Bwanji!

In May and June of 2007, 13 undergraduate students from Northern Michigan University are taking a field course in Zambia. Most of the students are majors in the Biology department, and all of them will be doing short field studies of their own design while on the ground in Zambia. The group will be making a stop in London on the way, spending four days seeing Zambia/Africa-related British sites (Burton's tomb, Livingstone's artefacts at the Royal Geographic Society, the British Museum of Natural History, etc.) and adjusting to the time change. The course is being led by me, Dr. Alec Lindsay, a professor in the Department of Biology at NMU, and Dr. Jackie Bird - a parasitologist in our department. We have made this blog so students can hopefully post notes thoughts, pictures and discoveries to the world. This should allow classmates, teachers, family and friends to share in their insights and keep track of their travels. Not only that, but viewers of the blog can add comments to posts - please do! We would love to hear your thoughts. Zikomo!

11 May 2007

Small mammals of Zambia (specifically hyrax)



What I plan to Study:
While in Zambia I plan to study the diversity of small mammals in each area we visit. I hope to find hyrax so I can study their social behavior including their vocal communication. Among the other small animals I find, I plan to study their abundance in each different biome. I hope to see their behavior with their own species and other species in each biome.

My concerns:
I am concerned that because I am studying smaller mammals they will be harder to observe because they are more timid and more likely to run away from my presence. Also with their size it will be harder to view opposed to an elephant or other large mammal.

Image from: http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/2006/04/sound_production_in_thyrohyrax.php
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2 comments:

Ralph said...

kt,

we found a road bike, it is 8 times better then the last ($8). You will hate the color.

19 May, 2007 16:51
Unknown said...

You will love the color. We love reading about the trip and the pictures. Remember to smile for the camera. Mom

21 May, 2007 10:03

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