during this time. This strategy allows the female to have access to a great number of foods during the early pregnancy. The delay also corresponds to one of two dry periods in the home range of the bats. Females typically give birth to only a single offspring each year (called a "pup"), but twins are occasionally born, after a gestation period of around 115 to 120 days.

The pups are altricial at birth with their eyes shut until they are nine days old. The female carries the pup until it is six weeks old, which is when it can hang in the roost on its own. Afterwards, the pup is left in the roost while the mother forages. Before the pup is left in the roost, the mother repeatedly transports the pup to the same tree and is left there for the night while the mother forages. The pup learns this location and visits it first when at about three months of age, the pup will leave the roost on its own to forage for its food. They only become independent from their mothers after nine months, once they have finally reached their adult physique. Offspring typically stay with the same colony as the parents for their entire lives. They have a lifespan of 8 to 10 years and their main predators are large snakes, birds of prey and the olitiau.

The Comoros fruit bat (Neoeidolon minor) is the smallest representative of the genus and a inhabitant of the forests of the Comoros Islands. It have 14 cm of length and a wingspan of 72 cm. Males are generally larger than females. Their head is light brown, contrasting with the dark brown of the back. The wings are black and the belly is yellowish or tawny colored. Males have bright orange patches of fur around their neck, while in females it’s dull. Zinj Land also have a member of this genus, the Zinj fruit bat (Neoeidolon alecto). This species has 17 cm of length and a wingspan of 74 cm. Males are generally larger than females. Their entire fur is black, with the exception of the throat that is bright red in the males and very faint in the females.

 Отправлено: 16.02.23 22:19. Заголовок: JOrnitho Good bat, I..

JOrnitho
Good bat, I like it.

 Отправлено: 17.02.23 09:47. Заголовок: Interesting bat!..

Interesting bat!

 Отправлено: 18.02.23 16:25. Заголовок: I made the descripti..

I made the description of a bird of prey that could appear in the chapter about fruit bats.

Ajabu eagle (Amplicircaetus potens)
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Habitat: Tropical forests and woodlands of Central and Eastern Africa, including the areas of the Congo Basin and the forests of the Tanganyika Passage
The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The black-breasted snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) was able to survive and in the Neocene they gave rise to a new genus, the Amplicircaetus. The type species is the ajabu eagle, an inhabitant of tropical forests and woodlands of Central and Eastern Africa, including the areas of the Congo Basin and the forests of the Tanganyika Passage. The word ajabu means awesome in Swahili.

With the extinction of most large birds of prey, several niches were left open. The Amplicircaetus eagles had filled some of them. The ajabu eagle is a large bird of prey, with 90 cm of length and a wingspan of 230 cm. The sexes are similar in appearance and overlap in size but like most birds of prey do show reverse sexual dimorphism, in which females outsize males to the contrary of most non-raptorial birds. Their plumage is glossy black on the head and the back. They are white on the underside, much of the wing secondaries and even on its legs. The black-tipped white feathers on the wing primaries contrast strongly with the chestnut secondaries and underwing coverts. The adult's tail is white with a thick black subterminal band. The eye is bright yellow-orange in color, the bill horn-coloured and the legs pale gray and unfeathered below the thigh,

Their main prey is usually small-to-mid-sized arboreal mammals, such as squirrels and monkeys. Ajabu eagles can also prey upon fruit bats, assaulting their hosts during the day. In the areas where their range overlaps, the eagles will also hunt the olitiau. Birds are also part of their diet, with them hunting pigeons and parrots. They also eat reptiles such as lizards and serpents.

The ajabu eagle lives solitary or in pairs. Monogamous, the male and female remain together for the rest of their lives. These birds nests in trees and typically builds its nests with epiphytic vegetation and sticks. The female will lay only one egg per clutch, which is white and unmarked in appearance. The egg is incubated for 58 days, with the female performing the incubating alone while the male provides her with food. After hatching, the chick remains in the nest for approximately 90 days. Breeding occurs year-round, although it peaks during the wet season in Central Africa. The young remain in their parents territory until reaching one year. Ajabu eagles reach sexual maturity with 3 years and they have a lifespan of 27 years.

The lesser ajabu eagle (Amplicircaetus minor) is another representative of the genus, it inhabits the tropical forests of Zinj Land and Comoros Islands. Smaller than their continental relatives, they have 73 cm of length and a wingspan of 200 cm. Their plumage is light gray on the head and the back, while the underparts are yellowish-white.

 Отправлено: 18.02.23 20:12. Заголовок: Interesting bird!..

Interesting bird!

 Отправлено: 21.04.23 13:50. Заголовок: JOrnitho proposed th..

JOrnitho proposed the idea of new chapter about Land Zinj

The name of the chapter "The Wild Orchard" (I proposed some alternative names "The owner of wild orchard" or "The master of wild orchard").

The main hero is descendant of Gypohierax angolensis which is became not omnivorous, but absolutely fruit-eating with the size of a golden eagle.
We decided to name this bird Koho - Palm-nut vulture in Swahili.

He will be living in the woody thickets of wild pomelo (Citrus maxima) (left after humans giant agricultural farms) and thickets of palms Elaeis guineensis and Raphia farinifera, also cultivated now in Africa.

The name of wild Pomelo can be Mbalungi, Balungi or Furungu - Pomelo or any citrus tree in Swahili.

We have already some ideas for the chapter.

First of all we are taking this animals from bestiary:
1. http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enmammal.htm#posteidolon_solaris_en
2. http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enmammal.htm#myrmisengi_saltator_en - he will feed on ants eating fallen pomelo fruits on the ground.
3. http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enbirds.htm#iridonephele_smaragdinus_en
4. http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enmammal.htm#sylvicaprella_sylvana_en

And the will be relative species of these animals Ashkoko sylvaticus (but smaller)
and relative of this bird http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enbirds.htm#noctiliocton_vespertiliovorus_en (but bigger).

Also here will be omnivorous relative of african fruit civets http://www.sivatherium.narod.ru/enmammal.htm#paradoxuroides_frutophagus_en maybe Nandinia binotata could be an additional member of this genus or perhaps a close related new genus?
it will be eating fruits and small ashcocos, birds & bats.

And on the ground we settle a large omnivorous Civettictis civetta, it will simultaneously be a large predator of the garden, for example, eating Sylvicaprella sylvana, who come to eat fallen fruits, but the civet itself will eat fallen ripe pomelo fruits.

Also we will have a parrot in this chapter, a descendant of the Agapornis (I think it will be Agapornis personatus - Cherero uso-mweusi - cherero - lovebird on Swahili and uso-mweusi - black faced in Swahili), it will evolve to become larger and have some interesting plumage, a crest like that of the Deroptyus accipitrinus.

My propositions to take this species of Trialeurodes vaporariorum and give it golden wings, and make honeydew shepherds not ants or wasps, but some kind of local bees.

The other idea is a symbiosis of a pomelo and some kind of fungus interacting through mycorrhiza.

We need birds and bats: nectar-eating, fruit-eating, carnivorous. Also invertebrate pests of fruit and leaves. Epiphytes and creepers.


We just need to decide where will be situated this wild orchad:

Скрытый текст


I think somewhere in the south in tropical rainforest.

 Отправлено: 21.04.23 14:40. Заголовок: wovoka пишет: I th..

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

I think somewhere in the south in tropical rainforest.

Yes, I believe that this region would be perfect to house so many fruit trees. There could be a species of guenon and tree-climbing rodent on this region.

 Отправлено: 21.04.23 22:05. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: gue..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

guenon

It can be Cercopithecus mitis or Cercopithecus ascanius.

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

tree-climbing rodent

It can be Lophiomys imhausi (very interesting rodent), Graphiurus kelleni - we can use both.

Also it can be Dendromus mesomelas, Thallomys loringi, Grammomys dolichurus.

And we can use Idiurus macrotis.

I like Lemniscomys striatus or Rhabdomys pumilio, but one of them (which we choose) will be living on the ground.

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 02:56. Заголовок: wovoka пишет: It ca..

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

It can be Cercopithecus mitis or Cercopithecus ascanius.

I think that Cercopithecus mitis is the perfect candidate. What do you think if its ancestors becomes a large fruit eating monkey (with the size of a Brachyteles), living only in the canopy? They could also have loud vocalizations, like the Indri and Alouatta.

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

It can be Lophiomys imhausi (very interesting rodent), Graphiurus kelleni - we can use both.

The Lophiomys always reminded me of a porcupine. Maybe it could develop quills among its hair?
It can be a bit of a crazy idea, but its descendant could continue to smear the poison from the bark of trees in its hair. Thus making its quills covered with toxins. In lifestyle, it could be like the Chaetomys subspinosus.

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

Also it can be Dendromus mesomelas, Thallomys loringi, Grammomys dolichurus. And we can use Idiurus macrotis.

Rather than using Idiurus macrotis, we could have Dendromus or Thallomys evolving to become gliding rats in Zinj Land. What do you think of it?

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

I like Lemniscomys striatus or Rhabdomys pumilio, but one of them (which we choose) will be living on the ground.

Lemniscomys could evolve to collect the palm nuts and store them in the ground, but with some germinating.

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 12:18. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: I t..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

I think that Cercopithecus mitis is the perfect candidate. What do you think if its ancestors becomes a large fruit eating monkey (with the size of a Brachyteles), living only in the canopy? They could also have loud vocalizations, like the Indri and Alouatta.

Ok! But better make something interesting with its appearance. Haircut like Cercopithecus pogonias, mask like Cercopithecus mona (for example red mask), brows like Cercopithecus wolfi, beard for males like Cercopithecus neglectus.

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

The Lophiomys always reminded me of a porcupine. Maybe it could develop quills among its hair? It can be a bit of a crazy idea, but its descendant could continue to smear the poison from the bark of trees in its hair. Thus making its quills covered with toxins. In lifestyle, it could be like the Chaetomys subspinosus.

I like it!

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

we could have Dendromus or Thallomys evolving to become gliding rats in Zinj Land

Let it be Dendromus!

JOrnitho пишет:

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Lemniscomys could evolve to collect the palm nuts and store them in the ground, but with some germinating.

I agree!

What about Graphiurus kelleni?

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 14:17. Заголовок: wovoka пишет: Ok! B..

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

Ok! But better make something interesting with its appearance. Haircut like Cercopithecus pogonias, mask like Cercopithecus mona (for example red mask), brows like Cercopithecus wolfi, beard for males like Cercopithecus neglectus.

I thought that they could have a colorful face, perhaps with some different fur. It could have brows and beard in the males.

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

What about Graphiurus kelleni?

I'm not sure of how it could be. It could become different, perhaps develop a jumping ability? It could be like a Zapodidae.

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 17:03. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: I&#..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

I'm not sure of how it could be. It could become different, perhaps develop a jumping ability? It could be like a Zapodidae.

But it is arboreal animal

цитата:

Kellen's dormouse is an active animal, scrambling about in trees and pouncing on its living prey, which includes insects and other invertebrates, small vertebrates, birds' eggs and carrion. Its diet also includes seeds and fruit. It is nocturnal and builds a nest into which it retreats during the day.[2] Apart from briefly in the breeding season, it is a mostly solitary animal. It makes a number of shrill vocalisations, including both warning signals and communication signals.

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

I thought that they could have a colorful face, perhaps with some different fur. It could have brows and beard in the males.

Ok! But let it have red mask! Please!

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 19:07. Заголовок: wovoka пишет: But i..

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

But it is arboreal animal

Then we can have it jumping abilities allowing it to hunt prey in the trees. Their pouncing could become more developed and they could hunt prey like Tarsius.

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

Ok! But let it have red mask! Please!

Yes! And the skin of the snout would be yellow. I thought that they could be called Cercopithecus satanas, because the beard and brow would given them the appearance of a cartoonish devil. The fur of the head could be black

 Отправлено: 22.04.23 19:38. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: The..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

Then we can have it jumping abilities allowing it to hunt prey in the trees. Their pouncing could become more developed and they could hunt prey like Tarsius.

Ok!

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

Yes! And the skin of the snout would be yellow. I thought that they could be called Cercopithecus satanas, because the beard and brow would given them the appearance of a cartoonish devil. The fur of the head could be black

I like it!

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

Cercopithecus satanas

Cool idea!

 Отправлено: 29.04.23 02:22. Заголовок: wovoka I found out t..

wovoka
I found out that the project already have a descendant of the Lophiomys imhausi filling the niche of a porcupine, making unnecessary to make animal like the one that we talked about. Perhaps the already existing one could appear in the chapter about the wild orchard.

 Отправлено: 29.04.23 08:36. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: I f..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

I found out that the project already have a descendant of the Lophiomys imhausi filling the niche of a porcupine, making unnecessary to make animal like the one that we talked about. Perhaps the already existing one could appear in the chapter about the wild orchard.

We could make a related species with some more interesting features. Or let's not fool ourselves and take the already described animal.

 Отправлено: 29.04.23 13:13. Заголовок: wovoka пишет: We co..

wovoka пишет:

цитата:

We could make a related species with some more interesting features. Or let's not fool ourselves and take the already described animal.

I think that we should take the already described animal. It's interesting by itself.

 Отправлено: 29.04.23 17:31. Заголовок: JOrnitho пишет: I t..

JOrnitho пишет:

цитата:

I think that we should take the already described animal. It's interesting by itself.

Ok!