Category Sea/Ocean

The cheetah can reach a speed of 115 kph (70 mph) in just 3 seconds. The fastest a human has ever run is 45 kph (28 mph). The cheetah’s excellent eyesight helps it find prey during the day. The cheetah is hard to see because its spotted coat blends with the tall, dry grass of the plains. Suddenly, the cheetah makes a lightning dash. It knocks its prey to the ground and then bites its throat. Once found throughout Asia and Africa, cheetahs today are racing toward extinction. Loss of habitat and declining numbers of their prey combine to threaten the future of these cats. Cheetahs live and hunt mainly in open grasslands and bushy areas in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

 

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Approach this lot at your peril! Not all animals are furry and friendly. Some specialize in producing poisons or venom. Poison is deadly if touched, but venom must be injected to have its toxic effect. Poisons can put off potential predators, but venomous fangs can be used to kill prey.

Box jellyfish

Box jellies, also called sea wasps and marine stingers, live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are pale blue and transparent in color and get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell. This scary stinger of the seas can kill in an instant. Each long venomous tentacle contains 5,000 stinging cells with the power to kill fish and other marine life, and even people, so doesn’t swim too close to one! Box jellies are highly advanced among jellyfish. They have developed the ability to move rather than just drift, jetting at up to four knots through the water. They also have eyes grouped in clusters of six on the four sides of their bell. Each cluster includes a pair of eyes with a sophisticated lens, retina, iris and cornea, although without a central nervous system, scientists aren’t sure how they process what they see.

Inland taipan

Nicknamed “the fierce snake”, Australia’s inland taipan has the most toxic venom of any snake in the world. Rats are its main prey and they are bitten several times before the snake swallows them whole. Inland Taipans are associated with the deep cracking-clays and cracking-loams of the floodplains, however they also venture onto nearby gibber plains, dunes and rocky outcrops if cover is available. The vegetation in these areas is usually sparse, consisting of chenopod shrubs, lignum and the occasional eucalypt near the water channels.

Golden poison dart frog

This frog has poisonous skin, and is the most poisonous animal in the world. A single golden poison dart frog could kill 10 people, but it is only found in the Colombian rainforest. Their coloring, which can be yellow, orange, or pale green, depending on their particular range, is deliberately ostentatious to ward off potential predators, a tactic called aposematic coloration. Their diet includes flies, crickets, ants, termites, and beetles.

Deathstalker scorpion

Taking the title of most deadly animal is the Deathstalker scorpion. Although its venom is less toxic than others, this desert scorpion kills the most people because it is aggressive, striking at night, and stinging on sight. It is not a common poison. It composed of neurotoxins and a significant amount of cardio toxins, which cause cardiovascular and respiratory dysfunction which can severely damage the body of sick or allergic persons or children.

Its sting is very painful, but far from its alarming reputation, does not usually kill a healthy adult human. Nevertheless, the medical attention is necessary.

In medicine, the Deathstalker venom has shown much potential for the treatment of human cancer tumors, thanks to a component called chlorotoxin. Similarly, other elements of the venom are useful against the effects of diabetes.

Brazilian wandering spider

The Brazilian wandering spider is a fast mover. In towns and cities, it hides during the day in dark places, such as a log pile or an old box, and will give a potentially fatal bite if it is accidentally disturbed. After a human is bitten by one of these spiders, he or she may experience initial symptoms such as severe burning pain at the site of the bite, sweating and goose bumps. Within 30 minutes, symptoms become systemic and include high or low blood pressure, fast or a slow heartbeat, nausea, abdominal cramping, hypothermia, vertigo, blurred vision, convulsions and excessive sweating associated with shock. People who are bitten by a Brazilian wandering spider should seek medical attention immediately.

 

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In the animal kingdom, there is not always a family resemblance between babies and their parents. Newborns may have different colours, textures, and patterns, or even take another shape before they mature into adulthood.

Dragonfly

Newborn animals may live in different habitats to their parents. Dragonfly nymphs, live underwater, but fly in the open air as adults. Usually, a dragonfly nymph lives in marshes or still water. They can also live in water with high salinity. (High salt levels)But they cannot live in polluted water; they usually require very clean water. They require shelter, sunlight, unpolluted water, emergent plants and hunting areas. The nymph can live in select areas; it prefers still, fresh water. They move around by squirting jets of water and pumping water in and out of the bottom of its abdomen. It also has gills so it stays under water for its nymph life. Nymphs have “lips” hinged in two places with grasping 
pincers on the end for catching prey. Brown and green bodies tend to provide
camouflage and allow the nymph to blend in with the habitat of plants and
pond bottoms. Gills inside the abdomen get the oxygen from the surrounding water. Water drawn into the
abdomen and through the gills is expelled to push the nymph through the water.

Brush-tailed possum

This Australian marsupial has a big, bushy tail and is covered in thick fur. Females carry one called a joey, inside a protective pouch. Brush-tailed possums are marsupials, and their young are usually born in May and June after a gestation period of 17 days (humans have a gestation period of nine months). The newborn possum finds its way to the mother’s pouch and attaches itself to a teat.

After feeding and growing for about 5 months in the pouch, the young possum spends another two months clinging to its mother’s back as she moves about. Usually only 1 young is born at a time, and males do not take part in looking after the young.

By the time they are 7 months old, the young possums are independent of their mothers. They are fully grown by about 10 months, and the females will usually start to breed for the first time when they reach 12 months of age.

Leaf monkey

Leaf monkeys live in Asia’s rainforests. The adults have dark grey fur, but the babies are brightly coloured so their mothers can find them. Breeding occurs periodically during the year. Gestation period is about 145 days, yielding a single young. Females produce offspring at intervals of 2 years, typically in January-March, although some may give birth in the summer months. During the first 20 days after birth, the infant is almost constantly with its mother. At around 1 year old, the baby begins climbing, venturing away from its mother and taking solid food. Individuals of both sexes reach sexual maturity at 3 – 4 years old.

Budgerigar

These colourful birds are the smallest members of the parrot family. Baby birds are born covered in fluffy down before growing full feathers. Budgies are physically able to breed after six months, but should not be allowed to do so until they are at least 10 months old. A younger bird will often fail to be a good parent. There’s no hurry – once they’ve matured, females will be able to breed for four years, and males for six.

First-time mothers sometimes lay eggs outside the nesting box. This is fine, as long as you put the egg in the box as a signal that this is where the others should be laid. Once she’s settled on an egg in the cosy box, she won’t repeat the mistake.

Tapir

Related to rhinoceroses and horses, tapirs begin life with protective camouflage. Adults lose their pattern as predators are less of a threat. Tapirs have no fixed breeding season. After a gestation period of about 390 days, a single baby is born (twins are rare). The baby can follow its mother within minutes of being born and all new-born tapirs have a reddish-brown coat dappled with white spots and stripes. This pattern helps to provide the young one with excellent camouflage. Whenever there is danger lurking nearby, the baby ‘freezes’ and becomes part of its background. These coat markings last until the baby is about six months old, and then fade as the young tapir grows its adult coat. The youngster will remain with its mother for up to twelve months and then goes off on its own.

Butterfly

Some insects, like butterflies, change into adults through an amazing process called metamorphosis. Their body changes shape completely. Butterflies reproduce the way other animals do — sperm from a male fertilizes eggs from a female. Males and females of the same species recognize one another by the size, color, shape and vein structure of the wings, all of which are species specific. Butterflies also recognize each other through pheromones, or scents. During mating, males use clasping organs on their abdomens to grasp females.

 

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The change to an animal’s body from the beginning of its life until its death is called the life cycle. Most amphibians, such as frogs, start life looking very different to their parents. The incredible process by which a tiny tadpole changes shape as it grows older and finally reaches its adult form is called metamorphosis.

An adult male common frog sits near a pond and calls out loudly to attract the attention of a female frog.

The male frog and the female frog meet in the water and he holds onto her. When the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them.

The female frog lays hundreds of eggs, called frogspawn, in the water. Each egg is protected by a thick layer of jelly.

Between one and three weeks later, the eggs hatch into tiny legless tadpoles. They have gills for breathing in the water.

Each tadpole feeds on algae and other tiny plants. It grows bigger, and its back legs start to form after five weeks or so.

After 14 weeks, the tadpole has changed into a miniature frog. Instead of gills, the froglet now has lungs so it can breathe air. The froglet can swim in water, hop on land, and catch insects, such as small flies.

The front legs develop next, and the body changes to look more like that of a frog. The tadpole is now big enough to eat small animals, such as water fleas.

In spring, the adult frog returns to the pond where it was born. It is ready to find a mate, and the life cycle begins for a new generation.

 

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Animals use colours, patterns, or even shape to blend in with their surroundings. This is called camouflage, and some animals are masters of deception. Danger is part of life in animal kingdom, but camouflage is a great survival technique to avoid hungry predators or to sneak up on prey.

Hide and seek

There are many ways in which animals hide from each other. Some copy an object, such as a flower, or change colours completely, while other animals group together to have safety in numbers.

Leaf-tailed gecko

Lookalike

The leaf-tailed gecko is a carnivorous animal and the bulk of this lizard’s diet is primarily comprised of insects. Leaf-tailed geckos also hunt a number of other invertebrates along with the odd small rodents or reptile should it get the chance. Leaf-tailed geckos are nocturnal hunters, most actively searching the forest for food under the cover of night.

The excellent camouflage of the leaf-tailed gecko can make this animal pretty tricky for predators to spot. Birds of prey such as owls and eagles, along with rats and snakes are the most common predators of the leaf-tailed gecko in its native environment. It’s a leaf – tailed gecko from Madagascar! Some animals mimic an object in their surroundings, such as a dead leaf, so a predator won’t recognize them.

Herd of zebras

Double vision

The first is as simple pattern-camouflage, much like the type the military uses in its fatigue design. The wavy lines of a zebra blend in with the wavy lines of the tall grass around it. It doesn’t matter that the zebra’s stripes are black and white and the lines of the grass are yellow, brown or green, because the zebra’s main predator, the lion, is colorblind. The pattern of the camouflage is much more important than its color, when hiding from these predators. If a zebra is standing still in matching surroundings, a lion may overlook it completely. Stripes offer camouflage in the grasslands as patterns blend in with foliage. Faced with a herd of zebras, a predator will struggle to choose a single target in the sea of stripes.

Crab spiders

Colour change

Crab spider is a type of spider that belongs to the family Thomisidae. There are more than 2.000 species of crab spiders that can be found around the world. Crab spiders inhabit gardens, meadows, woodlands, tropical rainforests, grasslands, marshes and scrublands. They can be found in all kind of habitats except in the extremely dry deserts and very cold mountains. All species of crab spiders are numerous in the wild. Some crab spiders can change colour from white to yellow to match the flowers they live on. Then they can creep up on their insect prey, such as this hoverfly.

Disguised moth

Moths and their caterpillars have many predators and so have evolved a variety of tricks to avoid being eaten. Many use camouflage, with subtle colours and patterns which blend in with their surroundings. The results are not just astonishingly clever, but often very beautiful. Moths are particularly at risk of being spotted in daylight, so many have colours and patterns to match the places they rest in. This is why so many moths are patterned in greys and browns, which are hard to see in shadows and blend with the bark of branches. It is easy to miss a peppered moth, but look again. When this moth rests flat against a tree, its patterned wings merge perfectly with the bark.

 

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Survival in the animal kingdom is not easy. With predators a constant threat, animals have adopted all kinds of different defences to protect themselves. For some, the best form of defence is attack. These animals bite or kick, or rely on poison. Others choose to lie low, hiding from danger or playing dead.

Spikes

Postman caterpillar

Heliconius Melpomene, the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored butterfly found throughout Mexico and Central America. H. Melpomene was one of the first butterfly species observed to forage for pollen, a behavior that is common in other groups but rare in butterflies. H. Melpomene possesses ultraviolet vision which enhances its ability to distinguish subtle differences between markings on the wings of other butterflies. Small animals may try to look fierce to avoid being eaten. Some caterpillars grow large spikes to make them difficult to eat. Postman caterpillars also keep the poison from the plants they eat to make themselves poisonous as well.

Startle

Praying mantis

The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer. By any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long “neck,” or elongated thorax. Mantis can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them. This praying mantis uses a combination of defences. Usually, it is hard to spot because it looks like a dried-up leaf. However, if a predator gets too close, the dead leaf mantis opens up its arms and wings, flashing bright colours that surprise the attacker and scare it away.

Play dead

Opossum

Opossums are scavengers, and they often visit human homes or settlements to raid garbage cans, dumpsters, and other containers. They are attracted to carrion and can often be spotted near roadkill. Opossums also eat grass, nuts, and fruit. They will hunt mice, birds, insects, worms, snakes, and even chickens. Some animals fake their own deaths to avoid being eaten. If a Virginia opossum sees a predator, it curls up and stops moving. This state can last for hours, making it look like it is dead. It even releases a rotting smell, so predator leave it alone and search for fresh prey instead.

Armour

Armadillo

Armadillos live in temperate and warm habitats, including rain forests, grasslands, and semi-deserts. Because of their low metabolic rate and lack of fat stores, cold is their enemy and spates of intemperate weather can wipe out whole populations. For slow-moving animals, body armour can be a life-saver. A hard shell or tough skin can be a real challenge for a predator. The three-banded armadillo is covered in overlapping bony plates. When it rolls into a ball there is no way for a hungry hunter to get to its head or soft belly.

Smell

Skunk

Skunks are nocturnal, which means they search for food at night and sleep in dens lined with leaves during the day. Their favorite foods include fruit and plants, plus insects, bird eggs, small rodents, and birds. Birds like the great horned owl prey on skunks. Scientists believe it’s because the birds don’t have a very good sense of smell, which makes the skunk’s spray useless in an attack. Bad smells can keep predators away, especially when the whiff is like rotten eggs! Skunks are too slow to escape at speed, so they spray a foul-smiling liquid from their rear end. This eye-watering scent is so powerful it can be detected 1.6 km (1 mile) away.

Shoal

Snappers

Snappers are found, often in abundance, throughout the tropics. Active, schooling fishes with elongated bodies, large mouths, sharp canine teeth, and blunt or forked tails, snappers are usually rather large, many attaining a length of 60–90 centimetres (2–3 feet). They are carnivores and prey on crustaceans and other fishes. A small fish travelling alone is an easy target for predators. Many fish species, such as these black spot snappers, stick together in shoals of hundreds. Each individual fish gets lost in the crowd, so it is much harder for a victim to be singled out by a predator.

 

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