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!
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
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/pangolins
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223150331.htm
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/star-nosed-mole-touch-pain-senses
https://www.britannica.com/animal/elephant-shrew
https://animalia.bio/lowland-streaked-tenrec
Images:
Pangolin: This image, owned by flowcomm (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Star-nosed mole: This image, owned by kinskarije (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Elephant shrew: This image, owned by Peter Miller (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Lowland Streaked Tenrec: This image, owned by Frank Vassen (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/pangolins
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223150331.htm
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/star-nosed-mole-touch-pain-senses
https://www.britannica.com/animal/elephant-shrew
https://animalia.bio/lowland-streaked-tenrec
Images:
Pangolin: This image, owned by flowcomm (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Star-nosed mole: This image, owned by kinskarije (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Elephant shrew: This image, owned by Peter Miller (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Lowland Streaked Tenrec: This image, owned by Frank Vassen (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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