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The North Pacific Giant Octopus is a large mollusc, like all octopuses the species is ranked as one the most intelligent invertebrates. The octopus brain, unlike the majority of invertebrate brains has folded lobes which is a characteristic of complexity. There are numerous cases of octopuses in captivity escaping tanks, destroying equipment and and also having the ability to open screw-top jars. Also, according to Oxford Dictionaries, the plural of octopus is octopuses or even octopodes, not octopi.

#octopus #cephalopod #marine #marine biology #zoology #Ocean #under the sea #zoo #aquarium #Pacific #mollusc #wildlife #nature #just saying

It is well known that the giraffe is the tallest extant terrestrial land animal. It is perhaps less widely known that there are in fact nine different sub species. Each species is differentiated by the coat pattern. The rarest of all subspecies of giraffe is the West African giraffe, there are thought to be around 310 individuals in the wild today, although there were fewer than 50 remaining in the 1990s. The species is distinguishable by a lighter pelage than the other eight subspecies. The small populations are found in pockets of Nigeria and Niger however were once found in areas of the Sahara desert and Senegal, they are the only giraffe species present to the west of lake Chad.

#animals #zoology #giraffe #africa #nigeria #Niger #wildlife #rare #endangered #nature #elegant

Gorillas are the largest extant primate by physical size, wild silverbacks (Males) can weigh up to 180 kg with an arm span up to 2.6 metres. There are two species of gorilla and two subspecies of each species. The two species are Western Gorilla and Eastern Gorilla. There is both an Eastern and Western subspecies of Lowland Gorilla, a subspecies of Western Gorilla called Cross River Gorilla and a subspecies of Eastern Gorilla called Mountain Gorilla.

#Gorilla #nature #animals #zoo #zoology #wildlife #africa #ape #monkey #endangered

Gregoire the chimpanzee was the oldest chimpanzee known to humans until his death in 2008. He arrived at Brazzaville Zoo in 1944 thought to be around two years old and lived on his own until 1996 when he was introduced to two new room mates. in 1997 when the Congolese Civil War escalated it is said that upon hearing shells fired Gregoire would dive under his sleeping shelf and cover himself with whatever he could find. Brazzaville zoo is located less then a mile away from the airport so the decision was made to move Ggregoire and his companions, he was airlifted to Pointe Noire Zoo then later a special reserve. Here Jane Goodall would often see him. It is also said that in spite of his age, Gregoire would still act like a young chimpanzee and would frequently play with younger chimps, he was also mellow and caring towards other chimps and humans.He became a household name throughout much of Congo and had a special BBC documentary and an animal planet film made of his life. He died aged 66.

#chimp #chimpanzee #gregoire the chimp #jane goodall #congo #brazzaville #brazzaville zoo #africa #primate #animals #nature #wild #wildlife #rare #zoology

The Proboscis Monkey is an old world monkey that is endemic to the Asian Island of Borneo. The species is famous for it's long nose and pot belly. These two features gave the monkey the colloquial Malay name of "Orang Belanda" or "Dutch Man" in English, this is due to locals remarking that the monkeys looked like their Dutch colonisers. The monkeys can grow to around seventy centimetres in length (not including tail) they also unusually have webbed toes. Unfortunately the number of wild proboscis monkeys has halved in the last forty years, this is due to hunting and habitat loss, this leaves the species classed as endangered by the IUCN.

#monkey #proboscis monkey #ape #borneo #animals #zoo #zoology

The Malagasy or Oustalets Chameleon is one of around one hundred and sixty species of chameleon found throughout Africa, Southern Europe and some parts of Asia. a very large species of chameleon reaching seventy centimetres in length. They are famous for two traits, one of these being the ability to change colour and the other being their tongues. These tongues can be twice as long as their bodies and are thought to be the fastest thing in the animal kingdom. The tongue can reach the prey in as little as 0.07 seconds and launch at accelerations of 50g.

#chameleon #lizard #reptile #madagascar #africa #Animals #wildlife #nature #zoo #zoology

The Bald Eagle is a large bird of prey that inhabits the majority of North America. It crafts a huge nest that is up to four metres deep and two and a half metres in diameter. These nest can way anything up to a metric tonne. The species is somewhat of an ecological success. In the mid to late twentieth century the species was on the brink of extinction, however by 1995 the species was taken off the endangered list and transferred to the threatened species list. By 2007 the Bald Eagle was removed from both lists and is now classed by the IUCN as of least concern.

#bald eagle #bird #bird of prey #conservation #animals #zoo #zoology #usa #america #canada #wild #wildlife #nature

The Mountain Lion, Cougar or Puma is a big cat that inhabits the majority of The Americas. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Cougars was the attempted hybridisation between the species and Leopards in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in some European Zoo. The hybrids were named Pumapards. Very rarely would the cubs reach adulthood however if they did they would only grow to around half the size of their parents. This inherent dwarfism happened regardless of the parents.

#Animals #zoo #zoology #cougar #puma #mountain lion #mountains #snow #wild #wildlife #nature #leopard #hybrid #genetics

The Elk or Moose is the largest member of the Deer family. They inhabit Canada, Alaska, Russia and Scandinavia and are prey for animals such as Wolves and Bears. Unlike all other deer species they are mainly solitary animals and will never form herds. The modern day moose is a descendant of the prehistoric Cervalces latifrons, a moose that stood at over two metres tall to the shoulder, Cervalces latifrons is the largest species of deer to ever have existed.

#moose #elk #animals #zoo #scandinavia #sweden #norway #russia #canada #alaska #zoology #wildlife #nature

Another genetic condition that affects the coats of big cats is shown in King or Cooper Cheetahs. The condition is caused by a recessive allele on the same gene that is responsible for either striped "mackerel" vs blotchy "classic" fur patterns in Tabby cats. There have been fewer than a hundred sitings in the wild all in Southern Zimbabwe, Botswana or Northern South Africa. A couple were born in captivity in South Africa in 1981.

#king cheetah #cheetah #genetics #big cats #animals #zoology #zoo #nature #wildlife

Golden or Strawberry Tigers is a tiger with a very rare recessive condition. Like white tigers the condition simply affects the colour of the fur and it is not a separate species. There are fewer than 30 Golden Tigers in the world however many probably are carriers.

#tiger #golden tiger #genetics #zoology #zoo #animals #nature #wildlife

The Cheetah is renowned as the fastest land animal in the world today reaching speeds of over seventy miles per hour. The IUCN class the Cheetah as vulnerable, this is partially due to the species being the least able to adapt out of all big cats. Another reason is due to isolation of populations which has resulted in some inbreeding in populations.

#cheetah #africa #wildlife #animals #nature #zoo #zoology

Orangutans are the only species of giant ape to inhabit Asia. There was thought to be only one species of Orangutan until 1996, however in 1996 the species was split into the Bornean and the Sumatran. There are also subspecies of these species. Orangutans are the last remaining example of the subfamily Ponginae which once included apes as tall as three metres.

#animals #nature #wildlife #orangutan #ape #asia #borneo #sumatra

The Mandrill is an old world monkey closely related to Olive Baboons, they are omnivorous and their diet mainly consists of insects and fruit. Mandrills are the worlds largest species of monkey. Their famous brightly coloured faces and backsides caused Charles Darwin to quote "No other member in the whole class of mammals is coloured in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrills."

#Mandrill #bright #animals #nature #wildlife #charles darwin #monkey

This possibly has the greatest title to any article ever, it is also one of the best things I have ever read.

#elephant #animals #bengal #india #nature

Black Jaguars are a result of dominant allele that causes Melanism. Melanism is simply the opposite of albinism.

#nature #wildlife #jaguar #big cats #black panther

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