Mammal Monday - Mobile Compost Heap

I did intend, with less than 100 days to go till we set out on the Put Foot Rally to only speak of Southern Africa creatures from here on out but then a friend sent me a link (see the onsie video below, not the Attenboroug video) and I simply can't resist taking a moment to speak of these awesome guys. Why? Because they have pretty epic lives. So with thanks to Gen and Stylist magazine for reminding me how great these South American mammals are I give you, THE SLOTH.

Epically titled "Attenborough: Saying Boo To A Sloth". And yes, he does say boo, to a sloth. I do love Attenborough.

Sloths, move only when necessary and even then very slowly. In fact, one of the few times they move is when searching out a mate and this is at some ridiculous speed of 2 metres per minute. I guess, with only about a quarter of the muscle weight of animals of a similar size they can't really afford to rush around. Any why should they when they can hang out in trees using no energy and their fur is not only camoflauges them but provides a little ecosystem for all manner of creepy crawleys, which keep the sloths clean. Yes indeed, they need never groom themselves. Sounds like the perfect world.

But here is the video that lead me to Sloths in the first place (thanks Stylist.co.uk). There's totally a onsie involved:

and if you're really bored you can watch this. I mean, sloths please me but I'm not sure this is ever normal:

Mammal Monday - Naked Mole Rats

Ever since I saw one in a Chicago zoo, I've loved naked mole rats. Then in Cape Town I had a conservationist friend who took me to see them in real life. Studied for a range of reasons their tunnel life was recreated in plastic tubing on the walls of the zoology building and watching them run backwards through these tunnels and clambour all over each other in their day-to-day business made me really happy. It's probably odd to like something so traditionally unattractive but Kimpossible has one so they can't be all bad. I mean if Disney is willing to include them...right?

Then an episode of QI recently made me think that these little guys totally deserve to be lauded in Mammal Monday because they are pretty amazing creatures. Some awesome mole rat facts:

They live in the drier parts of Eastern Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Somailia - so were unlikely to see them, boo) in tunnels underground. These conditions are harsh to say the least but the mole rat is more than equipped with:

•  lack of pain sensation in its skin
• low metabolism
• its blood has a very strong affinity for oxygen, increasing the efficiency of oxygen uptake

Also, while mammals they regulate their body temperature completely differently - lying on top of each other when cold to keep warm (cunning, I like it) and moving deeper underground when too hot. 

But the reason they are being studied and what makes them particularly intriguing is their longevity. It's the longest living rodent and can live up to 28 years because it's "living its life in pulses" ( Sciencedaily.com. 2007-10-16). That is they can substantially reduce their metabolism during hard times which is sort of like rodent cryogenics, but not quite. This ability is so effective that scientists are trying to sequence mole rat genes to figure out how to make us live forever...sort of.

Thanks to the wonderful wiki for all this info. To learn more about naked mole rats - because there is lots to know click here.

Whole Naked Mole Rat gallery. Epic. 

Photos: wikia.com, arkive.org & flickr.com

Mammal Monday - Hiphopapotamus

Wikipedia tells us that the hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and that they can travel as fast as 30 km/h over short distances. That’s faster than us, in case you were hoping to outrun one. But this little guy is too cute for words!

Photo credits: Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo

If that didn't make you go "awwwwww" there's also a video.

Mammal Monday - Guilty Pleasures

What does it have to do with Africa? Nothing.
What does it have to do with car rallys? Nothing.
Why should you keep reading? Because this made me really happy. And, even if this one doesn't make you happy there are about a million buzzfeed to entertain you once you get there.

Boys with beards holding cats.


In fairness, boys and cats are both mammals.

Mammal Monday: It's a biggie

Today we feature the world's largest mammal the Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus

(Image: bbc.co.uk)

(for the whole gallery -it's fab - go to the National Geographic website)

 FACTS

• The largest mammal living today.The heart is about the size of a Volkswagon bug car. A human could crawl through the aorta. How awesome is that?
• Also the largest mammal to have ever lived....bigger than even the largest Dinosaur.
• The longest ever measured was a female, 33.58 m or 110ft long.
• The heaviest weighed over 190 tonnes - weights are estimated from the cut up remains (lovely).An average-sized blue whale will eat 900-4100 kg of plankton each day during the summer feeding season.
• Also the loudest animal on Earth - their call reaches levels up to 188 decibels. This low-frequency whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles. The blue whale is louder than a jet, which reaches only 140 decibels.
• Also endangered, of course.

(Image above and info from: enchantedlearning.com &earthlife.net )

Mammal Monday - Their tongues are blue

By far my favourite of the African mammals, giraffes are just so great with their long legs, crazy eye lashes and graceful giantness. They also have strangely blue tongues which is pretty cool. So today's Mammal Monday honours the lovely giraffe because they're epic.

 Photo from here - and there are so many other cool ones.

Mammal Monday: Little Big Cats

Can I have one please...pretty pretty please...

To see all the little kitties go to the National Geographic website.