before presentation please preview these videos before mondays power point presentation. dung...
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Before Presentation• Please preview these videos before Monday’s power
point presentation. Dung Beetles
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UcQbrvnoVCU
Tsetse Flies• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DraEMksjtug&feat
ure=player_embeddedNile Crocodile (click “video and sound”)
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/nile-crocodile/
Nile Crocodiles• Adults can weigh over 1,000 pounds
and measure 18 feet in length.• Life expectancy: 45years in wild. 80
years in captivity.• Parents protect nest site.• Young make high pitched sound
before hatching. This alerts parents. Parents dig up nest and assist young with hatching
• Mother scoops young from nest and transports young to water
• Mother protects young for two years• Young feed on fish and insects.• Adults eat up to half of body weight
in one feeding.
Use the link below to view a short clip of a mother croc and her young. On the page, click “Video & Sound”.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/nile-crocodile/
Nile Crocodile attacking Wildebeest, Mara River, Masai Mara, Kenya
Photo Credit: Paul McKenzie: http://www.wildencounters.net/weblog/page/3/
Rock Agama
• Over 100 Species in Tanzania
• Common in Serengeti but not usually seen
• More than 30 varieties• Found on rocky outcroppings• Males are territorial and colorful• Females bland coloring• Main food is insects
Chameleon
http://www.serengeti.org/a_chameleon_z.html http://thesafariadvisor.com/linked/pink-and-blue%20agama%20lizard.jpg
Tortoiseso Leopard Tortoises: often seen in
Serengeti– Herbivores, obtain calcium from
bones or hyena feces– Watch for them on roads – Fire and vehicles are the most
common cause of injuryo Pancake Tortoises: live on rock ledges
and kopjes. Herbivores Forage morning, late
afternoon/evening Stay in shade of rocks during
heat of day Over collection by pet trade is
impacting population
http://www.tanzania.eu/showpage-tanzania-wildlife___reptiles.html
http://www.arkive.org/pancake-tortoise/malacochersus-tornieri/image-G24059.html
Insects The Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Crater ecosystems are home to a
great variety of insect species.
Anthony Sinclair has studied the
Serengeti ecosystem for over 40
years. In his book, Serengeti Story:
A scientist in paradise, he states
that, although the insects in the
Serengeti have not been thoroughly
studied yet, the following have been
identified:
180 species of butterfly
100 species of dung beetles
70 species of grasshoppers
The following are just some of the ways that insects affect the populations of other species within the ecosystem :
Acting as a food source for other species
Acting as vectors for disease
Preying on other species
Pollinating flowering plants
Decomposing dead organic
matter
Dung Beetles• At least 100 different species in Serengeti.
• Locate dung by smell.
• Specialized dung beetles use feces of only one species.
• Other dung beetles are not species feces specific.
• Many species create balls of dung and soil.
• Roll ball with back legs while walking on front legs.
• Male and female work together to dig hole.
• Female takes dung into tunnel while male guards
entrance and tries to prevent other males from
entering.
• Female lays egg on ball, fills in tunnel.
• Larva will eat its way out of tunnel.
• Current research: Scientists believe dung beetles use
light from the Milky Way to navigate at night.
• Current research: Scientists think dung beetles stand
on top of the dung balls during the hottest time of the
day to help cool themselves.
• 75% of dung in Serengeti is moved by these beetles.
• Benefits: Fertilizes soil, aerates soil, prepares land for
grass to grow, controls flies, disease, parasites.
http://cherylmerrill.com/2012/10/
http://www.viacorp.com/flybook/fulltext.htmlIllustration by Janet Baxter
Tsetse Flies• 23 different species• Most are slightly larger than houseflies• Wings fold over body• Live in wooded areas• Males and females feed on blood of vertebrates• Bite during day• Painful bite• Attracted to dark clothing• Vector for Human African trypanosomiasis (AKA
sleeping sickness) and animal trypanosomiasis ( AKA Nagana in cattle)
• Tsetse flies have limited development in certain areas of Africa, preserving the land’s natural ecosystem
• Many control methods tried with varying degrees of success: Slaughter of wild animal hosts, clearing of land, pesticides, trapping, sterilization of male tsetse
http://www.britannica.com/list/4/9/9-tsetse-fly
http://www.nomadicpinoy.com/2013/01/serengeti-day-2.html
Treated with insecticide, this hanging black & blue cloth is meant to trap tsetse flies
Siafu• AKA: Safari Ants or Driver Ants• Travel in groups of 20,000,000 or
more.• Bite is painful and it is hard to
remove biting ant since the head often breaks off when the body is pulled.
• Some tribes use the biting ants as sutures for wounds.
• Eat scorpions, mice, insects, frogs, and other small animals
• Attracted by carbon dioxide of prey.
• Can swarm houses – not always seen as a bad thing since they kill all the pests in the home.
http://bousiesinmwanza.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/siafu_2.jpg
http://www.alexanderwild.com/
http://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Taxonomic-List-of-Ant-Genera/Dorylus/9168200_H5dKmb/3#!i=2189416772&k=8PdQ7bH&lb=1&s=A
Termites• Kings/queens, workers, soldiers• Three genera of mound building
termites in Serengeti.• Decompose plant material and cycle
nutrients.• Create mounds by piling up soil from
deeper underground.• Soil in mound is more alkaline than
surrounding surface soil which allows different varieties of plants to grow near mound than in surrounding ecosystem.
• Many animals use mounds for lookouts.• Tunnels become home to a variety of
animals besides termites (mice, snakes, mongoose).
• Termites are favored food of aardwolves and whispering ants.
Mostly dead termite mounds visible from the air, Northern Serengeti Sep 2011
http://safari-ecology.blogspot.com/2011/09/termite-mounds.html
http://www.african-safari-journals.com/first-time-to-africa-at-75.html
Lion on Termite Mound, Serengeti
“Simba of the Sand”• Antlion Lacewing.• Larval stage buries in sand.• Makes conical pit in sand (about
an inch across).• Catches insects that fall into pit.• Adult insect resembles dragonfly.
http://www.safarisafricana.com/little-five-african-animals/http://asiliaguides.blogspot.com/2011/07/antlions.html
Tsetse Flies
• http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017284
• http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/02/mystery-of-zebras-stripes-finall.html
• http://www.nomadicpinoy.com/2013/01/serengeti-day-2.html
• http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p5178e/P5178E07.htm
• http://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Tsetse_Feeding_Habits_Nguruman_Kenya.htm
• http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2012/04/20/tsetse-flies-lactate-and-give-birth-to-live-larvae/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsetse_fly
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607699/tsetse-fly
• http://www.who.int/trypanosomiasis_african/research/en/
• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs259/en/
• http://www.tsetse.org/
•Dung Beetles•http://cherylmerrill.com/2012/10/23/dung-beetles/•http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0621-neme_dung_beetles_emlen.html•http://www.livescience.com/19668-dung-beetle-poop-preference.html•http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UcQbrvnoVCU
•http://www.livescience.com/24176-dung-beetles-keep-cool-balls.html•http://www.livescience.com/26557-dung-beetles-navigate-stars.html•http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Food-and-Agriculture/DungBeetles.aspx•http://www.viacorp.com/flybook/fulltext.html
•Antlion•http://asiliaguides.blogspot.com/2011/07/antlions.html
•Nile Crocodile•http://www.wildencounters.net/weblog/page/3/•http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/nile-crocodile/
Rock Agama
• http://www.arkinspace.com/2012/04/mwanza-flat-headed-rock-agama-spider.html
Siafu
• http://asiliaguides.blogspot.com/2011/09/incredible-siafu.html
Termites
• http://safari-ecology.blogspot.com/2011/09/termite-mounds.html
Tortoises
• http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2008/05/05/the-natural-history-and-captive-husbandry-of-the-pancake-tortoise/
General
• http://www.serengeti.org/
Books• Estes, R. D. (1993) The Safari Companion. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green
Publishing Company
• Mercer, G., & Jafferji, J. (2007) Serengeti National Park. Zanzibar: Gallery Publications
• Norton, B. (2011) Serengeti: The Eternal Beginning. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing
• Scott, J., & Scott, A. (2000) Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer’s Paradise. Faringdon, Oxfordshire: Fountain Press
• Shah, A., & Shah M. (2007) African Odyssey: 365 Days. New York, New York: Abrams
• Shah, A. (2012) Serengeti Spy: Views from a Hidden Camera on the Plains of East Africa. New York, New York: Abrams