Amazon Horned Frog, the "Pac Man frog"

 
Quite an impressive mouth on this Amazon Horned Frog huh?

 

However, the first thing that anyone notices about the Amazon Horned Frog, shockingly, isn’t the horns it’s the incredible size of them, as it grows to be about 8 inches long and their rotund bodies will easily cover a plate, as they also grow round as well as long.

Who am I?

Amazon Horned Frog, scientific name Ceratophrys cornuta, is an ambush predator. It can squeeze its fat body into the forest substrate or into the leaf litter on the bottom of the forest floor, so that only the head shows. When anything that is smaller than their own body happens by, they will instantly grasp it in very sharp teeth lock it into their jaws and swallow it whole, after springing from the mud with a giant leap.

 

What I Loves to Eat?

The Horned Frogs gain an enormous girth by being completely indiscriminate about what they eat, and by eating everything they can catch, which is a great deal. Their ravenous appetite and huge mouths have earned them and other horned frogs the pet-trade nickname "Pac Man frogs."

As an indiscriminate eaters, Amazon horned frogs can grow to about the size of a small plate.  

 

Where do I Stay?

They are found in freshwater marshes and pools throughout the Amazon Basin, from Colombia to Brazil.

 

My Identity?

Amazon Horned Frogs are aggressive and extremely territorial, viciously defending their personal territory and they are nothing if not voracious in their appetites. Some Horned frogs have been found dead with the remains of an animal it was impossible for them to swallow still sticking out from their jaws, that were clasped around it, and many times they attempt to swallow something at least as large as they are, and being unable to swallow, or to let go of it, both become victims to the Horned frogs greed.

Females are generally larger than males, but males are more ornately colored, ranging from dark green to lime-colored. Females are usually tan. Scientists are unsure what purpose their namesake horns serve, but it is likely they aid in camouflage, resembling leaf stems in the wild.

Fast Facts

Type: Amphibian

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 4 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm)

Weight: Up to 1 lb (480 g)

Did you know? Some Amazon villagers wear high leather boots called botas escuerzas to repel attacks by the highly territorial Amazon horned frog.

Size relative to a tea cup:  









Video: How good is a Pacman Frog's camouflage??

àClick the video below for the answer!!

 

Vertebrates: Amphibians

The word 'amphibian' is derived from the Greek word 'amphibios', which means a double life. The amphibians include the animals that live in the water as well as on the land. They start their life underwater and move on the land in their adulthood.

 

Amphibians live in various environments. However, most species of amphibians require freshwater habitats such as swamps, ponds, streams or wet environment for breeding. Some of the frog species rely on the pools of water that is collected in the cup-shaped bases of plants or tree hollows.

All amphibians begin their life in water with gills and tails.  As they grow, they develop lungs and legs for their life on land. The tadpole, or newborn frog, is born and lives in water. It has a tail that allows it to swim like a fish. It also has gills so that it can breathe under water. As the tadpole grows into a frog, it loses its gills and tail, and develops legs for moving on land. Most amphibians can both walk and swim in water.

Depending on the species of amphibian, breathing can take place in gills, lungs, the lining of the mouth, the skin, or some combination of these.

Amphibians are cold-blooded, which means that they are the same temperature as the air or water around them. In cold climates, amphibians hibernate during the winter.

There are more than 4,000 different kinds of amphibians. Members of this animal class are frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians or blindworms.

 

 

Run! Green Basilisk aka Jesus Christ Lizard

The green basilisk lizard is also called a plumed or double-crested basilisk; but its amazing ability to run on water gives this species its most recognizable moniker: the Jesus Christ lizard.

 

 

Who am I?

Green Basilisk Lizard (Basiliscus plumifrons) also known as “The Jesus Christ Lizard”. Part of the iguana family, green basilisks grows to about 2 feet (61 centimeters) in length, including their long, whip-like tail. Males have distinctive, high crests on their heads and backs, which they use to impress females.

 

What I Loves to Eat?

Green basilisks are omnivores, surviving on a diet of plant material, insects, fruit, and small vertebrates. They are common throughout their range and have no special status, but abundant natural predators like snakes and birds keep these amazing lizards on their toes.

 

Where do I Stay?

Abundant in the tropical rain forests of Central America, from southern Mexico to Panama, green basilisks spend much of their time in the trees and are never far from a body of water. When threatened, they can drop from a tree into the water and sprint, upright, about 5 feet (1.5 meters) per second across the surface.

 

My Identity?

Green basilisks are able to “walk on water” because they have long toes on their rear feet with fringes of skin that unfurl in the water, increasing surface area. As they rapidly churn their legs, they slap their splayed feet hard against the water, creating a tiny air pocket that keeps them from sinking, provided they maintain their speed. They can move along the surface like this for 15 feet or more. When gravity eventually does take over, the basilisk resorts to its excellent swimming skills to continue its flight. They are capable of remaining underwater for 30 minutes. The smaller lizards can run further than the bigger and heavier ones.

Pregnant women make a short trench where they lay up to 20 eggs. The mom simply leaves the egg to hatch out on their own. Hatchlings are created with the ability to run (on area and water), go up, and move.

 

 

 

Fast Facts

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 10 years

Size: 2 to 2.5 ft (61 to 76 cm) including the tail

Weight: Up to 7 oz (200 g)

Did you know? Basilisk lizards are excellent swimmers and are capable of remaining underwater for up to 30 minutes.

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:  

 

 

Video: Ever saw how the Green basilisks walk on water?

àClick the video below for the answer!!

 

Vertebrates: Reptiles

Reptiles are found on every continent except for Antarctica. They appeared around 340 million years ago. Lizards and snakes, turtles and tortoises, crocodiles and alligators, and tuatara are the four groups of reptiles. So what makes a reptile a reptile?

 

The two biggest clues are:

1.    They are cold-blooded, and

2.    They are covered in scales.

Being cold-blooded means that they can't regulate their own body temperature, their bodies react to the temperature of their surroundings.  When they get too warm, they can go into the water or shade to cool off. When they get too cold they can hang out in the sun to warm themselves up.  While scales protect their bodies, scales can be hard or soft, large or small.

Reptiles are air-breathing animals, although many live not only on land but in water. The majority of reptiles laid eggs to give birth to their young. Reptiles are born on land and are born with strong instincts, so they are on their own at birth.  Just think, no parents to nag them about cleaning their rooms!

 

Although reptiles breathe through lungs, some reptiles can also absorb oxygen in water through membranes in their mouth.

Seahorse

After much debates over the years, scientists finally that, seahorses are fish. They breathe using gills, have a swim bladder to control their buoyancy, and are classified in the Class Actinopterygii, the bony fish. Seahorses have interlocking plates on the outside of their body, and this covers a spine made of bone. While they have no tail fins, they have 4 other fins - one at the base of the tail, one under the belly and one behind each cheek. Seahorses swim in upright position.

Who am I?

All seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus in the family Syngnathidae. They share the genus Hippocampus with their close relatives the pipefishes. Seahorses might not look like traditional fishes, but they are true fishes of the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes).

 

What I Loves to Eat?

The Seahorse eats small crustaceans (e.g. shrimps) and plankton, uses of its extra-long snout to suck food. They do not have a stomach, so food passes through their bodies very quickly, and they need to eat nearly constantly.

 

Where do I Stay?

There are over 80 species of seahorse, and they can be found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world. Favorite seahorse habitats are coral reefs, sea grasses, and mangrove forests. Seahorses use their prehensile tail to hang out on objects such as seaweed and branching corals.

 

My Identity?

Seahorses are bad swimmers. In fact, they Seahorses prefer to rest in one area, sometimes holding on to the same coral or seaweed for days. They beat their fins very quickly, up to 50 times a second, but they do not move quickly.  They are very maneuverable, however - and able to move up, down, forward or backward.

Many seahorses are monogamous, meaning they mate for life. The male and female have an elaborate, daily courtship ritual, involving a "dance" where they entwine their tails, and may change colors.

Unlike any other species, the males become pregnant.  Females insert her eggs through an oviduct into the male's brood pouch. The male wiggles to get the eggs into position. Once all the eggs are inserted, the male goes to a nearby coral or seaweed and grabs on with his tail to wait out gestation, which may last several weeks.  When it's time to give birth, he'll contort his body in contractions, until the young are born, sometimes over a period of minutes or hours.  Baby seahorses look just like miniature versions of their parents.

Fast Facts

Type: Fish

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 1 to 5 years (estimated)

Size: 0.6 to 14 in (1.5 to 35 cm)

Group Name: Herd

Did you know? Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive.     

Size relative to a tea cup:  




Video: How does male Seahorse give birth?

àClick the video below for the answer!!

 

 

 

Vertebrates: Fish

Fish are vertebrates that live in water and have gills, scales and fins on their body.  There are a lot of different fish and many of them look very odd indeed.  There are blind fish, fish with noses like elphants, fish that shoot down passing bugs with a stream of water and even fish that crawl onto land and hop about!

 

 

Fishes have a skeleton made of bone but some, like sharks, have a skeleton made of cartilage. About 95% of fishes have skeletons made of bone. These bony fishes have a swim bladder, a gas-filled sac, which they can inflate or deflate allowing them to float in the water even when not swimming. Fishes with a cartilage skeleton tend to be heavier than water and sink. They must swim to keep afloat. Cartilaginous (cartilage) fish include the ray and the shark.

Most fish breathe through gills. Gills perform the gas exchange between the water and the fish's blood. They allow the fish to breathe oxygen in the water.



*Fun Fact*

·         Most fish, except for sharks, do not have eyelids.
 

·         Tuna is a warm-blooded fish.

 



Northern Cardinal aka Red Bird

I’m sure most of you have try out the video game “Angry Birds” games (or at least heard of before). Now, there is the bird expert gave his closest approximation to the character of red bird!

 

Who am I?

Scientific name as Cardinalis cardinalis, the Northern Cardinal, aka Red Bird. The bright red male northern cardinal, with its conspicuous crest, is one of the most recognizable birds in North America.

 

What I Loves to Eat?

Northern Cardinals eat mainly seeds and fruit, supplementing these with insects (and feeding nestlings mostly insects). Common fruits and seeds include dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses, sedges, mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, tulip-tree, and corn. Cardinals eat many kinds of birdseed, particularly black oil sunflower seed. They also eat beetles, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, and moths.

 

Where do I Stay?

Look for Northern Cardinals in dense shrubby areas such as forest edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows, backyards, marshy thickets, mesquite, regrowing forest, and ornamental landscaping. Cardinals nest in dense foliage and look for conspicuous, fairly high perches for singing. Growth of towns and suburbs across eastern North America has helped the cardinal expand its range northward.

 

My Identity?

The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in glass surfaces, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder. Their strong beaks help them dig for insects in bushes and bite into tasty seeds, grains and fruits. The females build nests using grass, twigs and bits of shrubs. They build their nests in the middle of thick bushes, which offer them protection from predators such as cats, dogs, snakes, owls, chipmunks, squirrels and brown-headed cow birds. When predators get too close to the nests, both male and female cardinals give a shrill chirp to scare them away. Each year, female cardinals lay three eggs on average, but can hatch up to five.

These song birds communicate through calls and songs. Males use a combination of singing and fluffing their feathers to attract a female’s attention. Mating couples often sing a similar song of whistles together.

 

Fast Facts

Type: Bird

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 15 years

Size: 8 to 9 in (21 to 23cm)

Weight: 1.5 to 1.8 oz (42 to 51 g)

Did you know? Unlike many songbirds, both male and female cardinals sing, and the female often vocalizes with song from her nest.                                              

Size relative to a tea cup:

Video: How does Northern Cardinal sounds?

àClick the video below for the answer!!

Vertebrates: Birds

Some people think that what makes an animal a bird is its wings.  Bats have wings.  Flies have wings.  Bats and flies are not birds.  So what makes an animal a bird?

 

The answer is FEATHERS!

All birds have feathers and birds are the only animals that do.  The feathers on a bird’s wings and tail overlap.  Because they overlap, the feathers catch and hold the air.  This helps the bird to fly, steer itself and land.

Birds have 3 major differentiating characteristics: wings for flight, feathers, and a beak rather than teeth.

Birds are egg-laying vertebrate animals with feathers and that are born out of hard-shelled eggs. They evolved millions of years ago from land reptiles. Birds are animals with their forelimbs modified into wings. Almost all birds can fly with a few exceptions. Some birds are perching birds, which feed on fruits while others are great predators like vultures and eagles. Today, around 10,000 known species of birds exist.

 

 

Orang Utan

Who am I?

Orangutans are great apes, belonging to the taxonomic family “Hominidae”. The word orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language.

 

What I Loves to Eat?

Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) but are mostly herbivorous (plants comprise most of their diet). They eat fruit (their favorite food), leaves, seeds, tree bark, plant bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. They also eat insects and small animals (like birds and small mammals).

Orangutans don't even have to leave their tree branches to drink, they drink water that has collected in the holes between tree branches.

 

Where do I Stay?

Orangutans live in tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia (on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra). These apes mostly live in trees (they are arboreal) and swing from branch to branch using their arms. As its habitats are being usurped by man, the orangutan's population is decreasing and it is in grave danger of extinction.

 

My Identity?

Orangutans have a large, bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. Orangutans are about 2/3 the size of the gorilla. Orangutans are very intelligent. They have been known to use found objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to help them drink water. Orangutans usually move by swinging from one branch to another; this is called brachiating. Orangutans can also walk using their legs (but rarely do). Orangutans do not swim.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 30 to 40 years

Size: Standing height, 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5m)

Weight: 73 to 180 lbs (33 to 82 kg)

Protection status: Endangered                         

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:   

 

 

Video: How does OrangUtan sounds?

 àClick the video below for the answer!!



Vertebrates: Mammals

People are mammals.  So are dogs, cats, horses, duckbill platypuses, kangaroos, dolphins and whales. Among all the mammals, Humans are among the most numerous of the large mammals. Know what you all have in common?

 

The answer is – MILK!  If an animal drinks milk when it is a baby and has hair on its body, it belongs to the mammal class.

 

 

Mammals are animals that nourish their young with milk produced by females. Females of the mammal animals have mammary glands. Mammals are also characterized by the presence of body hair. They are generally warm-blooded vertebrates. Lions, tigers, and whales are some common mammals. 

 

Investigate the Animal Kingdom: Vertebrates & Invertebrates…

The five most well known classes of Vertebrates (animals with backbones) are mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians.  They are all part of the phylum chordata -- I remember "chordota" by thinking of spinal chord.

 

There are also a lot of animals without backbones.  These are called Invertebrates and are part of the phylum arthropoda (arthropods).  Two of the most commonly known classes in this phylum are arachnids (spiders) and insects.

 

Below is a picture of Classification of Animals. You may click on the picture to get larger and clearer view.

 

  

In my next post, we will look further into each group of Vertebrates and Invertebrates.

 

The Animal Kingdom

Animals form one of the largest groups of living organisms. Scientists believe that here may be around 30 million different kinds of animals living on the planet. They range in size from the tiny mosquito to the gigantic blue whale. All animals have four important characteristics: they can move, breathe, grow, and reproduce.

 

 

 

 

There are many different animal classes and every animal in the world belongs to one of them.  The animal kingdom can be split up into main groups on the presence or absence of a backbone. Vertebrates  are those animals with a Backbone or Spinal. Invertebrates are animals without a Backbone or Spinal Column.