The oarfish is a rarely seen giant of the deep. Measuring up to 17 meters (55 feet), the oarfish had previously only been seen dead or dying after being washed up on shore. This sighting, by scientists in Gulf of Mexico, may be the first of the fish in its natural habitat.
The creature was spotted using a remotely operated vehicle, which allows scientists to observe sea life at depths that are otherwise unreachable.
For more and to see a video of the oarfish, visit BBC News.
Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida has welcomed a baby tamandua, or lesser anteater, to their animal family. The baby was born recently and will cling to his mother back until he is able to walk and find his own food. These anteaters are native to Mexico and South America, living in forests. Anteaters like this will eat up to 9000 ants a day! They use their sharp claws and long tongue to catch their tasty treats.
Very little has changed in the vampire squid since it first appeared about 300 million years ago. The large eyes of the creature are required to see in the dark depths of the ocean it calls home. The eight arms of the vampire squid can curl around its body when it is frightened. This gives the squid the appearance of being inside out and the sudden change can help it avoid attack.
Recently scientists have announced the discovery of the true color of two dinosaurs.
One group of researchers used electron micrography to determine that Sinosauropteryx, a turkey-sized carnivore, had reddish-orange feathers and striped tail.
Another group of researchers determined that Anchiornis huxleyi, a chicken-sized dinosaur, had black and white wings and red crown – similar some woodpeckers. This group used scanning electron microscopes to study pigment samples from fossilized feathers.
To read more and see additional photos, visit National Geographic here and here.
Three year old panda Mei Lan and her 4 year old cousin, Tai Shan, were flown this morning from the United States to China aboard a plane dubbed “The Panda Express.” The two pandas were living at Zoo Atlanta and the National Zoo in Washington, respectively. They were on loan from China and are being sent back to help repopulate the endangered species.
One of the interesting transitions for the pandas to make will be to learn to understand commands in Chinese. Being raised in the United States, the pandas have been trained in English. Therefore, a Chinese language teacher is being hired.
Maniwa City, Japan is home to a quite unusual creature, the giant salamander. With a length of around 1.5 meters (5 ft) and jaws that can tear open a human hand the Japanese giant salamander can be a fearsome creature to encounter in the wild.
These salamanders are aquatic and nocturnal, meaning they live in water and are active at night. They are found in clear, cool water and hunt for insects, fish, and frogs. They will often snap at water comes into their reach hoping for food.
The giant salamander of Japan is only related to two other species, the Chinese giant salamander and the hellbender, found in the United States. However, the skeleton is a match of fossils from 30 million years ago. This means that the giant salamanders we see today are almost exactly like the ones that lived with dinosaurs!
For more about these fascinating creatures and a video, visit BBC News.
You can read about the distant relative of the giant salamander, the spotted salamander, here on Animal Fact Guide.
Baby Akili was born at the Memphis Zoo on Thursday, expanding the zoo’s giraffe family to seven. Although born outside in public view, Akili will be kept inside until the weather warms. She was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 125 lbs at birth.
A group of 11 chimpanzees living in Edinburgh, Scotland have created a film using specially created cameras dubbed ChimpCams. The movie came about as part of research being done by primatologist Betsy Herrelko, who is studying for her PhD.
Herrelko introduced the video technology to the chimps over an 18 month period. She created two goals for the chimpanzees: to learn to select videos to watch using a touchscreen and to learn to record their own videos using the ChimpCam.
By observing what videos the chimpanzees watched, Herrelko was able to determine what chimpanzees prefer to see. The chimps were allowed to choose videos of their enclosure or video of the area where zoo staff prepares their food. While an in-depth analysis of their viewing habits has not been done, it appears that the chimps have no preference for either set of videos.
The chimps were much more interested in the ChimpCam and enjoyed watching the video screen as they filmed their lives in the enclosure.
The film, ChimpCam, will be shown on BBC 2 on Wednesday, January 27th.
For more, and for a clip of the film, visit the BBC.
The Minnesota Zoo has welcomed a female gibbon to their zoo. Born about three weeks ago, the gibbon was not being cared for by her mother. She is a white-cheeked gibbon, a critically endangered species.
Our favorite part of this video is the sounds that the baby makes. She sounds like R2D2.
Wildlife Saving is an organization for children which offers the opportunity to sponsor an animal. The organization has several animals at various wildlife centers around the world that can be sponsored. Each animal has information provided for those who donate. This includes photos and videos of the animal and blog posts from the animals caretakers.
The site requires registration to donate to an animal. To make this safe for children, they comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Parental permission is also required for children to register. They also keep donation prices quite low, from 4 dollars to sponsor for 3 months to 13 dollars for a year.
Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida has welcomed a baby tamandua, or lesser anteater, to their animal family. The baby was born recently and will cling to his mother back until he is able to walk and find his own food. These anteaters are native to Mexico and South America, living in forests. Anteaters like this will eat up to 9000 ants a day! They use their sharp claws and long tongue to catch their tasty treats.
Maniwa City, Japan is home to a quite unusual creature, the giant salamander. With a length of around 1.5 meters (5 ft) and jaws that can tear open a human hand the Japanese giant salamander can be a fearsome creature to encounter in the wild.
A group of 11 chimpanzees living in Edinburgh, Scotland have created a film using specially created cameras dubbed ChimpCams. The movie came about as part of research being done by primatologist Betsy Herrelko, who is studying for her PhD.
Wildlife Saving is an organization for children which offers the opportunity to sponsor an animal. The organization has several animals at various wildlife centers around the world that can be sponsored. Each animal has information provided for those who donate. This includes photos and videos of the animal and blog posts from the animals caretakers.
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