|
Point Defiance Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is located in Tacoma, Washington, US and is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, PDZA is owned by Metro Parks Tacoma. Situated on in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, the zoo and aquarium are home to over 9,000 specimens representing 367 animal species. The zoo was founded in 1905; the aquarium was founded in 1935 near Commencement Bay and relocated within the zoo in 1963. Both are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In Pierce County, Washington, this is said to be one of the most popular tourist destinations, bringing in over more than 600,000 visitors per year. History The Zoo was founded in 1905, and moved closer to its current location in 1914. The Point Defiance Park Aquarium opened on the waterfront in 1936 as an entity separate from the zoo. By the late 1940s, several Zoo buildings were in disrepair and had to be rebuilt. The 36-year-old animal house was demolished and a new one with sandstone wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, northwest of Mount Rainier National Park, and east of Olympic National Park. The city's population was 219,346 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Tacoma is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the List of municipalities in Washington, third-most populous in the state. Tacoma also serves as the center of business activity for the South Puget Sound, South Sound region, which has a population of about 1 million. Tacoma adopted its name after the nearby Mount Rainier, called in the Lushootseed, Puget Sound Salish dialect, and “Takhoma” in an anglicized version. It is locally known as the "City of Destiny" because the area was chosen to be the western terminus of the Northern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harbor Seals
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ... and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans, Baltic Sea, Baltic and North Sea, North seas. Harbour seals are brown, silvery white, tan, or grey, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and weigh up to . Blubber under the seal's skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years). Harbor seals stick to familiar resting spot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Murre
The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a Subarctic, circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands. Common murres are fast in direct flight but are not very agile. They are highly mobile underwater using their wings to 'fly' through the water column, where they typically dive to depths of . Depths of up to have been recorded. Common murres breed in Bird colony, colonies at high densities. Nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. They make no nest; their single egg is Avian incubation, incubated between the adult's feet on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. Eggs hatch after ~30 days incubation. The chick is born Down feather, downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. Some 20 days after hatching, the chick leaves its nesting ledge and heads for the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horned Puffin
The horned puffin (''Fratercula corniculata'') is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. It nests in colonies, often with other auks. It is similar in appearance to the Atlantic puffin, its closest relative of the North Atlantic, but differs by a "horn" of black skin located above the eye, present in adult birds. Etymology The binomial name of this species, ''Fratercula corniculata'', comes from the Medieval Latin ''fratercula'', meaning “friar”; their black-and-white plumage resembling the robes of monks. ''Corniculata'' means “horn-shaped” or “crescent-shaped”, in reference to the black horn above the bird's eye. The vernacular name ''puffin'' – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated species, the Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus''), formerly known as the "M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Otter
The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the Mustelidae, weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter is capable of living exclusively in the ocean. The sea otter inhabits nearshore environments, where it dives to the sea floor to Foraging, forage. It preys mostly on marine Invertebrate, invertebrates such as sea urchins, various mollusks and crustaceans, and some species of fish. Its foraging and eating habits are noteworthy in several respects. Its Tool use by sea otters, use of rocks to dislodge prey and to open shells makes it one of the few mammal species to use tools. In most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harbor Seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas. Harbour seals are brown, silvery white, tan, or grey, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and weigh up to . Blubber under the seal's skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years). Harbor seals stick to familiar resting spots or haulout sites, generally rocky areas (although ice, sand, and mud may also be used) where they are protected from adverse weather conditions and predation, near a foraging area. Males may fight over mates under water and on land. Females bear a single pup after a nine-month gestation, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Flattery, Washington
Cape Flattery () is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and is the northern boundary of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Cape Flattery can be reached from a short hike, most of which is boardwalked. Cape Flattery Trail, with photographs. The westernmost point in the contiguous United States is at Cape Alava, south of Cape Flattery in Olympic National Park. However, the westernmost tip of Cape Flattery is almost exactly as far west as Cape Alava, the difference being approximately 5 seconds of longitude, about , at high tide and somewhat more at low tide. The Cape Flattery Lighthouse is on Tatoosh Island, just off the cape. Makah Bay and Neah Bay are on either side of the cape. Neah Bay, Washington is the closest town to the cape. History James Cook Cape Flattery is the oldest non- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malayan Tapir
The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir, oriental tapir, Indian tapir, piebald tapir, or black-and-white tapir, is the only living tapir species outside of the Americas. It is native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered species, Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the population is estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. Taxonomy The scientific name ''Tapirus indicus'' was proposed by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1819 who referred to a tapir described by Pierre-Médard Diard. ''Tapirus indicus brevetianus'' was coined by a Dutch zoologist in 1926 who described a black Malayan tapir from Sumatra that had been sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the early 1920s. Phylogenetics, Phylogenetic analyses of 13 Malayan tapirs showed that the species is monophyletic. It was placed in the genus ''Acrocodia'' by Colin Groves and Peter Grubb (zoologist), Peter Grubb in 2011. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is characterised by its long Elephant trunk, trunk with a single finger-like processing; large tusks in males; laterally folded large ears and wrinkled grey skin that is partly depigmented on the trunk, ears or neck. Adult males average in weight and females . It has a large and well developed neocortex of the brain, is highly intelligent and self-aware being able to display behaviours associated with grief, learning and greeting. Three subspecies are recognised—''Sri Lankan elephant, E. m. maximus'', Indian elephant, ''E. m. indicus'' and ''Sumatran elephant, E. m. sumatranus''. The Asian elephant is distributed in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west to Borneo in the east, and Nepal in the north to Sumatra in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siamang
The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an endangered arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching in height, and weighing up to . It is the only species in the genus ''Symphalangus''. Fossils of siamangs date back to the Middle Pleistocene. Two features distinguish the siamang from other gibbons. First, two digits on each foot—the second and third toes—are partially joined by a membrane, hence the specific name '' syndactylus'', from the Ancient Greek σύν, ''sun-'', "with" + δάκτυλος, ''daktulos'', "finger". Second, a large gular sac (throat pouch), found in both males and females of the species, can be inflated to the size of the siamang's head, allowing it to make resonating calls. Two subspecies of the siamang are the nominate Sumatran siamang (''S. s. syndactylus'') and the Malaysian siamang (''S. s. continentis'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern White-cheeked Gibbon
The northern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus leucogenys'') is a Critically Endangered species of gibbon native to South East Asia. It is closely related to the southern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus siki''), with which it was previously considered conspecific. The females of the two species are virtually indistinguishable in appearance. The genome of ''N. leucogenys'' was sequenced and published in 2011. Description Northern white-cheeked gibbons are sexually dimorphic, with males and females having different colourations and the former also being slightly larger. Males have black hair over their entire bodies, except for distinct white patches on their cheeks, as well as a prominent tuft of hair on the crown of head, and a gular sac. Females are reddish-tan in colour, lack a cranial tuft, and have a crest of black or dark brown fur running from the crown to the nape of the neck. They are reported to have an average weight of , although this is based on only a small num ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumatran Tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali tiger, Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. DNA sequencing, Sequences from complete mitochondrial genes of 34 tigers support the hypothesis that Sumatran tigers are diagnostically distinct from mainland subspecies. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and recognizes the living and extinct tiger populations in Indonesia as ''Sunda Island tiger, P. t. sondaica''. Taxonomy ''Felis tigris sondaicus'' was the scientific name proposed by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1844 for a tiger specimen from Java. ''Panthera tigris sumatrae'' was proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1929, who described a skin and a skull of a tiger zoological specimen from Sumatra. The skull and pelage pattern of tiger specimens from Java and Sumatra do not differ significantly. '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
