Marmoset and Wine
|
Santa Baiji
|
Geoffroy's marmoset
has incisor teeth that are specially adapted to carving out small holes in the trunks of trees, through which they drink the sap and gum that oozes out. |
Dubbed 'Goddess of the Yangtze' in Chinese folklore, the shy and graceful baiji
is now thought to be extinct in the wild. |
Junglefowl Rock
|
Wrasse Christmas
|
Red junglefowl
are the wild ancestors of all domestic poultry. The handsome cock with its golden-orange to deep-red crown and neck feathers, dark metallic-green tail and heavily dented fleshy crest is more brilliantly coloured than its tame relative. |
The humphead wrasse
is one of the largest reef fishes in the world. Adult females are able to change sex but the triggers for this development are not known. |
Auld Langur Syne
|
Manta Claus is Coming to Town
|
Also known as the Hanuman langur
so-called after Hanuman the Hindu monkey-god of healing and worship, the common langur is the sacred monkey of India. |
|
Exceptionally graceful swimmers, manta rays
appear to fly through the water on their large wings. Individuals have also been observed to jump clear out of the water, possibly in a form of communication or play. |
Have Yourself a Murrelet Christmas
|
Frosty the Solenodon |
Kittlitz's murrelet,
one of the rarest breeding seabirds in the North Pacific, is a small and mysterious bird with cryptic plumage that provides camouflage in its barren, glacial breeding habitat. |
The ancient and distinctive Hispaniolan solenodon
, capable of secreting toxic saliva, has a unique ball-and-socket joint attaching the snout to the skull allowing remarkable flexibility and mobility. |
| All I want for Christmas is Kudu |
Booby, It's Cold Outside |
With the male's spectacular horns, which can reach astonishing lengths of over a metre, the handsome greater kudu
is easily distinguished from other antelopes. |
.jpg "Abbott's booby")
Abbott's booby
is a large slender-bodied, black-and-white seabird with breeding sites restricted to Christmas Island. |
