Critter Science
The Science of Animals
With an impressive wingspan of over 10 feet, the Andean condor is considered as the largest flying bird in the world! They also have the largest wingspan of any raptor. Due to their enormous size, they aren’t the best at staying in the air. This is why these scavengers tend to
The tayra is a member of the weasel family. There are 9 known subspecies of tayra that range from Central and South America to Trinidad. Tayras live in woodlands and dense tropical rainforests. The locals use tayra for the control of pests, primarily because they eat rodents. The
The weasel-like jaguarundi is the topic of today. They have a long slender body, a small flattened head with short rounded ears, and short legs. They are closely related to the puma and are sometimes called Leoncillo “Little lion”, Otter cat, Yaguarundi, Gato Moro, Onza, and
The giant river otter is endemic to South America and more specifically the Amazon, Orinoco, and La Plata River systems. These otters like slow-moving rivers, swamps, lakes, and flooded forests. They belong to the mustelid family. Their numbers have dropped dramatically
The Galápagos tortoise is the largest tortoise on Earth. Sadly, out of the 15 known subspecies of these tortoises, only 11 remain in the wild. They live in dry lowlands to more humid highlands. Galápagos tortoises were hunted during the 17th, 18th, and 19th century to near extinction
The spectacled bear is the only species of bear found in South America. It can be seen in Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Spectacled bears inhabit high altitude cloud forests but they can also be found in various other habitats like grassland
If you think you’ve seen these before…. you have. They’re the most populated mammal in South America, the guanaco. These critters are the parent species of the domesticated llama. They inhabit the mountainous regions of Patagonia, in Argentina and Chile. The males
The crested caracara is a bird of prey that belongs to the falcon family. They are found in the southwestern parts of the U.S. and in Central and South America. The crested caracara inhabits savannas, pastures, grasslands, scrublands, open countryside and areas near
The kinkajou lives in tropical rainforests from the southern parts of Mexico down into Brazil. Its small feet have fingers that are a slightly webbed and come equipped with sharp claws. Dense, wool-like fur serves as a raincoat to help keep them dry in their rainy environment
The pudu deer consist of 2 known species of South American deer and are the world’s smallest deer. The name comes from Mapudungun, the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of central Chile and south-western Argentina. These tiny deer are the size of a small dog
One of the more bizarre mammals, and there are a few, is the anteater. They can range in size from a squirrel, to up to 7′ long! There are 4 species of anteater: giant anteater, silky anteater, northern tamandua and southern tamandua
There are many species of dolphins in the world. The most unique, by far, is the pink river dolphin. These dolphins begin life as a gray color and slowly turn pink as they age. They can be anywhere from predominantly gray with a few pink spots, to nearly as
Among the large host of critters found in the Amazon is the caiman, a carnivorous (eats meat), semi-aquatic crocodilian that calls the Amazon rainforest its home. There are 6 known species of caiman found in Central and South America: in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru
The coatis or coatimundis are relatives of the raccoon that live from Arizona and areas of southern New Mexico in the U.S., through Mexico (except the Baja peninsula and central Sierra Madres) and into Central America, all the way to Panama and into South America in areas
The piranha is a small to medium sized fish that lives in rivers and lakes of South America. They have also been introduced to some rivers and lakes in North America and Kaptai Lake in Bangladesh. The name piranha means “fish tooth” in the indigenous languages of the Amazon