Find out why these Antarctic seabirds might be the ultimate city slickers.
Many chinstrap colonies are home to hundreds of thousands of individuals and have
This dino’s headgear likely impressed a mate.
Subscribe menu Triceratops might have tussled to impress other members of its group
The Gila monster is one of only a few poisonous lizards in the world. The Gila (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States. Their black bodies are covered in beadlike scales with bright spots, blotches, or bands of pink, orange, or yellow, which probably warn other animals to stay away. Their bulky bodies, slow-moving stride, thick forked tongue, and snorting hisses reinforce the name Gila monster. They live in the dry, arid regions such as the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. They are named after the Arizona Gila River Basin, where they were first discovered. Gila monsters are more likely to use their venom on a predator than on prey. They clamp their jaws down with the power of a vise grip. Then the venom in their bottom jaw flows through their grooved teeth into the victim. Although the Gila’s bite is extremely painful, no human death has been reported. Gilas are sluggish creatures that feed primarily on eggs raided from bird nests and newborn mammals, such as rabbits and squirrels. They sometimes eat quail eggs whole without crushing the shells. They spend about 95 percent of their time underground and emerge only to hunt for food or to take a sunbath. They don’t need to eat very often because they can store fat in their large tails.
because they can store fat in their large tails. 1:46 Gila Monster Gila monsters have
Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs spend much of their days alone, foraging for plants and grasses and digging burrows up to 66 feet long.
(They actually have separate bathrooms!)
These colorful fish live in and around the tropical reefs of all the world’s oceans.
Fun facts • Some species of parrotfish have scales strong enough to stop a spear
Beavers are the largest rodents (gnawing animals) in North America and the second largest in the world, behind the South American capybara. Beavers are powerful swimmers that can swim underwater for up to 15 minutes. As the beaver dips underwater, the nose and ears shut to keep water out. Transparent inner eyelids also close over each eye to help the beaver see.
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These frogs are considered one of Earth’s most toxic, or poisonous, species. For example, the golden poison dart frog has enough poison to kill 20,000 mice. With a range of bright colors—yellows, oranges, reds, greens, blues—they aren’t just big show-offs either. Those colorful designs tell potential predators, „I’m toxic. Don’t eat me.“ Scientists think that poison dart frogs get their toxicity from some of the insects they eat. How do poison dart frogs capture their prey? Slurp! With a long, sticky tongue that darts out and zaps the unsuspecting bug! The frogs eat many kinds of small insects, including fruit flies, ants, termites, young crickets, and tiny beetles, which are the ones scientists think may be responsible for the frogs‘ toxicity. Poison dart frogs live in the rain forests of Central and South America.
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Get the inside scoop on how these brown bears pack on the pounds to prepare for winter, and see before-and-after pictures of fat bears!
That’s why they have to constantly chow down in the months before their light hibernation
Christmas Island red crabs are famous throughout Australia and the world for their bright red color and for their spectacular annual migration to the sea. Millions of crabs become rivers of red as they move from the island’s interior rainforests to the ocean to breed and lay eggs. During migration, red crabs climb over and around obstacles in their way, following the same migration paths every year. Christmas Island red crabs live on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean off Australia’s northern coast, about 240 miles (380 kilometers) south of Java, Indonesia. Red crabs must keep their bodies moist, so they wait for the rainy season to provide conditions that are ideal for the difficult journey. A single female can lay up to 100,000 eggs.
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During the mating season, male blue-footed boobies strut around with exaggerated movements that show off their fabulous blue feet. Females tend to pick the males with the bluest feet as their mates. Parents take care of their chicks feeding and protecting them—until they’re about two months old. At that point, young boobies can survive on their own. Blue-footed boobies sleep at night, generally on land, and feed at sea during the day. Sometimes boobies feed in a group. They often fly far out to sea to look for their prey—small fish such as anchovies. The birds either zip underwater for fish from a floating position on the water’s surface or make awesome dives from as high as 80 feet (24 meters) in the air. Once it spots a school of fish, the bird folds those wings back, becoming a streamlined, torpedo-shaped predator. The booby dives into the water among the school of fish, using its long beak to grab dinner.
Comeback critters See how animal species in trouble have come back from the brink
