The endemic birds of the Galapagos Islands are bold and beautiful. Galapagos sea lions are playful and full of personality. But of all the hundreds of species of. Weirdest Animals You Never Seen Before . Dec, 2. 00. 7 by Alicia in Animals. These are some weirdest animals you ever seen before. Interesting piece of information. Sun Bear. The Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia . The Sun Bear stands approximately 4 ft (1. It is often called the dog bear because of its small stature. It has a 2 in (5 cm) tail and on average weighs less than 1. Males tend to be slightly larger than females. There is very limited data on body size and weight for Aotus, most measurements from wild animals are extrapolated from only a few samples. Unlike other bears, the Sun Bear’s fur is short and sleek. This adaptation is probably due to the lowland climates it inhabits. Dark black or brown- black fur covers its body, except on the chest where there is a pale orange- yellow marking in the shape of a horseshoe. Similar colored fur can be found around the muzzle and the eyes. This distinct marking gives the sun bear its name. Komondor Dog Females are 2. Male Komondorok are a minimum of 2. The body is not overly coarse or heavy, however, and people unfamiliar with the breed are often surprised by how quick and agile the dogs are. Its long, thick, strikingly corded white coat (the heaviest amount of fur in the canine world) resembles dreadlocks or a mop. The puppy coat is soft and fluffy. However, the coat is wavy and tends to curl as the puppy matures. A fully mature coat is formed naturally from the soft undercoat and the coarser outer coat combining to form tassels, or cords. Some help is needed in separating the cords so the dog does not turn into one large matted mess. The length of the cords increases with time as the coat grows. Shedding is very minimal with this breed, contrary to what one might think (once cords are fully formed). The only substantial shedding occurs as a puppy before the dreadlocks fully form. The Komondor is born with only a white coat, unlike the similar- looking Puli, which is usually white, black or sometimes grayish. However, a working Komondor’s coat may be discolored by the elements, and may appear off- white if not washed regularly. Angora Rabbit. The Angora rabbit is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara , Turkey , along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 1. Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 1. They are bred largely for their long wool, which may be removed by shearing or plucking (gently pulling loose wool). There are many individual breeds of Angora rabbits, four of which are ARBA recognized. Such breeds include, French, German, Giant, English, Satin, Chinese, Swiss, Finnish, to name a few. Red Panda. The Red Panda, Ailurus fulgens (“shining cat,” from a Latinized form of the Greek, ailouros, “cat,” and the participial form of the Latin fulgere, “to shine”) is a mostly herbivorous mammal, slightly larger than a domestic cat (5. Filipino director Lav Diaz took home the Golden Lion for 'The Woman Who Left.' Filipino director Lav Diaz on Saturday won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. These animals are even stranger than they look. The six-foot-long females display a stunning webbing between their tentacles, which trails behind. Grab a wolf, a mohawk, a zebra and your imagination, then conjure up a creepy animal. This small hyena species roams the lands of North and. Cotton-top tamarins, one of the smallest primates, are only found in Colombia. They inhabit various parts of the Colombian rainforests, from dry. The Red Panda has semi- retractile claws and, like the Giant Panda, has a “false thumb” which is really an extension of the wrist bone. Thick fur on the soles of the feet offers protection from cold and hides scent glands. The Red Panda is native to the Himalayas in Nepal and southern China . The word panda is derived from Nepalese word “ponya” which means bamboo and plants eating animals in Nepal . Sloth. Sloths are medium- sized mammals that live in Central and South America belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae, part of the order Pilosa. Most scientists call these two families the Folivora suborder, while some call it Phyllophaga. Sloths are omnivores. Much published behavioral science, incidentally, is phrased in a neutral language that distances us from animals. Safina argues that we should use a common. South America is composed of several tropical climates and terrains, but there are however some cold climates in Southern Argentina. South America's largest tropical. They may eat insects, small lizards and carrion, but their diet consists mostly of buds, tender shoots, and leaves. Sloths have made extraordinary adaptations to an arboreal browsing lifestyle. Leaves, their main food source, provide very little energy or nutrition and do not digest easily: sloths have very large, specialized, slow- acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two- thirds of a well- fed sloth’s body- weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take as long as a month or more to complete. Even so, leaves provide little energy, and sloths deal with this by a range of economy measures: they have very low metabolic rates (less than half of that expected for a creature of their size), and maintain low body temperatures when active (3. Celsius or 8. 6 to 9. Fahrenheit), and still lower temperatures when resting. Sloths mainly live in Cecropia trees. Emperor Tamarin. The Emperor Tamarin (Saguinus imperator) is a tamarin allegedly named for its similarity with the German emperor Wilhelm II. The name was first intended as a joke, but has become the official scientific name. This tamarin lives in the southwest Amazon Basin , in east Peru , north Bolivia and in the west Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas. The fur of the Emperor Tamarin is predominantly grey colored, with yellowish speckles on its chest. The hands and feet are black and the tail is brown. Outstanding is its long, white mustache, which extends to both sides beyond the shoulders. The animal reaches a length of 2. It weighs approximately 3. This primate inhabits tropical rain forests, living deep in the forest and also in open tree- covered areas. It is a diurnal animal, spending the majority of its days in the trees with quick, safe movements and broad jumps among the limbs. White- faced Saki Monkey. The White- faced Saki (Pithecia pithecia), also known as the Guianan Saki and the Golden- faced Saki, is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. This monkey mostly feed on fruits, but also nuts, seeds, and insects. Tapir. Tapirs are large browsing mammals, roughly pig- like in shape, with short, prehensile snouts. They inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia . All four species of tapir are classified as endangered or vulnerable. Their closest relatives are the other odd- toed ungulates, horses and rhinoceroses. Hagfish Hagfish are marine craniates of the class Myxini, also known as Hyperotreti. Despite their name, there is some debate about whether they are strictly fish (as there is for lampreys), since they belong to a much more primitive lineage than any other group that is commonly defined fish (Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes). Their unusual feeding habits and slime- producing capabilities have led members of the scientific and popular media to dub the hagfish as the most “disgusting” of all sea creatures. Hagfish are long, vermiform and can exude copious quantities of a sticky slime or mucus (from which the typical species Myxine glutinosa was named). When captured and held by the tail, they escape by secreting the fibrous slime, which turns into a thick and sticky gel when combined with water, and then cleaning off by tying themselves in an overhand knot which works its way from the head to the tail of the animal, scraping off the slime as it goes. Some authorities conjecture that this singular behavior may assist them in extricating themselves from the jaws of predatory fish. However, the “sliming” also seems to act as a distraction to predators, and free- swimming hagfish are seen to “slime” when agitated and will later clear the mucus off by way of the same travelling- knot behavior. Star- nosed Mole. The Star- nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) is a small North American mole found in eastern Canada and the north- eastern United States . It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura. It lives in wet lowland areas and eats small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms and molluscs. It is a good swimmer and can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. Like other moles, this animal digs shallow surface tunnels for foraging; often, these tunnels exit underwater. It is active day and night and remains active in winter, when it has been observed tunnelling through the snow and swimming in ice- covered streams. Little is known about the social behavior of the species, but it is suspected that it is colonial. The Star- nosed Mole is covered in thick blackish brown water- repellent fur and has large scaled feet and a long thick tail, which appears to function as a fat storage reserve for the spring breeding season. Adults are 1. 5 to 2. The mole’s most distinctive feature is a circle of 2. These are used to identify food by touch, such as worms, insects and crustaceans. Proboscis Monkey Nasalis larvatus also known as Long- nosed Monkey is a reddish- brown arboreal Old World monkey. It is the only species in monotypic genus Nasalis. The most distinctive trait of this monkey is the male’s large protruding nose. The purpose of the large nose is unclear, but it has been suggested that it is a result of sexual selection. The female Proboscis Monkey prefers big- nosed male s , thus propagating the trait. Males are much larger than females, reaching 7. Females are up to 6. The Proboscis Monkey also has a large belly, as a result of its diet. Its digestive system is divided into several parts, with distinctive gut flora, which help in digesting leaves. This digestive process releases a lot of gas, resulting in the monkey’s “bloated” bellies. A side- effect of this unique digestive system is that it is unable to digest ripe fruit, unlike most other simians. The diet consists mainly of fruits, seeds and leaves. Pink Fairy Armadillo. The Pink Fairy Armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) or Pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo (mammals of the family Dasypodidae, mostly known for having a bony armor shell). It is approximately 9. It is found in central Argentina where it inhabits dry grasslands and sandy plains with thorn bushes and cacti. It has the ability to bury itself completely in a matter of seconds if frightened. The Pink Fairy Armadillo burrows small holes near ant colonies in dry dirt. Animals in Brazil - Lonely Planet Travel Information. Anteaters, armadillos & sloths. Zoologists group these animals together in the edentate order. It tears open ant and termite nests with its sharp claws and laps up as many as 3. You’re most likely to see the giant anteater in cerrado (savanna) habitat. Its meat is prized in some areas of Brazil, and it’s a threatened species. The collared or lesser anteater, up to 1. Sloths, true to their name, move very slowly. And they’re not, by the look of it, too bright. They hang upside down from branches by their strong arms and legs, feeding on leaves, sleeping up to 1. Surprisingly, they’re good swimmers. You have a good chance of seeing some if you get a bit off the beaten track in Amazonia: from a moderate distance they look like clumps of vegetation high in trees. The species you’re most likely to see is the brown- throated three- toed sloth. Brazil’s several species of armadilloare mainly nocturnal and rarely seen. Two of them are threatened.^ Back to top. Coatis & raccoons. The widespread coati is one of the carnivorous animals that you’re most likely to come across – possibly as a pet, for it’s easily tamed. It’s furry and cute, the size of a small or medium- sized dog, with a long brown- and- yellow- ringed tail, and a long flexible snout that noses around for food on the ground or up in trees. Scientifically the coati is a procyonid – one of the raccoon family. Its distant relative, the crab- eating raccoon, with a ringed tail and black eye mask like the North American raccoon, is found in Amazonia, the Pantanal and in between, always near water, where it seeks out its diet of crabs, fish, mollusks and small amphibians.^ Back to top. Deer, peccaries & tapirs. These animals are all ungulates (hoofed quadrupeds), though this term is no longer used in formal classification. In the Pantanal, most people see at least a few deer. The biggest, which is active by day, is the marsh deer, whose antlers can grow to 6. Other species – some found as far north as Amazonia – include the pampas deer, which lives more out in the open than most other deer, and the small (6. Peccaries – looking like small wild boars – are fairly widely distributed in forests. They live in groups, are active by day and feed on fruit, roots, carrion and small animals. The collared peccary, around 1m long and weighing 2. The slightly bigger white- lipped peccary travels in groups of 5. The Brazilian tapir can be found in most forested parts of the country but is shy and nocturnal. Related to the horse and about the size of a stocky pony (it can weigh 3. It rarely strays far from mud, which it uses to keep cool and control parasites. It is russet- colored, fox- faced and long- legged, grows to about 1m long (plus tail) and has a mane of darker hair on the back of the neck. It’s commonly hunted and is a threatened species. Other Brazilian members of the dog family include the crab- eating fox and the bush dog, both present in cerrado and the Pantanal. They are pretty rare and in fact you’ll be lucky if you see any of these three. This elusive and splendid big cat – the largest American feline – is widely but thinly distributed in Brazil, occurring in Amazonia, the Pantanal, the cerrado and such easterly national parks as Capara. Yellow with black spots, jaguars can grow to 2. Jaguars hunt at night, covering large distances. They prey on a wide variety of animals, in trees, water and on the ground, including sloths, monkeys, fish, deer, tapirs, capybaras and agoutis – but rarely people. They’re generally solitary and, unusually among cats, good swimmers. The puma, almost as big as the jaguar and similarly elusive, is the same beast as North America’s cougar or mountain lion. As well as preying on deer, it sometimes attacks herds of domestic animals such as sheep or goats. Brazil’s four smaller wild cats are also widely but sparsely distributed and rarely seen. Three have markings similar to the jaguar. The largest of the three (up to 1. The jaguarundi is probably more often seen than any other Brazilian feline, because it’s active by day. A good swimmer, it’s also known as the otter- cat, and is similar in size to the margay, with a uniformly colored coat, which may be black, brown or gray.^ Back to top. Marmosets & tamarins. Around 2. 0 species of marmoset and tamarin, small – often very small – primates, are found in Brazil. Some are fairly common, but the four species of lion tamarin, inhabitants of the Atlantic rain forests with a resemblance to miniature lions, are all endangered. The golden lion tamarin exists only in the Reserva Biol. A campaign to save this species – a squirrel- sized creature with a brilliant orange- gold color – has, amazingly, brought it back from near- extinction. Its population, down to about 1. It’s a symbol to Brazilians of the whole struggle to save the remaining Atlantic rain forest and indeed of conservation in general.^ Back to top. Monkeys. About 8. Brazil, many of them unique to the country. Some monkeys are hunted deep in the forest by settlers and indigenous people for their meat, and others live harmoniously in and around beach towns, much like squirrels in North American city parks. Some species are quite common and on an Amazon jungle trip you’re very likely to see groups of monkeys moving through trees. The most common primate in Amazonia is the little squirrel monkey, with its pale face, dark nose area, big ears and long tail. It moves in small, noisy groups. The black spider monkey, up to 1. Amazonia where it isn’t usually hunted. Southeast Brazil’s two species of wooly spider monkey, the southern muriqui and northern muriqui, with their thick brown fur, are the largest primates in the Americas and both are endangered, the northern species critically so and down to a population of under 3. Howler monkeys are much easier heard than seen: their roar (not really a howl) carries over many kilometers. They’re stocky, up to 1. In Amazonia you’re most likely to encounter the red howler monkey. Further south, including in the Pantanal, the black howler monkey is the local species. The brown howler monkey inhabits the small remaining areas of the Mata Atl. The rumors are true – a howler monkey will try to pelt you with its excrement if it feels threatened, so you may want to listen to its roar from a judicious distance. The lithe capuchin monkeys are named for the hair atop their heads, which resembles monks’ cowls. They’re dispersed over almost the whole country – even Rio de Janeiro’s Parque Nacional & Floresta da Tijuca – living in groups of up to 2. The usual species is the brown capuchin monkey, measuring up to 1m (half tail). The two types of uakari monkey, the black- headed and the bald, inhabit Amazonian flooded forest. The bald uakari has a red or pink bald head and thick, shaggy body fur ranging from chestnut- red to white (giving rise to the popular names red uakari and white uakari). Bald uakaris are threatened, but if you happen to visit the Mamirau. It inhabits lakes and calm rivers in forests from Amazonia to the Pantanal, usually in family groups of six to eight. The Alta Floresta district and Reserva Xixua. The smaller southern river otter is also widely dispersed.^ Back to top. Rodents. The widespread capybara is the world’s largest rodent, 1m long and up to 7. It has a guinea pig–like face and a bulky hairy body, but no tail. It’s vegetarian and at home on land or in water. Herds of up to 4. Pantanal. Smaller rodents – but still up to 6. You can distinguish the paca by its rows of white spots. Porcupines are rodents too: Brazil has several tree- dwelling species.^ Back to top. Caimans. Brazil has several species of caiman, close relatives of the alligator. They eat fish, amphibians, crustaceans and some birds. In the Pantanal, where caimanssurvived a devastating bout of poaching for their skins in the 1. Paraguayan caiman. Amazonia has four species. The biggest is the black caiman, which reaches up to 6m long and is still hunted for its skin and meat. The most common Amazonian caiman – the one you may get to handle on nighttime expeditions – is the spectacledcaiman, which can grow up to 2. Caimans lay eggs in nests of leaves and stalks, and these are vulnerable to predators such as coatis and lizards; the hatched young are prey for herons and storks.^ Back to top. Snakes. The infamous anaconda coils around its victims to crush and suffocate them, then eats them whole. On extremely rare occasions, an anaconda kills a person. It’s not poisonous but can bite viciously. Generally an olive- brown color with black patterning, anacondas grow up to 1. Pantanal. Other constrictor snakes – using the same cheerful coil- crush- suffocate technique – include the boa constrictor, which is 3m to 5m long, generally brown patterned and lives off small animals in varied and widespread habitats; and the handsome green- and- white emerald tree boa. A number of other snakes live in trees, but most are harmless. Although it is rare to encounter a venomous snake in the wild, Brazil still has quite a few species of them, including rattlesnakes, vipers and coral snakes. The most dangerous in the Pantanal is Wied’s lancehead, a gray, black- and- white patterned viper up to 7. Also to be steered clear of is the highly poisonous Brazilian coral snake, with its rings of red, black and white. It lurks under rocks or logs and only bites when it feels threatened. The various false coral snakes are, lucky for them, nearly impossible to distinguish from the real thing.^ Back to top.
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