Strange but true animals

[Desdichado]

Hey Josh, go over to the "most geekiest moments" thread and claim this as yours!

Oh, I've had much worse! In fact, I'm about to have another one right here in this very thread...

 

[Desdichado]

The American Lion deserves a more detailed look.

American lions (Panthera leo atrox) were among the largest flesh-eating land animals that lived during the Ice Age (Quaternary the last two million years) in America. They ranged from Alaska and Yukon as far south as Peru. Because so many well-preserved specimens (over 80 individuals) have been found in tar pits at Rancho La Brea (Los Angeles, California), we have an excellent idea of their body structure. And unique, vivid glimpses of their past, about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago, have been recorded in European caves by our Paleolithic ancestors. Intriguing details in these artistic works suggest that the lions of Eurasia and America differed in some features from the living African lion.

American lions were characterized by their enormous size and relatively long, slender limbs. Males were nearly 25 percent larger than male African lions. According to calculation of body weight based on femoral (thigh bone) size, male American lions would have averaged about 235 kg, females about 175 kg. They were larger than their heavily-built "cousins" the sabretooth cats (Smilodon), yet smaller than the rangy short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) fellow large carnivores of the period. But in features of the teeth and skeleton, American lions strongly resembled modern ones.

Most scientists are actually unsure about the classification of the American lion. Whether it should be a seperate species (Panthera atrox) a subspecies (Panthera leo atrox) or neither (simply Pathera leo) is a serious debate. Some folks have also pointed out that many of those skeletons may actually be tiger skeletons, which are virtually identical to lion skeletons and very difficult to distinquish) and since their is a known vector of tiger populations heading up towards the land bridge at Beringia (Siberian tigers, which coincidentally? are also the largest known living feline). That's actually a fairly fascinating subject, IMO. The best book out there on the topic is Big Cats and their Fossil Relatives which I just picked up again from my local library.

 

[kenjib]

Re: Re: Re: Strange but true animals

Wooly mammoth were, contrarily to common belief, smaller than modern elephants.

Cool. A google search turns up Imperial Mammoth as being the largest elephant in history, but the largest land mammal was a hornless rhinoceros in Asia.

 

[Desdichado]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange but true animals

Cool. A google search turns up Imperial Mammoth as being the largest elephant in history, but the largest land mammal was a hornless rhinoceros in Asia.

Yes, but Imperial mammoths and wooly mammoths are not the same animal. And, although marginally larger than an African elephant, you probably would be hard pressed to look at the two of them and say one is definately bigger than the other. A bit like African lions and Siberian tigers - the largest single specimen is a tiger, but overall they're about the same size.

 

[Gez]

Indeed.

Among other strange creatures, there was one specie of bat, the Dayak fruit bat (Dyacopterus spadiceus), living between Malaysia and Bornea, whose males may breastfeed their young too. They produce much less milk than the females, but still. They are the only known mammal specie whose males have functional nipples.

Not sure if they are usable as cool inspiration for D&D monster, but, hey!, they are still weird. And could flesh out the Desmodu culture a bit more. Boobies for everyone !

 

[kenjib]

They produce much less milk than the females, but still. They are the only known mammal specie whose males have functional nipples.

Not entirely accurate unless I misinterpret what you mean by "functional". Human males at the very least have been known to lactate sympathetically when their partners give birth and start breastfeeding. The stuff is there, it just doesn't work very well.

By the way, Joshua, if you don't mind my asking are you in the profession or is it just a hobby? You seem to have lots of expertise on the subject.

 

[Gez]

Dat zred iz too cool not ta boomp

 

[Mark]

More good stuff from yesteryear here-

http://www.kokogiak.com/megafauna/default.asp