ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brent Huffman, the author of the Ultimate Ungulate page, is a
zoologist from Toronto, Canada. Brent has a Bachelor's of Science degree
in Zoology (Honours) from the University
of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), and has worked with numerous captive ungulate
species, including Przewalski's horses, giraffes, greater kudu, Bactrian
camels, reindeer, west Caucasian tur, and warthogs. In 2003-2004 he
spent six months in west-central Africa (primarily Gabon) performing a research
study on red river hogs.
A member of numerous zoological organizations, including AAZK
(American Association of Zoo Keepers)
and the ASM (American Society of
Mammalogists), Brent has also worked with several AZA ungulate TAGs
(Taxon Advisory
Groups) and the ZRA
(Zoological Registrars
Association). He is currently a keeper in the Toronto Zoo's Elephant
Management Team, working with six female African elephants, two South African
fur seals, and a trio river hippos.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The goal of the Ultimate Ungulate Page is to provide reliable information,
pictures, and links for all of the world's ungulates to the global online
community. These pages have been created for educational use, and may
be printed by anyone and everyone
HISTORY
The Ultimate Ungulate page began in March 1996, to remedy the fact that no
all-encompassing ungulate site existed. Originally, the pages were
designed to act as a photographic database for the many species of ungulate
for which finding photographs is difficult (and sometimes virtually impossible).
In time, this goal was expanded into providing information on these
species, first with brief statistics and slowly growing to include increasingly
detailed accounts.
The other major change - perhaps the most important - was moving the Ultimate
Ungulate Page into its own domain. The original address
(www.pathcom.com/~dhuffman/) was part of a generic internet service package,
which served the purpose of a fledgling site. However, as the page
grew, the address became less and less appropriate. Several names were
debated upon until, on January 1st, 2000, the Ultimate Ungulate Page moved
to its current address: www.ultimateungulate.com.
PAGE FORMAT
The present edition of the individual species accounts draws heavily from
the format of the academic journal Mammalian Species. Information
is presented under many different headings, which include:
-
Classification
-
A basic overview of the major taxonomic categories in which each ungulate
is placed, from Kingdom to Species, with links to the species list to allow
the easy location of related species.
-
Taxonomy
-
A guide to the history of the naming of each species, and any relevant
information regarding the phylogeny of the species, including commonly-occurring
synonyms, subspecies, and taxonomic problems.
-
General Characters
-
A description of the ungulate, with measurements and identifying characteristics.
-
Ontogeny and Reproduction
-
The ontogeny (growth and development) and reproduction section deals with
everything from breeding, notes on birthing, biology of young animals, and
lifespan.
-
Ecology
-
A discussion of the interactions between the ungulate and its environment,
including habitat, basic social biology, feeding and food sources, and predator
species.
-
Behavior
-
A summary of any behavioral research done specifically on the ungulate in
question.
-
Distribution
-
The general distribution is described here, along with a list of countries
in which the ungulate is known to occur. A range map follows, providing
a visual demonstration of the actual range of each species.
-
Conservation Status
-
Describes the status of the ungulate in the wild as perceived by the IUCN
(World Conservation Union) and CITES (Convention on International Trade of
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), including known threats and
estimated population sizes.
-
Remarks
-
This section is the clearing house for all of the other information, much
of it anthropocentric (human-based). Common names in French and German,
as well as native names are given, as is a translation of the scientific
name. Human impacts and uses are mentioned in this section.
GRAPHICS
Images on the internet are notoriously abused, with direct credit to the
photographer rarely being given. As a result, all photographs presented on
the Ultimate Ungulate Page have been branded with the photographer's name
and the website address. Although this mars a corner of the image,
protection of the rights of copyright holders required this action to be
taken. Any alteration of the photograph to remove the credit is considered
theft, which will not be tolerated.
For more information on using photographs, please check out the
terms of image use.
Maps used to delineate ranges of each species are templated from the outlines
provided at
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm
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