Skip to main content

Animals 36-40 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi,


As you probably noticed, we took a break from this series, mostly due to having just too much to do. But we're back now with the last three posts.

36. The Pinocchio frog

The Pinocchio frog can be found in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia. They mainly eat insects, although little is known about them. They are named because the males have a spike on their noses. They were only discovered in 2008, and this was completely by accident! It remained unnamed scientifically until over ten years later when it was given the name "Litoria pinocchio". There is very little information about them but Wikipedia states that "the male Pinocchio frog inflates its nose when calling, and the nose decreases in size when the frog is calm and quiet," which I think is hilarious and so interesting!

37. Snub-nosed monkey

Especially noticeable due to their curious looks, the snub-nosed monkeys can be found in the forests of central China and northern Vietnam and Myanmar. They are rather large-leaf monkeys with short broad faces, flat noses with forward-facing nostrils and wide-set eyes in their often blueish face. There are several species and the colour of their fur and face depends on them. Most of them live in very high elevated places in forests, where their diet consists of leaves mainly. They are vegetarian and will also eat flowers fruits and seeds. Some species also eat liches and forage the ground for them. Most species are not directly endangered, however, some are very prone to habitat loss.

38. Honduran white bats

They live only in the rainforests of eastern Honduras, northern Nicaragua, eastern Costa Rica and western Panama. They have to live somewhere that has heliconia plants, which are tropical flowers, as they nest in them. They eat raw fruit or parts of fruits. They are very peculiar looking as they are tiny (about 3.7-4.7 cm!) and as the name suggests are white. They have very strange-looking ears and noses too! They fly to get away from predators and can fly up to 20mph! 

39. Salp

Salps look a lot like jellyfish, however, they are closer to humans than they are to jellyfish! Salps live pretty much anywhere but are most common in the Southern Ocean. They are filter feeders and will eat pretty much anything that gets caught in their net. They are also a vital food source for many fish.
They form long chains that look quite pretty. Luckily, they exist in abundance and are not endangered.

40. The Cherax pulcher

The name is derived from the Latin 'pulcher', meaning beautiful. This is because it is a very colourful animal. It is hard to track down and like most of the animals in these posts, quite rare. They look like lobsters and are mainly blue, purple and pinkish in colour. They live in warm tropical oceans and are quite 'friendly' to fish, in other words, they don't attack every fish they see. They prefer to live hidden away in rocks and sand. They blend in well with the coral reef.


We hope this post has reminded you of how wonderful, beautiful and unpredictable nature can be!


Sources:

Images:
Honduran white bats: This image, owned by Wanja Krah (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Salp: This image, owned by Ray Ellersick (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

30.08.2020 Animal of the week: Whale Shark

Hi! It is International Whale Shark Day today, so we thought, we would do this week's animal of the week about whale sharks. Are whale sharks, sharks or whales? Whale sharks are not whales and they aren't a mix of whale and shark. They are sharks. So, why are they called whale sharks if they aren't whales? Well, they are very big. Whale sharks normally grow to a length of 5.5-10 metres. However, the largest whale shark to be accurately measured was 18.8 metres long! That is about as long as a lorry or as high as a short oak tree. Basically, whale sharks are massive. Habitat and Diet Whale sharks prefer warmer waters. They live in all tropical seas. Every spring, they are known to migrate to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The whale shark is one of the three known filter-feeding shark species in the world. Like whales, they eat plankton.  Images: Image 1:  This image is o...

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...

How much do you know about trees? - Quiz

Hello, This month's quiz is all about trees. Questions: What is the name of the network that trees use to communicate? a) the mycorrhizal network b) the mythcorhinia network c) the symbocommunial network How much of the amazon rainforest has been lost due to deforestation in the last 50 years? a) 12% b) 17% c) 23% True or False? Over 75% of land-based species are found in forests? How much carbon do tropical forest contain? a) 230 gigatons b) 280 gigatons c) 330 gigatons In California, there is a rather strange tree that has survived 13 000 years by cloning itself. What species? a) Pin oak ;b) English oak c) Palmer's oak True or False? The oldest surviving tree species, Gingko trees, have been around since just after the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs struck. Where do acacia trees grow? a) cold and ha...

Eco System, Galapagos: part 3 Discovery and modern life

Hello Everyone, This post in our mini series is all about the discovery of the Galapagos. The islands are renowned for their evolution and extraordinary animals but how did we discover it and who? The first recorded visit to the Galapagos was completely by chance in 1535, when Fray Tomas De Berlanger found this undiscovered land during a voyage to Peru. There may have been others who saw the islands but he was the first to step foot on them. De Berlanga was Spanish and returned to the Spanish Empire, describing the islands and the animals that inhabited them. The group of islands was named "Insulae de los Galopegos" (Islands of the Tortoises) in an atlas published in 1570. The first full map of the islands was made in 1684 by Ambrose Cowley, who named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after British royalty and high class citizens such as Lords. These names were used in the navigation charts of the islands that wer...

Animals 46-50 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi everyone! Welcome to the final part in our '50 Incredible Animal series' where you can find out about animals 46-50. We started this series almost a year ago to celebrate our 50th post and it feels crazy to think that we are now nearing our 100th. To read all of the previous posts from this series, click here . Hope you enjoy it! 46. Spiny bush viper Spiny bush vipers, Atheris hispida, are a species of venomous snake native to Central and East Africa in tropical forests and shrubland. They are mostly solitary creatures but can climb trees, which is where they find the majority of their prey. Spiny bush vipers are carnivorous and feed on mammals, frogs and lizards, as well as birds. Independent from birth, Spiny bush vipers can have up to 12 'snakelets' at a time and are 15cm in length. Currently, there are no known threats to Spiny bush vipers, and they are categorized as Not Evaluated on the IUCN Red List. 47. Leafy sea dragon ...

How well do you know intelligent animals? - Quiz

Hi everyone It's time for another quiz. Intelligence is necessarily restricted to humans. Many animals display signs of what we deem to be intelligence.  Questions How many words have some crows been taught to say out loud? a) 20 b) 50 c) 100 Which signs of intelligence have been found in orangutans? a) tool use b) logical reasoning c) recognising themselves in a mirror True or False? An African gray parrot called Alex was trained to correctly categorise items into 13 colour categories. What do some particulary clever veined octopuses use coconut shells for? a) to play with b) shelter c) food True or False? Orcas can recognise themselves in a mirror. What have chimpanzees recently been observed treating their wounds with? a) insects b) tree sap c) fresh water How many nouns did an American border collie recognise and remember? a) over 500 b) o...

How well do you know the ocean floor? - Quiz

Hi Everyone and welcome back to Green World! Today we have another quiz to test your knowledge about the natural world. This is, of course, part of our monthly series of quizzes, so please give us some feedback on how you are finding it so far in the comments! This time, it's all about the ocean floor. Questions How much percent of the earth's surface consists of ocean floor? a)50% b) 60% c) 70% True or False? Just like on dry land, the ocean floor has mountains, plains and valleys. Which ocean can the Mariana Trench be found? a) Pacific Ocean b) Altantic Ocean c) Indian Ocean True or False? The Mariana Trench is 11km deep. How much of the earth's surface is covered by abyssal plains? a) about 33% b) about 50% c) about 10% True or False? Studies estimated that 90% of deep sea species haven't been discovered yet? Tr...

29.11.2020 Animal Of The Week: Jaguar

Hello, Today (29th November) is world Jaguar day so this week our animal is the Jaguar. The Jaguar is an animal I know pretty much nothing about so I am going to learn a lot too! Jaguars (panthera onca) live for 12 - 15 years. Their heads and bodies are 150-180cm long and their tails are 70-90cm long! They weigh 45 - 110 kg. Habitat Jaguars live primarily in the Amazon Basin, though they can be found in smaller numbers in Central America. They once lived everywhere from central Argentina up to the southwestern United States but since the 1880s they have lost over half of their territory. They are mainly found in tropical rainforests but can live in savannas and grasslands. Diet They eat fish and turtles as they are actually quite competent swimmers as well as deer, iguanas, birds and monkeys; they will eat almost anything! Are they endangered? Jaguars are classed as near endangered and face several threats. South and Central Americ...

Killing invasive species: necessary?

Hi everyone, Today's topic is a rather controversial one: is killing invasive species necessary? We'll take it apart for you to come up with your own opinion. Enjoy! Definition Firstly, let's clarify what an invasive species is. An invasive species is a species that is not native and most likely causes harm to the ecosystem where it now lives. This does not include animals that migrate to another area. Why is it a problem? Depending on the species and the ecosystem, invasive species can cause a lot of harm to their surroundings. Often invasive species have no predators in their new habitat and reproduce in such large numbers that they massively overpopulate, causing death for other species. Or they bring sicknesses the local animals are not accustomed to, and that kills them. For example black and brown rats are an invasive species on the Galapagos Islands : Black and brown rats were introduced to the Galapagos Islands in the 17th ce...

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...