Lilac Point Siamese Cat

The Lilac Point Siamese Cat (Felis catus) is a common and popular domestic mammal in the Felidae family of cats. It is a version of the Chocolate Point Siamese and the Blue Point Siamese. The colour breed was officially recognized in 1955.

The Lilac Point Siamese Cat has an elongated, muscular body, a triangular-shaped head, almond-shaped eyes, and large ears. It has a long neck, and a thin, long tail. It has sharp teeth, a triangular snub nose, and long, white whiskers. It has a creamy-white body with short, glossy fur and lilac-grey points with pink undertones. It has blue-grey eyes. 

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Which Animal has Asymmetrical Ears?

Which animal has asymmetrical ears? 

Asymmetrical means that two things, or two halves of the same thing, do not look the same – either the same size or the same shape. They look lopsided.

Many owls (but not all owls) have asymmetrical ears. The British Trust for Ornithology says that, in many owls, the left ear is positioned lower than the right ear. The two ears are also out of line on the vertical plane.

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What is the difference between the male and female Greater Kudu?

What is the difference between the male and female Greater Kudu? 

The Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is an ungulate (hoofed) mammal in the Bovidae family of cattle and antelopes.It is a browser, eating plants, leaves, flowers, and fruit. It is native to the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. 

A male Greater Kuduis called a bull and a female is called a cow.

Both the male and the female Greater Kudu have a sandy-brown body with huge cupped ears, a white chevron stripe between its eyes, 6-10 vertical white stripes on its sides, a ridge of dark hair along its back, and a short, bushy black-tipped tail. 

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South American Fur Seal

The South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis) is an aquatic marine (saltwater) mammal in the Pinnipedia clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is a pinniped (fin-footed) and an otariid (eared seal).

The South American Fur Seal has dark-grey or brown fur. The male has a mane of hair around its neck. It has a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and an upturned nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It does not have external ear flaps.

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. It has a fatty body, called blubber, which keeps it warm and buoyant. It has a flexible spine (backbone). It has short fins, and on land, it has difficulty walking, so it crawls.

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South American Sea Lion

The South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens) is a marine (saltwater) mammal in the Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is an otariid, which is an eared sea lion. It is also known as the Southern Sea Lion and the Patagonian Sea Lion.

The South American Sea Lion has orange to brown fur. The male has a very large mane of hair on its back, like other sea lions. It has a sleek, slender build with a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a long, protruding face and upturned nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It has small external ears on the sides of its face. 

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. Its fatty body has blubber, which keeps it warm and buoyant. It has a flexible spine (backbone). On land, it walks on its foreflippers (front flippers). 

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Tolai Hare

The Tolai Hare (Lepus tolai) is a lagomorph mammal in the Leporidae family of hares. 

The Tolai Hare is variable in colour, but it usually has pale-brown, sandy-grey, or brownish-yellow fur. It has a white underbelly. It has black-tipped elongated ears. It has long legs, a flexible neck, and a short, stub tail, called a scut, with a brownish-black stripe on the top. It has large incisors (front teeth) as well as cheek teeth. It has orange-brown eyes.

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Holland Lop Rabbit

The Holland Lop Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) is a mammal in the Leporidae family of domestic lop-eared rabbits. It is a sub-species of the European Rabbit. It is a leporid mammal, or a lagomorph.

The Holland Lop Rabbit is a hybrid of the French Lop Rabbit and the Netherland Dwarf Rabbit. It is small, light, and fluffly. It has a wide range of colours, but it is mainly white, light orange, grey, brown, or dark chocolate brown. It has a white underbelly. 

It is famous for its lopped, almond-shaped ears that hang limply down the side of its face, instead of standing upwards. Its legs are short with claws on its feet. It has a short tail called a scut. It has black or brown eyes. It has incisors (front teeth) as well as cheek teeth. 

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Bilby

The Bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a marsupial (pouched) mammal in the Thylacomyidae family of pouched mice. It is also known as the Rabbit-Bandicoot or the Rabbit-Eared Bandicoot. It is related to the Bandicoot.

The Bilby has soft grey or blue-grey fur, with a white underbelly. It looks like a large mouse with a long, pointy nose, whiskers, long hairless rabbit-like ears, and a long tail. Its tail has a white tuft of hair at the tip. It has strong forelimbs (front legs) with large, pointed claws. 

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What are the similarities and differences in the faces of the Kangaroo, Pademelon, Tree-Kangaroo, and Wallaby?

The Kangaroo, Pademelon, Tree-Kangaroo and Wallaby are all macropod (large-footed) marsupial (pouched) mammals.

The Kangaroo, Pademelon, and Wallaby have triangular-shaped faces with black noses, whereas the Tree-Kangaroo has a square-shaped face with a pink nose.

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Gaur

The Gaur (Bos gaurus) is a large bovine ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is also known as the Indian Bison.  

The Gaur is a species of wild cattle with short, narrow, pointed, black-tipped horns and a prominent ridge on its back. It has large ears. It has short, glossy, dark-brown fur, which becomes almost black as it ages. Its head is often ashy-grey and its nose is whitish. It does not have a distinct dewlap (loose skin under its chin) like other bovines have. The female is lighter brown with thinner horns. 

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What are the similarities between the Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna?

What are the similarities between the Alpaca (Vicugna pacos), the Llama (Lama glama), and the Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna)? 

The Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna are all ungulate (hoofed) camelid mammals. They are related to the Camel.

The Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna have soft sheep-like wool. The Alpaca has the second softest wool and the Vicuna has the softest wool.

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Praying Mantis ears

What is unusual about the ears of the Praying Mantis?

Animals have two ears. The Praying Mantis is an insect and most insects have two ears.

But the Praying Mantis is the only animal in the world with a single ear.

Its one ear is located in a fold on the underside of its thorax.

 

Cartilage

What is cartilage?

Cartilage is smooth elastic tissue, such as the human rib cage, ear, and nose.

Cartilage does not contain blood vessels or nerves.

Sharks, rays, and skates are cartilaginous fish because they have a skeleton made entirely of cartilage.

Animal Ears: do big animals have big ears?

Do big animals have big ears and small animals have small ears? No, animal ears are many sizes and shapes.

Most ears have an outer ear (a pinna, a canal, and an eardrum), a middle ear, and an inner ear.

The pinna is the fleshy part that is visible. It is made of cartilage, not bone, so it is soft. It usually also has an ear lobe. The pinna directs sound through the canal to the eardrum.

The pinna has a muscle that moves the ear. For example, elephants and dogs can move their ears. Animals move their ears in the direction of a sound so that they can hear better.

Not all animals can move their ears because they have weak and non-functioning ear muscles. Animals that cannot move their ears include gorillas and monkeys. Humans cannot move their ears (without touching them).

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African Elephant and Asian Elephant: what’s the difference?

What is the difference between an African Elephant and an Asian Elephant?

The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) are both land mammals.

The African Elephant has larger ears than the Asian Elephant.

The African Elephant has ears shaped like the continent of Africa; the Asian Elephant has ears shaped like the country of India.

The African Elephant has no frontal hump on its head; the Asian Elephant has a frontal hump on its head.

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Asian Elephant

The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is a large land mammal.

The Asian Elephant has grey, almost hairless, wrinkled skin over its body. Its nose is a long trunk, its ears are fan-like flaps, and its tail is short. It has small dark eyes, a small mouth, and large forward and upturned ivory tusks. Females usually do not have tusks, but might have barely visible tushes (seen only when the mouth is open).

Its legs are thick with large pads for feet. Its front feet have a round sole, and the hind (back) feet have an oval-shaped sole. Its feet have distinct nail-like structures on each foot.

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CREATURE FEATURE: Lesser Kudu

The Lesser Kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) is a medium-sized African antelope. It is an ungulate mammal (it has hoofed feet).

The Lesser Kudu is narrow-bodied with a small head and huge cupped ears. It has a distinct white patch on its upper and lower throat, with two white cheek spots and a chevron stripe from its eyes. It is blue-grey, darkening in colour with age. It has up to 14 vertical bright white stripes on its body. It has a short bushy tail, black-tipped with white underneath. On its legs are black garters (a stripe or line). Only males have horns.

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