AMAZING

Animals
100+ Creatures That Will Boggle Your Mind

SABRINA WEISS & PAUL DAVIZ

 CONTENTS
4 TYPES OF ANIMALS
6 ANIMALS & THEIR ENVIRONMENT
8 DISCOVERING THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
10 EXTREME SURVIVORS
12 RECORD SETTERS
14 WILD WETLAND
16 FIGHT OR FLIGHT
18 ONE OF A KIND
20 NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
22 STINKY CREATURES
24 LEOPARDS
26 MOUNTAIN FORESTS
28 OCTOPUSES
30 WORLD MAP
32 TRICKS & TOOLS
34 SUPER MOMS & AMAZING DADS
36 DESERTS
38 TRANSFORMERS
40 LIFE IN THE EXTREME COLD
42 DOWN UNDER
44 CORAL REEF
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
46 DOLPHINS To Mameli, my mother. You introduced me to the
fascinating world of animals. We spent countless
48 LEAFCUTTER ANTS hours flipping through books and watching nature
documentaries on TV together. Then I would
eagerly share with you the animals I had just
50 IN THE CITY learned about. Your initial reaction would always
be the same: “They are amazing, aren’t they?”
52 EPIC MIGRATIONS S.W
54 PROTECTING ENDANGERED ANIMALS
56 GLOSSARY
57 INDEX
58 SOURCES
59 A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

TYPES OF ANIMALS
The weird and wonderful behaviors of animals
never cease to amaze. There are unique things
to observe in every imaginable aspect of their
lives: from how they find food to the lengths
they go to ward off predators; from the ways
they woo mates to how they raise their young.
Scientists have grouped animals into classes to
make it easier to study them. These classifications
are based on how animals look, what they do and
how they do it and what they eat.
One of the most important divisions is between
vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates have
a backbone inside their bodies. Invertebrates,
which have no backbone, make up an estimated
97 percent of the animal world. They can be
divided into many groups. Some, for instance,
have soft bodies, like slugs and jellyfish; others
possess hard outer shells, like insects, spiders,
and crabs.
A species is one particular kind of living thing.
You can tell that two individuals are part of the
same species if they can have babies together
and those babies can grow up to have their
own babies. Sometimes members of the same
species can look very different. A Great Dane is
the same species as a chihuahua even though it
is 30 times bigger.
BEHAVIORS
Animals are born with certain behaviors
which will be observed in all members of
a given species. When a honeybee
(0.8 inch [2 cm]) returns to its hive having
located a nectar source, it will perform
what is known as a waggle dance to
communicate the food’s exact location
to the other bees.
4 5
Groups of Invertebrates
Some have a hard outer shell,
called an exoskeleton, to protect
Vertebrates have a backbone that extends
their soft bodies.
hard outer shell
Crab
soft body
Snail
Other behaviors are learned as animals
respond to different situations. Dolphins
are social animals that work together
to hunt fish. Young dolphins learn the
different hunting techniques from older
members in their pod (see page 46).
Groups of Vertebrates
from head to tail and supports
the body's weight.
Fish
Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning
that their body temperature grows hotter
or colder depending on the temperature
around them. Fish have scales, fins and gills
to breathe in the oxygen contained in water.
They spend their entire lives in water and
most fish reproduce by laying eggs.
Amphibians
Amphibians are cold-blooded animals.
They have soft, moist skin and live part of
their lives in water and part on land. Frogs
and salamanders are amphibians.
Reptiles
Reptiles are cold-blooded animals. Their dry
skin is covered with scales or bony plates.
Snakes, turtles and caimans fall into this
group.
Birds
Birds are warm-blooded animals and the
only animals with feathers. Many, but not all,
birds can fly. Drongos, hummingbirds and
penguins are all types of bird.
Mammals
Mammals are by and large warm-blooded.
This means they can make and maintain
their own body heat, even if it is very cold
outside. Mammal skin is mostly covered in
hair or fur. Females typically give birth to
live young and nourish them with milk from
their own bodies. Monkeys, camels, and
dogs are all mammals.
 ANIMALS & THEIR Shortfin mako

ENVIRONMENT
Animals are found in nearly every part of the
world, even the most extreme climates. From
deserts and dense rainforests to the dizzy heights Orangutans
live in the trees
of snow-capped mountains, animals have to adapt
to their homes in different ways in order to survive.
They live in places where they can find plentiful
food, rear their young, and protect themselves
from predators.
GARDENERS OF THE FORESTS
Orangutans (4.9 feet [1.5 m], Borneo and Sumatra)
are known as the gardeners of the forest. As
these red-haired apes traverse the treetops of the
rainforest, they break off dead branches, allowing
the sunlight to reach the forest floor. This helps
smaller plants grow. Orangutans also eat durian
fruit and figs, and, with them, their seeds. The
seeds come out later in the orangutans’ poop
and take root somewhere else in
the forest.
The shortfin mako (14.7 feet [4.5 m],
temperate and tropical oceans) is the
fastest of all sharks. In order to strike a
tuna, it can swim up to 65 feet [20 m]
per second in short bursts.
ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is made up of all the animals, plants, and
Tuna other living things in an area, as well as the non-living
physical environment, such as water, rocks, and soil.
Rainforests and coral reefs are examples of intricately
balanced ecosystems. Ecosystems and the creatures
that live there are deeply connected. Every animal has
a role to play: animals eat one another, protect one
CORAL REEFS another, keep one another clean, and influence the
world around them. One species going extinct can
Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems and provide
affect many others as well as the area itself.
food and shelter to thousands of species. Some
fish eat the algae that grows on coral. These fish
are then eaten by larger predatory fish such as
tuna and mackerel, which, in turn, are eaten by
sharks. To avoid being eaten, fish often hide in the
cracks and crevices of coral reefs. sharks
predatory
fishes
smaller
fishes
algae living
Powder blue on coral and
surgeonfish rocks

Whitetip reef shark

Frogs that look like leaves

Long-nosed horned frogs (4.7 inches [12 cm]) live in Some people are afraid of sharks, but what would
the same rainforests as orangutans. The frogs happen if all the sharks disappeared, as has been
look as though they have horns on their observed in coral reefs off the coast of Australia? When
heads because their upper eyelids humans fish too many sharks, the number of predatory
and snouts are elongated. They fish further down the food chain increases. They then
feast on spiders, lizards, eat all the smaller fish, leaving fewer small fish to keep
and other frogs.
the algae in check.

6 7
 DISCOVERING
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
Scientists have named and described around
2 million of the species that exist on Earth, but
there could be another 8 million left to discover.
It’s hard to estimate precisely how many
different animals there are. Many animals live
underground or at the bottom of the ocean,
making it difficult for humans to study them.
Anglerfish
8 9
Most of the animal kingdom remains a secret.
Still, new discoveries are being made every
HOW SMART IS SMART?
day. Scientists are using new methods,
such as DNA barcoding, to learn
more about animals that have been
We often think that the bigger an animal’s brain, the more intelligent
and social it is. This may apply to whales and dolphins, as well
type A as primates and humans. But birds are clever, too, despite their
type B researched for a long time.
comparably small brain. New Caledonian crows (15 inches [40 cm], New
For example, the orcas swimming Caledonia) make hooks out of twigs to scoop out grubs hiding in tree
trunks. Experiments have shown they can also solve puzzles. These
near South America’s southern tip
have a smaller white eye patch crows are naturally curious and seem to enjoy the use of tools
than those found elsewhere. By (see page 32). Discoveries like these make us constantly
type D
collecting genetic samples from question our understanding of animal intelligence.
them, scientists hope to prove that
they are actually a separate species.
EXPLORING THE DEEP SEA
The deep sea is still the least-explored place on our
Crow scooping out
planet. We know almost nothing about it. One of the bugs with a twig
challenges in exploring is that the deeper you go,
the greater the pressure of water pushing down on Dumbo octopus
you. This makes it dangerous or impossible to dive
safely. Sometimes scientists travel in submersibles
that can dive deep without being crushed. Often
they drop special cameras and view the footage
collected in the depths safely from land.
One exciting new find is a translucent
snailfish (9 inches [23 cm], western Pacific
Ocean) that dwells nearly five miles
(8,000 m) below the ocean surface. The
snailfish can withstand pressures equal to
the weight of 1,600 elephants.
LOST AND FOUND
In 1937, two men named Robert Livingston and
Harold Woodall used a rope to descend into a
cave, where they found an animal that no one had
ever seen before: the cave splayfoot salamander
(4 inches [11 cm], Mexico). The salamander was
not spotted again for 73 years, until the scientist
Rattail fish Sean Rovito went on a search mission into the very
same cave and found that this species was indeed
still alive.
"Lost" salamander was
rediscovered after 73 years
 WOOD FROG
EXTREME SURVIVORS (3.2 inches [8.25 cm], North America)
Animals adapt in some unusual ways in order to Wood frogs spend the winter nestled under
leaves and pieces of dead wood on the forest
survive in their habitats. Imagine going weeks or
floor. Their heart stops beating, and two-thirds
even years without food or water. The freezing of their body water turns into ice. However,
cold or boiling heat does not deter some animals the frogs’ bodies produce a special
from thriving. Some are so tough they can be substance that prevents the vital
exposed to the harsh conditions of outer space. organs from freezing. Come
spring, the frogs thaw
and leap back to life.

YETI CRAB
(6 inches [15 cm], Antarctica)
ALPINE SWIFT Blind and surrounded by freezing water, yeti
(9 inches [23 cm], southern crabs pile on top of each other near thermal
Europe) vents on the ocean floor. Moving too close
to the vents would be deadly, though. These
Alpine swifts can fly for more than six months chimney-like structures seep out water as hot
without landing once. They catch insects mid- as 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400°C).
air and nap while gliding in the air.

AFRICAN LUNGFISH KANGAROO RAT

(4 feet [1.25 m], Africa)
(7.8 inches [20 cm], North America)
Unlike other fish, lungfish have both gills and lungs to
breathe. When a pond’s water dries out, lungfish burrow The kangaroo rat lives in the deserts of North
themselves into the muddy ground. They then secrete a America. It does not need to drink water to
layer of slime around themselves, which hardens into a survive and gets the moisture it needs from
cocoon and holds the moisture in. The fish can survive eating seeds.
without water and simply breathe in air through a hole in
the mud.
ARABIAN CAMEL
(9.8 feet [3 m], Africa and Asia) TARDIGRADE
Arabian camels store fat in the hump on (less than .03 inch [1 mm], worldwide)
their backs. The fat breaks down into water Tardigrades—also called water bears—are tiny invertebrates
and energy when there is no water or food that can tolerate conditions such as extreme heat and cold. They
available in the dry desert. When there is have even survived being in space with no oxygen.
water, camels can gulp over 26 gallons
(100 l) in less than 15 minutes. The super-tough water bears can also endure being completely
dried out: when under stress, the animals retract their head
and eight legs and expel almost all the water from their bodies.
Tardigrades curl into dried-up balls and can remain in this state
for as long as a decade. When exposed to water again, they
revive within hours.
10 11
 RECORD SETTERS
Not all records in the animal kingdom are
measured as easily as size and weight (the
blue whale tops both lists!). Deciding which
creature is the fastest or most powerful is
often more complicated. It depends on how
we think about speed and power.
12
PEREGRINE FALCON
(3-foot [1-m] wingspan, worldwide)
Fastest dive
The peregrine falcon usually cruises at speeds between 40
and 56 miles an hour (65 and 90 km/h). Once it spots prey
from above, it will dive rapidly, reaching a top speed of
almost 200 miles an hour (320 km/h). It can catch pigeons,
doves, and other smaller birds in mid-flight.
CHEETAH
(4 feet [1.3 m], Africa)
Fastest land mammal
The ability to reach speeds of 60 miles an hour (96
km/h) in just three seconds from standstill makes
the cheetah the fastest land mammal in the world.
Even more impressive are its maneuvers during a
hunt. The cheetah’s tail acts as a rudder and allows
it to make sharp turns quickly.
ROSETTE-NOSED PYGMY CHAMELEON
(3.5 inches [9 cm], Tanzania)
Fastest tongue of all chameleons
In 2015, Christopher Anderson gathered chameleons of
various sizes in his laboratory. He filmed each one as it
caught crickets with its tongue. The biologist found that
a 1.8 inch (4.7-cm)-long rosette-nosed pygmy chameleon
was the fastest feeder. It shot its tongue out to 2.5 times the
length of its body in one second.
There may be other species of chameleon in the wild
that are even quicker. But scientists will have to
capture their tongue attacks on a high-speed
camera to prove it.
FROGHOPPER
(0.27 inch [7 mm], worldwide)
Highest jumper
Froghoppers are tiny bugs that use their
powerful back legs to jump. One type of
froghopper is around 0.24 inch (6 mm) long but
can leap 27 inches (70 cm) into the air, which is
well over 100 times the length of its body. That’s
the equivalent of an adult human jumping over
a skyscraper. It’s a bug superhero!
HORNED DUNG BEETLE
(0.4 inch [11 mm], worldwide)
Strongest insect
For feats of strength you can’t beat a dung beetle. As the name suggests, dung
beetles love animal poop and will roll any dung they find back to their burrows
for a feast. A horned species called Onthophagus taurus was crowned the
strongest insect during an experiment in 2010. It is capable of
pulling a mass 1,141 times its own body weight. That’s
the equivalent of a 154-pound (70-kg) person
carrying 88 tons (80 t) over their
head, the weight of one fully-
loaded airplane.
13

WILD WETLAND
Nestled in the heart of South America, the Pantanal is
the largest freshwater wetland in the world. Here life
revolves around an immense network of rivers, streams,
and lakes.
Wetlands are areas where the land does not drain
well, leaving the ground saturated with water. In the
Pantanal, it rains so much between November and April
that the rivers overflow their banks and flood most of
this vast landscape. The water forms shallow
lakes and leaves island-like areas of higher
ground. The water levels decrease
again during the dry season. Animals
then gather around the remaining
SOUTH AMERICA
water to drink and to look out for
their next meal.
Giant river otter (5.9 feet [1.8 m])
Giant river otters dig burrows by a
river’s edge to give birth on land. They
may also hide under fallen tree trunks.
Otter pups first emerge from their dens
when they are about two months old
and learn to swim in the river.
14
Caiman (9.8 feet [3 m])
The yacare caiman basks silently in the sun along the edges of
riverbanks. When hunting, it moves into the murky waters and stays
motionless until fish or snails come within snapping reach—but it’s
important to stay alert when you might be dinner for a stalking jaguar.
Jaguar (5.9 feet [1.8 m])
Who said cats don’t like water? Jaguars are good
swimmers and ambush unsuspecting capybaras,
caimans, and sometimes even anacondas in the
water. The jaguar has the strongest bite of all big
cats: it can pierce a caiman’s skull to kill it.
Toco toucan (32 inches [83 cm])
The striking beak of the toco toucan
measures 19 centimetres—one third of
the bird’s body length—making it the
longest of any bird of its size. Thankfully
for the toucan, the beak is not too
heavy. It is made of keratin, just like
human hair and nails.
Piranha
(13 inches [33 cm])
With their razor-sharp
triangular teeth and
relentless bite, piranhas will
munch on anything they can sink
their jaws into: fish, insects, carrion, and even
aquatic plants.
Capybara (4.6 feet [1.4 m])
Green anaconda (30 feet [9.1 m])
The world’s largest rodents live near rivers. They are
The olive-colored giant anaconda is excellent swimmers and spend the hottest hours of
the heaviest snake in the world and the day in the water. Female capybaras raise their
lies completely submerged in wait for young in groups, providing safety in numbers.
capybaras, deer, and birds that come to
the river to drink.
15
 FISH-SCALE GECKO
FIGHT OR FLIGHT (2.7 inches [7 cm], Madagascar)
When attacked, lizards commonly shed
Animals constantly need to be on high alert their tails: predators get a mouthful
for looming predators. They respond in while the lucky lizards flee and simply
different ways when feeling under threat. grow new tails. One species of fish-
While most prey animals will take flight scale gecko virtually jumps out of its
or freeze completely, some are willing to ELECTRIC EEL skin, leaving its attacker with only a
bunch of scales to chew on.
confront and take on their attackers. (5.5 feet [1.7 m], South America)
Electric eels use strong zaps to defend
One tactic that animals like the boxer crab themselves and knock down prey. One of the
use is to make themselves look bigger and species found in the Amazon River (Electrophorus
stronger to intimidate and scare away their voltai) can deliver a shocking 860 volts. It would
take 570 standard batteries to achieve the
much larger foes. same electric force.

Possum plays dead

to trick other animals

VIRGINIA OPOSSUM
(30 inches [76 m], North America)
When people use the phrase “playing possum,” they mean
pretending to be dead. The expression comes from the
Virginia opossum. When a fox or bobcat approaches an
opossum, it will sometimes roll over and lie motionless
BOXER CRAB
on the ground, staring off into space as if dead. Many (0.9 inch [2.5 cm], Indo-Pacific Ocean)
predators do not eat animals that are already dead so Nothing can get between a boxer crab and its sea anemones.
they will leave the “lifeless” opossum alone. The brightly-colored crab carries a pair of small sea
anemones, one in each claw, like boxer gloves or pom-poms.
The crab will wave the anemone’s stinging tentacles in a
“boxing” motion to ward off enemies. What do the anemones
get out of this partnership? Free rides and food scraps
dropped by the crab!
16 17
 ONE OF A KIND
Most species of animals have lots of close relatives.
Lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards
are all species of big cat, for example. But there is
only one species of human walking the Earth today
(us), and we're not the only single species out there.
All of the single species we know of once had close
relatives just the way humans once lived alongside
Neanderthals. We know this because scientists have
found their fossils. But nowadays you have to look
for distant cousins to find relations for these special
creatures.
18
AYE-AYE
(17 inches [43 cm], Madagascar)
The aye-aye is a primate with large cartoonish ears and a
thin, elongated middle finger on each of its hands, which
it uses to tap against trees to find grubs, locating hollow
areas by listening for the echoes. In 2019, biologists
noticed a tiny extra digit made of bone and cartilage on
the inside of each wrist—this makes the aye-aye the first
primate with six fingers. It may help this rare creature
grip objects or branches.
AARDVARK
(4.9 feet [1.5 m], Africa)
This African mammal digs deep burrows into the ground
and stays there during the day to keep cool. After dark, the
aardvark emerges to sniff out food with its long pig-like snout.
Ants and termites are on the menu. The aardvark’s sticky
tongue can slurp up 50,000 insects a night.
KOALA
(33 inches [85 cm], Australia)
WHALE SHARK Though often called a koala bear, this
(59 feet [18 m], temperate and tropical oceans) fluffy tree-dweller is not a bear at all. It is a
marsupial. Female marsupials have a pouch on
The world's largest fish is different enough from other their belly for carrying their babies. Koalas live
sharks that it has its own category called Rhincodon. As in Australia, where the eucalyptus trees they
the whale shark swims gracefully near the surface with its love are most plentiful. Eucalyptus leaves are
mouth wide open, it lets seawater flow in and filter through not very nutritious, however, and provide the
its gills. The whale shark swallows thousands of litres of koalas little spare energy. That’s why they hang
water every hour. The water contains nutritious microscopic out for most of the day relaxing on branches or
plankton and small fish. Golden trevally also feed on the sleeping in tree forks.
same plankton, sharing the whale shark’s feast.
19
 NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
Barn owl
(37-inch [95-cm] wingspan, worldwide)
There’s a reason why people who stay up late
Nocturnal animals are more active at night are often called night owls. That’s because
than during the day. They usually have a strong most owls become active when the sun sets.
sense of hearing and smell, and, in some cases, The barn owl, with its heart-shaped face, white
specially adapted eyesight. These adaptations underside, and golden-colored back, looks like
help nocturnal animals find their way around a ghostly apparition at night as it keeps watch
in fields and meadows. Its right ear sits slightly
and catch food when it’s too dark to see. higher than the left, a feature that helps the
barn owl pinpoint not only the direction a
sound comes from but also the height of that
escaping vole, mouse, or shrew.

Echolocating bats and eared moths Eurasian badger

Bats don’t need to see to hunt in the dark. (30 inches [76 cm], Europe)
They use sound to find the location of flying With its black-and-white-striped face, it's easy to
insects, such as moths. The bats’ high- recognize a badger. This mammal has an excellent
sense of hearing and smell. A badger can sniff out
pitched calls bounce off the moths’ bodies
earthworms, slugs, and other insects. Sometimes,
and return the reflected sounds to the bats’ it will also dig up the nests of mice or rabbits using
ears in a process called echolocation. its long, sharp claws.
If you want to hear bat sounds,
you will need a bat detector
to convert their signals to
frequencies that humans
can recognize.

Glow-worm
Bat hunting
(0.9 inch [25 mm], worldwide)
moths at night The glow-worm is not actually a worm,
but a beetle. The wingless females have
organs that light up. The flying males,
which look like a typical beetle, are
attracted to this light.

Some moths have evolved ears, which allow

them to hear the echolocating squeaks of bats.
When a bat approaches, the moths react with
sudden turns or power dives to avoid being
eaten. The barbastelle bat (2 inches [5.5 cm],
Europe), however, tricks eared moths. It lowers
the intensity of its calls so much that moths are
unable to hear them … until it is too late.
20 21
 STINKY CREATURES
Animals use smells to communicate with one
another. They may urinate to leave scent trails,
marking their territory and letting others know
they are in the area. Or they may deliberately
release bad smells—a particularly effective HOATZIN
way to chase away predators. (2.4 inches [65 cm], South America)
KING RATSNAKE The large reddish-brown crest on top of its head
(7.8 feet [2.4 m], Asia) may make this bird look attractive from afar, but the
hoatzin is nicknamed the stink bird for good reason.
This large snake has beautiful scales. It is a It eats almost nothing but thick leaves, storing them
popular pet despite secreting a foul-smelling in an internal pouch near its throat and digesting
musk when touched or picked up. That is why them very slowly. Inside the pouch, bacteria begin
people sometimes call it the stink snake or the process of breaking down the plant tissue,
stinking goddess. producing a smelly gas.

KEELED MILLIPEDE STRIPED SKUNK

(11.8 inches [30 cm], tropical forests) (18.8 inches [48 cm], North America)
Two glands located underneath the skunk’s
To avoid being eaten by lizards, birds, and
large tail contain a stinky, oily liquid. When
insects, millipedes curl up into spirals to hide
threatened by another animal, such as a
their soft underbellies. Some species also
dog, the skunk turns its back and raises
release a gas that gives off the scent of bitter
its tail to squirt out the liquid. Skunks
almonds and is dangerously toxic to some
are good at aiming and can spray
RING-TAILED LEMUR
rodents and small birds.
for about ten feet (3 m).
(17.7 inches [45 cm], Madagascar)
Male and female ring-tailed lemurs live in
social groups of around 30 individuals. During
the mating season, male lemurs compete
fiercely for females by trying to out-stink each
other. They cover their long tails with a brown,
smelly paste from glands located on the insides
of their wrists and chests. They then wave their
tails in the air until a rival lemur backs down.

22 23
 LEOPARDS SPOTTED CATS
Seldom seen, these powerful big cats (6 feet [1.9 m]) are
The coats of leopards and jaguars both feature rosettes,
closely related to jaguars. Leopards are mostly active at a spot pattern that resembles the shape of a rose, but a
night, and during the day they often rest up in trees. Black panther jaguar’s rosettes have spots inside them. These patterns
camouflage the cats’ bodies as they move through the grass
The panther is not its own
and sneak up on their prey. The cheetah, another member
Unlike the other large cats, leopards live alone in a variety species, but is a term used
of the cat family, has spots that are more solid as well as
to refer to leopards whose
of habitats, from rainforests and woodlands to deserts and facial stripes.
coat is completely black. These
mountains across Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, these High dining individuals have a gene that
apex predators are under threat due to people hunting Leopards are produces a dark pigment in the skin
excellent climbers or hair so that their spots are hard to see
them for their beautiful coats. Leopards, which need large and can drag their and their coats appear black.
spaces to live and hunt, are also impacted when farmers prey—which is sometimes
clear woodland to make space for farms and livestock. heavier than their body
weight—into the forks of trees
several feet off the ground. Here they can leopard jaguar cheetah
feast in peace and out of reach of scavengers
such as hyenas.

Warthogs

Each leopard has

its own territory.

Well-camouflaged and silent, the leopard

patiently stalks antelopes and other prey
until close enough to pounce.
24 25
 Golden snub-nosed monkey (24 inches [62 cm])
Tucked away high in the snowy mountains, golden snub-
nosed monkeys survive in temperatures below freezing.

MOUNTAIN FORESTS These monkeys love to eat berries and other fruits, but
during winter when the food is scarce, they add lichen, bark,
and twigs to their diets.
The rugged landscapes and contrasting climates
in mountain forests provide an array of habitats
for animals. While it is warm at the foothills,
the very tops of mountains can be covered
in snow. China’s Wolong National
Nature Reserve is a perfect example ASIA
of a place where animals live
Wolong National
at different altitudes.
Nature Reserve
Red panda (25 inches [65 cm], also Nepal and
Myanmar)
Despite its name, the red panda is actually more closely
related to raccoons and weasels than pandas. This animal
is a real acrobat. It easily climbs up trees, using its long,
bushy tail (19 inches [50 cm]) to maintain balance.

Giant panda (5 feet [1.5 m], also northern

Vietnam and Myanmar)
In these forests dwell giant pandas, one of the
world’s rarest mammals. Pandas have an insatiable
appetite for bamboo and spend about 12 hours a
day munching on the tree-like grass.

Why is the giant panda black and white? There

may be more than one explanation for it. The white
parts—its face, neck, belly, back, and rump—may Takin (7 feet [2.2 m], also Bhutan,
help it hide in the snow. The animal’s black arms, Myanmar, and India)
shoulders, and legs, on the other hand, may This antelope is a relative of sheep. Takins
provide camouflage in the shades of the bamboo are skillful climbers and travel up and down
forest. The giant panda spends time in the snow the mountains when seasons change.
and climbing up trees. So the striking black-and-
white pattern could be something
of a compromise.

But what about the ears and black eye patches?

They may help pandas recognize and
communicate with each other. Golden pheasant (4 feet [1.2 m])
A male golden pheasant is hard to miss with
his flashy, colorful plumage and long barred
tail. He has a ruff around the neck, which he
spreads over the head and beak like a cape
to impress a female. Females are much less
striking and have mottled brown plumage.

26 27
 OCTOPUSES Octopuses have
Octopuses are considered the most intelligent Seals struggle to see eight arms
invertebrates. These eight-limbed animals can through the ink
navigate their way through complex mazes and
use tools to avoid being eaten.

Octopuses even recognize human faces. The

biologist Roland C. Anderson and his colleagues
first tested this theory with giant Pacific
octopuses in 2010. Their experiment involved a
“nice” keeper who regularly fed eight animals
Experts with tools
and a “mean” keeper who touched them with a
Octopuses are solitary creatures and live in dens under
bristly stick. After two weeks, all the octopuses rocks or in crevices. Octopuses have been known to stack
behaved differently toward the two keepers. rocks in front of their dens to keep predators out while
This suggests the animals can recognize they sleep. When moving about, they sometimes collect
discarded seashells and assemble them into a suit of
individual people, even when they wear the armor to protect themselves. Veined octopuses (3 inches
same clothes. [8 cm], Indo-Pacific Ocean), were even observed picking
up coconut halves larger than their bodies.

Incredible escape artists

Octopuses have to worry about sharks, moray eels,
and seals who like to gobble them up. Because they
have no bones, octopuses are able to squeeze through
extremely small crevices, cracks, and holes to hide.
Masters of disguise
When under attack, they will release clouds of ink to
obscure a predator’s view and swiftly escape. Of course, going unnoticed in the
first place is always the better option.
Octopuses can change their colors and
flatfish
patterns as they traverse a reef.

The mimic octopus (24 inches [61 cm], Indo-

Pacific Ocean), a species found in shallow
waters, can also change its shape. It twists its
arms and body to impersonate many animals,
such as the fish pictured above.

28 29
 Ten Biggest Animals Longest living animals Animals that migrate vast distances
•  120 feet (36.5 m): Lion’s mane jellyfish •  Forever (in theory): Turritopsis dohrnii •  4 4,117 miles (71,000 km): The total distance Arctic terns travel
•  108 feet (33 m): Blue whale Canadian ARCTIC OCEAN •  11,000 years: Monorhaphis chuni, a deep-sea sponge between Greenland and Antarctica each year
•  over 98 feet (30 m): Bootlace worm Arctic Greenland •  507 years: Quahog clam •  12,774 miles (20,558 km): The distance a leatherback turtle
•  59 feet (18 m): Whale shark •  272 years: Greenland shark traveled from a nesting beach in Papua to the feeding grounds
•  59 feet (18 m): Giant squid GIANT SQUID •  255 years: Aldabra giant tortoise off the US coast
•  55.7 feet (17 m): Giant oarfish One of the biggest animals •  211 years: Bowhead whale •  9,445 miles (15,200 km): The distance wandering albatrosses
•  32 feet (9.8 m): Orca under the sea, Giant squid Alaska •  205 years: Rougheye rockfish cover in a single foraging trip
•  30 feet (9.1 m): Green anaconda live so deep in the ocean it Iceland •  200 years: Red sea urchin •  7,456 miles (12,000 km): The total distance painted lady
•  24 feet (7.3 m): African elephant is practically impossible for •  168 years: Geoduck, a type of saltwater clam butterflies travel annually from Europe to Africa and back.
humans to study them. Almost
•  19 feet (5.8): Giraffe •  Over 110 years: Tuatara •  6,897 miles (11,100 km): The distance a female great white shark
everything scientists know
about them is from carcasses ASIA traveled from South Africa to western Australia
UK
that have washed up on Canada Turritopsis dohrnii (0.17 inch [4.5 mm]) •  5,157 miles (8,300 km): The single distance humpback whales
beaches or been caught by is a small species of jellyfish that can travel between Costa Rica and the Antarctic Ocean
EUROPE revert back to its premature state when
fishermen. The largest of these •  4,349 miles (7,000 km): The distance wandering gliders, a
giants weighed nearly a tonne. it is under stress or gets injured. In
China dragonfly species, travel from India to East Africa and back. They
theory, this jellyfish could be immortal
Spain if stressed repeatedly, but it still gets are the longest-distance flyers of all insects.
NORTH AMERICA eaten just like other animals.
•  2,983 miles (4,800 km): Annual distance traveled by caribou
Wolong National
Japan across North America
Nature Reserve
Nepal
•  1,864 miles (3,000 km): Annual distance traveled by blue
Mexico ATLANTIC OCEAN wildebeest in East Africa
Bhutan Taiwan
Myanmar •  870 miles (1,400 km): The distance Chinook salmon migrate from
Mariana Trench
Lion’s mane jellyfish Senegal Chad India the ocean to the river stream where they were born to spawn
Thailand
Animals that produce many young
Niger •  3 00 million eggs at a time: Mola mola or ocean sunfish
Vietnam PACIFIC OCEAN •  10 million eggs per year: Bluefin tuna
Costa Rica Uganda
Benin
Amazon River Malaysia •  At least 5 million eggs every 25 days: African driver ant
Colombia Congo •  Up to 2.5 million eggs per year: Atlantic sturgeon
Indonesia
Kenya New Caledonia •  Up to 74,000 eggs in a lifetime: Giant Pacific octopus
AFRICA
WORLD MAP
Borneo
Tanzania
SOUTH AMERICA •  2,000 eggs at a time: Seahorse
Giant oarfish Peru Brazil Madagascar •  32 young per year: Tailless tenrec
Animals don’t have borders and spread across Bolivia Zambia •  28 pups per year: Naked mole-rat
countries and continents. They generally live in •  14 kits at a time: Rabbit
areas where the climate suits them and they can AUSTRALIA •  22 eggs at a time: Gray partridge, one of the largest litters amongst birds
Namibia Mozambique
easily find their favorite foods. Some animals,
though, migrate seasonally in pursuit of food or a Uruguay South Africa
mate. This map shows the places mentioned in the New Zealand
book and a few of the animals, too.
INDIAN OCEAN
ANTARCTIC OCEAN

Most fish release thousands of eggs in the

African elephant water. Only a few eggs hatch and survive to Arctic terns have the
become adults, because eggs and baby fish longest migrations
ANTARCTICA easily fall prey to hungry predators. of any bird
30a 30b 30 31b 31a

TRICKS & TOOLS
It was once thought that the way humans
make and use tools is perhaps what sets
us apart from other animals. However, the
more we observe the natural world, the
more we learn about the creative ways
animals solve problems. Chimpanzees
and other primates are now well known
for using plants and stones to help them
retrieve food. It turns out animals without
hands are great tool-users, too.
ATLANTIC PUFFIN
(12 inches [30 cm], Europe)
Puffins are small seabirds that live on the Atlantic Ocean
for most of the year and only come to land to breed. Just
like the crows living on the islands of New Caledonia,
which are well known for their use of twigs to hook grubs
(see page 9), puffins also use wooden sticks, but in a
very different way: When biologists visited the birds’
breeding sites in Wales and Iceland, they observed
two puffins scratching their backs and chests with tiny
branches that they held in their beaks.
32
ORANGE-DOTTED TUSKFISH
(20 inches [50 cm], Indian Ocean)
Tuskfish like to eat clams. They dig clams
out of the sand, carry them in their mouths
to a rock or coral, and repeatedly smash
them against the rock to crack them open.
Once the clams are open, the fish can
gobble up the soft flesh.
CHIMPANZEE
(5.5 feet [1.7 m], Africa)
When a famous scientist named Jane Goodall observed
wild chimpanzees in the 1960s, she discovered that
they use objects such as twigs, stems, and rocks as
tools. This was the first evidence that human beings
are not the only animals that use tools.
Chimpanzees eat anything from fruit and leaves
to insects and meat, and are incredibly skilled at
making dining utensils. They strip the leaves off
twigs to “fish” termites from their nests and use
stones to crack open nuts. Chimps sometimes use
chewed leaves or moss to soak up drinking water.
DRESSER CRAB
(1.5 inches [4 cm], worldwide)
While many animals use tools to find food, the
dresser crab uses tools to avoid becoming food. It
picks up pieces of seaweed and sticks them onto its
shell. Hooked bristles, called setae, line the shells
and act like Velcro. When a predator, such as a fish
or octopus, approaches, the crab freezes and looks
just like a piece of seaweed.
33
 SEA OTTER
SUPER MOMS & (3.9 feet [1.2 m], North Pacific Ocean)
This mammal usually gives birth in the water to a single

AMAZING DADS
Many animals do not care for their offspring
at all. They simply lay lots of eggs at once and
leave them alone to hatch. Only the strongest
few will survive. Some animal parents, though,
go to extraordinary lengths to make sure each
of their offspring survive. They will guard their
eggs until they hatch, or if giving birth to live
young, feed them for months or even years.
pup. The mother spends a lot of time floating on her
back at the water’s surface, holding her fluffy pup close
to her chest. The pup will drink milk from its mother for
six to eight months until it is ready to live on its own.
GLASS FROG
(1 inch [3 cm], South America)
The female glass frog lays around 30 eggs on a leaf, sticking
them in place with a jello-like substance. The male will then
guard the eggs day and night for about two weeks until they
hatch. The skin on the underside of this tiny frog is see-through,
but the yellow and green spots on his back look just like the
clutch of eggs he is shielding. This acts as a decoy for the wasps
that want to feast on the eggs. If a stinging wasp tries to crawl
onto the eggs, the frog’s legs kick out at the insect with ninja-
style moves.

EMPEROR PENGUIN
(4 feet [1.3 m], Antarctica)
The emperor penguin is the tallest of all penguins
and lives on the open ice, where temperatures
can drop to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (-60°C).
Once the female lays an egg, the father takes over
keeping it warm. Fathers huddle together in huge
colonies caring for their eggs while the mothers
head to the ocean to find fish. The females will be
gone for up to two months.

When the egg has hatched and the mother has
returned, she brings up the food that has been
sitting in her stomach and drops it from her beak
into the hungry mouth of her newborn chick. The
parents then swap roles: the mother keeps the chick
snuggled and safe under her belly, while the father
goes out to hunt.
Male incubating egg
AFRICAN CICHLID
(6 inches [15 cm], African freshwaters)
There are several families of fish where the
mothers or fathers use mouth-brooding. That
means they carry their eggs in their mouths
until they hatch. The African cichlid mother,
for instance, does this for at least three weeks.
She doesn’t eat during this time and may hide
between rocks to keep the eggs safe. Once they
have hatched, the mother releases the fry (baby
fish) into the water, though she lets them swim
back into her mouth if they are in danger.

34 35
 DESERTS
The orange and pink dunes of the Namib Desert are
the tallest in the world, rising to an astonishing
1,312 feet (400 m). Scorching hot by day
and freezing at night, the Namib is an
almost completely barren landscape
with little drinking water or food.
There are areas where it barely
rains. Still, some truly fascinating
animals call this desert home.
Darkling beetle (0.78 inch [2 cm], worldwide)
The darkling beetle has an ingenious way to
collect water. It climbs to the top of sand dunes
and sticks its bottom up in the direction of the
fog that rolls in from the ocean. Water droplets
from the fog drip onto the beetle’s body and
slide down into its mouth. This technique is
called fog-basking.
AFRICA
Nambib
Desert

Many of the small animals living in

hot deserts are nocturnal. They hide
underground during the day to escape the heat
and emerge at night. But larger animals live here, too:
Namibia is one of two places in the world where desert
elephants can be found. These are not a distinct species
of elephant but are African bush elephants that have
adapted to life in the desert.
Web-footed gecko (5.5. inches [14 cm])
The skin of this pinkish-tinged gecko, also
African bush elephant (13 feet [4 m]) known as the Namib sand gecko, is nearly
The elephants dwelling in the Namib translucent, so it is easily overlooked in the
Desert have slightly smaller bodies, powdery sand. During the night, it emerges
larger feet, and longer legs than the from its burrow, and with its large webbed
elephants living in the African savannah. feet, walks up the steep dunes to look for
Oryx (3.9 feet [1.2 m], also found in South Africa) This helps them walk long distances on crickets and small spiders.
The oryx can let its body temperature rise from a normal the sand and move from one waterhole
96.2 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (35.7 to 45°C) during the to the next. They also stamp and dig into
heat of the day to avoid sweating and losing body water. dry riverbeds to find drinking water.
Body temperatures higher than 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit
(42°C) would kill most mammals, but the oryx has a trick. By
pumping blood through cooler vessels around the nose
while it breathes in rapidly, it cools
the blood that flows to its brain.

Namib golden mole (3.4 inches [8.6 cm])

The adorable golden mole is blind, but with
its head tucked into the sand, it can detect the
slightest movement from termites.

36 37
 CLOWNFISH
TRANSFORMERS (4 inches [11 cm], tropical
Like humans, animals grow and change in oceans)
body shape, behavior, and diet throughout Clownfish usually live in groups of
their lives. Some grow bigger but remain one breeding pair and several smaller
essentially the same, while some go through individuals. The largest fish is female
and all others are males. If the female
remarkable transformations. Some even
dies, the most dominant male changes
change from one sex to another. sex and takes her place, forming a
POISON FROG new couple with the next largest
male in the group.
(2.5 inches [6.5 cm], South America)
Poison frogs wear some of the most
beautiful colors on Earth. From orange
and silver to blue and black, their color
combinations are numerous and varied. The
striking colorations warn predators to stay
away because these brightly colored frogs
are toxic to eat.

Adult male
3

Life cycle of a frog

4
Metamorphosis is a process amphibians

2
and insects go through to become adults.
In species that undergo metamorphosis,
FLAMINGO
(4.2 feet [1.3 m], tropical and
babies look very different from their
parents. The transformation from fish-like
sub-tropical areas)
tadpole to land-dwelling frog is one of the Flamingos truly embody the saying “you
most dramatic. are what you eat.” Chicks hatch with gray
Spiderling or white feathers and, over time,
take on the same pink or red
hue as their parents. That
1 A tadpole hatches out of its egg with gills to
breathe underwater and a tail for swimming PEACOCK SPIDER is because they eat brine
shrimp and algae rich in
(1)&(2). After a few weeks, the tadpole starts (0.2 inch [6 mm], Australia) carotenoids, a pigment
growing hind legs and lungs (3) and grows into
Spiders are arachnids, which are invertebrates with eight that is also responsible for
a froglet (4). This means it is ready to leave the
legs and two body parts. The mother spider constructs a the bright red, yellow, and
water and live on land. The tail disappears and
protective sac from strong silk and deposits her eggs inside orange colors of some fruit
the frog becomes an adult (5).
it. The newly-hatched spiderlings then leave the sac and and vegetables.
make their way into the world. Female peacock spiders have a
brown body, but the males have a colorful abdomen. When a
male reaches maturity, it extends its bristly legs and waves its
colorful abdomen in a showy dance. The male hopes this will
win over a female to mate with.
38 39
40
Arctic fox (27 inches [68 cm], also in
other Arctic regions)
LIFE IN THE Arctic foxes change the color of their fur with the
seasons. In winter they are white to hide in the
snow, while in summer they change to brown or
EXTREME COLD gray to blend in with rocks and plants. These foxes
have furry soles instead of pads on their
In some parts of Canada, like the Yukon the paws, small rounded ears, and short
weather is brutally cold. Strong winds blow air muzzles—these adaptations
allow them to survive in the
and heavy snow, and massive ice sheets rest
chilly climate.
on land and the sea.

During the winter months, air temperatures Yukon

drop well below freezing. Many birds and
mammals then migrate to warmer areas where
CANADA
they can find more food. Those animals that
remain in northern Canada have adapted to the
cold and eat whatever they can find. How do Canada lynx (3.6 feet [1.1 m], also in
these animals survive in the extreme climate? northern U.S. states)
And what special features have they developed? Canada lynx are cats with huge, hairy
paws. Their long legs allow them to run
on soft, deep snow without sinking in
very far. The lynx eat mice, squirrels,
and birds, but their favorite food is the
snowshoe hare.

Harp seal (6 feet [1.9 m], also in other Arctic regions)

These sleek swimmers cruise the chilly water, but females
will come up on ice to give birth and rear their young.
Their pups are born with fluffy white fur and are called
whitecoats. They shed their coats at around three weeks of
age and become gray with dark spots.

Beluga (19.6 feet [6 m], also in other

Arctic regions)
Unlike many whales, belugas have no
back (dorsal) fin. This allows them to swim
right beneath the ice with ease. They have
a thick layer of fat under their skin called
blubber. The blubber keeps the cold out
and body heat in.

Polar bear (7.8 feet [2.4 m],

also in other Arctic regions)
Polar bears are the largest
carnivores on land and spend much of Polar bears can swim
their lives hunting out on the sea ice. Their 8.8 feet (2.7 m) per second.
distinctive white coats provide camouflage, which
makes them hard to see when they are sneaking up
on seals. Polar bears are superb swimmers and use
only their large front paws to paddle.
41
 Tawny frogmouth

DOWN UNDER (21 inches [53 cm], northern Australia)

During the day, it’s almost impossible to spot this owl-
like bird among the trees. The color of its plumage is
Mary River turtle (16.5 inches [42 cm])
This river turtle is the punk rocker of the
Australia and New Zealand are home to some animal kingdom with its spiky green
similar to that of bark. When its eyes are closed, the
“hair,” which is actually a crown of
truly amazing creatures, from the world- tawny frogmouth looks just like a broken branch.
growing algae. It’s incredibly rare and
famous kangaroos to the less well-known only exists in Queensland’s Mary River.
leafy sea dragons. Many of these animals
are endemic to these islands, which means
they are only found here and nowhere else
on Earth. Platypus (15 inches [38 cm])
The platypus has a bill like a duck, fur like an
otter, and a tail like a beaver. It certainly is an
unusual mammal. When looking for food, the
platypus uses its wide bill to detect movements
in the murky waters where it lives. It also lays
eggs rather than bearing live young. But, like all
mammals, the female platypus feeds its young
with milk.

Kiwi (25.5 inches [65 cm])

AUSTRALIA The flightless kiwi is New Zealand’s
most famous bird. The little
spotted female usually lays
just one enormous egg per
season, which, at an average
of 10.5 ounces (300 grams),
makes up a quarter of her own
body weight (2.8 pounds [1.3 kg]).

Tasmanian tiger (25.5 inches [65 cm])

The last Tasmanian tiger died in Hobart
Zoo in 1936. Some people claim they have
since seen this large striped marsupial
in the wild, but none of the reports are NEW ZEALAND
Red kangaroo (5 feet [1.6 m], officially confirmed.
central Australia)
Kangaroos are the largest living
marsupials and carry their young
(called joeys) in a pouch. They are
the biggest hopping animals on
Earth and can jump more than 24
feet (7.5 m) in a single leap.
Leafy sea dragon (13.7 inches [35 cm]) Tuatara (28 inches [71 cm])
Leafy sea dragons blend in perfectly The tuatara’s appearance has not
with the seaweed around them. As with changed much since its ancestors roamed
seahorses, the males are the ones who carry the Earth during the age of the dinosaurs,
their young on their bodies. A female will TASMANIA some 200 million years ago.
drop her eggs on the male’s tail, where he
cares for them until they are ready to hatch.

42 43
 CORAL REEF
Coral reefs teem with life. They are made
up not only of corals, but fish, sea turtles,
sharks and rays and much more. One
quarter of all ocean species depend on
Cleaner wrasse
these reefs for food and shelter. That Blacktip reef shark
is why coral reefs are often called the
rainforests of the sea. Cleaning stations
Reef manta rays (18-foot [5.5-m] “finspan,”
tropical oceans) regularly visit “cleaning
stations” on coral reefs to have small fish,
including butterflyfish, goldies, and cleaner
ROCK, PLANT, OR ANIMAL?
Manta ray wrasse, pick off parasites or dead skin. The Corals are often mistaken for rocks or plants. They are
mantas stay healthy and the cleaners get a actually made up of tiny animals called polyps. These
free meal. soft-bodied polyps build themselves a hard skeleton
made of limestone, which, in turn, forms the foundation
Angelfish for the next generation of polyps. Hundreds to
thousands of polyps later, we can see a coral reef form.
Corals come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Staghorn
Gramma corals are named after their long branches that resemble
stag antlers. The aptly-named brain corals are another
Butterflyfish
type of hard coral.
Soft coral
Frogfish Soft corals, such as sea fans and
tree corals, lack hard skeletons
and sway back and forth with
the ocean current.

Sea snake

Hiding in plain sight Don’t eat me

Marine animals come in striking colors and Pufferfish are famous for their ability to fill their
patterns. Some can brighten or darken their hues elastic stomachs with huge amounts of water Emperor angelfish
to communicate with other members of their species. But and blow themselves up to several times their
others would rather go unnoticed and camouflage themselves normal body size. The poison from a single tiger
to avoid being eaten by predators. Frogfish (11.8 inches pufferfish (1.5 inches [4 cm], Japan) is enough to Hard coral
[30 cm]) are difficult to spot amongst colorful sponges and kill 30 adult humans if eaten. Yet, some highly
coral. Stonefish (15.7 inches [40 cm]) look like harmless rocks, trained chefs know how to remove the deadly
but their spines are dangerously venomous. parts and have a license to serve the fish in Pufferfish
Japanese restaurants. Goatfish

Clownfish

Stonefish

Conger eel

44 45
 DOLPHINS SEEING WITH SOUND
There are 44 species of dolphin. They live all
Echolocating dolphin In the same way as bats, dolphins use echolocation
over the world in oceans and rivers—except
to scan dark waters and find a meal. Their clicking
in polar regions. Common dolphins (6.5 feet sounds travel quickly through the water. In fact, sound
[2 m]) are, as the name suggests, the most travels five times faster through water than through
abundant dolphins in the ocean. Sometimes air. When a dolphin’s clicking sounds hit a fish in the
the small groups that usually live together water, they bounce off and come back to the dolphin
as echoes. The echoes tell the dolphin how far away
join up into a superpod of more than 1,000
and how big the prey is.
dolphins to chase down food.
While dolphins use clicks to hunt, they use whistles
to communicate with one another. Each dolphin has
its own distinctive signature whistle. They seem to
call each other, not by name, but by imitating the
signature whistle of another dolphin in their pod.

Common dolphins
working on a bait ball
RIVER DOLPHINS
Some dolphins live in
freshwater. One of the most
striking species is the Amazon
River dolphin (7.8 feet [2.4 m]),
South America) with its long,
slim snout and gray to pink
Dolphins literally sleep color.
with one eye open

Hunting excellence
Dolphins are social animals and often hunt as a group. They herd
fish toward the shore, where the water is shallower and they can
easily catch them. Sometimes dolphins circle around a school of fish
and cut off their escape routes. The fish gather tightly into masses,
or a bait ball, to better protect themselves. However, the dolphins
then take turns plowing through the center of the ball, eating all
they can. A bait ball will attract the attention of many
other predators: Birds, sharks, and whales may rush to
the scene to join in on the feeding frenzy.
46
HALF ASLEEP
Dolphins don’t sleep for one long period as humans
do. Because dolphins need to come to the surface
frequently to breathe, they rest one side of their brain
at a time. Sometimes they will hang motionless at the Pink river dolphin
surface of the water, while other times, they may swim
slowly and then rise to the surface to breathe.
47
48
Ants carrying pieces of leaves
along a branch

LEAFCUTTER ANTS
Leafcutter ants trek across the floor and
up and down the trunks of trees, often
forming lines that are 98 feet (30 m)
long. They live in underground nests in
tropical forests, mainly in Central and
South America.

Fungus farmers (0.5 inch [14 mm])

Humans have been farming crops for thousands of years, but
ants began farming around 50 million years ago! Leafcutter ants
use their large jaws to cut up leaves and carry the pieces—some
30 times their own body weight—back to their underground
nest. They don't actually eat the leaves but use them to cultivate
a “garden” of fungus in their nest. The fungus needs the dead
plants to grow and the ants then feed on the fungus.

Leafcutter ants come in various sizes and each has a job in the
colony, from leaf-carriers and guards to tunnel builders and
gardeners.

Guards
While forager ants look for leaves, other worker ants
keep watch over them. These smaller ants may ride
on the leaves as the foragers carry them back to the
nest. Their job is to chase away any phorid flies that
try to land on the forager ants that are busy carrying
leaves. The phorid fly is a tiny parasite that lays eggs
on the heads of ants. When the eggs hatch, the larvae
kill the ants.

The queen is up to two inches

(5 cm) long and the only ant in
the colony that lays eggs.

queen’s
chamber

Gardeners
Leafcutter ants work hard to keep their fungus
healthy and, just like human farmers, use
chemicals to protect it. On their bodies they
carry bacteria that release antibiotics against
pests. The gardeners also feed and care for
the eggs and larvae of the colony (collectively
called the brood), which are found in
chambers of the fungus garden.

fungus
garden

nursing
chamber

Excavators
refuse
An underground nest has thousands of tunnels and
chamber
chambers. All of the chambers are built by excavator
ants. There is even a refuse chamber where dead
ants and old food are left. The ants working here are
not allowed to leave to avoid contaminating areas
where the fungus garden and queen live. If the queen
catches a deadly disease from another ant, the whole
colony could collapse.
49
 IN THE CITY
More animals live in our cities than you might
imagine. Insects, birds, and mammals such
as squirrels or foxes are often easy to spot.
Sometimes even bigger animals venture into
the streets to find food, but you will have to be
lucky to catch a glimpse of them.

Pavement ant
(0.1 inch [3 mm], worldwide)
“Hey! I’m walkin’ here!” If you look closely on New York’s bustling
sidwalks you might notice some very tiny pedestrians making their way
through the Big Apple. Dodging the giant footfall of busy humans may
be a risk, but it’s worth it for the fast food. Pavement ants nab bread,
cookie crumbs, and the like, sometimes within seconds of the food
hitting the ground. On a busy road in central New York, pavement ants
and other insects may be eating an astonishing 2,094 pounds
(950 kg) of human food—the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs—every year.
Red-tailed hawk
(4.6-foot [1.4-m] wingspan, across North America)
Pale Male was a celebrity red-tailed hawk who lived in New York in the
1990s. He was first seen nesting on a Fifth Avenue building. Normally red-
tailed hawks nest in trees. Cities offer birds of prey like the red-tailed hawk
plenty of space in parks, golf courses, or abandoned plots of land.
Birds of prey also like to hang out in backyards. For good reason: many
people leave feeders in their backyards for songbirds, unintentionally
creating a buffet for these hawks. The hunters can sit quietly on tree
branches and swoop in when prey moves within striking distance.

Eastern gray squirrel

(11 inches [28 cm], across North America)
All the squirrels in New York are eastern gray
squirrels. In 2018, more than 300 volunteers spent
11 days walking through the famed Central Park and
counting every squirrel they encountered: there
Coyote were more than 2,300 of them! The squirrels mostly
(37 inches [94 cm], across North America) chew tree bark, branches, and nuts and may also
This member of the dog family usually roams approach passersby for a snack.
grasslands and deserts. In the past few decades,
coyotes have spread into nearly every corner of
the United States. They have even been spotted
walking through busy cities like New York, usually
at night when fewer people are around. These
mostly nocturnal animals scavenge through trash
or will try to catch a fresh rat.

50 51
52
PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY
(1.9-inch [5-cm] wingspan, Spain to Chad,
EPIC MIGRATIONS Benin, and Niger)
Animals undertake incredible journeys around Butterflies make epic migrations, too. Every year, painted
the globe and will cross oceans, rivers, and lady butterflies leave southern Europe to spend the winter
deserts to find food or warmer homes for the in tropical Africa. They cross the Mediterranean Sea, North
Africa’s mountains, and the Sahara Desert—and back.
winter. Some will travel thousands of miles in
They travel the longest route of any butterfly, making an
order to find a safe haven to breed and have their annual round-trip of 7,456 miles (12,000 km).
young. The African continent is one of the best
places to witness these extraordinary feats of
endurance.

NIGER

WILDEBEEST
BENIN (3.9 feet [1.2 m],
Tanzania to Kenya)
Every year, giant herds of grazers follow the
rain to find greener pastures with plenty
of food and water. Starting in Tanzania’s
Serengeti region, wildebeest cross the Mara
River and dodge hungry crocodiles to reach
their destination in Kenya.
KENYA

DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO

TANZANIA

MOZAMBIQUE

ZAMBIA

STRAW-COLORED FRUIT BAT

(30 inches [76 cm], Zambia to DRC)
Up to ten million bats descend into Kasanka
SOUTH AFRICA
National Park every October to eat fruit. They
munch their way through the forest and then
disappear at the end of December. Scientists
attached location trackers to some fruit bats to
find out where they spend the rest of the year.
They traveled over 620 miles (1,000 km) north
into the deep rainforests of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, moving plant seeds from
one place to another as they went.

SARDINE
(11.8 inches [30 cm],
South Africa to Mozambique)
When it is winter in the southern hemisphere,
billions of sardines migrate up South Africa’s
coast. Sardines like temperatures below 69
HUMPBACK WHALE degrees Fahrenheit (21°C), so they wait until the
(52 feet [16 m], Antarctic tropical waters they travel through become
Ocean to Mozambique) cold enough in the winter months.
Every year, humpback whales travel
up the East African coast to warm
waters where they mate and give birth.
The new mothers stay here until their
young are strong enough to make the
journey back to the Antarctic Ocean. That’s
where they usually feed on krill.
53
 GREEN TURTLE
(4.9 feet [1.5 m], endangered, tropical oceans)
Green turtles lay their eggs on beaches and cover
them with sand to keep them warm and protected.
The temperature of the sand determines the sex of the
offspring. In some nesting sites temperatures have been
rising, which resulted in most turtles being born as

PROTECTING female. If these trends continue, there may not be enough

males around to mate with.

ENDANGERED ANIMALS
Many animals are fighting a battle on all fronts.
Cities and towns are growing and expanding into
natural habitats, polluting them and leaving wild
animals with fewer places to live. Humans also hunt
and fish for animals to sell as food and medicine.
This can decimate their populations. In addition,
rising air and water temperatures are taking their
toll, forcing animals to move to new areas with more
favorable climates. Fortunately, many people love
animals and are working hard to save those most
under threat from the brink of extinction.
BLACK RHINO At some nesting sites, the eggs of sea
(5.9 feet [1.8 m] height, turtles are moved to nurseries for hatching.
critically endangered, Biologists are also attempting to shade
nesting sites with palm leaves to keep the
southern Africa)
sand cool.
The two horns rhinos use to protect
themselves have also been their
downfall. Nearly 1,000 African rhinos
are killed each year for their horns. People
grind the horns into a powder for traditional
medicine or carve them into ornaments and
jewelry to be sold. In 2019, scientists from the
University of Oxford came up with a way to
create fake rhino horns made from horse hair,
which could be offered as products without the
need to kill any animals.

CHINESE PANGOLIN
(30.7 inches [78 cm], critically endangered,
southern Asia)
Scales cover the pangolin’s body for protection from bites. When
threatened by a predator, it rolls up into a ball. Although it is
forbidden to hunt pangolins, people still buy their scales illegally,
believing a traditional medicine made from their scales cures
illnesses. The problem is that so few people know what pangolins
are and why they’re in such peril. Once people stop buying
pangolins, there won’t be any reason to hunt them.

AFRICAN WILD DOG

(3.3 feet [1 m], critically endangered, southern Africa)
Each African wild dog has its own unique mottled coat with patches of
red, black, brown, white, and yellow. That is why it is also known as the
painted wolf. Packs of African wild dogs need a lot of space to roam
and hunt, and yet much of their habitat has been cleared to make space
for farms and livestock. While those living in parks and reserves are
protected, there may now be as few as 6,600 dogs left in the wild.
54 55
 GLOSSARY INDEX
A H N
chimpanzees 33 skunks 23
ABDOMEN CARCASS GILLS RIVERBANK cities 50–51, 54 smell 21, 22–23
The lower part of an animal’s body, The dead body of an animal. Carrion Organs through which fish and other Refers to the land at either side of a aardvarks 18 clams 31b, 32 hearing 20, 21 New Zealand 42, 43 snakes 14, 22
containing the stomach and other refers to the decaying flesh of this animals living in the water breathe. river. adaptations 20, 40 classification 4 hoatzins 23 nocturnal animals 18, species 4, 8, 18
organs. animal. They absorb oxygen through the water Africa 31, 36–37, 52–53, climbing 24, 26, 27 humans, harm 20–21, 36 spiders, peacock 39
and move it into the bloodstream. Gills SCAVENGER 54 communication 4, 22–23, to animals 24, 54 sponges 31
ALTITUDE CARNIVORE have the same function as our lungs.
O
Animals that feed on organisms that are African wild dogs 54 26, 44, 47 hunting 4, 15, 20, 24, 46 squids, giant 30b
Refers to the height above sea level. A carnivore is an animal that mainly already dead. amphibians 5, 38 coral reefs 7, 44–45 squirrels 51
MICROSCOPE
I
High-altitude areas are considered to eats the flesh of other animals. anacondas 14, 30a corals 45 oarfish, giant 30 swimming 41
begin at 7,874 feet (2,400 m). An instrument that allows us to look at SEASONS Antarctica 11, 34 coyotes 50 oceans 8, 11, 17, 46

ANTIBIOTICS
CLIMATE
Refers to the weather conditions that
organisms too small for the human eye
to see.
Four different times during the year
with different types of weather. They
ants 31b, 48–49, 50
arachnids 39
crabs 4, 11, 16, 17, 33
crows 9
insects 31a, 50
intelligence 9, 28
coral reefs 7, 44–45
filter-feeders 18 T
takins 27
Also known as antibacterials, are prevail in a particular place over a are spring, summer,fall, and winter. Arctic 40, 41 invertebrates 4, 11, 28, 39 octopuses 28–29, 31b
medicines that attack bacterial long period. These include average ORGANS aye-ayes 19
D opossums, Virginia 16 tardigrades 11

J
Australia 7, 19, 31, 39, orangutans 6 Tasmanian tiger 43
infections that make you sick. temperatures, rainfall, and winds. Structures of cells and tissues that TOXIC 42–43 deserts 10, 11, 36–37 orcas 8, 30a tenrecs, tailless 31b
Leafcutter ants carry a type of bacteria Long-term changes in these conditions perform a specific function in a body. Another word for poisonous.
that halt the growth of a damaging are called climate change. A major The stomach secretes acid and enzymes dolphins 4, 46–47, 53 jaguars 14, 25 oryxes 36 tools, using 9, 29, 32–33

B
parasite. contributing factor to global warming, that digest food. Animals, like the glow- dragonflies 31a jellyfish 30a, 31b otters 14, 34 tongues 13, 18
and climate change more generally, worm, have organs that produce light. owls 21 tortoises, giant 31b

BACTERIA is the accumulation of carbon dioxide babies see young

E K
toucans, toco 15

P
badgers 21 tuataras 31b, 43
Single-celled microorganisms that are (CO2) and methane (CH4) gas in the OXYGEN bats 20, 53 echolocation 20, 47 kangaroo rats 11 turtles 31a, 43, 55
too small to see with the naked eye. atmosphere. Forms a large part of the air on Earth
bears, polar 41 ecosystems 7 kangaroos 42 pandas 26
Many bacteria live inside the body and and is essential to the survival of
are essential to the survival of humans
and animals. For instance, they may
DNA BARCODING
A method where scientists study one or
animals and plants.
bees 4
beetles 13, 21, 37
eels, electric 17
eggs 5, 31b, 34, 35, 38, 39,
42, 43, 49, 55
kiwis 43
koalas 19
pangolins, Chinese 55
Pantanal 14–15 U
urchins, red sea 31b
behaviors 4 penguins, emperor 34
aid with food digestion. There are also a few genes to identify species. PARASITE
L
birds 5, 10, 12, 15, 21,23, elephants 30a, 36 peregrine falcons 12
harmful bacteria, though, that cause
V
An organism that lives on or in another 31a, 51 endangered animals piranhas 15
infections. EVOLVED animal and feeds from it. eggs / young 31b, 34 54–55 lemurs, ring-tailed 22 pheasants, golden 27
Animals change over time in order to flightless 5, 43 exoskeletons 4 leopards 24–25 platypuses 43 vertebrates 4, 5
BEAK OR BILL survive and thrive in the places where PLUMAGE plumage 27, 39, 42 evolution 5 lizards 17 polar animals 11, 34,

W
Birds use their beak, or bill, to eat, they live. This process is called evolution. Refers to all the feathers that cover a tool use 9, 32 lynxes 40 40, 41

F
preen their feathers, grasp objects, or Fish evolved to have gills because bird. blubber 41 polar bears 41

M
to communicate—just as we use our they needed to be able to breathe burrows 10, 18, 36, 37 polyps 45 wetlands 14–15
mouths. underwater. Pangolins evolved scales butterflies 31a, 52 filter-feeding 18 primates 19, 32 whales 12, 30a, 31a, 31b, 41
and turtles evolved shells to protect their
POISON fish 5, 7, 8, 10, 30a, 31b, mammals 5, 12, 18, 34 puffins 32 wildebeest 31a, 52
A substance that can cause illness or
BREEDING
C
bodies from hungry predators. Charles 32, 39 marsupials 16, 19, 42, 43 worms, bootlace 30a
death. If predators eat a poisonous
R
The process of mating and producing Darwin was a famous British naturalist coral reefs 44–45 metamorphosis 38
frog, for instance, the poison that the
Y
offspring. Some animals migrate to whose theory states that evolution caimans 15 largest 18 migrations 31a, 40, 52–53
frog’s skin secretes can be dangerous
specific areas to breed, called breeding happens by natural selection. Because camels 10 migration 31a, 53 milk 5, 34, 43 rabbits 31b
for them. Venom is a poisonous
grounds. of useful traits, such as protective scales camouflage 24, 25, 26, 29, and young 31b, 35 millipedes 23 rainforests 6, 7, 53 young 4, 5, 15, 31b, 34–35,
substance that animals such as snakes
and shells, thick fur or night vision, 33, 40, 41, 44 flamingos 39 mimicry 29 rhinos, black 54 38,
inject into a prey by biting or stinging
animals are able to better survive capybaras 14, 15 foxes, Arctic 40 mole-rats, naked 31b rivers 15, 17, 43, 47 40, 42, 43, 52, 53
CAMOUFLAGE and thus reproduce, passing on their
them.
caribou 31a froghoppers 13 moles, golden 37
A way for animals to hide from
S
characteristics to the next generation. cats 25 frogs 5, 6, 11, 35, 38 monkeys 27
predators by covering or coloring so PREDATOR cheetahs 12, 25 moths 20
that they look like their surroundings.
G
An animal that eats another animal. The
The coat or skin of animals acts as a GENES jaguars 14, 25 mountains 26–27 salamanders 5, 9
animal that is eaten by a predator is leopards 24–25 sea dragons, leafy 42
natural form of camouflage. Some Made up of DNA, a material that carries
called prey. lynxes 40 geckos 17, 37 seahorses 31b
animals can purposefully change the all the information about how an
animal will look and function. These caves 9 giraffes 30a seals, harp 40
color of their skin.
traits are passed on (inherited) to an chameleons 13 glow-worms 21 sharks 7, 18, 53, 30, 31a,
animal from its parents. cheetahs 12 31b

56 57
 A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The sizes in this book are maximums. Where the length of
an animal is given it refers to: the measurement from head
to tail for fish, amphibians, and reptiles; the measurement
from beak to tail for birds (except for some large birds
where the wingspan is given); the measurement of head
and body (without tail) for mammals. For invertebrates,
the measurement may refer to the body length or width.

58 59
What on Earth Books is an imprint of What on Earth Publishing
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First published in 2020

Text by Sabrina Weiss copyright © 2020 What on Earth Publishing Ltd

Illustrations by Paul Daviz copyright © 2020 What on Earth Publishing Ltd

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