Animal Survival

How the animals survive

Animals are the most integral part of the nature. They have their own life-style for survive. They have their own categories and features. Like all living beings, the animals also use different techniques to survive in the nature. They are divided in many kinds as because they have different features from each other.

TYPES OF ANIMALS

Animals can be divided into two groups, based on the backbone.

Animals Without a Backbone

Animals those do not have a backbone are called invertebrates. Examples of invertebrates are insects such as cockroach, ant, and worms such as slug and snail.

Insects have six legs and their body is divided into three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. Most insects have a hard outer covering made up of a material called chitin. A few insects, such as mosquitoes and butterflies can fly.

Animals With a Backbone

Animals those have a backbone are called vertebrates.

They can be further divided into smaller groups.

Fish

This group consists of a large variety of animals that live in water. These animals breathe through gills. They have fins to swim. Their body is covered with scales. Examples of this category are cod, mackerel, and shark.

Amphibians

These animals live both on land and in water. Most of them breathe both through their lungs and the moist skin. Examples of amphibians are frog, toad.

Reptiles

Most of these animals live mainly on land. They have scaly skin and reproduce by laying eggs. Lizard, snake, and crocodile are examples of reptiles.

 Reptiles, amphibians, and fish are cold – blooded animals. This means that their body temperature changes with a change in the temperature of their surroundings. They use the environment to regulate their body temperature.

Birds

Birds bodies are covered with feathers. They have wings that help them to fly, e.g., crow, sparrow, and eagle. Birds such as ostrich, kiwi, and penguin, however, cannot fly because they have a heavy body. They are called flightless birds.

Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world and ostrich is the largest bird of  the world.

Mammals

Mammals are a group of animals that give birth to babies. Their bodies have hair and the mothers suckle their young ones. Most mammals breathe through lungs. They have four limbs. Birds and mammals are warm- blooded animals. This means that their body temperature remains constant despite changes in the temperature of their surroundings. Human being, elephant, horse, cow, dog, and cat are examples of mammals.

WHERE ANIMALS LIVE

Animals are found everywhere: on land, on trees, flying in the air, and in water. Some animals are found on both land and water. Based on where animals spend most of their time, they can be grouped into terrestrial, arboreal, aerial, aquatic, and amphibian animals.

Terrestrial Animals

Animals that live on land are known as terrestrial animals. These animals have features suitable for life on land. They have legs which help them to walk on land, and most of them have lungs as their breathing organ. Climatic conditions may vary from place to place. It is cold on the mountains and in the polar-regions, whereas it is very hot in the deserts. A yak lives on the mountains and a polar bear lives in the polar-regions. A camel is found in a desert.

Animals such as seal, penguin, and walrus are adapted to live in freezing conditions. They have a thick layer of fat called blubber under their skin to keep their body warm. Animals that live in very cold places have thick fur on their body, which protects them from the cold. Animals such as bear, frog, and snake become inactive in cold winter months, when the food is scarce. This inactivity during winter months or winter sleep is called hibernation.

Animals living in deserts have very little hair on their body. Since there is lack of water in the deserts, some animals, such as camels, drink large amounts of water at one time, so that they can survive without water for many days.

Slowing down of activity or settling down to a long sleep by some animals during the hot summer months is called aestivation.

Aquatic Animals

Animals that

Fish an example of Aquatic ani

live in water are called aquatic animals. Most aquatic animals breathe through gills, expect whales and dolphins, that breathe through lungs. Most aquatic animals have fins or paddles that help them to swim. Apart from fish, octopus, turtle, and crab are also aquatic animals.

Amphibians

Animals that can

Amphibians

live both on land and water are called amphibians. The back legs of these animals are stronger than their front legs. This helps them to jump, which is how they move on land. They have webbed feet that help them to swim in water. Frogs and toads are amphibians.

Arboreal Animals

Land animals

Koala 

that live mostly on trees are called arboreal animals. They have sharp claws to climb up and down the branches and usually have strong, muscular limbs. They also have a tail for holding on to the branches. For example, monkey and koala bear.

Aerial Animals

Animals that can

Bird

fly and spend a lot of their time in the air are called aerial animals. Such animals have hollow bones that make their bodies light. They have one set of limbs modified as wings to help them fly. The body shape of aerial animals is such that they are able to cut through the air easily. Almost all birds, except flightless birds, belong to this group. Bats also form a part of this group.

In the cold winter months, when food becomes scarce, many birds fly towards warmer countries in search of food and warmth. This mass movement of birds from a colder to a warmer place is called migration.

WHAT ANIMALS EAT

Animals eat different types of food. Based on the type of food they eat, they can be divided into five main groups: herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, scavengers, and parasites.

Herbivores

Animals that eat

Cow an example of Herbivore

only plants, grass, fruits and other parts of the plants are known as herbivores. Rabbit, giraffe, deer, goat, cow, horse, etc., are examples of herbivores. Herbivores animals have sharp teeth for biting and cutting, and very strong teeth for grinding. This is because plant food needs to be chewed a lot as it is very rich in a substance called cellulose, which is difficult to break down. Herbivores such as cow, buffalo and sheep chew their food once and swallow it. Later, they bring it back to their mouth and chew it for hours. This is called chewing the cud.

Carnivores

Animals

Lion an example of Carnivore

that eat the flesh of other animals are called carnivores. Most carnivorous animals have very sharp teeth for tearing out the flesh of its prey. They later use their broad and flat grinding back teeth to chew the flesh and bones. Lion, tiger are examples of carnivores.

But carnivores animals like snakes, lizards and frogs do not have teeth to chew their food. The snakes swallow their prey as a whole and lizards and frogs catch their prey with the help of their sticky tongue.

Omnivores

Animals that

Bear an example of Omnivore

eat plants as well as the flesh of other animals are called omnivores. Crow and bear are examples of omnivores. Human beings are also omnivores.

Scavengers

Hyenas and vultures feed on the dead decaying bodies of animals. This way they help to clean the environment and are known as scavengers.

Hyena an example of Scavenger

Parasites

Some small

Mosquito an example of Parasite

animals derive their nutrition from other living organisms. Such animals are called parasites. They may live on or inside the body of their host (the animals on which another animals lives and feeds). Examples of parasites are mosquitoes, roundworms, lice, etc.

It’s our responsibility and duty to take care of animals; because we are depended on the nature and the animal is a very important character of the nature. If they are in danger then the human beings would also not be able to survive. We all know these things that if we harm the nature then we will face the results at a very high cost. But a few people only do their duties to keep the world beautiful....