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Vertebrates
These animals have a backbone.
Vertebrates
¥Vertebrates make up
about 5 percent of the
animal kingdom.
FRAGILE FORESTS
Rain forests help to clean the worldÕs
air and water. Jungle plants give us
medicines that make us well when we
are ill. Rain forests are very important
but are shrinking every day
Ð chopped down for land and
wood. We need to value these
amazing forests, and take
care of all the animals
that live in them.
an
¥
d
There are about 60,000
ma
muscles in an elephantÕs trunk.
A mixed plate
This Alaskan brown bear, like other
brown bears, eats a meat and plant, or
omnivorous, diet. It waits to pounce on
any salmon swimming upstream, but also
chomps on plants, fungi, and large insects.
Make mine
A pack of gray
maul their hun
As one of the w
best-known ca
or meat eaters
bodies are desi
hunting other
They have pow
jaws and sharp
FINDING FOOD
Most insect-eating bats hunt using a process called
echolocation. Each bat makes a series of clicks, and
this sound is carried out into the air. This noise
bounces off any potential prey, such as mosquitoes
and moths, and sends information back to the bat.
The bat can then find the prey, and enjoy its meal!
Bloodsucker
This vampire bat is enjoying a
tasty snack of donkey blood. Its
sharp teeth easily pierce the skin,
and its spit prevents the blood
from clotting. Only three species
of bat feed on blood.
Sharp tee
designed for tearing
into flesh. lizards, snakes, and insects.
But they also eat plants,
fungi, and berries, which
makes them omnivores
(Òeverything eatersÓ).
Meat!
A wolfÕs long
snout contains
42 teeth
cozy in here
bears survive the
ctic with hollow,
pping hairs, and
of fat under the
Cubs are born in
w dens, and spend their first months
ell insulated from the icy conditions.
up!
le
elves Bear facts
mbs
to ¥Bears will try to intimidate
rivals by standing up and
walking on their back legs.
38
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Insect bear
A Sun bear uses its
strong curved claws to
rip open antsÕ nests and
beehives. Then it will
slurp up the contents
with its extremely
long tongue.
Gnaw it up
All rodents use their
powerful jaws for
uts,
gnawing. Perhaps
heir
the most spectacular
re
example of this is the
ng
beaver. Beavers build
huge dams and lodges
A porcupineÕs spines or
A tree-loving rodent
Squirrels are known for th
climbing skills. The red squ
shown here is one of the fe
rodents to live alone (exce
a female has her young).
gence
is
for
dÕs
Breaching giants
This humpback whale is leaping high out of the
leaping is known as breaching. All whales brea
really know why they do this. It may be to warn
to communicate with their group, or just for fun
enormous will make a huge splash when it hits
eeping cozy
winter, the female emperor
nguin lays a single egg then
aves for the sea. The male
lds the egg off the ice on
feet. After the chick
tches, the male keeps
warm until the
male returns.
Foster parent
This young cuckoo is
larger than the wren feeding it.
Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birdsÕ
nests. When it hatches, the cuckoo flings
out the other eggs. Now it will get all the food.
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(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Turning heads
Owls have forward-
looking eyes. To see
to the side or back,
this barn owl must
As white as snow turn its head. It can
Sometimes called Arctic owls or ghost owls, swivel its head a long
snowy owls change color with the seasons way around.
from gray-brown to white. In the
snow, a white owl can sneak
up on prey unseen.
bir
whit
heir
ais
are
tene
ots
p to
nd
ng
nin
y
a
nd
CanÕt catch
The smaller
South Ameri
running. Th
almost lev
Desert tortoises
Tortoises live on land. Turtles
and terrapins live in the sea
(saltwater) or in rivers and
ponds (freshwater).
Squamata
The Chelonia group everywhere!
Tortoises, turtles, and terrapins are The Squamata order
known as Chelonians. All members contains every single species of
of this group, or Òorder,Ó have lizard and snake. It is by far the
a body that is protected largest group of living reptiles. Amazingly,
by a shell. nearly all reptiles are lizards and snakes.
The Crocodilians
Crocodiles, alligators,
caimans, and gharials all
belong to the Crocodilia
group. Most make their
homes in warm freshwater
rivers, lakes, and swamps.
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The world is
home to
about 6,500
different
reptile species.
A rare breed
Today, there is only one
species of reptile remaining in
the Rhynchocephalia group Ð
the tuatara. Tuataras are
only found in one area of the
world Ð a set of small islands
off the coast of New Zealand.
rou nd.
a
ig gle
r
t he yw
COLD BLOOD?
Reptiles are known as cold-blooded
creatures, but they do not always have
chilly blood. An animal is Òcold-bloodedÓ if
its body temperature changes depending on how
hot or cold the surroundings are. Reptiles bask in
sunlight to heat up. This keeps the body working
well. If a reptileÕs body is not
warm enough,
its stomach
cannot deal
with (digest)
its food.
Double vision
A chameleon can move
one eye, on its own, without moving
the other. This means that it can look in
two different directions at the same time.
It can use one eye to hunt insects, and
the other to look out for attackers.
Reptile file
¥ Snakes do not have ears on the
outside. They ÒhearÓ vibrations as
they travel through their jawbones
and into their inner ears.
76
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Sssenses
Most reptiles can see, hear, and
smell, but they also have other ways
of detecting things. Some reptiles
rely on one sense that is very
well-developed, while others use
a mixture of sense skills to get by.
Fully aware
Snakes use their Iguanas have very clear sight
The taste test senses of smell,
taste, and touch and full-color vision. Like most
The eardrum
A snakeÕs tongue more than their lizards, they detect sounds in is very thin
flicks in and out to eyesight and the air using an eardrum in the and flexible.
hearing.
collect up chemicals skin behind the eye.
in the air. A sense
organ inside the mouth
ÒsmellsÓ and ÒtastesÓ
these chemicals, helping
the snake to sample
food, find a mate, and
to detect prey or enemies.
he beard.
on has a se
just like a m
o that the l
rs
Reptile file
I am a newt
Newts have long bodies, four limbs, soft skin,
and, typically, live most of their lives on land,
returning to water to breed.
A relaxed
porcupine fish with
on spines lying flat.
coil
crevices
mall for
. They
h for
e like snakes!
mor Slimy,
uch
k m
Dra
Leafy
in sh
wate
avoid
looki
Thei
weed
a serrat
Low life
Parts of the ocean floor look
like the surface of the Moon.
Here, rattail fish dart in and
out of crevices. ItÕs easy to
see how they got their name!
Daggerlike teeth
line the fangtoothÕs
huge jaws.
s ma
Orb spider
sticky, cat
insects fas
Dinner delivered
Long tentacles trail
from the jellyfishÕs body.
When a small animal
swims into them, the
tentacles spear it with
poisonous stings.
OCEAN DRIFTER
In warmer parts of the world, the
Portuguese man-of-war drifts on Underwater umbrella
the surface of the waves. It is Jellyfish have soft bodies
held up by a balloonlike float. called bells. The bell moves
A relative of jellyfish, its other in and out like an umbrella
name is Òblue jellyfishÓ. It
catches fish in its long tentacles.
opening and closing.
These shoot tiny stings into any This drives the
animal that touches them. jellyfish along.
People are sometimes stung by
a Portuguese man-of-war. The
stings are not fatal to people,
but they are very painful!
rising to the wa
traveling upward!
fish ter
g jelly Õs
in s
low
ur
G
fac
eo
n da
rk nigh
Up, up, and away
Jellyfish are attracted
to light even though
ts
they have no eyes.
h
They swim toward the
ave bee
waterÕs surface. This
keeps them within
range of food.
n mistaken
Fishy facts
invertebrate Despite their
for ghosts!
Ghostly glow
Many jellyfish are nearly
transparent. Some also
produce their own light,
so that they glow in dark
water. They may only do
this when disturbed.
103
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(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
.
ave
aner
yes on
ood
ision.
Too cramped!
A hermit crab is an
unusual crab because
it has a soft abdomen.
It protects itself by
hiding in another
creatureÕs discarded
shell. It moves its
home regularly,
when it finds suitable
(larger) mollusk shells.
Abd
What is an
You can spot a
counting its bo
They all have
body parts Ð a
and an abdom
Extreme bugs
¥ The petroleum
puddles of crude o
on insects that ge
¥ Some midges c
into boiling water
110
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Buzzing around
If you hear a buzzing sound in
Light fantastic
Fireflies and glowworms
use a special organ in
their tummies to flash light
signals in order to communicate
with each other. Sometimes
hundreds gather together to
attract mates, and can be
seen for miles, like the
ones in this tree.
Web master
The netcasting spider
weaves its fatal net before
dark. Then at nightfall it
hangs upside down and
drops it on any delicious
insect that wanders past.
Dark stories
¥ The cicadaÕs clicking sound
can often be heard at dusk.
Glowworm It has a flap under its stomach
Glowworms are not that clicks loudly at very
worms, they are beetles. high speeds.