CREATURE FEATURE: European Ground Squirrel

The European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is a rodent mammal in the Sciuridae family of squirrels. It is also known as the European Souslik.

The European Ground Squirrel has a slender body with a short, bushy tail. Its short fur is yellowish-grey, flecked with black hair. Its underside is pale. It has large, dark eyes and small, rounded ears. It has short feet with sharp claws for digging. It has strong, gnawing teeth. It has a small nose with whiskers. 

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Desmarest’s Hutia

The Desmarest’s Hutia (Capromys pilorides) is a mammal in the Echimyidae family of rodents. It is also known as the Cuban Hutia.

The Desmarest’s Hutia is a short, stocky animal with short legs, and looks like a big hairy rat with a heavy rear end. It has thick, coarse fur ranging from black to brown, often with light-brown to reddish fur on its rump, near its tail, and on the crown of its head. It has small ears, small dark eyes, and a dark nose with dark whiskers. It has five toes with large, black claws.

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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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Australian Swamp Rat

The Australian Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus) is a mammal in the Muridae family of rodents and true mice. It is also known as the Eastern Swamp Rat.

The Australian Swamp Rat has a stocky body with black-brown fur and black feet. Its underbelly is lighter. It has small, rounded ears, and small, dark, round eyes. It has long, white whiskers. Its tail is long, dark-grey, scaly, and without hair.

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Juvenile Azara’s Agouti

The Azara’s Agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) is a rodent mammal in the Dasyproctidae family of incisor-toothed agouti, native to South America, in countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

The Azara’s Agouti is a stout brown-furred animal, with a russet-yellow rump. It has pink ears and a pink nose with a white chin. It has dark eyes. Its front feet are grey-black with four toes, and its back feet have three toes. It has a small tail.

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What is the difference between the Greater Guinea Pig and the Patagonian Mara?

What is the difference between the Greater Guinea Pig (Cavia magna) and the Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)?

Both the Greater Guinea Pig and the Patagonian Mara are large, herbivorous, rodent mammals. The Patagonian Mara is also known as the Patagonian Cavy. They are both cavids.

Both the Greater Guinea Pig and the Patagonian Mara have two large front teeth to gnaw plants.

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Plantigrade Locomotion

What is plantigrade locomotion?

Plantigrade locomotion is the way some animals walk with their toes and metatarsals (heels) flat on the ground.

Terrestrial (land) mammals have three ways of walking:

(1) digitigrade (walking on their toes with their heels permanently raised),

(2) unguligrade (walking on the nail of their toes – the hoof – with the heel permanently raised), and 

(3) plantigrade (walking with their toes and heels on the ground).

The leg of a plantigrade mammal includes the bones of the upper leg, called the femur and humerus, and the bones of the lower leg, called the metatarsals and metacarpals. 

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African Giant Pouched Rat

The African Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus) is a muroid rodent. It is also known as the Gambian Pouched Rat. It is not a true rat. It has pouched cheeks like a Hamster. 

The African Pouched Rat has a long grey-reddish furred body, light-coloured tail, pink ears, and a pink-grey nose. It has long incisor teeth. 

It has an excellent sense of smell. African Pouched Rats can detect land mines and tuberculosis.

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