The Most Interesting Animals on Earth
These are the most interesting animals on Earth.
Star-Nosed Moles
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Star-nosed Moles live in the humid lowland areas of northern-eastern United States and the eastern Canada. They are expert at swimming and digging holes. They can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds and they also can swim in ice-covered streams. They often dig shallow surface tunnel for foraging, in which their tunnels can be seen existing underwater. They have thick blackish brown water-repellent fur coated their bodies. A circle of 22 mobile, fleshy and pink tentacles attached at the end of their snouts which they use to detect food (such as worms, crustaceans and insects) by touch are the most distinctive feature.
Tapirs
Tapirs are herbivorous animals as they feed on plants. They are pig-like in shape, with short and prehensile snouts. They inhibit primarily in jungle and forest regions of South and Central part of America, and Southeast Asia. Tapirs are aggressive animals as they will attack furiously when they are annoyed by their enemies. They have a close relationship to other odd-toed ungulates, including rhinoceros and horses.
All tapirs are characterized with features include oval and white-tipped ears, splayed and hoofed toes, rounded and protruding rumps with stubby tails, with three toes on the hind feet and four on the front feet. These characteristics help them to walk on muddy and soft ground. Female tapirs have a single pair of mammary glands while the baby tapirs have stripped-and-spotted coats for camouflage. Adult tapirs are usually large in size and thus they have very few natural predators. The thick skin coated the back of their necks help them to reduce the threats from crocodiles, anacondas, tigers and jaguars.
Emperor Tamarins
The Emperor Tamarins (Saguinus imperator) inhibit tropical rain forests and open tree covered areas of the southwest Amazon Basin, east Peru, west Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas, and north Bolivia. Originally, the word “Tamarin” was allegedly named for their long, white mustache that resembles the German emperor Wilhelm II, and their mustache can extend to both sides beyond their shoulders. There are yellowish speckles around their chests and their furs are generally gray in color. Their adults can reach a weight up to 300 to 400g. As they are omnivorous animals, they feed on bird eggs, small vertebrates such as tree frogs, fruits, sap and insects. While feeding on sap, they latch on to the tree vertically with their claws dug into the bark of the tree. They spend most of their time swinging and jumping through the forests with their active limbs.
Baboons
Baboons (comes from “babouin”, the name given by the French naturalist Buffon) belong to any five species of robust, large, and primarily terrestrial (ground dwelling primate) monkeys found in open savannah, open woodland and hills across the dry regions of Africa and Arabia. Olive baboon and the yellow baboon are two common types of baboons found in Uganda, west and central Kenya and northern Tanzania. Chacma baboon (papio ursinus) is the male largest species, average 30kg (66 pounds), but females from the same species are only half of this size. The Hamadryas, or sacred baboon (P.hamadryas) is the smallest species, average 17kg, and the females weight in 10kg. Generally, baboons range from 50 to 115cm in length, without including their 45 to 70cm long tails. All species have long snouts with the nostrils situated at the end, close-set eyes, rough spots on their protruding hindquarters called ischial callosities, short tails, heavy powerful jaws, and male baboons even have long dagger-like canine teeth. Baboons have known to live up to 45 years. They can survive for long periods by licking the night dew from their fur.
Shoebills
The Shoebills (Balaeniceps rex), also called Shoe-billed Storks, or Whale-headed Storks, are very large vertebrate unique birds found in swampy area in tropical east Africa from Sudan to Zambia. They stand about 115 cm (3.5ft) tall, a very large bird indeed. Their weight is 5.6kg (12.3ibs) along with its 2.33-meter-wingspan. Their heads are big in proportion to their bodies, and their bills are thick and wide. Their adults are generally, grey in color while their juveniles are brown. They feed on lungfish and other aquatic animals in muddy waters. They nest on the ground and the females lay either one to two eggs. While flying, they hold their heads back against their bodies, as do pelicans and herons.
Leafy Sea Dragons
Leafy sea dragons (phycodurus eques) or Glauerts sea dragons are long pipe-like snout marine fish linked to the family of a seahorse. They have long leaf-like protrusions coming from all over its large body which enable them to hide among different types of floating seaweeds or kelp beds. These protrusions are served as its camouflage: neither preys nor predators recognize it as a fish. They feed on larval fishes, plankton, sea anemones and small crustaceans, by sucking up them with its small mouth. They are found in the ocean waters of south-western, south and further east along the coastline of Australia and generally remain in shallow and temperate water. A fully grown leafy sea dragon can reach about 45cm (18in). During mating, the female deposits up to 250 bright pink eggs onto a special “brood patch” on the underside of the tail of the male where they are attached and fertilized.
Giant Pandas
The Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) or ‘black-and-white cat-foot” is a mammal animal that inhibits in the mountainous regions in central China, in Shanxi, Tibet, Gansu, and Sichuan. They are classified in the bear family as they have a typical body shape similar to bears. Their muzzle, legs, shoulders, ears and eye patches are coated with large and distinctive black fur. In the bear family, Giant Pandas have the second largest tails, with the length measured 4 to 6 inches.
They are terrestrial animals in the wild, and they primarily spend time roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests. They feed on foods such as 99% bamboo, honey, yams, bananas, fish, eggs, oranges and shrub leaves. They have no problem to crush tough bamboos as they have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles. They communicate via vocalization and scent marking, including spraying urine and clawing trees. They are smart to take shelter and even climb in rock crevices and hollow trees.
Angora Rabbits
Angola rabbits are a type of human bred domestic rabbits. They have long silky and soft hair coated their bodies. They are thought to be originated in Ankara, Turkey, along with other famous pets like Angora goat and Angora cat. They were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 1700s, before they first appeared in the United States in the early of 1900s. Today, they are many breeds of Angola rabbits, including German, English, Chinese, Swiss, Satin, Giant and so forth which are bred for their wool.
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43 Responses to “The Most Interesting Animals on Earth”
On October 12, 2008 at 12:54 pm
fantastic animals,thanks Chan
On October 12, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Nice pics of some animals I might never see. thank you for the post.
On October 12, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Awesome job will incredible pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Take care & God bless.
On October 12, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Good article. I liked the panda and the leafy dragon.
I can see you put alot of work into this article.
On October 12, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Interesting animals. I have a similar article as yours too!
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Offbeat/12-Strange-Animals.234479
On October 13, 2008 at 4:10 am
Very interesting indeed. I hope I’ll be able to see a tapir and a panda one day.
On October 13, 2008 at 5:52 am
Interesting article. Nature is really strange, but marvelous. This animals are fabulous creatures; it really boggles your mind when you think about the reason for their creation. Thank you. Take care.
On October 13, 2008 at 8:14 pm
These are very interesting animals. Thanks for sharing.
On October 13, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Can I just say – what…? what…? what… ? hahah – I didn’t know half these animals existed – you continually amaze me article after article CHAN – wonderful work!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
On October 18, 2008 at 11:15 am
I love this article. It captured my interest, in addition to being informative, entertaining and fun. I love the pictures of the unique, adorable, animals.
Take Care,
Joanna Maharis
On December 21, 2008 at 9:14 am
this animale r sooooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!
On January 12, 2009 at 2:00 pm
that rabbit is huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!And it looks sooo weird!!!
On January 13, 2009 at 8:22 pm
thx for sharing i have to do a speech soon in my class so i think i might do it on the emperor tamereon =]
On February 12, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I love the leafy sea dragon, the tapir n the angora rabbit, they´re awesome.
On February 15, 2009 at 7:33 pm
LOVE IT!!!
On February 22, 2009 at 12:27 am
The entire article is just great! I’ve seen baboons and panda bears but not the others.Thanks for sharing.
On March 2, 2009 at 10:43 am
The baby tapir is so cute
On March 19, 2009 at 3:20 pm
werid creatures it catches people attenchen
On April 20, 2009 at 11:33 am
These animals are awsome!
On April 20, 2009 at 11:33 am
i like these animals they are awesome i like the leafy sea dragon!!!!!!!
On April 20, 2009 at 11:36 am
hi there i am amazed on what these animals are like.
On April 20, 2009 at 11:37 am
I like the leafy sea dragon
On April 20, 2009 at 11:37 am
these amimals are ASMONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On April 20, 2009 at 11:15 pm
I like the Leafy Sea dragon there are awsome!
On April 25, 2009 at 2:38 pm
they r soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weird
On May 2, 2009 at 11:49 am
i want a rabbit like that … a comfy pillow lol
On May 2, 2009 at 11:51 am
i want a panda … there awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
danny-boy
On May 4, 2009 at 5:02 pm
i love tapirs!
On May 11, 2009 at 7:51 am
ewww their so ugly…. jk(just kidding)
On May 11, 2009 at 7:52 am
omg these animals look like some people i knoe…
On May 13, 2009 at 6:57 pm
The panda is so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On May 13, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Asome animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, I actully want to see the panda. No, a baby panda.
On May 13, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Wonderful pictures, Chan.
On May 13, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On May 23, 2009 at 9:07 am
the angora rabbit is awsome its so weird
On May 31, 2009 at 1:08 pm
cool I like it even though their weard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On October 27, 2009 at 11:45 am
you people can’t spell!
On November 18, 2009 at 2:55 am
i love all animals because god made them
On November 20, 2009 at 7:25 pm
wow did you look at the rabit
On November 23, 2009 at 3:45 am
WOW!!!
THankz so much!!!
THe Baby Tapiar is really Cutie Pie worthy!
On January 8, 2010 at 2:22 am
you must take care all animal in the world to save the world with food and water, to take care of the environment put the pet in a cage or in a animal house
On January 8, 2010 at 1:49 pm
i love the rabbit
On January 26, 2010 at 5:54 am
wow great pictures of animals i’ve never heard of like the star nosed mole. I didn’t even know they existied.
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