Pygmy hippo born at Metro Richmond Zoo in December 2022

The Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia, America, is celebrating the birth of a baby Pygmy Hippo. 

Born on 6 December 2022, the Pygmy Hippopotamus does not yet have a name. Its parents are Iris and Corwin. Iris was pregnant for 7 months before giving birth to her daughter. 

She weighed 7 kilograms (16 pounds) and is growing rapidly. After a week, she was already 11 kilograms (24 pounds). When she is an adult, she will weigh up to 272 kilograms (600 pounds).

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How big is a hippopotamus mouth?

How big is a hippopotamus mouth?

The Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a large African even-toed ungulate (hoofed) mammal in the Hippopotamidae family. Hippopotamus means river horse. 

It has small ears, small eyes, and a large nose at the top of its head so that it can submerge itself underwater, with only these parts of its body showing above the water. Its head is large, with a wide mouth and canine ivory tusks.

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Tushetian Sheep

The Tushetian Sheep (Ovis aries musimon) is a ruminant mammal in the Bovidae family. It is an artiodactyla – an even-toed ungulate (hoofed mammal). It is a sub-species of the primitive Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries). It is similar to the Near East Sheep and it is also known as the European Mouflon.

The Tushetian Sheep has a smooth, long, well-developed woolly coat. Its face is not woolly. It has a small, fat, woolly tail. It has long ears. The male is red-brown in summer with a white saddle patch or more white areas. The female is brownish. Both the male and female are darker in winter. The male has helix-shaped horns, but the female does not have horns.

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Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

The Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil (Polydrusus sericeus and Polydrusus formosus) is a small insect in the Curculionidae family of broad-nosed weevils.

The Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil has brilliant, iridescent, metallic, light-green scales. Underneath the scales, is a black body, which will show if the scales drop off. It has a down-curved snout (nose) that can get into flowers and plants. It has bent, clubbed-shaped antennae. It has a head with large eyes, a thorax with six legs, and an oval-shaped abdomen with ridged lines from thorax to tail.

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Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form

The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form (Cepaea nemoralis) is an air-breathing pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Helicidae family of terrestrial (land) snails. It is a variant of the Grove Snail, also known as the Brown-Lipped Snail. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).

The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form can be varied in its appearance. The surface of its shell is semi-glossy. The shell has a right-handed whorl, which is called a dextral shell. The colour of the Grove Snail’s shell can be reddish, brownish, yellow, or creamy-white, with or without bands. The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form has a light, creamy yellow shell. It does not have prominent dark-brown bands or stripes. It has a white lip, not a brown lip. Its head extends to form a snout (proboscis). It has tentacles on its head. Its eyes are at the tip of the tentacles. 

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What is the difference between the European Hare and the Patagonian Mara?

What is the difference between the European Hare (Lepus europaeus) and the Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)?

The European Hare is a lagomorph, specifically a leporid mammal, related to rabbits. It is also known as the Brown Hare. The Patagonian Mara is a large rodent. It is also known as the Patagonian Hare or the Patagonian Cavy, but it is not a hare and it is not related to hares or rabbits. The Patagonian Mara is a cavid, related to the guinea pig. 

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Dinosaur Series: Stegosaurus

The Stegosaurus (Stegosaurus stenops) is a large, four-legged, herbivorous armoured dinosaur in the Stegosauridae family. Its name means roof lizard. 

It lived about 155-150 million years ago in the Late Jurassic period.

The Stegosaurus is easily recognizable. It had a small head, short neck, and rounded back. It had large knife-shaped, upright plaques along its back and spikes on its tail. It walked on four legs, with its front legs shorter than its hind (back) legs. It had small, triangular, flat teeth.  

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Dinosaur Series: Giraffatitan

The Giraffatitan (Giraffatitan brancai) is a large, four-legged sauropod dinosaur in the Brachiosauridae family. Its name means titanic giraffe. It was found in the country that is now Tanzania in Africa.

It lived about 150 million years ago in the Late Jurassic period.

The Giraffatitan walked on four legs, with its front legs longer than its hind (back) legs. The first toe on its front feet, and the first three toes on its hind feet, were clawed. It had a long neck, like a giraffe’s neck. Its tail was also long. It had spatulate, or chisel-shaped, teeth.  

It was a herbivore, because it ate plants.

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Vineyard Snail

The Vineyard Snail (Cernuella virgata or Helicella virgata) is a pulmonate air-breathing gastropod mollusc in the Geomitridae family of terrestrial (land) hairy snails. It is also known as the Common White Snail.

The Vineyard Snail usually has a creamy-white shell with fine growth lines. It has a darker line and white line along the outside of its shell. However, its shell can be variable. It has whorls, and the last whorl is slightly rounded. It has a brown mouth with pink inside. It shell is faintly glossy. Its body is grey.

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Stick Grasshopper

The Stick Grasshopper (Paraproscopia riedei) is an insect in the Proscopiidae family. It is also known as the Locust Phasmid, the Horsehead Grasshopper, and the Jumping Stick. It is not a stick insect phasmid – it is a stick locust, a proscopiid.

The Stick Grasshopper has a green to brown, cylindrical, and elongated body. It has a conical head with large eyes. It has short antennae. The wings are extremely short or absent. It cannot fly and protects itself by camouflaging itself like a stick. It has six long thin legs. It has strong hind (back) legs and it can jump large distances.

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Eureka Red Peacock Cichlid – Yellow Morph

The Eureka Red Peacock Cichlid – Yellow Morph (Aulonocara jacobfreibergi) is a freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is also known as the Freiberg’s Cichlid or the Fairy Cichlid.  

The Eureka Red Peacock Cichlid – Yellow Morph is the yellow variant. It is greenish-to-yellowish with a red-orange head and a yellow tail. It has tinges of blue on its bottom lip and bottom fin.

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