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First reference for young readers and writers

 Nature
Encyclopedia

a dorling kindersley book

 LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,
Contents
MELBOURNE, and DELHI Introduction
Written and edited by Caroline Bingham 4-5 The Living World
and Ben Morgan 6-7 World Habitats
Senior designer Tory Gordon-Harris
Project art editor Laura Roberts-Jensen Polar Regions
Additional design Karen Hood 8-9 The Poles
Publishing manager Susan Leonard 10-11 Life in the Freezer
Jacket design Victoria Harvey 12-13 Arctic Tundra
Picture researcher Mariana Sonnenberg 14-15 Around Antarctica
Production controller Seyhan Esen
DTP designer Almudena Díaz Cool Forests
Consultant Kim Dennis-Bryan PhD. FZS 16-17 Cool Forests
First published in Great Britain in 2006 by 18-19 Deciduous Forests
Dorling Kindersley Limited 20-21 The Forest Floor
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
22-23 Coniferous Forests
A Penguin Company
24-25 Fantastic Forest Fungi
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 26-27 Winter Survival
Copyright © 2006 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London 28-29 Weird Woods
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted Rainforests
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, 30-31 Rainforests
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner. 32-33 In the Treetops
34-35 In the Shade
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library. 36-37 Crazy Frogs
ISBN-13 978-1-4053-1037-6
38-39 Jungle Bugs
ISBN-10 1-4053-1037-5 40-41 Night Life
Colour reproduction by Colourscan, Singapore 42-43 Rainforest Rivers
Printed and bound in China by Toppan
44-45 Jungles of Asia
Discover more at
www.dk.com
Grasslands
46-47 Grasslands
48-49 A Sea of Grass
50-51 Grazers and Browsers


This book will ask you questions at the bottom of each page...
 52-53 Hunters and Scavengers
54-55 Going Underground
56-57 Termite Tower
58-59 Life in a Meadow
60-61 At the Water Hole

Deserts
62-63 Desert Regions
64-65 Desert Animals 108-109 The Deep
66-67 Desert Plants 110-111 Icy Waters
68-69 Rainfall and Oases 112-113 Marine Mammals
70-71 After Dark 114-115 Ocean Killers
72-73 The Sonoran Desert 116-117 Mangrove Swamps

Mountains and Caves Towns and Cities

74-75 Mountains and Caves 118-119 Towns and Cities
76-77 Life in Thin Air 120-121 Outdoors
78-79 Cool Caves 122-123 Indoors
80-81 The Mighty Himalayas
82-83 The Andes Reference Section
124-127 Index
Freshwater Habitats 128 Acknowledgements and
84-85 Freshwater Habitats picture credits
86-87 The Flowing Current
88-89 Still Waters About this book
90-91 Pond Life The pages of this book have special features
92-93 Bogs and Marshes that will show you how to get your hands on
94-95 The Everglades as much information as possible! Look out
for these:
Ocean Habitats The Curiosity quiz will get
you searching through each
96-97 Ocean Habitats section for the answers.
98-99 The Shoreline Become-an-expert buttons
100-101 Rockpools tell you where to look
102-103 The Coral Reef for more information
on a subject.
104-105 Survival in the Sea
Every page is colour coded
106-107 The Twilight Zone to show you which section
it is in.

Get muck y

Activities show
you how you can
try things out for
yourself.

24-25 fantastic fungi.indd 24-25

...check here for the answers.

2/12/05 9:57:42 am

3
The Living World

The Living World

Nature surrounds us in the form of the
Sunflower living world, a world made b egan
up of living things. It is a rth
n E
an amazing world.
Honeybee
eo

f
Plants

Li
From the tiniest flower
to the largest tree, there
are an immense variety
of plants. Scientists believe
there are about 400,000
species, but it may
be many more.
Giant redwood

Flowers
Many plants produce flowers.
These are pollinated by
animals, wind, and by the
plant itself. Pollination results
Orchid in the seeds
needed to grow
new plants.

Daisy

Fungi
They may look like
plants, but fungi are
neither animals nor
Plants are able
to make their plants, but they
own food.
Plants
produce the
are living things.
oxygen we
breathe.
Mushrooms and
toadstools are fungi.

Which group of animals has the most members?
 The Living World
Animals
Owl
The animal kingdom consists of
vertebrates (animals with a backbone)
about and invertebrates (the creepy-crawlies).
2. 5
bil
li on Butterfly
y
ea
Green
woodpecker Vulture

Animals with backbones

rs
a
Vertebrates, or animals with
go.
backbones, are divided into
five categories.
Mammals breathe air.
Most live on land, but
some are aquatic.

Birds have feathered

wings. Most can fly, but
not all (e.g. the penguin).

Reptiles are cold-blooded

and rely on their
Elephant
environment for body heat.

Amphibians are able to

live on land or in water.
Kangaroo
They are cold-blooded.
Moth
Fish live in fresh water or
sea water – or some can
move between the two. Penguin

Orang-utan
Unlike plants,
animals have to find
their own food.

Swan

Red fox

Badger Tortoise

Starfish Snail

Toad
The invertebrates: they make up 97 per cent of all animal species. 
World Habitats

World Habitats
Animals and plants survive in an immense
variety of habitats, from the frozen Arctic
to tropical rainforests near the equator.
Polar bear

Polar Regions
The areas immediately around the
North and South Poles are frozen
deserts, but move a little further out
and plenty of animals live with the ice.

Cool Forests
Parts of the world have seasons:
spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
It is an environment in which broad-
Deciduous
leaf
leaved, or deciduous, trees flourish.

Butterfly

Rainforests
In areas of land near the equator, it
is hot and humid. This is where you
will find the tropical rainforests, full
of colourful plants and animals.
Zebra

Grasslands
There are about 10,800 species of
grass. Huge areas of grassland attract
grass-eating animals, which attract
predators such as lions and cheetahs.

What is a habitat?
 World Habitats
Deserts Sidewinder

One-seventh of all land is desert. At

first sight a desert may seem barren,
but desert plants and animals have
some surprising ways of surviving.

Golden
eagle
Mountains and Caves
Mountains cover five per cent of all
land. Plants and animals living on a
mountain have to cope with less
oxygen, severe cold, and strong winds.

Lily

Fresh Water
The world is full of freshwater lakes,
rivers, and streams, all fed by
rainwater. These habitats attract all
sorts of insects, animals, and plants.

Fish
Oceans
Earth is largely made up of oceans.
Animals and some plants flourish in this
salty world. Most sea life is found in
shallow water and around coral reefs.
Pigeon

Towns and Cities

From mosses growing in brick walls to
rats rooting through our rubbish,
many plants and animals have
settled in our towns and cities.
A habitat is the place or environment where particular organisms live. 
Polar Regions

The Poles
Earth’s polar regions are
harsh habitats. The land
animals here are warm Arctic Antarctic

blooded, which means

they keep their body at
a constant temperature
that is higher than that The Arctic The Antarctic
of their surroundings. The Arctic lies around
the North Pole, with
The South Pole is
in the middle
Cold-blooded animals most of the region of a continent:
such as snakes and taken up by the Arctic Antarctica.
Pola frogs would not
Ocean. Large sheets Ninety-eight
r bea
survive at the poles.
They’d freeze solid. of ice cover much of per cent of
rs liv the Arctic Ocean. Antarctica is
e in the Arctic. T covered by ice.
hey a re
good swimmers.

Polar bear

How often does the Sun rise each year at the North Pole?
 The Poles
Ice does float! Icebergs are unstable, as they
Curiosity quiz
Icebergs are huge are constantly melting into Look through the Polar
the surrounding seawater.
pieces of floating ice, Regions pages and see
but what you see is if you can identify the
really just the tip picture clues below.
of an iceberg. This
makes them very
dangerous to ships.

ice is formed
Polar
esh water
from fr .

Land of the midnight sun

Polar regions stay light for 24 hours
a day in summer, but they remain
cloaked in darkness in the winter.
This is because of Earth’s orbit
around the Sun.

Antarctica contains
70 per cent of the
world’s fresh water, but
is as dry as a desert.

Become
an expert...
on Antarctica,
pages 14-15
on icy seas,
pages 110-111

Once – because of the Earth’s position in relation to the Sun. 

Polar Regions

Life in the Freezer

Polar regions are often dark, blasted by
freezing winds, and they receive little
rain. Only the toughest can survive.

Polar bears have

thick blubber
under their skin
to help keep Let’s stay warm
the cold out.
Penguins huddle together
to stay warm. The adults
Polar bear and chicks on the outside of
the huddle aren’t so well
protected from the
cold, so they take
turns standing in
the middle.
Polar giants
Large animals lose heat more slowly than
small ones, so many Arctic animals are big.
A male polar bear can be 2.5 m (8 ft) long
and weigh 800 kg (0.8 ton). To survive blizzards, musk oxen
simply sit down and wait, using
Although their fur is as little energy as possible.
white, polar bears have
black skin.

Musk oxen may look

A walking coat
like cattle, but they are The musk ox looks like a small, shaggy haired buffalo.
actually goats! Its coat, said to be eight times warmer than sheep’s
wool, is made of coarse hairs as long as your arm.
10
What is the world’s largest bear?
 Life in the Freezer
One big cover up
Many polar animals have thick coats.
The snowy owl has feathers on its
body that grow long enough to
cover its legs and its bill.

Snowy
owl

A fine fur coat

The Arctic fox’s luxurious
fur even covers the soles of
its feet. This fox is dark in
the summer, and white in
the winter. In the summer it
is very busy, collecting and
storing food for the winter.
Cushion growth
It’s not just animals
that need to wrap up
warm – plants do too.
Purple saxifrage has lots
of tiny, overlapping
leaves that completely
cover the short stems.

The snowy owl’s talons Purple saxifrage is one of the first Arctic plants
are perfectly shaped for to flower when the snow melts in June.
gripping a lemming.
Polar k
regions are dar Become
f or h a t
lf the year, bu an expert...
many e.
animals surviv
on other ways
animals survive
snow and ice,
It's best to stay under! pages 26-27
Lemmings cope with the cold by staying in
tunnels below the snow, where they hunt for
plant roots to nibble. If they emerge, they may
well be caught by a passing snowy owl.
The polar bear. 11
Polar Regions

Arctic Tundra
Arctic tundra bursts into life in the
summer when the surface of the frozen
ground melts into a patchwork of
boggy pools and meadows.
The sea eagle
In summer the tundra’s pools and rich
coasts are a magnet for birds. Steller’s sea
eagle is one of the top predators.
The sea eagle is a powerful bird and
can swoop down to pluck particularly
large fish from the water.

Low profile
Arctic plants grow
low to the ground. The hare’s winter
coat is white.
A spring moult Insect attack
produces a grey-
Lichen is a crusty-
black coat.
Hordes of biting insects plague
looking combination of the tundra. Black flies and
a fungus and a plant.
mosquitoes will cloud around
Bearberries provide a reindeer and suck their blood,
valuable food for bears while bot flies infest their throats.
in late summer.

Dryas’ yellow flowers are Hare today

shaped like satellite dishes. The Arctic hare spends much
They track the Sun. of its time foraging for food
– in fact so much time
Reindeer moss is a fluffy that a mother visits her
kind of lichen that grows Arctic litter to suckle them for
among other plants. hare
just two minutes every
Cotton grass is one 18 hours.
of the most common
Arctic plants.

12
Are there any trees in the Arctic?
 Arctic Tundra

Some reindeer populations

migrate almost 1,200 km
(750 miles) twice a year.

Reindeer
These large deer survive
Follow the herd
by eating grasses and tree Some reindeer herds follow
saplings in the summer, and long migration routes into the
scraping back the snow to tundra in summer to feed on
graze on mosses and lichens the newly sprouted plants
and to calve. In winter
in the winter. they move south.
A large male may
Reindeer are the
stand 1.5 m (5 ft)
only deer in which Reindeer
at the shoulders.
both males and
females have antlers.

Reindeer
are also
known as
caribou.
Reindeer hairs
The subsoil is are hollow,
permanently frozen so which helps
only shallow-rooted to trap heat
plants can grow. and keep the
reindeer warm.

No. Trees can’t grow because their roots can’t penetrate the frozen ground. 13
Polar Regions

Around Antarctica
Antarctica is the Earth’s coldest and driest
continent. There is little plant life, so nearly all
the animals depend on the sea for food.
On the move
Antarctica’s ice flows
very slowly from the Penguin paradise
centre outwards. It Only adelie, gentoo, chinstrap,
takes about 50,000 and emperor penguins nest on the
years for a snowflake
Antarctic continent, but many more
at the South Pole to
reach the ocean. species nest on nearby islands.
Emperor
penguin

Walking home
Emperor penguins raise their families up to 80 km
(50 miles) inland in Antarctica. This means they face
a very long walk to reach the sea for fishing trips.

A patient father
The male emperor penguin cares
for the egg and then the chick.
The chick stays on its father’s
feet for several months. If it
falls it can freeze to death
in just two minutes.
14
How big is the albatross?
 Around Antarctica
Seals of the south
Six types of seals are found on and
around Antarctica. They have
few natural enemies, so the
colonies thrive.
Crabeater
seal

That’s some seal!

The world’s largest seal is the
Let's go sieving male southern elephant seal,
Crabeater seals actually which grows to 6 m (18 ft) long.
eat krill, not crabs, using their It can reach the weight of
teeth to sieve these small, shrimp-like Southern elephant seal two average-sized cars.
creatures out of the water.
Antarctic
Magnified picture of an
hairgrass
Antarctic springtail
A permanent resident
Springtails are insect-like creatures
that have spring-loaded tails to Antarctic
catapult them through the air. hairgrass is one
of only two
They are one of the very few flowering plant
Antarctic land-based animals. species to survive
in Antarctica.

in s look ungainly Just wandering

ngu on land.
Pe when The wandering albatross has the
largest wingspan of any bird.
Some pairs nest on islands around
Antarctica, usually producing
a chick every two years.

Emperor On route to the sea, penguins will

penguins often waddle in single file. They
sometimes fall on their belly and
push themselves along.
It has a wingspan of 2.5 m (12 ft).
Cool Forests

Cool Forests
A forest is a thickly wooded
area. Forests have a wide
variety of plants and animals
living among the trees.
Cool forests are
Northern hemisphere
found near to
the equator at
Coniferous forests
high altitudes,
as well as in Deciduous forests
colder regions.
Weasel Equator

Southern hemisphere

Where in the world?

Forests that like cooler
climates are found largely in
the northern hemisphere, far
north of the equator.

Forest animals
Forests are havens for wildlife,
including the weasel, which is small
enough to chase small rodents such as
mice and voles down their holes.

16
What name is given to forests that are found near the equator?
 Cool Forests
What sort of tree? Curiosity quiz
Forests in cooler climates Look through the Cool
are made up from two Forests pages and see
basic types of trees. if you can identify the
picture clues below.
Deciduous trees have
broad, flat leaves. They
lose their leaves in winter. Foxglove

Coniferous trees don’t lose

their leaves in winter. They
are called evergreens.

Forest plants
Forest floors are shady places and it
can be hard for plants to grow. Plants
such as foxgloves can sometimes be
found in clearings.

Forests are full of

dead wood, which
attracts all sorts
of creatures.

Become
an expert...
on deciduous trees,
pages 18-19
on coniferous trees,
pages 22-23

Tropical rainforests. 17
Cool Forests

Deciduous Forests
Deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter.
These trees need weather patterns that are
neither too hot nor too cold, and with seasons.
Layer on layer
Deciduous forests
have two or three
layers: a canopy
(treetops), sometimes
a layer of shrubs,
and then the low-
lying plants such as
mosses, ferns, and
spring flowers.

If conditions are
right, mosses
Springing to life
will grow on the
north side of a
A forest appears to sleep
forest tree. in winter, but in spring
it bursts into life. Buds
open and ferns spread
out to soak up the light.
Land of plenty
A forest floor is littered with dead
leaves and wood, and there are often
plenty of nuts and berries – it’s a
perfect hunting ground for squirrels.

The grey squirrel will

collect and store acorns
and other seeds.

18
Why do squirrels have bushy tails?
 Deciduous Forests
Links in a chain Autumn colours
Food chains connect a In the growing season,
deciduous leaves
species with what it eats. appear green because
Leaves act like solar
of a chemical called
panels to gather sunlight chlorophyll. In autumn,
to make food. the leaves turn yellow,
brown, or red as the
Caterpillars – and many chlorophyll is destroyed.
other insects – chew on
leaves. That’s their food.
Woodpeckers have thick skulls to
protect against the shock as they
Birds hunt caterpillars, hammer into wood.
especially in spring when Maple leaf
they have chicks to feed.

Foxes prey on birds,

small mammals, and A leaf is a tree's food Woodpecker
factory. In autumn, it
other creatures.
begins to shut down.

Making an entrance
Woodpeckers use their beaks to dig
out grubs and to make nest holes. They
have amazingly long tongues
to probe and seek out insects.

Trees as homes
Woodpeckers take two to three
When mature, weeks to dig out a nest hole,
a fern bud
unrolls and into which the female lays
the leaflets several eggs. The hole is
open out.
usually in a dead tree.

A squirrel’s tail helps it to balance as it leaps from tree to tree.

Cool Forests
Catkins
The Forest Floor
A deciduous forest floor is alive with
a mighty army of insects and small
creatures. There are rich pickings
to be had for these animals.
Fern
Mosses thrive on
Mice nibble on damp, shady rocks
Male stag seeds and berries. and on tree trunks.
beetles have
huge mandibles
that form
“antlers”.

Prickly hogs Earthworm

Hedgehogs snuffle along using

their keen sense of smell to find
such goodies as beetles, caterpillars,
earthworms, snails, slugs, Seeds
and spiders.
Trees have a variety
of ways of spreading
Things that wriggle
their seeds widely.
Earthworms help to
break soil down, taking Rowan trees produce seeds
it in at their mouth and in berries that are eaten
digesting it in a short and so spread by birds.
intestine. The worms’
Poplar seeds grow on
droppings help to catkins. Hairs catch the
enrich the soil. breeze and they fly away.

Sycamore seeds have

wings that direct their fall
away from the tree.

European hedgehogs are most Acorns are collected

active at night, especially
when the ground is wet and
and buried by squirrels.
worms come to the surface. Some will grow.

How large do stag beetles grow?

 The Forest Floor
Shade lovers Salamanders
Most plants need lots of sunlight breathe through
their moist skin, so
to grow well, but some flourish they have to stay
damp all the time.
in shade. These include ferns.

I'll have your food!

Some plants manage without light by
stealing food instead of using sunlight
to make food. Broom rape plants
Woodlice eat rotting
plants, fungi – and grow suckers that work into
their own poo! the roots of other plants.
Broom rape

A millipede
has a tough
A stag beetle exoskeleton.
lays its eggs on Some protect
decaying tree themselves by
stumps or roots. rolling into
The larvae then a ball.
eat the wood.
Stag beetle larva

Life in a log
Life as a larva Rotting wood provides
food for thousands of
A stag beetle spends the tiny animals. Beetle
first few years of its life as grubs tunnel through it,
a larva. As an adult, it only eating as they go. The
survives for a few months. grubs are an important
food for songbirds.
A male stag beetle can reach 8.5 cm (3¼ in) in length. 21
Cool Forests

Coniferous
Forests
Forest Coniferous forests cover about a
giants tenth of the world’s land. In the
Giant
redwoods
far north, they form a vast ring
can live for around the tundra and North Pole.
thousands Perfectly at home
of years and The North American
their cones porcupine is one of the
few animals that can eat
can take 20
pine needles. It is also
years or more good at climbing the trees.
to mature.

Cone specialist
Most birds wait
for pine cones to fall
before eating the seeds,
but the crossbill can
prise open a conifer’s
cones with its
cross-tipped beak.

Conifer trees
are often
cone-shaped. Crossbill
This lets snow
slide easily off
the branches.

22
What is the world’s biggest deer?
 Coniferous Forests
Pins and needles Wolverines are also known
as gluttons because of Wolverine
their large appetites.
Conifers have needle-shaped
leaves that stay on all year.
Instead of growing flowers
and fruits, they produce cones.

A cone's scales
close in wet
weather but Grey wolf
open when it's Wolves and wolverines
dry, releasing
the seeds. Larger predators such as
wolves and wolverines
Does it have antlers? are not often spotted
in the wild. Thick fur
One of the largest coniferous allows them to survive
forest residents is the chilly winters of
the moose. Only a coniferous forest.
the males
have antlers.

Water babies
In summer-time, moose love
to wade into lakes and ponds All moose have
to feed on aquatic plants and a flap of skin,
a bell, hanging
to escape the clouds from their throat.
of biting flies that
suck their blood.

The moose (called the elk in Europe). 23

Cool Forests

Fantastic Forest Fungi

Many people think mushrooms are plants,
but they are neither plants, nor animals.
They are, however, living things that need
food to stay alive. They love damp forests.
What is a
mushroom?
Many fungi live
underground. To
produce more
fungi, they push up
Cep
This mushroom is the visible mushrooms that send mushroom Fairy rings
part of a large fungus that
lives underground. spores into the air. Some fungi are huge and lie
like carpets underneath the
forest floor. In clearings,
Puffball Bird’s nest fungi mushrooms will sometimes
grow around the edge of
the unseen fungi in rings.

Bracket fungi

Coral
fungi
Cup fungi

Is that a mushroom?
Making more fungi
Not all mushrooms look like the Mushrooms and the other fungi
mushrooms that you eat. There are “fruits” do not make seeds.
many different types and they come in Instead they make tiny spores
all shapes, sizes, and colours. Truffle that blow away in the wind
and produce more fungi.
24
How big is the biggest fungus in the world?
 Fantastic Forest Fungi
The fungus family Warning! Poison!
Some mushrooms are very
There are many types of poisonous. They are often
fungi, some you may like, brightly coloured to warn animals
and others you may not. not to eat them. People often call
poisonous mushrooms toadstools.
Penicillin: antibiotics
made from fungi can cure
diseases in humans.

Mould: when food rots,

it sometimes gets mould
on it. This is a fungus.

Blue cheese: when you

eat blue cheese, you are
actually eating mould!

Ringworm: some fungi

cause diseases, such as Some poisonous
this ringworm on the skin. mushrooms can kill
Fly agaric a human if eaten.
mushroom
Cleaning up Live food
Fungi are one of the Some fungi live off
world’s natural cleaners. the things that they live
When a plant or animal on, such as trees. They
do not have stomachs;
dies, fungi help to break it instead they release a
down, helping to clear the liquid that digests food
forest from rotten things. outside the body.

Shaggy If mushrooms and

ink cap toadstools didn’t
exist, the earth

Get mucky
would be buried
in several metres
of rotten gunge
and life on the Take a large
planet would mushroom and cut off the
soon disappear.
stalk. Lay it on a piece of light
paper, cover with a bowl, and
leave it for a few days. When
you lift the bowl, you will
have a spore print.

The world’s largest fungus covers an area the size of more than 1,600 football pitches. 25
Cool Forests

Winter Survival
The chill of winter brings less food
and icy winds. Plants and animals Holly

have different techniques for Ivy

surviving the changes. Leaves to last
Holly and ivy can
survive wintry
Robin
conditions because
their leaves have a
To stay or go?
thick waxy covering
Some birds are perfectly at that protects them
home in cold conditions. in both cold and
The male robin winters in dry weather.
England, while some females
fly to a milder Spain. Come
spring, they will head back.
The stoat has a brown and
Let's change colour white summer coat, with a
black tip to its tail.
A number of animals change
their coat in the winter. The Become
stoat’s coat turns white, for an expert...
camouflage. A white stoat is
on survival in
known as an ermine.
extreme cold,
pages 10-11
In hibernation,
a European
dormouse’s
heart beats just
once a minute.
Stoat
A European dormouse
spends just five months
of the year out Chilling out
of hibernation.
A good way to survive winter is
to “hibernate”. A hibernating
animal isn’t just asleep –
its body becomes cold and
inactive, as though the
animal is dead.
26
Can you name some animals that hibernate?
 Winter Survival
Some butterflies
The great escape hibernate while others
spend the winter in Coniferous trees
Birds can’t hibernate, but chrysalis form, emerging
in the spring.
can survive
areas where the
they can fly away and winters may last
eight months.
spend winter somewhere
warmer. Many do this. Swallowtail
butterfly

A hot bath
One group of Japanese macaques
jump into natural hot springs to
warm up in winter, though getting
out can leave them a bit cold.

Macaques are also

known as snow
monkeys. The
young learn to roll
snowballs – just
for fun!

Life as a Japanese macaque

In the winter months, Japanese
macaques grow a thicker coat. They are
intelligent and sociable animals, living
in troops of 20 to 30 individuals.
The woodchuck and the hedgehog both hibernate. 27
Cool Forests

Weird Woods
Not all evergreen trees have Weird woods have
needle-shaped leaves, and not some unusual
residents, such
all broad-leaved trees shed as the Tasmanian
sugar glider.
their leaves. Tasmanian
sugar glider
Bamboo is broad-leaved,
Panda but evergreen.

Bamboo forests
In parts of China,
bamboos grow as tall
as trees, although they
are grasses. They are
the fastest-growing
plants in the world.
Pandas depend
on bamboo No need for flight
forests for
their survival. Many of New Zealand’s birds, like
the kiwi, are flightless. The kiwi
lives more like a hedgehog, Kiwi
rooting around on the
forest floor.

Why is the kiwi flightless?

 Weird Woods

ir d or what
we ?
Koalas spend
most of their lives in
Koala eucalyptus trees, even
sleeping up there! They
feed on the leaves for
about four hours
each night.

Life in a tree
Eucalyptus leaves
are poisonous, but
one animal can
Tree ferns were stomach them:
once a source of the koala. Special
food for some
dinosaurs. bacteria aid
digestion.
Eucalyptus is broad-
leaved, but evergreen.
Prehistoric!
Seen by dinosaurs
The tree fern is a With their rounded tops and stiff,
strange relic from upward-pointing leaves, monkey
the days of the puzzle trees are related to trees that
dinosaurs. It is an were viewed by dinosaurs. They are
broad-leaved, but evergreen.
evergreen tree.
Ancient monkey-puzzle
trees in Chile

Because it has no natural predators. 29

Rainforests

Rainforests Bursting with life

Tropical rainforests
cover just 7% of Earth’s
Tropical rainforests are rich land, yet contain over
habitats for a huge variety of half of the world’s species.
Parakeet
plants and animals. Enter a hot, Beetles One scientist found
damp, and shady world. 18,000 species of beetles in
one small area of rainforest.
Time for the umbrella
A rainforest is warm and sticky, with Trees A football pitch-
sized patch of rainforest
frequent downpours. The trees take up may contain 300 trees.
much of the rain, but water vapour
soon evaporates from their leaves, Queen Alexandra
Orchids New orchids
filling the air with moisture. birdwing butterfly are continually being
(female) discovered in rainforests.

Birds The Amazon alone

contains a third of Earth’s
9,000 known bird species.

Orang-utan

Slipper
orchid

30
Where do most of a rainforest’s animals live?
 Rainforests
Emergents are the
high tree tops that Rainforest layers Curiosity quiz
poke out above
everything else. A rainforest is like a Look through the
block of flats, with Rainforests pages and
The canopy is different residents see if you can identify
made up from
the majority of at different layers. the picture clues below.
the tree tops.
It is a forest’s There are four
leaky roof.

The understorey
main levels.
is made up of
short trees,
The forest floor is a thick
shade-loving
carpet of dead leaves,
plants, and lianas.
ferns, and the buttresses
of tree roots.

Cloud forest
In mountainous
areas, rainforests
may be so high that
they’re cloaked in
clouds. The heavy
moisture encourages
lush plant growth.

Eastern
rosella

Moth
orchid

Become
an expert...
on other types
of forests,
pages 16-17

Most of a rainforest’s animals (excluding worms in the leaf litter) live in the canopy. 31
Rainforests
Climbing plants
called lianas snake

In the Treetops
their way through
the canopy.

Much of the life in a rainforest exists

way up in the canopy. It is a refreshingly
Passion breezy, but sunny place to live.
flower
Bird’s nest
anthurium
Survival at the top
Many rainforest plants have to
compete for light. Some do so by
starting life on top of other plants. This tree branch
is covered with
Crystal epiphytes, or
anthurium air plants.

A weighty problem
Plants that grow on tree trunks are
called epiphytes. Epiphytes can
eventually grow so heavy that a
Bromeliads
provide a home branch may fall under their weight.
for lots of small
creatures.

A green bucket
Bromeliads are a type of
epiphyte. Their leaves
form a tight circle that
catches rainwater.
Their roots are purely
for holding on – they
do not steal the host
tree’s nutrients.
Are there many flowers in the canopy?
 In the Treetops

Getting around
Siamangs are the
Birds fly from branch to
largest of all gibbons. Animals have solved the branch, ready to take off
if danger threatens.
Many gibbons live in
the trees.
problem of getting from
treetop to treetop in a Kuhl’s flying gecko glides
through the air, using its
variety of ingenious ways. webbed feet.
Siamang
Gibbons swing from tree Flying snakes have
to tree using their hands to flattish bodies and form an
grip and hold. S-shape to let them glide.

Monkeys scamper about. Tree kangaroos use long

Some use their tails as an claws on their hands to
extra limb. grip tree branches.

Lemurs make bold leaps Orang-utans swing on

between trees, using their lianas, or use their weight
long tails for balance. to bend small trees down.

Aracaris will eat more

than 100 different
types of fruit,
Nutcrackers if they can
find them.
The canopy is full of
fruits and nuts all year.
Many animals and birds
specialize in getting
at this food.
Pocket-sized monkey
Chestnut-eared
The pygmy marmoset is the world’s aracari
smallest monkey. It lives in the
treetops of the Amazon jungle,
searching for fruits and insects. Clay
It’s good for us
Many rainforest
seeds are poisonous.
Macaws get round
this by eating clay
before their seed
meal. A mineral in
the clay absorbs the
poisons in the seeds.
Yes. Some canopy plants flower six times a year.
Rainforests

In the Shade
The understorey and forest floor are
darker and damper than the canopy.
With still air and little or no direct
sunlight, they provide a haven for
moisture-loving plants and animals.
Coconut crab

Crabs in trees
On some rainforest-covered islands,
crabs climb trees and scurry over
the forest floor, looking for dead
bodies to scavenge.

See-through butterflies
Glasswings are delicate
butterflies that live in gloomy
parts of the understorey.
Glasswing butterfly

Rafflesia
What a stink
Sumatra’s Rafflesia is the
world’s biggest flower,
though it is more like a
fungus. Its rotten smell
attracts the insects that
pollinate it. The
flower lasts for
just one week.

34
How big can the Rafflesia grow?
 In the Shade
Death by suffocation
Boa constrictors don’t have
fangs or poison, so they
kill prey by squeezing
until the animal dies
of suffocation.
Boa constrictor
eating a rat
Shy and secretive
A chameleon’s
eyes can swivel Troops of silverback mountain
in different gorillas roam African rainforests
directions.
during the day. These secretive forest
animals spend most of their
time on the forest floor.

Stick to me Jackson’s
chameleon

Chameleons have
extremely long tongues.
A thick, sticky pad
on the end means a
quick end for the
chameleon’s victim.

Forest flavours Killer plant

Many of the flavourings The strangler fig starts life in a
we use in food come from large tree as an epiphyte. Over
rainforest understorey plants. the years, it wraps roots around
Chocolate comes from the host’s trunk
the beans of the South and gradually
American cacao tree. chokes the tree
to death.
Vanilla ice cream gets
its flavour from the seed
pods of a climbing orchid. After the host’s
death, the
strangler’s roots
Ginger biscuits are will remain as a
flavoured from the root of hollow cage.
a plant from S E Asia.

Strangler fig
enveloping a
tree trunk

Rafflesia flowers grow to about 1 m (3 ft) in width. 35

Rainforests

Crazy Frogs
Red-eyed
tree frog

Red-eyed
tree frog
Warm, damp rainforests make an
ideal home for frogs and toads, and
there is an almost endless variety of
these creatures.
Leaping for safety
Frogs have four
fingers on each of Red-eyed Tree frogs have much
their front limbs, tree frog longer back legs than
and five on their
hind limbs. front, so they can leap
Sticky fingers away from danger – or
Tree frogs have swollen leap in pursuit of a tasty fly.
fingertips with sticky suction
cups so they can cling
to leaves and twigs.
I can fly!
Wallace’s flying frog
has huge webbed
feet that act like tiny
parachutes when it
jumps through the air,
allowing it to glide. It
can “fly” a whopping
15 m (49 ft)!

Hiding from danger

Many rainforest animals enjoy
eating frogs and toads, so they
need to protect themselves. One
way is to use camouflage.

The Asian horned

toad almost
disappears on a bed
of rotting leaves.

36
What’s the difference between a frog and a toad?
 Crazy Frogs
Goliath frog
Reaching the size of Emerald
a cat, the world’s glass frog

largest frog is
the goliath. This
monster lives in
the rainforests of
west Africa.

Baby matters
Some rainforest
Gastric brooding frogs
frogs have unusual swallow their tadpoles,
ways of helping releasing them when grown.
Translucent skin
their young to Rain frogs develop inside Glass frogs are
their eggs, stuck to the almost see-through,
survive. These leaf of a tree.
which helps them to blend
amphibians don’t in with their surroundings. These
Surinam toad females
simply hatch as carry their eggs on their curious-looking frogs live in trees
tadpoles in ponds. back, beneath their skin. that overhang water.

Green poison- Yellow-banded poison- Blue poison-

dart frog dart frog dart frog
Poison-dart frogs
Some of the most colourful
of all frogs use their
patterning as a warning
that they are extremely Poison-dart frogs eat
poisonous insects and
poisonous to eat. store the poison
in their skin.

Poison-dart frog
Become
an expert...
on tadpole
development in a
freshwater pond,
page 90

There’s no clear difference. Toads typically have warty skin. 37

Rainforests
Praying
mantis

Praying for dinner

The praying mantis hunts by
stealth. It remains motionless, The victim, a fly, is
then springs forward to catch caught before it has
its victim. a chance to react.

Jungle Bugs rm pathways

Rainforests are home to more s fo
t
species of insects than anywhere an
else. They include the biggest, er
utt
deadliest, loudest, and weirdest!
Leafc

Farming the forest

Leafcutter ants cannot eat the
Leafcutter
leaves they carry back home. ants

They harvest them to grow a

fungus, which they eat. Let me eat, eat, eat
Butterflies are a common sight
in rainforests. This means there
are lots of caterpillers to spot
Giraffe – chubby little eating machines.
beetle

Stick your
neck out
The giraffe
weevil has an
extraordinarily long
neck, but nobody knows
why! It can bend its neck
to look under leaves.
38
How many insect species exist?
 Jungle Bugs
Living jewels
Iridescent markings help this
butterfly find a mate in the forest.
The flash of bright colour may also
confuse a bird that wants to eat it.
This morpho has a
wingspan of about
10 cm (4 in).

Blue
morpho

Record-breakers
When it comes to bugs,

st.
ne rainforests are home
ei r to many of the world’s
h
to t
to carry leaves record-breakers.
African goliath beetles
are the heaviest insects,
Tasty tears reaching 100 g (3.5 oz).
Butterflies visit flowers
Brazil’s goliath bird-
to feed on nectar, but eating spider is the
nectar is short of salt world’s largest spider.
and other minerals.
These butterflies Malaysia’s giant stick
are collecting those insect can reach 55.5 cm
(22 in) in length.
missing minerals
from a turtle’s eyes This click beetle produces
and nostrils. the most light of any insect
– enough to read by!
Spikes on this Alien empire
nymph’s head, Some insects hide from danger Mosquitos are the
body, and legs
help it to look like by disguising themselves deadliest insects, spreading
a thorny plant. as leaves and sticks. a sickness called malaria.
umagnaaliquam erat. Queen Alexandra’s
birdwing butterfly is
huge, reaching 28 cm (11 in).

Stick insect
nymph

More than a million species have been identified. 39

Rainforests
Macuna flowers
Night Life
If you venture into a
rainforest at night, you will
soon realise that the forest
never sleeps...
Underwood’s long-
Shaving brush tree
tongued bat
Night flowers
Vampire bat Some flowers, like If a flower looks
like a brush,
the shaving brush it’s probably
pollinated by bats!
tree, are pollinated
by bats and so they
only open at night. Mega moths
The night-time
rainforest is full of
Atlas moth
moths, which flit
around trying to
find flowers or each
Vampire bat other – using their
A vampire bat’s saliva incredible sense
contains anaesthetic, so the of smell.
victim doesn’t feel the bat The atlas moth
Uraniid
is the world’s
lapping up their blood. largest moth. moth

gh t - time glow wi
ly ni ll a
ost ttr Butler’s
brahmin
gh
ac

A
t in

Fairy lanterns?
sec

These strange, glowing

lights on the forest floor
ts.

are luminous mushrooms.

40
Why do moths fly into lights?
 Night Life
Seeing in the dark
Bushbabies have huge eyes to
help them see at night. Their
eyes are sensitive, so they
avoid bright light as it
Golden eyelash viper
can damage their eyes.
Bushbaby

Slippery snake
Snakes can hunt in
complete darkness,
using their tongue to
taste the air for the
smell of prey. The
eyelash viper also has
special heat-sensing
pits on its head.

On the prowl Ocelot

Many rainforest animals are

nocturnal, which means
they wake up at night
and begin to hunt.

An ocelot hunts
with its head
lowered to pick
up the scent et mucky
GMake
of its prey. a moth
trap. Lean empty
egg cartons inside a box.
Light the box with a torch and
leave outdoors at night. In the
morning you may find moths
hiding under the
egg cartons.

They mistake them for stars and think they’re flying upwards. 41
Rainforests

Rainforest Rivers
Rainforest rivers are frequently muddied
by the amount of silt that washes into
them following rain, but many animals
make a good life in them.
Through the jungle
Amazon river Rivers snake through
dolphin
rainforests, carrying excess
rain water towards
the ocean.

A bendy solution
The Amazon river dolphin
has a very flexible neck.
It uses this ability to get
around tree roots.

Red-bellied
piranhas

Dangerous fish
A shoal of red-bellied piranhas
can strip an animal to the bone
in seconds. They eat by slicing Nine-banded
armadillo
off chunks of flesh, using their
sharp, triangular-shaped teeth.

42
Are all piranhas dangerous?
 Rainforest Rivers
Just another catfish
There is a huge variety of catfish – in fact,
three quarters of all freshwater fish

.
Shovel-nosed tiger

death
are catfish or related to catfish. This catfish
catfish reaches about 60 cm
(2 ft) in length.

y to
re
r p
Walking on water hei
t
The basilisk lizard can run
eze
on water. As basilisks
ue
get older they get too
s sq
heavy and can’t
da
run so far
c on
on water. a
An
A giant in the river
The world’s heaviest snake
is the green anaconda. Green anaconda
A snake this size is
capable of killing
deer and caimans.

Walking underwater
The nine-banded armadillo is
able to walk under water!
It can hold its breath while
it crosses a narrow
stream. Its armour
provides a What a whopper
tough defence.
The giant otter can grow to almost
2 m (6 ft) in length, making it the
This armadillo has
nine bands of bony
world’s largest otter. River otters use
carapace between its rocks as hammers to smash shells.
shoulder and rump.

No. Most piranha species are harmless. 43

Rainforests

Jungles of Asia
Southeast Asia’s rainforests are spread
over a number of islands and contain
some animals found nowhere else. Monkey cup pitcher plant

Ready for lunch

A rare sight Pitcher plants
The Sumatran rhino contain small
is one of the rarest pools of syrupy
animals of all – just liquid. Insects
300 or so exist. It is fall into the
also the smallest and pools and drown.
hairiest of all rhinos,
although its coat of
hair is rather sparse.
Person of the forest
Orang-utans are closely
A suit of armour related to human beings
The pangolin hides in a burrow and chimpanzees, and
by day and emerges to hunt at they are just as clever
night. Its scales form as chimps. They spend
much of their life in
a flexible shield. trees, even making a
Malaysian nest and sleeping there.
pangolin

Clouded leopard
The clouded leopard is one of
the only cats that can climb
down a tree headfirst – it
rarely gets stuck!

44
Does a pangolin have teeth?
 Jungles of Asia
The Rajah Rajah Brook’s
Brook’s wings birdwing butterfly
are shaped
rather like a
bird's wings.

a tree trunk,
g to
o
gin hunts f r prey.
is er

n
Cli
ar
Jewel of the forest

at
This spectacular butterfly has a wingspan
about the length of your hand. When
large groups of birdwings gather to drink
from puddles, it’s a very pretty sight.

Ever watchful
Instead of moving its
eyes like us, a tarsier
can turn its head 180°
The clouded leopard’s
prey includes monkeys, in both directions to
gibbons, young wild
boar, birds, and deer. look behind it.
Clouded leopard Tarsier

i rd or wh at
w e ?

Each one of the tarsier’s eyes

is so big that each is heavier
than the animal’s brain. The size
of its eyes provides excellent
night vision.

No. A pangolin uses its long tongue to collect ants and termites.
Grasslands

Grasslands Northern hemisphere

North American
prairies
Asian steppes

In places that have more rain than Equator African savanna

deserts, but not enough for many South

American
trees, grasslands flourish. Grasslands pampas
South
African veld
Australian
rangeland
are home to vast numbers of animals. Southern hemisphere

Where in the world?

Lions on the prowl
Grasslands attract Grasslands cover huge areas
lots of grass-eating of land. They are given
animals, which different names, depending
attract predators,
including some of
on where they are.
the most dangerous
land animals in the Browsing on grass
world: lions. Zebra roam the African savanna,
spending much of their days
grazing in order to get enough
of the nutrients they need.

I spot some trees!

If a grassland is dotted with trees,
it’s called a savanna. There are huge
savannas in hot parts of the world.

46
How do grassland fires begin?
 Grasslands
Grassland hazards Curiosity quiz
Look through the
Severe weather changes Grasslands pages and
and outbreaks of fire see if you can identify
mean life in a grassland the picture clues below.
Giraffes may look habitat can be tough.
alike, but their
patterned coat
Sun Some grasslands are
varies depending
on where they hot, sunny, and very dry
are from. for much of the year.

Fire is a natural and

important part of
grassland life.

Wind sweeps across

grasslands, as there are no
trees to break its flow.

Tornados are a common

occurrence on North
American prairies.

Browsing on trees
Giraffes live on the
African savanna, in
areas where they can
nibble on acacia and
wild apricot trees.

Become
an expert...
on a grassland’s
grazers and browsers,
pages 50-51

Some by lightning, and some by people who want to clear away dead growth. 47
Grasslands

A Sea of Grass Grass is

resistant to
being trampled
Most plants grow from the top, but by hooves.

grass grows from the bottom. This

means it can grow back if it’s eaten, Grass

or if it is flattened by being trampled. clump

Grass
shedding seed The cycle of life
Grass seed Tropical grasslands have wet and dry
Grass plants use the seasons. In the dry season, the grass
wind to spread their turns straw-coloured and dies. With the
pollen (the fine dust rainy season, it springs back to life.
that passes from
male flowers to
female flowers) and
their seeds.

In summer,
clouds of grass
pollen give some
people hay fever.

Cheetah

48
How old are the baobab trees in Africa?
 A Sea of Grass
The grass we eat
Spring flowers
Grass doesn’t just provide While tropical
food for animals, it grasslands burst
provides food for us. In into life in the
fact, most people’s main rainy season,
northern grasslands
food comes from grasses. burst to life in the
spring. The fields
Sugar is produced from
sugar cane, a giant often contain
tropical grass. colourful flowers.
Texas bluebonnet
Maize is used for all
Goosegrass seed
sorts of food products,
including tortillas.
Grass attack
Wheat is used for flour Walk through grass and
to make bread and cakes,
and for pasta. you may find seeds
clinging to your clothes.
Rice is a major food in
Asia, and is eaten around Some seeds cling on
the world. with tiny hooks that
Rye is mixed with wheat work like Velcro.
to make a heavy flour
that is used for bread. Grassland trees often
Giraffe
have flat bottoms, where
animals have grazed. Acacia tree

Baobab trees
In Africa, the baobab
tree survives the blistering
heat of the dry season by
swelling and storing water
in its trunk.

Some of them have been growing there for 3,000 years. 49

Grasslands

Grazers and Browsers

Grasslands are home to the largest herds,
the biggest and fastest land animals, and
the biggest birds on Earth.
Springbok grazing Grazers
Huge herds of animals
graze on grass. Grass
is hard to digest, so
grazers have bacteria in
their guts that help with
digestion.
White rhinoceros
That one's white!
How do you tell the
difference between
a white and a black
rhinoceros? White
rhinos are grazers;
they have wide, flat
lips for nibbling
grass.
Only the best
Wildebeest prefer young, tender grass. Ostriches can grow
Emus can grow
They have a special stomach where food to 2.8 m (9¼ ft).
to 1.9 m (6¼ ft).
stays for a while before being brought Rheas can grow
to 1.5 m (5 ft).
back to the mouth for a second chew.

debeest are a ty
Wil pe
of
an
telop

Big birds
Grasslands are home to the biggest birds in the
e.

world: ostriches in Africa, emus in Australia,

and rheas in South America. All are flightless
Wildebeest
birds. The ostrich is the biggest of all.
50
What is the name given to animals that eat only plants?
 Grazers and Browsers
Weaver bird

Woven home Become

Grass isn’t just useful as a food, an expert...
it can also be used as a building
on some of the
material. The weaver bird weaves
predators who hunt the
strands of grass and torn leaves
grazers,
into a fabulous nest.
pages 52-53
Weaver Gerenuk
bird’s nest
Browsers
Animals that eat bushes and
trees are called browsers.
The nest has a The gerenuk is a browser,
trumpet-shaped
entrance.
but one that can stand on
its hind legs.
Black rhinoceros
A need for speed
This one's black! There aren’t many places
Black rhinos are to hide on grasslands, so
browsers; they have
pointy lips for animals rely on speed and
pulling leaves from stamina to escape.
bushes. Black rhinos
Springboks look as if
are also known as they are bouncing, as they
hook-lipped rhinos. spring away from predators.

Pronghorns are fast. They

can run at 65 kph (40 mph)
and keep going for a while.

Zebra can also reach

65 kph (40 mph), and will
What a pushover
outrun most predators.
Elephants are also browsers.
With their long trunks, they Wildebeest are large, but
can reach higher than they can reach speeds of
African giraffes. They will often 80 kph (50 mph) if needed.
elephant push a tree over if it’s
Thomson’s gazelle,
not too big. like the springbok, will
“bounce” in flight.

Ostriches can reach 70 kph

(45 mph), and keep going
for about 30 minutes.

They are herbivores. 51

Grasslands

Hunters and Scavengers

With so many plant-eating Team work
animals around, grasslands are a Lions are Africa’s top grassland
predators. By working together, they
magnet to predators. Many hunt, can hunt animals as big as buffalos
but others prefer to scavenge: they and giraffes.

pick over dead and rotting animals.

Stashing the prey
Predators will steal
from each other
if they can.
To prevent this
happening, the
leopard will drag
its kill up into a
tree. It can then
eat undisturbed.
Leopard

Hunter
On the brink The cheetah is the fastest land
The rarest mammal in North
America is the black-footed animal in the world and can sprint
ferret, which hunts prairie at 100 kph (60 mph) to chase prey.
dogs by chasing them
through their burrows. Cheetah
Sadly, these
ferrets are
almost extinct.

Black-
footed
ferret

52
Are hyenas more closely related to cats or dogs?
 Hunters and Scavengers
The Virginia opossum
Playing possum may lie still for up to
six hours until it feels
Surely no predator could safe again.
eat this rotting,
stinking, dead
opossum. Wrong –
it’s pretending
to be dead, and
it’s made a foul
smell to complete Virginia
Spotted hyena the impression. opossum
Bone breaker
Hyenas will eat up to one-third of their ed off a car
body weight at one meal! Their powerful ick cas
s.
jaws easily crush bone, and their stomachs si p
can digest bone and hide, so little is left t
when they have finished eating. ea
m
h en
a nw
s t ay s cle
h e ad
b ald
A

Vulture

Scavenger
Vultures are
scavengers, and they
are not fussy about
the freshness of the
meat they find.

Their closest relatives are the cats.

Grasslands

Going Underground
The animals shown below come from
different continents, so would never
usually meet. However, they share one
thing in common: they all use burrows.
Now you see it
Africa’s aardvark
Born to burrow is an amazingly
In Australia, a single wombat quick digger. It can
can dig a tunnel system with
a total length of about 20 m disappear into
(65 ft). It will emerge at night the ground in just
to nibble on grasses and roots. five minutes.
Common Rabbit’s hole
Rabbits need to spend
wombat
most of their time feeding,
but they always stay close
to their burrows. Rabbit

A growing home
Rabbits can devastate
large areas of farmland, not
only by eating but also by
digging extensive burrows.
Wombat’s
tunnel

Rabbit’s
nest

54
What animal’s name means “earth pig” in Afrikaans?
 Going Underground
Minibeasts
The animals that eat the
most grass in grasslands
Crickets are predators,
are not the big herbivores but they also eat grass,
but the tiny insects. jumping from stem to stem.

Ants often remove seeds. Grasshoppers are

These tiny creatures are vegetarian. Like crickets,
found all over the world. they have large hind limbs.

Termites like these cut up Caterpillars need to eat

Let’s build a city plant matter and carry it and eat and eat. Many
Black-tailed American back to their nests. feed on particular plants.
prairie dogs dig long tunnels.
Neighbours build next door, The banded
It’s my hole now
and the collection of tunnels mongoose can Old prairie dog holes may be taken
dig, but it often
soon becomes a “city”. moves into old
over by small burrowing owls. They
termite nests often stand outside and wait for
instead. a meal to walk past. Burrowing owl
Living with friends
In Africa, the banded mongoose
Banded
leaves its hole to seek out mongoose
termites – or perhaps a tasty
bird’s egg. It lives in communities
of 15–20 individuals.

Burrowing snake
The American pine
snake’s pointed snout helps
it to push its way through soft
earth, but given the chance it will
Pocket gopher take over another animal’s burrow.

Toothy grin
To keep dirt out
of their mouths
while they dig,
pocket gophers can close their lips behind
their front teeth. Their cheeks act like Burrowing
snake
shopping bags, to store food.

Aardvark: “aarde” means “earth” and “vark” means “pig”. 55

Grasslands

Termite Tower A look inside

A termite mound is full of
tunnels and chambers. Like
Grasslands are home to billions the rooms in a house, each
of termites. Individuals gather has a particular purpose.
together in huge colonies to Warm air rises through
build incredible nests. the chimneys, pulling
cool air in at the bottom.
How?
A king and queen Cooling chimneys
start the towers. But Some termites build
nobody knows how chimneys into their
the workers work towers. It’s a built-in
out what to do. air-conditioning system.

Ground level Food stores

Edible fungi are

grown in the
fungus gardens. The inner chamber
walls are made
Young termites are reared of soft, woody
in nurseries that are at the materials stuck
heart of the nest. together with
termite droppings.

What's in the cellar? The king and

Like many cellars, a queen live in the
termite’s cellar is damp, but royal chamber.
Workers bring
this dampness is caused by food to them.
moisture as the termites
respire. It’s a source of cool
air for the whole nest.

56
How many eggs will an African queen termite produce in her lifetime?
 Termite Tower
Who lives there? Keep on laying
A termite queen lives
A termite mound has four for up to 50 years, and,
main residents: the soldiers, the fully grown, is as big as
workers, the queen, and the king. your little finger. She
Soldier
depends on the workers.
termites Her job is to lay eggs –
up to 36,000 a day.
The king remains with
Soldiers the queen for life.
Some soldiers use jaws
Workers
to bite attackers, others
A mound’s chief citizens are its
squirt a sticky glue. These soldiers Worker
workers. They build the mound termites
One kind of termite even can squirt a
sticky fluid a mouthful at a time, using mud,
has soldiers that block through a nozzle- chewed plants, and their poo.
entrances by exploding. shaped head.

Giant termite Shape variation

mound
Termites build the
biggest structures,
relative to their size, Lunch time!
of any land-living Anteaters love to eat termites.
creature. There are
different shapes.
They collect as many as
possible before the soldiers
make their attack.

A large termite tower

can take a minimum Umbrella
of ten years to build. mound

About 650 million. 57

Grasslands
Weeds and
wildflowers Life in a Meadow
Wildflowers are pretty, In summer, a healthy grass meadow is
but some spread so
rapidly they can be like a jungle in miniature. It is packed
troublesome to farmers. with different plants and animals.
Ragwort is immensely Hidden away
poisonous to horses, ponies, A meadow may be
donkeys, and cattle. inhabited by moles
– almost blind
Thistle fruits have
parachutes. The seeds may creatures that
be carried far and wide. remain below
the ground.
Daisies hug the ground
and do well in short grass. European
– such as on a lawn. mole

Cowslip is found in clearings

Under the surface
and at the edge of woodland Moles are capable miners, tunnelling
as well as in meadows.
long passages through the soil and
Musk mallow produces producing tell-tale mounds of earth.
pretty flowers from June Campion
to September. flower

Lady’s bedstraw
produces tiny, star-
shaped flowers.
Watch out!
Crab spiders are
Field scabious can powerful enough
produce some 2,000 seeds to catch bees and
per plant. butterflies. They hide
among the flowers,
Clover is useful to farmers
as it helps fertilize the soil. pouncing when prey comes close. Crab
It is part of the pea family. spider

Dandelion heads are full

of tiny petals, each of
Get mucky
Make yourself
which turns into a seed.
a miniature meadow
Wood cranesbill is a inside a jar. Sprinkle a few
woodland flower, but seeds onto damp soil. Put the jar
grows in hay meadows. on a windowsill, keep it
watered, and watch as
Buttercup flowers produce
the seeds grow.
30 seeds, so a large plant
may have 22,000 seeds.
58
How long can a slow worm live: one, five, or 50 years?
 Dandelion
seeds
Life in a Meadow
From flower to seed
Dandelions are frequently
seen in meadows, as they have
a way of spreading their seeds
The flower is ready that is incredibly successful.
to be pollinated by
an insect.
Each seed has a parachute, to
carry it far away.
A breeze lifts the
parachutes. They
may travel far.

The petals have died

and the parachutes
are forming.
Bubble blower
Froghopper nymphs create damp
Tiny monkeys Harvest
mouse bubbles of sticky fluid to stop
Harvest mice climb through themselves from drying out.
the stems as ably as A harvest mouse The bubble also protects the
weighs no more
nymphs from being eaten.
monkeys climb through than a teaspoonful
of sugar.
trees. They build tennis
ball-sized nests.

Slow but steady

The slow worm is not
There are many
actually a worm; it’s a type
different types of of lizard! But it has no legs.
snails and a meadow This one is hunting for a
is a good place to
find a selection. tasty worm or a snail.

Slow
worm

It can live for more than 50 years.

Grasslands

At the Water Hole

Meet my companion During the dry season in the
Large animals often
appear at a water hole savanna, the only reliable place to
with accompanying find water is at a water hole. It can
oxpeckers. These birds
help the animal keep be a busy place.
insects at bay, picking
off ticks and leeches. That’s better!
When a warthog
takes a bath, it ends
up dirtier than ever.
The mud helps it to
cool down and may
Impala
As well as insect help get rid of fleas
control, oxpeckers and other nasty
clean up any
wounds the host insects that infect the
animal may have. animal’s skin.
Red-billed
oxpecker

Guinea fowl

Why are water holes such busy places?

 At the Water Hole

Water birds
Birds are often seen wading in waterholes,
looking for fish and frogs. There are many
different types, and a few are shown here.
Yellow-billed storks stir Saddle-billed storks are
the water with a foot to the largest storks, with a
disturb fish and frogs. wingspan of 2.7 m (9 ft).
Stuck in the mud
Crowned cranes are Wattled cranes surround
the only cranes able their large nests with Some water holes dry up in
to perch in trees. moat-like water channels. the dry season. The African
lungfish buries itself in a sticky
A never-ending thirst bag of slime and hibernates
until the rains come back.
Animals visit a water hole frequently,
especially elephants. Elephants have a ter hol e i s a co
to drink about 200 litres Aw ol pl a ce.
(53 gallons) a day.
African
elephant

Impala

Become
an expert...
on animals that
have to conserve
water,
pages 64-65

In the dry season, a water hole may provide the only water for miles around. 61
Desert Regions

Desert Regions Sahara

Desert
Gobi Desert

Deserts are Earth’s driest places, Sonoran

Desert
with hardly any rainfall. That Atacama
might sound like a nice climate, Desert Kalahari
Desert
Great Sandy
Desert
but it is very difficult to live in
regions where water is scarce. Deserts of the world
Weird weather A quarter of our world is made
During the day, deserts can be up of deserts, the biggest one
scorchingly hot. At night, they
can get incredibly cold. They being the Sahara Desert in
often have huge sandstorms. northern Africa.
Some deserts even have
occasional snow storms.

Grey-banded king snake

Animals survivors
Few plants can survive in the desert
and so many animals are meat eaters.
Many deserts are also so hot that
a large number of animals retreat
underground during the day,
hunting at night.
How tall is the tallest cactus on record?
 Desert Regions
Desert records Coldest desert: the
Deserts are full of
Gobi Desert in Asia is Curiosity quiz
the coldest in the world.
Look through the Desert
extremes, so they
Hottest desert: the Regions pages and see
hold quite a few Sahara Desert is the if you can identify the
impressive records. hottest in the world.
picture clues below.
Rainfall: a desert must Biggest desert: the
have less than 2.5 cm Sahara Desert covers
(10 in) of rain per year. one third of Africa.

Driest desert: is Some cacti have

the Atacama Desert spines instead
of South America. of leaves, some
have hairs. Spines
protect the cactus
from being eaten
by animals.

Cactus

Become
Plant survivors an expert...
It is very difficult
on desert animals,
for plants to survive
pages 64-65
without much rainfall.
The cactus is a clever plant on desert plants,
because it collects water when it pages 66-67
rains and stores it for dry periods.
to 20 m (63 ft) in the Sonoran Desert. One Cardon cactus grew 63
Desert Regions

Desert Animals
In order to survive, desert animals
have developed ways of either keeping
out of the heat, or of cooling down.

Keep your cool ch !

No water? No problem! u
Desert animals have
O
A camel can survive for about three
a variety of ingenious weeks without water. When it does
methods for ensuring drink, it can take in a huge amount.
they don’t overheat. Apart from its hump, a
camel has no fat under the
Sand swimmer skin, so it doesn’t overheat.
A fennec fox loses heat The golden mole keeps out
through big ears. Furry soles of the sun by “swimming”
help it to walk on hot sand. through sand, just below the
surface. It rarely emerges,
Kangaroos lick
their forearms to cool as it can find all it needs
themselves down. below the ground.

Gerbils stay underground

in the heat of the day,
emerging at night.

Tortoises will dribble

down their front legs to
cool their body down.

Kalahari ground
squirrels use their bushy
tails as sunshades.

Turkey vultures urinate

on their legs or fly up into
cooler air if they overheat.

The trap is no Sand traps

larger than
a marble. This spider makes burrows in
the sand and lines them with Large, flat, well-
silk. At the top is a trapdoor. cushioned feet help
the camel to walk
The burrow is an insect trap. on sand.

Trapdoor spider

What do you call a camel with one hump?

 Desert Animals
The lizard holds
its feet away from
the sand.
No problem!
Sand-diving
lizard The sidewinder adder
slithers sideways, with
Hot sand? only a small amount
If the sand becomes too of its body pressed
hot, a sand-diving lizard against the hot sand.
It’s a clever technique for
will hold its feet in the keeping the snake cool.
air to cool down.
A camel’s hump contains
Long eyelashes
fat that can be broken
down to release water.
A camel’s nostrils can close,
People have used to stop sand from getting
T he “ s camels for hundreds into its lungs.

hi p of years to cross

of desert regions.

Got you!
th

Antlion larvae trap insects

de
e

ser t by digging steep little holes.

”. Insects fall in, tumbling
straight into its
fearsome jaws.

Antlion

I need a drink Channel that water

When thirsty, the fog- A thorny devil has a trick to help it
basking beetle stands on cope. Grooves in its skin lead to the
its head. Fog condenses as corners of its mouth. Dew collecting in
the grooves runs straight to its mouth.
dew on its body and trickles
down to
its mouth.

Thorny devil

A dromedary.
Desert Regions

Desert Plants Pebble

plants

Life is tough for desert plants. It rarely

rains, and whatever water a plant can
find has to be stored and protected from
thirsty animals. Spines to protect
the cactus.
Creases down side
allow the cactus to
swell and shrink.

Prickly plants Waxy surface prevents

water escaping.
Cacti are unusual plants,
many with spines instead Rounded shape
reduces exposed
of leaves. The main part area.

of a cactus is its swollen,

water-storing stem.

Cactus lookalike
Which of these two plants
is a cactus? True cacti grow
only in the Americas. In the
deserts of Africa and Asia
there are plants that look like
cacti but they belong to a
different plant family. Century
r

!
plant

e
ow
Is it a cactus?

Swollen stem to store water.

Spurge
in fl
plant Is it really that old?
The century plant is
Look! It’s

so-named because it
supposedly lives for 100
years, then flowers
Become once and dies. In
an expert... fact, it lives for
Cactus on other types of about 25 years.
plants,
pages 58-59

66
How many species of cactus are there?
 Desert Plants
Old timers
Some desert plants grow
slowly, but these ones
tend to live a long time.
In fact, deserts are home
to some of the oldest
Living stones Tumbling along plants in the world.
These “pebbles” Tumbleweeds spread their
are plants. They look seeds by dropping them as The welwitschia plant
like rocks so that thirsty they are blown by the lives for up to 2,000 years.
animals won’t eat wind. Because there
them. Each pebble are about a quarter
Bristlecone pine trees live
is actually a of a million seeds for up to 5,000 years.
leaf. At the top per plant, some
of each leaf is will grow.
a window that Creosote bush [clones] live
lets in light. for up to 12,000 years.
Elephant’s
foot plant
Watermelon
Water store
The elephant’s Life savers
foot plant Wild watermelons
from Madagascar is called ripen underground
this because its stumpy stem
looks like an elephant’s foot
and provide a source
that has been cut off. The stem of water for desert-
is swollen with stored water. dwelling people who
Cotyledon Blue
recognize the leaves.
echeveria
Watermelons
originated in
southern Africa.

Moist and
succulent
Plants with very fat
leaves and stems for
storing water are
called succulents.
More than 1,600. 67
Desert Regions

Rainfall and Oases

Desert animals and plants make the most of
any rainfall, but they also thrive in oases,
occasional islands of lush plant growth.
Why an oasis?
Oases form where an underground
river comes near enough to the surface
for plants to grow.
Couch’s

T
spadefoot toad

in y tadpole

.
s

Toad in the hole

Spadefoot toads can spend a
year buried in the parched
desert ground, hibernating. Their
tadpoles have to grow quickly.

A useful crop
In the Sahara, oases usually Not a welcome sight
contain date palm trees. Desert locusts normally
Many have been planted live on their own, but after
by people living there, for heavy rains they join to form
whom the date palm is their vast swarms. A swarm may
main source of food. contain more than
Dates 50 billion locusts.
Giant barrel
cactus
68
Are desert oases small?
 Rainfall and Oases
Forever ready Cacti in bloom
Tadpole shrimp eggs can Tiger
survive for more than 50 salamander Many cacti produce
years. They hatch when it stunning flowers. Some
rains, and then grow, mate, of these will bloom for
and lay new eggs in just months, while some
a few weeks.
will last for just
a few days.
Funnelform cactus flowers
are shaped like a funnel,
with a tube at the base.

Columnar cactus flowers,

Tadpole like many cacti, are
shrimps
pollinated by bees.

Tadpole shrimps Queen of the night

are called triops produces beautiful flowers
because they as large as your hand.
have three eyes.

I can survive!
Some salamanders have . Just waiting for rain
r

adapted well to living

n de

Many desert plants survive the bone-

in deserts, which is dry weather by avoiding it altogether.
surprising for an animal
ma

In dry conditions they exist

more usually found in as seeds. With rain, they
ala

damp conditions.
T he

rapidly sprout
They stay underground,
la d s and flower.
venturing out after rain. rge st l an
Desert
locust Crocs in the rocks
Scientists have been amazed to discover
crocodiles living in underground caves
in areas of the Sahara desert. They
emerge to hunt when it rains.

Desert
crocodile

Some oases are the size of a city.

Desert Regions

After Dark
Once the Sun sets, a desert changes.
Animals move into the open, all busily
hunting for something to eat. There’s a fox about
Large ears help this African
Not the Sun! fox to keep cool in desert
Scorpions are survivors. They Bat-eared
fox temperatures,
can survive freezing conditions, but also to hear the
not eat for a year, and even insects on which it feeds.
stay underwater for three days. It is on the prowl at night.
But they can’t stand bright sun.
Desert
scorpion

The wily coyote

Coyotes have adapted to
The coyote is
well-known for
many habitats, including
its distinctive deserts. They hunt by
night-time howl.
feeling vibrations from small
underground animals and
uncovering them.
Web-footed
geckos

Coyote

Hungry tummies
Having spent the day in a tunnel,
these desert geckos are now hungry
for insects.

70
What’s the word for animals that are active only around dusk or dawn?
 After Dark
Bat attack
White-lined
This bat has hung out in a sphinx moth

disused mine all day and has

emerged to hunt for moths,
caterpillars, crickets, Night flight
and beetles. The sphinx moth is as big
as a hummingbird. It emerges
at night to look for flowers such
as orchids so it
can feed on
the nectar.

Western
coral snake
Californian
leaf-nosed bat
Scurrying spiders Stay back!
The western coral snake
Spiders are also active at is one of the deadliest
night. This tarantula has snakes you could meet, with
killed a grasshopper. venom twice as powerful
as a rattlesnake’s. However,
because it’s nocturnal, few
Tarantula
people ever see one.

Crepuscular. 71
Desert Regions

The Sonoran
ird or what
Desert
W e ? North America’s Sonoran Desert is
The saguaro cactus, widely enormous. It also receives enough
found in the Sonoran Desert,
grows incredibly slowly – rainfall to support a huge
just 2.5 cm (1 in) a year – variety of life.
but it can reach heights Velvet ant

of 15 m (50 ft)!
Is it a boy?
Velvet ants are actually
wasps. Only the males
have wings. Females
Gila woodpecker lack wings, but they
nesting in a
saguaro cactus have a nasty sting.

Cactus homes Run, run, run

There are few trees in The most famous bird
the Sonoran Desert, so in the Sonoran Desert is
the gila woodpecker the roadrunner, which
makes its nest in a scampers along at speeds
cactus stem. It will of up to 30 kph (18 mph),
use the nest for just hunting small mammals,
one year, before reptiles, and birds.
moving on.

Roadrunner

72
Are there any forests in the Sonoran Desert?
 The Sonoran Desert
A look at reptiles
From lizards to snakes to
tortoises, many reptiles Ringtail cat

have successfully
adapted to living in the
Sonoran Desert.

Gila monster This is

one of the world’s two
venomous lizards.

Desert tortoises spend Is it

95 per cent of their time
underground.
a cat?
The ringtail
Rattlesnakes warn off Ringtail cats
predators by shaking a
cat isn’t a are nocturnal,
emerging to
rattle on their tail. cat: it’s related hunt rats, mice,
squirrels, frogs,
King snakes take their
to the racoon. and insects.
name from their ability But it will clean
to eat other snakes.
itself very much
like a cat.
Saguaro
cactus
Ready to expand
Following rain, this
cactus’s stem swells
as the plant takes in Pig in the desert
water. It can absorb A peccary may look like
the weight in water a pig, but it is only distantly
of a small car. related. Peccaries have poor
eyesight, but a good sense of smell.
They also produce a strong smell.
Collared peccary

There are no trees, but there are forests of saguaro cacti. 73

Mountains and Caves

Mountains and Caves

Mountains and caves are rocky habitats. The
first offers exposure to all sorts of weather, the
second offers shelter – but no sunlight.

Alps
Rockies Himalayas
Where in the world?
Earth has some impressive
Andes
mountain ranges. The map
shows the location of some
of the best-known of these.

Mountain lion

Moving higher
Mountains support all sorts of
animals. Many, like the mountain
lion, have adapted to life on a
mountain but are just as much at
home in other, lower habitats.

74
By what other names is the mountain lion known?
 Mountains and Caves
Mountain weather Curiosity quiz
From rain to snow, when it comes to weather, Look through the
a mountain is a place of extremes. Mountains & Caves pages
and see if you can identify
Temperature For every Rain Cherrapunji, N.E. the picture clues below.
100 m (330 ft) you climb, India, receives about 12 m
it gets 1°C (2°F) cooler. (40 ft) of rain a year.

Wind The strongest wind Snow Mt Rainier, USA,

was 372 kph (231 mph) gets 18 m (58 ft) of
on Mt Washington, USA. snow a year.

Avalanche Snow collects

on upper slopes, until the
weight sends it tumbling.

Sun Often, one side of a

mountain will be sunny
while the other is rainy.

Formation of a cave
Caves form in areas with soft, limestone
rock. Over thousands of years, rainwater
seeps through the soft rock, dissolving it.
Gradually, small cracks become holes,
and they become caverns.

Become
an expert...
on life in a cave,
pages 78-79

Panther, cougar, and puma. 75

Mountains and Caves
Become
Life in Thin Air an expert...
on life in extreme
cold, pages 10-11
Walk up a mountain and you’ll find that on deciduous forests,
the habitat begins to change the higher you pages 18-19

go. It also gets harder to breathe.

Mountain zones Alpine zone
In cool parts of the world,
A temperate mountain (a mountain peaks have a
mountain in a cool part permanent coating of snow.
of the world) has distinct Nothing grows at this height.
zones, each with its own
Alpine meadows
wildlife.
In the spring, as the snow
begins to melt, lush meadows
A rare sight come alive with flowers. This
There are thought to be fewer zone is above the treeline.
than 380 wild mountain
gorillas. Although they look
fearsome, gorillas are peaceful Conifer trees
vegetarians. Conifers are adapted to
surviving extreme cold. Even
Mountain their shape protects against
gorilla the weight of the snow.

Deciduous trees
Below the conifer trees,
where the air gets a
little warmer, grow the
deciduous trees.

Alpine
marmot

Time to wake up!

Mountain meadows
are covered with
snow in winter.
Some animals, like
marmots, survive this
period by hibernating
in burrows.

76
What is the meaning of the word “alpine”?
 Life in Thin Air
Rock gardens Gelada baboons
Who needs a tree!
When the snow melts Some monkeys prefer
in spring, the grassy cliffs to trees! Gelada
meadows on high baboons actually sleep
mountains are ablaze on cliffs, perched on the
with flowers. narrowest ledges.
Mountain daisy These
bloom in their thousands
across alpine meadows.
Ibex

Rock spiraea Creamy-

white flowers form dense
mats over rocky areas.

Thyme Low, thick clumps

of miniature thyme make
a colourful appearance.

Saxifrage There are

many different colours
of this hardy plant.
This is my home
Edelweiss In many Ibex are goats. They
places, this plant is now can scramble up the
protected: you can’t pick it.
steepest slopes and leap
Alpine snowbell Tiny bell- about without losing
shaped flowers push their their footing.
way up in early spring.

Alpine
chough

Life in thin air

Mountain air is so thin that
mountaineers need oxygen tanks,
but birds like the chough have no
problem breathing it. A chough
once accompanied a climbing
expedition to the summit
of Mount Everest.

permanent snow. Above the treeline and below 77

Mountains and Caves

Cool Caves
A large cave will take thousands of
years to form. From insects to bats, many
animals find a cave a good place to live. Stalactite

A dripping start
Caves are often damp, if not
wet. Stalactites form drip by
drip as minerals are
deposited by water dripping A stalactite
from the roof. forms from the
roof down.

Long-eared
bat

I hear you!
Many bats have poor sight, but
incredibly good hearing. They hunt
by making squeaks and clicks that
bounce off prey, telling the bat the
prey’s location.

Webbed skin fo
Cave
spider Feel the way rf
Like bats, cave spiders cannot see well.
li
gh

To compensate, they have a strongly

t.

developed sense of touch to help them

move around – and catch prey.

What’s the name for a person that lives only in caves?

 Cool Caves
All in white
Many cave dwellers, such as
Drops of
cave crayfish, are white moisture show
the bat is
because they need no hibernating in a
protection from the Sun’s rays. cold, damp cave.

Sleep time
Hunting for a snack Natterer’s bat

This south-east Asian snake A cool cave is

will slip into caves because it an ideal place for
knows there are tasty frogs, this bat to choose for its
bats, and lizards to eat. Its winter hibernation.
slightly flat belly helps it to
glide over rocks.
A success story
Cockroaches are among the most
successful of all living things,
Red-tailed having inhabited Earth for more than
racer 320 million years. Caves are just one
of the habitats in which
they thrive.

Cockroach

A troglodyte.
Mountains and Caves

The Mighty
Himalayas
The Himalayas are the world’s
highest range of mountains.
On top of the world They stretch 2,500 km (1,550
The world’s tallest Snow
miles) across Asia.
leopard
mountain, Mount Everest,
stands in the midst of Look – it's a leopard
the Himalayas. The snow leopard is probably the
world’s most rare and elusive cat. It
lives high on mountains, including
those of the Himalayas, far from
human habitation.

Moon walk
Another Himalayan inhabitant
is the black bear. This bear
has a crescent-shaped white
mark on its chest, resulting in
its other name: moon bear.

Asiatic black bear

How high is Mount Everest?

 The Mighty Himalayas
It’s a red panda!
The lesser panda is
more closely related
to the raccoon than
Golden eagle
it is to the giant
panda. It lives
in high bamboo
forests, eating
leaves, roots,
fruits, and shoots.

Poison flowers
Rhododendrons form eerie
thickets in the Himalayas. Their
gigantic flowers are beautiful,
but toxic. Local bees collect the
nectar to make a kind of honey Talons ready!
that is poisonous to humans.
The mighty golden
eagle has a wingspan of
more than 2.3 m (7 ft). A tasty
pika would make a nice snack.

Wild It’s a rock bunny!

rhododendrons
Pikas are small furry animals
related to rabbits, though it’s
hard to spot a pika’s tail!
This one lives in mountain
meadows and is
Himalayan
pika well-adapted to
cold weather.

It is 8,850 m (29,035 ft). 81

Mountains and Caves

The Andes
Located in South America, the Andes are
the world’s longest chain of mountains,
stretching some 7,250 km (4,500 miles).
Wet, wet, wet
While one side of the Andes is
bone dry, the other is soaking
wet jungle. This strange misty
forest is called cloud forest.
Llama land
With their thick, shaggy
coats, llamas can withstand
extreme cold. They have
been used in the Andes for
centuries for their wool,
meat, and milk.

Llama

82
Does the air get colder or warmer the higher up a mountain you go?
 The Andes
Flight of the condor
The world’s largest bird of prey is the
Andean condor. It has huge wings
but its size means it prefers
to take off by leaping from
a height and gliding
on updrafts.

Andean condor

A bear wearing spectacles?

Despite its name, the spectacled bear Hillstar
does not wear glasses! It’s named for the hummingbird
pale patches around its eyes. Unusually
for a bear, it is largely vegetarian.

Just so busy
Hummingbirds
that live in the
Andes mountains
keep warm by
staying active.
A hummingbird's
heart may beat
1,300 times
Spectacled a minute.
bear

It gets colder as you move higher. 83

Freshwater Habitats

Dragonfly
Freshwater Habitats
Freshwater habitats come in all forms.
Some rivers, like the mighty South
American Amazon, are incredibly wide.
Other habitats grow in and
Fort around tiny streams.
y pe fresh water.
r ce in
nt l ive
of a
e c i es
ll fish sp

It takes all sorts

From mammals and reptiles to
molluscs and crustaceans, most
groups of animals have
freshwater representatives.

An animal’s home
Fresh water is needed
by all land-based life.
Many animals, like the
water shrew, make
their home by water.

84
Is most of Earth’s water fresh water?
 Freshwater Habitats
Plants, too! Curiosity quiz
There is a huge range Look through the
of aquatic freshwater Freshwater pages and
plants, from duckweed see if you can identify
to giant water lilies. the picture clues below.
Duckweed are small, Reed
floating plants. They warbler’s
produce tiny flowers. nest

Water lilies are anchored

to the bottom, but their
large leaves float.

Some birds
Long build their
green nests among
bulrushes rushes at the
water’s edge .

Become
an expert...
on life at a
busy freshwater
waterhole,
pages 60-61

No. Only about three per cent of Earth’s water is fresh. The rest is salty. 85
Freshwater Habitats

The Flowing Current

From foamy white, cascading
torrents to slow but ever-
moving waters, rivers provide
a rich habitat for a wide
variety of wildlife.
Caddisfly larva
The food chain begins
As leaves and dead animals
fall into the waters, bacteria
multiply. This brings food for
aquatic larvae such as the caddisfly. From small beginnings
Many rivers start life as fast-
flowing streams. It is often a
Caddisfly barren beginning, but plants
and animals soon thrive.
Mosses often grow on riverside
rocks and trees and provide Stop that water!
shelter for many tiny bugs that Beavers sometimes build dams to Fallen trees can provide
need damp conditions.
create lakes, slowing the flow of pathways for animals
and insects to cross a
water and so changing their habitat. fast-flowing stream.
They also create lodges to live in.
Beaver

Which is the world’s longest river?

 The Flowing Current
The Colorado
Changing the landscape
River Over millions of years, rivers cut channels in
the earth. A notable example of this is the
Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.
A brown bear is
drawn to the river
by the presence
of salmon.

The fish is held

in the bird’s Brown bear
dagger-like beak.

Got it! Against the flow

Many birds Swift-flowing water
make a slow- captures oxygen, helping
moving river their fish to breathe. Chinook salmon
hunting ground, swim against the current heading
snatching small fish for their spawning grounds. It’s a
from the water. The dangerous journey.
kingfisher is a colourful
inhabitant of many
European rivers.

The kingfisher
will dive to about
25 cm (10 in) to
grab a fish.

The Nile, in Africa, at 6,695 km (4,160 miles). 87

Freshwater Habitats

Still Waters
Water
A freshwater lake is a large body of
hyacinth
standing water. Lakes support a wide
variety of life, especially at their edges.
Just floating around
Floating plants such as
Plants that float do well in still water, water lettuce provide shade
but they can take over. Water hyacinth for a lake’s creatures.

looks pretty, but it is a fast-growing

weed and can choke other life
under a thick mat.

Water
Cat in the water lettuce

Catfish are named for their barbels,

cat-like whiskers that allow them to
feel their way in murky water.
Bullhead
catfish
Some species
of catfish can
grow to be
more than
3 m (10 ft)
in length.

Barbels help
the fish to seek
out prey. In the
case of a large
catfish, this
may be a duck.

Medicinal Horse
leech leech
Is it a sucker?
Paddle in a muddy
lake and you may
emerge to find a leech
on your foot. Some, but
not all, leeches suck blood.
88
Which is the world’s largest freshwater lake?
 Still Waters
Is it a lake?
Lakes form in hollows, but not all are Ospreys are large birds of
prey, reaching 1.7 m (5.5 ft)
natural. A reservoir is a man- wingtip to wingtip.

made lake, formed by a dam. A bulrush’s

flowers bloom
on spikes and
attract insects.

Attacks from above

Ospreys are found on all
continents except Antarctica.
They will nest near a lake
or river, and swoop down to
pluck fish from the water.

Life on the edge

Pike
Bulrushes and reeds often
form a thick bed at a
lake’s edge. Known
as emergents, they
grow up from the lake
The ambush specialist floor and out into the air.
Pike are adept at ambushing their
Dragonflies are
prey, lying in wait and nabbing frequently seen on the
plants at a lake’s edge.
passing frogs, fish, and insects.

Don’t mess with me!

The fearsome looking alligator
snapping turtle is the world’s largest
freshwater turtle. Some have
weighed in at more than
100 kg (220 lbs).

A slice of history
The common loon’s ancestors lived on
Earth some 65 million years ago. This
red-eyed bird can dive to an incredible
27 m (90 ft) in search of food.

Lake Superior in North America.

Freshwater Habitats

Pond Life A frog emerges

From egg to frog is an
interesting journey.
A healthy pond is a magnet
for life, both above and below Eggs are laid in jelly
– up to 3,000 at a time.
the surface. It is full of fish, This is called frog spawn.

insects, and amphibians. Tadpoles hatch after

2-3 weeks. They breathe
through external gills.
Give a frog a Walking on water
couple of hours Back legs are the first
and it will darken
Pond skaters are able to stride
to appear, followed
its skin to match across the water’s surface. Velvety by the arms.
its surroundings. hairs on their legs stop them
sinking. They hunt insects. Froglets – young frogs
Pond skater – resemble their parents,
but they are tiny.

Not one to eat

A stickleback is
named because
sharp spines on
its back make it
an unpleasant
mouthful for
a larger fish.

Diving
beetle The male stickleback develops
larva bright colours at nesting time.
He protects the nest aggressively.

Larva here, larva there

The pond is busy with larvae, the
young stage of an insect. A larva looks
very different from its adult form.

Is the dragonfly good at flying?

 Pond Life
I spy a dragon! Dragonfly
Too little space
Dragonflies begin their lives in These plate-shaped
giant water lilies can
water, spending several years as measure up to 1.5 metres
nymphs, and moulting as they (5 ft) across. Those
grow. As nymphs and then as pictured below are so
adults, they are fierce hunters. successful that they are
competing for light.
In hiding
Newts are shy
and can be hard
to spot. They
creep about as if
walking on tiptoe.
Adult newts spend
most of their life in
damp places on land.

Water Mosquito
boatman larva

Row, row, row your boat Mosquito larvae hang

Diving just below the water's
beetles
With back legs that resemble oars, surface, breathing air
the water boatman looks as if it through a narrow tube.

is rowing under water – though it

hangs upside down to do so! A tank of air
The water spider is
the only fully aquatic
Watch out! spider. It traps the air
The diving beetle is a it needs in a silken
fierce meat eater. bell. In other ways
it behaves like any
It dives down to snatch
other spider.
tadpoles and small fish.

Little builders The caddis fly's

Caddis fly larvae build long, thin case acts as a
cases from sticks, small stones, protective shell.

bits of leaves, and grains of sand.

Caddis fly
larva

Yes. A dragonfly can zip along at speeds of up to 30 kph (17 mph). 91

Freshwater Habitats

Bogs and Marshes

Meat-eating plants A bog or marsh is a wetland – a place
Carnivorous plants where the ground is soaked or covered
survive well in bogs in water. It is a great place for wildlife.
and marshes, where the
ground contains
few nutrients.

The Venus flytrap

catches its victims
in a cage.

This is a bog
Bogs form in cool, wet
places, where the ground
becomes spongy because
it’s full of rainwater.
A natural sponge
Sphagnum moss keeps
Once an insect
itself wet by soaking up
is caught, the leaf rainwater. It has no
folds over it.
true roots, so absorbs
water and nutrients.
Venus
flytrap
A sticky supper
Sundew plants catch
Come on in, insects! insects with drops of
Cobra lilies thrive in boggy sticky liquid that cover
sites. These carnivorous hairs on their leaves. It’s
plants trap insects in their an effective trap, but a
tube-like leaves. sticky end for the bug.
92
In the past, what plant could have been used for dressing wounds?
 Bogs and Marshes
This is a marsh Stork are excellent
at fishing by stealth.
Marshes get their water from
rivers that have spread
over a wide area.
Yellow-billed
Africa’s Okavango stork

Delta is a marsh.
Wildlife
paradise
A marsh
is a haven for
birds, reptiles, and
mammals. There are more
than 400 species of birds
and over 150 species of
reptile in the marshlands
of the Okavango Delta.

Caiman are found in

marshlands in Central
and South America.

A caiman's
jaws are
strong enough
to crush and
shake food to
tear off bite-
sized pieces.

Caiman can hang with their

body just below the surface,
waiting for their prey to pass.

Waiting to kill
Caiman are efficient Become
Caiman
and powerful an expert...
predators. They on life in another
are closely related wetland: a swamp,
pages 94-95
When on land,
a caiman’s long
to crocodiles and
limbs allow it to alligators, but
move faster than
an alligator. far smaller.
Where it grew, sphagnum moss was once used to dress wounds. 93
Freshwater Habitats

The Everglades
The wetlands of Florida, USA,
are known as the Everglades.
Parts of the area form a
great big swamp that is
very wet and always
hot and steamy.

Summer rains
Summer is the rainy season
in the Everglades. Plentiful rainfall
makes the rivers swell, creating
even more islands in this swampy
wilderness.

Waders often
have long
necks that Birds
help them
find food
Waders are birds
under water. with long legs that
allow them to walk in
shallow water. There
are many found in the
watery Everglades,
like this blue heron.

Manatees
Manatees are large
mammals that live
under water. They are
often called sea cows
because they graze,
like cows, on river-bed
plants. They never
come out of the water.
94
How long has the American alligator lived on Earth?
 The Everglades
Mangrove swamps
The mangrove is an unusual tree because
it can live in shallow salt water. Many of
these trees thrive along the coast where the
Everglades meet the sea.

Is it grass or is it water?
Inland in the Everglades the
sawgrass plains can be found. In
some areas the water is barely visible
because the sawgrass is so thick. The
water is very shallow.

Become
an expert...
Mosquitoes
The menacing mosquito possess needle- on other water
like mouthparts,
The rainy summer of the used for piercing
mammals – whales
Everglades triggers a mass skin so they can and dolphins,
suck blood. pages 112-113
hatching of 43 species of
mosquito. These insects lay
up to 10,000 eggs on an area
the size of this page!
Mosquito

This alligator
is one of the
most dangerous
animals in
the USA.

The Everglade giant

The main hunter of this area
is the American alligator.
They are huge, stretching
to 4.5 m (15 ft)
long and are
the largest
reptile in
North America.
The Everglades is the only place in the world American
where crocodiles and alligators exist together. alligator

About 25 million years. 95

Ocean Habitats

Ocean Habitats
Earth’s surface is more than two-
thirds water. Large parts have little
or no life. But elsewhere, oceans are
bursting with activity.
Where in the world?
Our planet has five large oceans. They are large,
and many parts of our oceans remain unexplored.
Pacific Ocean Situated Southern Ocean This
between America and Asia, area was only recognized
this is the largest ocean. as an ocean in 2000.

Atlantic Ocean This lies Indian Ocean This is

between the Americas, the third largest ocean,
and Europe and Africa. covering 15% of Earth.

Arctic Ocean Frozen over

for most of the year, this
ocean is the smallest.

Food source
Plankton are algae
and animals, many
microscopic, that drift
through the ocean,
providing food for fish
and other sea creatures.
96
What are the two main types of plankton?
 Ocean Habitats
Islands
Curiosity quiz
Islands are Look through the Ocean
important to Habitats pages and see if
oceans as life you can identify the
collects on and
around them.
picture clues below.

Some islands, such as Surtsey, are born following volcanic activity.

Ocean zones
Oceans are divided into zones according to
depth. Some creatures stay in one zone, others
move between zones.

Tidal zone Open ocean

Tidal Manta ray

This is the Spiny boxfish
zone where
the land meets
180 m (600 ft)
the sea.
Twilight zone
Sperm whale
Open ocean
Parts of the
Squid
open ocean have
very little life.
Sperm whales dive
Twilight to the twilight zone
in search of squid.
A murky zone far
1,000 m (3,300 ft)
below the sunlit
surface waters.
Dark zone

Dark zone
Gulper eel
No light hits this Become
region, but sea an expert...
creatures still survive. Hagfish
on the twilight zone,
Abyssal zone pages 106-107
The ocean’s deep, dark trenches. Abyssal zone

Phytoplankton (the algae) and zooplankton (the animals). 97

Ocean Habitats

The Shoreline
The shoreline is the area What type?
where the land meets the sea. There are different
It’s a tricky place to survive, types of shoreline.
Some are shown below.
with a constant battering by
Sandy
wind and waves, but many These shores may
shorelines teem with life. look empty of
life, but they are
often full of small,
burrowing creatures.

Plant life Rocky

Rocky shores may
Plants on a seashore have have vertical cliffs,
to be able to withstand shallow platforms,
strong winds and salty or slopes littered with
spray. They tend to grow pebbles and boulders.
low and grow behind the Muddy
high tide mark. Muddy shores are
often found in
estuaries, where a
river flows into
the ocean.

Plants such as
thrift mark the The tide rises
top of the spray
zone. The plant and falls
has long roots.
twice a day
because
of the moon.

Where does white sand come from?

 The Shoreline
Limpet

Holdfasts are not

Young roots. They don’t take
up food or water.
oarweeds Like a limpet
It is almost
impossible to dislodge
Hold tight! a limpet. These shellfish
Many shoreline use a muscular foot to cling
on to rocks and boulders.
seaweeds and
animals have The rock came too
developed clever Large, brown seaweeds use finger-like
holdfasts to grip a rocky surface.
ways of staying The hold is so firm that it is difficult
put. They don’t to separate the seaweed from the rock.
want to be Over millions of
washed away. years, shore pebbles
are broken down
Crabs can by the constant
blend into the battering of
background the sea.
very easily
if threatened.

Brown
seaweed

Crab

Tidy up
Crabs provide a Limpets
shore with its hold water
in their shells
cleaners. Basically, and create an
they will eat whatever airtight seal to
survive exposure.
they can grab and hold,
whether it is alive or dead.
The sand on a tropical beach is formed from the crushed skeletons of coral polyps. 99
 Ocean Habitats

Rockpools
A rockpool is a miniature sea,
and home to many different
creatures. Some stay in the
pool permanently, but others
get trapped there accidentally
when the tide goes out.
The rocky shoreline Grab and flee
Rockpools form when the tide goes Gulls are scavengers
out and leaves sea water behind in and will take what
they can grab. That
rocky dips and crevices. For many Black-headed includes fish, worms,
creatures, this becomes their home. gulls actually and insects. They are
have white
heads for much often found inland as
of the year. well as on the coast.

A starfish
"sees" by holding
up the light-
sensitive tips of
Black-headed gull in its tentacles.

A gull's long legs help

winter plumage
A hard life
it to wade through shallow
water in search of food. Life is tough in a rockpool. The
temperature and saltiness of the water
A gull's feet are webbed so keep changing because of the weather.
it can paddle when it's sitting
on the water, like a duck. A small pool may dry out completely.
100
Can a sea anemone’s tentacles sting a person?
 Rockpools
Local residents Seaweed provides food
for shellfish. Like plants it
Rockpools are home to uses sunlight to make food.
many kinds of seaweeds
Mussels sieve food out of
and animals. Here are water. They close tightly
some of the most common. if they sense danger.

Gobies are fish. This Crabs search rockpools

one can cover itself for the remains of dead
with sand in an instant. animals, which they eat.
Mussels for tea
Shrimps can change Shells may be empty,
colour to blend in with which means the creature
Mussels are no problem for
their surroundings. that lived inside has died. a starfish. It folds its arms
around the shell and slowly
Starfish are hunters. Anemones use their pulls it open. Then it gobbles
They usually have stinging tentacles to trap up the soft body inside.
five arms but no brain. small animals to eat.
Limpets cling very tightly to the
rock if anything touches them.
Seaweed provides a moist shelter
Winkle where many animals can hide.

Limpet

Velvet
crab

Strawberry anemones
look like flowers, but
they are animals.

The top of If you touch a shrimp, it will dart

the velvet crab's away very quickly by flicking its
shell is covered tail and rowing with its legs.
with velvety hairs.
Many kinds of sea anemone can sting you – it’s best not to touch if unsure. 101
 Ocean Habitats

The Coral Reef

Coral reefs are home to more than 15 per
cent of all fish species. Yet they cover less
than one per cent of the Earth’s surface.

What is that?
Types of reef
There are three main types A coral reef is made up
of coral reef: barrier, atoll, from the stony skeletons
and fringing. Most grow of millions of tiny animals
in warm, shallow water, called polyps. Living
though there are coldwater
reefs. The picture shows polyps form a layer on
a barrier reef. top of these, and,
gradually, a reef forms.
Reef animals
are
Some are h brightly coloured. The older a reef, the wider the

ighl variety of animals living there.

y venomous
Flat bodies help
many of the
smaller fish to
slip between
the coral for
protection.

Angelfish

In the day, moray

eels rarely emerge
from the safety of
holes in the coral.
102
Are corals animals or plants?
 The Coral Reef
Is it hard... Odder and odder
With their stony base, hard
corals are the reef-building From boxfish to frogfish,
corals. Most feed at night, their many of a coral reef’s
tentacles emerging to filter creatures have curious
plankton from the water. names; names that match
... or soft? their strange appearance.
Soft corals grow long fronds
that bend and sway in the Frogfish hunt by quickly
underwater current. opening their mouth to
suck in a fish.
They tend to grow on
overhangs and cliffs. Sea slugs warn
predators off by secreting
Cleaning time an unpleasant mucus.

Reef fish use “cleaning Spiny boxfish deter

stations” to have their predators with their bony
plates and tough spines.
parasites removed by
particular fish or Sea cucumbers graze the
sandy bottom of the reef,
shrimps. The cleaners helping to keep it clean.
are never eaten!
Turtle
A sponge is a
simple animal.

Moray eel

Octopus

Corals are formed from tiny animals. 103

 Ocean Habitats
A pufferfish sucks
in water to swell
its body.
The BIG escape!
If threatened, a pufferfish may
blow itself up with water to
stop it being swallowed by a
predator, but most predators
know to avoid these
highly toxic fish.

Jellyfish protect
themselves with
stinging cells on
their tentacles,
but these don't
stop a turtle!

Pufferfish

Swim for my supper

Sea creatures such as the leatherback turtle
will travel thousands of miles in search of
jellyfish. If the food doesn’t come to you,
you have to go and find it!

Become
an expert...
The lion's mane on how animals
jellyfish is one
of the largest of survive difficult
all jellyfish. conditions on land,
pages 26-27

It's a production line Velvet

crab
Many sea creatures produce
hundreds or even thousands of
eggs to ensure some will survive.
Turtles will lay 100 eggs at
once, while a velvet crab may
produce 180,000 eggs!
104
Which of the creatures on this page has the longest history on Earth?
 Survival in the Sea

Survival in the Sea

The ocean can be a dangerous place Blending in
and sea creatures have developed Many of the ocean’s
a number of clever techniques to inhabitants are masters
increase their chances of staying alive. of disguise.
On guard! Stonefish have lumpy,
mottled skin that blends
Some sea creatures will sting or attack perfectly with the sea floor.
if threatened. Lionfish spines
contain venom that can stop a Pipefish swim upright,
fish moving or kill it. Divers are making them almost
careful not to touch lionfish. invisible amongst seagrass.

Leopard sharks have a

patterning on their skin
that helps them to hide.

Lost in
the crowd
Many smaller fish
gather together in
large schools. They then
move as one unit to look
larger than they would as
a single fish. It can confuse a
predator and so protect them.

Jellyfish are survivors. There were jellyfish in the oceans 650 million years ago. 105
 Ocean Habitats

The Twilight Zone

Diving deep below the sunlit surface waters you
enter the mysterious twilight zone and the light
rapidly fades. Below about 180 m
(600 ft), it gets as black as night.

Here's a big one

The twilight zone is colder than the sunlit zone,
but some marine creatures have adapted to its
harsh world. The largest visitor is the sperm Fe
whale, who heads down in search of squid. ma
le ang
l erf

ish
ar
After taking a
breath at the e the size
surface, the sperm
whale will head
down, reaching
1,000 m (3,280 ft)
if necessary.

A fearsome
looking viperfish is
hunting the mysid.
Many twilight zone squid
glow with bioluminescence
– a light they produce.

Squid for supper

Twilight zone squid
provide food for many
of the fish that live at
this depth, but they are also
efficient predators, able to grasp
Eye-flash prey with their tentacles.
squid
Viperfish

106
How deep does the twilight zone go?
 The Twilight Zone
Going fishing Switch on the lights
Deep-sea anglerfish patrol Lanternfish have adapted
the very bottom of the to the dark by creating
their own light. Different
twilight zone. The females are types of lanternfish have
equipped with fishing rods. different light patterns,
which helps them to
find each other.

Young anglerfish

The anglerfish
has its own
fishing rod,
equipped with
luminous bait,
to attract fish
to investigate.

of
a
gr Lanternfish are the most
ap common fish in the
efr twilight zone.
u it. M o ng.
ales
are just 5 cm (2 i n) l

What big eyes

Red mysid will spit
glowing fluid at
Large eyes help a
a predator. twilight zone fish to
see. Hatchet fish use
Giant red mysid
large eyes to spot
Colour me red prey, but won’t Hatchet fish
chase. As the
Many twilight zone prey passes, it’s
creatures are red. In the gobbled up.
dark, red appears black,
which helps the animal to hide Hatchet fish get their name
from their axe-like shape.
from both prey and predators.
The twilight zone finishes at about 1,000 m (3,280 ft). 107
 Ocean Habitats

The Deep
Animals living at the bottom
of the ocean have to cope with
dark, cold, and immense pressure.
There’s not much food, and the
creatures grab what they can.

The gulper eel can

stretch its stomach
to take in prey
larger than itself.

Open wide!
The gulper eel
has adapted to its
environment perfectly.
With its large mouth,
it doesn’t miss an
opportunity to seize
prey that swims
its way.

Gulper eel

The worms cannot feed like

most animals, as they have
Ocean vents no mouth and no intestine.
or wh
we ird a Chimney-like vents build
t?

Hagfish are also up in certain areas of

known as slime eels, the sea floor, creating
thanks to the huge mini communities.
amounts of gooey mucus
Bacteria thrive on
they produce through
pores on their bodies. the minerals at these
spots and provide
food for worms.
108
Do creatures at the base of deep-sea vents need sunlight to survive?
 ... ail. The Deep
th t
ou long The gulper eel
m , can survive at

ng depths of more than

th All

3 km (2 miles).
lo
a
wi

Hagfish

If it's dead, I'll eat it!

Rat-tail fish are scavengers,
picking at the remains
Full up... for now of animals on the sea
Hagfish have no true floor. These fish grow
eyes and no jaws, but slowly, taking 60 ost
an unpleasant means years to reach a lm
of eating. When
60 cm (2 ft). to .
ch gth
hungry, a hagfish
will slide into a dead t
e n
fish and start eating
t) tr
le
6f s

– from the inside out.

in
s ( an
etre l c
2 m s tai

The gulper eel

can unhinge its
jaws to help take
eel’

in a large fish.
lper

Giant tube worms!

Some of the tube worms that
A gu

live at the base of deep-sea

vents are as long as a person These strange-
is tall. The worms have no looking creatures
are the smallest
mouths; they absorb minerals lobsters in the world:
from the water. squat lobsters.
vents do not need sunlight. Creatures living near
 Ocean Habitats

Icy Waters A perfect home

The Latin name for a harp
seal means “the ice-lover
The underside of the winter ice from Greenland”.
pack contains small algae-filled
channels, which give it a curious
green colouring. Many animals
survive in this harsh environment.
Seals are insulated
from the icy waters
by a thick layer of
fatty blubber.

King penguin

A penguin cannot fly

through the air, but it
Freezing? Not me! uses the same movement
to "fly" through water.
The icefish is the only fish
without red blood cells. This
Pe

gu
n

Atlantic crocodile icefish has ins

a form of antifreeze in its ha
blood to prevent ve
web
it freezing. b ed f
eet.
Crocodile
icefish

110
What are algae?
 Icy Waters
Krill are eaten What's for supper?
by many marine Krill Small, shrimp-like krill feast on the algae
animals, including
baleen whales, when it is released from the ice in spring.
icefish, and squid.
They scrape the algae from under the ice.

The mighty walrus Walrus

Walruses dive down to

the bottom looking for
large shellfish such
as clams.

A walrus' tusks
are used to anchor
the walrus, haul it
out of the water,
and for fights.

I've got a belly full!

After feeding on The powerful front
limbs are used for
between 3,000 and pulling the walrus
6,000 clams, a walrus through the water.
will rest on the pack ice,
warming up in the sun.

Their fee
t act like rudders.

Become
an expert...
Another ice lover on the Arctic and
Antarctic, pages 8-9
Penguins are not found near harp seals or walruses, on penguins,
in the Arctic, but at the Antarctic. Like these animals, pages 14-15
they are well adapted to life with ice.
Algae are plant-like organisms that require sunlight to make food. 111
 Ocean Habitats

Marine Mammals Dolphins live in

Mammals are warm-blooded, groups called schools.

A school can contain
1,000 dolphins.
have lungs not gills, breathe air,
and suckle their young. Human
beings are mammals. So
are whales, dolphins,
and porpoises. As
a group, these are
the cetaceans.

School of spotted dolphins

Sperm whale

Toothed whales
Some whales have teeth,
A sperm whale’s teeth
and the largest toothed
can grow up to 20 cm whale of all is the sperm
(8 in) in length.
whale. They spend their
Baleen plates are used days diving deep in
to filter tiny shrimp-like
creatures from the water. search of giant squid.
Humpback whale Baleen whales
Baleen whales like the
humpback have fringed
brushes called baleen
plates that grow in
rows from their top
jaw. They filter
food with these.
112
Can cetaceans breathe under water in the same way as fish?
 Marine Mammals
What's for lunch? Porpoises
Dolphins need to
eat at least 10 kg Porpoises are smaller
(22 lbs) of fish each than dolphins. There
day, swallowing are six species.
them whole. When
hungry, they will Spectacled porpoises
“herd” a shoal of look as though they are
wearing white spectacles.
fish together at the
sea’s surface before Dall’s porpoise is the
picking the fish off. largest porpoise, growing
up to 2.4 m (7 ft 9 in).
The thick pad,
or melon, on
Finless porpoises are
the top of a
dolphin's head Like all the only ones that lack a
helps to cetaceans, dorsal (top) fin.
produce clicks. a dolphin’s
blowhole is on
top of its head. Harbour porpoises can
often be spotted in shallow
water, near harbours.

Vaquitas are the smallest

of the porpoises, at just
1.5 m (4 ft) in length.

Burmeister’s porpoise
has a dark colouring, and
a low dorsal fin.

Bottlenose
dolphin
Echolocation
Dolphins talk to
each other with
clicks. The clicks also
help a dolphin to find That's a big blow
its prey. How? Because On surfacing, a whale breathes out
the noise bounces off rapidly, producing a spray of oily sea
objects in the water. water called a “blow”. They then take
It’s called echolocation. air into their lungs.
No. Cetaceans have lungs, not gills, and must come to the surface to breathe. 113
 Ocean Habitats
Look out! Danger!
Some marine creatures
can kill or seriously
Ocean Killers
injure divers, fishermen, Oceans are full of dangers, from small
or swimmers. Here are but effective biters and stingers to
some to avoid. hungry sharks to the effects of man.
Sea snake venom is far
more powerful than that Spiky invader
of land snakes. The crown of thorns
starfish loves to eat
Cone shells are deadly
poisonous to humans coral. In fact, it loves
– never pick one up. it so much that if a
community of these
The blue-ringed octopus beasts moves onto a
may be small but its venom coral reef, they may
can rapidly kill a person.
strip it bare.
A box jellyfish’s sting is
painful, and, unless treated
immediately, lethal.
A great white
shark has rows
A fearsome reputation
of razor-sharp
teeth. If one
Many people fear the great white
A box jellyfish has
up to 15 tentacles
is lost, another shark, but attacks on humans
takes its place.
on each corner.
are rare. However, sharks
Rich hunting grounds are fierce hunters.
These copper sharks have forced a
school of fish into a tighter and tighter
group. This makes it easier for the
sharks to pick off the fish.

Copper
shark

114
What is the largest shark (and the largest fish) in the world?
 Ocean Killers
Killers can come from
Oil spills
above. Many seabirds can
swoop into the water and
A coastal oil spillage is a disaster for
pick off a fish or crab. wildlife. The oil floats on the sea’s
surface until it is carried to land.
It will coat everything
it touches.

Oil cloggs up
a bird’s feathers,
making them
unable to
stay warm.

Razorbill

Taking too much

The biggest threat to ocean
habitats comes from people,
through overfishing and
pollution. If too many fish Some fish populations have
are taken, there is no chance been fished to the point of
extinction and won't recover.
for stocks to recover.

The big one

Giant waves
called tsunamis
occasionally cause
devastation to
coastal communities.
Buildings and boats
caught up will be tossed
about and crushed.

The whale shark.

 Ocean Habitats

Mangrove Swamps
Tropical swamps are good places for
mangrove trees. These trees have roots
that stick out of the water like stilts.

The roots take

in oxygen from
the air.

Too much salt?

Mangrove trees get rid of Nature's nursery
excess salt by concentrating As well as providing support, The archerfish
it in dying leaves, and in the dense network of twisting can squirt
bugs above the
mangrove roots provides
the bark. Some is filtered a safe nursery for
water, making
them drop into
out through young fish, shellfish, the swamp.

the roots. and crustaceans.

A mudskipper's
front fins are
used like legs. A walking fish
The mudskipper is actually a fish,
but it can survive long periods out of
water. It does this by storing water
in large gill chambers.

116
Can mangrove trees grow in fresh water?
 Mangrove Swamps
One to avoid... Ready to go it alone
Some mangrove seedlings grow while
In Australia and Asia, the attached to the parent plant. When
saltwater crocodile often ready, they fall and will float
makes its home in mangrove away until they find a
swamps. Males can reach suitable place to
lodge in mud.
6–7 metres (20–23 ft) in length.
Dead mangrove
leaves contain
salt the tree
needs to lose.

A crab for tea

Long-tailed macaques, also known
as crab-eating monkeys, are
one of the larger inhabitants of
Indonesian mangrove swamps.

A good escape root

Long-tailed macaques are so well
adapted to life in a mangrove swamp
that they will happily jump into the
water to escape a predator’s clutches.
Yes, but they have no competition from other trees in salt water. 117
 Towns and Cities

Towns and Cities

Nature always manages to find its way
into our towns and cities. In fact, left
alone it can quickly take over.
Where in the world?
Night-time satellite images
show many of the world’s
cities – but only those
where electricity is
widely used.

Seagull

Birds
Many people leave food
Animals out for birds. Some, like
Wild animals such seagulls, have become pests,
as the red fox have brave enough to snatch food
quickly learnt to live from a hand and leaving
alongside human droppings in return.
beings. They know
Red fox
we throw away
tasty things.
118
What is the current world population of human beings?
 Towns and Cities
Sycamore
Plants Curiosity quiz
tree sapling Concrete and heavy
paving slabs are no Look through the Towns
barrier to plants, however and Cities pages and see
tiny. A small plant does if you can identify the
no damage, but as it gets picture clues below.
larger, its roots will push
up paved areas.

Gulls are commonly

seen, both on
coasts and inland.

City life
If you live in a city, it may look
barren of wildlife, but birds, insects,
and larger animals will be all around.

Become
an expert...
on the insects that
invade our homes,
pages 122-123

More than 6,500 million. 119

 Towns and Cities

Outdoors
Black rat

Many animals have adapted to A plague of rats

living in close proximity to human Black rats spread around the
world on ships, and now live
beings. They are frequently spotted everywhere that people live.
in towns – but they remain wild. They love to live in sewers.

I spy a fox! Red fox

Foxes like the edges with cubs

of towns, where
gardens are bigger
and wasteland is
a bit wilder, but they
also survive in more
built-up areas.
Red foxes are
equally at home on
Masked bandits the Arctic tundra as
they are in a city.
Raccoons have nimble little hands that
are perfect for opening plastic or paper
packets and unscrewing
the lids on jars.
Black fur makes
the raccoon
appear masked.

Common
raccoon

120
What historical event is the black rat famous for?
 Outdoors
Yummy – rubbish!
Gulls adore rubbish
Rats will eat
dumps. Rotting food,
almost anything. soiled nappies, and the
Urban invaders rest, attract maggots;
forming a tasty mix
Weeds are unwanted
to a seagull.
wild plants that compete
with garden plants
(and crops) for space.

Burdock spreads its seeds

by means of tiny burs,
which catch on animal fur.
Town pigeon

Fireweed takes its name The pesky pigeon

from its rapid growth in
some areas after a fire.
City pigeons are the
descendants of rock doves,
Stinging nettles have which used to nest on seaside
many uses, but they can cliffs. Ledges on roofs are
take over a patch of land. much the same to a pigeon.

A miniature garden Moose on the loose

People plant window boxes Anchorage, in Alaska,
to add colour to their houses, has a population of
but these small habitats more than 1,000
attract bees, butterflies, urban moose.
and other insects. They graze
in people’s
gardens and
are a hazard
on the roads.
Bees and
butterflies spread Anchorage
a plant’s pollen. moose are a
danger on the roads.

ATTENTION!
Bubonic plague. Their fleas spread plague to Europe in the 1300s. 121
 Towns and Cities

Indoors In the cellar

Black widow spiders
like the dark spaces
under floorboards. Their
You probably see insects, or larger bite contains a nerve
animals, in your home every day. poison that can paralyse
your muscles and cause
There are more than you think! agonizing pain.
In the dust The black widow
Dust mites are found in homes is the most
deadly spider in
everywhere. These microscopic North America.
animals feed on the dead skin Black
that you shed every day, widow
finding it amidst the dust and
fluff at your feet.

In the flour
Tiny beetles find their way
into open packets of flour,
pasta, rice, or biscuits and
lay microscopic eggs that
hatch into grubs.

Flour beetle Flour beetle

grubs

House mouse

There's a mouse in the house

House mice hide under the kitchen
floorboards and only come out when
the room is quiet. They wriggle up the
tight gaps between cupboards and
walls to get onto kitchen tops.
122
How long can a cockroach live without its head?
 Indoors
In the attic
If you’ve ever been stung by a wasp,
you’ll know how painful it is. Some
wasps will build their papery nests
in attics or beneath house timbers. Wasps’
They may contain 5,000 wasps. nest

Wasp

Deathwatch
beetle
What else?
Many other creatures In the wood
inhabit homes around Woodworms are not
worms but beetle larvae.
the world. Here are They eat dead trees in
a few more. the wild, but wooden
Clothes moth caterpillars floorboards and beams are
chew into woollen jumpers as good. One type is the
and fur coats. deathwatch beetle larvae.
Deathwatch beetle larva
Bed bugs are bloodsucking
Deathwatch beetle
insects that can infest larvae can destroy
beds, feasting at night. a timber beam with
their tiny holes.
Silverfish digest paper, so
cardboard packaging and
boxes are food to them.

Cockroaches love warm,

damp places, and will eat House fly
just about anything.
Houseflies eat by
Carpet beetle grubs eat “spitting” on food
the wool fibres in carpets,
turning the wool to sugar.
to make it mushy, and
then sucking it
Crane flies often enter
homes. They are also
up through a Housefly

known as daddy-long-legs. spongy proboscis.

nt
ca aste w
Gecko In Asia, geckos are
sometimes welcomed – they
ith
Houseflies

eat insects and spiders.

th
Booklice can be found
chewing on stored flour, or ei
on paper – hence their name.
rf
ee
t

123
.

About seven days.

 Reference Section

Index
A aardvark, 54
acacia tree, 49
algae, 96
alligator snapping turtle, 89
alpine chough, 77
bears
black, 80
brown, 87
spectacled, 83
beaver, 86
cities, 7, 118-119
cloud forest, 31, 82
clouded leopard, 44-45
cockroaches, 79, 123
common loon, 89
alpine marmot, 76 bedbugs, 123 condor, 83
amphibians, 5, 90 beetle grubs, 21
anaconda, 43 beetles, 30, 39, 91, 123
Andes, The, 82-83 birds, 5, 19, 22, 26, 27, 30, 33,
anglerfish, 106-107 50, 61, 72, 83, 87, 89, 93, 115
Antarctic, 8-9 black-footed ferret, 52
Antarctica, 14-15 black rhinoceros, 51
anteaters, 57 boa constrictor, 35
antlers, 13 bogs, 92
ants, 55 bromeliad, 32
Arctic, 8 browsers, 49
Arctic fox, 11 bulrushes, 85, 89
Arctic hare, 12 burrows, 54-55
armadillo, 42-43 bushbabies, 41
atlas moth, 40 butterflies, 27, 34, 38,
39, 45

B baboons, 77 coniferous trees, 15,

C
bamboo, 28, 81 cacti, 63, 66, 22-23, 27
banded mongoose, 55 72, 73 conifers, 23, 76
baobab tree, 49 caddis fly coral reef, 102-103
barbels, 88 larvae, 86, 91 coyote, 70
bat-eared fox, 70 caiman, 93 crabs 99
bats, 40, 71, 78, 79 Californian leaf-nosed bat, 71 coconut, 34
camel, 64-65 velvet, 101, 104
camouflage, 26, 36 cranes, 61
canopy, 31, 32-33 crayfish, 79
carniverous plants, 92 crickets, 55
caterpillars, 19, 38, 55 crocodiles, 69, 117
catfish crossbill, 22
bullhead, 88
shovel-nosed tiger, 43
caves, 7, 74-75. 78-79
century plant, 66
chameleons, 35
D dandelion, 58, 59
dates, 68
deathwatch beetle, 123
deciduous trees, 17, 18-21, 76
deserts, 7, 62-73
cheetah, 52
chlorophyll, 19 animals, 64-65, 70-71
chocolate, 35 plants, 66-67
124
 Index
diving beetle, 91 foxes icefish, 110
dolphins, 42, 112, 113 Arctic, 11 impala, 60
dormouse, 26 bat-eared, 70 insects, 12, 38-39, 55
dragonflies, 89, 91 fennec, 64 islands, 97
duckweed, 85 red, 19, 120
dust mites, 122 foxglove, 17
freshwater habitats, 7, 84-95
froghopper nymphs, 59
frogs, 36-37
frogspawn, 90
JK
kiwi, 28
koalas, 29
jellyfish, 104, 114
kangaroos, 64
kingfisher, 87

fungi, 4, 24-25, 56 krill, 111

G geckos, 70, 123

gelada baboons, 77
gerenuk, 51
gibbons, 33
giraffe weevil, 38
L lakes, 88-89
lanternfish, 107
larvae, 21, 65, 86, 90, 91
leafcutter ants, 38-39
leaves, 19, 26
giraffes, 47 leeches, 88
glass frog, 37 lemming, 11
golden eagle, 81 lemurs, 33
golden eyelash viper, 41 lesser panda, 81

E Earth, 4 goliath frog, 37 lianas, 32

earthworms, 20 goosegrass, 49 limpet, 99
echolocation, 113 gorillas, 35 lionfish, 105
elephants, 61 grass, 48, 51 lions, 46
elephant’s foot plant, 67 grasshoppers, 55 lizards, 43, 65, 73
elk, 23 grasslands, 6, 46-61 llamas, 82
emergents 31, 89 grazers, 48 locusts, 68
emu, 50 grey squirrel, 18 lungfish, 61
epiphyte, 32 gulper eel, 108-109

H
equator, 16
habitats, 6-7
ermine, 26
hagfish, 108, 109
eucalyptus, 29
harvest mouse, 59
Everglades, The, 94-95
hatchetfish, 107
evergreen trees, 28-29
hay fever, 48

F
hedgehog, 20
fairy rings, 24
hibernation, 26
fern, 18
Himalayas, 80-81
fire, 47
houseflies, 123
fish, 5, 42, 102-105
hummingbird, 83
flowers, 4, 40, 49, 58, 69, 77, 81 hyenas, 53
flying frog, 36

I
flying snakes, 33 ibex, 77
food chains, 19, 86 ice, 14
forests, 6, 16-45 icebergs, 9
125
 Reference Section

Index
M macaques, 27, 117
macaws, 33
maize, 49
mammals, 5, 112-113
manatees, 94
N 40-41
nest hole, 19, 72
newts, 91
nocturnal animals,

North Pole, 8
pocket gopher, 55
poison-dart frogs, 37
polar bear, 8, 10
Poles, The, 6, 8-11
pollen, 48
mangroves, 95, 116-117 northern hemisphere, 16 pollution, 115
marshes, 92-93 polyps, 102
meadows, 58-59, 76
mice, 59, 122
migration, 13
mole, 58, 64
monkey puzzle trees, 29
O oases, 68
ocean habitats, 7,
96-117
ocelot, 41
Okavango Delta, 93
ponds, 90-91
porcupine, 22
porpoises, 113
prairie dogs, 55
praying mantis, 38
monkeys, 33 opossum, 53 predators, 46, 52-53
moose 23, 121 orang-utans, 30, 33, 44 pronghorn, 51
mosquitoes, 12, 39, 95 osprey, 89 pufferfish, 104
larvae, 91 ostriches, 50, 51
moss, 18, 20, 86, 92 otter, 43
moths, 40, 71 owl, 55
mountain gorilla, 76 oxpeckers, 60
mountain lion, 74
mountains, 7, 74-77
Mount Everest, 77, 80

R
mudskipper, 117 rabbits, 54
mushrooms, 24, 40 raccoons, 120
musk ox, 10 rafflesia, 34
rainforests, 30-45
rat-tail fish, 109

P panda, 28 rats, 120

pangolin, 44 record breakers, 39, 63
pebble plants, 67 redwoods, 22
peccary, 73 reindeer, 13
penguins, 10, 14, 15, 110-111 reptiles, 5, 73, 93
pigeons, 121 reservoir, 89
pika, 81 rheas, 50
pike, 89 rhinoceros, 50, 51
pine snake, 55 rhododendrons, 81
piranhas, 42 rice, 49
pitcher plants, 44 ringtail cat, 73
plankton, 96 rivers, 42-43
plants, 4, 11, 12, 15, 17, 21, 26, roadrunner, 72
30, 44, 66-67, 85, 88, 92, 98, rockpools, 100-101
119 rye, 49
126
 Index

S Sahara Desert, 62
salamander, 21, 69
salmon, 87
sand-diving lizard, 65
savanna, 46
stag beetle larva, 21
stalactites, 78
starfish, 100, 101, 114
Steller’s sea eagle, 12
stick insect nymph, 39
sawgrass plains, 95 stick insects, 39
scavengers, 52-53, 100 stickleback, 90
scorpions, 70 stoat, 26 velvet ants, 72
seagulls, 100, 118, 121 storks, 61, 93 venus flytrap, 92
seals strangler fig, 35 vertebrates, 5
crabeater, 15 succulents, 67 vultures, 53, 64
harp, 111 sugar, 49

W
southern elephant, 15 Sumatran rhinoceros, 44 walruses, 111
seaweed, 99, 101 sundew plants, 92 wandering
seeds, 20, 49, 59, 69 albatross, 15
sharks, 114
shoal, 42, 113
shoreline, 98-99
siamang, 33
T tadpole shrimps, 69
tadpoles, 90
tarantula, 71
tarsier, 45
warm-blooded, 8
warthog, 60
wasps, 123
water boatman, 91
sidewinder adder, 65 Tasmanian sugar glider, 28 water hole, 60-61
silverfish, 123 termites, 55, 56-57 water lilies, 85, 91
slow worm, 59 Thomson’s gazelle, 51 water shrew, 84
snakes, 41, 55, 62, 65, 71, 73, 79 thorny devil, 65 water spider, 91
snow leopard, 80 toad 68 watermelons, 67
snowy owl, 11 toadstools, 4, 25 weasel, 16
Sonoran Desert, 72-73 tornadoes, 47 weather, 47
South Pole, 8 tortoises, 64, 73 weaver bird, 51
southern hemisphere, 16 towns, 7, 118-119 weeds, 58, 121
spadefoot toad, 68 trapdoor spider, 64 western coral snake, 71
spectacled bear, 83 tree fern, 29 whales
sperm whale, 106, 112 tree frogs, 36 humpback, 112
sphagnum moss, 92 tree kangaroos, 33 sperm, 106, 112
sphinx moth, 71 triops, 69 wheat, 49
spiders tsunamis, 115 white rhinoceros, 50
bird-eating spider, 39 tumbleweed, 67 wildebeest, 50, 51
black widow, 122 tundra, 12-13 wildflowers, 58
cave, 78 tunnels, 54-55 wolverines, 23
crab, 58 turtles, 89, 104 wolves, 23
tarantula, 71 wombat, 54
trapdoor, 64
water, 91
springbok, 51 UV underground,
54-55
understorey, 31,
woodlice, 21
woodpecker, 19, 72

Z
springtail, 15 34-35 zebra, 46, 51
squat lobsters, 109 vampire bat, 40
squid, 106 vanilla, 35
127
 Picture credits
The publisher would like to thank the Gerry Ellis/Minden Pictures 22c, 73bl; Dalton 36c, 84clb; Jeff Goodman
following for their kind permission to Danny Ellinger/Photo Natura 73br; 50br; Martin Harvey 50l,115r; Brian
reproduce their photographs: Michael & Patricia Fogden/Minden Hawkes 97tl; Adrian Hepworth 30-31;
Pictures 37c (Rain Frog), 40tl, 40bl; 41l; Daniel Heuclin 37c (Surinam Toad),
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; Slivestris Fotoservice 30bl; Mitsuhiko 37tl, 61tr; T. Kitchin & V. Hurst 74b;
c-centre; f-far; l-left; r-right; t-top) Imamori 38br; Heidi & Hans Juergen- Hellio Van Ingen 11br; Michael Leach
Kochs 42-43b; Frans Lanting/ Minden 118bl; A.N.T. Photo Library 28tr, 37c
Alamy Images: Oote Boe 118-119; Pictures 28-29, 35br, 44bl; 82tl; Flip (Gastric brooding frog); Lutra 88bl;
Rachael Bowes 57bl; Nigel Cattlin 123l Nicklin/Minden Pictures 42l; Mark Kevin Schafer 73; Natural Visions:
(Booklice); Danita Delimont 72l, 72br; Moffett/Minden Pictures 21bc; Tui Heather Angel 21c, 21clb; Richard
James Osmond 119t; Pictorial Press De Roy/Minden Pictures 29br, 74-75, Coomber 60c; Nature Picture Library:
69crb; Kevin Schafer 43br; James D. 80-81; Jurgen & Christine Sohns 80br, 71r; Pete Cairns 89ca; Adrian Davies
Watt 97cr; Gunter Ziesler 57br; Bryan 81tl; Albert Visage 31cra, 34bl; Terry 91br; Jurgen Freund 116c, 117tl; Barry
and Cherry Alexander Photography: Whittaker 44ca; Konrad Wothe/Minden Mansell 79cla; Anup Shah 117bl, 117br;
11cr, 12bc, 13tr, 13br; Ardea.com: Pictures 77cr; Norbert Wu/Minden David Shale 107c; Photolibrary.com:
Brian Bevan 16l, 17cr; Jean-Paul Pictures 97bc, 106br, 107bc, 108-109; Doug Allan 110b; Kathie Atkinson 63tr,
Ferrero 44cr; Bob Gibbons 100tl; Jean Getty Images: 121cr; Aquavision 65br; IFA Bilderteam 77tc; Michael
Michel Labat 46bc; Stefan Meyers 102br; Daryl Balfour 48cr; Gary Bell Fogden 64tr, 64cb, 65bc; Nick Gordon
86clb; Ron & Valerie Taylor 104cl; 18; Peter Bisset 94tl; Tom Brakefield 40cl; Rodger Jackman 63bl, 68cra,
Zdenek Tunka 87bc, cl; M. Watson 45bl; Ian Cartwright 75bl; John Chard 68c; Mark Jones 83cla; Brian Kenney
23tr; Bat Conservation International: 62-63; Stuart Cohen 75crb; Daniel J. 70br; Scripps Inst. Oceanography
Merlin D. Tuttle 71; Steve Bloom/ Cox 35tr; Paolo Curto 112cb; Siegfried 109br; OSF 96bc; Planetary Visions:
stevebloom.com: 93cl, tl; Corbis: Theo Eigstler 58-59b; Timothy Hearsum 72- 4-5c; Science Photo Library: 25fcl;
Allofs 98cb; Craig Aurness 119crb, 73; Gerald Hind 53; Steven Hunt 97fcr, British Antarctic Survey 9br, 15cr; B.
121bl; B.S.P.I 102tr; Anthony Bannister 104tl; Jeff Hunter 102; Russell Illig 75c; Murton / Southampton Oceanography
123l (Bed bug); Tom Brakefield 51fcrb; Panoramic Images 61tl; Lonny Kalfus 1l Centre 108l; Kenneth Librecht 14tl; Tom
Suzanne Brookens 56t, 57c; Ralph A. ; Michael Kelley 87tl; Frank Lemmens McHugh 55bl; David Scharf 119fcrb,
Clevenger 9t; Brandon D. Cole 97bc 6tl, 68-69; David de Lossy 76cb; Alan 123l (Carpet beetle); Eye of Science
(Hagfish), 109cl; W. Perry Conway Majchrowicz 27tr; Margaret Mead 49cr; Sheila Terry 102c; Seapics.com:
55tl; Peter McDiarmud/Reuters 39fcrb 37tr; Jeff Mermelstein 121t; Marvin 97cr (whale), 97fbr, 97fbr (squid),
(stick insect); Douglas Faulkner 94bc; E. Newman 94bl; Michael K. Nichols 103c, 106tr, 106cl, 106c, 106bl, 112t,
Michael & Patricia Fogden 24br, 33bc; 75br, 76bl; Paul Nicklen 8b, 97fcra, 112cl, 112bc, 113l, 113br, 114bl, 114br,
D. Robert & Lorri Franz 52bl; Farrell 111r, 128b; Joseph Van Os 15bl, 27bl, 115tl; Still Pictures: C. Allan Morgan
Grahan 94c; (Springbok), Martin 28c, 52cl; Ben Osbourne 15br; Yoshio 39fcrb (click beetle); Michael Sewell
Harvey 51fcr, 54bl; Hal Horwitz 67cra Otsuka 49; Michael S. Quinton 89crb; 39clb; Zefa Visual Media: Winfried
(Bristlecone); George H. H. Huey 67cra Norbert Rosing 16, 111cl; Jeff Rotman Wisniewski 51fcrb (Gazelle)
(Creosote ); Gallo Images 33c; 56tl; 105; Rubberball 76bc; Brian J. Skerry
Gavriel Jecan 47br, 51; Peter Johnson 110; Stockbyte 96; Stephen Studd 17crb,
12cr, 51br, 57tr, 60bl, 61cla; Frans 18cr; Keren Su 27br; Harald Sund 4cla, All other images © Dorling Kindersley
Lanting 42tr; George D. Lepp 65cr; Joe 22l; Medford Taylor 116tl, 117tr; Roy For further information see: www.
Macdonald 51fcr (Pronghorn), 53tr; Toft 23cl, 23br; Stuart Westmoreland dkimages.com
George McCarthy 24tr; David Muench 103tl; Art Wolfe 9cr, 14br, 15tc, 15tr,
62cla, 95l; Carl & Ann Purcell 95tr; 52tr; Jeremy Woodhouse 70bl; Paul
Jeffrey L. Rotman 50cr; Gallen Rowen
9tr, 15tl; Kevin Schafer 34cr, 51cl; Paul
A. Zahl 107br; Image Quest Marine:
107tc, tr; Magnum: Paolo Pellegrin
Acknowledgements
A. Souders 6bl, 48-49; Kennan Ward 115bl; N.H.P.A.: 60-61b, 67tc; Anthony Dorling Kindersley would like to
11tr; Chad Weckler 49tr; Ralph White Bannister 54tr; Bill Coster 27tl; Stephen thank: Ian Sherratt for production
108-109b, 109tr; Tony Wilson-Bligh / assistance, Rose Horridge, Claire
Papilio 7fcrb; Winfred Wisniewski/
FLPA 14cl; Michael de Young 10tl, 66, Bowers, Martin Copeland and Rob
81br, 87cra,103cra; DK Images: Philip Nunn from the DK picture library,
Dowell 64-65; Natural History Museum Helen Stallion for additional picture
30ca, 45tl; Jerry Young 20, 23tc/1, research, Gemma Fletcher for design
23tc/2, 31tr, 36bc, 41br, 73tl, 95br;
FLPA - images of nature: Thomas assistance, and Lorrie Mack and
Mangelsen/Minden Pictures 26cb; Fleur Star for proof-reading.

128
 CVijgZ
:cXnXadeZY^V
Take an amazing look at
the natural world
Incredible pictures reveal how all kinds of
animals and plants live beside each other
(
Bite-sized facts, figures, and quizzes
bring information to life, and make it
fun to find things out
(
Discover how plants and animals
survive in all kinds of places,
from rainforests to deserts

Jacket images Front: (tcl) NASA/DK Images. Back: (ctl) Courtesy of

the Natural History Museum (Blue Morpho), (tr) Stephen Oliver/DK Images
(pine cone). Spine: Stephen Hayward/DK Images.

ISBN 1-4053-1037-5

Discover more at
9 781405 310376
www.dk.com