Mammal Of The Month (January)!
Today comes the first ever mammal of the month. Every month we'll be bringing you a wild and wacky mammal from different places all around the world!
Can you guess what this month's animal is? It's often described as a furry shrew-like creature and is one of the few mammals that has venom. I'll give you one more second to guess ...
That's right! It's a solenodon!
Solenodons are ancient. They split off from the rest of us mammals over 50 million years ago, and have not changed much since. Only two species are still alive today, and unfortunately, they are both endangered. They live on the island of Hispaniola and parts of Cuba.
They are about a foot long if you exclude their rat-like tail, and they weigh around 1-2 pounds at adulthood. They eat insects, but won't shy away from carrion, nuts, and anything else they can find on the forest floor. They have gradient starting with gray on their head and back, which turns into a dirty brown.
Solenodons are nocturnal and sleep in burrows and caves during the day. They have great senses of hearing, smell and touch to counter their poor eyesight. With their venomous bite, they can paralyze small animals and insects with ease. Solenodons are not immune to their own venom. Competing solenodons sometimes die from the effects of the venom after scuffles and fights.
The solenodons from Hispaniola live longer than their Cuban counterparts. They also have a more flexible snout which helps them reach insects and other prey in hard to reach spaces.
Solenodons are clumsy and can't jump, often falling prey to invasive species. Instead of jumping, they use their long claws to climb trees and to find food.
Solenodons make some odd sounds. They make pig-like noises when scared or threatened, and also sound a lot like birds.
Solenodons can have up to two litters in a year and don’t have a specific time for breeding. The mother’s two teats are lower down, close to her back legs. Most litters have two young, and larger litters will die because the mother can’t feed them all.
Solenodons are strange and fascinating creatures, so I hope that we can learn more about them. See you next month!
https://animalcorner.co.uk/animals/cuban-solenodon/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenodon
https://www.wired.com/2015/03/creature-feature-10-fun-facts-solenodon/
http://thescienceexplorer.com/nature/mysterious-solenodon-mammal-snake-bite
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/solenodons-no-bark-but-plenty-of-venomous-bite-33088342/