Quiz time

Hmm. Great photos. You can actually tell the difference between the monkey and the deer. Respect. You've got to admire those macaques don't you? The only known species that doesn't take off at the merest whiff of your scent, Geoff. As for the math, I like your moves. Very gentlemanly to concede the black rat. But perhaps that should come off your tally as a consequence? Nonetheless, are you suggesting that you didn't actually see one heading for the condensed milk in P's backpack on Silhouette Island? By the way, did I ever mention that those Hydrometra we found in a pool on our way down the mountain turned out to be a new species?

Anyway, back to mammals. I should say that I've seen the odd roe deer, though I confess I don't have a photo. So I think that makes us Geoff 6, Graham 5 (and 736 sheep).

Time for a new species. If I told you that this picture was taken in North America, would you hazard a guess at its Latin binomial? And no looking it up or asking expert ornithomammalogists. By the way, it's the small rock lookalike in the middle of the picture. Not the large rock lookalike at the front left. That's simply a large rock. Oh, and a bonus point for each lichen you can identify.

Bound to happen

Graham, nice math.

Just to save your scanner I'll post two pics of a Long-tailed Macaque (Imnotsuricanspelltheenglish nevermindthelatinname). This primate was, in fact, trying to mug a tourist, just like you describe. Can you tell? Luckily I fought back - there was no way it was getting my Canon, even if I don't have a prime lens. Geddit?


So, point reclaimed. But I must admit I am not going to be able to get that Black Rat on my list, unless maybe I go on holiday with you again. After all, my closest encounters with rats have been in your company...

Now, where to go next. Like a mammalian version of Mornington Crescent, many routes seem possible, but only one is possible. Yes, it is a mammal that I have actually seen this week so it therefore bounds into the blog: Roe Deer (Capreolus crapeolus).

These photos (that I took at a nearby site in November) clearly demonstrate how excellent fieldcraft can achieve a series of images of an individual going about its normal behaviour... err, with the emphasis on going.








Graham: 4

Geoff: 7

Totalogia: 8

Loads of primates

Great stuff. The photo is a bit fuzzy Geoff, even for a stationary animal, but nonetheless quite a coup. Unfortunately, I regularly see flying primates - every time I hop on Ryanair it seems to be crammed with Homo sapiens. Or should that be Linnaeus' five-toed man? Still, good for you. Oh, and no, I won't be including the good old-fashioned human on the species list. How about another primate I saw in 1996 in Malaysia. Yes, the famous Batu caves just outside Kuala Lumpur, festooned with Hindu shrines and teeming with Long-Tailed Macaques, Macaca fascicularis. Of course back in the nineties, I had my trusted Nikon FM2, so I don't have a digital photo to hand - will scan one day. Out of interest, fascicularis means a small band, as individuals tend to go around in groups and, in the wild, mob unsuspecting tourists for an easy snack.

I've also realised that you got in cleverly with Brown Rat. It almost escaped me that I should retaliate with my own brown rat, not to mention a black one. My first brown rat sighting was at the age of about 4 in the family back garden. But it wasn't until my brother bought The Stranglers album, Rattus norvegicus, that I started getting interested in taxonomic nomenclature. The only Black Rat I can recall was in the Seychelles - a cute little fellow with a white bib. Ah, but then we saw Rattus rattus together, didn't we?

So by my calculations that brings us to Geoff 5, Graham 4. And between us, a grand total of 7. Impressive

Tioman Para-primate

Very impressive pics, Graham, and sharp too! I think it was fortunate that it was a slow moving subject.

I took the liberty of linking your post to a mammal thread on BirdForum here and expert opinion has come to your rescue:

it is a two-toed sloth (very different facial structure to three-toed sloths so easy to tell apart even if you can't count their claws). The species that occurs in Santerem should be the Linnaeus' two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus

(thanks Chlidonias)

So there's your tick - Linnaeus' two-toed sloth. That's typical of you to go back to first principles and start your list with a Linnaeus...

How can I respond to this beclawed arboreal challenge? Well, how about this highly cropped and fuzzy pic of what looks like a small deer shoved into a sack and suspended in a tree. Yes its that Sunda Flying Lemur or Malayan Colugo that I spotted on Pulau Tioman a few years ago. Since then the colugos have been placed in the same evolutionary cluster as primates you'll be relieved to hear - so maybe this form would be best known as the Tioman Para-primate.



So, by my reckoning that makes the scores

• Geoff: 4
  
• Graham: 1(+736 sheep)
  

Slowly does it

Alright Geoff, you've thrown down the furry gauntlet. Time to retaliate. On our way down the east coast of Britain today I spotted 736 mammals. All of them sheep. And before you say, wah wah wah, not allowed, domestic not wild, let me remind you that we have no rules on Mammalogia. So, 3:1 methinks. And there's more. Check out this little critter. Not being a pedant, I never bothered counting its toes. Suffice to say, young man, that it was spotted directly above my head in the national forest of Tapajos, Santarem in Para State, Brazil. And the species is?

3:2

The porpoise of this blog

Graham

Nice to see you and hope that you and C have returned home safely.

I thought that we should start off by making it clear that the porpoise of this blog is to record our mammal sightings and photographs and compile our lists of successful sightings.

So, this is just to let you know that the game is on and I hereby draw first blood with the Harbour Porpoise that I photographed in the Irish Sea last week. On the same trip I recorded Common Seal and, as a lovely additional roadside sighting, Brown Rat.

So, by my reckoning the current score is Geoff 3-0 Graham!

All the best

Geoff

Harrowing truth

Actually, Graham, it was a discarded harrow. And it did look a bit like a rabbit. Sort of.

To be honest I thought it might be a badger.

Geoff

Giant Rabbit

This is our first mammalogia blog. Went for a great walk today around Edinburgh. But it was cold. We only saw one mammal in the evening darkness. A giant rabbit. Or so Geoff thought. It was a barrel. We're hoping for better luck next time!

G and G