Hippopotamuses are stout, naked-skinned, and semiaquatic artiodactyl mammals, possessing three-chambered stomachs and walking on four toes on each foot. While they resemble pigs physiologically, their closest living relatives are the cetaceans. Hippopotamuses are the only living members of the family Hippopotamidae.
Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever.
A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae. Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation.
Għar Dalam is a 144 metre long phreatic tube and cave, or cul-de-sac, located in the outskirts of Birżebbuġa, Malta. The cave contains the bone remains of animals that were stranded and subsequently became extinct in Malta at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. It has lent its name to the Għar Dalam phase in Maltese prehistory, and is viewed as one of Malta's most important national monuments. Pottery similar to that found in Stentinello was found at Għar Dalam, but lacking details such as stamp decorations.
Hippopotamus is a genus of artiodactyl mammals consisting of one extant species, Hippopotamus amphibius, also known as the hippopotamus, and several extinct species. It belongs to the family Hippopotamidae, which also includes the pygmy hippopotamus and a number of extinct genera.
Brucella is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, named after David Bruce (1855–1931). They are small, nonencapsulated, nonmotile, facultatively intracellular coccobacilli.
Brucella melitensis is a Gram-negative coccobacillus bacterium from the Brucellaceae family. The bacterium causes ovine brucellosis, along with Brucella ovis. It affects primarily sheep and goats, but cases have also been observed in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, Bactrian and dromedary camels, alpacas, dogs, horses and pigs. Humans can become infected if they have contact with an infected animal or its byproducts. Animals acquire B. melitensis by venereal transmission and contact with the placenta, fetus, fetal fluids, and vaginal discharges from infected animals. The organism is found in blood, urine, milk, and semen. It is zoonotic, unlike B. ovis, causing Malta fever or localized brucellosis in humans.
Limax is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk family Limacidae.
Limacidae, also known by their common name the keelback slugs, are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Limacoidea.
The Maltese Islands, although small in area (316 km2), host many endemic species. This may make the organism endangered. These endemic species are important to the Maltese Islands because they form part of Maltese national heritage and are topics of scientific research.
Marmorana is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicidae.
Lehmannia nyctelia is a species of air-breathing land slug, a shell-less pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae.
Lehmannia marginata is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae. Sometimes classified in the genus Limax, the species is distinct in its ecology, and its nearly transparent body. It is a medium-sized species, rarely exceeding 12 cm in body length. The body is fairly long and narrow, with a marked keel. The keel looks lighter than the remaining body against the darker innards.
Lehmannia is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs. The genus is distributed in Europe and North Africa.
Ambigolimax valentianus is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae.
Kuphus is a genus of shipworms, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae. While there are four extinct species in the genus, the only extant species is Kuphus polythalamius. It is the longest bivalve mollusc in the world, where the only known permanent natural habitat is Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat in the Philippines.
Leithia is a genus of extinct giant dormice from the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Sicily. It is considered an example of island gigantism. Leithia melitensis is the largest known species of dormouse, living or extinct, being twice the size of any other known species.
Mario Lessona was an Italian zoologist and malacologist. He was the son of the prominent natural scientist and senator Michele Lessona and his wife Adele Masi Lessona, who was very much involved in her husband's work, particularly in making translations. A son of Adele Lessona by an earlier marriage was the painter and malacologist Carlo Pollonera, with whom Mario published a monograph on Italian slugs. Mario also coauthored various scientific works with his brother-in-law, the zoologist and senator Lorenzo Camerano.
