Tag: mammal
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Meet the American pygmy shrew
It’s a few days after American Thanksgiving. If you celebrated, it’s time to finish digesting all the food you ate and prepare to heat up some leftovers. But even if you think you ate a lot of food yesterday, some animals can eat even more. For example, blue whales eat between 10 and 20 tons of food…
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Meet the beaver
It’s almost time for the curling season to start, and I am very excited to get back on the ice! In honor of curling, I wanted to talk about the national animal of Scotland, the country where curling originated. Unfortunately, Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn, and I couldn’t find any scientific papers about this…
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Meet the rock hyrax
I was in Indianapolis last week and saw the cutest little animal at the zoo: the rock hyrax. Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) are small mammals that resemble rodents. In fact, an alternate name for them is ‘rock rabbits.’ Rock hyraxes are also known as ‘dassies’ or ‘conies.’ Here’s a fun fact: the term ‘coney’ in…
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Meet the white-tailed deer
I’m going on vacation next week, and I’m very excited! I’m spending some time at Mackinac Island (pronounced ma-kuh-naw), a little, car-free island between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. As I looked up what type of wildlife I might find, one surprised me: the white-tailed deer. I’m familiar with white-tailed deer, as I’m…
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Meet the meerkat
It’s the September 1st. Here in Boston, the temperature is starting to (somewhat) cool down, and the nights are getting longer. And, of course, the hallmark of fall: school is starting again, and the streets are full of new, excited students. Which means it’s only fitting to talk about an animal whose young also goes…
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Meet the okapi
Some weeks, I pick animals related to what’s going on in my life. Other weeks, I pick an animal that I think is cool. This week is one of the later ones. I just think okapis are neat! Okapis (Okapia johnstoni) are hoofed mammals found only in the rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the…
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Meet the koala
I have been really sleepy lately. But even with how tired I’ve been feeling, one animal can still out-sleep me: the koala. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) hold the record for the sleepiest animal, sleeping between 18 and 22 hours a day. These small animals are arboreal and spend almost their entire lives in the eucalyptus trees…
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Meet the giraffe
There’s a new animal at the local zoo: a Masai giraffe calf! The son of mom Amari and dad Chad (A+ giraffe name), the little giraffe seems to be healthy and thriving. As I read the exciting news, I was struck by the word ‘Masai.’ What is a Masai giraffe? Is it different from a regular…
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Meet the fennec fox
It’s the middle of summer here in Boston, and it is getting hot! Unfortunately, I am not adapted to living in this hot weather. But you know who is? The cutest desert animal, the fennec fox. Fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda) get their name from the Arabic word for fox, fanak. They are found in the deserts…
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Meet the giant anteater
It’s summer here in Boston, which means the dreaded return of ants. We’ve been getting ants in our house lately (although they seem to be gone after we set out some traps!). But you know what else can get rid of ants? Anteaters. Anteaters are animals in the order Pilosa, an order that includes sloths. There…