The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, offers much more than a view of the aquatic life. It contains 660 species of animals, and about 16,500 specimens in all — yes, there’s an abundance of fish (from the Summer Flounder to the Zebra Shark), and invertebrates (from the Blue Crab to the Giant Pacific Octopus), but there’s also mammals and reptiles, too. Some mammals are obvious choices to be included in an aquarium, such as the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, but what about the Golden Lion Tamarin or the Pygmy Marmoset? The tamarin and marmoset are part of the family of monkeys, perhaps not the usual animal exhibit in an aquarium. Perhaps it’s easier to understand the inclusion of turtles — of which there’s a great variety, including the Giant Amazon River turtle, the Green Sea Turtle, the Painted Turtle, the Wood Turtle, and the Diamondback Terrapin (still a turtle).
The truth is that the National Aquarium not only contains the usual suspects in an aquarium — toads and salamanders and frogs, such as the American bullfrog and the Blue Poison Dart frog; and fish and sharks, such as the Banggai Cardinalfish and the Sand tiger shark — but also the animals you’d never suspect would be in an aquatic museum, such as birds and Australian animals.
Among the birds you’ll find a collection of international species, with amazingly colorful names: the Blue-Crowned Motmot , the scarlet ibis, the white-tailed trogon, the blue-gray tanager. Among the Australian animals, there’s the Black-Headed Python and the Grey-Headed Flying Fox. There’ s a Laughing Kookaburra, a Death Adder, a Frilled Lizard, a freshwater crocodile, a Snake-Necked Turtle and a Zebra Finch.
If you’re staying a few days in the best of Baltimore best hotels , then you might find the National Aquarium a pleasant way to stroll among a number of creatures, including the more amphibian-minded, without getting wet.
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Tags: Baltimore best hotels, Blue-Crowned Motmot, National Aquarium