The Alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus) is a uniformly dark coloured shrew, with pale feet and underside of the tail. The lower canine and premolars are clearly bicuspid; the 4th and 5th uni-cuspid teeth the same size. The tail is as long as the head and body. Alpine shrews are found in Alpine meadows and moors at altitudes from 200 to 3335 metres often in rocky habitats, frequenting the stony banks of mountain streams. The alpine shrew is a good climber, using its tail for balance and support. It feeds on snails, earthworms, spiders, isopods, chilopods, insects and insect larvae. The breeding season is from May to October, with two or three litters a year each averaging five or six young, but maybe as many as nine. Research Alpine Shrew
Daubenton's Bat (Myotis daubentoni) is a British bat with a wing-span of about 25 cm, the wings comparatively rather short and broad. The ears are well spaced, rather long and pointed, the hind edge very slightly notched and ending just in front of the base of the tragus. The tragus is narrow and half as long as the ear, widest at its middle, straight, and bluntly pointed at the tip. The first two premolars in upper and lower jaws are smaller than the rest of the teeth, and the lower incisors broad and flattened. The fur is short and extends a short distance on to both surfaces of the wing. The colour is a grizzled warm brown on the upper surface, lighter brown below, where the hairs are tipped with yellowish white, giving the under surface a distinctly lighter colour. The range of Daubenton's bat extends throughout Europe from southern Scandinavia southwards, and eastwards half-way across Asia.
In Great Britain it is generally common wherever there are woods near stretches of water, its restriction to the neighbourhood of water having gained it the name of 'water-bat.' It extends from southern England to Scotland as far as the Great Glen. The species is very gregarious, the daytime dens in caves, trees or buildings near water often containing large numbers of bats - a hundred or more; they generally creep into small crannies but are sometimes found hanging in large clusters. The food consists chiefly of ephemerid or cadds-flies of small size caught as the bat flies close over the surface of water. The quivering slow flight as the bat skims very close to the water is characteristic. The bats start foraging over the water about an hour after sunset and the flight lasts all night, until rather less than an hour before sunrise. Research Daubenton's Bat
The Greater horseshoe-bat (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum) is a larger species of bat, the wing-span being about 33 cm and the wings broad with rounded ends. The ear is large, broad at the base, and tapers to a sharp point, the front edge being curved so that the point is directed backwards. The hind edge has a well developed lobe, the antitragus, at its base; there is no tragus. The upper incisor, and the first upper, and second lower premolars are minute. The fur is thick and woolly and extends a short distance on to both surfaces of the wing membrane. The colour is medium brown above, rather lighter below, often with a yellowish or pinkish cast. The range of the species extends from south England through central Europe and Asia to Japan. In Britain it is confined to the south of England and it is not known in Scotland or Ireland. It is most plentiful in the south-west and south Wales where it is a constant inhabitant of the limestone caves. Summer colonies sometimes occur in house roofs, cellars and perhaps hollow trees, the caves
in which hibernation takes place being deserted at that season. The species is gregarious and there is a segregation of the sexes in the colonies at least during the summer. The food consists of the larger as well as smaller insects, and especially beetles. Large prey is pouched against the wing- membrane during manipulation since there is no tail-pouch; and it is often taken to the roost to be eaten. Wingless and other insects are often picked up off the ground, the flight frequently being only a few inches above it. The single young is born in late June or July and probably does not breed until it is three years old. Hibernation lasts from October to the end of March, but within the hibernating caves the bats often shift their quarters at intervals during the winter, when it is possible that they feed upon insects hibernating in the caves. Research Greater Horseshoe-Bat
The Hyena is an African carnivore, of the family Hyaenidae. It has a large head and neck, long, well-developed forelegs, and powerful jaws and premolars adapted for crushing bones. Each foot has four toes with non-retractable claws, well suited for running on the open plains where hyenas feed on hoofed animals. Of the three hyena species, the best known is the spotted, or laughing, hyena (Crocuta crocuta) , the only member of its genus. Ranging south of the Sahara, it is the largest and most robust of the hyenas, with a length of 1.8 m and a height of 90 centimetres at the shoulder. Adults are brown-grey with dark brown or black spots. Named for their cry, which has been compared to hysterical human laughter, they also emit a striking howl that rises in pitch. Spotted hyenas were long thought to be only scavengers (warring African tribes abandoned their dead to the animal). Recently, hyenas have been found to be among the chief predators of herbivores, especially zebra and wildebeest.
The hyenas attack in packs at night, ripping open the flanks of their prey and carrying off the carcasses. Hyenas associate in clans cantered around communal dens occupied by batches of young at varying stages of growth. Females conceive throughout the year, giving birth after 110 days to one or two cubs, which dig their own tunnels. Pair bonding is not evident; the female, larger than the male, selects her mating partners. The female sexual organs have an external resemblance to the male's, a phenomenon probably related to scent identification, which plays a large part when clan members encounter one another.
A clan may consist of ten or twelve females, twenty cubs, and a number of males on the fringe; hyenas are very territorial. Little is known about the genus Hyaena , which comprises the striped hyena, Hyaena Hyaena , and the brown hyena, Hyena brunnea. Both bear manes of coarse, erectile hair and are smaller and far less aggressive than the spotted hyena. The striped hyena, grey-tan with vertical stripes, ranges from East Africa north into Asia. It is largely a scavenger, often eating vulture-picked bones. The brown hyena, found in southern Africa, is dark brown with a grey head and striped legs. It feeds mainly on fish and crabs. Research Hyena
The lesser horseshoe-bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) greatly resembles the Greater Horsehoe-bat but is smaller, with a wing span of about 22 cm. pointed and have a well-developed antitragus very similar to that of the greater horseshoe-bat on a smaller scale, but there are small differences from that species in the details of the form of the nose-leaf. The colour is a rather greyer brown without the yellowish or pinkish shade, and the fur is proportionately longer, silkier and less velvety. The underside tends to be lighter in colour and the fur extends on to the base of the wing membranes. As in the larger species there is a barepatch at the base of the tail on the upper surface. The upper incisors, and the first upper, and the first two lower premolars are very minute. The range extends from Ireland to the Himalayas and north Africa and includes all Europe south of the Baltic. In the British Isles it is common in the south and west from Kent to Cornwall, though scarcer in Sussex and Hampshire.
The lesser horshoe-bat is found throughout Wales and the border counties but not in east Anglia or north of Yorkshire. In Ireland it is confined to the west. The lesser horseshoe-bat is gregarious, the summer colonies occurring in house and church roofs and perhaps in hollow trees. The winter colonies are nearly always in caves, but the species is not then closely gregarious, individuals usually hanging up at some distance from their neighbours. They do not always hang in the roof of the cave and often choose the undersides of projecting points or boulders where they are only a few inches from the ground. The summer colonies show a segregation of the sexes and usually consist mainly of adult females, some immature bats of both sexes, and a few adult males.
The flight is rather fluttering with frequent glides, and usually fairly near to the ground. The food consists of the smaller insects; moths appear to form a large part of the diet. The single young is born in June or July, the breeding season being rather protracted. Hibernation lasts from early October to the beginning of April, but it is frequently interrupted, the bats shifting their quarters within the hibernating cave and perhaps feeding upon the gnats which are usually found in them; but they are not known to come out into the open in the winter. Wherever caves are used by the greater horseshoe-bat for hibernation this species is found too; but because its range in Britain is much wider, it is also found in many caves outside the range of that species. Research Lesser Horseshoe-Bat
Natterer's bat (Myotis natteri) is a medium-sized bat, the wing-span being about 28 centimetres. The ear is long and narrow, the outer edge notched about one third of the distance from the tip, and ending below the tragus. The tragus is long and narrow, about two thirds of the length of the ear, widest at its base, and pointed; there is a deep notch at the base of its hind edge. The ears are widely spaced. The upper premolars are very small, the lower incisors wide and overlapping. The thick fur is rather long and in colour is greyish brown above and whitish below, the line of separation being distinct and running from the mouth to the fore edge of the wing. Distinctive are the rows of short stiff hairs on the edge of the interfemoral membrane between the end of the calcar and the tail.
Natterer's bat occurs all over temperate Europe and Asia from Ireland to Japan. In England and Wales it has been found in practically every county, plentifully in many of them, but it has only once or twice been reported from Scotland; it is widely distributed over Ireland. It is a gregarious species living in holes in buildings and trees, and in caves, particularly using the latter for hibernation. Research Natterer's Bat
The whiskered Bat (Myotis mystacinus) is a small species of bat, little exceeding the pipistrelle in size, the wing-span being about 21 centimetres. The ear is comparatively long and narrow, the notched outer edge ending below the tragus. The tragus is slightly over half as long as the ear, straight, widest a little above its base, and pointed. The first two premolars in each jaw small; the first two lower incisors broad, but the third narrower. The fur is long and thick; it extends a short way on to both surfaces of the wings and the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane. The lips are hinged with long hairs, but not more so than are those of Daubenton's bat. The upper surface is dark or smoky brown, sometimes nearly black; the under surface lighter, the dark hairs there being tipped with whitish. The distribution of the whiskered bat covers all Europe and Asia from about 60 to 65 degrees north latitude southwards. In Great Britain it is common from the south coast north to Scotland, but it is very rare in East Anglia, and has not often been recorded from South Wales. It is practically absent from Scotland, widely spread and probably plentiful throughout Ireland. This species is usually solitary, but colonies of up to a hundred or more have occasionally been found. In summer it usually makes its den in holes in buildings and the roofs of houses, but in winter it is commonly found hibernating in caves, which it deserts in summer. The food consists of flies, moths and small beetles. The flight superficially resembles that of the pipistrelle but is slower and steadier and often confined to a narrower beat. Research Whiskered Bat
The canines or dog-teeth are teeth that flank the incisors in the front corners of the mouth. The canines are predominantly conical, raising to a sharper point above the level of the other teeth. This structure makes the canines well suited to piercing and tearing pieces of food to be processed by the other teeth. The roots of canines have single root stems, like the incisors and the premolars. Research Canines
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alpine Shrew
