Beautiful Rare White Tigers

The tiger there is a known mutation that leads to the appearance of individuals with a full white color - Bengal Tigers with black and brown stripes on a white fur and blue eyes. This color is very rare in wild animals, but is relatively common in populations kept in captivity. 

The frequency of occurrence of white tigers - one individual per 10,000 with normal color. White tigers are an excellent breed in captivity. The first mention of them belong to 1951, when one of the hunters took away from the den of the tigress he found a white tiger cub. 

World's First Elephant Hospital in Thailand

Soraida Salwala opened the World’s First Asian Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand in 1993 to treat elephants that are ill or injured as a result of work, abuse or neglect.

To date, she and her staff have treated over 3,000 elephants for everything from eye infections to knife wounds, gunshot wounds, broken bones, drug addictions and building prosthetic limbs for the survivors of landmine accidents. 

Zebra Facts, Pictures, Information

Prey for lions and hyenas, zebras are constantly on the lookout for danger.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 25 years

Size: Height at the shoulder, 3.5 to 5 ft (1.1 to 1.5 m)

Weight: 440 to 990 lbs (200 to 450 kg)

Group name: Herd

No animal has a more distinctive coat than the zebra. Each animal's stripes are as unique as fingerprints—no two are exactly alike—although each of the three species has its own general pattern.

Why do zebras have stripes at all? Scientists aren't sure, but many theories center on their utility as some form of camouflage. The patterns may make it difficult for predators to identify a single animal from a running herd and distort distance at dawn and dusk. Or they may dissuade insects that recognize only large areas of single-colored fur or act as a kind of natural sunscreen. Because of their uniqueness, stripes may also help zebras recognize one another.

Zebras are social animals that spend time in herds. They graze together, primarily on grass, and even groom one another.

Plains (Burchell's) zebras are the most common species. They live in small family groups consisting of a male (stallion), several females, and their young. These units may combine with others to form awe-inspiring herds thousands of head strong, but family members will remain close within the herd.

Zebras must be constantly wary of lions and hyenas. A herd has many eyes alert to danger. If an animal is attacked, its family will come to its defense, circling the wounded zebra and attempting to drive off predators.

World Tallest Cat

This cat is a part African wildcat currently living in California. Its owner, Debby Maraspina, bred the animal 3 years ago. She is happy that her cat, docile as a kitten, has risen to fame. Trouble is 19 inches (48.2 cm) tall from paw to shoulder. It is the Guinness-record certified tallest cat in the world, topping the previous record holder by an inch (2.5 cm).

Lioness Attacks Crocodile To Protect Pride

Spectacled Bear Facts, Pictures, Information

Elusive in their mountain forest homes, the spectacled bear is the only species of bear in South America.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in captivity: Up to 25 years

Size: 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m)

Weight: Males, 220 to 340 lbs (100 to 154 kg)

Group name: Solitary

Protection status: Threatened

Did you know? Spectacled bears’ face, neck, and chest markings are, like human fingerprints, unique to each bear.

The diminutive spectacled bear makes its home in the dense Andean jungles of South America, and it has the distinction of being the continent’s only bear.

Spectacled bears wear shaggy fur that is black, brown, or sometimes reddish. They are so named for the whitish to yellowish rings that encircle their eyes, resembling large eyeglasses. These lines, however, don't always fully encircle the eyes, and some individuals lack the markings altogether.

Spectacled bears, also called Andean bears, are among the smallest members of the family Ursidae. Males, which are significantly larger than females, grow over 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 340 pounds (154 kilograms). Females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds (82 kilograms).

Intensely shy bears, they prefer the lush, isolated cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes, climbing as high as 14,000 feet (4,300 meters). They will descend to search for food though, and have been seen in widely differing habitats, from rain forests, to steppe lands, to coastal deserts.

Spectacled bears are generally nocturnal and are primarily vegetarian, harvesting fruit, berries, cacti, and honey. Highly agile climbers, they have been known to sit in a tree for days on a platform made of broken branches, waiting for fruit to ripen. They have extremely strong jaws and wide, flat molars to chew tough vegetation such as tree bark and orchid bulbs. Occasionally they will supplement their diet with meat, taking small rodents, birds, insects, and even small cows, making them the largest carnivores in South America.

Solitary animals, mature spectacled bears are normally seen together only during mating season. Females usually give birth to one or two small, helpless cubs, which are mobile after a month, but remain with the mother for up to eight months, often hitching a ride on the mother’s back.

Population data are sketchy, but some estimates suggest fewer than 3,000 spectacled bears may remain in the wild today. Their numbers suffer primarily from destruction and fragmentation of their habitat. Poachers also hunt them for their meat and body parts, and farmers kill them as agricultural pests. They are currently listed as vulnerable to extinction.

Sun Bear Facts, Pictures, Information

Sun bears are so named because of the bib-shaped patch on their chests, which legend says represents the rising sun.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in captivity: Up to 25 years

Size: 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m) long

Weight: 60 to 150 lbs (27 to 70 kg)

Did you know? The Malay words for the tree-loving sun bear mean “he who likes to sit high.”

The reclusive sun bear, smallest member of the bear family, lives an insular life in the dense lowland forests of Southeast Asia.

Found from southern China to eastern India and as far south as Indonesia, sun bears, also called Malayan sun bears, take their name from the bib-shaped golden or white patch on their chest, which legend says represents the rising sun. They have a stocky, muscular build, small ears, and a short muzzle, which has earned them the nickname “dog bear.” Their sleek, black coat is short to avoid overheating in the tropical weather but thick and coarse to provide protection from twigs, branches, and rain.

Sun bears grow to only about half the size of an American black bear. Males, slightly larger than females, are about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 150 pounds (70 kilograms), a stature which suits their arboreal lifestyle and allows them to move easily through the trees. They have even been observed making sleeping platforms high above the ground out of branches and leaves.

Ironically, sun bears are nocturnal. They lumber through the forests by night, snacking on fruits, berries, roots, insects, small birds, lizards, and rodents. They have an excellent sense of smell and extremely long claws, exceeding four inches (ten centimeters) in length, which they use to rip open trees and termite nests. They also have an almost comically long tongue for extracting honey from bee nests, giving them their other nickname, “honey bear.”

Little is known about the social life of these bears, but there is some evidence that suggests they may be monogamous. Mother bears, called sows, make ground nests and give birth to one or two blind, helpless babies that weigh about 11 ounces (325 grams). Mothers have actually been observed cradling a cub in their arms while walking on their hind legs, a rare trait among bears. Cubs can move about after two months and are weaned by four months, but they remain with their mothers for two years or more.

Because of their remote habitat and shy personality, there is currently not enough data to determine if sun bears are in danger of extinction, but scientists fear the worst. Their homelands are being lost rapidly to deforestation, poachers hunt them mercilessly for body parts and fur, and some farmers kill them on site because they often eat crops such as oil palm, coconuts, and bananas. Adult females are also frequently killed so their cubs can be taken and raised as pets.

Tapir Facts, Pictures, Information

The prehensile trunk of the tapir has changed little in millions of years of evolution.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 25 to 30 years

Size: Height at shoulder, 29 to 42 in (74 to 107 cm)

Weight: 500 to 800 lbs (227 to 363 kg)

Group name: Candle

Protection status: Endangered

Tapirs look something like pigs with trunks, but they are actually related to horses and rhinoceroses. This eclectic lineage is an ancient one—and so is the tapir itself. Scientists believe that these animals have changed little over tens of millions of years.

Tapirs have a short prehensile (gripping) trunk, which is really an extended nose and upper lip. They use this trunk to grab branches and clean them of leaves or to help pluck tasty fruit. Tapirs feed each morning and evening. During these hours they follow tunnel-like paths, worn through the heavy brush by many a tapir footstep, to reach water holes and lush feeding grounds. As they roam and defecate they deposit the seeds they have consumed and promote future plant growth.

Though they appear densely built, tapirs are at home in the water and often submerge to cool off. They are excellent swimmers and can even dive to feed on aquatic plants. They also wallow in mud, perhaps to remove pesky ticks from their thick hides.

New World tapirs generally live in the forests and grasslands of Central and South America. A notable exception is the mountain (or woolly), tapir, which lives high in the Andes Mountains. Woolly tapirs, named for their warm and protective coat, are the smallest of all tapirs.

The world's biggest tapir is found in the Old World—Southeast Asia. The black-and-white Malay tapir can grow to 800 pounds (363 kilograms). It inhabits the forests and swamps of Malaysia and Sumatra.

All four tapir species are endangered or threatened, largely due to hunting and habitat loss.

Tarantula Facts, Pictures, Information

The tarantula's appearance is worse than its bite. Tarantula venom is weaker than that of a honeybee and, though painful, is virtually harmless to humans.

Type: Bug

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 30 years

Size: 4.75 in (12 cm) long; leg span, up to 11 in (28 cm)

Weight: 1 to 3 oz (28 to 85 g)

Tarantulas give some people the creeps because of their large, hairy bodies and legs. But these spiders are harmless to humans (except for a painful bite), and their mild venom is weaker than a typical bee's. Among arachnid enthusiasts, these spiders have become popular pets.

Tarantulas periodically shed their external skeletons in a process called molting. In the process, they also replace internal organs, such as female genitalia and stomach lining, and even regrow lost appendages.

There are hundreds of tarantula species found in most of the world's tropical, subtropical, and arid regions. They vary in color and behavior according to their specific environments. Generally, however, tarantulas are burrowers that live in the ground.

Tarantulas are slow and deliberate movers, but accomplished nocturnal predators. Insects are their main prey, but they also target bigger game, including frogs, toads, and mice. The South American bird-eating spider, as it name suggests, is even able to prey upon small birds.

A tarantula doesn't use a web to ensnare prey, though it may spin a trip wire to signal an alert when something approaches its burrow. These spiders grab with their appendages, inject paralyzing venom, and dispatch their unfortunate victims with their fangs. They also secrete digestive enzymes to liquefy their victims' bodies so that they can suck them up through their straw-like mouth openings. After a large meal, the tarantula may not need to eat for a month.

Tarantulas have few natural enemies, but parasitic pepsis wasps are a formidable exception. Such a wasp will paralyze a tarantula with its sting and lay its eggs on the spider's body. When the eggs hatch, wasp larvae gorge themselves on the still living tarantula.

The tarantula's own mating ritual begins when the male spins a web and deposits sperm on its surface. He copulates by using his pedipalps (short, leglike appendages located near the mouth) and then scuttles away if he can—females sometimes eat their mates.

Females seal both eggs and sperm in a cocoon and guard it for six to nine weeks, when some 500 to 1,000 tarantulas hatch.

Tasmanian Devil Facts, Pictures, Information

This yawning Tasmanian devil was photographed at a quarantine facility in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The site monitors devils for signs of devil facial tumor disease (DFTC), a fatal, contagious cancer that over the past decade has decimated wild populations of the iconic Australian marsupial.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 5 years

Size: 20 to 31 in (51 to 79 cm)

Weight: 9 to 26 lbs (4 to 12 kg)

Protection status: Endangered

Did you know? When confronted, a Tasmanian devil will often yawn at its tormentor as if pretending to be unbothered by the threat.

As comical as it is, the familiar Looney Tunes portrayal of a Tasmanian devil as a seething, snarling, insatiable lunatic is, at times, not all that far from the truth.

Tasmanian devils have a notoriously cantankerous disposition and will fly into a maniacal rage when threatened by a predator, fighting for a mate, or defending a meal. Early European settlers dubbed it a "devil" after witnessing such displays, which include teeth-baring, lunging, and an array of spine-chilling guttural growls.

These famously feisty mammals have a coat of coarse brown or black fur and a stocky profile that gives them the appearance of a baby bear. Most have a white stripe or patch on their chest and light spots on their sides or rear end. They have long front legs and shorter rear legs, giving them a lumbering, piglike gait.

The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, reaching 30 inches (76 centimeters) in length and weighing up to 26 pounds (12 kilograms), although its size will vary widely depending on its specific range and the availability of food. Its oversize head houses sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver, pound for pound, one of the most powerful bites of any mammal.

Tasmanian devils are strictly carnivorous, surviving on small prey such as snakes, birds, fish, and insects and frequently feasting communally on carrion. They are at their most rowdy when jockeying for position on a large carcass. Like other marsupials, when they are well fed, their tails swell with stored fat.

Devils are solitary and nocturnal, spending their days alone in hollow logs, caves, or burrows, and emerging at night to feed. They use their long whiskers and excellent sense of smell and sight to avoid predators and locate prey and carrion. They'll eat pretty much anything they can get their teeth on, and when they do find food, they are voracious, consuming everything—including hair, organs, and bones.

Mothers give birth after about three weeks of pregnancy to 20 or 30 very tiny young. These raisin-size babies crawl up the mother's fur and into her pouch. However, the mother has only four nipples, so only a handful of babies survive. Infants emerge after about four months and are generally weaned by the sixth month and on their own by the eighth.

Once abundant throughout Australia Tasmanian devils are now indigenous only to the island state of Tasmania. Their Tasmanian range encompasses the entire island, although they are partial to coastal scrublands and forests. Biologists speculate that their extinction on the mainland is attributable to the introduction of Asian dogs, or dingoes.

Efforts in the late 1800s to eradicate Tasmanian devils, which farmers erroneously believed were killing livestock (although they were known to take poultry), were nearly successful. In 1941, the government made devils a protected species, and their numbers have grown steadily since.

Survival Threatened

Tragically, though, a catastrophic illness discovered in the mid-1990s has killed tens of thousands of Tasmanian devils. Called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), this rapidly spreading condition is a rare contagious cancer that causes large lumps to form around the animal's mouth and head, making it hard for it to eat. The animal eventually starves to death. Animal health experts are sequestering populations where the disease has not yet appeared and are focusing on captive breeding programs to save the species from extinction. Because of the outbreak, the Australian government has listed Tasmanian devils as vulnerable.

Thescelosaurus Neglectus Facts, Pictures, Information

Thescelosaurus neglectus ran upright on two legs, using its long tail for balance. It fed on low-lying vegetation.

Type: Prehistoric

Diet: Herbivore

Size: 12 ft (3.7 m) long; 650 lbs (300 kg)

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? The first Thescelosaurus specimens, collected in the late 19th century, sat in a crate for decades before they were rediscovered.

This "beautiful but neglected lizard" was not recognized as unique until decades after the first fossils were collected.

Thescelosaurus neglectus was an upright runner that moved on two legs and used its long tail for balance. It remained relatively close to the ground and browsed low-lying vegetation.

Thescelosaurus has been at the heart of a prehistoric controversy because some have suggested the animal represents an evolutionary link between crocodilians and birds. A specimen nicknamed "Willo" may be the first dinosaur ever found with a fossilized heart. Some scientists further suggest that the organ is a four-chambered heart more like those of mammals or birds than those of reptiles.

Such a heart would help support the hypothesis that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, active animals more like today's birds or mammals than reptiles. However, whether the fossil even has a heart at all has been the subject of much debate. A number of scientists dispute the findings.

Thescelosaurus roamed western North America late in the reign of the dinosaurs, from perhaps as early as about 75 million years ago until the catastrophic Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 million years ago.

Tiger Salamander Facts, Pictures, Information

Resembling its feline namesake, the tiger salamander has stripes over its gray or black body.

Type: Amphibian

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 12 to 15 years

Size: 7 to 14 in (18 to 35 cm)

Weight: 4.4 oz (126 g)

Did you know? During courtship, a male tiger salamander sometimes impersonates a female in order to sneak in and deposit his spermatophore on top of a rival male's.

Tiger salamanders' markings are variable throughout their extensive range, but the most common marking resembles the vertically striped pattern of their mammalian namesake.

They are usually brown in color with brilliant yellow stripes or blotches over the length of their bodies. Their base color, however, can also be greenish or gray and their markings can be yellow dots or brown splotches. Some have no markings at all.

Thick-bodied amphibians with short snouts, sturdy legs, and long tails, tigers are the largest land-dwelling salamander on Earth. They can grow to 14 inches (35 centimeters) in length, but the average size is more like 6 to 8 inches (15.2 to 20.3 centimeters).

They are also the most wide-ranging salamander species in North America, living throughout most of the United States, southern Canada, and eastern Mexico. They live in deep burrows, up to two feet (60 centimeters) below the surface, near ponds, lakes, or slow-moving streams and are one of few salamanders able to survive in the arid climate of the North America interior.

Highly voracious predators, they emerge from their burrows at night to feed on worms, insects, frogs, and even other salamanders.

Their population is healthy throughout their range, but deforestation, pollution, and rising acidity levels in their breeding pools is affecting their distribution. Many are even killed by cars as they cross roads in the spring en route to or from their breeding sites.

Tiger salamanders are long-lived, averaging 10 to 16 years in the wild.

Three-Toed Sloth Facts, Pictures, Information

The three-toed sloth's long claws are well suited to an arboreal life but hamper its mobility on the ground, leaving it vulnerable to predators.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Size: 23 in (58 cm)

Weight: 8.75 lbs (4 kg)

Protection status: Endangered

The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.

Sloths are identified by the number of long, prominent claws that they have on each front foot. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths.

All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws. (Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended from a branch.) Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep a lot—some 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they often remain motionless. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juicy plants.

Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in the trees. Three-toed sloth babies are often seen clinging to their mothers—they travel by hanging on to them for the first nine months of their lives.

On land, sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance. They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground. If caught on land, these animals have no chance to evade predators, such as big cats, and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting.

Though they couldn't be clumsier on land, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers. They sometimes fall directly from rain forest trees into rivers and stroke efficiently with their long arms.

The three-toed sloth emits a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests as "ahh-eeee." Because of this cry these sloths are sometimes called ais (pronounced "eyes").

Three-toed sloths also have an advantage that few other mammals possess: They have extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.

Thomson's Gazelle Facts, Pictures, Inforamtion

In addition to running at high speeds, Thomson's gazelles also use a bounding leap, called "stotting" or "pronking," to avoid predators.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 10 to 12 Years

Size: Height at the shoulder, 20 to 43 in (51 to 109 cm)

Weight: 26 to 165 lbs (12 to 75 kg)

Group name: Herd

Gazelles are medium-sized antelopes found in Africa and in Asia as far east as Mongolia. There are some 19 different species of gazelles.

These grazing antelopes live in herds, which can consist of as few as ten or as many as several hundred animals. During the plentiful rainy season, thousands of animals can be seen gathering in large groups.

Gazelles typically frequent wide-open spaces and plains, where they browse on grasses, shoots, and leaves.

Open plains make them visible to predators like cheetahs or wild dogs, but gazelles are fleet of foot. The Thomson's gazelle can reach speeds of 40 miles (64 kilometers) an hour.

Some gazelle species eschew the grasslands for mountainous landscapes or even deserts. During the dry season some grassland gazelles will even take to the African bush in search of water.

Gazelles are nimble and beautiful animals, with a variety of stripes and markings that accentuate their tan buff coats and white rumps. They also boast a impressive, ringed horns. These attributes make many gazelles attractive as game animals.

After a pregnancy of about six months, female gazelles give birth to one or two young and hide them in the plains grasses. These infants will remain out of sight for days or even weeks, being periodically nursed by their mother, until they are old enough to join the mother's herd, in the case of females, or a bachelor herd.

Troodon Formosus Facts, Pictures, Information

With a relatively large brain for its small size, Troodon formosus was probably one of the smartest dinosaurs. It may have been as intelligent as modern birds.

Type: Prehistoric

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 6.5 ft (2 m) long; 110 lbs (50 kg)

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? Troodon had sharp, curved, serrated teeth that lent it its name, which means "wounding tooth."

Troodon formosus was a small coelurosaurian dinosaur—a member of the same clade (evolutionary group) to which modern birds belong. Fossilized remains have been discovered of nesting parents and egg clutches. These finds shed some light on reproductive strategies that resemble those of both crocodilians and birds.

Scientists believe that Troodon produced a pair of eggs at periodic intervals and then incubated them in earth nests, sometimes sitting on them and warming them with body heat. Such behavior suggests that these dinosaurs could be an important link on the evolutionary chain, bridging the gap between their earlier relatives (crocodilians) and their later relatives (birds).

Troodon had a large brain for its relatively small size and was probably among the smartest dinosaurs. Its brain is proportionally larger than those found in living reptiles, so the animal may have been as intelligent as modern birds, which are more similar in brain size.

Troodon walked (and ran) on two long, hind legs. It probably ate small lizards, mammals, and invertebrates. The animal's rotatable forearms, which sported three-fingered hands, likely aided Troodon's hunting prowess. The dinosaur also had large, forward-facing eyes that granted it keen vision for hunting, even at night.

Triceratops Horridus Facts, Pictures, Information

Triceratops's head was its most imposing feature. It measured 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) across and was ornamented with impressive horns and a head plate.

Type: Prehistoric

Diet: Herbivore

Size: 30 ft (9 m) long, 4 to 6 tons

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? Triceratops's neck frill spanned 6 ft (1.8 m).

With its rock-hard horns, shieldlike head plate, and massive torso, Triceratops horridus—"three-horned face"—must have been an intimidating presence in the late Cretaceous period. But this giant was an herbivore, preying only on the vegetation of western North America.

Fossil evidence shows that Triceratops was about 30 feet (9 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) tall and weighed 4 to 6 tons. Stout limbs supported Triceratops's girth, but it was unlikely the dinosaur could move very quickly.

Like a modern-day rhinoceros, Triceratops probably spent much of its time grazing on plant matter. It used its beaklike mouth and powerful jaws lined with rows of sharp cheek teeth to shred and grind cycads, ferns, and other low-lying vegetation.

Triceratops's head was its most imposing feature. It measured 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) across and was ornamented with impressive horns and a head plate. It used its horns—a short one above its mouth and two long ones above its eyes—to charge predators, such as T. rex. They likely were also used in mating rituals.

Behind its horns was a 6-foot-wide (1.8-meter-wide) head frill made of bone. Scientists aren't sure what purpose the frill served. It may have protected the dinosaur's neck from predators. Like a peacock's splayed plumage, it may have attracted mates in mating rituals. It may have acted as a radiator, helping Triceratops regulate its body temperature.

This ceratopsian, or horned dinosaur, was one of the last dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous period. It lived just before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 million years ago.

Tusotheuthis Longa Facts, Pictures, Information

Tusoteuthis is believed to have had very large eyes and good eyesight to navigate the depths of the Western Interior Seaway, which is believed to have been as deep as 600 feet (180 meters) in some areas.

Type: Prehistoric

Diet: Carnivore

Size: Length, 20 ft (6 m)

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? A partial fossil of the predatory fish Cimolichthys contains a nearly complete backbone-like Tusoteuthis pen.

Tusoteuthis was a giant squid nearly equal in size to those that ply the oceans today—with their tentacles stretched out, the ancient cephalopods may have measured 25 to 35 feet (8 to 11 meters) long. Like the modern giant squid, Tusoteuthis lacked an outer shell and is known only from discoveries of the rigid support structure in its body called a pen or gladius. The pen was akin to a backbone but made of delicate shell-like material called chitin.

The pen supported a fleshy body with large eyes, a sharp beak, and presumably ten arms lined with suckers that made Tusoteuthis a formidable predator in the Late Cretaceous seas. Smaller cephalopods and fish were likely dietary staples, though small marine reptiles that visited the ocean depths may have fallen prey as well.

Tusoteuthis moved via jet propulsion—it expelled water through a siphon on the lower part of its body. Squirts of dark inky fluid sometimes helped the squid blind and confuse predators like the mosasaur Tylosaurus and a barracuda-like fish called Cimolichthys long enough for escape.

Two-Toed Sloth Facts, Pictures, Information

Sloths spend their lives hanging from trees—eating, mating, and even giving birth!

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Size: 24 to 27 in (60 to 70 cm)

Weight: 17.5 lbs (8 kg)

The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.

Sloths are identified by the number of long, prominent claws that they have on each front foot. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths.

All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws. (Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended in the air.) Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep a lot—some 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they often remain motionless, and two-toed sloths are generally silent. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juicy plants.

Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in the trees. Young two-toed sloths are often seen clinging to their mothers; they travel by hanging onto them for the first five weeks of their lives.

On land, sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance. They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground. If caught on land, these animals have no chance to evade predators, such as big cats, and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting.

Though they couldn't be clumsier on land, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers. They sometimes fall directly from rain forest trees into rivers and stroke efficiently with their long arms.

Two-toed sloths are slightly larger than their three-toed relatives. They are able to survive in captivity, while three-toed sloths are not.

Tylosaurus Proriger Facts, Pictures, Information

Tylosaurus may have ruled the Late Cretaceous seas because all other would-be competitors, such as ichthyosaurs, were already extinct. Though they evolved from terrestrial lizards, the paddle-like limbs of giant mosasaurs like Tylosaurus were useless on land.

Type: Prehistoric

Diet: Carnivore

Size: Length, 45 ft (14 m)

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? Mosasaurs gave birth to live young. A baby Tylosaurus was 3 to 6 ft (1 to 2 m) long—small enough for predatory fish and sharks to eat.

Tylosaurus was the deadliest hunter of the ancient seas, ready to seize and kill just about any smaller creature that crossed its path with true jaws of death—lined on each side with two rows of pointy, cone-shaped teeth. Tylosaurus used its snout to locate prey, which, once inside the mosasaur's menacing jaws, was swallowed whole. When the sea monster opened wide for the final gulp, two extra rows of teeth on the roof of its mouth allowed crippled captives no escape.

Tylosaurus grew more than 45 feet (14 meters) long, making it the largest of the marine reptiles called mosasaurs. Like all mosasaurs, a long and muscular, vertically flattened tail powered Tylosaurus through the water, allowing it to ambush its prey with rapid bursts of acceleration. Paddle-like limbs helped steer the slim body covered in lizard-like scales through the water.

Preserved stomach contents indicate a diet heavy on fish, but seabirds, sharks, plesiosaurs, and other mosasaurs also failed to escape Tylosaurus's lethal grip. Though not a dinosaur, Tylosaurus lived alongside them and went extinct at around the same time. Many Tylosaurus remains have been found in Kansas, which was once covered by a large ocean called the Western Interior Seaway.

Spider Monkey Facts, Pictures, Information

Spider monkeys, like this young one in Bolivia's Madidi National Park, are dependent on their mothers for about ten weeks after birth.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 22 years

Size: 14 to 26 in (35 to 66 cm)

Weight: 13.25 lbs (6 kg)

Group name: Troop

Spider monkeys (of several species) live in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America and occur as far north as Mexico. They have long, lanky arms and prehensile (gripping) tails that enable them to move gracefully from branch to branch and tree to tree. These nimble monkeys spend most of their time aloft, and maintain a powerful grip on branches even though they have no thumbs.

These New World primates are social and gather in groups of up to two- or three-dozen animals. At night, these groups split up into smaller sleeping parties of a half dozen or fewer. Foraging also occurs in smaller groups, and is usually most intense early in the day. Spider monkeys find food in the treetops and feast on nuts, fruits, leaves, bird eggs, and spiders. They can be noisy animals and often communicate with many calls, screeches, barks, and other sounds.

Typically, females give birth to only a single baby every two to five years. Young monkeys depend completely on their mothers for about ten weeks, but after that time they begin to explore on their own and play amongst themselves. Mothers continue to care for their young for the first year of their lives, and often move about with their offspring clinging to their backs.

Indigenous peoples often hunt spider monkeys for food, and the animals are usually agitated by human contact. Logging and deforestation continue to shrink the space that spider monkeys are able to call home.

Spotted Hyena Facts, Pictures, Information

While hyenas are known as scavengers, they also possess great intelligence and skill on the hunt. One strategy is for a single hyena to cause confusion in the herd, while the others in the pack pick off an older or weaker member and chase the rest away.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 25 years

Size: Head and body, 34 to 59 in (86 to 150 cm); tail, 10 to 14 in (25 to 36 cm)

Weight: 110 to 190 lbs (50 to 86 kg)

Group name: Clan

Spotted hyenas are famed scavengers and often dine on the leftovers of other predators. But these hardy beasts are also skilled hunters that will take down wildebeest or antelope. They also kill and eat birds, lizards, snakes, and insects.

In an increasingly overpopulated Africa, hyenas and humans come into frequent contact. In fact, the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania actually leave their dead to be consumed by hyenas. However, these intelligent and bold animals will raid food stores and crops and are blamed for many livestock and even some human deaths. In some areas they have been heavily hunted as destructive pests.

Spotted hyenas are the largest of three hyena species. Brown and striped hyenas are the other two. Although hyenas appear similar to dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats. They live throughout much of Africa and eastwards through Arabia to India. Spotted hyenas live together in large groups called clans that may include up 80 individuals and are led by females.

Spotted hyenas have good hearing and sharp eyesight at night. They are fast and can run for long distances without tiring. Packs work together effectively to isolate a herd animal, sometimes one that is ill or infirm, and pursue it to the death. The victors often squabble over the spoils, either among themselves or with other powerful animals like lions.

Spotted hyenas are quite vocal and make a wide variety of sounds, including the "laughing" that has long been associated with their name.

Spotted Salamander Facts, Pictures, Information

Bright yellow spots distinguish this secretive amphibian. Spotted salamanders spend most of their lives hidden in dark, damp places.

Type: Amphibian

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 20 years

Size: 7 in (18 cm)

Did you know? Spotted salamanders return to the same mating pool via the same route every year.

Despite being fairly large and having an extremely broad range, the spotted salamander is actually pretty hard to, well, spot.

They can reach 9 inches (23 centimeters) in length and are prevalent in mature deciduous forests from eastern Canada throughout the eastern and midwestern United States. But these secretive salamanders spend almost their entire lives hidden under rocks or logs or in the burrows of other forest animals.

They will populate upland forests and mountainous regions, but are most common in moist, low-lying forests near floodplains.

They emerge from their subterranean hiding spots only at night to feed and during spring mating. They will actually travel long distances over land after a heavy rain to mate and lay their eggs in vernal pools and ponds.

Visually striking, these stout salamanders are bluish-black with two irregular rows of yellow or orange spots extending from head to tail. Like many other salamanders, they secrete a noxious, milky toxin from glands on their backs and tails to dissuade predators. Their diet includes insects, worms, slugs, spiders, and millipedes.

Spotted salamanders' numbers are generally stable throughout their range, but they are very sensitive to changes in their ecology, and rising water acidity in certain habitats is negatively affecting their population. The pet trade and habitat loss also take a toll.

Spring Peeper Facts, Pictures, Information

Harbinger of spring, calls of male spring peepers fill the evening air to entice females.

Type: Amphibian

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 3 years (estimated)

Size: 1 in (2.5 cm)

Weight: 0.11 to 0.18 oz (3 to 5 g)

Group name: Army

Did you know? Spring peepers can allow most of their bodies to freeze during winter hibernation and still survive.

Spring peepers are to the amphibian world what American robins are to the bird world. As their name implies, they begin emitting their familiar sleigh-bell-like chorus right around the beginning of spring.

Found in wooded areas and grassy lowlands near ponds and swamps in the central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States, these tiny, well-camouflaged amphibians are rarely seen. But the mid-March crescendo of nighttime whistles from amorous males is for many a sign that winter is over.

Spring peepers are tan or brown in color with dark lines that form a telltale X on their backs. They grow to about 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) in length, and have large toe pads for climbing, although they are more at home amid the loose debris of the forest floor.

They are nocturnal creatures, hiding from their many predators during the day and emerging at night to feed on such delicacies as beetles, ants, flies, and spiders.

They mate and lay their eggs in water and spend the rest of the year in the forest. In the winter, they hibernate under logs or behind loose bark on trees, waiting for the spring thaw and their chance to sing.

Squirrel Facts, Pictures, Information

Tree squirrels, like this eastern gray squirrel, are seen in many parks, backyards, and forests throughout the world.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Size: 5 to 36 in (13 to 91 cm)

Weight: 0.5 oz to 4 lbs (14 g to 2 kg)

Group name: Scurry or Dray

Squirrels are familiar to almost everyone. More than 200 squirrel species live all over the world, with the notable exception of Australia.

The tiniest squirrel is the aptly named African pygmy squirrel—only five inches (thirteen centimeters) long from nose to tail. Others reach sizes shocking to those who are only familiar with common tree squirrels. The Indian giant squirrel is three feet (almost a meter) long.

Like other rodents, squirrels have four front teeth that never stop growing so they don't wear down from the constant gnawing. Tree squirrels are the types most commonly recognized, often seen gracefully scampering and leaping from branch to branch. Other species are ground squirrels that live in burrow or tunnel systems, where some hibernate during the winter season.

Ground squirrels eat nuts, leaves, roots, seeds, and other plants. They also catch and eat small animals, such as insects and caterpillars. These small mammals must always be wary of predators because they are tasty morsels with few natural defenses, save flight. Sometimes groups of ground squirrels work together to warn each other of approaching danger with a whistling call.

Tree squirrels are commonly seen everywhere from woodlands to city parks. Though they are terrific climbers, these squirrels do come to the ground in search of fare such as nuts, acorns, berries, and flowers. They also eat bark, eggs, or baby birds. Tree sap is a delicacy to some species.

Flying squirrels are a third, adaptable type of squirrel. They live something like birds do, in nests or tree holes, and although they do not fly, they can really move across the sky. Flying squirrels glide, extending their arms and legs and coasting through the air from one tree to another. Flaps of skin connecting limbs to body provide a winglike surface. These gliding leaps can exceed 150 feet (46 meters). Flying squirrels eat nuts and fruit, but also catch insects and even baby birds.

Whether they dwell high in a tree or in an underground burrow, female squirrels typically give birth to two to eight offspring. Babies are blind and totally dependent on their mothers for two or three months. Mothers may have several litters in a year, so most squirrel populations are robust.

Steller Sea Lion Facts, Pictures, Information

"These animals are always yelling at each other," writes photographer Joel Sartore of the Steller sea lions on Alaska's Lowrie Island. Here, two females go nose-to-nose over a disputed bit of territory in a crowded rookery. Alaska's Steller sea lion populations have been in precipitous decline over the last 30 years, and scientists are at a loss to explain the cause.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 18 (males); 30 (females)

Size: 7.75 to 9.25 ft (2.4 to 2.8 m)

Weight: 1.2 tons (1.1 metric tons)

Group name: Raft (in water); colony (on land)

Protection status: Endangered

Stellers are the largest of all sea lions and they have an appetite to match. These giant pinnipeds hunt fish, squid, octopus and, rarely, smaller seals. They are found off northern Pacific coasts from Japan to California.

Steller sea lion breeding is one of nature's great mass spectacles. When these giants thunder ashore, their favored beaches, called rookeries, disappear under their numbers. Young pups are sometimes crushed by the throng, unheeded by powerful males with only a single purpose in mind. Bulls (males) must establish and hold a beach territory in order to breed. Most do not achieve this until they are nine or ten years of age.

Females begin to reproduce at about five years of age and typically have one pup per year. Sea lion mothers care for their young and recognize them by a keen sense of smell. Females slip into the sea to hunt and return to their young with the day's catch—identifying their own offspring by touch and scent.

These animals are social and also gather at various times throughout the year when mating and breeding are not taking place. Even in crowds, the big bulls are unmistakable—they are three times larger than females.

Most Steller sea lion populations declined markedly in the 1980s and 1990s, even though the animals are protected. Scientists are unsure what factor or combination of factors is responsible for the decline.

Stick Insect Facts, Pictures, Information

Stick insects are among the best camouflaged of all creatures, with a body shape that mimics the branches of their home.

Type: Bug

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 3 years

Size: 0.46 to 12.9 in (11.6 to 328 mm)

Did you know? Stick insects are part of the Phasmida order, the name of which is derived from a Greek word meaning “apparition.”

As its name suggests, the stick insect resembles the twigs among which it lives, providing it with one of the most efficient natural camouflages on Earth. It and the equally inconspicuous leaf insect comprise the Phasmida order, of which there are approximately 3,000 species.

Stick insect species, often called walking sticks, range in size from the tiny, half-inch-long (11.6-millimeter-long) Timema cristinae of North America, to the formidable 13-inch-long (328-millimeter-long) Phobaeticus kirbyi of Borneo. This giant measures over 21 inches (55 centimeters) with its legs outstretched, making it one of the world’s longest insects. Females are normally larger than males.

Phasmids generally mimic their surroundings in color, normally green or brown, although some species are brilliantly colored and others conspicuously striped. Many stick insects have wings, some spectacularly beautiful, while others resemble little more than a stump. A number of species have spines and tubercles on their bodies.

Found predominantly in the tropics and subtropics—although several species live in temperate regions—stick insects thrive in forests and grasslands, where they feed on leaves. Mainly nocturnal creatures, they spend much of their day motionless, hidden under plants.

Many stick insects feign death to thwart predators, and some will shed the occasional limb to escape an enemy’s grasp. Others swipe at predators with their spine-covered legs, while one North American species, Anisomorpha buprestoides, emits a putrid-smelling fluid.

Little is known about stick insects, making it difficult to declare the vulnerability of their status in the wild. The pet trade presents a potential threat, along with the popular practice of framing their carcasses, like butterflies.

Styxosaurus Snowii Facts, Pictures, Information

Though artists often depict elasmosaurs with their heads held swanlike, high above the water, such a position would have been physically impossible and unlikely for practical reasons since they wouldn't be able to see beneath their chins.

Type: Prehistoric

Size: Length, up to 40 ft (12 m)

Protection status: Extinct

Did you know? Like other plesiosaurs, Styxosaurus was restricted to prey no more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) long.

Styxosaurus was an elasmosaur, a long-necked variety of the marine reptiles called plesiosaurs. These sea monsters grew upwards of 40 feet (12 meters) long. About half that length was neck, a feature that allowed Styxosaurus to sneak up on schools of fish as it slowly cruised the shallow waters of the Late Cretaceous seas.

The long, pointed teeth of Styxosaurus were useful for seizing and holding prey, but they couldn't cut or chew. Instead, the elasmosaur swallowed fish whole. Predators likely included some of the fiercest monsters of the seas, such as the sharp-toothed shark Cretoxyrhina and the giant mosasaur Tylosaurus.

Like all plesiosaurs, Styxosaurus's limbs were two pairs of flipper-like paddles, which it moved in a figure eight motion to fly through the water much as seals and sea lions do today. In some cases hundreds of stones, called gastroliths, have been found associated with the bellies of these sea monsters, suggesting they swallowed the stones to help with digestion or perhaps provide ballast as they swam.

Sumatran Rhinoceros Facts, Pictures, Information

Unlike its Indian and African cousins, the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros is covered with patches of stiff hair, most prominent on its ears.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in captivity: 35 to 40 years

Size: Height, 48 to 58 in (1.2 to 1.5 m), Length, 8 to 10 ft (2.5 to 3.2 m)

Weight: About 1,760 lbs (800 kg)

Group name: Solitary

Protection status: Endangered

Did you know? Fewer than 400 Sumatran rhinos are thought to exist, making it one of the rarest large mammals in the world.

The two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros shares the bleak distinction of world’s most endangered rhino with its regional cousin, the Javan rhino. The smallest of the rhino family, the Sumatran rhinoceros lives in isolated pockets in the dense mountain forests of Malaysia, Indonesia, and possibly Myanmar (Burma).

Sumatran rhinos are generally solitary creatures that feed on fruit, twigs, leaves, and shrubs. Like other rhinos they have a keen sense of smell and sharp hearing, and they leave a network of scented trails throughout the forest in order to find one another.

As the smallest rhino, they weigh about 1,760 pounds (800 kilograms), and grow to a height near 5 feet (1.5 meters) at the shoulders and 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3.2 meters) in length. Unlike most other rhinos, their hide, dark red-brown in color, is covered with patches of short, dark, stiff hair. The hair helps keep mud caked to the body, which cools the hide and protects it from insects.

The Sumatran rhino’s two horns are considerably smaller than those of their African relatives, the black and white rhinos. The anterior horn may grow up to 31 inches (79 centimeters), but is normally much smaller, while the posterior horn may grow up to 3 inches (10 centimeters), but is generally no more than a hump.

The horns for which rhinos are so well known have been their downfall. Many animals have been killed for this hard growth, which is made of a hair-like substance and is revered for medicinal use in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The horn is also valued in the Middle East, Yemen especially, and North Africa as an ornamental dagger handle.

Listed as critically endangered, there are thought to be fewer than 400 Sumatran rhinos in existence today. While a number of these animals are kept in zoos, they rarely breed in captivity. In 2001 a calf born in the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio was the first Sumatran rhino born in the United States, and the first successful captive delivery in over 100 years. The main threats to their survival in the wild include poaching and habitat encroachment by humans.

Sea Otter Facts, Pictures, Information

Sea otters eat, sleep, hunt, mate, and give birth in the water. They also use rocks as tools to crack open mussels.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: Up to 23 years

Size: 4 ft (1.25 m)

Weight: 65 lbs (30 kg)

Protection status: Threatened

This aquatic member of the weasel family is found along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The sea otter spends most of its time in the water but, in some locations, comes ashore to sleep or rest. Sea otters have webbed feet, water-repellent fur to keep them dry and warm, and nostrils and ears that close in the water.

Sea otters often float at the water's surface, lying on their backs in a posture of serene repose. They sleep this way, often gathered in groups. Otters sometimes float in forests of kelp, or giant seaweed, in which they entangle themselves to provide anchorage in the swirling sea.

These aquatic otters do more than sleep while floating on their backs. They are often seen with a clam or mussel and a rock that has been deftly snared from the ocean floor. Otters will place the rock on their chests, and repeatedly smash the shellfish against it until it breaks open to reveal the tasty meal inside. They also dine on such aquatic creatures as sea urchins, crabs, squid, octopuses, and fish.

Sea otters are the only otters to give birth in the water. Mothers nurture their young while floating on their backs. They hold infants on their chests to nurse them, and quickly teach them to swim and hunt.

Sea otters are meticulously clean. After eating, they wash themselves in the ocean, cleaning their coat with their teeth and paws. They have good reason to take care of their coats—it helps them to remain waterproof and insulated against the cold. Sea otters have thick underfur that traps air to form an insulating layer against the chilly waters (they have no insulating fat). This coat is invaluable to otters, but it has worth to some humans as well.

Sea otters were hunted for their fur to the point of near extinction. Early in the 20th century only 1,000 to 2,000 animals remained. Today, 100,000 to 150,000 sea otters are protected by law.

Sifaka Facts, Pictures, Information

Sifakas, so called for their characteristic shif-auk call, hop around on two legs—on land and from tree to tree.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Size: Head and body, 18 in (46 cm); tail, 18 in (46 cm)

Weight: 7 to 13 lbs (3.2 to 6 kg)

Group name: Troop

Protection status: Endangered 

Sifakas are lemurs. Local Malagasy people named them for the unique call they send echoing through Madagascar's forests, which sounds like shif-auk. These primates spend most of their time in the trees, but don't get around in the same way that other lemurs do. Sifakas remain upright, and they leap quickly from tree to tree by jumping with their powerful hind legs. In this way, they clear distances of over 30 feet (9 meters). They can also move quickly on the ground, which they do using a two-legged sideways hop.

Sifakas are beautifully colored. They may have different colored limbs and bodies, and often their heads are multicolored with patches of black, white, gray, or golden-colored fur. These vegetarian primates eat leaves, flowers, fruit, buds, and tree bark—sifakas have been known to eat about a hundred different plants. They forage during daylight hours and go to sleep aloft before sunset.

Sifakas live in small family groups of three to ten animals. It is believed that only one female from each group breeds, while males may move from group to group.

There are three species of sifaka: Coquerel's sifaka, the diademed sifaka, and the golden-crowned sifaka. The golden-crowned sifaka wasn't photographed until 1982 and wasn't known to be a separate species until 1988. They are the smallest of the sifakas and among the most endangered. There may be fewer than 10,000 living in the wild.

All sifakas are threatened by the destruction of their forest habitats. Some species are hunted for meat, though others are protected by Malagasy tradition that forbids eating their flesh.

Siberian Tiger Facts, Pictures, Information

Many conservation programs have been established to save the critically endangered Siberian tiger, whose numbers have dwindled to mere hundreds in the wild.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 10.75 ft (3.3 m)

Weight: 660 lbs (300 kg)

Protection status: Endangered 

Siberian (or Amur) tigers are the world's largest cats. They live primarily in eastern Russia's birch forests, though some exist in China and North Korea. There are an estimated 400 to 500 Siberian tigers living in the wild, and recent studies suggest that these numbers are stable. Though their northern climate is far harsher than those of other tigers, these animals have some advantages. Northern forests offer the lowest human density of any tiger habitat, and the most complete ecosystem. The vast woodlands also allow tigers far more room to roam, as Russia's timber industry is currently less extensive than that of many other countries.

Tigers are the largest of all wild cats and are renowned for their power and strength. There were once eight tiger subspecies, but three became extinct during the 20th century. Over the last hundred years, hunting and forest destruction have reduced overall tiger populations from hundreds of thousands to perhaps 3,000 to 5,000. Tigers are hunted as trophies and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine. All five remaining tiger subspecies are endangered, and many protection programs are in place. Poaching is a reduced—but still very significant—threat to Siberian tigers.

Tigers live alone and aggressively scent-mark large territories to keep their rivals away. They are powerful hunters that travel many miles to find prey, such as elk and wild boar, on nocturnal hunts. Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes) and hunt by stealth. They lie in wait and creep close enough to attack their victims with a quick spring and a fatal pounce. A hungry tiger can eat as much as 60 pounds (27 kilograms) in one night, though they usually eat less.

Despite their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans; however, a few do become dangerous maneaters. These animals are often sick and unable to hunt normally, or live in areas where their traditional prey has vanished.

Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male. Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old, and remain with their mothers for two to three years, when they disperse to find their own territory.

Sloth Bear Facts, Pictures, Information

Sloth bears extract termites by gouging a hole in a mound and sucking out the insects through a gap in their front teeth.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in captivity: Up to 40 years

Size: 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m); Tail, 2.7 to 4.7 in (7 to 12 cm)

Weight: 120 to 310 lbs (54 to 141 kg)

Group name: Solitary

Protection status: Threatened

Did you know? Sloth bears are the only bears that carry their young on their back.

Shaggy, dusty, and unkempt, the reclusive sloth bear makes its home in the forests of South Asia. Emitting noisy grunts and snorts, it wanders alone, usually at night, in search of insects and fresh fruit.

Sloth bears feed predominantly on termites and ants and employ a well-evolved method to dig them out. Their long, curved claws are used for penetrating nest mounds, which can be rock-hard. Once they’ve opened a hole, they blow away excess dirt then noisily suck out the insects through a gap in their front teeth. To do so, they close their nostrils and use their lips like a vacuum nozzle.

Beyond insects, sloth bears feast on a variety of fruit and flowers, including mango, fig, and ebony. They are also known to scale the occasional tree to knock down a bee honeycomb, which they will then enjoy on the ground below. It is this habit that’s given rise to their nickname, honey bears.

Sloth bears are solitary creatures and generally nocturnal. They grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length, and males can weigh up to 310 pounds (140 kilograms), while females weigh up to 210 pounds (95 kilograms). When threatened they respond by standing on their hind legs and displaying their formidable foreclaws.

They wear an extremely shaggy black coat and a cream-colored snout, and their chest is usually marked with a whitish “V” or “Y” design.

After a six- to seven-month gestation period sloth bears normally give birth to a litter of two cubs in an underground den. The cubs will often ride on their mother’s back, a unique trait among bears.

Sloth bears are considered vulnerable animals. They are threatened by habitat loss and are sometimes captured for use in performances or hunted because of their aggressive behavior and destruction of crops.

Skunk Facts, Pictures, Information

Mother skunks give birth to litters of two to ten young each year, usually in May. The babies follow their mothers around for several months, leaving in late July or early August.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 3 years

Size: Head and body, 8 to 19 in (20 to 48 cm); tail, 5 to 15 in (13 to 38 cm)

Weight: 7 oz to 14 lbs (198 g to 6 kg)

Group name: Surfeit

Skunks are legendary for their powerful predator-deterrent—a hard-to-remove, horrible-smelling spray. A skunk's spray is an oily liquid produced by glands under its large tail. To employ this scent bomb, a skunk turns around and blasts its foe with a foul mist that can travel as far as ten feet (three meters).

Skunk spray causes no real damage to its victims, but it sure makes them uncomfortable. It can linger for many days and defy attempts to remove it. As a defensive technique, the spray is very effective. Predators typically give skunks a wide berth unless little other food is available.

There are many different kinds of skunks. They vary in size (most are house cat-sized) and appear in a variety of striped, spotted, and swirled patterns—but all are a vivid black-and-white that makes them easily identifiable and may alert predators to their pungent potential.

Skunks usually nest in burrows constructed by other animals, but they also live in hollow logs or even abandoned buildings. In colder climates, some skunks may sleep in these nests for several weeks of the chilliest season. Each female gives birth to between two and ten young each year.

Skunks are opportunistic eaters with a varied diet. They are nocturnal foragers who eat fruit and plants, insects, larvae, worms, eggs, reptiles, small mammals, and even fish. Nearly all skunks live in the Americas, except for the Asian stink badgers that have recently been added to the skunk family.

Snowshoe Hare Facts, Pictures, Information

The aptly named snowshoe hare has particularly large feet and a winter-white coat. In the summer though, its fur turns brown, taking up to ten weeks to change color completely.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 1 year or less

Size: 16 to 20 in (41.3 to 51.8 cm)

Weight: 2 to 4 lbs (0.9 to 1.8 kg)

Snowshoe hares are forest-dwellers that prefer the thick cover of brushy undergrowth. They are primarily a northern species that inhabits boreal forests and can also range as far north as the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Along North American mountain ranges, where elevation simulates the environment of more northerly latitudes, they can be found as far south as Virginia (the Appalachians) and New Mexico (the Rockies).

Hares are a bit larger than rabbits, and they typically have taller hind legs and longer ears. Snowshoe hares have especially large, furry feet that help them to move atop snow in the winter. They also have a snow-white winter coat that turns brown when the snow melts each spring. It takes about ten weeks for the coat to completely change color.

Snowshoe hares feed at night, following well worn forest paths to feed on trees and shrubs, grasses, and plants.

These animals are nimble and fast, which is fortunate, because they are a popular target for many predators. Lynx, fox, coyote, and even some birds of prey hunt this wary hare.

Like most hares (and rabbits), snowshoe hares are prolific breeders. Females have two or three litters each year, which include from one to eight young per litter. Young hares, called leverets, require little care from their mothers and can survive on their own in a month or less. Snowshoe hare populations fluctuate cyclically about once a decade—possibly because of disease. These waning and waxing numbers greatly impact the animals that count on hares for food, particularly the lynx.

Snow Leopard Facts, Pictures, Information

Native to the Central Asian mountains, the snow leopard is a rare sight, with only about 6,000 left in the wild. They are hunted for their beautiful, warm fur and for their organs, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m); Tail, 36 in (91 cm)

Weight: 60 to 120 lbs (27 to 54 kg)

Protection status: Endangered

These rare, beautiful gray leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia. They are insulated by thick hair, and their wide, fur-covered feet act as natural snowshoes. Snow leopards have powerful legs and are tremendous leapers, able to jump as far as 50 feet (15 meters). They use their long tails for balance and as blankets to cover sensitive body parts against the severe mountain chill.

Snow leopards prey upon the blue sheep (bharal) of Tibet and the Himalaya, as well as the mountain ibex found over most of the rest of their range. Though these powerful predators can kill animals three times their weight, they also eat smaller fare, such as marmots, hares, and game birds.

One Indian snow leopard, protected and observed in a national park, is reported to have consumed five blue sheep, nine Tibetan woolly hares, twenty-five marmots, five domestic goats, one domestic sheep, and fifteen birds in a single year.

As these numbers indicate, snow leopards sometimes have a taste for domestic animals, which has led to killings of the big cats by herders.

These endangered cats appear to be in dramatic decline because of such killings, and due to poaching driven by illegal trades in pelts and in body parts used for traditional Chinese medicine. Vanishing habitat and the decline of the cats' large mammal prey are also contributing factors.

Big Cat Cubs

Sea Cucumber Facts, Pictures, Information

All sea cucumbers are ocean-dwellers, though some inhabit the shallows and others live in the deep ocean.

Type: Invertebrate

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 5 to 10 years

Size: 0.75 in to 6.5 ft (2 to 200 cm)

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms—like starfish and sea urchins. There are some 1,250 known species, and many of these animals are indeed shaped like soft-bodied cucumbers. All sea cucumbers are ocean dwellers, though some inhabit the shallows and others live in the deep ocean. They live on or near the ocean floor—sometimes partially buried beneath it.

Sea cucumbers feed on tiny particles like algae, minute aquatic animals, or waste materials, which they gather in with 8 to 30 tube feet that look like tentacles surrounding their mouths. The animals break down these particles into even smaller pieces, which become fodder for bacteria, and thus recycle them back into the ocean ecosystem. Earthworms perform a similar function in terrestrial ecosystems.

Sea cucumbers, particularly eggs and young larvae, are prey for fish and other marine animals. They are also enjoyed by humans, especially in Asia, and some species are farmed as delicacies.

When threatened, some sea cucumbers discharge sticky threads to ensnare their enemies. Others can mutilate their own bodies as a defense mechanism. They violently contract their muscles and jettison some of their internal organs out of their anus. The missing body parts are quickly regenerated.

Sea cucumbers can breed sexually or asexually. Sexual reproduction is more typical, but the process is not very intimate. The animals release both eggs and sperm into the water and fertilization occurs when they meet. There must be many individuals in a sea cucumber population for this reproductive method to be successful. Indeed, many parts of the deep ocean host large herds of these ancient animals, grazing on the microscopic bounty of marine waters.

Scorpion Facts, Pictures, Information

Scorpions are tough. Some species are able to change their metabolic rate, allowing them live on one meal per year and even survive being stored in a freezer overnight.

Type: Bug

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 3 to 8 years

Size: Average, 2.5 in (6 cm); Largest, 8.3 in (21 cm)

Did you know? Scientists aren't sure why, but scorpions are fluorescent under ultraviolet light.

Scorpions are members of the class Arachnida and are closely related to spiders, mites, and ticks. They are commonly thought of as desert dwellers, but they also live in Brazilian forests, British Columbia, North Carolina, and even the Himalayas. These hardy, adaptable arthropods have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and they are nothing if not survivors.

There are almost 2,000 scorpion species, but only 30 or 40 have strong enough poison to kill a person. The many types of venom are effectively tailored to their users' lifestyles, however, and are highly selected for effectiveness against that species' chosen prey.

Scorpions typically eat insects, but their diet can be extremely variable—another key to their survival in so many harsh locales. When food is scarce, the scorpion has an amazing ability to slow its metabolism to as little as one-third the typical rate for arthropods. This technique enables some species to use little oxygen and live on as little as a single insect per year. Yet even with lowered metabolism, the scorpion has the ability to spring quickly to the hunt when the opportunity presents itself—a gift that many hibernating species lack.

Such survival skills allow scorpions to live in some of the planet's toughest environments. Researchers have even frozen scorpions overnight, only to put them in the sun the next day and watch them thaw out and walk away. But there is one thing scorpions have a difficult time living without—soil. They are burrowing animals, so in areas of permafrost or heavy grasses, where loose soil is not available, scorpions may not be able to survive.