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The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus Myrmecophaga, it is classified with sloths in the orderPilosa. This species is mostly terrestrial, in contrast to other living anteaters and sloths, which are arboreal or semiarboreal. The giant anteater is 182 to 217 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in to 7 ft 1+1⁄2 in) in length, with weights of 33 to 50 kg (73 to 110 lb) for males and 27 to 47 kg (60 to 104 lb) for females. It is recognizable by its elongated snout, bushy tail, long fore claws, and distinctively colored pelage.
The giant anteater is found in multiple habitats, including grassland and rainforest. It forages in open areas and rests in more forested habitats. It feeds primarily on ants and termites, using its fore claws to dig them up and its long, sticky tongue to collect them. Though giant anteaters live in overlapping home ranges, they are mostly solitary except during mother-offspring relationships, aggressive interactions between males, and when mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until weaning them. (Full article...)
An illustration of various Pulmonata (and one predator arthropod in the lower right), an informal group of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. Pulmonata was previously a formal taxon but lost its status as one in 2010. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families. Most species have a shell, but no operculum, although the group does also include several shell-less slugs. Pulmonates are hermaphroditic, and some groups possess love darts.
Bolinus cornutus is a predatory species of sea snail, a marine gastropodmollusk in the familyMuricidae. This species is common along the west coast of Africa, where it prefers moderately shallow waters. The shell of the snail is distinctively large, spiny, and club-shaped, usually pale brown or tan in colour, with an elongated and straight siphonal canal.
Glaucus atlanticus is a species of small, blue sea slug. This pelagic aeolid nudibranch floats upside down, using the surface tension of the water to stay up, and is carried along by the winds and ocean currents. The blue side of their body faces upwards, blending in with the blue of the water, while the grey side faces downwards, blending in with the silvery surface of the sea. G. atlanticus feeds on other pelagic creatures, including the Portuguese man o' war.
Velodona togata is the only species in the octopus genus Velodona; the genus and species names come from the large membranes that connect its arms. It was first described by Carl Chun in his book Die Cephalopoden (from which this illustration is taken) in 1915. A second subspecies was described by Guy Coburn Robson in 1924.
Haliotis laevigata is a species of marine mollusc in the family Haliotidae, endemic to Tasmania and the southern and western coasts of Australia. This picture shows five views of a green H. laevigata shell, 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in) in length. The holes in the shell, characteristic of abalones, are respiratory apertures for venting water from the gills and for releasing sperm and eggs into the water column.
The Peacock flounder (Bothus mancus) is a species of lefteye flounder found widely in relatively shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific. This photomontage shows four separate views of the same fish, each several minutes apart, starting from the top left. Over the course of the photos, the fish changes its colors to match its new surroundings, and then finally (bottom right) buries itself in the sand, leaving only the eyes protruding.
Representative dinosaurs of the Hadrosauroideasuperfamily. The familyHadrosauridae contains the dinosaurs commonly known as "duck-billed" dinosaurs. They were ubiquitous herbivores during the Cretaceous period, and prey to theropoda such as Tyrannosaurus. The individual drawings represent typical genera. All these groups were alive in the late Cretaceous, and are generally known only from a single fossil site. Animals are shown to scale.
The Atlantic spadefish is a species of marine fish endemic to the shallow waters off the coast of the southeastern United States and in the Caribbean Sea. They are similar in appearance to fresh waterangelfish, but much larger, reaching up to three feet (0.9 m) in length. Due to their reputation as strong fighters, they are popular game fish, especially during the summer months when they are most active.
Anatomical diagram of an adult female chambered nautilus, the best known species of nautilus, a "living fossil" related to the octopuses. The animal has a primitive brain that forms a ring around its oesophagus, has four gills (all other cephalopods have only two), and can only move shell-first (seemingly "backwards") by pumping water out through its funnel. The shell and tentacles are shown here as shadows.
Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (from Latin ophiurus 'brittle star'; from Ancient Greekὄφις (óphis) 'serpent', and οὐρά (ourá) 'tail'; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomotion. The ophiuroids generally have five long, slender, whip-like arms which may reach up to 60 cm (24 in) in length on the largest specimens. (Full article...)
The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. This photograph shows a juvenile brown pelican gliding over the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Head, California.
After hatching, the pelican chicks are fed on regurgitated predigested fish and take about two months to fledge. When they leave the nest, they are at first unable to fly and take wing several weeks later. When the parents cease to feed them, some six months later, each will have consumed around 70 kg (150 lb) of fish. The juvenile brown pelican does not acquire adult plumage until three years of age, when the feathers on the neck become paler, the upperparts striped, the wing feathers grayer, and the belly acquires dark spots.
A lateral (left side) anatomical diagram of an adult-stage nematode hermaphroditeCaenorhabditis elegans (full size) with emphasis on the digestive and reproductive systems. C. elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode (roundworm) which measures about 1 millimetre (0.039 in) in length. The hermaphrodite form, as seen here, is the most common, although a male form is also found. When self-inseminated, the species will lay about 300 eggs, but when the hermaphrodite is inseminated by a male, the number of progeny can exceed 1,000.
The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, platy, meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), helminth-, meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates. Unlike other bilaterians, they are acoelomates (having no body cavity), and have no specialized circulatory and respiratoryorgans, which restricts them to having flattened shapes that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass through their bodies by diffusion. The digestive cavity has only one opening for both ingestion (intake of nutrients) and egestion (removal of undigested wastes); as a result, the food cannot be processed continuously. (Full article...)
Procyonidae is a family of mammals in the orderCarnivora, which includes raccoons, coatis, olingos, kinkajous, ring-tailed cats, and cacomistles, and many other extant and extinct mammals. A member of this family is called a procyonid. They are native to North and South America, though the common raccoon has been introduced to Europe, western Asia, and Japan. Procyonid habitats are generally forests, though some are found in shrublands and grasslands as well. The ring-tailed cat has a varied range including rocky areas and deserts as well as forests, and the common raccoon is widespread in urban environments. Species range in size from around 30–65 cm (12–26 in) long, plus a tail generally as long again. Population sizes are largely unknown, though the Cozumel raccoon is critically endangered, with around 200 individuals left, and the Eastern mountain coati is endangered. No procyonid species have been domesticated, although raccoons are sometimes kept as pets.
The fourteen species of Procyonidae are split into six genera, which are not currently grouped into named clades. Procyonidae is believed to have diverged as a separate family within Carnivora around 22.6 million years ago. In addition to the extant species, Procyonidae includes forty extinct species placed in the six extant and nineteen extinct genera, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed. (Full article...)
...that Lampreys are called "nine-eyed eels" (i.e., per side) from a counting of their seven external gill slits on a side with one eye and the nostril?
The following are images from various animal-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1The Francevillian biota is thought to be one of the earliest forms of Eukaryote known (2.1 ga). These representatives of some of the earliest life on earth are found within the Francevillian B Formation within Gabon, the formation being a Black shale. (from Animal)
Image 2Kelp gull chicks peck at red spot on mother's beak to stimulate the regurgitating reflex. (from Zoology)
Image 6A brilliantly-coloured oriental sweetlips fish (Plectorhinchus vittatus) waits while two boldly-patterned cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) pick parasites from its skin. The spotted tail and fin pattern of the sweetlips signals sexual maturity; the behaviour and pattern of the cleaner fish signal their availability for cleaning service, rather than as prey (from Animal coloration)
Image 7Simplified schematic of an island's fauna – all its animal species, highlighted in boxes (from Fauna)
Image 8Animal anatomical engraving from Handbuch der Anatomie der Tiere für Künstler. (from Zoology)
Image 27A praying mantis in deimatic or threat pose displays conspicuous patches of colour to startle potential predators. This is not warning coloration as the insect is palatable. (from Animal coloration)
Image 29Animals are unique in having the ball of cells of the early embryo (1) develop into a hollow ball or blastula (2). (from Animal)
Image 30The microscopic cave snail Zospeum tholussum, found at depths of 743 to 1,392 m (2,438 to 4,567 ft) in the Lukina Jama–Trojama cave system of Croatia, is completely blind with a translucent shell (from Fauna)
Image 32Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck led the creation of a modern classification of invertebrates, breaking up Linnaeus's "Vermes" into 9 phyla by 1809. (from Animal)
Image 41The bilaterian gut develops in two ways. In many protostomes, the blastopore develops into the mouth, while in deuterostomes it becomes the anus. (from Animal)
Image 42Bright coloration of orange elephant ear sponge, Agelas clathrodes signals its bitter taste to predators (from Animal coloration)
Image 43The red pigment in a flamingo's plumage comes from its diet of shrimps, which get it from microscopic algae. (from Animal coloration)
Image 50Idealised bilaterian body plan. With an elongated body and a direction of movement the animal has head and tail ends. Sense organs and mouth form the basis of the head. Opposed circular and longitudinal muscles enable peristaltic motion. (from Animal)
The following table lists estimated numbers of described extant species for the animal groups with the largest numbers of species,[1] along with their principal habitats (terrestrial, fresh water,[2] and marine),[3] and free-living or parasitic ways of life.[4] Species estimates shown here are based on numbers described scientifically; much larger estimates have been calculated based on various means of prediction, and these can vary wildly. For instance, around 25,000–27,000 species of nematodes have been described, while published estimates of the total number of nematode species include 10,000–20,000; 500,000; 10 million; and 100 million.[5] Using patterns within the taxonomic hierarchy, the total number of animal species—including those not yet described—was calculated to be about 7.77 million in 2011.[6][7][a]
^The application of DNA barcoding to taxonomy further complicates this; a 2016 barcoding analysis estimated a total count of nearly 100,000 insect species for Canada alone, and extrapolated that the global insect fauna must be in excess of 10 million species, of which nearly 2 million are in a single fly family known as gall midges (Cecidomyiidae).[8]
^Stork, Nigel E. (January 2018). "How Many Species of Insects and Other Terrestrial Arthropods Are There on Earth?". Annual Review of Entomology. 63 (1): 31–45. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043348. PMID28938083. S2CID23755007. Stork notes that 1m insects have been named, making much larger predicted estimates.
^ abcdNicol, David (June 1969). "The Number of Living Species of Molluscs". Systematic Zoology. 18 (2): 251–254. doi:10.2307/2412618. JSTOR2412618.
^Sluys, R. (1999). "Global diversity of land planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Terricola): a new indicator-taxon in biodiversity and conservation studies". Biodiversity and Conservation. 8 (12): 1663–1681. doi:10.1023/A:1008994925673. S2CID38784755.
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