Wildlife Words - predation

In the last post, we learned that carnivore refers to meat eaters. The main way that animals find meat is through…

predation

Pronunciation: \pri-ˈdā-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English predacion, from Latin praedation-, praedatio, from praedari
Date: 15th century

1 : the act of preying or plundering : depredation

2 : a mode of life in which food is primarily obtained by the killing and consuming of animals

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Predation is a reality in the animal kingdom and some animals need to eat other animals to survive. While animals like Lance + Linda Lion look cute, they are dangerous predators that hunt and eat other species.

So Cute: Dalmatian plus Kitty

A cute picture of a dalmatian and a kitty…

They are waiting for vaccination shots and the dog reassures the feline that all will be okay.

Wildlife Word - carnivorous

Our last set of Wildlife Words looked at the times of day when animals like to be active:
diurnal (day)
nocturnal (night)
crepuscular (twilight)
matutinal (dawn)
vespertine (dusk)

We now turn to words that describe how animals like to eat, and our first word in this group is…

carnivorous

Pronunciation: \kär-ˈni-v(ə-)rəs\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin carnivorus, from carn-, caro + -vorus -vorous
Date: 1592

1: subsisting or feeding on animal tissues

2 of a plant : subsisting on nutrients obtained from the breakdown of animal protoplasm (as of insects)

3: of or relating to the carnivores4: rapacious
— car·niv·o·rous·ly adverb
— car·niv·o·rous·ness noun
— car·niv·ory noun

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Carnivores are the meat eaters of the animal kingdom…  In future posts, we will learn about two main ways these carnivores seek their food.

Recommended: Beautiful Wildlife Photography

The BBC recently picked its favorite wildlife photography from 2007 and two of the pictures are breathtaking in color and composition…

Click here to see the other pictures.

Wildlife Words - vespertine

Our last Wildlife Word post described a matutinal animal that likes mornings, which is a specific type of crepuscular animal. Of course, there’s a word for the animals that enjoys nights…

vespertine

Pronunciation: \ˈves-pər-ˌtīn\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin vespertinus, from vesper
Date: 15th century

1 : of, relating to, or occurring in the evening <vespertine shadows>
2 : active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Wildlife Words - matutinal

Our next Wildlife Word describes a specific type of crepuscular animal…

matutinal

Pronunciation: \ˌma-chu̇-ˈtī-nəl; mə-ˈtüt-nəl, -ˈtyüt-, -ˈtü-tə-nəl, -ˈtyü-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin matutinalis, from Latin matutinus — more at matinee
Date: circa 1656

: of, relating to, or occurring in the morning : early

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

A matutinal animal enjoys early morning and is thus active in the dawn.

Wildlife Words - crepuscular

Our first two Wildlife Words were diurnal and nocturnal. The next word is related…

crepuscular

Pronunciation: \kri-ˈpəs-kyə-lər\

Function: adjective

Date: 1668

1 : of, relating to, or resembling twilight : dim <crepuscular light>

2 : occurring or active during twilight <crepuscular insects> <crepuscular activity>

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

While diurnal and nocturnal refer to day and night animals respectively, crepuscular describes animals that are active during the twilight of dawn and/or dusk. Some crepuscular animals may even be active during bright moons.

Biologists believe that these animals like the twilight as they can avoid both nocturnal and diurnal predators!

Among our Noah’s Pals collection, deer, moose, and skunks are well known crepuscular animals.

Wildlife Words - nocturnal

Our first Wildlife Word was diurnal, and our next word is its ‘opposite’…

nocturnal

Pronunciation:\näk-ˈtər-n^əl\

Function:adjective

Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French nocturnel, from Late Latin nocturnalis, from Latin nocturnus of night, nocturnal, from noct-, nox night

Date:15th century

1 : of, relating to, or occurring in the night <a nocturnal journey>

2 : active at night <a nocturnal predator>

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

A nocturnal animal is active during the night and rests during the day.

What’s for lunch?

A great picture of a beautiful snow leopard!

AMAZING Animal Crossing!

Wildlife photographer Steve Bloom captured the extraordinary image below that shows some of the nearly 1.5 million animals that migrate across the Mara River in Kenya every year.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Most of the animals are wildebeest — almost half of the 1.5 million animals. They are accompanied by 500,000 gazelle and 200,000 zebra.

The crossing is dangerous… Hundreds of crocodiles wait in the water. And once the animals get through that danger, they need to avoid lions, hyenas, leopards and jackals on the other side!

An article from the Daily Mail describes the migration:

They are travelling South to reach the new grasslands of the Serengeti, leaving behind the now parched woodland of the Masai Mara National Park.

Once they arrive in February, they will spend the wet season here on their breeding ground.

Come next June they will undertake the journey north once more, to the now rejuvenated forests of Masai Mara.

It is one of nature’s most remarkable cycles, replenishing the vegetation of Northern Africa. A 500km round trip, it is undoubtedly one of the natural world’s most astonishing phenomena.