an island in the Indian Ocean, until the last half of the 18th century.
Scientific classification: Solitaires belong to the family Turdidae of the order
Passeriformes. Townsend’s solitaire is classified as Myadestes townsendi. The
solitaire that is now extinct belongs to the family Raphidae, order
Columbiformes, and is classified as Pezophaps solitaria. Columbine (flower),
common name for certain perennial herbs with lacy, lobed leaves and delicate
flowers. Remarkably, both sepals and petals are colored, and the petals extend
to form a spur. The 40 known species are widely distributed in the North
Temperate Zone and show a prismatic range of color. North American and Eurasian
species, as well as a number of hybrids, are grown in gardens. Among the common
species are the wild columbine, with scarlet to pink flowers, native from Nova
Scotia to Texas, and the Colorado, or Rocky Mountain, columbine, with blue
flowers. Scientific classification: Columbines belong to the family
Ranunculaceae. Wild columbine is classified as Aquilegia canadensis. Colorado,
or Rocky Mountain, columbine is classified as Aquilegia caerulea. Indian
Paintbrush, common name for any of a genus of annual, biennial, and perennial
herbs (see Figwort). The genus, which contains about 200 species, is native to
the cooler portions of North and Central America and Asia, and to the Andes.
Because Indian paintbrushes, also called painted cups, are parasitic on the
roots of other plants, they have not been naturalized and have rarely been
cultivated away from their native habitat. The plants have long, hairy,
unbranched stems with alternate leaves. The uppermost leaves, or bracts, are
brilliantly colored and much showier than the inconspicuous interspersed
flowers. The flowers, which are borne in spikes, have a two-lobed calyx, a
two-lobed corolla, four stamens, and a solitary pistil. The corolla, which is
usually yellow, is encased within the calyx, and is usually indiscernible. The
fruit is a two-celled capsule. The common painted cup is the state flower of
Wyoming. The calyx of this plant is greenish white, but the bracts are intense
vermilion. The scarlet paintbrush is a common wild plant of the eastern United
States. The common Indian paintbrush is a hardy herb found in Canada and in the
mountainous regions of the northern United States from New England to the Rocky
Mountains. Its calyx is greenish white tinted with purplish red. Scientific
classification: Indian paintbrushes make up the genus Castilleja, of the family
Scrophulariaceae. The common painted cup is classified as Castilleja
linariaefolia, the scarlet paintbrush as Castilleja coccinea, and the common
Indian paintbrush as Castilleja septentrionalis. Sagebrush, common name applied
to any of several related aromatic, bitter shrubs, native to the plains and
mountains of western North America, but especially to the Great Basin, the
extensive desert region west of the Rocky Mountains in the United States.
Sagebrush is some of the few woody members of their family (see Composite
Flowers). The most common species in the United States is the common sagebrush,
a many-branched plant that grows from 0.3 to 6 m (1 to 20 ft) in height. It has
silvery, toothed leaves and terminal clusters of small, yellow flowers. A
similar species, the low sagebrush, attains a maximum height of 30 cm (1 ft) and
is abundant in the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. Because sagebrush often grows
in regions where there are few other woody plants, it is sometimes used for
fuel. In some areas the foliage is used as winter forage. Overgrazing of native
grasses has caused a proportionate increase in sagebrush. Scientific
classification: Sagebrush is classified in the genus Artemisia of the family
Compositae. The common sagebrush is classified as Artemisia tridentata. The low
sagebrush is classified as Artemisia arbuscula. Bighorn Sheep, largest and
best-known wild sheep of the North American continent, also called Rocky
Mountain sheep. They are found from southern British Columbia to northwestern
Mexico. A full-grown bighorn may average 101 cm (40 in) at the shoulder and
range in weight from 79 to 158 kg (175 to 350 lb). The great curved horns, which
may take more than one turn, attain a length of up to 127 cm (up to 50 in). The
ewes have smaller horns, seldom exceeding 38 cm (15 in). The coat is not woolly
but long, full, and coarse, like that of a goat. The animals have a short mating
season, during which the rams clash head-on in a battle for the ewes; for the
rest of the year the sheep usually divide into separate male and female herds.
The bighorns leap from ledge to ledge at great speed and grip slippery surfaces
with the shock-absorbing elastic pads of the feet. The animals have
exceptionally acute senses of sight, smell, and hearing. Two other varieties
found in northwest North America are the white sheep, or Dall sheep, and the
deep gray or grayish-brown Stone’s sheep. The bighorn is related to the Asian
argali, the mouflon, and the domestic sheep. Scientific classification: The
bighorn sheep belongs to the family Bovidae, in the order Artiodactyla. It is
classified as Ovis canadensis. Ground Squirrel, common name for certain
burrowing, terrestrial, western American rodents characterized by large cheek
pouches opening inside their mouths. Ground squirrels are often erroneously
called gophers. Like the true gophers, they are agricultural menaces, destroying
grass and grain. Their alternate name, spermophile (Greek for "seed
lover"), is derived from their usual diet. The ground squirrel resembles
both the prairie dog and the chipmunk. Most ground squirrels are brownish or
yellowish-gray, with light spots on the upper parts. Some species have
longitudinal stripes along their backs. In the northern part of their range they
hibernate during the winter; the duration of hibernation varies with the
environment, and in some species hibernation may extend from September to May.
Ground squirrels are found in open country, often in arid regions. The Great
Plains ground squirrel, found west of the Rocky Mountains, is typical of most of
the spermophiles. The rough-haired ground squirrel is 28 cm (11 in) long and has
an 8-cm (3-in) bushy tail. Its back is brown and its lower parts yellowish-gray;
it has a white chin and a white ring around each eye. The head is stubby, with
round, wide ears. The legs are short. These animals seek their food close to
their burrows. They mate after they emerge from hibernation in the spring; the
female bears 5 to 13 offspring at a time. The 13-striped spermophile, found near
the Mississippi River, has 7 grayish-yellow stripes running down its back,
interspersed with 6 stripes composed of spots. Its lower parts are fawn colored.
This animal subsists on mice, insects, and grain. Scientific classification:
Ground squirrels belong to the family Sciuridae. The Great Plains ground
squirrel is classified as Spermophilus elegans, the 13-striped ground squirrel
as Spermophilus tridecemlineatus. Further Reading Mule Deer, common name for a
large deer of the western and central United States, so called because of its
extremely large ears, which measure almost 25 cm (almost 10 in) in length. This
animal attains a height of 107 cm (42 in) at the shoulder. The name black-tailed
deer is sometimes applied to a subspecies of the mule deer inhabiting the Rocky
Mountains. The tail of this deer along the basal two-thirds is white above and
dark below; the terminal third is black. Scientific classification: The mule
deer belongs to the family Cervidae. It is classified as Odocoileus hemionus.
Rocky Mountain Goat, also mountain goat, common name of a species of antelope
that inhabits the high mountains from the northwestern United States to Alaska.
Mountain goats live in regions of heavy snowfall and tend to inhabit localities
with many crags and cliffs. They are excellent climbers, and their hooves, which
have soft pads rimmed with sharp edges, enable them to climb and run on snow,
ice, or bare rock. The Rocky Mountain goat is 90 to 120 cm (36 to 47 in) tall at
the shoulders. The body is sturdy and the legs are short and stout. Both sexes
have black horns, which contrast with the yellowish-white, shaggy hair covering
the entire body, and a beardlike tuft of hair underneath the chin. Rocky
Mountain goats are herbivorous ruminants, feeding on any exposed vegetation they
find. They are not gregarious, except during the mating season between November
and early January. The young are born generally between May and June. Scientific
classification: The Rocky Mountain goat belongs to the family Bovidae. It is
classified as Oreamnos americanus. Wolf, carnivore related to the jackal and
domestic dog. Powerful teeth, bushy tails, and round pupils characterize all
wolves. Certain characteristics of the skull distinguish them from domestic
dogs, some breeds of which they otherwise resemble. There are two species of
wolves: the gray, or timber, wolf, once widely distributed but now found only in
Canada, Alaska, and northern Europe and Russia, except for a few isolated packs
in other regions; and the red wolf, found only in Texas and the southeastern
United States. An adult gray wolf measures up to 2 m (6.5 ft) in length,
including the tail (less than half the body length), and weighs up to 80 kg (175
lb). The fur of the gray wolf is red-yellow or yellow-gray with black patches on
its back and sides, and white on its chest and abdomen. There are also black or
brown gray wolves, and those in the far north may be pure white. The red wolf is
smaller in size and usually darker in color. Wolves are equally at home on
prairies, in forest lands, and on all but the highest mountains. In the winter
they travel in packs searching for food. Small animals and birds are the common
prey of wolves, but a pack sometimes attacks reindeer, caribou, sheep, and other
large mammals, usually selecting weak, old, or very young animals for easier
capture. When no live prey can be found, wolves feed on carrion (decaying flesh
of dead animals). They also eat berries. The den, or lair, of a wolf may be a
cave, a hollow tree trunk, a thicket, or a hole in the ground dug by the wolf.
In the spring, females have litters of one to eleven pups. Adult wolves
sometimes feed young pups by regurgitating partly digested food for them. The
pups normally stay with the parents until the following winter but may remain
much longer. Parents and young constitute a basic pack, which establishes and
defends a territory marked by urine and feces. Larger packs may also assemble,
particularly in the winter. The pack leader is called the alpha male and his
mate is the alpha female. As social animals, wolves exhibit behavioral patterns
that clearly communicate dominance over or submission to one another. The
communal howling of a pack may serve to assemble its members, communicate with
other packs, advertise its territorial claims, or it may be simply a way of
expressing pleasure. Visual and scent signals are also important in
communication. Although gray wolves are still abundant across northern Europe
and Asia, only remnant populations exist elsewhere in Europe. Their numbers in
North America also have been greatly diminished. They are fairly abundant only
in Alaska and Canada; smaller numbers exist in the Pacific Northwest and upper
Midwest, primarily in Minnesota. Under the Endangered Species Act, the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as threatened in Minnesota and as an
endangered species elsewhere in the United States except Alaska list the gray
wolf. The red wolf, also listed as endangered species, was the first species for
which the USFWS developed a recovery plan. The decreasing numbers of wolves are
the result of encroachments on their territory by humans, who have long regarded
wolves as competitors for prey and as dangerous to livestock, pets, and people.
However, few if any healthy wolves have attacked humans, whom they instead try
to avoid. Wolves are valuable predators in the food web, and their decimation
has led to the overpopulation of certain other animal species in various areas.
Active efforts to reintroduce wolves to national parks in the United States are
now underway, although such efforts are controversial. Because coyotes have
hybridized with some red wolves, an attempt to reintroduce red wolves to parts
of North Carolina has involved identifying red wolves that are not part coyote.
The success of this project is not yet clear. In 1995 and 1996 the USFWS
reintroduced Canadian gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park and the
Sawtooth Mountain region in central Idaho, despite protests from nearby ranchers
and some biologists. The reintroduced wolves are producing more offspring than
expected. When ten breeding pairs reside in these regions for three years, the
gray wolf will be taken off the list of endangered species in the northern Rocky
Mountains. Wolf biologists estimate that this goal may be met by the year 2002
without transplanting additional wolves from Canada. By 1997 these
reintroduction efforts were succeeding beyond expectations of wolf biologists.
Scientific classification: The wolf belongs to the family Canidae. The gray, or
timber, wolf is classified as Canis lupus. The red wolf is classified as Canis
rufus.