There are 23 species of crocodiles in the world today. The history of the crocodilians dates back to the Triassic period, some 230 million years ago. Alligators and their kin are modern dinosaurs, having existed virtually unchanged for the past 65 million years. The crocodilians can be broken into four main groups, the alligators, caimans,…

squirrels are mammals and belong to the Order Rodentia and the Family Sciuridae. They are rodents like common rats. Squirrels are found in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The Flying squirrels also belong to this family. There are other types in Africa. We have three species of squirrels in Sri Lanka, the small palm squirrels…

All deer in Sri Lanka belong to the family of ungulates. Ungulates are animals whose feet have hooves. All deer are in the genus Cervidae. Deer have hooves and grow antlers. The adult males of the sambur, spotted deer and hog deer are called stags and the females are called hinds. However the male of…

    Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Feliformia Family: Felidae Subfamily: Pantherinae Genus: Panthera Species: P. pardus Subspecies: P. p. kotiya The Leopard (Panthera pardus, Linnaeus, 1758) is the most secretive and elusive of the large carnivores, and also the shrewdest. Pound for pound, it is the strongest climber of the…

Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genus: Elephas Species: E. maximus Subspecies: E. m. maximus   The Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to Sri Lanka. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed…

FISHING CAT (Prionailurus viverrinus) Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Prionailurus Species: viverrinus English Name: Fishing Cat Sinhala Name: Handun Diviya Tamil Name: Koddi Poonai Average adult weight: 8-16kg Size comparison: About the size of an adult cocker spaniel Unlike most feline species fishing cat is well adapted for a…

Sri Lanka has her own ‘Big Five’. The wonder of Asia, the pearl of the Indian Ocean has so much bio diversity and was renowned as one of the twenty five bio diversity hotspots in the world. Areas that carry an unusually high number of endemic species worldwide are referred to as biodiversity hotspots. Sri…