The original Labradors were all-purpose water dogs originating in Newfoundland, not Labrador. Not only did the breed not originate in Labrador, but it also was not originally called the Labrador retriever. The Newfoundland of the early 1800s came in different sizes, one of which was the "Lesser" or "St. John's" Newfoundland — the earliest incarnation of the Labrador. These dogs — medium-sized black dogs with close hair — not only retrieved game but also retrieved fish, pulled small fishing boats through icy water and helped the fisherman in any task involving swimming. Eventually the breed...
A medium-sized, nearly black bat with dorsal surface of interfemoral membrane densely furred at least on the basal half and usually to near margins; upper and lowerparts sooty brown or black with white tips of hairs producing a frosted appearance; membranes and ears sooty brown or black. Dental formula: I 2/3, C 1/1, Pm 2/3, M 3/3 X 2 = 36 (upper incisors and first lower premolar very small and easily overlooked). External measurements average: total length, 100 mm; tail, 40 mm; hind foot, 8 mm; ear, 16 mm; forearm, 41 mm. Weight, 8-12 g.
A relatively large, sooty-brown bat with no tail; a narrow, hairy interfemoral membrane; short, rounded ears; and a short, pug-nosed snout. The dentition is highly modified with the middle upper incisors larger than the canines; the outer incisors very small and set so close to the canines that they are easily overlooked; the crowns of the outer lower incisors seven-lobed, fan-shaped, and more than twice as wide as the inner lower incisors; premolars and molars very small and probably non-functional. Dental formula: I 2/2, C 1/1, Pm 1/2, M 2/2 X 2 = 26. External measurements average: total len...
Large, deerlike, the males with large, usually six-pointed antlers that are shed annually; hair on neck long and shaggy; upperparts buffy fawn, the head, neck, legs and belly dull rusty brown to blackish; large rump patch creamy buff to whitish; metatarsal gland oval, about 75 mm long, the center white; tail a mere rudiment. Dental formula: I 0/3, C 1/1, Pm 3/3, M 3/3 X 2 = 34. External measurements average: (males) total length, about 2 m; tail, 160 mm; hind foot, 670 mm. Weight, up to 300 kg, averaging about 275 kg. Females are smaller and usually without antlers.
A relatively large sheep with horns curving outward, backward, and then inward and marked with strong transverse wrinkles; horns of females similar but somewhat smaller; tail relatively long, reaching nearly to hocks and with long hairs on terminal half; a conspicuous growth of long hair on throat, chest, and upperparts of front legs; no beard as is found in goats; upperparts and outer surface of legs uniform rufous or grayish brown; blackish mid-dorsal line from head to middle of back; flanks, inner surface of legs and belly whitish, but the chest colored like the sides; horns yellowish brown...
An Israeli geneticist, Avigdor Cahaner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, created a bare-skinned "prototype" red-skinned chicken by selectively crossing a breed with a naturally bare neck with a regular broiler chicken. Broiler chickens have been bred to gain weight rapidly but in the process generate a lot of heat. Farmed chickens are kept at about 20°C - the optimum temperature for weight gain.
When European Boer settlers arrived in South Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, they brought with them such breeds as the mastiff, Great Dane, bloodhound, pointer, staghound and greyhound, among others. These settlers needed a dog that could withstand both hot and cold temperatures, limited water and rough bush, while performing the duties of guard dog and hunting dog. By breeding their European dogs with native Hottentot tribal hunting dogs (which were distinguished by a ridge of hair growing in the opposite direction along the top of their back) they produced just such a dog.
The Sphynx is not the first instance of hairlessness in domestic cats. This natural, spontaneous mutation has been seen in various locations around the world for at least the last ninety-something years, and probably longer. The Book of the Cat (Simpson, 1903), mentioned a pair of hairless cats belonging to a New Mexico fancier. Called the “Mexican Hairless,” these cats supposedly were obtained from Indians around Albuquerque.
The first deliberate cross between a Siamese and a Persian was made in 1924 by a Swedish geneticist, but it wasn’t until 1935 that the first pointed pattern longhair was born. In the early 1930s two Harvard medical employees crossed a Siamese female with a black Persian male, not to create a new breed, but to establish how certain characteristics were inherited. This mating produced a litter of black, shorthaired kittens. They then bred a black Persian female with a Siamese male. The outcome was the same. This is not surprising, since long hair and the colorpoint pattern are both governed by r...
In the late 1950s American Shorthair breeders, motivated by the popularity of the Persian, secretly began to mix Persians into their American Shorthair bloodlines to improve body type and to introduce the beautiful and favored silver Persian color into the American. (At that time and until 1965 American Shorthairs were known as Domestic Shorthairs.) Because of this hybridization, the American Shorthair conformation went through a period of remodeling in the 1960s. The boning of the American grew heavier, the head rounder, and the nose shorter, and the coat became denser and longer. Because the...
The Colorpoint shares body style, personality, coat length, and color pattern with the Siamese, but in the untraditional colors of red, cream, tortoiseshell, and lynx (tabby) points. Two separate schools of thought exist about the Colorpoint Shorthair: those who think that a breed that walks, talks, and looks like a Siamese should be considered Siamese, and those who deem the Colorpoint a Siamese hybrid.
The British Shorthair is native to Great Britain in the same way that the American Shorthair is native to America—long ago it was transported there from somewhere else. However, the progenitor of the Brit is probably Great Britain’s oldest natural breed of cat, and was roaming around Great Britain for centuries before its cousin journeyed to the New World.
Longhaired kittens began appearing spontaneously in the early 1900s in otherwise shorthaired Siamese litters. Some fanciers theorize that the gene for long hair was introduced into the Siamese gene pool in Europe after World War I. Since the Siamese was nearly obliterated as a European breed by the war (as were other breeds), breeders may have used other breeds after the war’s end to help rejuvenate the bloodline.
Like the American Curl breed, the Wirehair started as a spontaneous mutation in the domestic cat population. In 1966 breeder Joan O’Shea acquired from a small farm in upstate New York a kitten that was “just a hair different.” As a breeder of Rex breeds, O’Shea recognized that the scruffy-looking red and white bicolor male kitten might represent a new breed of cat.
In the 370 or so years that American Shorthairs have inhabited this continent, the environment—and more recently, human-controlled breeding—have shaped them into their present form. Shorthaired domestic cats arrived in America with the Europeans. Evidence indicates that several cats may have sailed over from England aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Upon arrival, these felines became working cats in the barns and fields of the early Americans. Years of natural selection turned them into a strong, hardy breed of dependable temperament.
The main characteristic of the black-backed jackal, which gives it its name, is the black hair running from the back of the neck to the tail. The chest is white, and the underparts are white to rusty white, whereas the rest of the body ranges from reddish brown to ginger in appearance. Adults stand about 38 cm (15 inches) at the shoulder and are nearly 1 meter (3 feet) long in length. The head is dog-like, with a pointed muzzle and high, pointed ears. The winter coats of male adults develop reddish to an almost deep russet red color. Females tend to be less richly colored.
The fennec fox, smallest of all canids, is well adapted to desert life: Its body is small; its hair is light-colored to reduce heat absorption; and its large ears are highly vascularized to facilitate cooling.
Also, its feet have hairy soles for traction and heat protection in sand, and it can sustain long periods without drinking.
These foxes dig multichambered dens in the sand and rest there during the day, shielded from the sun.
At night they venture forth to hunt insects and small vertebrates. Once they locate their prey, they dig in the sand at high speed to catch it.
Fenn...
A shortened snout and tiny round ears (smallest among foxes) help the arctic fox reduce heat loss, hair on the soles of its feet insulate against the cold ground, and a very thick winter fur keeps it so warm that it doesn't begin to shiver until the temperature drops to about minus ninety degrees Fahrenheit (-70°C).
This fox is the only canid with a coat that changes color seasonally; its winter coat is white and its summer coat is blue-gray or gray-brown.
A nocturnal burrower, the arctic fox is occasionally seen by day hunting small mammals.
Its diet also includes birds and th...
The smallest bear in the world, being about half the size of the American black bear. Adults stand 2 1/4 feet tall and are 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet long. Adult males weigh between 63 and 143 pounds. Females are slightly smaller.
Sun bears have a solid sleek body, short tail, small rounded ears and plantigrade feet (both heel and toe make contact with the ground when walking in a manner similar to humans). They have short bow-legs and sharp sickle-like claws. Sun bears have no hair on the soles of their feet, which assists them in getting a better grip when they climb trees.
The Steller sea lion is the largest of five species of seals belonging to the family Otariidae (eared seals).
Its yellowish-buff fur is made up of short coarse hair lacking a distinct undercoat.
The sea lion's flippers are longer than those of true or earless seals. Sea lions can rotate their hind flippers forward in order to have full use of all four limbs on land.
Male Steller sea lions are much larger than females, with males averaging 9 1/4 feet long and females 7 1/2 feet. The average male weighs 1,250 pounds, while the average female is only 580 pounds.
Males have a mane ...
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