The Japanese Giant Salamander (Andrias japonicus) is the biggest amphibian on the world, also a amazing creature endemic to Japan. The Japanese name is オオサンショウウオ (pronounce like OOSANSYOUUO) or ハンザキ (pronounce like HANZAKI), means "a huge salamanser" or "a very strong creature which does not die after even cut in half by a knife", respectively. The Japanese Giant Salamanders are listed on CITES I and classified as NT by IUCN, they are a very precious amphibian. Although it's about 30 years that the problem about hybridization between Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) and Japanese Giant Salamander in Kyoto, but still we can find other natural populations out of Kyoto. Hope we can have a durative chance meeting with them in the field!
日本大山椒魚 (Andrias japonicus) 是世界最大的兩棲類，也是日本特有的神奇生物！日文名是オオサンショウウオ，讀起來像是OOSANSYOUUO，意思就是一隻"大隻的山椒魚"；另一個日文名是ハンザキ，讀起來像是HANZAKI，意思是"一種生命力極旺盛的生物，就算被刀砍成兩半還是死不了"。日本大山椒魚名列CITES附錄一，也被IUCN評定為近危，是一種非常珍貴的兩棲類。雖然中國大鯢 (Andrias davidianus) 和日本大山椒魚在京都的雜交問題已經拖了近三十年還無法解決，但是在京都以外的地方我們仍有機會看到自然狀態的日本大山椒魚。希望我們一直都有機會在野外持續觀察這些驚奇的生物！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(1,796)
The Malagasy Rainbow Frog (Scaphiophryne gottlebei) is one of the most famous and rare amphibian among Malagasy frog species. In 2008, the Zoological Society of London was named the Malagasy Rainbow Frog as "being among the rarest and most remarkable amphibians" on the planet. The beauty of Malagasy Rainbow Frog is being proved. But the population's main threat has coming behind the beauty; thousands are captured every year for the pet trade, it makes them caught in a vicious cycle. The Malagasy Rainbow Frog inhibit in the rocky canyons of the Isalo Massif, south western Madagascar. They occured and bred only in the temporary pools of the canyons and only in raining season. It's difficult to find during dry season, so we can only found 6 juveniles in about 90 minutes. They were pretty tiny, only about 10 mm for SVL (the adult are about 30-40 mm) each, but still, it's AWESOME! It's enough for me! Hope we can always find them again and again every time we visit there!
彩虹犁足蛙 (the Malagasy Rainbow Frog, Scaphiophryne gottlebei) 是馬達加斯加最知名的兩棲類之一，同時也是最稀少的兩棲類之一。倫敦動物學會在2008年將彩虹犁足蛙列名"這個星球上最稀有也最令人讚嘆的兩棲類"，牠的美是禁得起考驗的！但也因為牠們真的太美了，每年可能有幾千隻彩虹犁足蛙被走私出境... 也是讓牠們的處境陷入惡性循環的主因。彩虹犁足蛙只棲息在馬達加斯加西南部的Isalo地區，在岩石山塊夾縫間的小水窪進行繁殖，主要也只在雨季出現，旱季基本上很難找到。因此我們這次只能找到在水邊搞不清楚狀況的幼蛙，體長只有約一公分 (成蛙大約三到四公分)，花了大約一個半小時找到了六隻，已經非常的滿足了！希望以後每次來都可以再度和牠們碰個面喔！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(175)
Congratulations to Taiwan for beating Netherlands and got the second win of WBC! In Taiwan, if we talked about to beat Netherlands, we were always took out Koxinga who did beat Dutch colonists more than 300 years ago. In 1662, Koxinga drove Dutchmen away from Taiwan; more than 200 years after, Robert Swinhoe who was the naturalist made so much contributions about reporting Taiwanese animal species. He named a endemic rodent by the name of Koxinga, it's Coxing's White-Bellied Rat (Niviventer coninga). Coxing's White-Bellied Rat inhibit in the middle and low elevation forest of Taiwan, they connect upper and lower layers of the food web, a very important position in nature. Their hair mosaicked some hard hairs, it's a special touch among Taiwanese mammals!
恭喜中華隊擊敗荷蘭獲得WBC第二勝！說到擊敗荷蘭，就不得不搬出曾經在台灣擊敗過荷蘭的國姓爺：鄭成功了！鄭成功在西元1662年在台灣擊敗荷蘭，兩百多年後的1871年，對於台灣生物多樣性報導有諸多貢獻的郇和 (斯文豪，Robert Swinhoe) 以"國姓爺"來為一種台灣特有的嚙齒類命名，即為刺鼠 (Niviventer coninga)。刺鼠是台灣中低海拔森林常見的物種，也是這些地區蛇類的主要食物，為食物網中相當重要的"中間份子"。體表的絨毛之中帶有少許硬毛，在台灣也是一個少見的特徵。chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(215)
Congratulations to Taiwan for the first win of WBC! The beaming Taiwan Mountain Pitviper (Ovophis makazayazaya) is the only reddish species among Taiwanese vipers, it's gorgeous! Once, around the years of 1930 to 1950, it was lack of any sampling record in Taiwan for about 50 years! But recently due to the efforts from more and more researchers and hobbyists, the legendary viper has became familiar. According to the paper published by Anita Malhotra et al. in 2011, Ovophis monticola makazayazaya should be a full species as Ovophis makazayazaya endemic to Taiwan. We hope we can still meet the endemic "Strawberry-Headed Pit Viper" in the mountains occasionally!
恭喜中華隊獲得經典賽第一場勝利！喜氣洋洋的瑪家山龜殼花 (the Taiwan Mountain Pitviper, Ovophis makazayazaya) 是台灣蝮蛇科物種之中唯一偏紅色的，非常美麗！在1930年至1980年間，在台灣曾有約50年沒有任何採集記錄的傳奇蛇類，隨著近年來研究者以及愛好者的增加，神秘面紗已經逐漸的被揭開。根據Anita Malhotra等人在2011年的研究報告指出，台灣的瑪家山龜殼花應是一個特有種，使這個原稱阿里山龜殼花 (因為當初被鑑定的標本來自阿里山) 的奇妙物種正名為瑪家山龜殼花 (被命名為新種的標本產自屏東瑪家)。台灣特有種的可愛小草莓，希望以後也可以持續的在山上和牠們來一段邂逅！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(487)
In Malagasy, "indri" means "look up". A French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat was misunderstood the aboriginal who pointed out the lemur and said "indri". Pierre Sonnerat thought it should be the name and used it to describe the lemur. The Indri (Indri indri) is the biggest living lemur on the world. But compare with their extinct relative: a giant lemur big like a gorilla, with a weight about 200 kg, the Indris are pretty small.... they are even smaller than a dog! But now the population number of Indri is also sadly poor. Last year, the scientists estimated the number about 246 individuals, it's smaller than the number of the Angonoka Tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) and the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)! If we want to protect Indris, the most important thing is to protect the forest they inhabited in. Andasibe NP is the last place with forest Indris can live in... Go Indris!
在馬拉加西話，indri的意思是"看上面"。當年一位法國自然學者Pierre Sonnerat誤解了一位為他找出那隻狐猴位置的Malagasy，以為"indri"就是牠的名字，就用了Indri來描述光面狐猴了。光面狐猴 (the Indri, Indri indri) 是現存體型最大的狐猴，不過比起被人類趕盡殺絕的親戚：一種體型近似大猩猩，重達兩百公斤的大型狐猴 (Archaeoindris fontoynontii) 相比，還是小太多了... 光面狐猴體型比狗還小！但是現在光面狐猴的族群也是岌岌可危了，去年科學家統計，光面狐猴的族群數僅有246隻，比安哥洛卡陸龜 (Astrochelys yniphora) 以及大熊貓 (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) 都還少！想要保育光面狐猴，最重要的就是從保護牠們棲息的森林開始... Andasibe NP就成了保護光面狐猴的最後一道防線了，加油！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(98)
Happy World Pangolin Day! The Formosan Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) is the most unusual species among Taiwanese mammals! They got large scales just like reptiles, they don't bite and without teeth, a pair of large claws... the features you can't find from other mammals in Taiwan! How special they are! Compare to the past few decades, nowadays it's a rare event that people killed a pangolin as a traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan. We hope we can keep on meeting with the extraordinary and gentle creatures in the field unexpectedly!
世界穿山甲日快樂！台灣鯪鯉 (台灣穿山甲，Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) 是所有台灣原生哺乳動物中最奇妙的了！披著一身和爬蟲類鱗片極為相似的鱗甲，沒有牙齒也不咬人，一對巨大的腳爪... 都是其它的哺乳動物所沒有的特徵，非常奇妙！相比早期，將穿山甲獵捕用作中藥材的狀況已經改善許多，希望這個奇特且溫馴的物種可以和我們繼續在野外不期而遇囉！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(930)
The Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) are actually inhibit in the Kinmen island! Although the Kinmen island is a small offshore island outside continental China by a distance about 10 kilometers, but still, we believe the pythons can go cross the salt water by swimming. In the Snake Year, we wish the residents on Kinmen island can be gradually accepted to live with the big but gentle, original amazing reptile!
金門的緬甸蟒 (the Burmese Python, Python molurus bivittatus) 真的是原生種！雖然金門是個和大陸相距約10公里的小島，但我們相信緬甸蟒是有那個能耐游過這道鹹水，並且在金門島上靠自己生存下來。在蛇年，希望金門的鄉親們可以逐漸接受和這種巨大但是溫和的原生神奇爬蟲類共處囉！chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(144)
The Oustalet's Chameleon is the longest one of chameleons, SVL up to 28.4 cm and TL up to 68.5 cm. Although we can find the endemic species thoughout the big island of Madagascar, but still, it's easier to find them in the western arid area. The male Oustalet's chameleon in this picture was the first herp of my Madagascar trip, also, it's the first "dragon" for my keynote of this trip: "Dragoning". Quite memorable, isn't it? The reasons why chameleons change color are as below: for camouflage, looks stronger, expressed emotions and body-temperature regulation. Notice the color of the Oustalet's chameleon in this picture, it's close to white. It's already noon when I saw him, he was trying to cross the asphalt road (it's so hot on the road!). The chameleon was tried to slow down the speed of rising body-temperature, so he turned the color of surface into near-white color. I brought him into a shade of a tree after we finished photographing. He looked more comfortable under the tree... What a nice meeting with a Oustalet's chameleon! What a cute white dragon!
奧力士變色龍 (Furcifer oustaleti) 全長最多可以到近70公分 (吻肛長約30公分)，是世界最長的變色龍。馬島特有的奧力士變色龍雖然整個島都有紀錄，但是仍以西半部較乾燥的地區最為常見。圖中這隻公的奧力士變色龍是我抵達馬達加斯加之後第一隻野外遇到的兩棲爬蟲類！正巧呼應了我本次旅程的主軸"尋龍"，真是太巧了！值得紀念的第一隻變色龍！變色龍改變體色的因素主要有融入環境、氣勢、情緒以及調節體溫。融入環境的功用當然就是讓敵人找不到以保命；所謂的"氣勢"就是在公的變色龍打架時，雙方的體色都會盡可能的變的鮮豔誇張；然後"情緒"就是例如打輸之後的公變色龍體色就會變得黯淡，或者被人抓到的變色龍通常也會變黑一些，意思差不多；調節體溫的話就是像照片中的這隻奧力士變色龍，我發現牠的時間是在近中午，牠獨自一龍正在過柏油馬路 (很燙！)。我很興奮的請司機 (就是William，不過那時才第一天，還不熟) 停車之後跑回去把牠撿起來送到路邊之後拍了幾張照片。牠體色幾乎是白色的，這隻"白龍"就是因為當時實在太熱了，要阻止體溫繼續上升就是把顏色盡量轉淡，就變成這樣囉 (反過來說，想要快速升溫就是變黑一點)！拍完照，我們送牠到一處樹蔭下，看牠停在陰涼處不走就知道牠剛剛肯定是熱到快爆炸了！令人懷念的可愛小白龍~chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(239)
The Hundred Pacer (Deinagkistrodon acutus) used to inhabit forests in Taiwan at low and middle elevations. Due to overhunting and habitat destruction, the number of hundred pacers is shrinking, and they are rarely seen except in eastern Taiwan.
百步蛇 (Deinagkistrodon acutus) 在台灣分布於全島中低海拔，但由於早期濫捕以及棲地破壞，目前僅在台灣東部有較高的機會見到百步蛇。chungweiyou 發表在 痞客邦 留言(0) 人氣(307)
The Cook Strait Giant Weta (Deinacrida rugosa) is a gentle and cute insect! "Weta" is a term for a group of insects endemic to New Zealand specifically, which looks kinda like Katydid. The first individual I saw was a dried dead body, which used for exposition to tourists. There's some big thorns on the legs... I was guessing if some one get kicked by it, who might be injured seriously. After I found them during field observation at night, I realized that I was wromg. They didn't kick, didn't run nor jump, accompanied the heavy weight, it's a really cute and big insect!
庫克海峽巨沙螽 (Cook Strait Giant Weta, Deinacrida rugosa)
是一種非常溫和可愛的昆蟲！Weta
是一群紐西蘭特有昆蟲的總稱，長的和螽斯、灶馬都有點像。第一隻我見到的個體是一個乾燥後的屍體，用作和遊客解說教育用。當時我看牠腿上的刺，猜想如果牠會踢的話後果真是不堪設想。但是在夜間觀察時看見活體之後，才發現牠根本不踢、不跑也不跳，加上厚實沉甸的手感，真是一隻非常可愛的大蟲子！
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