New Delhi: The animal kingdom is filled with the scariest animals, but there are also the cutest. One such animal that lives in the deserts is the Meerkat. These super cute creatures live in the deserts and grasslands of the southern tip of Africa. Learn about Meerkats and their diet, habitat, appearance and more.
Meerkats: Facts to learn about the desert animal
Appearance
With their slim build, broad head, large eyes, and pointed snout, Meerkats are a captivating sight. Their long legs, thin tapering tail, and brindled coat pattern add to their visual appeal. Their soft coat, ranging from light grey to yellowish brown, is adorned with poorly defined light and dark bands on the back, creating a visually striking pattern. Meerkats from the southern part of their range tend to be darker, adding to their captivating diversity. Lightly at the base, the guard hairs have two dark rings tipped with black or silvery white, creating a visually appealing coat pattern. The head is mostly white, the underparts are covered sparsely with dark reddish-brown fur, and the dark skin underneath shows through.
Meerkats have eyes capable of binocular vision, which means they can focus both eyes on the same object to perceive depth and distance. Their sockets cover over 20 per cent of the skull length, a visually intriguing feature. Their slim, yellowish tail measures 17 to 25 cm and is tipped with black, adding to their captivating appearance.
Squirrel-sized Meerkats are mongooses known for their upright posture. They frequently stand on their hind legs and watch over the southern African plains. Mothers can even nurse their young while standing (Photo credit: Martin Harvey/The Image Bank/Getty Images)
Smart animal
Meerkats are much brighter than they appear. A recent study at St Andrews University in Scotland found that Meerkats use complex coordinated behaviour, rivalling that of chimps, baboons, dolphins, and even humans. They can solve tasks with help from their group but also demonstrate independent thinking. The study observed Meerkats engaging in a wide variety of both social and asocial behaviours to solve tasks. Generally, the social interactions drew the Meerkats into the tasks, while the independent thinking processes helped them to solve them. This intelligence is truly impressive.
Social animal
Meerkats are not just extremely social animals; they are also deeply connected to each other. They live together in burrows and dig with their long, sharp claws. Living underground keeps the mob members safe from predators and the harsh weather in Africa. These burrows can be 16 feet long and have multiple entrances, tunnels, and rooms. A group will use up to five separate burrows at a time.
Diet
Meerkats are diurnal animals, which means they are active during the day. Every morning, the group, a mob, comes out of their burrow to search for food. They have a keen sense of smell and use it to find their favourite meals, such as beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and scorpions. They also consume small reptiles, birds, eggs, fruits, and plants. Despite living in the deserts, these animals don’t need extra water as they get all the moisture they need from insects and grubs they eat.
Babysitters
While most of the mob is foraging for food, a few members, known as babysitters, remain at the burrow to look after the newborn pups. This duty rotates among the mob members, with the babysitters often going without food for the entire day. Their primary responsibility is to protect the pups from rival Meerkats who may attempt to harm them.
Watch on Predators
Additionally, one or more Meerkats, known as sentries, will watch for predators from a high vantage point, such as a termite mound. They scan the sky and desert for threats like eagles, hawks, and jackals. If a sentry spots danger, they will make a high-pitched sound, prompting the mob to take cover.
Reproduction And Development
In the wild, Meerkats usually breed during the warm, rainy season, from August through March, when food is abundant. However, breeding can occur throughout the year. Males compete to mate with females. The gestation period for Meerkats is 11 weeks, and they typically have two to five offspring in a litter. The young Meerkats will leave the burrows after three weeks and are weaned at six to nine weeks. By the age of 2 months, the young Meerkats resemble adults. They reach sexual maturity at about one year of age. Fathers help guard the young, and other non-breeding Meerkats in the pack also assist in caring for the young.
Meerkats can live for about ten years in human care (Photo credit: Paul Souders/Stone/Getty Images)
Remarkable eyesight
Meerkats can spot birds miles away on the horizon. Their vision is the most developed sense, and they have dark patches around their eyes to cut down the glare from the sun and help them see far into the distance. Meerkats have long, horizontal pupils that give them a wide range of vision without turning their heads. They also have a protective membrane that can cover their eyes while they are digging due to their digging habitats.
Vocalisations
Meerkats are social animals and have at least ten distinctive vocalisations. Females tend to be more vocal than males. Vocalisations include murmurs, threatening growls, spits, scolding clucks, and a defensive alarm bark.
Well, one would put these words, cute, cuddly and chaotic, to sum up, Meerkats, but these are myths. They are highly evolved and possess some fantastic adaptations that aren’t immediately obvious. Read on to discover fascinating facts about the desert animal. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
