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Red-billed oxpeckers and black rhinos have a symbiotic relationship. The oxpeckers feed on the bugs found on rhinos and the oxpeckers warn the rhinos about nearby poachers. [23] [24] A social relationship was observed between a narwhal and a group of beluga whales in the St. Lawrence River. The narwhal had been accepted into the group of beluga ...
The preferred habitat is open country, and the red-billed oxpecker eats insects. Both the English and scientific names arise from this species' habit of perching on large wild and domesticated mammals such as cattle and eating ticks. [4] This species's relationship with rhinos gives the Swahili name Askari wa kifaru meaning "the rhino's guard". [5]
Oxpeckers also feed on the earwax and dandruff of mammals; less is known about the possible benefits of this to the mammal, but it is suspected that this is also a parasitic behaviour. [12] Some oxpeckers' hosts are intolerant of their presence. [13] Elephants and some antelope will actively dislodge the oxpeckers when they land.
Cleaning symbiosis is a relationship between a pair of animals of different species, involving the removal and subsequent ingestion of ectoparasites, diseased and injured tissue, and unwanted food items from the surface of the host organism (the client) by the cleaning organism (the cleaner). [5]
Those animals established a commensal relationship with humans in which the animals benefited but the humans received little benefit or harm. Those animals that were most capable of taking advantage of the resources associated with human camps would have been the 'tamer' individuals: less aggressive, with shorter fight-or-flight distances.
The relationship between ecosystem complexity and stability is a major topic of interest in ecology.Use of ecological networks makes it possible to analyze the effects of the network properties described above on the stability of an ecosystem.
Whatever the net result, mammals generally tolerate oxpeckers. [8] The yellow-billed oxpecker is 20 cm (7.9 in) long and has plain brown upperparts and head, buff underparts and a pale rump. The feet are strong. The adults' bills are yellow at the base and red at the tip, while juveniles have brown bills. [10] Its flight is strong and direct.
The largest odd-toed ungulates are rhinoceroses, and the extinct Paraceratherium, a hornless rhino from the Oligocene, is considered one of the largest land mammals of all time. [4] At the other extreme, an early member of the order, the prehistoric horse Eohippus , had a withers height of only 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in). [ 5 ]