(playful music) - It's such a great day here at the Little Rock Zoo, and I'm so excited we're on the Arkansas Diamond Express Train.

- It is exciting.

It's my favorite thing to do while visiting the Little Rock Zoo.

- So what are you gonna do today?

- Well, I'm here to see some magnificent animals, and I'm here to see three specific ones with unique body coverings.

- Body coverings, what does that mean?

- You know, it's kind of like shells, feathers, and fur.

- I see, that sounds exciting.

- It is exciting.

- Oh, let's go.

(playful flute music) - Hey, Greg.

- Hey, Dustin.

- What's up?

- Not much, just hanging out here with our friend the African Spur Thigh or sulcata tortoise, Reptar.

- Wow, can you tell us a little bit about the tortoise?

- Yes, so Reptar is really cool here.

Since he is a tortoise, he does actually have the super big shell.

He's covered in these individual sections called scutes, which actually is made out of keratin like our fingernails.

So when we touch tortoises or turtles, they can actually feel it just like how you can feel if you touch the top of your fingernail.

- That is a really cool body covering.

Can you tell us anything else about Reptar?

- Yeah, so like his name, he does actually have these spurs on his legs here.

They kind of look like big claws or even teeth a little bit.

So when he pulls his head or legs into that shell, he'll keep his legs sticking out a little bit to the side to keep him safe.

- [Dustin] So it's almost like armor.

- It is, mm-hm.

All right, that was Reptar, our sulcata tortoise.

Are y'all ready to meet one of our macaws?

- [Kids] Yes.

- Hey, what are you doing?

- Well, I was just here with Reptar learning about his unique body coverings.

- That's awesome.

Well, this is Isla.

Isla is a green-winged macaw, got her own special body coverings.

Aren't they pretty?

- [Dustin] They are absolutely beautiful.

- So these feathers help her blend into the rain forest where she lives, and it also helps her fly.

So I have one of her tail feathers here.

You can see how these are really, really cool.

They're really light.

They also have a really special layer of feathers underneath these called down feathers.

So down feathers help keep them warm and keep them dry in the rain forest.

Her feathers on top are waterproof.

So when it rains, that water just falls right off of them.

Now I want to do something funny, close your eyes and imagine what she would look like if she had a shell like Reptar.

- [Dustin] Pretty silly.

- Isn't that crazy?

So if she had a shell, she would be too heavy to fly.

If Reptar had feathers, he would have no protection.

So all animals have body coverings that help them survive in the wild.

- That's pretty crazy.

(Isla squawks) When you think about it, everybody has a special purpose.

- Yeah, she thinks so too.

(playful music) - [Announcer] PremiumBeat.com - [Joy] Hi Karen, where are we?

- [Karen] We're on Lemur Island in the middle of the Little Rock Zoo.

- [Joy] Oh, that's so awesome.

So tell us, what exactly is a lemur?

- [Karen] So a lemur is a type of primate.

They are only found on the island of Madagascar and there are actually over a hundred species of lemurs.

As you notice, we are having to wear our masks out here.

- [Joy] Right.

- [Karen] Lemurs, since they're a primate, they can be susceptible to COVID.

We just want to be extra safe for their sake.

- [Joy] We've been talking about the different, unique coverings that animals have.

We seen birds and we've looked at the feathers.

We've seen a tortoise and we looked at his shell.

So tell us what kind of unique covering the lemur has.

- [Karen] So lemurs have fur.

A lot of times you think of fur as something to keep you warm, but that's not the only thing it does.

So lemurs actually live in warm climates and they don't need it so much to keep them warm as they do for other things like protection, so protect them from the sun.

It'll protect them from injuries.

The ring-tailed lemurs, if you see their tails, they keep that tail up high.

And the striping on it actually acts like a flag so that they can see each other and keep track of their troop members.

- [Joy] What do you love about working on Lemur Island?

- [Karen] Oh my goodness.

What is there not to love?

They're so unique and just so cool.

There's not other animals like them.

We could spend all day talking about how cool and unique they are.

(playful music) - Dustin, wouldn't it be boring if animals were the exact same, looked the exact same, and ate the same thing all the time.

I think it's the differences of the animals that make it interesting to learn about them.

- I agree.

I also think that's the same about humans.

We're all different.

We have different skin color.

We have different hair color, eye color, different sizes.

You have to celebrate those differences.

- Agreed, let's celebrate the uniqueness in our world.

- Let's do it.

(train bell ringing) (playful music)