Cape beach diggers
| Cape beach diggers | ||||||||||||
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Cape beach diggers |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bathyergus suillus | ||||||||||||
| ( Schreber , 1782) |
The Cape beach grave ( Bathyergus suillus ) is the largest member of the family of sand graves with a body length of 17.5 to 33 cm and a weight of up to 1.5 kg .
Appearance and way of life
The animal has an elongated, round body. The tail is short, the eyes no longer have any optical perception functions, but are used to locate air currents, but the hearing (sounds up to the infrasound range) and the sense of smell are very well developed. The short fore and hind limbs have sharp claws for digging widely branched networks of earth tubes with some chambers in which it lives. These are used to store grass or as a litter kettle for the young. He creates the excavation up to the surface of the earth and thus forms small "molehills". The fur is short, close-fitting and brownish to gray in color. The nose and ears can be closed, and the tip of the nose has long whiskers. Its four sharp incisors are 2 millimeters wide and serve the animal for defense, digging up and gnawing off its food, which mainly consists of tubers, roots and other plant parts that it finds in its digs through the earth. An animal can move around 500 kg of soil per month.
Occurrence
This species occurs only in the sand dunes and plains in the state of South Africa up to the Cape of Good Hope .
Reproduction
In November or December, the females of this species give birth to three to five highly developed young.
Hazards and protective measures
Since this species is considered to be a carrier of diseases such as the plague and is considered to be food in some areas, it is hunted locally. Due to its wide distribution and the fact that it is also found in protected areas, it is not yet considered to be endangered.
swell
- The great world empire of the animals Publisher: Planet Media AG, Zug 1992 Page: 188.189 ISBN 3-8247-8614-1
- Encyclopedia of Mammals Publisher: Weltbild Verlag GmbH Augsburg 1999 Page 228 ISBN 3-8289-1556-6
- Enzyklopädie der Säugetiere Verlag: Könnemann 2003 Page 690–694 ISBN 3-89731-928-4
Web links
- Bathyergus suillus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Maree, S., Faulkes, C. & Griffin, M., 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2013.