The Asian Small-Clawed Otter is the world's smallest otter species, reaching only 2 feet and 12 pounds. You can find one in Southeast Asia, from India's mangroves to Indonesia's rice fields, where they feed on crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish.
To distinguish Asian Small-Clawed Otters from the others, their cheeks, chin, throat, and sides of the neck are whitish, transitioning to dark fur at the back and light brown at the underside.
The African Clawless Otter that lives in sub-Saharan Africa is also known as the Cape Clawless Otter or Groot Otter. As the third largest mustelid, it can be 5.3 feet long and 79 pounds heavy. Unlike its relatives, it has claw-less paws except for the three digits on its hind feet.
Moreover, African Clawless Otters can survive in various habitats, from semi-arid regions to dense forests, as long as a body of water is nearby. Their diet primarily consists of crustaceans, especially crabs, but they also eat amphibians, small mammals, and birds.
Potter wasps construct small, vase-like nests from mud or clay, hence the name. They carefully mold the material using their mandibles and legs to create a sturdy and protective home for their offspring.
These wasp nests provide a nursery and a pantry for a single egg. Moreover, the wasp ensures that a paralyzed caterpillar or beetle larvae await the hatching wasp for a first meal.
Potter Wasps prefer tropical locales, but they can survive different weather conditions. Their bodies are primarily black or brown with shades of yellow, white, red, or orange.
Additionally, Potter Wasps are relatively harmless to humans and will only sting when provoked. Gardeners appreciate their help in controlling the population of pests such as caterpillars and beetle larvae.
During winter, the Potter Wasp turns its nest into a refuge from the cold. The queen assigns larger cells to fertilized eggs that will become females and smaller ones to unfertilized eggs destined to be males.
Sea otters are native to the Northern coast of the Pacific Ocean. About 90% of the world’s sea otters live in Alaska. It has a small, round face with a large nose and eyes and a tendency to float on its back in an adorable position, which makes them some of the cutest animals in the world. Even though their cuteness has a lot to do with their features, it is their demeanor which is most attractive to people. Sea otters regularly hold each other’s hands while they sleep. This is a survival mechanism that keeps them together so they don’t drift apart, but for humans, this is just an adorable behavior on display. Sea otters are overloaded with cuteness!
