Colorful Creatures

INCLUDES A CHAMELEON

SQUISHY

Table of Contents Alive with Color!

2

Reptiles and Amphibians Panther Chameleon San Francisco Garter Snake Poison Frog Spider-Man Agama More Scaly Color Birds

6 8 10 12 14

Scarlet Macaw Gouldian Finch Mandarin Duck Peacock Keel-billed Toucan More Fabulous Feathers Butterflies and Moths

16 18 20 22 24 26

Blue Morpho Rosy Maple Moth Wattle Cup Caterpillar More Brilliant Butterflies Sea Creatures

28 30 32 34

Coral Reef Bicolor Parrotfish Peacock Mantis Shrimp More Undersea Color

36 38 40 42

Insects and Spiders Jewel Bugs Peacock Spider More Buggy Color Glossary

44 46 48 51

Alive with Color!

Animals come in just about every color you can think of. Feathers, fur, skin, beaks, scales, and more shine in a rainbow of color!

Mandrill Baboon

4

Why so many colors? For some animals, colors help attract mates. It’s like dressing up to show off at a fancy event!

Some colors are used as warnings. The bright shades tell predators to stay away!

Rainbow Lorikeet

Fun Fact In most types of birds, only the males have bright feathers.

Females often have dull or lessflashy feathers. The males display their brilliant colors to show off for mating!

Color can be camouflage for some animals. A tiger’s orange-and-black helps it blend into grasslands while hunting.

5

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS

Panther Chameleon A panther chameleon can change “clothes” dozens of times a day! You might see green, blue, red, orange, pink, or purple scales.

6

These reptiles live on the island of Madagascar, off eastern Africa.

They grow about 14—21 in.

(35.6­— 53.3 cm) long.

Chameleons can change their color as camouflage. They also change color based on the temperature of the air. On a cool day, they turn darker. Dark colors absorb more light and heat.

The chameleon’s tail is prehensile.

That means the animal can use it like a hand to hang from branches or to grab things.

Panther Chameleon skin

Fun Fact Chameleons have a tongue that can be as long as their body! It zaps out and snags bugs with a sticky tip at the end.

7

San Francisco Garter Snake Forests near San Francisco, California, USA, are home to this color-striped snake.

8

This type of garter snake is about 3 ft. (0.9 m) long. It lives only on the San Francisco peninsula.

Its favorite food is frogs that are found in small ponds and streams.

Because so many people live in this area and have taken over large parts of its forest home, the San Francisco garter snake is endangered.

Fun Fact Even the underside of this garter snake is colorful. When it flips over, it shows off light blue or purple belly scales.

9

Poison Frog Don’t touch! That’s what the bright colors of these South American frogs are saying.

You could say the colors are shouting!

10

Poison frogs are tiny! The bodies of most are only about 1 in. (2.5 cm) long!

The golden frog is one of the deadliest. One of them has enough poison in it to kill 20,000 mice!

Fun Fact Poison frogs come in lots of colors.

Scientists have found frogs with red, orange, green, yellow, purple, and even blue skin!

11

Spider-Man Agama No, it’s not a superhero . . . it’s a lizard!

It just looks like it’s wearing the famous webslinger’s costume.

12

Just like Spider-Man is also called Peter Parker, this reptile has another name: the Mwanza flat-headed rock agama.

The Spider-Man agama makes its home in the African country of Tanzania.

It can grow to about 6 in. (15.2 cm) long and eats insects.

Fun Fact While the male is colorful (and can even change colors), female agamas are a plain brown color.

That helps them blend into their surroundings to stay safe.

13

More Scaly Color Hundreds of reptiles and amphibians show off a dazzling number of colors.

Red-eyed Tree Frog

Green Tree Python This 5 ft. (1.5 m) snake lives in trees in New Guinea and Indonesia. So it makes sense they are mostly green.

But they are born yellow, and many keep yellow spots and patches as they grow and turn green.

14

As if having green skin wasn’t enough, this Central American amphibian has red eyes, orange toes, and purple on its legs!

Eastern Collared Lizard A dark stripe on its neck is the “collar.”

But everything else about this North American lizard is colorful. They’re about 4 – 5 in. (10.2 – 12.7 cm) long, with green, orange, yellow, and white patches and stripes. They’re also the official state lizard of Oklahoma.

Broadley’s Flat Lizard At home in South Africa, the males of these small lizards include most of the colors of the rainbow. But predators can spot the colors easily. To hide, the male can change its bright colors to the soft browns of female flat lizards.

15

BIRDS

Scarlet Macaw Is that a flying rainbow? No, it’s just the most famous type of parrot in the world—and one of the most colorful birds!

16

Macaws are the largest type of parrot. They can grow to almost 3 ft. (0.9 m) from beak to tail.

Another famous species is colored blue and yellow.

Unsurprisingly, it’s called the blue-and-yellow macaw.

Macaws live in Central and South American forests and rain forests.

Fun Fact The macaw’s white-and-black beak is very sharp and strong. The pointed ends are used to crack open nuts and seeds to eat.

17

Gouldian Finch What’s purple, yellow, red, turquoise, green, and blue? This northern Australian bird!

18

It’s no surprise that these small (6 in./15.2 cm) birds are also called rainbow finches.

These birds get their red and yellow feathers from the type of seeds they eat.

They can have three different hairstyles . . . er, feather-styles!

Gouldian finches can have red, black, or yellow head feathers.

Fun Fact Gouldian finches don’t develop their eye-popping colors until they’re adults. Young Gouldians are a boring dull green.

19

Mandarin Duck When you picture a duck, do you picture a white or brown bird with orange legs? Well, this webbed wonder is certainly more than that!

20

Because these ducks mate for life, people in China and Korea sometimes give mandarin duck statues as wedding presents.

Most ducks nest on the ground near water, but mandarin ducks make their nests in trees.

They come from Asia but now can also be found all over western Europe too.

Fun Fact A few mandarin ducks live in the United States. They came from mandarins that escaped from farms or zoos!

21

Peacock Is this the most famous set of feathers in the bird world?

Well, the peacock certainly thinks so— he loves to show off!

22

Male peacocks’ magnificent tails can be more than 6 ft. (1.8 m) tall and be more than twice as long as the bird’s body!

The national bird of India, peacocks live in the wild in Asia, as well as a few places in Africa.

Fun Fact Only the male birds are called peacocks. The females are peahens, and the babies go by peachicks.

23

Keel-billed Toucan From its beak to its back, this South American bird features a lot of colors!

Fun Fact There are more than 40 species of toucan. The toco toucan’s yellow beak is the longest—as much as 7.5 in. (19.1 cm). The keel-billed toucan’s beak has several colors, not just green.

24

Toucans live in forest areas and mostly eat fruit and sometimes bugs and eggs.

When seeking mates, these toucans will sometimes use their big beaks to toss and catch pieces of fruit with each other!

While you might think such a majestic bird would have a searing call, the keel-billed toucan sounds like a frog croak.

25

More Fabulous Feathers There are so many colorful birds all over the world!

Here are a few more dazzlers.

Dwarf Kingfisher Tiny but covered with color, these little birds live in forests in Asia. They zip around snatching insects straight out of the air.

26

Golden Pheasant These multicolored flyers are about 40 in. (101.6 cm) long . . . but most of that is tail! They live in the wild in western China and eat mostly seeds and nuts.

Resplendent Quetzal Flashing green and blue in the Mexican and Central American forest, this fruit-eating bird was considered sacred by the ancient Mayans and Aztecs. It is also the national bird of Guatemala.

Violet-backed Starling Put on your sunglasses to see these super-bright birds, which live in Africa south of the Sahara desert. There are more than 100 species of starlings, but few are this brightly colored.

Fiery-throated Hummingbird There are more than 330 types of hummingbirds all over the world.

This iridescent species lives in Central America.

27

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Blue Morpho Shiny, shimmering, super-cool: Blue morpho butterflies stand out in the rain forest.

28

With a wingspan as wide as 8 in.

(20.3 cm), this is one of the largest butterfly species.

Adult blue morphos only live about four months!

Blue morphos live in forests from Mexico to South America.

Fun Fact Morphos are two-sided! While the tops of their wings are bright blue, the undersides are light brown or tan. When they fold their wings, the dull colors help them hide from predators.

29

Rosy Maple Moth Like a flying piece of colorful candy, the rosy maple moth puts on a colorful display in flight.

30

A lot of color in a small package— the wingspan of these moths is only 2 in. (5.1 cm) across.

Rosy maples live all over North America. They can also come with purple patches on their wings.

Check out those fan-shaped antennae. That helps you know this is a moth and not a butterfly, which usually has a sticklike antennae.

Fun Fact This moth’s caterpillar is pretty colorful too . . . just not pink! They have green bodies with black stripes and some red spots.

31

Wattle Cup Caterpillar Looking a bit more like a tiny cactus than an insect, this caterpillar puts on quite a colorful show.

32

These colorful creepy-crawly critters live in Australia.

They’re very small, only about 1.2 in. (3 cm). The grown-up moth has wings about that wide too.

Australia is home to other “cup” moths, all of whose caterpillars have spiky bits, but not as much color as the wattle cup.

Fun Fact This animal’s name comes from one of the types of bush it likes to eat (the wattle) and the cup shape of its cocoon.

33

More Brilliant Butterflies Few types of insects show off as many colors as butterflies. Here are just a few examples from these flying rainbows.

88 Butterfly We can “count” on this butterfly from Central and South America. Scales on its wings form what looks like the number 88 (or sometimes 89).

34

Emerald Swallowtail Butterfly The stripes on this Southeast Asian butterfly are bright green . . . or are they? If a person looks at them from some angles, the scales appear blue or yellow. And from the bottom, this butterfly is light gray!

Leopard Lacewing Butterfly The adult butterflies sport orange, white, red, black, and white scales. The caterpillars show off too—they change color at least twice before turning into butterflies.

Peacock Butterfly Just like on the peacock bird, the “eyes” on this animal’s wings don’t see anything. But they do make predators think twice about attacking. This colorful flyer lives all over Europe.

Spanish Moon Moth We’re letting this moth into the butterfly club thanks to its amazing green-and-yellow wings. They live mostly in Spain and Portugal.

35

SEA CREATURES

Coral Reef Coral reefs look like wide, flat underwater forests of color—but they are really made of millions of tiny living creatures.

36

Every coral reef is home to millions of plants and animals. The plants start out green, like land plants. They get their brilliant colors from their food.

The colorful covering on the corals also works like sunscreen. Most coral reefs are not far below the surface, so sunlight can reach them easily.

Reef fish might actually be seeing different colors than humans see. Many fish can see ultraviolet light, which would make the reef look very different.

Fun Fact Some types of hard corals can live over 4,000 years! Like trees, they form rings as they age. Scientists use these rings to learn about the reef’s past.

37

Bicolor Parrotfish A flash of green, a hint of pink, a bit of blue—this large reef fish mixes a lot of colors in its underwater display.

38

This fish goes through a lot of colors. As a juvenile, it’s white and orange. As they grow up, females become black and yellow. Males turn shimmering green and blue with pink stripes!

At 20 in. (50.8 cm) long, they are one of the largest types of parrotfish.

They live on the northern reefs of Australia, but a similar species lives only in the Red Sea in Africa!

Fun Fact Stay away! That’s what parrotfish males signal to rivals. Each male picks a small area on the reef and then defends it against rivals.

39

Peacock Mantis Shrimp Like a tiny rainbow moving along the ocean floor, these shrimp take their name from the most dazzling bird.

40

The colors of this shrimp are in the hard exoskeleton, not in its skin.

Pow! Mantis shrimp stun prey with a quick punch of their claw.

The movement is one of the fastest by any animal on Earth.

These shrimp are about 7 in.

(17.8 cm) long and live in waters around the Indian Ocean and along western Central and South America.

Fun Fact Sneak attack! Mantis shrimp dig backward into little burrows in the sand. When prey swims by, the shrimp zip out and punch!

41

More Undersea Color The ocean world is home to more than a million types of animals. Some of them are among the most colorful in the world!

42

Blue-ringed Octopus

Blue Dragon

That cute little yellowish octopus has a secret. When it flashes bright blue rings on its skin, swim away!

These Australian creatures have one of the deadliest venoms in the ocean, enough to even kill a person.

It’s super-colorful, but it’s not a fish. It’s a nudibranch, a type of sea slug. The blue version has stinging spines all around. Other nudibranchs come in every color of the rainbow.

Flower Hat Jelly Who needs a head, a heart, or a brain when you’re this colorful?

Jellies like this one, with very colorful tentacles, are not “fish.”

They are invertebrates that use stingers in the tentacles to capture prey.

Striped Mandarin Dragonet Royal Gramma With a bright purple body, a red stripe over its eye, and a sparkling yellow tail, this is one of the brightest-colored saltwater fish in the ocean.

This fish lives in the Pacific Ocean. Its name comes from the bright-colored clothes worn by mandarins, a group of ancient Chinese leaders.

43

INSECTS AND SPIDERS

Jewel Bugs Jewelry is sparkling, colorful, and pretty, so it’s no wonder where these gorgeous insects got their name.

44

The beetle’s carapace or its hard shell, is not actually colored. Instead, tiny cells on the surface reflect or break up light to create the shimmering colors.

There are more than 15,000 species of jewel bugs around the world!

Fun Fact The giant jewel beetle is included in the diet of some people living in South Africa.

45

Emerald Swallowtail Butterfly Parrotfish

It’s a living rainbow!

Poison Frog

Meet some of the most colorful creatures on Earth. From brilliant birds to stunning bugs, radiant reptiles, and amazing underwater animals, you won’t believe your eyes.

Gouldian Finch

Over 40 jewellike creatures! $9.99 US/$13.99 CAN Please retain for future reference À garder pour consultation future

Scholastic Inc. 557 Broadway New York, NY 10012

Green-billed Toucan

5095002 03/23 Made in Jiaxing, China