Santa+Cruz's+Native+and+Endemic+Animals



__ Santa Cruz’s Endemic and Native animals __

There are many Native and Endemic animals on Santa Cruz Island. 3 of the most amazing are the Island Fox, Island Scrub Jay, and the Garibaldi.

The first animal I will talk about is the ** Island Fox **- Scientific name: Urocyon Littoralis, Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Carnivora, Family: Canidae, Genus: Urocyon, Species: U. littoralis. Well there are some basic facts; but lets get into a better description of the island fox. It can be found on San Miguel Island, Santa Rosa Island, Santa Cruz Island, San Nicolas Island, Santa Catalina and San Clemente Island therefore it is native to Santa Cruz. The Island Fox is significantly smaller than the Gray Fox, and even a little bit smaller than a House Cat; it is also the second smallest fox of all foxes the first is the Fennec Fox. The Island fox weighs to about 2.8-6.2 pounds, and most of the time the head and body length is 18-20 inches. The smallest subspecies can be found on Santa Cruz Island, and the male will always be larger than the female. The Island Fox has a gray speckled head and the same gray speckled fur down its back and tail, and a reddish kind of color weaving in and out at the bottom of the gray speckled fur, just above its stomach and at the bottom just a little above its chin it has a dirty red color fur on it; even just below the gray on the stomach there is that same red fur. And it has a very dirty faint white color on its stomach. The pups of the Island fox generally have a darker coat of fur than the adults. Its diet consists of various kinds of fruits, insects, birds, eggs, crabs, lizards, and small mammals, including deer mice. The Island Fox is a amazing animal, but it doesn't compare to the ** Island Scrub Jay **- Scientific name: Aphelocoma Insularis, Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Aves, Order: Passeriformes, Family: Corvidae, Genus: Aphelocoma. Well now that the basic facts are out of the way here is a better description. The Island Scrub Jay can be found on Santa Cruz Island, so it is endemic to Santa Cruz Island. They have blue feathers starting from the end of their beak all the way to the tip of their tale, except for a dark gray semicircle, by their neck instead of the deep blue. From their chin to the feathers by their legs they have white feathers. The feathers right before their legs is a faint blue. By the bottom eyes there is a black curved line of feathers, near the top of their eyes there is a white jagged line of feathers. The eat insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice and other birds’ eggs and nestlings. The Island Scrub Jay is a fascinating animal; however the Garibaldi is one unique fish. **The** ** Garibaldi **- The Garibaldi is our national fish. This fish is native to Santa Cruz Island, if you are passing by Anacapa Island and are nearing Santa Cruz, underwater there might be a Garibaldi lurking nearby. The Garibaldi is actually a damselfish. Well here are some facts- Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Perciformes, Family: Pomacentridae, Genus: Hypsypops, Species: H. rubicundus. Its scientific name is Hypsypops rubicundus. It eats a variety of mussels, sponges, small fish, snails and snail eggs, algae, worms, shrimp, crustaceans and crabs. It can grow to be 14 inches. Written by: ** Olivia V **.