Hartman Reserve

Cathartes aura

Happy Earth Day Weekend Everybody! I'll be putting together a lengthier post about that later, but for now lets get to our animal. And really, what animal could be more "green" than a vulture? Nature's natural garbage men!

The Turkey Vulture is one of the New World Vultures, and one of the most widespread ones at that. They can be found throughout North and South America, with some populations migrating and others remaining year round.

Though they look an awful lot like the Old World Vultures, New Worlds actually belong to a separate family, and possibly, to a completely different Order. Like the Giant Golden Mole yesterday, New World and Old World Vultures are examples of convergent evolution, and are only distantly related. Some biologists think that the New World Vultures might actually be me closely related to Storks and Ibises than to the similar looking Raptors across the Atlantic!

You can identify a flying Turkey Vulture by looking at its movement and wing position. They typically soar on updrafts with their wings positioned in an upwards V-shape, and they very rarely flap them. The wing position, along with the the body's teetering motion, allow them to fly for long periods of time while expending very little energy.

Turkey Vulture in Flight

Turkey Vultures have excellent senses of smell, and their brain actually devotes a larger-than-normal portion to that sense. They can detect the faintest of odors, and can even find carrion that is underneath a dense tree canopy! Turkey Vultures scavenge almost exclusively, tearing at the carcasses with their sharp hooked beaks. The birds have hardy immune systems, and rarely contract diseases from their meals.

Two illnesses that these birds have been unable to avoid are DDT and Lead Poisoning. Prior to the 1980s the population was declining due to the amount of DDT found in their food. Since the DDT ban the population has been on the rise, though Lead Poisoning continues to be an issue. The Turkey Vultures will feed on carcasses that were killed by lead shot, ingesting the lead themselves. Hunting has also hurt their population in the past, as people erroneously believed that they spread diseases. Of course, the exact opposite is true- the Vultures help to stop the spread of disease by consuming the dead and rotting meat. Turkey Vultures are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and it is now illegal to kill, take, or own one.

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : North and South America
Size : Body length up to 32in (81cm), Wingspan up to 72in (1.8m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Disputed
Family : Cathartidae -- Genus : Cathartes -- Species : C. aura

Chrysospalax trevelyani

Oh Classification, you can be so confusing, and so contentious! Moles. Burrowing, insectivorous animals that have tiny or no eyes and giant claws. You'd think they'd all be closely related, right? Nope. There are actually True Moles, Marsupial Moles, and Golden Moles. They all belong to completely different orders and are examples of what convergent evolution can do!

Today's animal, the Giant Golden Mole is (unsurprisingly) one of the Golden Moles. This group of 21 species is found only in southern Africa, and the Giant itself is endemic to the nation of South Africa. They belong to the same Order as the Tenrecs, which itself is part of that odd hodgepodge Superorder known as Afrotheria. That's right, the Giant Golden Mole is technically more related to Manatees and Elephants than it is to the True Moles. Weird how that all works out!

Giant Golden Moles are not, in fact, golden. Their fur is a dark brown. They have powerful front claws and shovel-like back claws that let them scoop out dirt behind them white digging, and they have no external eyes or ears... though they do have a weird leathery pad that protects their nostrils while they dig. In short, they are very well adapted to living underground. Though interestingly, they don't live exclusively under the earth like others of their type; at night they forage for insects and other invertebrates inside of the surface leaf litter! Giant Golden Moles also have the distinction of being the only Golden Mole with any real semblance of a social structure. While they are mostly solitary, they have been observed hibernating in groups.

Giant Golden Moles are becoming quite rare, and are extinct in many localities. They need to live in very specific habitats, namely forested areas with deep leaf litter, soft soil, and a generous amount of undergrowth. Artificial forests and farmlands will not do for these little guys, and as a result they are losing their habitat and becoming incredibly fragmented. There are currently no specific conservation actions underway for the Giant Golden Mole, though they may occur in a few protected reserve areas.

IUCN Status : Endangered
Location : South Africa
Size : Body length up to 9in (23cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Afrosoricida
Family : Chrysochloridae -- Genus : Chrysospalax -- Species : C. trevelyani