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Monkeys

Most monkey species live in the tropical rain forests of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, or savannas of Africa. Geladas and golden monkeys live in the mountains, and Japanese macaques live in parts of Japan where it snows. Baboons live in savannas, open wooded areas, and rocky hillsides. Even though they are able to climb trees, they spend most of their time on the ground. 

Monkeys are found in two main regions of the world: Old World monkeys or New World monkeys. Old World monkeys are found in Africa and Asia. New World monkeys are found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Marmosets and tamarins also live where New World monkeys are found but are different enough to be in their own different scientific grouping.

Otters

Otters are the only serious swimmers in the weasel family. They spend most of their lives in the water. Their sleek, streamlined bodies are perfect for diving and swimming. Otters also have long, slightly flattened tails that move sideways to propel them through the water while their back feet act like paddles to steer.

Otters are very energetic and playful. They are intelligent and curious, and they are usually busy hunting, investigating, or playing with something. Otters like to throw and bounce things, wrestle, spin, and chase their tail. They also play games of tag and chase each other, both in the water and on the ground. River otters seem to like sliding down mud banks or in the snow. All this is part of the otters social bonding and communication behavior, and since young otters need practice, they are even more playful than the adults.

Chinchilla

A chinchilla is smaller than a house cat, with large, dark eyes, fluffy round ears, and soft, gray fur. They are very social, living in groups, which can form big colonies, called herds, of over 100 animals. Unlike other rodent species, male chinchillas help raise the babies if needed. And if a female can’t nurse her own kids, another female may come to rescue and feed her babies.
There are two chinchilla species: the long-tailed or Chilean Chinchilla lanigera and the short-tailed Chinchilla chinchilla. Both have been hunted a lot in the past years. They are still hunted as of today. They are also commonly found as pets.

Dogs

Dogs were probably the first tame animals. They have accompanied humans for at least 20,000 years and maybe as many as 40,000. Scientists agree that all dogs, domestic and wild, share a common wolf ancestor; at some point grey wolves and dogs went on their separate evolutionary ways. 

Domestic dogs still share many behaviors with their wild relatives. Both defend their territories and mark their space.  These scent posts are to tell other dogs that an animal is occupying this territory. Many pet dogs also bury bones or favorite toys for future use, just as their wild relatives sometimes bury a kill to secure the meat for later feasts.

Giraffes

Giraffes are the tallest land animals. A giraffe’s 6-foot neck weighs about 600 pounds and the legs of a giraffe are also 6 feet long. The back legs look shorter than the front legs, but they are about the same length. A giraffe’s heart is 2 feet long and weighs about 25 pounds, and its lungs can hold 12 gallons of air. Its closest relative is the okapi.

Giraffes have a small hump on their back and have a spotted pattern similar to that of a leopard. For a long time people called the giraffe “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard. That’s where the giraffe’s species name camelopardalis comes from.

Turtles

Turtles spend most of their life in the water. Turtles tend to have webbed feet for swimming. Sea turtles are especially adapted for an aquatic life, with long feet that form flippers and a streamlined body shape. They rarely leave the ocean, except when the females come ashore to lay their eggs. 

Other turtles live in freshwater, like ponds and lakes. They swim, but they also climb out onto banks, logs, or rocks to be in the sun. In cold weather, they may burrow into the mud, where they go to sleep until spring brings warm weather again.

Sloths

Thousands of years ago, large ground sloths roamed the United States. They ranged in size from an average dog to an elephant. These sloths had long claws and ate plants. They became extinct about 10,000 years ago. Today’s sloths are much smaller, and live in trees. 

Sloths are slow, nocturnal creatures that spend almost their entire life upside down in the trees. They eat, sleep, mate, and give birth from this position hanging high among the branches. Sloths are the only mammals whose hair grows in the opposite direction from the hair of other mammals. To adjust to their upside lifestyle, the hair parts in the middle of the belly and grows upward toward the back. The hair on the face points upward, too. This allows water to run off during rainstorms.

Penguins

Penguins are torpedo-shaped, flightless birds that live in the southern regions of the Earth. Though many people imagine a small, black-and-white animal when they think of penguins, these birds actually come in a variety of sizes, and some are very colorful.

They are considered marine birds,and they live most of their lives in the ocean. All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, although most people think that they all live in Antarctica. Penguins can actually be found on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also not true that penguins can only live in cold climates. The Galapagos penguin actually lives on tropical islands at the equator.