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:

https://www.britannica.com/animal/snub-nosed-monkey
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/pinocchio-frog-new-species-new-guinea
https://animalia.bio/honduran-white-bat
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/sea-squirts/what-is-a-salp/
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/5220/element/8/21259/

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.

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