pseudonym/animals

The dolphins create bubble rings to play with . . . other dolphins learn how to do it by watching. Such intelligence!

From the page: "The Tasmanian devil is about the size of a corgi when fully grown and is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial. The animal became legally protected in 1941, when farmers and settlers hunted them aggressively, believing the nocturnal scavengers were preying on livestock. Both agriculture and population growth have contributed to fragmentation of the devils' habitat. From 1900 to the present, the human population of Tasmania increased almost threefold, to just less than 500,000. Once widespread, devil populations became more isolated, inbred and genetically similar.

Cedric was the first devil to be inoculated successfully using killed cancer cells. Dr. Woods has since found a second devil that was able to mount an immune response. Three other inoculated devils from eastern Tasmania have developed the disease, supporting Dr. Woods's hypothesis that devils from the west have maintained greater genetic diversity.

Saving the devil from extinction has become a conservation imperative. According to Dr. McCallum, without major intervention, the devil will be extinct in five years."

From the page: "Along with the Common Chimpanzee, the Bonobo is the closest relative to Humans. Since neither species are proficient swimmers, it is possible that the formation of the Congo River 1.5-2 million years ago lead to the speciation of the Bonobo, which live south of the river, from the ancestors of the Common Chimpanzee, which live north of the river."