Turtles and Tortoises 1: The Pancake Tortoise

This series of posts will be about one of the most famous groups of reptiles, the chelonians, variously referred to as turtles, tortoises or terrapins. Although they are subdivided into various taxonomic groups, these do not actually correlate with the various English names. In American English, they are almost all referred to as turtles. In British English, the names differ by habitat – tortoise is used to refer to terrestrial animals, turtle to marine forms, and terrapin to freshwater animals. Why we have so many names is unclear, as there are currently no breeding populations of any chelonian native to Britain. Any terrapins seen in the UK are invariably released pets, usually Trachemys scripta, the Red-eared Terrapin. In the past the European Pond Terrapin, Emys orbicularis, was resident in the UK but became extinct as a result of a change to a colder climate many thousands of years ago.

New Arrivals: Brown-breasted Barbet

Brown-breasted Barbet

If you walk past the Black-Cheeked lovebird aviary you will see they are now sharing it with a pair of very distinctive looking birds with red heads and very large bills. These are a pair of Brown-breasted Barbets, Lybius melanopterus. They are one of 43 species of barbets and tinkerbirds that span the African continent from south of the Sahara, where they live in a variety of habitats from thick jungle where they spend time in the canopy to the open scrub where some species prefer the ground. Likewise their diets are just as varied as their habitat; birds of the forests prefer fruits where some species in scrub areas may primarily consume termites and ants

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New World Primates 9: They came by night

A.griseimembra

The last of the New World primates we have at Bristol can be found in Twilight World. The Grey-legged Dourocouli, Aotus griseimembra, belongs to a widespread group of monkeys which have, uniquely for higher primates, become nocturnal. There are of course numerous nocturnal primates in the Old World, incuding the bush babies of Africa, lorises of Asia, and many lemurs in Madagascar, but they all belong to a group generally referred to as the Strepsirrhine primates. These are distinguished from monkeys and apes, the ‘higher’ or Haplorrhine primates, by features of their face and skeleton, most obviously the moist, dog-like noses and tendency to rely more on scent and less on vision.

New World Primates 8: Paging the wicked witch

Male White-faced Saki

On one of the islands in the central lake live a family of one of the most distinctive of South American primates, the White-faced Saki Pithecia pithecia.The local name for these monkeys sounds like they would be more at home in the Wizard of Oz – they are called flying monkeys because of their prodigious jumps (up to 10m have been recorded). In the wild they have a wide distribution through the rainforests of South America, so they are listed by the IUCN as of Least Concern. Most of its closest relatives are also in reasonably good shape, although one, the Buffy Saki Pithecia albicans, is listed as Vulnerable.

New World Primates 7: Love Monkeys

C.cupreus

It is a few days late, but it is appropriate that Valentine’s week should feature one of the most closely affectionate of the monkeys, the Red Titi Callicebus cupreus. Bristol currently has a pair, but people often walk past their enclosure because they are also among the most secretive of monkeys. Their preferred habitat is dense tangles of vines, edge forests, bamboo groves and similar habitats, where they can go about their lives undisturbed. Unlike many other species, they avoid other primates and do not move around in mixed associations, instead pursuing their lives in small family groups of a pair plus up to three offspring.