Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Safe Air Travel for Pets
As a rule, pets travel very well but air travel can be a very stressful and traumatic experience for them. In order to minimize this stress, some guidelines should be followed.The hazards of air travel are usually not in the actual flying, but rather during the down time when your pet is being loaded or unloaded from the airplane, or when it is waiting. Delays can result in extra time spent on the runways before take-off or after landing. At these times the cargo holds are not pressurized and the surrounding temperature can vary from very hot to very cold. In fact, because of this, some airlines will not permit pets to fly during certain times of the year. For this reason, it is best to contact your airline to make sure that no risk is involved and to confirm that they will accept your pet on the flight.If your pet is small enough, some airlines will allow you to take your dog or cat on board, provided that the carrier fits under the seat in front of you. Check with your air carrier.It is also a good idea to have your pet examined by your veterinarian prior to departure to ensure that it is in good health and able to endure the rigours of air travel. Tranquillizers and sedatives are not usually recommended for pets except on the advice of your veterinarian. This is because sedation can result in serious complications. For example, it can inhibit your pet's ability to regulate its body temperature or cause breathing problems. For the actual flight, make sure that your dog is secure in an approved carrier, purchased either from the airline, a pet store or an animal hospital. Introduce your pet to the crate several weeks before departure to get him or her accustomed to it. Ensure that all the screws on the crate are secured and tight. Carriers should be labelled "Live Animal" and "This End Up" in letters at least 3 cm high. Also tape some identification (name, address, destination) to the crate. Ensure that fresh water will be made available to your pet at some time during or after the flight.It is best to travel in off-peak hours and on non-stop flights. Ideally, your pet should be last on and first off the plane. Remember to notify the flight attendants that you have a pet on board just in case there is a flight delay.
Catnip: The Drug of Choice for Cats
Catnip has been a popular stimulant for cats for a long time. Over the years, it has been found to illicit intensely pleasurable reactions in most, but not all, cats. Catnip is native to Europe but grows as a weed in some parts of the Midwest U.S. and Canada, and is a member of the mint family. The active ingredient is nepetalactone, derived from the volatile oils which can be extracted from the plant. Catnip is very safe for cats, and there is no need for any concern on the part of owners regarding its safety. Despite its widespread use, very little is known about catnip and how it works. Besides household cats, catnip also affects lions, bobcats, lynx, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and ocelots. It is interesting to note that even though the response to catnip is widespread among felines, it does not occur in any other species of animal with the possible exception of man.Whether or not a cat will respond to catnip has been shown to be an inherited predisposition. Furthermore, not all cats respond strongly to catnip and kittens under two months of age usually do not respond to catnip at all (although there are exceptions). When exposed to catnip, behavioural changes in cats usually start with head shaking and staring into space. Some cats will rub the catnip with their cheek and chin. Eventually, they may rub their bodies on the ground and roll from side to side with pleasure. The response to catnip rarely lasts longer than 5-15 minutes. After this time, there appears to be point of satiation where a cat will no longer be able to respond to catnip for a period of time (usually 1-2 hours).There are a few theories as to how catnip works to produce such a pleasurable response. Because the behaviour of cats under the influence of catnip mimics that of courtship and copulation behaviour, some investigators suspect that catnip may be activating a part of the brain related to sexual behaviour. Another theory speculates that catnip merely stimulates pleasure and is in no way involved with sexual behaviour. Since catnip is biochemically related to marijuana and other so-called psychedelic drugs, another theory suggests that the pleasure response in cats is actually similar to that experienced by humans taking similar drugs.Catnip can be purchased from your veterinarian as well as most pet stores and is available as an extract, an aerosol spray, dried leaves. Catnip can also be grown as a house plant. Any questions and concerns about its use should be directed to your veterinarian.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Physical characteristics
Physical characteristics
Main article: Dog anatomy
See also: Dog health
Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance, and behavior than any other domestic animal. Within the range of extremes, dogs generally share attributes with their wild ancestors, the wolves. Dogs are predators and scavengers, possessing sharp teeth and strong jaws for attacking, holding, and tearing their food. Although selective breeding has changed the appearance of many breeds, all dogs retain basic traits from their distant ancestors. Like many other predatory mammals, the dog has powerful muscles, fused wristbones, a cardiovascular system that supports both sprinting and endurance, and teeth for catching and tearing.
Sight
A Greyhound, one of many breeds of sighthound
Like most mammals, dogs are dichromats and have color vision equivalent to red-green color blindness in humans.[34][35][36] Different breeds of dogs have different eye shapes and dimensions, and they also have different retina configurations.[37] Dogs with long noses have a "visual streak" which runs across the width of the retina and gives them a very wide field of excellent vision, while those with short noses have an "area centralis" — a central patch with up to three times the density of nerve endings as the visual streak — giving them detailed sight much more like a human's.
Some breeds, particularly the sighthounds, have a field of vision up to 270° (compared to 180° for humans), although broad-headed breeds with short noses have a much narrower field of vision, as low as 180°
See also: Dog health
Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance, and behavior than any other domestic animal. Within the range of extremes, dogs generally share attributes with their wild ancestors, the wolves. Dogs are predators and scavengers, possessing sharp teeth and strong jaws for attacking, holding, and tearing their food. Although selective breeding has changed the appearance of many breeds, all dogs retain basic traits from their distant ancestors. Like many other predatory mammals, the dog has powerful muscles, fused wristbones, a cardiovascular system that supports both sprinting and endurance, and teeth for catching and tearing.
Sight
A Greyhound, one of many breeds of sighthound
Like most mammals, dogs are dichromats and have color vision equivalent to red-green color blindness in humans.[34][35][36] Different breeds of dogs have different eye shapes and dimensions, and they also have different retina configurations.[37] Dogs with long noses have a "visual streak" which runs across the width of the retina and gives them a very wide field of excellent vision, while those with short noses have an "area centralis" — a central patch with up to three times the density of nerve endings as the visual streak — giving them detailed sight much more like a human's.
Some breeds, particularly the sighthounds, have a field of vision up to 270° (compared to 180° for humans), although broad-headed breeds with short noses have a much narrower field of vision, as low as 180°
Hearing
According to hypertextbook.com, the frequency range of dog hearing is approximately 40 Hz to 60,000 Hz.[38] Dogs detect sounds as low as the 16 to 20 Hz frequency range (compared to 20 to 70 Hz for humans) and above 45 kHz[39] (compared to 13 to 20 kHz for humans),[38][35] and in addition have a degree of ear mobility that helps them to rapidly pinpoint the exact location of a sound.[40] Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate and raise or lower a dog's ear. Additionally, a dog can identify a sound's location much faster than a human can, as well as hear sounds up to four times the distance that humans are able to.[40] Those with more natural ear shapes, like those of wild canids like the fox, generally hear better than those with the floppier ears of many domesticated species.
Smell
Scent hounds, especially the Bloodhound, are bred for their keen sense of smell.[41]
Dogs have nearly 220 million smell-sensitive cells over an area about the size of a pocket handkerchief (compared to 5 million over an area the size of a postage stamp for humans).[42][43] According to nhm.org, dogs can sense odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.[44] According to Dummies.com, the percentage of the dog's brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is actually 40 times larger than that of a human.[42] Some dog breeds have been selectively bred for excellence in detecting scents, even compared to their canine brethren.
According to hypertextbook.com, the frequency range of dog hearing is approximately 40 Hz to 60,000 Hz.[38] Dogs detect sounds as low as the 16 to 20 Hz frequency range (compared to 20 to 70 Hz for humans) and above 45 kHz[39] (compared to 13 to 20 kHz for humans),[38][35] and in addition have a degree of ear mobility that helps them to rapidly pinpoint the exact location of a sound.[40] Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate and raise or lower a dog's ear. Additionally, a dog can identify a sound's location much faster than a human can, as well as hear sounds up to four times the distance that humans are able to.[40] Those with more natural ear shapes, like those of wild canids like the fox, generally hear better than those with the floppier ears of many domesticated species.
Smell
Scent hounds, especially the Bloodhound, are bred for their keen sense of smell.[41]
Dogs have nearly 220 million smell-sensitive cells over an area about the size of a pocket handkerchief (compared to 5 million over an area the size of a postage stamp for humans).[42][43] According to nhm.org, dogs can sense odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.[44] According to Dummies.com, the percentage of the dog's brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is actually 40 times larger than that of a human.[42] Some dog breeds have been selectively bred for excellence in detecting scents, even compared to their canine brethren.
THE DOG
The dog (Canis lupus familiaris)[2] is a domesticated subspecies of the gray wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term encompasses both feral and pet varieties and is also sometimes used to describe wild canids of other subspecies or species. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history, as well as being a food source in some cultures. There are estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.[3]
The dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds. Height measured to the withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called blue) to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; and, coats can be very short to many centimeters long, from coarse hair to something akin to wool, straight or curly, or smooth.[4] It is common for most breeds to shed this coat, however some non-shedding breeds are also popular.
The dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds. Height measured to the withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called blue) to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; and, coats can be very short to many centimeters long, from coarse hair to something akin to wool, straight or curly, or smooth.[4] It is common for most breeds to shed this coat, however some non-shedding breeds are also popular.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
PARROT EVOLUATION
Parrots are birds of the roughly 350 species in 85 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most warm and tropical regions. Also known as psittacines (pronounced /ˈsɪtəsaɪnz/),[1][2] they are usually grouped into two families: the Psittacidae (true parrots) and the Cacatuidae (cockatoos). Parrots have a pan-tropical distribution with several species inhabiting the temperate Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia.
Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Most parrots are predominantly green, with other bright colors, and some species are multi-colored. Cockatoo species range from mostly white to mostly black, and have a mobile crest of feathers on the top of their heads. Most parrots are monomorphic or minimally sexually dimorphic. Extant species range in size from the Buff-faced Pygmy-parrot, at under 10 gm (0.35 oz.) in weight and 8 cm (3.2 inches) in length, to the Hyacinth Macaw, at 1.0 meter (3.3 feet) in length, and the Kakapo, at 4.0 kg (8.8 lbs) in weight. They are the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.
The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material, and a few species also eat insects and small animals, and the lories and lorikeets are specialised to feed on nectar from flowers, and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree holes (or nestboxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which emerge altricial (helpless) young.
Parrots, along with crows, jays and magpies, are some of the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some parrot species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as other hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, have diminished wild populations, and parrots have been subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds.[3] Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.[
Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Most parrots are predominantly green, with other bright colors, and some species are multi-colored. Cockatoo species range from mostly white to mostly black, and have a mobile crest of feathers on the top of their heads. Most parrots are monomorphic or minimally sexually dimorphic. Extant species range in size from the Buff-faced Pygmy-parrot, at under 10 gm (0.35 oz.) in weight and 8 cm (3.2 inches) in length, to the Hyacinth Macaw, at 1.0 meter (3.3 feet) in length, and the Kakapo, at 4.0 kg (8.8 lbs) in weight. They are the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.
The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material, and a few species also eat insects and small animals, and the lories and lorikeets are specialised to feed on nectar from flowers, and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree holes (or nestboxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which emerge altricial (helpless) young.
Parrots, along with crows, jays and magpies, are some of the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some parrot species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as other hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, have diminished wild populations, and parrots have been subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds.[3] Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.[
Origins and evolution
The diversity of Psittaciformes in South America and Australasia suggests that the order has a Gondwanan origin. The parrot family's fossil record, however, is sparse and their origin remains a matter of informed speculation rather than fact.
A single 15 mm fragment from a lower bill (UCMP 143274), found in Lance Creek Formation deposits of Niobrara County, Wyoming, has been suggested as the first parrot fossil.[5] Of Late Cretaceous age, it is about 70 million years old. But subsequent reviews[6][7] have established that this fossil is almost certainly not from a bird, but from a caenagnathid theropod — a non-avian dinosaur with a birdlike beak.
It is now generally assumed that the Psittaciformes or their common ancestors with a number of related bird orders were present somewhere in the world around the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, some 65 mya (million years ago). If so, they probably had not evolved their morphological autapomorphies yet, but were generalized arboreal birds, roughly similar (though not necessarily closely related) to today's potoos or frogmouths (see also Palaeopsittacus below).
Europe is the origin of the first generally accepted parrot fossils. The first is a wingbone of Mopsitta tanta, uncovered in Denmark and dated to 54 mya (million years ago).[8] The climate at this time was tropical, consistent with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Later fossils date from the Eocene, starting around 50 mya. Several fairly complete skeletons of parrot-like birds have been found in England and Germany.[9] Some uncertainty remains, but on the whole it seems more likely that these are not direct ancestors of the modern parrots, but related lineages which evolved in the Northern Hemisphere but have since died out. These are probably not "missing links" between ancestral and modern parrots, but rather psittaciform lineages that evolved parallel to true parrots and cockatoos and had their own peculiar autapomorphies
The diversity of Psittaciformes in South America and Australasia suggests that the order has a Gondwanan origin. The parrot family's fossil record, however, is sparse and their origin remains a matter of informed speculation rather than fact.
A single 15 mm fragment from a lower bill (UCMP 143274), found in Lance Creek Formation deposits of Niobrara County, Wyoming, has been suggested as the first parrot fossil.[5] Of Late Cretaceous age, it is about 70 million years old. But subsequent reviews[6][7] have established that this fossil is almost certainly not from a bird, but from a caenagnathid theropod — a non-avian dinosaur with a birdlike beak.
It is now generally assumed that the Psittaciformes or their common ancestors with a number of related bird orders were present somewhere in the world around the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, some 65 mya (million years ago). If so, they probably had not evolved their morphological autapomorphies yet, but were generalized arboreal birds, roughly similar (though not necessarily closely related) to today's potoos or frogmouths (see also Palaeopsittacus below).
Europe is the origin of the first generally accepted parrot fossils. The first is a wingbone of Mopsitta tanta, uncovered in Denmark and dated to 54 mya (million years ago).[8] The climate at this time was tropical, consistent with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Later fossils date from the Eocene, starting around 50 mya. Several fairly complete skeletons of parrot-like birds have been found in England and Germany.[9] Some uncertainty remains, but on the whole it seems more likely that these are not direct ancestors of the modern parrots, but related lineages which evolved in the Northern Hemisphere but have since died out. These are probably not "missing links" between ancestral and modern parrots, but rather psittaciform lineages that evolved parallel to true parrots and cockatoos and had their own peculiar autapomorphies
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
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