The Armadillo is a very different creature. It has tremendous claws, but no fighting instinct. They have teeth, but not in front, except for the milk teeth some have during infancy. They have long tongues because they catch insects.
A strange thing which these animals have is a coat armor, unique among other animals. They have bony plate armor on the outside of their bodies'. Each species has a different pattern for every little plate they carry. They all are great burrowers. They sink a hole with them in it as one approaches.
It takes a good man to haul even a little one back if it is halfway down it's retreat under the ground.They are active, running with a tiptoe trot. Their trot is as an aged pony that is tired. They have a varied diet. They hunt by night.Today's Armadillos are not the biggest armadillos that have ever existed. The soil of South America is full of larger Armadillo bones from the past. Some of the past bones were as much as sixteen feet long including the tail.
Some even migrated to Texas.There are several species of these animals. The Six-banded Armadillos were good burrowers and massive devourers of insects. They also ate vegetable matter and were useful for devouring carrion. One specie called the Peludo was clumsy bet was effective in getting a snake to its armored hide and grinding the life out of it. It then eats the snake not effected by the poison.
The king of the tribe is the Great Armadillo. It is a big creature in appearance, a yard in length from nose to tail covered with the armor. It even has armor on its legs. Its claws are very long and awfully strong.
The Three- banded Armadillos had a further protection. They are able to curl up like a hedgehog and present an impenetrable ball to an enemy. It is similar than that of a hedgehog or the porcupine, but it is more interesting because of the way they fit themselves into their armor. Their head and tail pass perfectly through openings in the upper surface of the armor.
The Pygmy three-toed- sloths are described to have buff-colored faces with dark circles that surround the eye and go outwards to their temples. Like all sloths, they are always in doldrums which can be very unbeneficial to them. They have clay-orange fur that covers their face and their hair is long and bushy. “Long hair hangs forward to the forehead, giving the impression of a hood” (Grzimek 161). Their outer fur has coated an alga that is used as camouflage to avoid predators. If they were attacked, they have a high probability of surviving due to their ability to heal from grievous wounds. These sloths have a total of 18 teeth, 10 coming from their upper jaw. Similar to other sloths their body temperature regulation is imperfect (“Bradypus pygmaeus pygmy three-toed sloth” (a)).
The armadillo was very dear to John. He had gotten it from Dan Needham the only gift he kept from one of his mother’s beaus. It had great sentimental value to him and to young Owen who had also become attached to it. That’s why it showed great emotional distress on Owen’s part when he removed the claws of the armadillo. He did this when he had hit Johnny’s mother with the foul ball that killed her. Dan had interpreted it as trying to say that Owen was helpless now and that he couldn’t do anything to change what he had done on accident. Though that might be the partial truth it could also symbolize something different. Almost saying that he is the armadillo and he wasn’t in control of himself, but was the instrument of God. His hands were not his own. Though the armadillo never recovered from the declawing, it had mended John and Owen’s friendship and helped ease some of the pain of that situation.
The body of the average Eastern Chipmunk is about 8 to 10 inches long, the weigh about 2 ½ to 4 ounces. The ears are rounded with ears that stick straight up. It has short legs, the hind legs each have five claws, the front legs have four, and a long thumb like extension. They also have a furry flat tail.
The Texas horned lizard can be distinguished by a large flattened body, two large spines on their heads, two rows of fringed scales on their sides, keeled scales on their backs, abdomen, and sides, a white stripe down their back, and brown lines near their eyes (Pianka & Hodges 1995). It inhabits arid environments and preys on small insects, but primarily ants (Oklahoma 1996). The Texas horned lizard is most anatomically similar to the Australian thorny devil, (Moloch horridus), which is most likely due to convergent evolution (Pianka and Parker 1975). Both species of lizards have different phylogenies and lineages, but appear to share common morphological and ecological adaptations due to similar habitats and ...
Squamata is put into two suborders: Snakes, and lizards. For example some snakes are Rattlesnakes, Sea Snakes, Vipers, King Cobras, Copperheads, or Coral snakes. Some Lizards are Geckos, Anoles, Iguanas, Horned Lizards, and even Komodo Dragons. You can tell the that the snakes and the lizards have a close relationship by most of their similarities. For instance, both lizards, and snakes shed their skin, both lizards and snakes do not have a connecting jaw. So both have very powerful and very flexible jaw muscles. That’s why snakes and lizards can eat things way bigger than even their head. It is also a fact that leg less lizards are difficult to tell apart from snakes.
To begin, the grey squirrel’s existence began in North America, spread across three continents, and could still continue to spread even today. The grey squirrel first originated in two countries in North America. It was found on the west side of the Mississippi River; in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, and Montana. It reached as far north as Canada and claimed residence in the subdivisions of Manitoba, British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Sackatchewan, and Ontario (Fischer, Lawniczak, Pagad). In later years, humans caused this squirrel to be introduced to foreign countries. Between 1876 and 1929, it was unintentionally released to Europe by The London Zoo. People also traveled to northern Italy and brought it over as a pet, where it was then released into the wild (Fischer). As of now, this animal is located in four European countries. These countries are Ireland, Scotland, England, and Italy (Fischer, Lawniczak, Pagad). In the future, the grey squirrel could effortlessly continue to disperse across other countries in Europe. These countries include France and Germany. It is also a threat to Spain and a number of other countries (Fischer).
Most animals have some kind of skill that they adapted because they had another skill that was weak. An example would be a white tiger. They are large animals so to help them hide on the Tundra, where they live, their coats adapted to being white instead of orange. Eagles have those kinds of adaptations too. One of them is their eyesight which allows them to spot prey from the air up to two miles above the Earth (Zoo books 1-17). These adaptations range from eyesight to making up for lack of venom with something else. The Boa Constrictor is one of those animals. They make up for their lack of venom with their brute strength. They could easily squeeze the life out of a person just by wrapping their bodies around the torso and squeezing (James 23). After they kill their prey they swallow them whole, bones and all.
encountered it. The Native Americans were able to use every part of the animal killed from the hide to
They have things like tree snakes and various types of birds. For example, the tree snake adapted to living in the trees to get their food. It can eat things like the elusive flying lizard, also known as the Draco.
tail. They have gray or rosy brown backs with lighter gray or brown hind legs and have
The Alaskan moose is the largest sub-specious of the deer family which is very closely related to the Elk in Europe. The adult bull weighing up to 760 kg and the females can weigh up to 360 kg. The moose can grow to seven and half feet high, the highest point being at its large shoulders. The shoulders support “the males bear racks of flattened antlers that sometimes have a spread of 6 feet or more” Their front legs are longer than their rear legs and their body is covered in thick fur which is shaded in many hues of brown. Their heads are long peninsular in shape which is completed with a large upper lip and nose. Under their neck lies a dewlap or dangling “bell “which is a flap of skin near the throat. They have short tails and small ears.
The arctic fox or the Vulpes Lagopus is a very beautiful and majestic animal with many interesting features. This animal can survive extremely frigid arctic temperatures that can drop as low as -50°F. The arctic fox is a very resilient animal. It has furry soles, short ears, and a short muzzle, which are the essentials of what is needed for the animals to adapt to the chilly climate. These foxes usually live in burrows and in emergencies like snowstorms, strong winds or animal conflict, they may tunnel into the snow and create a shelter for them. They have a beautiful white coat that protects them from the hardy weather. Amusingly, when the season changes, the fox changes its coat color making it a unique animal. In winter, their coat is white where as in summer its turns into an orange-red color. This is mostly because it helps them camouflage in the surrounding. These colorings help foxes to effectively hunt rodents, birds, fish and even baby polar bear cubs. But in winter prey can be scarce on the ground. At such times, these animals eat the left over kill of the polar bear. These foxes will also eat berries when they are available. Its coat has been known for its strange adapting qualities, it is a rarity in science today and therefore is highly researched. Not only does it have a thick coat that helps them camouflage and protects them from the cold, but also has the ability to run extremely fast. It is known to be one of the fastest animals in the arctic region.