Patagonian Mara

The patagonian mara, (also known as the Patagonian cavy or dillaby) is a medium sized rodent in the species Mara (Dolichotis). It looks somewhat like a cross between a rabbit and a deer. They are related to the Capybara. It is monogamous, meaning that it has only one mate in its life. Their habitat ranges from shrubland to deserts. I never knew about this animal before I researched about it and I thought it was a rare or threatened animal. After researching, however, I found that it was in Near Threatened.

Diet

Patagonian maras are herbivorous animals. They eat herbs and grasses and various vegetables. If they live in the desert, they also include cacti in their diet. Grasses make up for 70% of their diet.

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Frill-necked Lizards

Frill-necked lizards, also known as frilled dragons, are a type of lizards found mostly in Northern Australia and Southern New Guinea. It is mainly arboreal(lives in trees). Its main predators are birds of prey, snakes, larger lizards etc. Adults can reach up to 3 feet in length and up to 0.5 kgs in weight. Their name comes from the flap of skin surrounding its neck. When it is threatened, it unfurls the flap and hisses.

Diet

Frill-necked lizards eat insects, spiders, other reptiles and small mammals. They also eat cicadas and termites.

Pictures

A video

Gerenuks

The gerenuk or waller's gazelle is a species of antelope found in dry thorn shrubland and desert. They are found in the Horn Of Africa and the African Great Lakes region. They are also called the giraffe-necked antelope because of their long neck. Gerenuks whistle when they are annoyed, make a buzzing sound when alarmed, a loud bleat when in danger and a soft bleat when communicating with their young. Gerenuks can also go their whole life without drinking water!

Diet

A gerenuk eats leaves and shoots from prickly bushes. It also eats flowers, fruits and buds. They obtain moisture from the plants it eats so it doesn't need to drink water.

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Genets

Genets are a species of mammal related to the mongoose and fossa. They are also highly agile, like the fossa. They have spotted coats, banded tails, large ears, and small heads. Their tails are very long. Their tails are almost one to one and a half times the length of their body. Genets spend most of their time in trees. Most species live in Africa, but one species lives in Southwestern Europe. Genets are mostly nocturnal animals. Genets can crawl through openings as small as their heads.

Diet

Genets are omnivorous. Their diet consists of rodents, shrews, bats, birds, fish, bird eggs, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions and fruits like figs and olives. Sometimes they eat poultry. 

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Slow loris

The slow loris is a species of primate related to the lemur. They are found in south and southeast Asia. There are only 8 species that are known. All of the slow loris species are either endangered or vulnerable. That is because slow lorises were used to being sold as pets. Their teeth were pulled out and then sold as pets. Their teeth are pulled out due to a belief that they have a 'toxic bite. They have a gland which produces toxins on their arm. They lick the gland and the toxin mixes with its saliva to activate it. That is how the 'toxic bite' is formed.

Diet

Slow lorises are omnivores. Their diet consists of 71% fruit and gums(a secretion from some trees and shrubs which is used in making adhesives) and 29% insects, small birds, reptiles etc. They also eat fruits and nectar.

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Fossa - The mistaken cat

Until recently, the Fossa was thought to be a primitive type of cat. The Fossa is 6 feet long from its nose to its tail tip. Its long tail helps it while hunting and moving through the tree branches. Its fur is reddish brown and its snout looks like a dog. Now it is known to be related to the mongoose. It is found in the forests of Madagascar. The Fossa is one of the most agile animals in the world. It is the largest carnivore in Madagascar. The Fossa is a solitary (lives on its own) animal.

Diet

The Fossa is known to eat lemurs. In fact, lemurs comprise up to half of its diet. It hunts lemurs by sneaking up on them when they are asleep. They hunt small and medium size animals, birds and even insects. They also hunt big prey in packs during the mating season.

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Tarsiers

The Tarsier is a subspecies of primate living in forests on some islands in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Southern Philippines. It is further classified into The Philippine Tarsier, The Western Tarsier, The Eastern Tarsier and many more. Fossil records show that Tarsiers once lived in Europe, North America, Africa and mainland Asia. Tarsiers are built for their arboreal and nocturnal lifestyle. They have a little bit fat body, a long tail, long hind legs which enable them leap distances of up to 5 metres from branch to branch, and large eyes which measure 16mm across. The size of their eyes enables them to see in the dark. Their eyes are so big that the Tarsier cannot turn their eyes in their sockets. They have pads on their fingers and toes which help them to climb. They can turn their heads 180 degrees in both directions.

Diet

The Tarsier is the only fully carnivorous primate in the world. Their diet consists of insects, frogs, lizards, and small birds. Some species of Tarsier eat venomous snakes and small bats. Their long fingers and toes help them to catch prey flying in midair.

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Meerkats

Meerkats or Suricates are a species of mongoose that lives in the plains of South Africa. They are often seen in groups. Sometimes several families may live together in a large society. They are about the size of a large squirrel weighting less than 1 kg. They are famed for their upright posture. They often gaze around the plains where they live. Meerkats work in numbers. Some are lookouts, searching the sky for birds of prey that eat them, like hawks and eagles. A sharp, shrill call is the call to hide. A few meerkats guard the group.

Diet

A few meerkats forage for food for the group. They are omnivores. They eat insects, lizards, rodents, birds and fruit. When hunting together, they communicate using purring sounds. They are good hunters. Meerkats sometimes are tamed and trained to control rodents.

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Tasmanian devil

The Tasmanian Devil is a marsupial (mammal with a pouch) found only on the wilds in an island called Tasmania. It is carnivorous. It is an endangered animal which used to be found in Australia. It is of the size of a small dog.

Food

The Tasmanian Devil has a very strong bite, strong enough to break bones because it likes to eat bone marrow (a substance that creates red blood cells). It is a scavenger. It eats garbage, carrion, and meat. Despite its appearance, it is very fast, it can swim and even climb trees.

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Honey badgers

Honey badgers are a species of badger (obviously). They are also known as the Ratel. As they are closely related to skunks, they can also produce the stench known for skunks. The stench is a foul smelling liquid
that is sprayed out of a gland under it's tail. Honey badgers are very tough animals. They are so tough that
even lions are scared of them. They live in Africa, Southwest Asia, and India.

Diet

Honey badgers love bee honey, thus giving them their name. They often go in search of hives to get it.

Once they find a hive, they spray a foul smelling liquid into the hive to fend the bees off. Then they eat 

their hard earned treat. Their diet further consists of insects, eggs, snakes, rodents, birds and many 

more. They also eat berries, roots and bulbs. Honey badgers hunt rodents such as gerbils by digging 

them out of their burrows.

Symbiotic Relationship With Honey Guide Bird

Honey badgers are known to have a symbiotic relationship with Honey guide birds in which, the bird is supposed to guide the badger to find the bee hives, and the badger shares the hive with the bird. Even though the wikipedia page dismisses this belief, I found a video that proves otherwise, see this for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t_vXWgoWdc

Now a video showing how tough Honey badgers are

Now some pictures