😴Does Monday have you feeling like this pygmy anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)?
This tiny arboreal critter is the world’s smallest anteater and only grows about 17.7 inches (45 centimeters) in length, much of it tail. It lives in the Amazon rainforest and is seldom seen because it’s nocturnal and spends most of its time in the canopy. Its ideal home is a ceiba tree because the tree’s seed pods are similar in appearance to the anteater’s own silky fur—which helps camouflage it from predators like the Harpy Eagle and Spectacled Owl.
Photo: Sylvère corre, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, flickr
#AnimalFacts #anteater #PygmyAnteater #dyk #CuteAnimals #nature
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What mammal has a snout, lays eggs, and is covered in spikes?
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)! The Australian critter is a monotreme, like the platypus. While its spikes aren’t venomous, they still prove to be an effective defense mechanism. When threatened, the echidna curls up in hopes of deterring a foe from further pursuit. Its beak is handy for breaking open termite mounds and its sticky tongue helps it gobble up the bounty.
Photo: Rexness, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr
#AnimalFacts #nature #dyk #echidna #shortbeakedechidna #monotreme
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Would you guess that these jelly-like organisms are more closely related to humans than they are to jellyfish?
Sea salps are tunicates and members of the phylum Chordata, which also encompasses vertebrates and cephalochordates. Jellyfish, on the other hand, are a part of the phylum Cnidaria, which includes the likes of corals and sea anemones. There are more than 45 species of salps that inhabit much of the world’s oceans. As filter feeders, they mainly consume phytoplankton but will also snack on other tiny particles that might float their way. Salps eat by pumping water into their mouths and out of their atrial openings, propelling themselves as they feed.
Photo: Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr
#nature #dyk #salps #OceanLife #ocean #Chordata
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