Aardwolf (Proteles cristata)

Blurb from the Author:  I was running out of “weird”/”different” species to write about for my blog so I just simply searched “weird species that many people don’t know”. haha I stumbled across this guy! I have never heard of them before and the name interested me because I connected it to an aardvark. It is far from an aardvark and far from wolf believe it or not! They do enjoy eating termites like an aardvark though which is strange because I thought that these guys would be strictly carnivores due to their name and body shape.

Lifespan:  ~8-10 years (wild) ~15-20 years (captivity)

Population Size: The population size remains unknown due to their shy nature, but it is estimated to be a very stable population size!

Geographical Location:  They are found in Eastern and Southern Africa. The habitat of where these animals live include grasslands, shrublands, and savanna.

Diet:  Aardwolves are known as “incomplete carnivores”. They known as incomplete carnivores because a large chunk of their diet consists of insects! (which is I think is super interesting because I have never heard a species referred to as an incomplete carnivore) Their diet mainly consists of insect larvae, insects (especially termites), and bird eggs.

Size:  ~17-30 pounds, ~2.3 ft long, ~16-20 inches tall

Conservation Status: Least Concern (Which is awesome :)! )

Predators: The major predators of the aardwolf are humans and domectic dogs. Other species that may hunt them include jackals, hyenas, lions, leopards, and some snakes.

Reproduction: Although usually solitary and shy animals, aardwolfs are polygynous. They mate from June to July with a gestation period of ~90 days. They produce 2-5 offspring a breeding season.

Communication:  They primarily communicate through anal scent gland marking. They rarely communicate vocally and are only vocal when fighting, stressed, or scared (clucking and roaring). They also put up their mane if scared to seem bigger.

• Fun Facts:
• Nocturnal
• Live solitary lifestyles or in pairs
• Aardwolf means “earth wolf”
• They are also known as the “maanhaar jackal”
• Closest relative is the hyena
• They puff up their manes to appear larger
• They have special areas designated for going to the bathroom called “middens”
• They live in underground burrows during the day (abandoned burrows of aardvarks and porcupines)
• They can eat up to 300,000 termites a night

Websites Used For Research: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18372/45195681#population https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Proteles_cristata/ https://www.animalspot.net/aardwolf.html https://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/aardwolf.php

References: Stump, M. 2011. “Proteles cristata” (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 20, 2020 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Proteles_cristata/

Lowland Streaked Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus)

Blurb from the Author:  How could I not chose this cool little dude!? He looks like he could be a pokemon haha! He was just too cool not to research and blog about. Like the video I embedded at the end of my post, he looks like a mix between a bumble bee (color wise), a shrew, and a hedgehog, what a combo! They really are as cool as they look. 🙂

Lifespan:  ~2.6 years (wild and captivity)

Population Size: unknown

Geographical Location: They are endemic to Madagascar, specifically the east side of the island. (like a previous species I have talked about) They are found in the tropical rainforests on the island.

Diet:  They are vermivores! Meaning that they specifically eat earthworms and if the are not available they may eat various insects.

Size: 4-10 oz, 5 1/2 inches long

Conservation Status: least concern (which is great! 🙂 )

Predators: Because they are small they have a few predators such as Dumeril’s boas, Malagasy ring-tailed mongooses, Malagasy fossas (one of my past species of the week), Malagasy civets, and humans. Many of there predators are unsuccessful because of the tenrec’s pretty painful defense mechanism (quills!).

Reproduction: They mate between November and May with a 55-58 day gestation period. They produce 1-11 offspring. Babies are born without the magnificent quills of mature tenrecs. Like many species, males fight each other for the females. If the females decide they don’t want to copulate with the male they will prick them in the genitals with their spines (yikes haha).

Communication: Lowland streaked tenrecs communicate in many ways. They can erect their spines (quills), stomp their feet, bob their heads, head butt, grapple, touch noses, scent mark with excrements, click their tongues, chatter, squeak, (and the coolest way) rub their quills together to make a high pitched noise.

• Fun Facts:
• They are able to communicate with their quills!
• Babies develop spines the first day after birth
• They have soft underbellies (much like a hedgehog)
• They are closely related to the highland streaked tenrec
• They have yellow quills (quite the hair do!)
• Their quills are barbed and detachable
• They drop their body temperature to the air temperature come winter to conserve energy (they also hibernate if it gets too cold)

Websites Used for Research: http://animalia.bio/lowland-streaked-tenrec https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hemicentetes_semispinosus/ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/40593/97189434

References: Kokx, K. 2009. “Hemicentetes semispinosus” (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 24, 2020 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hemicentetes_semispinosus/ Stephenson, P.J., Soarimalala, V. & Goodman, S. 2016. Hemicentetes semispinosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T40593A97189434. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T40593A97189434.en. Downloaded on 24 March 2020.