Introduction To Animals

Zoology is the study of animals and involves research in many aspects of animal life such as behaviour, diet, evolution, classification, and distribution. Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metozoa. Aristotle was the one who divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus, thus he is regarded as "The Father Of  Modern Taxonomy". Most known animal phyla  appeared int he fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 524 million years ago. The word "animal" comes from the latin word animalis (meaning with soul, from anima, soul). There are two types of animal; Multicellular and Unicellular animal. The animals are heterotrophs, meaning that they feed directly or indirectly on other living things. They are further subdivided into groups such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores and parasites.

World comprises of many species of animals, and the most hearing news is about endangered species found all over the world. An endangered species is a population of organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. Endangered species is about 40 percent of all organisms as calculated by the International Union For Conservation Of  Nature. Some of the world's endangered animals which are on their extinction state from this world are Dhole, Blue Whale, Bonobo, Ethiopian wolf, Giant panda, Snow Leopard, One horned rhino, Walrus, Bengal tiger and many more. So to preserve these rare species strict actions should be taken.

Panda

Giant pandas are a native to central-western and south western china. It has the second longest tail in the bear family.Pandas are by nature solitary animals, and most of the time avoiding direct contact with others of their own kind. It is recognized easily by by its large, distinctive black patches around the the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Panda's paw has a 'thumb' and five fingers, the thumb is actually a modified sesamoid bone, which helps the giant panda to hold  bamboo while eating. Though it is carnivora, the giant panda's diet is bamboo, other parts of diet include honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, and bananas when available. The panda is able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices but does not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do not hibernate, which is similar to others sub-tropical mammals, and will instead move to elevation with warmer temperatures.
It is one of the endangered species, which lives in a few mountain ranges in central China. But due to farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowlands areas where they once lived. So step should be taken to conserve this rare species of the world.

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzees are members of the hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans and orangutants. Chimpanzees split from human evolution about six million years ago and the two chimpanzees are the closest living  relatives to human.The common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus pan. The two pan species split only about one million years ago.
The male common chimp is upto 5.6 ft hight while standing and weighs as much as 70 kg. The female is some what smaller. They use their long, powerful arms for climbing in trees. On the ground chimp usually walk on all fours using their knuckles for support with their hands clenched. Their coat is dark, the face finger, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are hairless, and the chimp has no tail. The brain of the chimpanzee is about half the size of the human brain. They eat all sorts of vegeterian foods as well as animals, the list of food item is long: fruits, nuts, leaves, plants, mushrooms, flowers, insects, meat and more.

Wolf

This is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. They are social predator tat live in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair with monopolicies, foods and breeding rights, followed by their biological offspring and occasionally, adopted subordinates. Wolves are slender, powerfully built animals with large, deeply descending ribcage and slopping backs. Their abdomens are pulled in, and their necks heavely muscled. Their limbs are long and robust, with comparatively small paws. The front paws have five toes each, while the back paws have four. Medium and small sized animals preyed on by wolves includes marmots, hares, badgers, foxes, pole cats, ground squirrels and many more. In wolves the gestation lasts 62-75 days, with pups usually being born in summer period. The average litters consists of 5-6 pups.
Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport for others, or may be subject to extermination as perceived threats to livestock and pets.

Snakes

A snake has been on earth for over 130 million years. Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborders Serpentes that can be distinguished from the legless lizard by their lack of eyelids and external ears. The english word snakecame from an old English Snaca. The fossils record of snakes are poor because snake skeleton are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon.
 There are various species of snakes, i.e. of 2700 species are their all over world. Their appearance, structure differs from one species to another. Some of their characteristics are they have slippery surface,without limb they can climb, swim and sometimes fly, some have deadly bite that can kill a human being. It cannot detect color but can see images. It flicks its tongue to gather air particle to assist in sensing odors. Out of 2700 known species each share three common traits, it has a thin, linear limbless body, eats meat and is cold blooded. Fertilization is internal in snake; as in lizards, the males have paired copulatory organs, either of which may be used in mating. Female of some species can store sperms for several years to ensure future fertilization.

Walrus

The walrus a large flippered marine animals. The walrus is only living species in Odobenidea family and Odobenus genus. It is divided into three sub-species, the Atlantic walrus which lives in the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific walrus are found in the pacific ocean, and O.rosmarus Laptevi which leaves in Laptev sea. Walrus are pinnipeds, pinni means wing or fin and pedis means foot. They are pink to cinnamon brown in color, and their distinguish character are, tusks, whiskers, and sounds they make. They depend on snail, clams, crabs, shrimp and worms. They like to live in shallow water by ice flows or land. The walrus migrate in the spring and fall following the food. The ice floe advance and retreat tells the walrus when to migrate. Their bones can be used to make spear heads, their oil is used for food, lights in oil lamps, also can be carved with different ornaments and pictures.

Muskox

Musk oxen are mainly related to sheep and goats than to oxen. Muskox stands 3-5 ft. They weight upto 5000-9000 lb. Both sexes have long curved horns. They are brown shaggy and have silky fur. If their fur were not like it is they would die. They have two kinds of fur. The outer fur is coarse and stiff, and their under fur is soft and able to keep them warm. Their coat, a mix of black, grey and brown includes long guard hairs that almost reach the ground. They depend upon wide variety of plants, sedges, forbs, and woody plants. One of their favorite food is willow(found near river),  so they prefer to live near rivers.
 Muskox can be domesticated and can yield excellent meat, milk, and wool. These are social and live in herds. Female are sexual mature at the age of 2, and male at the age of 5.

Arctic Fox

The Arctic fox is also known as snow fox, white fox or polar fox. They are well adapted for their cold harsh weather of the arctic. Among its adaptation for cold survival are its deep, thick fur. They measure upto 25-30 cm. They weighs upto 6-10 pounds. During winter they are white in color while they appear brownish grey in summer. They have such keen hearing that they can precisely locate the position of the prey under the snow.
Mating occurs in early march and early april. Gestation last 52 days.
They depend upon small mammals, including lemmings and tundra voles. They have very warm furs that can be used for clothing or trading purpose. The conservation status of the species is good, except for the Scandinavian mainland population.

Polar Bear

Polar bear lives in a very cold palce called the arctic region. They are evolved 200,000 years ago from a brown bear ancestors.They live only on snowy shore along icy water. Adult male polar bears weighs 775 to more than 1500 pounds, whereas female weighs 330-550 pounds. They are the largest land meat eater in the world and the largest of the bear family. They don't drink water and occasional eat  mammals, vegetation, eggs and beach coast carrions.
Their thick white fur helps their body get all the warmth they need for them in that snowy region. Their fur that covers their feet helps them from slipping on the snow and ice, while their sharp claws helps them to grip the ice. They are a very good swimmer and can swim a long way without taking rest. An adult male weighs around 350-680 kg while an adult female is about half of that size.
Five nations have polar bear populations, the united states(Alaska), Canada, Russia, Denmark(Greenland) and Norway.

Bengal Tiger

Bengal tigers love Nepal land and 80% of these are found in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It is one of the most endangered species and is also known as the king of jungle. Today they are found in less than 15 countries. They are the second largest sub-species after the Siberians tigers. Their total length including tail for male is 270-310 cm, while female are 240-265 cm and the tail is nearly 85-100 cm long and height of the shoulder is 90-110 cm. Their average weight is 221.2 kg for males and 139.7 kg for females. Their coat is yellow to light orange in color and stripe range from dark brown to black. Their belly is white and tail is white with black rings.
Both males and females become independent of their mother around 18 months old. Their maturity period starts from 3-4 years for female and 4 years for male. Mother tiger feeds them milk for 6-8 weeks and then clubs are introduced to meat. Their life span is not more than 15 years in the wild and 16-18 years in controlled environment.

One Horned Rhinoceros

One horned rhino is one of the world's rare species. It is characterized by its large size with all species able to reach one ton or more in weight. The word rhinoceros is derived from Greek rhino, meaning "nose" and "ceras" meaning horn and "unicornis" from the latin "uni" meaning "one" and "cornis" meaning horn. It measures upto 5-6 ft tall, where males are slightly larger than female weighing upto 6000 pounds(2700 kgs). They have thick protective skin(1.5-5 cm thick). They eat leafy materials. They have accurate hearing, and sense of smell but very poor eyesight. It is found that their lifespan is about 60 years or more. Their female species reach sexual maturity between 5-7 years of age while male reaches at approximately 10years of age.
These endangered species are killed by human beings for smuggling it's horn which is said to have medicinal value.