Category: Animals
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Striped Polecat, Ictonyx striatus, also called Zorilla, is a member of the weasel family, a group of carnivorous animals with long and slender body and short legs. Zorilla is a small animal, with long shiny black hair and four clear white stripes running along its back and sides, from the top of the head to…
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Topi, scientific name, Damaliscus lunatus, is medium sized antelope with rusty red color and black legs and chest. Topi have the short neck and elongated face typical of the Alcelaphinae. It is distinguished from its look-alike, the hartebeest by its darker coloration and absence of sharply angled horns. The muzzle is long and narrow with…
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Western Tree Hyrax, Dendrohyrax dorsalis, is a small stocky animal resembling a bigger Guinea-pig. The Nigerian subspecies, D. d. sylvestris is called Ofafa in Yoruba. Like elephants they have similar footpads and toenails, there are also skeletal similarities. Unlike more highly-evolved mammals, hyraxes are unable to completely regulate their body temperatures. They are found in southern…
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Tree Pangolin, Manis tricuspis, also known as White-bellied or Three-cusped pangolin is the most available of the three Nigerian species of these scale-possessing anteaters in the southwest region where its medicinal purpose appears to be more important than its food value. Its Yoruba name, Akika, is apparently in reference to its most efficient defence mechanism,…
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Water Chevrotain, Hyemoschus aquaticus, is a squat, short-limbed, small-headed ungulate, and a rabbit-sized animal that resembles a deer. It has a red-brown coat marked with white stripes and rows of white spots. The hindquarters are larger than the front. Adults can reach an average body length of 80 cm and weigh up to 11 kg.…
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Waterbuck, Kobus ellipsiprymnus, is a large, shaggy-haired antelope with mane on the neck. They have long bodies and necks and short legs. They spend less time in the water, against their names, and they do mostly to protect themselves against predators. Ears are large and rounded and there are white patches above the eyes, around…
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West African Bush Viper is a venomous, rough-scaled, arboreal viper, Atheris squamigera, called Paramole in Yoruba. Bush Viper has a wide range across Central Africa and can be found in southeastern Nigeria. They usually come in green but is also available in other flavors, including red, orange, gray, yellow, black, blue, olive, and brown. Adults…
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West African Manatee, Trichechus senegalensis, is the only sirenian in Nigeria, an order of herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, and marine wetlands and coastal marine waters, historically taken for the Mermaid mythical figure. The species occurs within the lower reaches of the Niger River. In the Benue River, they seek refuge during the…
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Western Green Mamba, Dendroapis viridis, is a highly venomous arboreal snake native to West Africa. It has a long slender body, mainly dark and light green becoming more yellow towards the tail. Scales are black in the edges. It is the largest of the arboreal mambas. The average length of an adult snake of this…
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White-throated Monkey is one of Africa’s most threatened primates. Cercopithecus erythrogaster, belonging to the suborder Haplorrhini, Infraorder Simmiiformes, and Family Ceropithecoidae, Called Obo in the Yoruba language and used as a simile for stupidity, or foolishness. The White Throated Monkey is Diurnal, arboreal, and lives in rainforests or tropical areas of southwestern Nigeria, southern Benin…
