Bronze Elephant Man

San Diego, California ~ November 5, 2009

San Diego Zoo

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Elephantopiary

San Diego ~ November 5, 2009

San Diego Zoo

I probably should have gone up to see what his tusks were made of and how they were attached, but after a long day of walking around (long, but enjoyable), I didn't think of it. I was happily surprised to see the elephant waving goodbye to us with his trunk. (In my own mind; no, the trunk didn't move, even in California.)

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Water for Tar

San Diego, California ~ November 5, 2009

San Diego Zoo

This model of one of the La Brea Tar Pits is located near where the elephants live at the San Diego Zoo. To help demonstrate how fossils are formed and found, the pool is filled with water, which then drains away to show the fossil replicas like those of the Pleistocene found in Los Angeles.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Please visit our page of extinct animal toys and replicas

The Marker Says "Horse"

San Diego, California ~ November 5, 2009

San Diego Zoo

Zoos are no longer just about showing off captive animals, but the better ones are about conservation and also about education. Near the elephants is a display of Pleistocene paleontology, and one of the outdoor displays features this model horse skull, intended to appear as it might have been buried in the earth. Here the horse has been used as an example, and it's a good choice. The horse is one of the animals whose evolution is well known thanks to several circumstances. Horses lived in herds on fairly dry plains, and conditions were right throughout most of their long history for fossils to be created from their skeletons. Animals such as the tapir, which lived singly or in smaller groups and died in areas where decay was faster and the earth less ready to preserve the remains, have left less for scientists to study.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Please visit our page of pelican toys and replicas

Big

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
San Diego Zoo
San Diego, California ~ November 5, 2009

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Please visit our page of polar bear toys and gifts

Majestic in Gray and Black

California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), juvenile
San Diego Zoo ~ November 5, 2009
Wikipedia

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Please visit our page of condor and vulture toys and replicas