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habitat degradation &loss
habitat degradation &loss
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Analysis of the Desert Tortoise of North America
The desert tortoise is one of the four species of on land tortoises in North America. They are the longest living reptile of the southwestern United States region, living from eighty years up to one hundred years. They are well adapted to living in a highly variable and often harsh environment.
On April 2, 1990; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the desert tortoise as a threatened species. Their populations have been decreasing for many years due to habitat loss and disturbance, collection for pets, raven predation of eggs and juveniles, and a respiratory disease mostly caused by captive tortoises being released into the wild. It is illegal to collect desert tortoises from the wild without a permit from both the federal government and the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.
It is also illegal to buy or sell desert tortoises. The only legal way for an individual to acquire a desert tortoise is to adopt one from a State Game and Fish sanctioned organization or to receive a captive-born hatchling as a gift.
Appearance
Desert tortoises have a highly domed, distinctly ridged carapace ranging in length from 6 to 15 inches. Adults weigh in between 8 and 15 pounds. The carapace, which is the upper shell of a tortoise, is brown or horn colored. The plastron, the lower shell, is yellow-hued and without a hinge. Male tortoises have extended gular shields used in combat with other males during the breeding season. Both sexes have stout, elephant-like limbs which allows these reptiles access to an amazing range of microhabitats, from shallow desert washes to extremely steep mountainous slopes.
The desert tortoises scaly reptilian skin is tough and protects against water loss. Their sharp claws and strong legs provide the tools needed to dig deep burrows. One way to differentiate a male tortoise from a female is by size and tail length. The male should be both larger and have a longer tail than its female counterpart. Adult male tortoises also have a concave plastron used for mounting females during breeding season.
Range
The natural range of the desert tortoise encompasses both the Sonoran and Mohave deserts in Southwestern Utah, Southern Nevada, Southeastern California, and Western Arizona in the United States. They also occur in the Sinaloan deserts in Northern Mexico.
To survive the harsh environment of the hot, dry desert; desert tortoises dig burrows under rocks or at the base of bushes.
Habitat: Partially or completely open country, around mountains, hills, and cliffs. They use many different habitats ranging from arctic to desert, some include tundra, shrub lands, grasslands, coniferous forest, farmland and rivers or streams. They can be found in Mexico, North America, Alaska, and sometimes Asia, northern Africa, and Europe. They nest in high places such as cliffs, trees, or human structures. They build huge nests that they may return to for several breeding years.
The likelihood of the four-toed hedgehog going extinct is very improbable. They have an extensive range and are very stable in regards to their wildlife population. They continue to grow in the wild and animal experts have not seen any alarming declines in the population rates. Hence, they have a minimal conservation status. But with the four-toed hedgehog’s development into a popular exotic household pet, there have been some concerns about the threatening of the native populations in Africa. Luckily, there is a breeding stock that is present in the United States that supplies this pet demand. Furthermore, it is prohibited to transport the four-toed hedgehog animals out of Africa to the pet trade market. These regulations allow for the native populations to flourish (Nichols 2014)
If a person lives east of the Mississippi River it is very frequent that they will see a Tufted Titmouse and once the see one it is hard for them to determine whether it is a female or male. Mainly it is very tough to tell the difference by just looking at them, you will have to listen to the different sound they make.
It is a fresh water turtle species which happens to be a prolific breeder. Its several eye-catching lovely morphs are leucistic, pastel and albino.
The Rodrigues giant tortoises were an endemic species of tortoise found on the island of Rodrigues, Republic of Mauritius. There were two types; the Saddle-backed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise and the Domed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise. The former was greater in size compared to the latter and weighed up to 60 kilograms, this kind is a Saddleback, meaning its shell had a notch at the front, which allowed it to elevate its head more to reach food from higher places. The latter had a size of about 42 centimeters and weighed around 12 kilograms, this type had a domed shell that tilted straightly towards the ground, which made foraging limited to low areas.
Musick, John A. Biology of Sea Turtles. Ed. Peter L. Lutz. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC, 1997.
The marine life that is found at Dry Tortugas is like no other National Park in the United
Jose and his team watch the female turtle as she slowly scraps at the sand. They know that when she is satisfied with the nest she 's dug, she will lay her eggs. They are ready.
However, they have bulky intestines that are needed for the digestion of vegetation, and symbiotic bacteria in the digestive tube that aids in breaking down cellulose. It takes around 3 to 4 hours before food leaves the esophagus, 8 to 10 hours before it leaves the stomach and another 20 hours for food to travel through the intestine. They are both herbivores and carnivores; they eat plants as adults and jellyfish and other invertebrates as juveniles. Some external characteristics of the green sea turtle are: the carapace, which is the dorsal portion of the shell that is covered in scale-like structures called scutes, the ventral part of the shell known as the plastron, and the lateral bridge which connects the carapace to the plastron. They are fully shielded by their shell for defense against predators and they only have a few openings for their head, tail and limbs. The green turtles are the largest out of the other hard-shelled sea turtles, weighing in at 300 to 500 pounds and 3 feet in length as adults. The baby hatchlings weigh around 0.05 pounds and 2 inches in length. It is hard to tell the difference between male and female, until they reach maturity. Once they’re mature, males have long thick tails, while females have smaller short ones. The body fat of the Honu is actually green and is why are also called green sea turtles. Other unique characteristic of the Honu are: they have salt
The Painted turtle is a reptile that lives mainly in north America. It can also be found in Nova Scotia. The species is divided into four subspecies each with their own distinct location. Chyrsemys picta picta (Eastern Painted turtle) located mostly between the Atlantic ocean and the Appalachian mountains. Chyrsemys picta marginata (Midland Painted turtles) located mostly in the great lakes, Ohio valley and all the way down to northern Alabama. Chyrsemys picta dorsalis (Southern Painted turtles) who live dependent on the Mississippi from southern Illinois to the gulf of Mexico. The last subspecies is Chyrsemys picta belli, the Western Painted turtle. These are the painted turtles that live here in Nebraska. They have the largest range of any of the painted turtle species, spanning from the Mississippi all the way to Washington and British Colombia (Dawson, 1998). Painted turtles can generally be distinguished from other turtles by several identifying characteristics. They have a smooth flattened carapace (top shell) that can be brown, olive or black. The carapace can have light yellow or orange lines. The Painted turtles plastron (lower shell) can be ...
Rattlesnakes are known to be one of the world's dangerous snakes commonly known in north america they are really known in the great state of Texas for there size. They are called the rattlesnake is that the end of their tail makes a rattle noise when it thinks it is in danger or to warn prey and can sakes 60 times in a second. They have a pit between their eyes. It is used for a heat detector in the night . Rattlesnakes don’t have ears and can’t hear most sounds. They detect movement by sensing vibrations in the ground. That is amazing their lifespan is 10 to 20 years One day I go to my friends uncle house and he have a westerner diamondback
California, or southern, Sea Otters are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act and are fully protected under California state law. The northern Sea Otters in Alaska are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, Act II. The Sea Otters in the United States are also protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sea Otters were put under protections with the signing of the International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911, and became registered under the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts in the 1970s. Worldwide, numbers have gradually recovered but still stand far below original population. “Today, there are estimated to be just over 106,000 worldwide, with just over 3,000 in California”. (Ecological Society of America. Climate change, predators, and trickle-down effects on ecosystems. ScienceDaily, 11 August
The frog’s back is usually textured with coarse tubercles. Its fingers are thinly webbed while the hind foot is more developed. Large disks exist on the fingers and toes to assist with climbing and sticking to objects (Dickerson, 1969). The male and female Grey Tree Frogs are very similar. They are distinguished by the male having a dark underside of his throat. Also the females ears are smaller then the males (Dickerson, 1969).
Pianka, E. and Hodges, W. 1995. Horned Lizards. University of Texas. Web. Accessed at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/phryno.html
They can weigh up to 100lbs, and grow to be 4ft long and 2ft tall! They have short, stubby legs. Their feet are webbed, which makes them excellent swimmers. They need these webbed feet to get away from their many predators such as wildcats and eagles. They have big front teeth as most rodents do. Fur on a capybara can range from red, brown, or gray. Altogether it makes them kinda look like furry pigs!