Inktober Day 3: Solenodon
Inktober Day 3 : Solenodon
Solenodons are fast becoming one of my top 10 favourite animals. This little creature is actually one of the few venomous mammals (another being the platypus!). Their snouts are super flexible thanks to a ball and socket joint and they use it to maneuver into cracks to sniff out prey. They haven't evolved much in the past 76 million years so are often referred to as living fossils and it's thought they scuttled around at the time of the dinosaurs! It's also one of the 10 animals David Attenborough would choose to have on his ark!
There's only two extant species of solenodon, the Cuban and the Hispanic, both of which are endangered due to introduced species such as cats, dogs and the mongoose which preys on them. A lot of research still needs to be done to help these little critters so we can learn more about them that will also help to lead the conservation efforts.