The chicken turtle is native to the Southeast United States. It is a semi-aquatic animal that feeds on plants, aquatic insects, tadpoles, and fish. Because of its long striped neck, the chicken turtle is sometimes called the American snake neck.
In many cultures, turtle soup is a delicacy, and chicken turtle soup is particularly tasty. It gets its name because it tastes like chicken. Chicken turtles were a popular meat source in America in the 1800s.
Username: Nachima Published on 2024-12-13 09:55:22 ID NUMBER: 126885
The hellbender is the largest amphibian in North America. It can grow to about 29 inches and weigh up to 5 pounds. It spends its entire life in the swift-running rivers across the eastern United States.
Hellbenders may have gotten their name because of their monstrous size and wrinkly, slippery, splotchy skin. Those features, while unpleasant, serve essential purposes. Hellbenders absorb 95% of their oxygen intake through the folds and wrinkles of their skin. The mucus on the skin protects it from abrasion, parasites, and predators.
Also called a frill neck or frilled lizard, this animal is named for the large frill that encircles its head. When threatened, it stands on its hind legs, unfurls the frill, and opens its yellow mouth. If the intimidation tactic fails, the lizard simply runs away on its hind legs at top speeds.
Frilled lizards are members of the dragon family. They can grow to almost 3 feet, with their tail accounting for two-thirds of the length. They are brown or grey, but their frills usually have an orange or tan tinge.
The wunderpus octopus got its name just for being cute. Wunderpus is a mix of the German word “Wunder,” which means marvel or wonder, and the English word "octopus.” The "Photogenicus” in its scientific name likely refers to its photogenic nature.
This type of octopus has rusty brown skin with white blotches and stripes, which form beautiful patterns. It can impressively modulate its shape and color to mimic a lethal lionfish or sea snake to deter a predator. Wunderpuses live in the shallow waters of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago.
Leafy seadragons are closely related to seahorses. They are endemic to the waters off south and east Australia.
The leafy seadragon is an excellent example of an animal camouflaging as a plant to escape predation. The fish has leaf-shaped protrusions all over its body, helping it blend in with the kelp and seaweed around it.
Their bodies are usually yellow or brown, while the leafy protrusions have an olive tint. To further sell the disguise, the fins of the leafy seadragon are so thin and almost transparent.
At 3.5 cm, the adult common cockchafer is the United Kingdom’s largest scarab beetle. The rusty brown beetle is also called the May bug because it tends to emerge from its underground home around May.
There are a few stories about how the common cockchafer got its name. One explanation says the word “cock” means familiar, and “chafer” means gnawing beetle. Another explanation says cockchafer is Old English for "big beetle."
Yet another account suggests that the word cock in Old English referred to large size, while chafer meant gnawing insect. Therefore, the cockchafer got its name from its size and tendency to chew leaves and flowers vigorously.
The fish's face matches its funny name. Its human-like lips look like they're slathered in bright red lipstick. The rest of its body is greyish brown with a white underbelly. It has a pretty odd shape for a fish and a prominent snout at the top of its head.
Another odd thing about the red-lipped batfish is that it prefers to use its fins as pseudo-legs to walk along the seabed rather than swim. This bottom-dweller is endemic to the Galapagos Islands.
The Tufted Titmouse gets its name from the Old English words "tit," meaning small, and "mase,” meaning bird. The word "mase" eventually became obsolete and was replaced with the word "mouse.”
The quick-moving tiny bird probably reminded people of the house mouse. The tufted part of its name likely comes from the small upward-swept tuft of feathers on its head.
There are five titmice species endemic to North America. The Tufted Titmouse is a sedentary south-based species that seems to be steadily expanding its range northward.
With the same word repeated thrice, its scientific name is effortlessly funny. Western lowland gorillas have lighter coats than other gorilla species. They have the widest range, covering over 700,000 square kilometers of lush rainforests across Central Africa.
Western lowland gorillas are umbrella species that protect other species around them. Unfortunately, logging and poaching threaten their existence.
Hey chicken enthusiasts! We all want our feathered friends to be happy and healthy, right? Well, imagine a secret ingredient that fuels their amazing egg-laying skills and keeps them full of life. That’s what meat and bone meal can be for your flock.
In challenging economic times, many people ponder the purchase of chickens as part of their domestic safety net. Successfully raising chickens, however, requires thoughtful consideration and research. It is distinctly different than stocking up on food
So if cute faces and noises hold others’ attention, it might be to our advantage to stay cute. The evolutionary process where juvenile features in an ancestor are retained into adulthood in a descendant is called neoteny. This means as an animal gets older, it still looks young by keeping juvenile features perceived as cute throughout its life, such as bigger eyes, shorter snouts in domesticated dogs, gills in the axolotl salamander, and playful behavior. (The bigger eyes and playful behavior is true for humans, too!)
