The cold waters of the Arctic Circle are home to various cetaceans. Some of them swim in groups and have a long tusk protruding from their round heads: ancient sailors used to call them the “unicorns of the sea.”
WHY DOES THE MALE NARWHAL HAVE THAT LARGE SPIRAL TOOTH STICKING OUT OF ITS JAW?
Perhaps it’s to look more attractive to females or to measure the temperature of the water. It certainly cannot be easy to swim with a tusk that is almost 2.5 METERS/8 FOOT LONG.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Monodon monoceros
DIET: carnivore
LENGTH: 5 meters/16 feet
WEIGHT: 1500 kilograms/3300 pounds
HABITAT: Arctic seas
LIFESPAN: 30-40 years
Narwhals eat approximately 30 kilograms/65 pounds of squid, prawns and fish per day. As they only have two teeth – and, for the males, one of these sticks out of their mouth – they suck up food like a vacuum cleaner.
MALE
FEMALE
DUGONG
IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A FAT SEAL.
A large peaceful-looking animal swims in the warm waters of the Red Sea.
With slow movements, it sifts the seabed like a vacuum cleaner, looking for algae. It eats so much it is known as a “sea cow.”
With its large upper lip, it gathers algae from the sea bed, remaining underwater for several minutes at a time.
During digestion, a large amount of gas forms in its stomach which helps it to float.
MANATEE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dugong dugon
DIET: herbivore
LENGTH: 4 meters/13 feet
WEIGHT: 900 kilograms/1980 pounds
HABITAT: warm oceans and seas off the African and Australian coasts
LIFESPAN: 70 years
TO IMPRESS FEMALES, MALE DUGONGS SPAR WITH EACH OTHER USING VIOLENT PUSHES.
LONG-NOSED MONKEY
The male long-nosed monkey has a really long nose that dangles below its eyes. It keeps it on display because, seemingly, the females really like it.
The large nose also helps the male raise the intensity of its call. If a predator approaches, the amplified warning call is heard by even its furthest companions.
However, its nose is not its only bizarre feature: BETWEEN ITS FINGERS IT HAS SKIN THAT HELPS IT SWIM!
THE BABY MONKEYS HAVE INTENSE BLUE SNOUTS WHEN THEY ARE BORN, BUT THEY BECOME GREY AFTER ABOUT THREE MONTHS AND THEN CREAM WHEN THEY REACH ADULTHOOD.
BALD UAKARI
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Cacajao calvus
DIET: omnivore
LENGTH: 57 centimeters/ 22 inches
WEIGHT: 2-3 kilograms/ 4-7 pounds
HABITAT: tropical forests in South America
LIFESPAN: 15-20 years
If you were to see a little red face beneath a bald head watching you from a dense forest, you would think it was a gnome ready to play a trick on you… but gnomes only live in fairytales; in actual fact, you would have just come across a bald uakari.
The lack of hair on its head makes the bright red color of its face even more visible. Red is a sign of good health; if the uakari’s face is pale, almost white, it means it has malaria.
THE BALD UAKARI ONLY DESCENDS TO GROUND LEVEL DURING THE DRY SEASON TO LOOK FOR FOOD, WHEREAS DURING THE RAINY SEASON, WHEN THE FOREST IS FLOODED, IT STAYS SAFE UP IN THE TREES.
ANTEATER
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
DIET: insectivore
LENGTH: 2.2 meters/7 feet
weight: 40 kilograms/88 pounds
HABITAT: prairies and rainforests
LIFESPAN: 16 years
In such a long snout there is room for the longest tongue ever in proportion to body size.
It is also one of the fastest tongues. It moves in and out of the mouth more than 150 times per minute. Thanks to this speed, the anteater can suck up insects without being bitten or stung.
THE TONGUE IS NARROW, STICKY AND COVERED IN LITTLE HOOKS.
THE MOTHER ANTEATER CARRIES HER PUP ON HER BACK FOR 6 MONTHS TO PROTECT THEM FROM PREDATORS.
The tongue is narrow and sticky, covered in little hooks to catch large quantities of ants and termites. As the anteater doesn’t have any teeth, it cannot chew, so it squashes the insects against the roof of its mouth.
THE TONGUE MOVES IN AND OUT OF ITS MOUTH MORE THAN 150 TIMES PER MINUTE!
STAR-NOSED MOLE
Seeing a star-nosed mole for the first time, you tend to think: is this a real or imaginary animal?
IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS A LITTLE OCTOPUS INSTEAD OF A NOSE.
It is such a strange nose, but it is an excellent tool for finding food underground, where this almost-blind animal lives. It is made up of 22 tentacles that are constantly moving. The nose is not used to smell, but to explore. It can touch as many as 12 different points in a second.
ITS NOSE IS MADE UP OF 22 TENTACLES AND HELPS THE MOLE “SEE” AS IT IS ACTUALLY ALMOST BLIND!
NUMBER OF PREY PER SECOND!
THE STAR-NOSED MOLE IS CONSIDERED THE “FASTEST EATER” AMONG ALL MAMMALS. IN FACT, IT CAN IDENTIFY PREY, DECIDE IF IT’S EDIBLE OR NOT, AND EAT IT IN 120 MILLISECONDS.
HUMPBACK ANGLERFISH
Incredibly ugly, the humpback anglerfish is a very tough fish to come across. In fact, it lives in abyssal zones of the seas, in the complete darkness, at over 4000 meters/13,000 feet deep.
IT LOOKS LIKE A MARINE ZOMBIE. ITS MOUTH, STACKED FULL OF SHARP TEETH, OPENS UPWARDS, READY TO CATCH EVERYTHING THAT FALLS FROM THE SURFACE.
In order to live in this environment, these abyssal fish have really large mouths and stomachs to help them catch and swallow everything they find.
In addition, the females have an antenna on their back that swings slowly. The tip is full of bacteria that emit light due to bioluminescence: a perfect decoy for prey.
THE MALES ARE MUCH SMALLER THAN THE FEMALES AND ARE NOT PREDATORS. ONCE THEY FIND A COMPANION, THEY ATTACH THEMSELVES FIRMLY TO HER, ALWAYS READY TO FERTILIZE HER EGGS.
Despite its name, the satanic leaf-tailed gecko is a docile and very rare creature; indeed, it only lives in Madagascar
Its leaf-like tail and the greenish-brown color of its skin make this little animal a champion in the art of hiding itself.
Its diabolic appearance derives from its large eyes and the bulges on its head that look like horns.
IF THREATENED, IT OPENS ITS MOUTH WIDE, RISES UP ON ITS FEET AND LOUDLY WHISTLES AT ITS ADVERSARY.
OTHERWISE, IT CONFUSES IT BY LETTING ITS TAIL FALL AND THEN FLEEING.
DEATH’S-HEAD HAWKMOTH
Part of the family of sphinx moths, but the Ancient Egyptians have nothing to do with this nocturnal moth. Its name refers to the skull-like pattern on its back. It’s not a dangerous animal, but ever since ancient times, this design has given it a bad name as a bringer of misfortune.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acherontiaatropos
DIET: nectarivoreandhoney
WINGSPAN: 13 centimeters/ 5 inches
WEIGHT: 1.5grams/0.05ounces
HABITAT: farmlands
LIFESPAN: the adult 1.5 months
SYMBOL IN THE SHAPE OF A
The death’s-head hawkmoth is the only moth in the world that can emit sound with its pharynx. Indeed, if frightened, it produces an acute sound, similar to a shrill cry, by inhaling and exhaling through its mouth. When in danger, it can also expel a nauseating smell through the glandular hair on its abdomen.
Its nickname is “stink bird.” Its stomach contains bacteria that demolish the cellulose of the leaves it feeds on, fermenting them for up to 45 hours. This decomposition produces a smell of manure strong enough to discourage predators.
HOATZIN
The hoatzin is an elegant bird with a secret: it has talons on its wings! This is a truly unusual feature, but it loses it in adulthood. It could be proof of the close relationship between birds and dinosaurs…
The hoatzin builds its nest at the tops of trees growing beside a river. If a chick is spotted by a predator, it drops into the water below to escape. When the danger has passed, it returns to the nest by climbing up the trunk thanks to the small talons in its wings. When it grows and learns to fly, it loses the talons which are no longer needed.
