Week 63: Roe Deer ('Capreolus capreolus')

The Roe Deer was @SpeciesofUK from 2^nd to 8^th June, 2014.

The roe deer is a native UK deer species that nearly become extinct here in the eighteenth century.[1] They are known for their distinctive three-tined antlers.

Roe Deer
[Flickr Creative Commons © Don Sutherland]

Week 23: Large Blue Butterfly (‘Phengaris arion’)

The Large Blue Butterfly was @SpeciesofUK from 12^th to 25^th May, 2013.

The large blue is one of the UK’s 59 species of butterfly. It became extinct in the UK in 1979, but has since been successfully reintroduced.

Large Blue
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Lynkos Natura]

Our large blue is one of five species of large blue across Europe, all from the genus Phengaris in the Lycaenidae family, the second largest family of butterflies with about 40% of extant species.[1] The large blue is also one of 15-20,000 individual species of butterfly across the world![2]

Week 3: Eurasian Beaver (Castor Fiber)

The Eurasian Beaver was @SpeciesofUK from 16th to 22nd December 2012.

There are two species of beavers: the North American Beaver and the Eurasian Beaver. Eurasian beavers are sightly the larger of the two species, and have narrower muzzles and tails.  North American Beavers tend to build larger dams on bigger rivers.

By 1900, Eurasian beavers had been hunted near to extinction, with just 1,200 individuals left. Now, they are widespread from the UK to China and Mongolia.¹

The Eurasian beaver is the world's second largest rodent after the capybara. Unusually for mammals, female beavers are (slightly) larger than males.²