Monthly Archives: September 2014

Condors

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Condors are large birds that live in America

There are two types of condors:the Andean Condor and the California Condor.

Both condors live in America.

Andean Condor

Andean Condor

The Andean Condor lives in the Andes.

The Andean Condor’s wingspan is 3.2 metres wide.

It is a scavenger and eats carrion.

California Condor

California Condor

The California Condor is the largest North American land bird, the North America’s widest wingspan and lives up to 60 years.

The California Condor’s wingspan is a mighty 3 metres, and is also a scavenger and also feeds mostly on carrion.

The California Condor of course lives in California.

It is one of the world’s rarest bird species.

Here is a 2 minute video about Condors.

Pachyrhinosaurus

 

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Pachyrhinosaurus was a large dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous period.

It was as big as an elephant, and could weigh 4 tonnes and 8 metres long.

They lived in Alberta and Alaska 70 million years ago.

On the bony crest there were 2 horns pointing opposite directions.

At first, I thought its horns were used as defence, but when I watched a documentary, I discovered that  all Ceratopsians (Horned dinosaurs) used their horns to represent their age.

This is the documentary I watched.

Here is a short video about Pachyrhinosaurus.

 

Brontotherium or Megacerops

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Brontotherium is an extinct animal that is more related to horses and tapirs than rhinos.

They were 2 times bigger than the modern rhino, 16 feet tall and could weigh up to 2 tonnes.

They lived in North America 30 to 38 million years ago.

The word brontotherium means “thunder beast” in greek.

On their snout there was a pair of horns made of bone and they had a hard skull to protect the brain while fighting for a mate.

To lift the heavy skull they had an extra long dorsal vertebrae.

They were very protective of their newborn.

Brontotherium had been given a new name. The name is Megacerops meaning “giant horned face”.

 

Mastodon

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Mastodon is an extinct mammal related to elephants.

They lived in Central and North America.

They became extinct 10,000 to 11,000 years ago due to hunting by humans and predators.

Mastodons are estimated to be 2 to 3 metres tall, their bodies 5 metres long and their bodies 4 to 5 tonnes.

In the picture below, on the left is a mastodon and on the right is a woolly mammoth.

Obviously the mastodon is bigger and stronger than the woolly mammoth.

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Pistol Shrimp

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The Pistol shrimp is 1-2 inches long, and is the loudest animal in the world.

The Pistol shrimp gets its name because of its claw-like hammer.

The hammer is used to hunt for larger fish, and is strong enough to break glass objects such as small glass jars.

Here is a video about Pistol shrimps.

Alligator snapping turtle

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The Alligator snapping turtle is the world’s heaviest freshwater turtle.

The Alligator snapping turtle has the second strongest bite force in the world.                                                                                                                                     

The Alligator snapping turtle hunts by keeping its mouth open in the water and using its tongue as bait, and when a fish swims in the turtle’s mouth, the turtle will snap its mouth shut.

The  Alligator snapping turtle eats fish,molluscs,carrion, amphibians, snakes,worms,crayfish,water birds,aquatic plants and even other turtles!

Here is a video about Alligator snapping turtles.

Emerald glass frog

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The Emerald glass frog is an amphibian that lives in Central and South America. 

The underside of the Emerald glass frog is translucent so you can see the inner organs such as the heart and the liver.

Bottom of Emerald glass frog

Bottom of Emerald glass frog