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