Antelope

General Info :

Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats. A group of antelope is called a herd.

Physique :

A male common eland can measure 178 cm (70 in) at the shoulder and weigh almost 950 kg (2,100 lb), whereas an adult royal antelope may stand only 24 cm (9.4 in) at the shoulder and weigh a mere 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).

The size and shape of antelope horns varies immensely. Those of the duikers and dwarf antelopes tend to be simple "spikes", but differ in the angle to the head from backward curved and backward pointing (e.g. yellow-backed duiker) to straight and upright (e.g. steenbok). Other groups have twisted (e.g. common eland), spiral (e.g. greater kudu), "recurved" (e.g. the reedbucks), lyrate (e.g. impala), or long, curved (e.g. the oryxes) horns. Horns are not shed and their bony cores are covered with a thick, persistent sheath of horny material, both of which distinguish them from antlers

Antelopes have a wide variety of coverings, through most have a dense coat of short fur. In most species, the coat (pelage) is some variation of a brown colour (or several shades of brown), often with white or pale underbodies.

Diet :

Grass and leaves are the favourite food of antelopes .

Distribution :

More species of antelope are native to Africa than to any other continent, but some occur in Asia. The Arabian Peninsula is home to the Arabian oryx and Dorcas gazelle. India is home to the nilgai, chinkara, blackbuck, Tibetan antelope, and four-horned antelope, while Russia and Central Asia have the Tibetan antelope, and saiga antelope. No antelope species are native to Australasia or Antarctica, nor do any extant species occur in the Americas, though at least one saiga species occurred in parts of North America during the Pleistocene.

Anteater

General Info :

Anteater is a common name for the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa. The name "anteater" is also colloquially applied to the unrelated aardvark, numbat, echidnas, pangolins and some members of the Oecobiidae.

Physique :

Extant species include the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla, about 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) long including the tail; the silky anteater Cyclopes didactylus, about 35 cm (14 in) long; the southern tamandua or collared anteater Tamandua tetradactyla, about 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) long; and the northern tamandua Tamandua mexicana of similar dimensions.

All anteaters have elongated snouts equipped with a thin tongue that can be extended to a length greater than the length of the head; their tube-shaped mouths have lips but no teeth. They use their large, curved foreclaws to tear open ant and termite mounds and for defense, while their dense and long fur protects them from attacks from the insects. All species except the giant anteater have a prehensile tail.

Diet : 

Anteaters are specialized to feed on ants, termites and sometimes spiders, each anteater species having its own insect preferences: small species are specialized on arboreal insects living on small branches, while large species can penetrate the hard covering of the nests of terrestrial insects. To avoid the jaws, sting, and other defences of the invertebrates, anteaters have adopted the feeding strategy to lick up as many ants and termites as quickly as possible — an anteater normally spends about a minute at a nest before moving on to another — and a giant anteater has to visit up to 200 

nests to consume the thousands of insects it needs to satisfy its caloric requirements.

Distribution :

Silky anteaters and northern tamanduas extend their ranges as far north as southeastern Mexico, while giant anteaters can be found as far north as Central America. Southern tamanduas range south to Uruguay and the ranges of all species except the northern tamandua overlap in eastern Brazil. Anteaters were confined to South America, which was formerly an island continent, during most of the Cenozoic Era. Once the Isthmus of Panama formed about three million years ago, however, anteaters invaded Central America as part of the Great American Interchange.