Zoo Field Trip

Description: For my field trip I went to the Woodland Park Zoo on Sunday February 25th. I chose this field trip because it allowed me to see a diverse range of animals from different habitats. I also went on this field trip because people from my lab group were going, and I had not been to the zoo in a long time and was interested in going again.

Animal 1 (Brown Bear):

The brown bear exhibit was very interesting and informative. The most interesting part of the brown bear exhibit was the skulls and paw prints. It was interesting to see the size differences in the bear skulls and paws between the brown bear and grizzly bear. I thought that the grizzly bear would have been bigger than the brown bear but the skulls and paw prints showed that they are in general smaller.  Some of the adaptations I learned about from the bear exhibit are their large muscly shoulders and long sharp claws used to dig out roots, insects, or small mammals for food. Brown Bears also have adapted an extremely good sense of smell. This would show up on the skull of the brown bear, having a long nasal passage with many nasal turbinates. A third thing you might find on a brown bear skull is forward facing eyes because the brown bear is not the prey of anyone, so it does not need the increased field of vision from eyes on the sides of its head. When we saw the brown bear, as shown in the picture above, it was not moving, and might have been sleeping or just relaxing. One way to tell between the female and male brown bears is to look at the ears. Males have much smaller, shorter ears while females have larger, pointy ears. One thing that is interesting about brown bears is when they are born they are very small, usually weighing less than a pound, and are most often born as twins.

Brown Bears in the Pacific Northwest are distributed, like most the animals we saw, mainly throughout alaska and the western side of Canada, with a small portion coming down into some of the northwestern states. When comparing the Brown Bear to another type of bear, such as a black bear, there are some important distinctions. For the most part, as their names suggest, the brown bear has a brown color fur and the black bear has black colored fur. Also, brown bears are usually bigger than black bears, and have much longer claws. Finally, the brown bear usually has a distinct shoulder hump whereas the black bear does not. After looking at this exhibit, one question I have about brown bears is what part of their diet is meat and what portion of their diet is plants?

Animal 2 (Porcupine):

At the porcupine exhibit the most interesting thing was what the porcupine was doing. It was waiting at the door where keepers come in to give food because it knew that feeding time was soon. It is interesting that this animal can have that sense of time to know around when it eats because it seems like time is such a human construct. One obvious adaptation of the porcupine would be its spikes used to deter predators from attacking them or wanting to eat them. These quills are interesting because unlike a simple needle, they have a barbed structure which allows them to slip in easily to the muscle of animals, but they are very difficult to pull out. Another adaptation of the porcupine I learned about was why their cage was so stinky. I learned the pheromones given off by the porcupine can serve the purpose of marking territory, attracting mates, and possibly deterring predators. If I looked at a porcupine skull I would expect to see eyes on the sides of its head so it can see its predators, large incisors because it is part of rodentia, and a small sagittal crest because it does not eat a large amount of meat. These are some features that the porcupine shares with some of its close relatives, chinchillas and guinea pigs, which are also in the rodentia family. For the most part the porcupine resides in the trees. During the winter porcupines mainly stay close to their dens, and eat mostly tree parts such as needles and bark. The distribution of porcupines in the pacific northwest shows they span all the way from Alaska, through Canada down into many of the western states. One question I have after seeing this exhibit is can the porcupines shoot their quills at predators or just use them by running into them?

Animal 3 (Snowy Owl):

The most interesting thing at the Snowy Owl exhibit was watching the owl turn its head. I have hear before that owls have a huge range of motion for their neck and can turn their heads to look directly behind them. When we got to the exhibit we saw an all white snowy owl was perched up on a tree twisting its neck and looking around while its body stayed almost completely still. I learned from this exhibit that the all white color of this owl means it is an adult male. At this exhibit I learned the adaptation of the snowy owls feathers being white as opposed to the gray feathers of the Great Gray Owl is not only because it lives in snowy environments. The habitat of the snowy owl, as the name suggests is snowy and cold, so the prey of the snowy owl is usually out during the day which is why the snowy owl must be white because any dark color would stick out visibly in the day time. Another difference between the snowy owl and the great gray owl is that the snowy mostly nests at high points on the ground, whereas the great gray owl only nests in the trees. When looking at the skull of the snowy owl compared to the skull of the great gray owl, both owls would have large auditory bulla for hearing and forward facing eye orbitals because they are predators. One of the differences that would help to distinguish the skulls of these two owls is the snowy owl’s ear openings would both be positioned in the same spots on the sides of its head, whereas the great gray owl’s ears would be lopsided, with one being higher than the other. This is due to the fact that the great gray owl needs to have extremely precise hearing because hunting during the night makes it hard to see its prey. However, while the snowy owl can use its eyes more to hunt because it does so during the day, it still mainly relies on its keen sense of hearing to pinpoint prey underneath the snow. In the pacific northwest the distribution of owls spans a large area. The owls live largely in Alaska and Canada, with some coming down into Washington. One question that was raised from this exhibit is what do owls do during the winter when some animals they prey on are not out and about as much?

Animal 4 (Great Gray Owl):

When we went to the Great Gray Owl exhibit we saw the owl perched up high on a tree branch just looking around. The most interesting thing we saw the Great Gray Owl do was grooming itself by spreading its wings slightly and pecking at them. This was interesting because it resembled the way cats clean themselves. Some adaptations that I noticed that separate the Great Gray Owl from a close relative the Snowy Owl are the fur color and flat, somewhat bowl shaped face. The fur color is likely an adaptation for camouflage when it hunts in the night so its prey can not see it coming. The flat bowl shaped face is an adaptation that allows for increased hearing because when sound hits the owls face it acts as a resonance chamber that amplifies sound and allows for extremely precise hearing. Looking at the plumage of the great grey owl, one use for this besides warmth is increased flight capabilities because the lightweight feathers greatly increase the owls surface area allowing it to more easily glide through the air. Another thing that separates the Great Grey Owl from the Snowy Owl is that it is slightly smaller in size, averaging a weight of 2-4 pounds. The distribution of the Great Gray Owl shows that it lives mostly somewhat in land from the ocean, and is mainly in Alaska and Canada with a small population stretching down into the states of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and California. If I were to look at a Great Gray Owl skull I would expect  to see large orbitals for its eyes, very large auditory bulla, and eyes facing forward because it is a predator. The way to distinguish between the skull of the Great Gray Owl and the skull of the Snowy Owl would be a slightly flatter, rounder shape of the skull. One question I have that relates to this exhibit would be do they mainly rely on sight to hunt or how large of a role does hearing play in an Owl’s hunting?

Animal 5 (Grey Wolf):

At the Grey Wolf exhibit we saw the wolves walking around, running back and forth in their exhibit. The most interesting thing I saw was the wolves were being fed, and they were carrying around large chunks of meat and bone in their mouths, running with it. This was interesting because it showed how powerful their jaws were being able to hold these large chunks of food in their mouths while running. Some adaptations for the gray wolves are the wooly fur used for warmth, and their long snouts which allows for increased smelling capabilities. When comparing the wolf to another canine, a coyote, the Gray wolf has much thicker fur and is much larger. The similarities between the two is they have similar size snouts, ears, and teeth. The Gray Wolves previously lived in a wide range of areas over the United States and pacific northwest, but have been pushed up and now mainly live in Canada and Alaska. Some interesting things I learned from the exhibit were that the Gray Wolf howls to find others, to reinforce relationships between them, and to warn strangers to keep their distance. Also, Gray Wolves eat around four to seven pounds of meat a day. The process to get this meat can be tough though, as the wolves will usually only catch a moose one out of every 16 they chase after. When looking at the skull of the Gray Wolf I would expect to see many nasal turbinates for increased sense of smell, eyes forward facing because they are predators, and a large sagittal crest because their jaws are extremely strong. One question I have after visiting this exhibit is how do the wolves young get food when they can’t hunt for themselves.

Compare and Contrast (Ostrich and Emu): I will compare the Emus and the Ostrichs we saw at the zoo. Both of these animals are large birds with long necks, bulky bodies, and strong legs that allow them to run extremely fast. A likely ancestral trait of these birds is their wings, because they can not use them to fly, and are most likely a vestigial trait from the ancestors of most birds that has evolved to not be needed, but has not been selected against. One derived characteristic of these birds is likely the large powerful legs. This trait was likely developed more recently, because most birds do not have long powerful legs, but instead use their wings to move them. These two birds, on the other hand, lived in environments where staying on the ground was more beneficial. Being on the ground these birds needed to be able to move effectively, so stronger legs were developed recently when these two birds separated from other birds. Another similarity these birds have is in their behaviors. In raising young, both bird species require the males to raise the young.

Looking at some of the differences between these two animals, the most apparent difference is their size. The ostrich is somewhat bigger than the emu, and has slightly stronger legs allowing them to run a little faster than emu’s. This is likely due to the fact that the ostrich lives in the African Savannah, which is much more open than areas in australia where the emu lives, meaning the Ostrich needs to be better at running so it can escape the fast predators of the Savannah. Another difference between the two birds is the mating behaviors. Ostrich males will take many more mates than Emu’s, and will pick out of those mates one “dominant” female to mate with for life. Finally, another difference between the two birds is that emu males will be solely responsible for incubating the eggs, whereas ostriches will switch off in the day and night between the female and the male.

Reflection: Overall this field trip was a fun experience that also helped me learn much more about the animals we discuss and interact with regularly. One thing I saw at the zoo that I made a connection with to something we learned in class was what I mentioned above about the wolves carrying large chunks of meat with their jaws. I learned in class their extremely sharp teeth and powerful jaw muscles allow them to hold onto their food so tightly and is the reason the wolf was able to run with the meat in its mouth. This field trip helped my understanding of the world because it helped me make connections with things that we have learned in class, and understand the reasoning for things animals do and how they perform certain tasks. The most interesting thing that I learned from this field trip was that the river otters are not born knowing how to swim, but must be taught by their parents by forcing them into the water with them and going along as their parents swim so they can understand how to do it.