Category: Science
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Orisadipe Obasa, a pioneer Nigerian physician, one of the last of the eight who qualified as medic in the late 19th century was born in Sierra Leone into a privileged royal family of Ikole-Ekiti and Ikija, Abeokuta on January 1863. In 1878, Obasa joined the Wesleyan Boys High Schol in Lagos where he showed good…
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Serval is an African cat of the wild, belonging to the genus Leptailurus and species serval. The serval have legs that are relatively long for its small body and ability, in spite of its slender build, to prey on larger hoofed mammals. It is called Ìjàkùmò in the Yoruba language. The serval, is like most…
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Silver Catfish, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, called Obokún in Yoruba, is one of the most important among the over three hundred Nigeria’s freshwater fish species. It is a highly valued food-fish included among the dominant commercial catches exploited in major rivers of Africa. Diet includes fish scale, plant parts, and detritus, with insects and crustaceans dominating the…
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Sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekii, is a spiral horned bovine, a semi-aquatic antelope, distinguished by its long, splayed hooves and naked padlike pattern, an adaptive feature for walking through muddy, vegetated swamplands. The hindquarters are higher than the forequarters, giving the animal a peculiar hunched appearance. Body length and weight averages 1.52 cm and 75.55 kg respectively…
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Slender-snouted Crocodile, Crocodylus cataphractus, is a medium sized crocodile distinguished by its very slender snout apparently adapted for its surreptitious movement and ideal for catching fish. Recent DNA and morphological studies suggest the Slender-snouted Crocodile may not belong to the Crocodylus genus, but a monotypic Mecistops genus. The African slender-snouted Crocodile is usually about 2.5…
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Southern Burrowing Asp, Atractaspis bibronii, is a venomous small, drab grey, smooth scaled serpent with small eyes and slightly pointed head. It has backward-curved fangs at the front of its mouth. Body is cylindrical and color can be from a brownish pink to black with a lighter belly. Adults average 30-50 cm in length. The…
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Spotted-necked Otter, Lutra maculicollis, can be recognized by the brown and white spotting on the throat and underside. They are smaller than sea otters and have slim bodies and long, tapering tails. Toes are strongly webbed. The chocolate to reddish brown fur in this otter is thick and this serves to keep them dry and…
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Spinner Dolphin, Stenella longirostris, is one of the seven dolphin species belonging to one family Delphinidae that have been observed to be widely distributed in the coastal waters of Nigeria. This species is equally available in all tropical and subtropical waters around the world between roughly 40°N and 40°S. Spinner dolphins are about 2 meters…
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Spotted Tilapia, Tilapia mariae, is a fresh- water and estuarine teleost that occurs naturally in West Africa, from Cote d’Ivoire to Cameroon. This species, called Èpìyà in Yoruba, has a wide distribution in the fresh and brackish water rivers of southern Nigeria and flourish in Ethiope River of Nigeria. Spotted tilapia vary in appearance according…
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Striped Ground Squirrel, Xerus erythropus, is a species of terrestrial squirrels, distributed throughout the semi-arid regions of Africa, a rodent in the Sciuridae family, distinct by its coarse pelage and having conspicuous white side-stripe on each flank. They are found primarily in dry open woodlands where their fur is frequently tinted in the color of…