Category Archives: Animals

Chipmunk

By | |
1 Comment
Chipmunk

Watch the chipmunks scurry over the rooftops.

  • Chipmunks are small mammals that are primarily native to North America, but one of the 24 species is native to Asia.
  • The scientific name of a chipmunk is ‘Tamias’, and they are from the family Sciuridae, the family of squirrels.
  • Chipmunks mainly eat nuts, seeds, and berries, but also other vegetation, as well as insects, worms, frogs, bird eggs and fungi.
  • Chipmunks live in burrows that can be 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) or longer, and they collect food in autumn that they store there for eating during the winter hibernation period.
  • A chipmunk has flexible cheeks that allows it to obtain a number of food items at once, and it uses them as a carrying pouch.
Chipmunk, brown, rodent, striped, white, black, squirrel, Ten Random Facts, Flickr
Chipmunk
Image courtesy of Dawn Huczek/Flickr
  • Chipmunks have calls that are similar in sound to chirps of a bird, and they have a lifespan generally of 2 or 3 years, and can have 2 to 8 babies in one litter.
  • ‘Chipmunks’ are rodents, and are also known as ‘striped squirrels’, ‘timber tigers’, ‘munks’ and ‘chippers’.
  • Different species of chipmunks are different colours, and range from brown, red-brown and grey in colour, and they have light and dark coloured stripes down their backs, face and tail.
  • Chipmunks are commonly found in woodland habitats, but also live in urban areas, and are preyed on by foxes, weasels, coyotes, snakes and hawks.
  • Chipmunks grow to be 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, plus have a tail of 8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches) and weigh between 28 to 142 grams (1 to 5 ounces).
Bibliography:
Chipmunk, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/chipmunk/
Chipmunk, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk

Amazon:      

Green Anaconda

By | |
1 Comment
Green Anaconda

Constrict these facts like a green anaconda.

  • Green anacondas are constrictor snakes found in South America’s tropical swamps and creeks.
  • ‘Green anacondas’ are also known as ‘common anacondas’ and ‘water boas’, and have the collective nouns of ‘knots’ and ‘beds’.
  • Green anacondas are from the family Boidae, the family of boas that are snakes that are non-venomous.
  • Green anacondas have the scientific name of Eunectes murinus, meaning ‘good swimmer’ and ‘of mice’ from Greek and Latin respectively.
  • Green anacondas are the heaviest known snake in the world and are said to weigh up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) and have lengths of 10 metres (33 feet) or more, rating them as the second longest snake, although these sizes are debated, and their average weight and length is generally considered less, growing on average 4.6 to 5 metres (15 to 16 feet) in length and 30 to 70 kilograms (66 to 154 pounds) in weight.

Green anaconda, half, snake, moving, boa, zoo, ground, flickr, Ten Random Facts

Green Anaconda
Image courtesy of Cristóbal Alvarado Minic /Flickr
  • Green anacondas have olive green scales spotted with black patches, and a head with an orange/yellow stripe down each side.
  • Green anacondas can be 30 cm (12 inches) or more in diameter and their jaws can stretch wide open so they can swallow their prey whole.
  • Green anacondas typically spend a lot of time in the water, and hunt at night, lurking in the water, striking at weaker animals like fish, turtles, birds, caiman and mammals, and sometimes larger animals like deer, constricting them and then consuming them.
  • Green anacondas birth between 20 to 40 live babies, that start at a length of 70 to 80 centimetres (2.3 to 2.6 feet).
  • Green anacondas have an average lifespan of 10 years in the wild and are popularly depicted in media as large snakes that swallow humans whole, although in reality, this is a very unlikely occurrence.
Bibliography:
Eunectes murinus, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunectes_murinus
Green Anaconda, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/reptiles/green-anaconda/

Amazon:   

Plague Soldier Beetle

By | |
Leave a comment
Plague Soldier Beetle

Harmless plague soldier beetles can recolour your garden!

  • Plague soldier beetles are flying beetles native to Australia, particularly the south eastern and south western parts of the country.
  • Plague soldier beetles have a mostly orange yellow body, that is covered with metallic forewings of a dark olive green colour, that almost look black, and the rest of the beetle is mostly black.
  • Plague soldier beetles have the scientific name ‘Chauliognathus lugubris, although they are sometimes known as ‘Chauliognathus pulchellus’.
  • Plague soldier beetles are named after their characteristic of plaguing during mating season, that occurs generally in summer.
  • ‘Plague soldier beetles’ are also known as ‘green soldier beetles’ and they are from the family Cantharidae, the family of soldier beetles.

Plague Soldier Beetles, Line, Washing, Orange, Black, Yellow, Ten Random Facts, Bug, Adult, Many

Plague Soldier Beetles
Image Courtesy of B Being Cool
  • Plague soldier beetle larvae live underground, eating insects, and transform into adults during spring.
  • Plague soldier beetles have colours that warn other creatures that they are poisonous, in that they excrete toxins, which is also used to prevent their eggs being contaminated.
  • At mating time, plague soldier beetles can be found swarming in their thousands, often totally covering plants and other areas, although they are said to leave little damage to the plants.
  • Plague soldier beetle adults are believed to have a diet of mainly nectar and pollen, although they also eat small insects and their eggs, and sometimes other parts of plants.
  • Plague soldier beetles live in habitats with significant numbers of trees like forests, and are often found in urban environments especially during the mating season.
Bibliography:
Plague Soldier Beetles, 2012, Museum Victoria, http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-blog/?tag=chauliognathus%20lugubris
Plague Soldier Beetle, n.d, AustralianMuseum, http://australianmuseum.net.au/Plague-Soldier-Beetle
Pullen K, Insect of the week: The Plague Soldier Beetle isn’t nearly as bad as it sound, 2012, CSIRO, http://csironewsblog.com/2012/11/08/insect-of-the-week-the-plague-soldier-beetle-isnt-nearly-as-bad-as-it-sounds/

Amazon:     

Komodo Dragon

By | |
Leave a comment
Komodo Dragon

Komodo dragons do not fly.

  • ‘Komodo dragons’ are also called ‘komodo monitors’ and ‘komodo island monitors’.
  • Komodo dragons are native to some of the Lesser Sunda islands of Indonesia, Asia, and were not known to the western world until the early 1900s.
  • Komodo dragons are from the family Varanidae, the family of monitor lizards, and have the scientific name ‘Varanus komodoensis’.
  • Komodo dragons are the world’s largest species of lizard not extinct, and are vulnerably threatened, particularly by human hunting, with approximately 3000 to 5000 in the wild.
  • Komodo dragons can grow up to 3 metres (10 feet) in length and 70 kilograms (150 pounds) in weight, although some are much heavier and can be more than double this in weight.
Komodo Dragon, Lizard, Islands of Rinca, Indonesia, Brown, Scale, Ten Random Facts, Flickr
Komodo Dragon
Image courtesy of Austronesian Expeditions/Flickr
  • Komodo dragons have bluey grey scales that are hard and sturdy and a forked tongue that is yellow, and numerous bacteria in their saliva that causes death in their prey.
  • Komodo dragons have an excellent sense of smell, one ear bone causing it to have a restricted hearing range, and it can see up to 300 metres (980 feet) away.
  • Komodo dragons live in habitats of grasslands, savannahs and forests, in areas that are hot and dry.
  • A komodo dragon’s diet consists of birds, mammals, reptiles, insects and the meat of dead animals, and can, in one feeding, eat up to 80% of its own weight.
  • Komodo dragon females lay an average of 20 eggs in a mound or a hole, that generally hatch in April.
Bibliography:
Komodo Dragon, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/reptiles/komodo-dragon/
Komodo Dragon, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

Amazon:    

Seahorse

By | |
Leave a comment
Seahorse

Is it a plane? A dragon? No, it is a seahorse!

  • A seahorse is a fish that is found in tropical or temperate water bodies of shallow depth, sheltered by coral reefs, mangroves or seagrass, and they can change their colour to blend into their environment and can be seen in a wide range of colours like green, red, black, white and orange.
  • Seahorses are more than 40 species that have the scientific name ‘Hippocampus’, that means ‘horse sea monster’ in Ancient Greek, and they belong to the Syngnathidae family, the family of fish with fused jaws.
  • A seahorse can range from 1.5 to 35.5 centimetres (0.6 to 14 inches) in height depending on the species and has a tail that it uses to grab onto sea grass and coral to hold itself still.
  • Seahorses are one of the two fish that swims vertically, swimming slowly by flapping its dorsal fin, with the slowest, the dwarf seahorse – Hippocampus zosterae, moving at 152 centimetres per hour (5 feet per hour) which is known as the slowest fish.
  • Seahorses have plates of bone that have a ring structure, an identifying and unique coronet (crown like structure) on their head, and have eyes that move freely of one another.

Seahorse, Colorado, America, United States, Yellow, Swimming, Denver Aquarium, Ten Random Facts, Fish, National Geograph

Seahorse
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • After mating, seahorse males look after the up to 1500 eggs (or more) in its pouch, that hatch after around 9 to 45 days into tiny seahorses.
  • The amount of baby seahorses expelled from the male pouch ranges from 5 to 2500 depending on the species, with only 0.5% on average ever surviving.
  • Seahorses have no stomach or teeth and have a diet of little crustaceans and plankton that are sucked up with the fish’s generally long snout, and they need to eat lots due to a quick digestion process, making a clicking noise every time they eat.
  • Seahorses are sometimes kept as pets in aquariums, but can easily die if not cared for properly, and are often hunted by humans for souvenirs and food, and numerous quantities are sold and used for traditional Asian medicine.
  • Seahorses have predators of crabs, tuna and rays, and can be killed by pollution, hunting or exhaustion, particularly in storms where they can be tossed around.
Bibliography:
Seahorse, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse
Sydenham S & Thomas R, Seahorse, 2008, Kidcyber, http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/seahorse.htm

Amazon:      

Giant Armadillo

By | |
Leave a comment
Giant Armadillo

Giant armadillos dressed in armour.

  • Giant armadillos are mammals that are native to South American tropical forest areas, and are found on approximately half of the continent.
  • Giant armadillos are from the family Dasypodidae, which is the family of armadillos.
  • Giant armadillos have a tough encasing of hard scales and plates which is used primarily for defense.
  • The scientific name of a giant armadillo is ‘Priodontes maximus’ and they have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.
  • A ‘Giant armadillos’ is also known as a ‘tatou,’ ‘ocarro,’ ‘tatu-canastra,’ and ‘tatú carreta’.
Giant Armadillo, Sand, Brown, Dark, Shell, Mammal, Flickr, Ten Random Facts
Giant Armadillo
Image courtesy of Amareta Kelly/Flickr
  • Giant armadillos’ diet mainly consists of termites and ants, but also vegetation, worms, spiders, snakes and larvae.
  • Giant armadillos have long claws including one claw that is sickle-like, 80 to 100 teeth and they are also nocturnal.
  • Giant armadillos grow up to 150 centimetres (59 inches) long, including the tail that is approximately a third of its length, and from 28 to 54 kilograms (62 to 119 pounds) in weight.
  • Giant armadillos generally do not live with others of the same species, and usually live in burrows.
  • Giant armadillos are a threatened species and are listed as vulnerable, due to the destruction of their habitat and poaching by humans for their meat and for black trade.
Bibliography:
Giant Armadillo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_armadillo
Giant Armadillo, n.d, Kids’ Planet, http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/armadillo.html

Amazon:      

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...