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Picture a camel. Now take away a hump (or two). Finally, shrink it down in size and place it in South America, living as far south as Tierra del Fuego. What do you end up with? A guanaco. Guanacos are related to camels, as are vicunas, llamas, and alpacas. But they live in South America, while camels are found in Africa and Asia. Guanacos and vicunas are wild animals, but llamas and alpacas have been domesticated, like cats and dogs, and were probably bred from guanacos. They’re slender animals with pale brown backs, white undersides, short tails, large heads, very long necks, and big, pointed ears. They live in groups of up to ten females, their young, and a dominant male adult. Unattached bachelor males form herds of their own—these can include as many as 50 or more animals. When a female guanaco gives birth, her newborn, known as a chulengo, is able to walk immediately. Chulengos can keep up with the herd right away. Guanacos live on land high in the Andes mountains—up to 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) above sea level—as well as on the lower plateaus, plains, and coastlines of Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Guanacos were once over hunted for their thick, warm wool. Now they thrive in areas protected by law.
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Jellyfish have drifted along on ocean currents for millions of years, even before dinosaurs lived on the Earth. The jellylike creatures pulse along on ocean currents and are abundant in cold and warm ocean water, in deep water, and along coastlines. But despite their name, jellyfish aren’t actually fish—they’re invertebrates, or animals with no backbones. Jellyfish have tiny stinging cells in their tentacles to stun or paralyze their prey before they eat them. Inside their bell-shaped body is an opening that is its mouth. They eat and discard waste from this opening. As jellyfish squirt water from their mouths they are propelled forward. Tentacles hang down from the smooth baglike body and sting their prey. Jellyfish stings can be painful to humans and sometimes very dangerous. But jellyfish don’t purposely attack humans. Most stings occur when people accidentally touch a jellyfish, but if the sting is from a dangerous species, it can be deadly. Jellyfish digest their food very quickly. They wouldn’t be able to float if they had to carry a large, undigested meal around. They dine on fish, shrimp, crabs and tiny plants. Sea turtles relish the taste of jellyfish. Some jellyfish are clear, but others are in vibrant colors such as pink, yellow, blue, and purple, and often are luminescent. The Chinese have fished jellyfish for 1,700 years. They are considered a delicacy and are used in Chinese medicine.
Find out what else makes this jellyfish so freaky in this episode of Freaky Creatures

A tree stands in a forest under a cloudy sky. Suddenly it appears as if a twig is crawling down the trunk. The object isn’t actually a twig that’s sprung legs—it’s a stick insect. The stick-like trickster uses its appearance to protect itself from enemies so it doesn’t end up in, well, a sticky situation. FOOLED YA Stick insects—also known as walking sticks—live in tropical and temperate (or mild) forests all over the world. Related to grasshoppers, crickets, and mantises, these creepy-crawlies are usually brown, green, or black. They’re also the world’s longest insects. The largest one ever found stretched 22 inches with its legs extended. (Most are only up to 12 inches long.) This bug spends much of its time in trees, munching on leaves. When predators such as birds approach, the insect tries to remain completely still in order to blend with the branches. If a predator isn’t fooled and grabs the bug by the leg, it’s no big deal. The insect can detach the leg and scuttle away. It will later regenerate, or grow back, the lost limb. A GOOD EGG About 3,000 species of stick insects exist. Some are master mimics even before they hatch. The females from these species lay eggs that look like plant seeds. This prevents carnivorous insects from eating the eggs. This crawler really knows how to go undercover. Text by April Capochino Myers
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A bald eagle’s white head may make it look bald. But actually the name comes from an old English word, „balde,“ meaning white. These graceful birds have been the national symbol of the United States since 1782. Bald eagles were on the brink of extinction because of hunting and pollution. But laws created almost 40 years ago have helped protect them, and they’ve made a comeback. Female bald eagles are a bit bigger than males. Their bodies can be three feet (one meter) long, and their wingspan can be eight feet (2.4 meters) across. That’s about the distance from the floor to the ceiling! Eagle nests are called aeries (AIR-ees). Bald eagles build their nests at the very top of tall trees so the eggs will be safe. Some parents come back year after year to the same nest, adding more sticks, twigs, and grass each time. Babies, called eaglets, are born light gray then turn brown. When they are four to five years old, they develop their normal white heads and tails. In the wild, they can live to be 35 years old or more. Bald eagles can soar over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) high, and their great eyesight lets them see fish up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. When they attack, they drop down at up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) an hour! Then they glide just above the water, snag a fish with their feet, and fly off to eat it.
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Koalas are marsupials, related to kangaroos.
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Flamingos are famous for their bright pink feathers, stilt-like legs, and S-shaped neck. When a flamingo spots potential dinner—favorite foods include shrimp, snails, and plantlike water organisms called algae—it plunges its head into the water, twists it upside down, and scoops the fish using its upper beak like a shovel. They are able to „run“ on water, thanks to their webbed feet, to gain speed before lifting up into the sky. Flamingos build nests that look like mounds of mud along waterways. At the top of the mound, in a shallow hole, the female lays one egg. The parents take turns sitting on the egg to keep it warm. After about 30 days, the egg hatches. Flamingo young are born white, with soft, downy feathers and a straight bill. The bill gradually curves downward as the flamingo matures. Both parents take care of the newborn flamingo, feeding it a fluid produced in their digestive systems. The young leave the nest after about five days to join other young flamingos in small groups, returning to the parents for food. The parents identify their chick by its voice. After about three weeks, the adults herd young flamingos into large groups called crèches where they start to look for food on their own. Most flamingo species are not endangered, although the Andean flamingo is listed as Vulnerable, and the Chilean, Lesser, and Puna flamingos are Near Threatened.
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This is one cat that doesn’t need any help getting down from a tree. The leopard is so comfortable up there that it often stalks prey and even hauls its kills up into the branches. Leopards are powerful big cats closely related to lions, tigers, and jaguars. They live in sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, Central Asia, India, and China. However, many of their populations are endangered, especially outside of Africa. You can identify most leopards by their light color and distinctive dark spots. Those spots are called rosettes, because they resemble the shape of a rose. These patterns camouflage their bodies as they move through the grass and trees. Black leopards, which appear to be almost solid in color because their spots are hard to distinguish, are commonly called black panthers. Unlike lions, leopards are solitary creatures. Males are almost entirely solitary and females only break their solitude when they are raising cubs. But, like lions, leopards roar. Male leopards defend their territory by roaring and scent marking, while females use their roar to attract mates and call their cubs. A leopard roar is a rough rasp, like a handsaw cutting wood. Leopard cubs are born with barely visible spots. The mother hides her cubs and moves them from one safe location to the next until they are old enough to begin playing and learning to hunt. When the cubs are about two years old, they live on their own. But the maternal bonds are strong, and offspring sometimes have reunions with their mothers.
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There are more than 200 species of squirrels living all around the world, including kinds of tree, ground, and flying squirrels. You may have seen the eastern gray squirrel in parks, your backyard, or in a forest in the eastern half of the United States. Eastern gray squirrels forage for nuts, seeds, buds, and flowers of trees. Like other tree squirrels, the eastern gray squirrel plays an important role in what’s known as seed dispersal. As winter approaches, squirrels carry their food and bury it in several locations. They hide more food than they will recover or eat. The buried seeds and nuts sprout and begin to grow in these locations the following spring. Eastern gray squirrels have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to help locate food that they’ve hidden away. They can also pick up information about their fellow squirrels by smelling them. They communicate with each other by making sounds and body movements, such as tail flicking. When predators such as red foxes and red-tailed hawks are nearby, eastern gray squirrels will sound warning calls to alert other squirrels. Female eastern gray squirrels may start having babies at as young as five and a half months old. Females can have litters twice a year, each usually consisting of two to four babies. They gather leaves and twigs and build nests high in the trees to house their young offspring, or use tree cavities as dens. Newborn eastern gray squirrels don’t have fur when they are born and are not able to see. They often weigh as little as half an ounce (14 grams). They leave the nest by around ten to twelve weeks old and they become fully grown by around nine months.
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Goblin Shark
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Axolotls (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhls) are salamanders! Thes amphibians spend their whole lives underwater. They exist in the wild in only one place on Earth—the lake complex of Xochimilco (pronounced SO-chee-MILL-koh), a network of artificial channels, small lakes, and temporary wetlands that help supply water to the millions of residents in nearby Mexico City. Axolotls have long fascinated scientists for their ability to regenerate lost body parts and for their rare trait of neoteny, which means they retain larval features throughout life. Rather than undergoing typical metamorphosis, axolotls keep their youthful appearance, including their tadpolelike dorsal fin and feathery external gills that fan out from the head. As they age, axolotls simply get bigger and bigger, like amphibious Peter Pans. In rare cases, axolotls have matured past the larval stage and emerged onto land as adult salamanders. Neoteny doesn’t affect the axolotl’s ability to breed. Females mate with males and lay eggs underwater. As Mexico City has grown, the lake complex has shrunk and parts have become contaminated, distressing the axolotl population. The introduction of large numbers of carp and tilapia fish, which compete with axolotls for food and also eat axolotl eggs, has further lowered their population. A 2009 survey suggests there are fewer than 1,200 axolotls in the Xochimilco Lake complex. Axolotls feast on a menu of mollusks, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and some fish.
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