Guinea pigs are rodents that were first domesticated in 5,000 B.C. The domesticated species, Cavia porcellus, is most likely derived from the Andean Cavia tschudii (or montane guinea pig), found in Peru, highland Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northeastern Chile.
Guinea pigs have no tails.
The sliminess on amphibians is more than just goop—it’s how these animals survive. A scientist and intern from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation Genomics explains.
Have you ever wondered what the difference between a reptile and amphibian is?
The ruddy turnstone is a short legged, chunky sandpiper with an extensive wintering range. Turnstones are known for sticking their bills under stones, pebbles and shells, and flipping them over to find food.
Nonbreeding adults have a brown feather pattern.
The secret to salamanders’ survival may be in their slimy secretions. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are swabbing salamanders in Shenandoah, looking for disease-fighting microbes that live in the mucus on their skin.
Both salamanders and frogs secrete peptides from their skin that have antimicrobial
What animal can rotate its head 180 degrees, has ears that function like satellites and marks its territory (and members of its social group) with urine? Meet our southern lesser galago brothers, Mopani and Damara!
The pair arrived in February and have settled into their new digs at the Small Mammal
In summer 2023, Bird House keepers celebrated the arrival of orchard oriole chicks—the first hatched in human care—and Baltimore oriole chicks. Curator Sara Hallager shares an update about the team’s success.
They have independent, curious and easy-going personalities.
An elegant, graceful antelope (which may be behind the legend of the unicorn), the scimitar-horned oryx is supremely adapted to desert life. Currently extinct in the wild, conservation scientists are working on reintroduction programs in Tunisia, Chad and Niger.
Both male and female scimitar-horned oryx have long, ridged, sharp-tipped and curved
Since her birth last May, our baby western lowland gorilla, Zahra, has grown and changed so much. Read the latest #GorillaStory update from keeper Carly Hornberger.
Over the last couple months, I have really enjoyed developing a relationship with
There are 30 species of plated lizards, and the African plated lizard (also called the giant plated lizard) is one of the largest. It has a squat body, plate-like scales and powerful legs.
They have thick bodies and powerful legs, which aid in both speed and digging.
Friends of the National Zoo volunteers are helping primate keepers monitor how our western lowland gorillas interact with one another, says primate keeper Melba Brown.
rump is much more noticeable now, and the pink coloration on his palms and feet have
