Dec 27 2020, 02:05 AM
Aldabra tortoise
Common Name: Aldabra tortoise
Genus & Species: Aldabrachelys gigantea
Family: Testudinidae
Order: Testudines
Class: Reptilia
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Brief Description: Large land tortoise. The shell is brown or dark grey in color, and the legs are stocky and covered in thick scales. In males, the bottom shell is concave, while it is flat in females. The neck is long to help with food-gathering, and the head is relatively small and pointed. Diet is mostly leaves, grass, and woody plants.
Size: Males have a carapace length of about 48 inches (122 cm) and weigh about 550 pounds (250 kg); females have a carapace length of about 36 inches (91 cm) and weigh about 350 pounds (159 kg).
Source: Smithsonian
Availability: Basic
Pancake tortoise
Common Name: Pancake tortoise
Genus & Species: Malacochersus tomieri
Family: Testudinidae
Order: Testudines
Class: Reptilia
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Brief Description: The shell is unique in that it is flexible and flat, not domed. Holes in the shell make it lightweight, helping make the pancake tortoise fast and agile. Rather than retreating into its shell to hide from danger, it runs away and wedges itself into narrow spaces between rocks. Its natural habitat is arid savanna and scrubland.
Size: 6 to 7 inches (15 to 17.7 centimeters) long and about 1 pound (453 g)
Source: San Diego Zoo
Availability: Basic
Southern Marsupial mole
Common Name: Southern Marsupial Mole
Genus & Species: Notoryctes typhlops
Family: Notoryctidae
Order: Notoryctemorphia
Class: Mammalia
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Brief Description: No eyes, fur-covered holes instead of ears, short silky fur that ranges from creamy white to reddish brown, possibly because it picks up the color of the soil. The snout has a furless, pink, bumpy, keratinous shield on it; the nostrils are tiny vertical slits located on that shield. The limbs are short, with digits 3 and 4 of each foot having large, shovel-like claws.
Size: 5.12 to 5.71 in (13-14.5 cm) length; weighs 30 to 60 g (0.067 to 0.132 lb)
Source: Animal Diversity Web (U of Michigan)
Availability: Basic
Red-crowned crane
Common Name: Red-crowned crane
Genus & Species: Grus japonensis
Family: Gruidae
Order: Gruiformes
Class: Aves
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Brief Description: Mostly snowy-white with black legs, tail, face, neck, and a red patch of bare skin on the top of the head. Young birds have more brown/grey in their feathers, but those are replaced with white when they get older. Black eyes, long sharp beak. Long legs for wading in marshes. Eats invertebrates, fish, amphibians, rodents, reeds/grasses, rice, and heath berries.
Size: 158 centimeters (62 in) tall, 2.5 meter wingspan, 7 to 15 kilograms (15 to 26 pounds).
Source: Smithsonian
Availability: Basic