SANParks.org Forums

Mr Quizmaster

Hi! Sorry for the delayed response - have been terribly busy on a big project!

Q 19

OK, I must admit that my knowledge of the Okapi is rather limited, but since it is the closest family to the giraffe it is quite possible that they too are born with horns. I could not find any source stating that Orryx (Gemsbok) is born with horns.

Q20

Yes, Bouf did well with Wiki. Giraffe horn are covered by fur covered skin and not keratin as in antelope.

At birth giraffe horn are "floating", thus not fixed to the skull. It is also made up of cartilage and not bone. The "ossification" process changes the cartilage in to bone and fixes the horns to the skull, thus the horns are called "ossicles".

Q21

Approx. how many litres of sweat does an average elephant loose per day?

Cool question, Imberbe, so I hunted for the "answer" and here's what I found:

Do elephants sweat?
Because the elephant´s skin does not have perspiratory glands, the elephants have to cool themselves in another way. They have great ears working like coolers. Behind the ears, under the fine skin, run thousands of very fine veins. When the elephants flutter with the ears, the draught cools the capillary vessel blood and thus the body. This has the same effect as when a dog hackles or when we, in great heat, hold our wrists in cold water. Fluttering with the ears is very efficient for elephants.

What if elephants had sweat glands after all?
If the elephant would have perspiratory glands, his skin would mostly be bathed in perspiration because an elephant weighing about 2000 kgs has a skin surface of roughly 112000 cm². A rat weighing 300 grams has a body surface of 300 cm². This means that in comparison with his weight, an elephant only has 1/18 of a rat´s body surface. Smaller creatures can therefore give away their body heat better than elephants and perspire much less.

Source

Hope your big project is going well!

Well spotted Arks!

The "big project" is up and running! Will be for another six weeks or so! But the hard work has been done. Life can return to (more) normal!

Apologies for being so fast off the mark, Imberbe — partly just that I'm 7 hours behind you. And partly that I was really intrigued by the question, so wasn't willing to wait for someone else to come up with the answer — and it turned out to be very easy to find that info Still think it was a great question — and I think the first one that's brought me into your quizz. Usually there are plenty of far more knowledgeable forumites who deliver the answers, mostly without resorting to our good friend "google"

Glad your project is going well and that we can hope to see more of you here!

Yes, Google does defeat the object of a quiz, doesn't it.

Depends on the object I think.

If your goal is that people learn from your quiz, I think Google is a wonderful tool.

If your goal is to see which forumite has ready knowledge, the Internet is a spoiler.

I see your point, Gwen.

Just worried that the quizzes are getting clogged with internet vs internet speed tests.

I think that visitors should answer questions from experience, hopefully providing fascinating anecdotes to reveal new knowledge.

(Thinking of gugglepruff quizzes)

That should keep you out of trouble for a few days.

Eich! I keep on asking questions but the same person answers all of them! I think he is called GOOGLE somebody!

Lets try this then mister Google ...

Q22:

A certain Southern African mammal species is divided in to two (at least) sub-species. The best way to differentiate between these two, is by the colour of the tip of their tail! Which animal am I speaking about, and which is which!

The genet: small-spotted genet & large ppotted genet

The small spotted genet has a white tipped tail.

Gwen, I have so much trouble every day, forum trouble is like a massage!

Imberbe, are you sure you're talking subspecies and not species?

Thanks for your good work. (Both of you)

I was on genet, then I thought bushbaby