Skip to main content

Animals 31-35 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to our blog, today we are sharing another 5 incredible animals. This is part of a series to celebrate our 50th blog post, all about unusual animals! Enjoy!

31. Pangolins

These creatures are often mistaken for reptiles but they are in fact mammals. They are covered in scales and use them to defend themselves because similar to a hedgehog, they curl up into a ball. They eat ants, termites and larvae. They eat using their tongue, which is very long- sometimes even longer than their body! Sadly, Pangolins are in high demand as their meat is considered a delicacy their scales are used in traditional folk remedies, which means that there is an illegal trade. Luckily, there have been many initiatives put in place to help these animals by WWF and similar organisations.

32. Macropinna Microstoma

This is a species of fish that live at about 600m below sea level. They hang nearly motionless in the water and have a very unusual fluid-filled shield-shaped space at the top of their head, where you can see the lenses of their eyes. They are found off the Californian coast and in the north Pacific ocean. Little is known about them but according to Science Daily, 'MBARI researchers speculate that Macropinna microstoma may eat animals that have been captured in the tentacles of jellies, such as this siphonophore in the genus Apolemia.'. Meaning that it basically eats organisms with complicated names! To truly understand how fascinating this creature is, you just need to look at an image.

33. Star-nosed mole

The star-nosed mole is such a peculiar creature and looks like a mixture of a mole and an octopus. It is nearly blind and yet is one of the fastest eaters in the world, gobbling up a worm or insect in a quarter of a second! National Geographic states that 'The mole hunts by bopping its star against the soil as quickly as possible; it can touch 10 or 12 different places in a single second. It looks random, but it's not. With each touch, 100,000 nerve fibres send information to the mole’s brain. That’s five times more touch sensors than in the human hand, all packed into a nose smaller than a fingertip' Not much is known about them but they truly are fascinating! They do look a little creepy though...

34. Elephant Shrew

The elephant shrew gets its name because this shrew has an elephant-like trunk. The short-eared elephant shrew lives in countries such as Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, but the different types can live nearly anywhere! They act as a cross between a rat and a rabbit as they look similar to rats and yet enjoy digging more like a rabbit. They are very small and territorial. One of the most fun things about them which point to rabbit-like characteristics is that they hop around and can jump high to help catch prey. However, they are also fast runners, reaching speeds of 18mph! They are interestingly related to elephants too!

35. Lowland Streaked Tenrec

This is the only known mammal that uses 'stridulation' for generating sound, stridulation is when sound is created by rubbing together certain body parts. An example of this would be crickets and grasshoppers. These are found in Madagascar and are about 12-16cm long. Their spines are very similar to a hedgehog, except of course for the unique yellow stripes, and are used for self-defence. They live in tropical forests and dig interconnecting burrows. They live in family units of up to 20 individuals, which is different to other Tenrecs, as these roam solitary. They eat earthworms and other various insects.

Thank you so much for reading this and we'll be back soon!

Green World Blog Team



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

Ozone layer

Hi everyone, What even is ozone? And the ozone layer? Where does the hole in the ozone layer come from and what does it mean? Is it dangerous? What can be done? Often the ozone-talk can be complicated and confusing, keeping an overview is hard and understanding all the problems always difficult. Let us break it down a bit for you: What is the ozone layer? We'll start with the basics: The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere, which is the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere, between 10 and 50 km above the Earth's surface and made up of protective gases. One of these protective gases is ozone. There is not much ozone in the atmosphere, only 0.3 molecule of ozone per 1 million molecules of air. This is because ozone is chemically unstable and only forms when ultra violet radiation (UV light) hits oxygen and breaks the bonds between the atoms. It fact it is so unstable that even when it has formed, it breaks down again relatively quickly. This leads to ozone turning back ...

Ecosia

We all need to do something to save our planet: it is no use just leaving it to Greta Thunberg! She is very inspirational, yes, but she can only do so much. She isn't superhuman! The climate crisis is up to us; up to you. We all have to get stuck in. Research, learn, discover and most importantly: never give up! The world's animals need us. The world's trees need us and a simple way to do this is to switch to Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine but it plants trees while you search the web. Okay, it doesn't have as many websites as google so you may want to have google as a backup but it plants trees: this is your opportunity to make a simple change. Just google Ecosia and search to plant trees. Make a difference. Image: This image  is owned by  Binyamin Mellish on  pexels.com .

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Hi everyone, Today we wanted to talk about Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a writer, and conservationist who lived from 1890 to 1998. To find out more about other inspirational environmentalists, we already have posted about  Dara McAnulty ,  Wangari Maathai ,  Sir David Attenborough ,  Maria Sibylla Merian ,  Rachel Carson , and  Jane Goodall . As stated above, Marjory was born in 1890, in Minneapolis, USA. In her childhood, she was a passionate reader, which lead her to study English at University and to become a journalist for a newspaper her father ran. Through this job, Marjory was able to spread awareness about issues she cared about: politics, civil rights, the suffrage movement, and of course, environment conservation. In the early 1940s, Marjory became interested in the Everglades in South Florida. At this time, very little was known about them, so she spent five years researching their history and ecology. The book she w...

How well do you know the Arctic and the Antarctic? - Quiz

Welcome back to Green World, As announced last week, we're starting our new monthly series: quizzes! This post contains the questions, you have to write down the answers and compare them with the solutions right at the bottom of this post.  Questions: True or False? The Arctic is not actually a land mass, it's a frozen ocean. How many people live in the Arctic circle? a) 500 000 b) 4 million c) 10 million True or False? Narwals don't actually have unicorn-like horns. That's just a legend. What percentage of the world's freshwater is frozen within the Arctic's ice? a) 10% b) 15% c) 20% True or False? The Arctic covers parts of 15 different countries. Scientists exploring Antarctica have measured winds of up to... a) 100 km/h b) 150km/h c) 200km/h True or False? The driest (natural) place on Earth is in Antarctica...

New Year's Eve 2020 Challenge!!!

Challenge New Year's Eve is only a week away now.  Hundreds of people set goals for the coming year on New Year's Eve. We would like you to set some goals that are about the environment. For instance cut down on how much meat you eat or use less plastic. You can chose the easy, the normal or the hard challenge. Easy Challenge For the easy challenge you only need to set one environmental goal. Normal Challenge To complete the normal challenge you will need to set three environmental goals. Hard Challenge This one is for people who are willing to give things up for the environment. To do the hard challenge you must set five environmental goals. Completion Date 31.12. (New Year's Eve) You have one week. Other info Tell us about your goals We would love you to tell us about your goals. If you wish to share them with us: just write them in a comment. Tips Don't set goals that you know you won't be able to complete. Just...

13.12.2020 Animal Of The Week: Lark

Hello, Today's post is all about a rather interesting bird I don't know much about and so I can't wait to discover more! Habitat There are many different species of Lark so they are quite widespread. Different websites say different figures but most agree that there are between 90 and 100 different species of Lark. They live in open countryside from deserts to mountains. Their colour is adapted to their environment and so they can vary in appearance. Diet Larks are omnivorous animals and eat many species of insects as well as seeds, leaves, grasses and fruits, especially in Winter as insects are scarce. Some species will also eat snails which they break open on rocks. Lark Song The lark is reputed for its song, especially when it is in flight. This is the reason that they are sometimes represented in poetry. I love poetry and I haven't read any Lark themed poetry yet but writing this has made me want to. However, the wi...

Animals 11-15 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, We have another five amazing animals for you today. Enjoy! 11. Dhole This is a dog species which looks rather like a red fox . They are difficult to put into any of the dog subfamilies. They aren't foxes, nor wolves, nor domestic dogs. Dholes are fast runners and live in packs of 5-12 individuals. Although sometimes, different packs will join forces to become a pack of 30 or more individuals! However, these super packs are broken up after a successful hunt. The different packs rarely attack each other as neighbouring packs are often closely related. Dhole packs live in burrows with multiple entrances. They can be found in eastern and southern Asia. They eat wild berries, insects and lizards and as a pack hunt deer, rodents and other wild mammals. Interestingly, unlike other dogs, they rarely kill by biting at the throat. They are also good swimmers! 12. Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin can be found in coastal areas of south a...

06.09.2020 Animal Of the Week: Seven-spotted Ladybird

Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's animal of the week post. This time about the ladybird, and personally I can't wait to find out more about these creatures. Enjoy! Which ladybird we are investigating today? Today, I am telling you about the seven-spotted ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), which is the most common ladybird in Europe. Other species include the Two Spot Ladybird and other uncommon ladybirds such as the 16 Spot and other peculiar types. Habitat The seven-spotted ladybird lives in a variety of habitats such as meadows, gardens and hedgerows. They can also be found on farmland, especially with crops such as alfalfa, clover and wheat and corn before it grows too tall. Diet The seven-spotted ladybird feeds on a range of aphid species. This is why they are often referred to as a gardener's best friend as they eat these creatures who can damage plants. They can also eat white flies and anything else that is soft-bo...

Metamorphosis

Hello! Today we thought it would be good to explain exactly how metamorphosis works. It's a term that we often use when talking about frogs, butterflies or other animals, but we've never actually explained what it is or how it works. What is metamorphosis? Metamorphosis is the term used to describe the changes that some animals undergo when turning into adults. It is a physical change that happens after birth/hatching. There is a brilliant quote from the website a-z animals that I just couldn't put any better:  unlike the typical subtle developments in animals, metamorphosis is dramatic. It’s controlled by a release of hormones in the cells. Mammals usually move from adolescence to adulthood and old age gradually, maintaining their form and shape. However, in metamorphosis, an animal moves through those stages and changes from one form or shape to another. How does metamorphosis work? Let's take the classic butterfly example./d...