Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling. He worked with NBC and commentated on the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five. He raced for the Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt and for the Raleigh Bicycle Company.
Sherwen was born in Widnes, Lancashire. He died on 2 December 2018 at his home in Kampala, Uganda from heart failure at the age of 62.
Arapaima
The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche are several large species of bonytongue fish in the genus Arapaima.
They are native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America.
These fish are widely dispersed and do not migrate. This makes scientists think that there are more species of arapaima that they have not discovered yet.
Japanese dwarf flying squirrel
The Japanese dwarf flying squirrel ("Pteromys momonga") lives in forests on Honshu and Kyushu islands. They eat buds, leaves, bark and fruits. The International Union for Conservation of Nature do it as a "least-concern species".
Its body is 14–20 cm long and the tail length is 10–14 cm. It is much smaller than the Japanese giant flying squirrel. Its back is covered with grey brown hair, and its belly is white. It has large eyes and a flattened tail. Species of flying squirrels possess a patagium, which is a skin membrane used in gliding. In this particular species of flying squirrel their patagium spans between their wrists and ankles, but not between their legs and tail.
It is native to Japan where it inhabits sub-alpine forests and boreal evergreen forests on Honshu and Kyushu islands.
Japanese dwarf flying squirrels make their nests in the cavities of trees,or at the cross point between branches and tree trunks. These squirrels also tend to line their nests with mosses and lichens.Tree cavities are very important nest resources for them. They tend to nest in conifers, such as pine and spruce, more than broad-leaved trees.
It eats seeds, fruit, tree leaves, buds and bark. It can leap from tree.
Breeding form is embryonic. Birth 2 - 6 cubs in 2 times a year at a time.
Old forests and deciduous broad-leaved forests with trees for nesting are decreasing and they are divided
They also eats acorns etc. in natural forest. This habit can be compatible with forestry and coexistence with humans is possible. It is because we only need to leave some natural forests when planting cedar.
Japanese weasel
The Japanese weasel ("Mustela Itatsi") is a carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Mustelidae. It lives in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu of Japan. Major habitats are plains, but in western Japan it mainly lives in mountainous areas.
Adult males of the Japanese weasel can reach in body length with a tail length of up to . Females are smaller. The fur is orange-brown with darker markings.
The Japanese weasel was na­tive to three of Japan’s four larger is­lands: Hon­shu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Over the past cen­tury, they have been intro­duced to most other Japan­ese is­lands to control the population of rodents. Their range now in­cludes Hokkaidō and the many of the Ryūkyū Islands.
Japan­ese weasels are found in a lot of ecosystems in Japan. It mainly lives in moun­tain­ous and forested places near mov­ing water. Most hunt­ing is done along rivers, but these weasels sometimes go into grasslands or sub­ur­ban areas.
In win­ter, these slim weasels spend most of their time under the snow chas­ing small ro­dents through a maze of tunnels. After catch­ing and eat­ing the prey, Japan­ese weasels usually enjoy the warmth of the prey's nest after eat­ing.
They eat mice, frogs, reptiles, insects and crayfish. They sometimes eat berries, seeds and fruits but only when hungry. Males like to eat more mammals and crustacean. Females like to eat insects, fruits and earthworms.
Their diet changes depending on the season, the number of some foods. Fish and insects are a part of their diet throughout all seasons. They mostly eat coleoptera insects in spring, fruits in summer, orthoptera insects and crustaceans in autumn and fish and fruit in winter. Japanese weasels help in controlling rodent and other small animal populations.
Japanese weasels live by themselves, with the except when mating, and raising the young ones. They do not like other Japanese weasels entering their home range and will defend their home range. When scared, weasels release musk to discourage predators.
Japanese weasels are also great hunters. They chase down prey by any means, including running down tunnels, climbing trees, or swimming. Anywhere prey can go, the weasel can follow. They are both diurnal and nocturnal.
The mating season is from early May to late June. After mating, gestation takes about 30 days. The number of kits varies from 2 to 12, but is usually 5 or 6. It takes 8 weeks to fully be weaned and live by themselves. Japanese weasels are sexually mature at one year old.
Breeding season is twice a year in Kyushu, once a year in Hokkaido.
In the past century Japanese weasels have been introduced to many small Japanese islands to kill rats that were damaging crops. Together with the use of some rodenticide, the weasels helped reduce rat populations. Japanese weasels are also trapped and used in the fur trade. Japanese weasels also sometimes hunt domestic birds, such as chickens and ducks.
Although their populations are in slight decline, Japanese weasels are listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of their widespread population across Japan. The main threat to Japanese weasels is habitat loss because of residential and commercial development.
Brown-headed thrush
The brown-headed thrush ("Turdus chrysolaus"), sometimes known as the brown thrush, is a species of bird in the family Turdidae.
This bird breeds in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Japan. It winters in the south, toward the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Hainan and the northern Philippines. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
It is 23–24 cm long and weighs around 64–90 g. The body color of the male and female is almost the same and black on the head and distinct bright orange feathers from chest to side of abdomen. The male has slaty-brown face and throat, shading through brown on hindcrown and neck to russet-tinged brown upperparts; chestnut-orange breast.
They prefer to live in bright needle-leaved forests with larches from flatlands to mountains.
Okinawa rail
The Okinawa rail ("Gallirallus okinawae") is a species of bird endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan, where it is known as the "Yanbaru kuina" (Yanbaru rail).
is known to local people such as Agathi,Agacha,(meaning 'hurry'),Yamadhui(meaning 'mountain bird').
The face is black with a white spot between the bill and eye and a white line behind the eye, extending back to the side of the neck. The undertail-coverts are dark brown with pale bars.
Its wing length is 15-16cm. Its eggs are 5cm long and 3.5cm wide. It lives in the evergreen broad-leaved forest which is 500m above sea level.
It is about 30 cm long with a wingspan of 50 cm and a weight of around 435 g.
It lives in subtropical moist forests and in neighbouring habitats.
Many prey which inhabitat in an artifical water field advanced organic pollution. Such as food mainly living in the road and forest adge.
The bill and iris are brownish and the legs and feet are yellow-ochre.
It is a noisy bird with a variety of loud calls. It calls most often early and late in the day, usually from the ground but sometimes from trees. Pairs often call together and up to 12 birds have been heard in one area
Forest logging and agricultural land development - Destruction and division of habitats by forest roads and dam construction, traffic accidents, weakness death due to chicks sliding down to side grooves, predation by artificially introduced dogs and nonneko · fairy mongoose etc. Is decreasing
Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle