BIO assignment 3

Running head: COLORADO’S LYNX

COLORADO’S LYNX

Colorado’s Lynx

AMU

I. The Introduction Section

A. Organism Introduction

· Colorado’s lynx is a species within the medium sized wild cat genus (Baigas et al 2018).

a) The common and scientific name of your organism. Please see this link to help with scientific names if needed:

· Common name: Colorado’s lynx

· Scientific name: Lynx Canadensis

b) Observed where:

a. This animal lives in Eurasia. It is suspected to have disappeared from Colorado in the early 19070s.

b. I have observed this animal from Colorado parks and wildlife.

c. Colorado’s Lynx are commonly found in North America & Eurasia.

d. It is also an endangered species. This has led to its reintroduction in favorable regions (Lenski, 2017).

c) Why I chose this Organism?

a) Colorado’s Lynx is an endangered species.

b) There has been constant decline of this animal.

c) This is a unique animal that should be reintroduced for future generations.

d) I wanted to learn factors contributing to the animal extinction.

e) I am considering learning more about the animal to try and understand how we can protect the animal considering the rate of climate change.

d) An image of Colorado’s lynx

II. The Body

A. Physical Description

· Medium-size cat

· Has tufted ears

· Short tale with kitten like big paws.

· The anima l can measure up to 3 feet long

· Weighs up to 30 pounds

B. Life Cycle and Reproduction

1. Life Cycle:

a. Female Colorado’s lynx will give birth after two months

b. They can give birth up to six kittens.

c. The life span ranges between 10-30 years. (Ivan, & Shenk, 2016)

2. Reproduction:

a. The animal mates between February and March.

b. Female Colorado’s lynx will give birth after two months

c. They can give birth up to six kittens.

C. Structure and Function

Anatomy

· Lynx survives in cold regions.

· They mate during winter

· Female lynx gives birth one a year

Physiology

· They hunt and travel alone

· They are more active during at night

· They wait for prey to come close and give chase. That is their hunting technique (McFadden et al 2008).

2. Source of food?

· Mice

· Squirrels

· Birds

· They mostly prefer snowshoe hare

· They rest and wait close for prey giving chase.

E. Habitat

1. Where your organism lives.

· Colorado’s lynx are commonly found in snowy winters and moist regions.

· They can therefore be found throughout the forests of Alaska and Canada.

· Lynx also prefer dense undercover.

Forces that affect the animal existence

· Climate change

· Fire

· Bark beetle epidemics

· Vehicle collision

Conclusions

i. Colorado’s lynx was largely endangered in 1770s due to widespread predator control

ii. The last species was trapped in Colorado.

iii. There are only a few of these animals existing

iv. Lynx prefers cold regions. This explains why they are found in most parts of North America and Eurasia.

v. Colorado’s lynx mates in winter and female lynx gives birth one a year to up to 6 kittens (Williams, 2018).

vi. The animals are threatened by:

· Climate change

· Wildlife fires

· Expansion of recreation facilities etc

References

. Ivan, J. S., & Shenk, T. M. (2016). Winter diet and hunting success of Canada lynx in Colorado. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 80(6), 1049-1058.

Baigas, P. E., Squires, J. R., Olson, L. E., Ivan, J. S., & Roberts, E. K. (2017). Using environmental features to model highway crossing behavior of Canada lynx in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Landscape and Urban Planning, 157, 200-213.

Lenski, R. E. (2017). What is adaptation by natural selection? Perspectives of an experimental microbiologist. PLoS genetics, 13(4), e1006668.

McFadden, K. A., Huang, J., Chu, X., Jiang, G., Kaufman, A. J., Zhou, C. ... & Xiao, S. (2008). Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(9), 3197-3202

Williams, G. C. (2018). Adaptation and natural selection: A critique of some current evolutionary thought (Vol. 61). Princeton university press.