Blllleeeeeeeeeeep
i love pangolins so much
he tongue too big for he gotdamn mouth O.O
True! According to Wikipedia, he tongue is too big for he gotdamn mouth, so much so that it actually extends into his abdomen. Similarly, his front claws are too big for walking and he uses his tail as counterbalance so he can walk on his hind legs. Pangolins are delightfully weird little creatures
Tag: pangolins
World Pangolin Day: February 20th
The Field houses a few pangolins within its collections – the one pictured above, the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) came to us from a zoo in Chicago [India, originally]. There are eight species total, and are historically widespread across parts of Africa, and Asia. Unfortunately, I worry that museum collections such as ours will someday too soon be the only places where we may see these remarkable animals.
Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked animals in the world. Every day news stories are published globally about the unsustainable and overwhelming levels in which these animals are taken from the wild and killed, or shipped live to markets in Myanmar, China, Vietnam, and other areas in Southeast Asia. Their meat is considered a delicacy, and their scales, bones, and other body parts are sold to be used as medicine – although there’s no scientific evidence that supports beliefs of their healing properties. According to an IUCN Pangolin Specialist group, they are literally being eaten into extinction.
Read more on NPR (although there are many, many news stories of this circulating) – and even though it may not seem like much, supporting #WorldPangolinDay (third Saturday in February) helps to elevate global awareness of this problem.
Today!
PiraticOctopus 