Salamander is a common name of
approximately 550 extant species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a
superficially lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, short noses, and
long tails. All known fossil salamanders and all extinct species fall under the
order Caudata, while
sometimes the extant species are grouped together as the Urodela. Most salamanders have four toes on
their front legs and five on their rear legs. Their moist skin usually makes
them reliant on habitats in or near water, or under some protection (e.g.,
moist ground), often in a wetland. Some salamander species
are fully aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and
some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Unique amongvertebrates, they are capable of regenerating lost limbs, as well as other
body parts. Many of the members of the family Salamandridae are known asnewts.
The Philippine
tarsier (Tarsius syrichta),
known locally as mawmag in Cebuano/Visayan and mamag in Luzon, is an endangered species of tarsierendemic to the Philippines. It
is found in the southeastern part of the archipelago, particularly in the islands
of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. It is a member of the approximately 45
million year old family Tarsiidae, whose
name is derived from its elongated "tarsus" or ankle bone. It is the only member of the genus Carlito, after the
species was removed from the genus Tarsius. The new genus is named after Carlito Pizarras, known as the tarsier man, is the field manager at the
Philippine tarsier and wildlife sanctuary on the island of Bohol, and a champion of tarsier conservation
in the Philippines.
The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family.
Meerkats live in all parts of theKalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and
southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a
"mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often
contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In
captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this
in the wild.
King
crabs are generally thought to be derived from hermit crab-like ancestors, which may explain the asymmetry still found in the adult forms. Although some doubt still
exists about this theory, king crabs are the most widely quoted example of carcinisation among the Decapoda. The evidence for this explanation comes from the
asymmetry of the king crab's abdomen, which is thought to reflect the asymmetry of hermit crabs, which must fit into aspiral shell. Although formerly classified among the hermit crabs in
the superfamily Paguroidea, king crabs are now placed in a separate
superfamily,Lithodoidea.
The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the
same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unusual method of
finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs,
then gnaws holes in the wood using its forward slanting incisors to create a
small hole in which it inserts its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out.
The only other animal species known to find food in this way is the striped possum. From an
ecological point of view the aye-aye fills the niche of a woodpecker, as it is
capable of penetrating wood to extract the invertebrates within.
