Zebra

Zebras are situated in Africa and are notable for their distinctive black and white stripes that are unique to each individual. The white stripes are typically vertical, beginning from the head to the trunk area and lie horizontally on the rear and limbs. They serve as a cue for recognition amongst other zebras and also as camouflage to confuse predators, such as lions.

There are three species of zebras, which include the plains, Grevy, and mountain zebra. Each contain subtle, but different, anatomical features. They are found in a variety of habitats such as savannas, grasslands, woodlands, mountains, and hills.

Mountain and plain zebras are highly social animals in that they gather in groups that contain one stallion, around six mares, and their foals. When predators are nearby, the group of zebras (harems) will huddle together, while the stallion protects the mares with the foals surrounded in the middle. The Grevy’s zebras do not have as strong of a social bond like that of the other two mentioned. While the mother’s stay together with their foals, adult males live alone and will often form their own groups.

Female zebras mature earlier than males and may have their first foal at three years of age, while males begin to breed at five. Shortly after a foal is born, originally with brown and white stripes, they are able to stand and walk. Afterwards, the foals learn to care for themselves and either stay in groups or live on their own.

 Did you know?

Ever wondered if zebras are black with white stripes or white with black stripes? Well, embryological evidence suggests that the main background color of a zebra is in fact black and the white bellies and stripes are white due to the inhibition of pigment after the black fur develops.

The Ring-tailed Lemurs live primarily in Madagascar, which is an island located southeast of Africa. They are notable for their vivid striped tails that contain a black and white coloration. These tails are only used for balance, communication, and group cohesion. The rest of their body is covered in grey, while their faces are completely white with dark black fur encircling their eyes. They are omnivorous and also the most terrestrial of their other close relatives. They are classified as diurnal primates, meaning that they are mostly active during the daytime.

The lemur may range in size from 39cm to 46cm long and can weigh between five to seven pounds. They are equipped with teeth that resemble a comb for grooming, and they also contain a toilet-claw for raking fur that is unreachable by the tooth-comb. Lemurs spend much of their time, about thirty-three percent, on the ground and the rest of their time in trees.

A group of Lemurs make up a troop and consist of an average of 15 lemurs, with the highest number of members being 30. Within their habitat, their natural predators include the Fossa, Harrier-Hawk, Madagascar Buzzard, and Ground Boa. They are considered opportunistic omnivores, because they eat anything including fruits, leaves, decayed wood, soil like substances, insects, spiders, and small vertebrates such as birds and chameleons. Fifty percent of their diet, however, includes fruits and leaves of the tamarind tree.

Ring-tailed lemurs are polygamous, and their breeding season runs from mid-April to mid-May. After mating, typically a female will birth one to two offspring during the month of September to October. Offspring will latch onto the mothers’ chest for the first one to two weeks. Then they will relocate themselves onto their mothers’ backs. After two months of drinking their mothers’ milk, they will commence to eating solid food. Sexual maturity is reached between two and a half and three years. These animals can also live up to 19 years or up to 27 years in captivity.

The koala is found in the coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia. The color of their thick fur varies in shades of grey to brown, and they are set with large rounded ears and sharp claws to facilitate climbing. Koalas contain five fingers with two opposable thumbs, which provide better gripping ability when climbing trees.
The size of a koala depends on the region where they live, the largest being southern males weighing 14kg and northern females weighing 5kg.  These animals are generally silent marsupials. However, during mating season, males will give a very loud advertising call, which can be heard from up to a kilometer away. In captivity, koalas may live for up to 18 years of age.

When a female reaches maturity at two to three years of age, she will mate with a three to four year old male who is also at his maturation stage. A female may produce one young every year, with a gestation period of 35 days. Joeys (a baby koala) are born hairless, blind, and earless. Once born, they crawl into the downward pouch located on the mother’s belly. They attach themselves to one of the two teats and remain in the pouch for another six months until they fully develop. After their fur, eyes, and ears are fully formed, they explore outside of the pouch and consume the mother’s pap, which are eucalyptus leaves inoculated with microbes that are released from cecum. A joey will remain with its mother for another six months, riding on her back until it is completely weaned off its mothers’ milk.

Did You Know?
Koalas rarely drink water, because they obtain most of their source from eucalyptus trees. Because they are set with bacteria that can break down toxins from the eucalyptus leaves, they are able to consume them without becoming sick. Other animals, especially humans, can be poisoned when these leaves are ingested.

Emperor Penguins are considered the tallest and heaviest of all other penguin breeds, reaching a height of up to 122 cm and weighing up to 45 kg. The females are a little less in both measurements. They are predominant located in Antarctica.

Emperor Penguins

Emperor Penguins’ main source of food is primarily fish, including certain crustaceans or cephalopods, like krill or squid. During hunting, they may submerge in water for up to 18 minutes, reaching a depth of 535 m. What is interesting about these birds is that they contain unusual blood suited for low oxygen levels when they reach low depths in the ocean and solid bones to reduce the risk of barotraumas, which is damage caused to the body when undergoing differences in extreme pressurized environments. Also, penguins have the ability to lower their metabolism and shut down certain non-essential organs.

One may probably wonder how such a creature can survive in extreme environments. Well Emperor Penguins are notable for having many physical adaptations that allow them to live and tolerate freezing temperatures, highly pressurized conditions, and scarce locations. Penguins contain solid bones rather than an air pocketed skeletal system, which prevents breakage due to swimming in large depths under water. While swimming, their heart rates are reduced to five beats per minute, allowing them to ration their oxygen levels, as their intake is reduced as well. Also, to facilitate longer dives, certain organs stop functioning temporarily to allow them to become more energy efficient during hunting. They are equipped with barbed tongues pointing towards their throats, which help them catch prey and prevent the prey from escaping. They are covered in 100 feathers per every square inch of skin, making them the only bird species with the highest feather density. These feathers provide 80-90% of their insulation. They are also covered in a layer of fat under the skin that is as thick as 3 cm, hampering their movement on land.

Mating season begins around the coldest months of Antarctica, during March and April. A male will descend its head onto its chest and lift his head up towards the sky to give a courtship call for up to two seconds. He then walks around the colony and will continue his call until he finds a potential mate. The male will then lift up his head while the female synchronizes his same movements, and after several minutes, they will waddle around the colony with the female usually following the male. Before mating, the male will bow his head with his beak towards the ground and the female will do the same. Penguins usually will remain faithful to their mates, sometimes waiting for their previous partners from the year before to appear again. Several months after copulation, when the female lays her egg, she carefully transfers it to the males brooch over is feet. She then takes off for two months to feed while the male dedicates himself to keeping the egg warm. After the egg hatches, the mother will return around ten days later following her partner’s familiar call, discovering her newly born offspring.

Wild boars reside mostly in Northern Europe, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean Region, including Africa’s Atlas Mountains. For the purpose of hunting, wild boars have been artificially introduced into the Americas and some parts of Australia. They are noted for having larger heads in proportion to their bodies and also contain a conglomeration of stiff bristles along with finer fur, usually varying in color from dark grey, brown, and black.

Wild Boar

Adult male boars are usually solitary animals outside of the breeding season. However, females and their offspring live together in groups called sounders. A sounder may consist anywhere from 20 to almost 50 boars, with a dominant female in the group. Wild boars are considered to be omnivorous scavengers, consuming anything from grass, berries, nuts, insects, or reptiles. They are also known to hunt young deer and lambs.

During mating season, males will move into female groups and rival other males for dominance. After a female has mated with a dominant male, the gestation period lasts for 115 days. After two hours of giving birth of up to six offspring, the mother will begin to wean her offspring from suckling after about four months. They will then commence to eating solid foods, such as worms and grubs.

What do you get when you mix a duck and a beaver together? A Platypus, of course. They are situated around the Eastern coast of Australia and Tasmania, where they inhabit small streams and rivers. Their bodies and broad, flat tails are covered by dense brown fur, which is used for insulation. They are also set with large rubbery bills and webbed feet. Both males and females are born with sharp spurs attached to their hind feet. However, males are the only ones that carry toxic venom that kills smaller creatures and can leave humans incapacitated due to the excruciating pain that can last anywhere from a few weeks to months.

Out of the three categories of mammals, Platypuses are considered as monotremes, which make them one out of only two mammals that are classified as egg-laying creatures. Mating season for Platypuses begins in June and ends in October. Their mating entails a polygamous relationship among the males and females. While the females are pregnant, they dig burrows of up to 66 feet deep, extensively deeper than normal burrows. At several intervals, they enclose their burrows with plugs to prevent water from entering and predators from capturing their eggs. These eggs will soon be superimposed over fallen leaves and reeds.

An interesting fact about the ovaries of a female Platypus is that the left ovary is the only functional part of the organ. Also, they may lay one to three eggs at a given time, with the eggs being in the uterus for about 28 days. The external incubation lasts about 10 days. After the offspring hatch, they are fed by the mother’s milk, which secretes through the pores of the female’s skin.  After four months, the young emerge from their burrow and gradually begin to live independently.

Did you know?
Monotremes are the only mammals that can detect electric fields emitted by muscular contractions of their prey. A platypus’ senses of electroreception are the most sensitive.

A mantis shrimp is neither a mantis nor a shrimp; however, their physical features resemble that of both species. They can reach a length of up to 38 centimeters and they may exhibit multiple colors from brown to bright neon hues. They are common predators found in the shallow waters of the tropical and subtropical marine habitats, and they reside mostly in burrows and holes. The mantis shrimp are currently referred to as thumb splitters due to the fact that they are able to dismember small human appendages with ease. With their powerful claws, they are able to stun, mutilate, or spear their prey. In some rare cases, larger species of mantis shrimp are capable of breaking through aquarium glass with a single strike.

Did You Know? The swing of a mantis shrimp is so powerful that one of its mighty blows counts as two strikes due to the impact of its appendage on the victim and the shockwave that follows. Even if it misses, the shockwave is sufficient enough to kill or stun its prey.

Mantis shrimp are generally solitary animals that live in burrows and only come out during feeding time or when they relocate. In order to obtain their food, they either wait for their prey to chance near them or they hunt, chase, and kill them. The type of mantis shrimp is dependent on their claw structure. Spearers contain spiny appendages that are attached to barbed tips and are used to stab and grab prey. Smashers, on the other hand, contain a more complex club used to smash their meals apart. These appendages also possess a sharp edge which can cut prey while the mantis shrimp swims. The strike of a smasher is so rapid that they may swing at speeds equal to that of a .22 caliber bullet.

The Aye Aye is related to the lemur and can be found primarily in the eastern part of Madagascar. This nocturnal animal mostly relies on its rodent-like teeth and elongated middle finger to obtain its food.

The Aye Aye is related to the lemur and can be found primarily in the eastern part of Madagascar.

While it gnaws its teeth through wood, it also uses its specialized finger to dig into the penetrated area of the wood to capture grubs.

The Aye-Aye is considered an omnivorous creature that eats fruits, nuts, seeds, fungi, nectar, and even grubs. When food is scarce around its natural habitat they usually steal from nearby villages. When looking for grubs, they use their long middle fingers to tap on the wood several times per second. The intensity of the sound or the echo that is produced from the hallow chambers inside the wood determines the presence of grubs.

Like other prosimians (primates other than apes and monkeys), females are the dominant sex and are often territorial. Researchers found that male home territories overlap with each other and are very social amongst each other aye ayes; female territories are much smaller and never overlap with that of other females. Males are polygamous and tend to become very aggressive when competing for other females; they can be seen pulling other males off of females when mating. When a female is pregnant, they will remain in close proximity with her mate until the baby is born and has matured. The infant’s primary source of interaction is with their mothers. For playtime, they often wrestle, chase, and even play “peek-a-boo”. After 13 weeks of age the infants will become independent and play with others of their own kind.

The Hagfish or the “slime eel” is probably one of the oddest sea creatures that you will ever encounter due to the fact that they are the only living organism with a skull but without a vertebral column. They may reach an average length of 18 inches and are extremely flexible, allowing them to tie themselves into knots. Their colors may range from pink to black and they also do not contain true fins, have six to eight barbells around their mouths, and have a single nostril.

Did You Know? A Hagfish has four hearts and two brains.

Hagfish excrete a large amount of mucus which is used as a defense mechanism. When captured, they release the mucus substance and tie into a knot, which allows the mucus to drip down from head to tail until the Hagfish can slip out of the predator’s mouth.

Little is known about the Hagfish, although there are some thoughts of species being hermaphroditic and other species having a ratio as high as 100:1 in favor of females. Researchers believe that the ovaries remain stagnant until they have reached maturity and are around a particular environmental factor in the case of the hemophroditic species, however in other species; hagfish containing ovaries are given sperm by another containing testicles. In this case the females lay 20 to 30 eggs after both sexes mate.

Did You Know? A Hagfish has four hearts and two brains.

Grey wolves are the largest species of the Canidae family and survivors of the Ice Age era originating during Late Pleistocene 300,000 years ago. They are considered apex predators, meaning that they do not contain predators of their own. They lived in much of Eurasia and North America until they were annihilated due to human hunting. Human hunting of grey wolves is considered both sport and extermination because of threats to livestock and people.

Did you know? A pack of wolves can range from 2 to up to 20 members.

Grey Wolves are sexually dimorphic in terms of weight and their physique. Males usually weigh around 79 pounds on average while females typically weigh 20% less with narrower muzzles, foreheads, and less massive shoulders. Grey wolves rely on their endurance rather than their speed. They can trot at speeds of up to six miles per hour and reach a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour during a chase. Their paws are designed to tread easily in snow and other terrains. Their front paws are much larger in proportion to their hind paws and each toe contains slight webbing. They also contain scent glands, which leave other wolves aware of its presence. Wolves begin to mate between the months of January and April. A male may mate with one or more of its subordinate females unless there is one of his same hierarchy. After a gestation period of 60 days, an average of 5 to 6 pups are born usually deaf, blind, and completely dependent on their mother. For two weeks they consume milk from their mother and afterwards they begin to eat regurgitated food. After two months they escape from their dens and explore their environment up to a mile away. Eventually they are introduced to the pack.

Did you know? A pack of wolves can range from 2 to up to 20 members.