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CREATURE FEATURE: Addax

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The Addax (Addax nasomaculatus) is an ungulate (hoofed) mammal in the antelope family. It is also known as the White Antelope and the Screwhorn Antelope. It is similar to the Scimitar Oryx.

The Addax has pale-coloured (white or sandy blonde) fur in summer that darkens to greyish-brown in winter. It has white hindquarters and legs. The hair on its head, neck, and shoulders is long and brown. Its head has brown or black markings that form an X-shape over its nose. The male and female have long, spiraled, and twisted horns. Long black hairs protrude between its horns, ending in a short mane on its neck. Its tail is short, ending with a tuft of black hair.

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Great Green Macaw

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The Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguous) is a large bird in the parrot family. It is also known as the Buffon’s Macaw or the Great Military Macaw. It is related to the Scarlet Macaw, the Military Macaw, and the Blue-and-Yellow Macaw.

The Great Green Macaw has mainly green feathers and a reddish forehead, with a pale-blue lower back, rump and upper tail feathers. Its tail is brownish-red tipped with very pale blue. Its bare, featherless facial skin is patterned with lines of short spikes, which are reddish in older parrots and female parrots. It has bluish eyes with a white eye-ring. It has a large, strong grey beak. 

The Scarlet Macaw, like other parrots, has its first and fourth toes pointing backwards.

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Silver Dollar

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The Silver Dollar (Metynnis argenteus) is a freshwater tropical fish. It is a serrasalmid from the Characidae family – the serrated salmon family – such as the pacu and piranha. 

The Silver Dollar has a round, flat body that is laterally compressed (thin). It is silver all over, with a hint of red in its fins, especially its tail fin, and around its throat. During the breeding season, the male has two large black spots behind its pectoral fins, the red colour deepens, and a black margin (border) appears on his fins.

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Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee

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The Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee (Lithurgus chrysurus) is an insect in the Megachilidae family of wood-boring bees.

The Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee has a slightly flattened, elongated body. It is black with pale-yellow or white bands. It has six legs, two pairs of wings, and three body parts: (1) head, (2) thorax, and (3) abdomen. Its wings are translucent (see-through). Its body has bristly hairs on its sides.

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Bird Dropping Spider

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The Bird Dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata) is an arachnid in the Araneidae family. The toxicity of the Bird Dropping Spider is unknown. It is also known as Death’s Head Spider, Orchard Spider, and Bird-Dung Spider.

The Bird Dropping Spider looks like bird droppings – bird poop – to avoid predators, such as birds. It has a broad, triangular, black-brown body with a pair of bumps near its rear end. Its legs are usually folded against its body. 

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Blue Gourami

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The Blue Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) is a freshwater fish in the Osphronemidae family of labyrinthine fish. It is also known as the Dotted Threadfish, the Blue Threadfish, the Opaline Gourami, or the Three Spot Gourami. 

The Blue Gourami is blue-grey to ochre-brown, yellow-orange, and violet. It has the appearance of mother-of-pearl, opal, or iridescence. At the base of the tail fin and in the centre of its body are dark-brown or black spots. Its eyes are reddish-black. 

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The foot: What is the difference between the foot of the Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Orangutan?

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What is the difference between the foot of the Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), and Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)?

The Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Orangutan are primates with five digits on each foot (five toes) with keratin toe nails. Humans also have five digits on each foot with keratin toe nails.

The Gorilla has shorter, wider digits than the Chimpanzee and Orangutan.

The Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Orangutan have prehensile (grasping) feet. Humans do not have prehensile feet (their feet cannot easily grasp objects).

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The hand: What is the difference between the hand of the Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Orangutan?

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What is the difference between the hand of the Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), and Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)?

The Chimpanzee, Gorilla, and Orangutan are primates with five digits on each hand (four fingers and one thumb) with keratin fingernails. Humans also have five digits on each hand (four fingers and one thumb) with keratin fingernails.

The Gorilla has shorter, wider digits than the Chimpanzee and Orangutan.

The Gorilla has a wider palm than the Chimpanzee and Orangutan.

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Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

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The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a small insect in the Pentatomidae family of shield bugs. It is called the Stink Bug because it has an unpleasant smell when it is squashed.

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has a dark-brown and bluish hard, shield-shaped exo-skeleton and a cream-coloured underbelly. The shield is called a scutellum. Marmorated means ‘marble-like’ or light and dark bands. Its six greyish-black legs, called tarsi, have three segments. It has forewings (front wings) called hemelytra, and it also has hindwings (back wings). It has a sucking mouthpart. 

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European Mantis

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The European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) is a large insect in the Mantidae family of mantids, commonly known as the Praying Mantis.  

The front pair of legs of the European Mantis has spikes and are bent in a praying position. It is long and green and can be camouflaged in plants. It can also be brown, reddish-brown, or yellow-green. It has a hard shell, called an exo-skeleton. The male and the female have wings, but the wings of the female are too small for flying. It has a triangular head on a thin flexible neck. It has large compound eyes.

Its movement is rhythmic. It sways back and forth or side to side. 

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Small-Spotted Catshark

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The Small-Spotted Catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) is a cartilaginous marine (saltwater) fish in the Scyliorhinidae family of dogfish. It is also known as the Sandy Dogfish, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, or Round-Hound. 

The Small-Spotted Catshark has an elongated, slender body with a blunt head. Its skin is rough (like sandpaper). It is greyish-brown with dark-brown spots. Its underbelly is greyish-white. 

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Auratus Cichlid

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The Auratus Cichlid (Melanochromis auratus) is a small freshwater fish in the Cichlid family. It is also known as the Golden Mbuna and the Malawi Golden Cichlid. 

The Auratus Cichlid is elongated with a silver sheen and black and white stripes on the upper half of its body. The male is dark brown or black with a light-bluish or yellow stripe. The female is bright yellow with black and white stripes. 

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Violet Valga Carpenter Bee

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The Violet Valga Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa valga) is an insect in the bee family. It is not a Bumblebee, because a Bumblebee has a hairy body. Xylocopa violaceaand Xylocopa valgaare two species of the Violet Carpenter Bee.

The Violet Valga Carpenter Bee is glossy black all over with sparse black hairs. The opaque wings are dark brown with a blue-coloured sheen. It has six legs, two pairs of wings, and three body parts: (1) head, (2) thorax, and (3) abdomen. Its wings are dark (not translucent like other bees). Its antennae are medium-sized, and the male has slightly bent antennae. The male has a yellow patch on the top of its thorax, whereas the female does not (she has a black thorax). The male does not have a stinger. The female has a stinger on her abdomen, but she is not aggressive.

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