As the largest herbavores in the sea, dugons can eat an entire football field’s worth of sea grass in a single day. but may also include song and display, such as male grouses on lekking grounds (Badyaev, 2004) and bugling and urine odor among rutting elk or wapiti. The area under the wing-coverts is black and the females' tail feathers are narrow and pointed. Hall, B. P. and R. E. Moreau. The three-mile-high summits of the Ethiopian highlands are for expert climbers only: Gelada baboons. It is amazing to see them doing their love dance, going up and down the tall grass, flying for short periods of time. Like a true star, tigress Raj Behra chose a den no paparazzi could reach by car. These include delamerei, found in the highlands of Kenya, delacouri, found in the Congo, Angola and Zambia, and progne, found in Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. The long-tailed widowbird was first described by Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch physician and naturalist, in 1783. The long feathers do not seem to have any other purpose, and likely slow the animal down and make it easier for predators to find. [4], A clear pattern of success emerged, with males with the elongated tails being the most successful, followed by the control (normal tail length) males, followed by the males with shortened tails. Intersexual selection, frequently referred to as female choice, occurs when females choose among males based upon some criterion reflecting resources the male can provide or the quality of his genes. The reason is more sinister than you may imagine. Male humpback whales compete with each other while racing after a female. Watch a gangly Guanaco calf take its very wobbly first steps. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "longtailedwidowbird" Flickr tag. It takes a fearless and patient mother to keep curious cubs safe. Long-tailed Widowbird on dead vegetation - Male in breeding plumage Photographer More. Better safe than sorry! The clownfish male is under constant surveillance by the female to ensure his egg-caring performance is up to par. Another classic example of … Discover (and save!) One wrong move and this fisherman could fall into the Mekong River currents. Species factsheet: Euplectes progne. In widowbirds, flight and balance costs are countered by benefits related to the female’s mating preference for long-tailed males. Nowadays the name whydah (from "Ouidah") is however applied to some species in the Viduidae. As their ice world disappears, polar bears have been known to swim up to 60 miles offshore in search of food. The jungle is these lowland gorilla’s playground. Dolphins, sailfish, and rays all get in on the lanternfish hunting action. In Africa, Setaria sphacelata seed heads are an important food source for several bird species, including the long-tailed widowbird. There are many different theories behind these mysterious blobs. Taxonomy. [2] The species are found in Angola, Botswana, the DRCongo, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zambia. Draco lizards can glide over 100 feet with a single leap. The two other males in the group served as controls. the long tail is also a likely indicator of male quality (‘signal content’). Oy! Red fox can hear the sounds of mice under six feet of snow during freezing Yellowstone winters. He also develops an unusually long tail with twelve tail feathers out of which 6-8 of them reach around 20 inches in length. The lights in this city of seven million are a sight behold. Jun 19, 2013 - Male Long-tailed Widowbird in Summer plumage preforms a courtship dance. 90% of Australia’s wildlife is found nowhere else on earth. The male’s most distinctive feature is his extremely long tail, averaging about 50 cm in length. Can Science Save the Northern White Rhino? In order to confuse birds of prey, these bats have got to get in formation. These giraffe-neck weevils go to impressive lengths to find a mate. Male long-tailed widowbird. Female preference for long tails was first observed in long-tailed widowbirds, and then subsequently observed in Jackson's widowbird and the red-collared widowbird. Saved from wildlife.co.za. In temperate seas, there are even more squid than fish. Meet the underwater cameraman who managed to capture this split-level footage.. Around the first full moon of winter, hundreds of thousands of spider crabs gather to shed their shells. These gray leaf monkeys might appear drab, but their newborns stick out like a (cute) sore thumb! An atlas of speciation in African passerine birds. Coral has been found all the way down at 6,000 meters deep, but these reefs are incredibly vulnerable. In the Correspondence: Maria Prager, Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30 Go¨teborg, Sweden. The species just enters southeastern Botswana, but is most commonly found in the central highveld of South Africa. Females and non-breeding males are streaky brown with a short tail. During the evolution of sexual signals and female preferences for such signals, there are several, nonmutually exclusive processes of evolutionary change. Take a closeup look at what happens when venus flytraps call a temporary truce. [2], Females have a rather subdued coloration. These 20-day-old chicks must face the first challenge of their lives. Baby ostriches dodge elephants, giraffes, zebras, and brawling lions while trying to quench their thirst. Their bills are bluish white. Simplicity is the key to a jellyfish’s success. Mountain Gorillas: Earth’s Largest Primates, Turtle Hatchling Reaches the Deep Blue Sea. Male long-tailed widowbird during courtship display flight. They are known for their long tails and brilliant red badges, both which act as sexual ornaments. Their tails, which are often more than half a meter (20 inches) long, are the most extreme sexual ornament among Euplectes and Within their first year of life, penguin chicks face many extraordinary hardships in the arctic. After roaming the earth for millions of years, the Northern white rhino population is down to two. How do these gigantic rocks move on their own? Adult breeding males are almost entirely black with orange and white shoulders (epaulets), long, wide tails, and a bluish white bill. We specialize in all aspects of outdoor photography. They also feed upon both insects, including species of beetles (Coleoptera), cicadas and aphids (Hemiptera), and spiders. After reaching a certain body size, Kobudai fish can change from female to male! Each removed feather was then glued to the corresponding feather of another male, elongating his tail by 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches). [5] This research has demonstrated the existence of female choice in sexual selection and indicates the trade-offs between sexual appeal and physical constraints with regard to the evolution of sexual ornaments. The nickname “Flying Lemur” may be a bit misleading, but these Colugos are the masters of the glide. Nature can be harsh, and in this case there can only be one shoebill chick. Tail length explains 47% of the male's reproductive success, indicating the strength of this sexual ornament.