Category: Science
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Justicia insularis is a hairless, erect plant standing usually at about 50cm. Justicia insularis, called Ooso in Yoruba, may be found growing on waste ground or among rubbish in intertropical Africa. Leaves are variable, from lineal to oval, having a very small or long stalk. Leaves could be rounded at the extremity, or pointed, may…
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Klipspringer, Oreotragus oreotragus is a small stocky African antelope reputed for its rock-jumping attribute. The Western Klipspringer, O. o. porteousi, of Nigeria, known for walking on the tips of their hoofs in rocky outcroppings, occurs around the Jos Plateau and also in the east in the Gashaka-Gumpti National Park. The short yellowish hollow coat appears…
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Kob, the graceful orange-brown antelope, Kobus kob, of the West/Central African savannah and floodplains is known for the spectacular sight afforded by the herds during annual migration. Kobs are ecologically restricted, preferring low-lying flats or gently rolling country, free of seasonal extremes and close to permanent water. These antelopes prefer perennial grasses in their early…
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Jane McCotter, nursing sister of Irish descent and founder of the Infant Welfare Center in Abeokuta was born in 1870. McCotter worked briefly in the colonial nursing service, but after an ideological conflict with British authorities who disfavoured ‘home birth’, she joined the Egba native authority. By 1955 when she died, McCotter had received several…
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Ladyfish, Elops lacerta, called Igbun in Yoruba, is a ray-finned fish found in coastal waters from Mauritania to Namibia, sometimes entering freshwater, like in Cross River, Nigeria. This species is reported to spend one or two years in the Lekki and Lagos lagoons of Nigeria, afterwhich they move back to coastal waters where they attain…
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Latunde Odeku, physician and poet,who was one of Nigeria’s most distinguished medical scholars, was born in 29 June 1927 in Awe, near Oyo. He schooled at Methodist Boys’ High School in Lagos from 1940-46. He was a probational officer for one year at the Nigeria Customs and Exercise Department from where he joined the Howard…
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Bay Duiker, scientific name, Cephalophus dorsalis, as a member of the Cephalophinae family, is a ruminant under the cattle group. This species, found in the southeastern-most part of Nigeria is a duiker, a family of antelopes having a compact body, relatively short legs, and strong hindquarters. The name, ducker, the Afrikaans for “diver” had been…
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Bate’s Dwarf Antelopes, Neotragus batesi, are very small antelopes, only some 5.5 cm long, and weighing from 2-3 kg. Males are a lot bigger than the female and it is only they that posses horns. This species considered shy and secretive because of its inconspicuous coat, coupled with the way it moves about its dense…
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Straw-colored Fruit Bat, Eidolon helvum, is a species of bats, called Àdón in Yoruba, a mammal having the distinguishing feature of their forelimbs being developed as wings, thereby becoming the only mammal that flies. The neck and back of this species display the straw color, hence the name, while the ventral side of the body…
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Baboon is one the world’s largest monkeys. There are five species: Olive, Yellow, Chacma, Guinea, and Hamadryas, belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. Baboons in Nigeria belong to the Olive baboon species (Papio anubis). Olive baboons are large, heavily built primates living in multi-male-multi-female groups. They live for up to 30 years…