Facts 26/05/05: Zoo
I went to Melbourne zoo today and learned some facts that are new and interesting to me! Here are some of them.
Crocodilians have 66 teeth on average at one time. They grow new teeth as the old ones fall off due to eating. They could have as many as 3,000 teeth throughout their entire life!
What’s the difference between crocodile and alligator?
Crocodile lives in Australia and Asia regions and it shows all its teeth when closing its mouth. Alligator lives in United States and China regions and because its lower teeth are enclosed within its upper jaw when its mouth is closed, only its upper teeth can be seen.
Do you know that all Jaguars are spotted though some appear black? The black ones have their spots seen when light fall on their coat.
Why do giraffes have blue tongue? According to the zoo keeper it is to keep the tongue from sunburn while grabbing food during the heat of the day. Just like human with darker skin colour get less sunburn compared to those with fairer skin, blue coloured tongue is less likely to get sunburn compared to pink or cream ones.
Why does a mother wombat keep her embryo in the pouch rather than keeping it growing in her womb? It is to allow the mother to abort the baby at any time. A wombat is born three to four weeks after the parents mate and the embryo would crawl to its mother’s pouch and attach itself to its mother’s teat. The teat would then swell and hook the baby for the next few months. Taking a wombat embryo would need the cutting of its mother’s teat. Wombats live in harsh environments. They have rear-facing pouches, designed to avoid earth to come in it while they are digging. When hit with severe drought, they could abort their babies for their own survival. They would breed again when things are better. For the same reason, kangaroos, koalas and possums have pouches.
Crocodilians have 66 teeth on average at one time. They grow new teeth as the old ones fall off due to eating. They could have as many as 3,000 teeth throughout their entire life!
What’s the difference between crocodile and alligator?
Crocodile lives in Australia and Asia regions and it shows all its teeth when closing its mouth. Alligator lives in United States and China regions and because its lower teeth are enclosed within its upper jaw when its mouth is closed, only its upper teeth can be seen.
Do you know that all Jaguars are spotted though some appear black? The black ones have their spots seen when light fall on their coat.
Why do giraffes have blue tongue? According to the zoo keeper it is to keep the tongue from sunburn while grabbing food during the heat of the day. Just like human with darker skin colour get less sunburn compared to those with fairer skin, blue coloured tongue is less likely to get sunburn compared to pink or cream ones.
Why does a mother wombat keep her embryo in the pouch rather than keeping it growing in her womb? It is to allow the mother to abort the baby at any time. A wombat is born three to four weeks after the parents mate and the embryo would crawl to its mother’s pouch and attach itself to its mother’s teat. The teat would then swell and hook the baby for the next few months. Taking a wombat embryo would need the cutting of its mother’s teat. Wombats live in harsh environments. They have rear-facing pouches, designed to avoid earth to come in it while they are digging. When hit with severe drought, they could abort their babies for their own survival. They would breed again when things are better. For the same reason, kangaroos, koalas and possums have pouches.
