Tag - animal-tracker

 
 

ANIMAL TRACKER

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 13, 2003
Sea slug
* Japanese name: Amakesaamefurashi * Scientific name: Aplysia juliana * Description: Sea slugs are marine mollusks, without gills or a shell -- just like most other mollusks. Often a dark olive-green color, at first glance a sea slug resembles nothing more than a stray piece of seaweed, but with a...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 23, 2003
Freshwater pearl mussel
* Japanese name: Kawashinjukai * Scientific name:Margaritifera laevis * Description: Mussels are bivalves: mollusks that have their body contained between two shells. Young freshwater pearl mussels often have yellowish-brown shells, which become green-tinged and darker as they mature. This animal grows...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 9, 2003
Aggregating anemone
* Japanese name: Yoroiisoginchaku * Scientific name:Anthopleura japonica * Description: Anemones are marine invertebrates, cylindrical animals with rings of tentacles on the upper surface. They are related to jellyfish and corals. Aggregating anemones grow up to 3 cm in diameter and can have a brilliant...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 25, 2003
Flatbottom Sea Star
* Japanese name: Kihitode * Scientific name: Asterias amurensis * Description: Sea stars are echinoderms, in the same family as sea urchins and sea cucumbers, though unlike those animals they are not eaten in Japan. Like all echinoderms (which means "spiny skin" in Greek), sea stars have a five-way...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 11, 2003
Firefly squid
* Japanese name: Hotaru ika * Scientific name: Watasenia scintillans * Description: With a body length of just 4-6 cm, these squid are small but perfectly formed. Squid have a streamlined head and body, with eight arms and two tentacles around the head. (Octopi don't have tentacles, which are longer...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 28, 2003
Japanese black face fly
* Japanese name: Kuroi ebae * Scientific name: Musca bezzii * Description: Face flies are similar to common house flies, but they are larger and darker. If in doubt, check the eyes: Those of the face fly almost touch at the top, but those of house flies have a wider gap between them. The face of the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 31, 2003
Alpine black swallowtail
* Japanese name: Miyama-Karasuageha * Scientific name: Papilio maackii * Description: Widely held to be one of the most beautiful butterflies in Japan, the Alpine black swallowtail has a wing span of 38-75 mm and is covered in iridescent green or blue scales. Males have a green metallic shimmer to the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 17, 2003
Red fox
* Japanese name: Kitsune * Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes japonica * Description: Foxes look somewhat like dogs and belong to the same family. The fur of the red fox is orange-rust colored, apart from the throat, belly and tip of the tail, which are white. The feet and the rims of the ears are black....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 3, 2003
Large field mouse
* Japanese name: Aka nezumi * Scientific name: Apodemus speciosus (large field mouse) * Description: These mice are 9-14 cm long, with hazel-brown fur on top, and a white throat and belly. They have large black eyes, a well-developed sense of smell and sensitive whiskers. Females have eight nipples....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 19, 2003
Tiger keelback
* Japanese name: Yamakagashi * Scientific name: Rhabdophis tigrinus * Description: The tiger keelback is so named for the beautiful colored pattern of its scales. The snake's head and body are basically olive green, but its flanks are orange, and there are several rows of black spots running down the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 5, 2003
Japanese marten
* Japanese name: Nihon ten * Scientific name: Martes melampus * Description: Martens are weasel-like animals but much larger and more powerfully built. Males are 45-49 cm long (females 41-43 cm) and the tail adds another 17-20 cm. They weigh 1.3-5 kg. In winter they have orange fur and a white face,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 22, 2003
Katydid
* Japanese name: Sesuji tsuyumushi * Scientific name: Ducetia japonica * Description: Katydids (also known as bush crickets) belong to a family of grasshoppers and crickets called the Tettigoniidae. The insects in this family have very long antennae, like threads, sometimes two or three times the length...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 8, 2003
Japanese weasel
* Japanese name: Nihon itachi * Scientific name: Mustela itatsi * Description: Japanese weasels are fairly small mammals in the mustelid family (a large family of animals that includes otters, badgers, stoats, polecats, martens and skunks). Males are 29-37 cm long, females 20-26 cm. The fur is an orange-brown...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 24, 2003
Bottlenose dolphin
* Japanese name: Bandou iruka * Scientific name: Tursiops truncatus * Description: Dolphins are marine mammals, toothed whales, with a broad dorsal fin and a long snout with a characteristic "smile." They grow to between 1.9 and 4 meters long, and weigh 90-650 kg, living for up to 50 years. The dorsal...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 10, 2003
Field cricket
* Japanese name: Enma korogi * Scientific name: Teleogryllus emma * Description: The field cricket is a black to dark-brown insect, about 25 mm long. Crickets are orthopterans, in the same group as grasshoppers. They have large heads and wings that are folded flat against the back, except when the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 27, 2003
Black salamander
* Japanese name: Kuro sansho uo * Scientific name: Hynobius nigrescens * Description: Salamanders are considered primitive amphibians in comparison to frogs and toads. Like all amphibians, however, salamanders spend their lives in two entirely different states. The larvae are aquatic, breathing water...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 13, 2003
Singing frog
* Japanese name: Kajika gaeru * Scientific name: Buergeria buergeri * Scientific name: * Description: The Japanese singing frog, known for its "fififi" call, is brown or gray-black. Other frogs merely croak or call, but this frog sings. In Japan it was once common to keep the singing frog in a special...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 24, 2003
Burying beetle
* Japanese name: Yamatomon shidemushi * Scientific name: Nicrophorus japonicus * Description: Burying beetles are large insects, growing up to 20 mm long. They have large eyes, strong legs, powerful biting jaws and club-shaped antennae. These beetles are black, with distinctive orange markings on the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 11, 2003
Stick insect
* Japanese name: Nanafushi * Scientific name: Phraortes elongatus * Description: Stick insects belong to the order of insects called Phasmida, which derives from phasma, the Latin word for phantom. It's easy to identify a stick insect, but it is seeing it in the first place that is difficult, because...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 27, 2003
Nutria
* Japanese name: Nutoria * Scientific name: Myocastor coypus * Description: The nutria, also called coypu, is a ratlike mammal with a long tail and broad, orange teeth. It has small eyes and ears, short legs and webbed hind feet that are much longer than the fore feet. The hind feet have five digits...

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