Gray seals, also called horsehead seals, are amazingly dexterous swimmers. They are common on both sides of the north Atlantic.
They have massive shoulders and necks with large folds of skin.
Cuban crocodiles are one of the most endangered species of crocodile and are found only in Cuba. These small crocodiles are strong swimmers. They walk and leap with ease and are equally at home in water and on land.
Fact Sheet Conservation Physical Description Cuban crocodiles have short, broad
There are 30 species of plated lizards, and the African plated lizard (also called the giant plated lizard) is one of the largest. It has a squat body, plate-like scales and powerful legs.
They have thick bodies and powerful legs, which aid in both speed and digging.
Get the answers to frequently asked questions about giant panda Bei Bei’s departure from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Will the public have a chance to say goodbye to Bei Bei before he leaves?
American bison are North America’s largest terrestrial animals. Millions once roamed the grasslands and prairies of the Great Plains, but today the bison population survives primarily in conservation herds.
Both male and female bison have a single set of short, sharply pointed, hollow horns
What animal can rotate its head 180 degrees, has ears that function like satellites and marks its territory (and members of its social group) with urine? Meet our southern lesser galago brothers, Mopani and Damara!
The pair arrived in February and have settled into their new digs at the Small Mammal
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.
Guinea pigs have no tails.
The secret to salamanders’ survival may be in their slimy secretions. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are swabbing salamanders in Shenandoah, looking for disease-fighting microbes that live in the mucus on their skin.
susceptible to chytrid, while others may come into contact with the fungus and have
The ruddy turnstone is a short legged, chunky sandpiper with an extensive wintering range. Turnstones are known for sticking their bills under stones, pebbles and shells, and flipping them over to find food.
Nonbreeding adults have a brown feather pattern.
The sliminess on amphibians is more than just goop—it’s how these animals survive. A scientist and intern from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation Genomics explains.
Have you ever wondered what the difference between a reptile and amphibian is?
