{"id":472820,"date":"2025-12-26T12:59:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/472820\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T12:59:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:59:21","slug":"from-penguin-tears-to-iron-teeth-d-fw-zoo-animals-show-off-surprising-feats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/472820\/","title":{"rendered":"From penguin tears to iron teeth, D-FW zoo animals show off surprising feats"},"content":{"rendered":"

The animals at the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos are more than cute \u2014 they\u2019re built for survival in surprising ways.<\/p>\n

From penguins crying salt to kangaroos pausing pregnancy, these and other biological superpowers are on display across nearly a thousand species at the two zoos. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

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Female kangaroos can manage up to three babies at once. After a monthlong pregnancy, a jelly bean-size baby kangaroo (or joey) is born and climbs into its mother\u2019s pouch, where it stays for the next eight months<\/a>, said Jessi Gorman, an outreach specialist at the Fort Worth Zoo. <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An undated photo shows a red kangaroo carrying an infant in her pouch at the Fort Worth Zoo.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Zoo \/ Fort Worth Zoo<\/p>\n

During those months, the mother will mate again. If the circumstances aren\u2019t right \u2014 too little food, cold weather or increased predator presence \u2014 Gorman said its body can instinctively pause the embryo\u2019s development. This phenomenon is known as embryonic diapause<\/a> <\/b>and is <\/b>shared among more than 130 mammal species. <\/p>\n

Once the first joey starts coming in and out of the pouch, Gorman said, the mother gives birth to the second joey, which crawls up into the pouch to join its sibling. She can mate again soon after, adding a third joey to the mix.<\/p>\n

Kangaroos are at the Fort Worth zoo. <\/p>\n

Flamingos aren\u2019t always pink<\/p>\n

Flamingos are among nature\u2019s most flamboyant birds, with their long legs and pink feathers. But demands of parenthood can leach their fantastic color away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen flamingos are producing and laying their eggs, they actually turn white,\u201d Gorman said. \u201cThey put so much of their nutrients into the egg production process that it drains their feathers of their color.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caribbean<\/p>\n

Caribbean flamingos with a chick at the Dallas Zoo.<\/p>\n

Dallas Zoo<\/p>\n

Pink doesn\u2019t come naturally to flamingos. They get their coloring from the red, yellow or orange pigments<\/a> \u2014 collectively called carotenoids \u2014 in their food. Their diets include plants and brine shrimp, which eat microscopic algae that contain <\/b>carotenoids. Metabolized in the body, the pigments turn a flamingo\u2019s feathers pink. <\/p>\n

Flamingos are at the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos. <\/p>\n

A long-legged thermostat<\/p>\n

Flamingos have a built-in heating and cooling system in their legs. Known as a counter-current heat exchange system<\/a>, it\u2019s made up of closely paired blood vessels \u2014 some carrying warm blood, others cooler blood \u2014 said Stephanie Allard<\/a>, chief mission officer of the Dallas Zoo. <\/p>\n

\u201cFlamingos spend a lot of time in bodies of water and, depending on the temperature of both the air and the water itself, they either have to keep warm or cool,\u201d Allard said. By exchanging heat between blood vessels, Allard continued, flamingos can maintain an appropriate temperature in their legs. <\/p>\n

\"Flamingos<\/p>\n

Flamingos at the Dallas Zoo.<\/p>\n

Dallas Zoo<\/p>\n

Lay off the salt<\/p>\n

Eating too much salt is hard on the body, whether you\u2019re a human or an African penguin. <\/p>\n

Humans excrete salt through sweat and other bodily fluids. African penguins, on the other hand, remove salt through their tears. They do so using a specialized gland above their eyes. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican penguins live and forage in the ocean and so they drink salt water,\u201d Allard said. They also eat salty prey, so the gland \u201chelps them not get dehydrated.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An African penguin swimming in its habitat at the Dallas Zoo.<\/p>\n

Dallas Zoo<\/p>\n

Called a supraorbital salt gland<\/a>, this organ has been identified in at least 40 bird families<\/a> and is especially common among marine birds such as gulls and albatrosses. The gland is also found in some desert-dwelling birds, including ostriches, and carnivores with high-protein diets, such as tawny eagles. <\/p>\n

You can find African penguins at the Dallas Zoo and rockhopper penguins at the Fort Worth Zoo.<\/p>\n

Iron chompers<\/p>\n

Rodents \u2014 like squirrels, beavers and porcupines \u2014 gnaw constantly. Gorman explained their front incisors never stop growing, so gnawing helps them file them <\/b>down to a manageable size. <\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In an undated photo, a Fort Worth Zoo staff member tries to feed Felix the porcupine while showing him to a group of elementary school students.<\/p>\n

LOPER, Brad \/ 142152<\/p>\n

Within rodents\u2019 enamel \u2014 a tooth\u2019s outermost layer \u2014 lies a secret ingredient: iron. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what strengthens their teeth enough to allow them to chew through harder materials,\u201d Gorman said. <\/p>\n

Scientists once thought the orange and sometimes brown color of a rodent\u2019s teeth came from iron. A 2024 study<\/a> found instead the coloring comes from a thin surface layer of amino acids \u2014 the chemical building blocks of proteins \u2014 along with minerals. <\/p>\n

Rodents such as porcupines and kangaroo rats can be found at the Fort Worth Zoo, though the porcupines are part of the zoo\u2019s outreach program and are not normally visible to the public. Porcupines are also at the Dallas Zoo, along with naked mole-rats, red-rumped agoutis and capybaras. <\/p>\n

Fix a broken heart? No problem<\/p>\n

With frilly gills and a perpetually surprised face, axolotls stand out among salamanders. In the wild, axolotls are found only in Mexico\u2019s Lake Xochimilco<\/a>. Unlike other amphibians that start as tadpoles and grow into adults, these aquatic creatures remain in juvenile form for life.<\/p>\n

That enduring youth pairs with another signature trait: regeneration. \u201cThey can grow back external limbs and even regenerate organs,\u201d Allard said. \u201cThey can\u2019t lose their whole heart and be like, \u2018I\u2019m just going to grow that back.\u2019 But they can grow enough of it to be able to continue to function.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An axolotl at the Dallas Zoo.<\/p>\n

Dallas Zoo<\/p>\n

Studies dating back to the 1960s<\/a> found axolotls can regrow parts of their brains, even after substantial tissue was removed. Scientists are exploring whether the axolotl\u2019s superpower could inform limb regeneration in humans<\/a>, especially because we share genes involved in tissue regrowth. <\/p>\n

You can find axolotls at the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos. <\/p>\n

Sole survivors with a third eye<\/p>\n

At up to 3 feet long and with a crest of spiky scales, tuataras belong to a reptile order called Sphenodontia. The group thrived during the age of the dinosaurs, but it later went extinct \u2014 except for the tuatara, the only living survivor. <\/b>Even more intriguing, these lizardlike reptiles <\/b>have a third eye, also known as a parietal eye<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Henry,<\/p>\n

Henry, a tuatara, rests on the arm of his handler at the Southland Museum at Invercargill, New Zealand, on Aug. 6, 2008. <\/p>\n

Dianne Manson \/ ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n

This eye is visible on a newborn tuatara\u2019s forehead and contains many of the same parts as a true eye but doesn\u2019t aid with sight. Instead, it likely helps tuataras sense sunlight<\/a> and, in turn, regulates physiological processes such as circadian rhythms and body temperature. As these reptiles mature, the eye becomes covered by scales and stops working. <\/p>\n

Tuataras are found only in New Zealand in the wild and are considered an at-risk species<\/a> by the country\u2019s Department of Conservation. You can see two at the Dallas Zoo. <\/p>\n

Miriam Fauzia is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.<\/p>\n

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