The New Childrens Encyclopedia

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
We’re used to seeing certain animals in particular
places, but in the struggle for life, many animals
find that they can gain an advantage by exploiting
a completely different environment. They may
have developed their extraordinary behavior as
a way of finding food, of escaping predators, or
simply to stay alive.

LIVING WORLD

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

 FLYING SQUIRREL
A flap of skin along the
squirrel’s flanks acts as a
controllable parachute.

 FLYING FROG
Long, strong toes support
webs of skin on the flying
frog’s umbrellalike feet.

Many animals spend at
least part of their lives
underground, where
there are few predators.
Some animals survive
unfavorable conditions
such as droughts by
hibernating
underground.

 WATER SPIDER
Hairs on the water
spider’s body trap air,
which the spider
breathes while under
water. It’s just like
diving with an
air tank.

 SEA SNAKE
Sea snakes spend their
whole lives in water and
are often seen hundreds
of miles from land.

 MANATEE
These gentle vegetarians
live and breed in shallow
tropical seas.

 CASSOWARY
The forest-dwelling
cassowary uses its big feet
for running and fighting.

 MUDSKIPPER
The mudskipper crosses
mud flats using its fins to
drag its body over the sand.

 PERIODICAL CICADA
Periodical cicada larvae spend
their early lives underground
before emerging all together
after 13 or 17 years.

TAKE A LOOK: FROM SEA TO TREE


Coconut crab Birgus latro


The coconut crab is the largest
arthropod on land. It it a
confident but careful climber and
can climb up palm trees to
collect fresh coconuts. It will
crack these open with its huge
claws to get to the flesh inside.

 AFRICAN LUNGFISH
When tropical rivers dry up,
these amazing fish burrow
and survive by breathing air
in a small damp chambers in
the hard baked mud.

UNDERGROUND

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