Since joining the forum I have learnt of so many species, a good amount are general knowledge (by animal nerd community) but I’ve also found some gems that I’ve found over the last 6 months and I’ll share. You may know all, some or none. Apennine Yellow Bellied Toad Greater & Lesser Yellow Headed Vulture Kimberley Rockhole Frog Blue Mountains Tree Frog American Avocet Striped Burrfish Blue Fronted Macaw Rusty Monitor Golden Conure Chain Catshark Zebra Bullhead Shark Red Stingray Oblong Winged Katydid Hammerkop Blue Tailed Day Gecko Atlantic Spadefish Zebra Duiker White Tailed Mongoose Crete Spiny Mouse Honey Possum Feathertail Glider Feathertail Possum (do not get these mixed up) Fea’s Viper Golden Lancehead Pyerenan Desman Giant Otter Shrew Leaf Scorpionfish Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid Garnet Pitta Australian Flatback Sea Turtle Black Baza Great Grey Owl Mona Monkey Quoy’s Parrotfish I could go on for ages. I’ll leave it at unless anyone would like me to continue
Been a while since anyone has posted on this thread, but I recently just learned and read about a genus of particularly little known rodents called Brucies, in the genus Brucepattersonius. (easy enough genus to remember). They are simply put-odd looking IMO. But my question is has anyone heard of this species? Really the definition of little-known gems in nature as I like to call them. Here's a photo of them that I found on Flickr, truly strange animals.
And not to bump, While reading more about this genus (and looking through my walker's mammals of the world) I found a reference to a Madagascan Nesomyid called Gymnuromys, or the voalavoanala. The only Image I could find of this species is from a website called American society of Mammalogists, let me know if its accurate.
I knew all the species you mention before joining ZooChat, except the Vu Quang Ox, that I don't know what is it. If you are talking about the giant muntjack (Muntiacus vuquangensis), then this is just the only species of your list that I've learned thanks to Zoochat. "Giant elephant shrew" is an ambiguous name too. I suppose you're talking abotut any species of Rhynchocyon, that are the largest of the elephant shrews. About the bird that can fly with the chicks under the wings, are you talking about jacanas? I vaguely remember woodcocks also can do something similar. And nightjars do but not under the wings, but under the belly. The Pel's anomalure I knew in one of my most importants books of my childhood, the Gerrald Durrell guide to naturalist. There are desmans in Russia too, not only in Pyrenees. Theyre both different species tough. It's "carnivore" in the sense of eating other animals, but it don't belong to order Carnivora. It's just an aquatic mole. The orange pigeon, I believe that you're talking about Ptilinopus victor from Fiji? It's my most favourite species of the genus... I knew it in a nature encyclopedia in several volumes, my father being co-author of some of the articles in it.
One animal I hadn't heard of until recently was the hairy long-nosed armadillo. Didn't think much of it until I saw a photograph of one. Instead of what I was expecting (an animal with sparse, coarse hair like the more commonly-known hairy armadillos), it looks like someone has stuck the head, legs and tail of a nine-banded armadillo onto the body of a completely different animal. There is a picture of one here: https://s2r.iucnredlist.org/sis2_images/1063128248.jpg
Its sort of funny, (no offense jwer) but I pretty much knew All of those animals before zoochat just like kakapo. I remember telling people about desmans, since I had a big animal book with desmans in them, russian and prynean. I knew about the Saola (or Vu quang ox) from IUCN, same with the Giant muntjac. I knew what all elephant shrews or sengis since I was 6, I had seen them at the zoo and read about them. Kakapo, the Bird that can fit young under its wings is called the Sungrebe of the family Heliornithidae. The Comb-crested Jacana can do this as well. When you mean Anomalure I think you mean the Family Anomaluridae, which I have heard of all of its species, Pel's Flying squirrel being the Pel's anomalure. If he is talking about Ptilinopus victor then of course I knew what it was, How could you miss its stunning orange belly!
@jwer, @CheeseChameleon2007, @Kakapo, the bird which carries its young in pouches is the sungrebe, which is as far as I'm aware a unique characteristic in the bird world. They are located beneath the wing and carry the altrical young whilst the bird is swimming. The male jaçana does carry precocial young under the wing but lacks a pouch. The woodcock has for centuries been reported anecdotally carry young in its feet when flushed but this is not widely accepted by the scientific community. @DesertRhino150, @CheeseChameleon2007 that armadillo is amazing, definitely never heard of one of those before! Reminds me almost of an American opossum in some ways. Presumably its rare or at least rarely seen
I know. Interesting animals, aren't they? Look very attractive too, with me Remembering try to draw one a couple years ago, (i think its trash now). My favorite since a young child has always been Yepes's mulita, Dasypus mazzai. Yunga’s lesser long-nosed armadillo | IUCN SSC Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Specialist Group. Ever heard of those?
I also remember trying to draw a sungrebe from memory after seeing one but I didn't realise at the time the feet were so strange so I gave him normal bird feet would probably look pretty poor by my current standards but perhaps luckily long lost! No I haven't heard of that armadillo either. Can I ask why (and indeed how) such an obscure poorly known species was your favourite as a child? Presumably the excitement of a creature which few have seen and there remains a lot to learn about? Because sad to say it looks to me just like a nine banded armadillo, and indeed was placed in synonymy with that species for a time
Your not the first one to ask this. I really enjoyed that armadillo because I found it on a website, and I really loved the Name mostly. See-When I was younger I was fascinated with a bunch of animals that I really hadn't heard of before I revisited a year ago to actually learn about personally, such as bloody-belly comb jellies and Yepe's mulitas. They are unique because of their range, and I always enjoy little-known animals so I guess thats why I really liked it when I was younger. Knowing me, I am the biggest animal nerd in my entire town. I corrected my Bioligy teacher multiple times, when he said Dumbo octopuses were the same thing as flapjack octopuses, Bonobo's were subspecies of chimpanzees, and flat-out writing a list of cool animals that he should google, all of which he had never heard of.
Thanks for all the replies, but my (thread-starting) post was from 2008. I’ve learned quite a lot since (like the existence of the hairy long-nosed armadilo). Funny how the thread keeps staying alive though
I had no idea what a Deserta's Island wolf spider was until recently when I read about the ex-situ conservation programe of the late Bristol Zoo. Once I learned of their existence though I sort of became fascinated by them and read a couple of articles about the work. I think it is such a brilliant feeling to learn about the existence of a species that you had never contemplated existed before.
Oh, I had absolutely no idea that sungrebes (I prefair to call them finfoots) fly with chicks under the wings and muchless that developed pouches for that! Fascinating information! I wonder how such an amazing fact about these birds remained unknown for me during my whole life, many years after knowing the birds perself. All three species do it? I also never head of the woolly armadillo until these same replies in this thread! The Deserta's wolf spider is not new to me but I learned about it in this forum too!
The Sungrebe has pouches, but the two old world fin foot species do not. I first heard about the Desertas Wolf Spider from an article in Animals Magazine back in the 1960’s!
