Hoofed Mammals

Chapter 7

PeccaryFamily: Tayassuidae

Collared Peccary(Pecari tajacu) Also called:

Mexican HogBehavior:• Live up to groups of one to 20 individuals• Diurnal- might be nocturnal(Active at night) or

active primarily during twilight or dusk or dawn)• Sleep at night in burrows often under the roots

of trees• If feel threated, they defend themselves with

there long tusks which they sharpen themselves.

Range:• North, South and South America• Live in Deserts, Scrublands, tropical,

Subtropical, grasslands• Notable population are known in suburbs of

Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona

.

Physical:• 20-24 inches tall at the shoulder and about 1-

1.5 inches long(40-60 inches)• Weight- 14-31 kg / 31-68 lb.• They have a brown, black coat that is bristly

Food:• Fruit• Roots• Tuber(potatoes, onions)• Palm nuts• Grasses• Small vertebrates• Tulip bulbs• Eggs• Carrion

Reproduction:• Gestation Period: 141-151 days.• Young per Birth: 1-5 • Weaning: At 2-3 months.• Sexual Maturity: females at 8-14 months, males at 11

months. • Life span: 24 years

White-Lipped Peccary(Tayassu pecari)Behavior:• Can give birth to two peccaries at a time• Live in herds up to 20-300 individuals• Predators- Jaguar, Puma, Boa Constrictors• It performs all its actions at night • When feel threated they will let off a loud “bark”

and show there teeth to avoid conflict

Range:• Central and South America

• Dry Savannas, Humid Tropical Rain Forest

Physical:• White marking below snout to the cheek

• Brown and Black- Bristly Hairs running down the spine growing longer than the sides and forming an crest which is raised when the peccary becomes excited.

• When standing up they get excited• Adult weight: 25-40 kg• Head- Dark Brown which makes the white marking around the jaw

stand out

Food:• Fruit Nuts• Vegetation• Small Amounts of animal matters

Reproduction:• Gestation period: 156-162 days• Litter size: 2, sometimes 1 or 3. • Weaning: By 6 months. • Sexual maturity: Between 1 and 2 years of age. • Life span: Up to 13 years. • Babies weight over 1kg when born• Babies- Reddish Brown, with a dark stripe running down there backs• Just before birth, the female leaves the group giving birth alone in a cave.

After one day she then rejoins the group.

Range:• Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia and

Northern Argentina

Behavior:• Travel in herds up to 20 • Communicate ranging from using there

grunts to chattering the teeth• Love to charge things and bit things• Produce a milk, that is used for marking

trees, shrubs, and similar objects• Bath in the mud or dust

Chacoan peccary(Catagonus wagneri)

Physical:

Food:

• Well know for its rough leathery snout• The bristle-like fur is generally brown to almost gray• A dark stripe runs across the back, and white fur is on the shoulders.• Longer ears, snout, tail• Three Hind Toe• Sprays secretions from their dorsal glands• Young are generally born between the months of September and December, but

litters have been found almost year-round• Weight- 30-43 kg / 66-95 lb.

• Cacti• Flowers• Seeds• Fruit Nuts• Anything they can get

there mouth on

Reproduction:• Gestation Period: 5 months.• Young per Birth: 1-4 • Sexual Maturity: Minimum breeding age is thought to be 3 years.• Most births occur between September and November.

Bison• American Bison• Family - Bovidae • Genus - Bison

Physical Features• Height 6 – 6.5 ft. at shoulder• Length 10 – 12.5 ft.• Weight 900 – 2000 lbs., males are just a smidge larger than

females.• Lifespan is about 18 – 22 years and in captivity they live to

be about 30 years old.• They have a long, shaggy, dark brown winter coat and

during summer the buffaloes coat is not as heavy and lighter brown.

Range• Bison once roamed across the great planes

until they started to go extinct. Now they are mostly found in national and protected parks around the eastern United States.

• This bison is what you would call a keystone species, meaning an ecosystem may experience a dramatic shift if a keystone species is removed, the bison helped shape the Great Planes to what they look like today.

Fun Fact!

• Trails carved by animals like bison and deer in their seasonal migrations formed some of the earliest traceable paths into the American wilderness and were followed by native Americans, explorers and pioneers.

Food

• Bison eat grasses and sedges.

Behavior• Bison mostly graze all day and play

around and the females usually lead the herds.

• The males sort of break off of the group then rejoin during mating season.

• Mating season is between June and September and they have a gestation period of 270-285 days.

Genus: AntilocapraSpecies: Americana

PRONGHORN

Characteristics

●Body shape of a deer, with long tail, and long snout.

●Fur is redish brown, but can also be tan or dark brown.

●White face on stomach face and butt.

●Short horns on top of head.

●4 ½ feet long, 3 feet tall.

●Weighs between 90-150 pounds

Unique Adaptations

• Pronghorns have large eyes that have really good vision. The vision allows them to spot predators from far away.

Diet

• Herbivore • Grasses• Forbs• Sagebrush• Seldom drink waterDigests food twice.

Habitat

• Open plains, fields, grasslands, brush, desert, and basins

Range

• Only found in North America

Reproduction

• Mate during late summer or fall depending on location.

• Give birth in spring.• 1-2 fawns per birth.

Pronghorn

Pronghorn Buck• Modified horn made of

keratin• Outer sheath sheds

annually and regenerates to a larger size

• Both males and females have modified horns

Pronghorn Doe and Fawns

Alarm Odor from Rump

Pronghorn migration in Wyoming

Pronghorn migration

• Pronghorn may travel over 100 miles to migrate between summer and winter range

• Winter range is typically lower elevation sage- steppe habitat

• Pronghorn move to summer range at higher elevations to locate green vegetation

Migration in Grand Tetons

Fence Crossing

Migration Video

• http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/blogwild/2009/09/pronghorn-passage.html

Moose

Family: CervidaeGenus: Alces

Species: Alces Alces

Subspecies

There are three main subspecies in the Northwestern portion of the United States.

• Yukon/Alaska Moose• Canada Moose• Shiras Moose

Yukon/Alaska Moose

Canada Moose

Shiras Moose

Eating Habits

• Eats many leafy shrubs.• Consumes twigs and leaves.• Will even eat aquatic plants.

Habitat

• Prefers Dense forest (taiga.)• Also lives in open “forest-tundra.”• Likes to be close to lakes or ponds.• Can also live in other habitats.

Reproduction

• Reproduces yearly in Spring.• 1-2 calves (possibly 3.)• Will abandon previous calves right before next

mating season.

Sources

• Runtz, Michael. "Moose Diet" Mooseworld. N.p., 22 Apr 2001. Web. 14 Feb 2013. <http://www.mooseworld.com/diet.htm>.

• Runtz, Michael. “Moose Habitat" Mooseworld. N.p., 22 Apr 2001. Web. 14 Feb 2013. <http://www.mooseworld.com/diet.htm>.

• Zegarelli, Clare. "Moose." Pocantico Hills. Pocantico Hills, 10 Dec 2011. Web. 14 Feb 2013. <http://www.pocanticohills.org/cook/7thgrade/moose.htm>.

Shiras Bull Moose

Alaska-Yukon Moose

Canada Moose

Cow Moose

Cow and Calf Moose

Winter Tick

Hair Loss Caused by Ticks

Isle Royale Moose

Winter Tick Life Cycle

Rocky Mountain, Roosevelt’s, Tule, Manitoban

Elk - Cervus canadensis

Terminology

• Bull: Male Elk• Cow: Female Elk• Calf: Baby Elk• Spike: Young Bull Elk

Size & Weight

• Newborn calf: about 35lbs• Cow: around 500lbs (Tule: 300 & Roosevelt’s:

600lbs) about 4 ½ feet to the shoulders, 6 ½ from nose to tail.

• Bull: around 700lbs (Tule: 400lbs & Roosevelt’s: 900lbs) about 5 feet to the shoulders, 8 feet nose to tail.

Color

• Summer: copper brown • Fall, winter, spring: light tan• Rump patch: light beige• Legs & neck: darker than rest of body

Birth Cycle

• Babies are born usually in late may through early june.

• Babies are born with spots and without a sent so predators cant smell them.

• First few weeks they hide while there mom feeds them.

• Breed in the fall

Diet

• Summer: grasses and forbs• Spring & Fall: grasses• Winter: grasses, shrubs, tree barks and twigs• They have four chambered stomachs

facts

• A Bull will gather calves and cows in groups called harems.

• Bulls will roll in mud to coat themselves and urine to attract cows.

• They rub trees, shrubs, and the ground to also attract cows.

Range

• Before the European settlement there was 10 million elk that roamed the U.S. and today there is 1 million that roam - western United States, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, Canada, and Alaska.

Habitat

• Food, water, shelter and space are needed for elk to survive.

• They live in rainforests, alpine meadows, dry desert valleys, and hardwood forests.

Bugling Bull Elk

Cow Elk

Elk Calf

Elk Herd

Elk Rub

Elk Wallow

Elk Subspecies

• 1. Eastern –Extinct- once lived in eastern US• 2. Merriam-Extinct-once lived in southwest US• 3. Rocky Mountain- Rocky Mt. States• 4. Roosevelt- West Coast- US- Cascade Mts. • 5. Tule- Small population in CA• 6. Manitoban- Saskatchewan/Manitoba

Provinces in Canada

Rocky Mountain Elk (Idaho)

Roosevelt Elk (Coastal OR/WA)

Tule Elk (California)

Tule Elk Video

• http://www.nps.gov/pore/photosmultimedia/multimedia_docvids.htm#CP_JUMP_285548

Manitoban Elk (Canada)

Caribou

• Family: Cervidae• Genus: Rangifer• Species: R. tarandus

• Height: 4 ft. tall at the shoulder.• Length: 6 ft. • Weight: 250-700 pounds, males are larger then females.• Lifespan: 10-15 years in wild.• Caribou have compact bodies, small tails, and short

ears. • Body temperature is set at 105 degrees Farenheit. • Caribou have two layers of fur, fine-crinkly under-fur

and a thick coat of guard hairs on top.

Description:

• Caribou are a member of the deer family and are adapted to cope with harsh winter conditions.

• Their large concave hooves allow them to travel in deep snow conditions.

• Woodland Caribou is one of the most critically endangered mammals in the U.S., with only a few found south of the Canada border a year.

• Caribou are also excellent swimmers.

Unique Adaptations:

• Known to eat shrubs, grasses and willows. • They also eat lichen but it takes about 80-150

years for it to grow in the forests.

Food:

• Very well known throughout Alaska and Northern Canada.

• There are about 950,000 in the world today.

Barren Ground Caribou:

• Been reduced to one tiny population in U.S., in far Northern Idaho and Northeastern Washington.

• There known as the International Selkirk population, they are extremely rare with only about 40 left in the world.

• Live in forests from Maine to Washington State, but have gone down to a small herd in the Selkirk Mountains of Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington, and British Columbia.

Woodland Caribou:

• Mating Season is from early to mid October.• Gestation period is from October to early

June. • They only have 1 offspring at a time.

Reproduction:

Woodland Caribou Bull

Woodland Caribou Cow

Barren-Ground Caribou Bull

Barren-Ground Caribou Cow

Caribou Videos

• http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/woodland_caribou.php

http://

dsc.discovery.com/videos/planet-earth-plains-following-the-caribou.html

Whitetail Deer Buck (Summer coat)

Single Beam with Tines

Whitetail Deer Doe (Winter coat)

Whitetail Fawn

White tail flag

Mule Deer Buck

Branching Antlers

White rump with black tipped tail

Mule Deer Doe

SHEEP

Female Sheep –Ewes

Baby Sheep- Lambs

Male sheep-Rams

Groups of sheep- Flock

Anatomy• Ruminants– 4 chambered stomach– They are very selective in grazing habits• They have a split in their upper lip

Behavior• Sheep Are precocial, gregarious animals– Precocial- High Degree of independence at birth– Gregarious- Flock together, to be in a group

Reproduction• Sheep give birth once a year and have 1-3

lambs.• Pregnancy last 147 days• Sheep Usually live to be about 8 years old– Some can live up to 20

• Lambs have a strong bond with their mothers. – They can identify her by her bleat.

Lambs• 2 months– They grow 8 temporary incisors

• 12 months to 4 years– Incisors are replaced by larger and wider incisors– Eventually have all their teeth • Sheep don’t have top front teeth

• The sheep that we see originated from these wild sheep.• Mouflon (Europe and Western Asia)• Urial (Asia)• Argali (Asia)• Bighorn (Asia and North America)

• The common sheep in the U.S are:• Rocky Mountain Bighorn• Jacob Sheep

Different Types of Sheep

Mouflon

Urial

Argali

Bighorn

Rocky Mountain Bighorn• Rocky Mountain bighorns inhabit the mountains from

Canada south to New Mexico.

• Eat available grass, seeds, and plants

• Size: 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m)

• Weight:117 to 279 lbs (53 to 127 kg)

Geographical Range

• The Sheep Range lies in a generally north-south direction.

Jacob Sheep• Description: A domestic sheep breed, Jacob sheep are known for their black-

and-white spotted wool coats.• Range: The Jacob sheep has been bred around the globe. The breed was originally

developed in England.

• Habitat: Jacob sheep graze grasslands, fields and other pastures.

• Ewes: range from 80 to 140 pounds

• Rams: obtain weights approaching 200 pounds