Cape Pangolin

The Cape pangolin (Manis temmincki) is a strange looking creature that is covered with sharp plates. These plates are made from tightly packed hair and used to protect the pangolin from predators. When threatened, the pangolin roles into a ball, protecting it's soft belly and face. 

The pangolin's plates are the animals only source of protection. It has no teeth and it's large claws are used to look for food that consists of ants, termites, and beetle grubs. Those claws can easily break through a termite mound or remove tree bark, while it's long 16 inch sticky tongue collects its meal.

Pangolin's lack scales on their face. However, their skin is very tough and thick and protects it from getting bit and stung by ants and termites. It can also close it's nose and ear openings so things can't crawl up there.

Although the Cape pangolin is only found in Africa, there are seven species of pangolin found around the world. The giant pangolin, small-scaled tree pangolin, and the long tailed pangolin are also found in Africa. The Chinese pangolin, Indian pangolin, and the Malayan pangolin are found in Asia. 

Pangolin's are considered Endangered due to habitat loss and over hunting. They have their own holiday, World Pangolin Day, which is celebrated on the third Saturday of February. On this day, people try to teach people about this usually unheard of animal and to bring awareness of their endangered status and how to improve it.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen.

Duck-billed Platypus

The duck-billed platypus, who looks like a mash up of a duck and a beaver, lives in eastern Australia. This creature is not only known for it's looks, but is also known to be one of the three mammals that lays eggs. The other two species are the short and long nosed echidna, also found in Australia. These three species are the only animals that are monotremes (mammals that lay eggs). 

The platypus lays at least 2 soft leathery eggs in a river bank burrow that hatch within 11 days. The babies are born blind, deaf, and hairless, much like a baby bird. However, like mammals, they are nourished by their mother's milk. Unlike most mammals who usually have some kind of nipple for their babies to latch on to, the platypus has milk glands that ooze milk from it's skin. The babies just lap it up. Unlike echidnas and a bunch of other animals that live in Australia, the platypus does not have a pouch or flap it can carry it's young in and must enter the water it lives by to search for food. Platypus moms will cover the entrance of their nests with mud before they leave.

When it enters the water, the platypus closes it's eyes and ears, making it deaf and blind in the water. To hunt, it waves it's bill back and fourth. It's bill is covered in pores that contain two types of sensory cells. One detects a slight touch of an object while another picks up electrical charges that is given off. When it finds something tasty, it stores it in pouches in it's cheeks where it will eat it later on land or floating on top of the water. Platypus have no teeth, so much like a duck, it grinds it's prey up with a hard pallet on the top of it's mouth.

Not only is the platypus on of the few monotremes, it also one of the few mammals that are venomous. Males have a barb on the back of their ankles that has enough venom to kill a dog!

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen.

The Life of Mammals, 2002, David Attenborough.  

Naked Mole-Rat

The naked mole-rat (heterocephalus glaber) is found in East Africa, ranging from Ethiopia and Somalia to northern Kenya. They are small rodents that are around 5-6 inches long and weigh only a few ounces. They may be small, but they make up in sheer numbers. Naked mole-rats live in large colonies of extended families, run by a single queen. Similar to the way termites live, the mole-rat queen is a lot larger and is the only female in the colony that is able to breed. 

Naked mole-rats are well adapted to living underground. Having no hair means that they won't get dirty when they dig and allows them to slide past each other in their close quarters. Unlike what their name implies, naked mole-rats are not moles, they are a totally different specie, and do not have the large burrowing claws like a regular mole. To make tunnels, they use their teeth. Like all rodents, they have bucked incisors that grow constantly. However, the mole-rat's teeth grow outside of their mouths. This allows them to close their mouths while they are burrowing so they don't get a mouthful of dirt. 

Living in such close proximity to each other can mean it can get rather stuffy in a mole-rat colony and hard to breath. However, this does not bother them. Unlike other animals, mole-rats can survive for long periods of time with little oxygen. When we breath (the process is called respiration), we bring oxygen to our blood that brings it to the rest of our body, and more importantly, our brains. If our bodies go for a long time with out oxygen, we can suffer brain damage or even death. 

Not only can mole-rats survive in their low oxygen environment, but they can also survive in highly acidic soil and toxic metals with out a problem, as well as feeling no pain. They also never get cancer and age differently than other rodents for it's size. Normal rodents that are the same size as the naked mole-rat live around 2 to 4 years. Mole rats can live up to 30 years and show no sign of aging. Our bodies are made out of individual cells that have a specific purpose. As we grow, our cells replicate to replace cells that have died or been damaged. As cells replicate, some pieces don't replicate correctly, break down, or stop working. This causes aging. Even at 30 years old, a mole-rat's cells still look fresh and new, like they don't age at all! Mole rat's are like little super heroes!

Source:  The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen. 
Underground Supermodels: What can a twenty something naked mole-rat tell us about fighting pain, cancer, and aging?, Thomas Park and Rochelle Duffenstein, The Scientist Magazine (June 2012), http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32136/title/Underground-Supermodels/(Accessed Jan. 31, 2014).

Giant Oarfish

The giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), also known as a ribbon fish, is considered to be the world's largest bony fish. This means they have a skeleton made of bone, like humans, instead of cartilage, like sharks and stingrays. The oarfish can be as long as 56 feet long and can weigh up to 600 pounds! That's a lot of fish! The oarfish is found deep in the oceans around 3,300 feet, and very seldom seen. Most information that scientist has come from dead or dying fish that float to the surface or wash ashore. They made news last year when two of the fish washed ashore in October within a week. 

The oarfish may be big, but it only eats plankton, which are very small crustaceans. They have relatively small toothless mouths and catch food through structures called gill rackers that act similar to the baleen in whales. As water goes through the gill rackers, small creatures get stuck and become a meal. The oarfish does not have scales on it's body, making them very fleshy and sustainable to injuries at the surface. 

Oarfish move like other fish, but also have the ability to hover vertically in the water by movements with their dorsal fin, which is the fin located at the top of their body. This allows them to easily move forward and backward. 

Oarfish were discovered over 200 years ago in 1772. Sightings of ones floating on the surface with their snake like appearance were often thought to be sea serpents. People who have tried eating an oarfish say it tastes like goo with the texture of gelatin. So, if you have tasted goo, you've tasted an oarfish.

Here is a good video of a living giant oarfish!

Here is one of your own to color!

Source: 5 Surprising Facts About the Oarfish That Has Been  Washing Up on Beaches, 2013, Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131022-giant-oarfish-facts-sea-serpents/, accessed Jan. 11, 2014.

Grizzly Bear

The grizzly bear is one of the three bear species that is found in North America. Other bears include the black bear and the polar bear. The grizzly bear is the second largest bear, the polar bear being the biggest. Most grizzlies can end up being at least 8 feet tall, but some have been recorded as being ten feet tall. A good why to recognize a grizzly bear is it's fur, it's very shaggy and has silver tips. This is how it got it's name. Grizzly bears also have a pronounced hump on their shoulders. They have large flat feet with extremely long claws that they use to hunt as well as dig up roots. 

The grizzly is an omnivore, meaning it eats both plants and meat. The grizzly bear diet consists of roots and berries as well as insects, fish, small animals, and carrion. It doesn't have carnassial teeth, the teeth that are used to shred meat off prey. It has molars similar to our own that are used to chew up plants. You might think that the grizzly would be lumbering and slow, but surprisingly, it can run  in short spurts up to 30 miles per hour. This allows it to catch prey like caribou and deer.

Grizzlies hibernate 5 to 7 months of the year, usually during the coldest months. Before this time, they must eat a lot to stock up on their fat reserves. It's these reserves that will allow them to survive their hibernation period. During this time, the bear's metabolism slows to a crawl so that all basic functions like heart beat and breathing are slowed so they don't waste energy. This is also the time that many bears give birth to cubs. Female bears, called sows (males are called boars) usually give birth to twins. The cubs survive on their mother's rich milk until winter is over, in which they will join their mother in search for food. A mother bear is very protective of her babies and they will aggressively protect them from humans and other bears, who will kill cubs.

The grizzly bear is an apex predator, meaning it is at the top of the food chain. Most apex creatures have no predators of their own, except humans. The grizzly bear is considered endangered, but certain populations such as the one in the Yellowstone Park, have been considered stable.

The Latin term for bear is Ursus. Interestingly enough the star constellations commonly known as the Big and Little Dipper are named Ursus Minor and Ursus Major (Little Bear and Big Bear).

Source:  The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen.

National Geographic, Grizzly Bear (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com)

Kakapo

The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) is the world's only flightless parrot. It is also one of the heaviest, weighing in at almost 6 pounds. The kakapo spends a lot of it's time on the ground, eating fruit, leaves, seeds, and roots. Instead of using it's wings for flight, the kakapo uses them, along with it's tail, to help it keep balance as it maneuvers itself through it's jungle home. 

The kakapo is also known as an owl parrot, due to it's face. It has a facial disc that is a common characteristic of many owls. The facial disc is made up of many small feathers that create a bowl like shape on the bird's face. This allows the bird to focus sounds towards its ears. Kind of like a satellite dish. Since the kakapo has no real defense, it needs anything it can to help it survive. It's plumage also makes it hard to see as it hides in vegetation on the forest floor. The kakapo is very active at night. It's name literally means night parrot. To help it get around at night, the kakapo has bristly feathers around it's facial disc that act like feelers. Kind of the same why a cat's whiskers work.

Kakapos are considered critically endangered, meaning they are close to being extinct. This is mainly do to predation by animals like cats that were introduced to New Zealand by humans. Such animals are considered invasive, meaning they are not native to the land and do more harm than good. Many invasive species are introduced by people with a good goal in mind; like controlling a pest specie or providing a new food source. But, these new species often over populate and battle native species for resources like food, water, and habitat, or, like the kakapo, they become food to the introduced specie. The kakapo is now found in only three distinct parts of New Zealand where they are highly protected.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Double-Wattled Cassowary

The double-wattled cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large flightless bird that lives in northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Although it can't fly away from it's predators, it protects itself by slashing out it's long 4 inch long claws. It can run about 30 miles per hour and can jump nearly five feet, making it one of the more dangerous animals in Australia. 

It uses it's big feet to chase small birds and mammals through the jungle it lives in.It also eats fruits, insects, fungi, and carrion. While it's claws help it catch prey and give it sure footing as it runs, it's feathers also help it speed through the forest. They are thick and dense, which protects the cassowary from getting stuck by thorns and bramble as well as keep it waterproof. The large knob on it's head, called a casque, helps it as well by allowing it to smash through twigs and branches. 

The casque grows as it ages. Young cassowary lack a casque, so they must stay with their mother for protection. Cassowaries lay around 3 to 5 bright green or black eggs in a nest made of mostly leaves. Chicks are brown and stripped, which helps them camouflage in the shady jungle.

The cassowary belongs to the taxonomic order known as Casuariiformes, where the emu and the cassowary are the only members. Taxonomy is the science of how animals are categorized. In order to keep track of all the animals out there, scientist list them in very specific order. It starts off very broad, listing whether its an animal, plant, fungus, or perhaps bacteria. It then starts to get more specific, such as whether the animal has a backbone, if it's a mammal, reptile, or bird. As classification gets more specific it get so specific to it's individual name, which is the long name after it's common name. It's scientific name, or bionomenclature, is always in Latin. This way every scientist in the world will be able to know what animal is being talked about. 

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Deep Sea Angler Fish

The deep sea angler fish is found in the deepest part of the oceans of world. Where they live it is so deep that many of the creatures that live there never see sunlight. This part of the ocean is known as the abyss. The angler fish gets it's name from an appendage on it's head, called on esca, that is uses to lure it's prey toward it. Because it is hard to find prey in their dark home, angler fish can't waste the energy swimming around and hunting food. So instead, it lies in wait, using it's lure to draw other fish towards it's mouth. 

The esca contains glowing, or bioluminescent, bacteria. The bacteria and the angler fish have a symbiotic relationship, which means that they both benefit from one another by working together. When the angler fish catches a meal, the bacteria also get a free meal. So by working together, the bacteria and the angler fish get to eat.

Another strange fact about the deep sea angler fish is that the ones that are seen the most are female. The male is tiny in comparison to the female and acts like a parasite (something that lives off the energy of others). It attaches it's self to the female and glues himself to her. He then looses all other functions except his reproductive duties. 

This is an example of sexual dimorphism, which is when the male or female of the species looks totally different. Many birds also exhibit this; male birds are more flashy than female ones. Like the peacock for example; the male has a long pretty tail with lots color while the female is usually a drab brown. This allows animals to survive in different ways. For the angler fish, it can be hard to find a mate in pitch blackness, so once they find each other, they are together for live. 

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Snowshoe Hare

The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) is a found in Canada and the northern parts of the United States. It eats a variety of plant matter, including leaves, grass, berries, twigs, bark, but is also know to eat carrion (which is something that is already dead).

 Some of you might have worn snowshoes before, but for those who haven't, they are special shoes that help us walk across the snow. The snowshoe hare has this ability too. The spaces in between the hare's toes are lined with thick fur. This allows it to hop across the snow without sinking into it. This is also a handy way for it to escape predators. Another way it escapes predators is by camouflage. During the summer months, the snowshoe hare has a brown coat that helps it blend in. During the winter months, it's fur changes to white which allows it to blend into it's snowy surroundings. 

Like all rabbits, the snowshoe hare is a rodent. Mice, rats, squirrels, hamsters, and guinea pigs are also rodents. All rodents share a common characteristic; their incisor, or buck, teeth continually grow. This means that they must constantly gnaw on things to keep their teeth filed down. If they didn't their teeth would grow so long that they would not be able to eat or drink and they would starve to death. They usually file them down naturally by the food they eat, such as the twigs and bark the snowshoe hare eats. The food and toys that you can give your pet rodents help them keep their teeth filed down. 

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Okapi

The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) was found in 1887, in the jungles of the Democratic of Congo located in Africa. It is a very shy and secretive animal, making it hard to study. Okapis are around 6 to 7 feet tall, with females bigger than males, which is uncommon in the mammal world. Male okapi are generally smaller and have small giraffe like horns on their heads. 

The giraffe and the okapi are the only two species found in the Giraffidae family. Like giraffes, the okapi has a long purple tongue that it can use help it grab leaves and other food from high places. It's tongue is so long that it can wash it's ears with it! The okapi eats many plants, many that, scientist have discovered, are poisonous to humans.

  

It may seem like the okapi would stand out where ever it goes with it's zebra like legs, but the strips actually help it camouflage. In the jungle where it lives there are plenty of trees that cast shadows and sunlight beams through. The stripes on it's legs replicate this and break up the okapi's shape as it move through the jungle. This makes it hard for predators to focus on the okapi.

Of course, here is your own okapi to color!

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Humpback Whale

The humpback whale (it's scientific name in Megaptera novaeangliae) lives in most of the oceans around of the world. They are mammals, like dogs, cats, and humans. Something that mammals have in common is that they are covered with hair, nurse their young with milk produced from their bodies, and have live births (except for a few exceptions like the platypus and echidna). Whales and other creatures like dolphins that belong to the Cetacea order have all those characteristics, even hair! 

Humpback whales can get to be as long as 52 feet. In comparison, most school buses are 45 feet long. And they can weigh as much as 7,900 pounds. So what does an animal this big eat? Other whales? Nope, it eats the total opposite. The humpback whale's diet consists mostly of krill, which are basically tiny shrimp, as well as small fish.

 In winter, when food is hard to find, it will relay on it's blubber, or fat, reserves to survive. Humpbacks swallow water and filter out krill and other food with special teeth called baleen that look like hair combs. Whales are slow swimmers so to help them catch fish, humpbacks will find a school and blow bubbles from their blow holes around it. This creates a bubble net around the fish and keeps the fish from swimming away. Once the fish are trapped, the humpback swallows the school whole.

Want to color your own? Click the image below and print it out!

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen