Often described as resembling children’s teddy bears, pygmy slow lorises have large, round, forward-facing eyes. Their small size makes them almost invisible in dense forests.
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Let’s play a game…for science! With a tap of the touch-screen computer, orangutans at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo try their memories at matching pictures. These games help scientists study the apes’ metacognition.
foods—grapes—but the treat is delivered somewhere else
The northern shoveler is an easily recognizable duck due to the shovel-shaped bill that inspired its name. Their bill, one of the largest of any waterfowl, is specialized for skimming the water’s surface for small invertebrates and aquatic plants.
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In a little over a week, our western lowland gorilla infant, Zahra, will be six months old! Overall, she is doing great and has recently started going on many little adventures.
gets older, she will give her mom – and everyone else
Giant anteaters are the largest of the four anteater species, reaching lengths of 6-8 feet. They are native to Central and South America, where they feed on tiny termites and ants using their 2-foot-long tongue, which can flick in and out up to 150 times per minute.
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Guinea pigs are rodents that were first domesticated in 5,000 B.C. The domesticated species, Cavia porcellus, is most likely derived from the Andean Cavia tschudii (or montane guinea pig), found in Peru, highland Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northeastern Chile.
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Land hermit crabs live close to the shoreline and must have access to both land and water. They are popular pets but do not breed in human care. Consequently, the pet trade harvests them from the wild, which is unsustainable.
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The Home’s hinge-back tortoise is a small tortoise found throughout the coastal regions of the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa. Its distinct shell angles down at the back.
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The hawk-headed parrot is a colorful bird found in South American rainforests. When frightened, it can raise its neck feathers, forming a fan around its head.
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Larger and furrier than their more famous cousins the naked mole-rats, Damaraland mole rats also live in social, subterranean colonies. These omnivores range from western Zambia to northwestern South Africa.
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