On the Origin of a Species: Tapirs (Tapiridae)

Exploring the tapir family, how they evolved, their natural history and the four extant (currently living) and undisputed species of tapir – the Malayan tapir (Acrocodia indica or Tapirus indica), the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). I also explore man’s relationship with animals and why tapirs are endangered.

Caturday Special: The Eurasian Cave Lion, Panthera spelaea

A discussion about the European or Eurasian Cave Lion and the interwoven nature of the relationship between lions and humans since prehistory.

Top Ten Cats #4 – Smilodon sp.

Not strictly speaking a species, Smilodon is a genus in the Machairodontinae family – essentially the sabre-toothed cats, in taxonomic identification we would indicate multiple species with an ‘sp.‘ after the genus, like in the title. Again another throwback from my undergraduate days but there’s a perception of sabre-toothed cats, particularly since they allegedly had