Welcome to Animal DNA, our extraordinary expedition through the animal
kingdom. We'll explore the unique traits and
characteristics of animals of all kinds, how species relate to one another,
and ways in which they survive and thrive in their diverse environments around
the planet. And so our journey begins.
Today we will talk about some of the strangest and most unique animals in
the world, such as the giant Komodo dragon, the
platypus, the silk moth, and other creatures that seem
straight out of a science fiction story but that exist here on Earth.
We begin with the platypus, which is native to Australia,
Tasmania, and nearby places. It
is considered one of the strangest animals in the world because despite being a
mammal, it has a duck-like beak and fishlike fins
adapted for aquatic life, a truly unusual combination.
In addition, it has a venomous ankle spur, making it one of the
few venomous mammals on Earth.
The platypus lays eggs, but they do not hatch immediately upon laying.
Although the eggs only exist outside of the mother's body for a relatively
short period, about 2 weeks, during which the mother incubates them in
a nest. Upon hatching, the chicks drink
milk produced by the mother. Adult
platypuses range between 16 to 24 inches long, with the
tail representing almost half their length.
The average weight of a platypus is about 2 to 5.5 pounds.
Males are typically slightly larger and heavier than females.
Platypuses possess dark brown and thick fur.
They have a waterproof coat of short dense hairs that helps keep their bodies
dry when in the water. Their bill is flat and
wide like a duck's bill. And it is covered with
electrosensitive receptors that allow them to detect electric
currents produced by the muscles of their prey underwater, making them
capable hunters. Their tail is flat and
broad like that of a beaver. These tails are an essential part of
their anatomy. It helps them swim and provide stability in the
water. Platypus's short legs end
in webbed feet, which also make them good swimmers.
Sharp claws are used for digging burrows and holding prey.
Now let's turn our attention to another amazing creature, the
imposing Komodo dragon, a member of the Varonidai family.
The Komodo dragon is considered the largest lizard species on Earth,
reaching up to 10 ft long and 200 pounds.
Their sense of smell is particularly acute while their sight and hearing
are somewhat more limited. They sit
comfortably at the top of the food chain and are the reigning predators of their
ecosystem. The oldest fossils found in
Australia date back to 3.8 million years ago and stand out
for being similar to the Komodo dragons we know today.
Nowadays, this giant lizard can only be found on 5 volcanic
islands in southeastern Indonesia, Flores,
Gillimonton, Komodo, Padar, and Rincha.
They are most active during the day, although they also take advantage of the night to
hunt, and these carnivores are mighty hunters.
Fast and powerful, Komodo dragons can run up to 12
MPH. Though the land is not the only place these animals
thrive. They are also fast swimmers and can dive up to
15 ft deep.
Komodo dragons hunt by ambushing their prey, including large
prey such as deer, water buffalo, and goats. They
also eat carrion, meaning animals which are already dead.
Komodo dragons have venomous saliva that acts quickly, lowering
the blood pressure and promoting blood loss of their prey until it
enters shock and cannot defend itself or escape.
These huge lizards can sniff out their prey from up to 2.5 miles
away. Once spotted, they move quickly, biting their
prey and waiting for the venom to facilitate their work.
When Komodo dragons eat, they eat everything, leaving nothing to
waste. For this reason, after a kill, they don't need to
feed again for days. Komodo dragons typically
lay eggs in the fall, as many as 20 at a time. The
eggs are incubated in a nest for 7 to 8 months. New
hatchlings, though vulnerable, can immediately survive on their own,
primarily staying up in trees to avoid predators.
Around 8 or 9 years old, they mature and can have a life span
of 20 to 30 years. Komodo dragons are included in the red
lists of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources and are classified as vulnerable among the
world's most threatened species. Now we'll go much
smaller and take a look at the tiny glass frog. These
tiny amphibians measure about 2 inches and are popularly known as
glass frogs because of their almost transparent skin on their
abdomens which exposes all their organs. You can
literally see their insides, even heart beating.
Glass frogs live in Central American and Amazonian forests,
primarily in trees where their transparent skin helps camouflage
them on the leaves. Another mesmerizing
animal is the Bambuks mori, or domestic silk moth,
which is native to China, though it is no longer found in the wild.
In its larval state, this creature is known as a silkworm and is a
primary producer of silk commonly used in textiles.
It has been entirely domesticated through sericulture, which is the
practice of breeding these silkworms to make silk.
These silkworms have been bred for over 5000 years in China, and the
practice has spread to many other countries. In other
cultures, silkworms are eaten as snacks, street food, or in
other dishes. But their primary use by humans is their
silk, which is produced from the fibrous fluid expelled by the
caterpillar's salivary glands. Typically,
the size of Bambuk's mori silkworms can reach a length of about 3
inches before they spin their silk cocoons and transform
into moths. Let's dive
into the deep sea to meet the parrot fish, a member of the family sara.
These colorful fish live in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific
oceans. Parrotfish is the popular
name for 83 species of fish that inhabit tropical reefs in various
parts of the world. They are beautiful creatures
primarily because of their striking coloration. A
defining physical characteristic is their jaws, which are shaped like a
parrot's beak. Parrot fishes are
relatively small to medium sized fish, with most species ranging from
about 8 to 24 inches in length. However, some
larger species can reach up to 4 ft in length.
We'll be right back with more animal DNA.
We're back with more animal DNA. Let's see if you
can answer this trivia question. From which
countries does the Calugo originate? A
Brazil and Venezuela. B. Portugal and Spain.
C Malaysia and Philippines. D Angola
and Tasmania. If you answered
C, Malaysia and the Philippines, you got it right.
Many animals in the world could be considered strange or unusual due to
their unique characteristics, interesting behaviors, and
surprising physical aspects.
Let's dive in and meet some more. Like the oxolotl,
a type of aquatic salamander that can regenerate its limbs and
internal organs. Or the narwhal,
a medium sized toothed whale with a long spiral tooth on
its head that can reach up to 10 ft long. These
whales are found in the Arctic Ocean and parts of the North Atlantic.
The ocean sunfish is one of the largest fish in the world.
With a rounded body and moon shaped fins, it can grow up to
11 ft long. And weigh more than 2
tons. This intriguing bony fish lives in
temperate and tropical waters worldwide. These
are just a few examples of strange animals. Each of
them is unique and has an evolutionary history and place in the
ecosystem. Let's take a closer look at
some specific species. Markor
of the Western Himalayas, also known as the Indian wild goat,
are magnificent animals that live in the arid and mountainous regions of
countries such as India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The largest males can weigh more than 220 pounds.
Their enormous corkscrew shaped horns can exceed an astounding
5 ft in length.
The naked mole rat is native to Kenya, Somalia, and
Ethiopia. Their strange looking appearance comes
from their naked skin, which is almost hairless,
wrinkled, and generally pink. They do have sensory
whiskers on their faces and tails and hairs between their toes
which they can use to sweep dirt. And there's a lot of dirt to
sweep as naked mole rats spend most of their lives in tunnels up to
7 ft deep where they live in colonies. While they're not
big animals, just about 5 inches long, there's nothing small
about their teeth. These protruding incisors are used for
digging. Another big thing about the naked mole
rats, their life expectancy. In fact, they have the
longest life expectancy of all rodents. General
lifespan is 10 to 30 years. Truly amazing for a
rodent. Another fascinating creature, the North
Sulawesi Babausa, lives in Sulawesi and nearby islands
in Indonesia. These pig-like animals can weigh over
200 pounds and have large tusks, which are actually
their oversized upper canine teeth. As they
develop, these teeth find no outlet and pierce the skin.
Giving the babarusa a truly unique appearance.
Speaking of unique facial characteristics, take a look at the
star-nosed mole. This strange creature inhabits
humid regions of the United States and Canada. It can be seen on the banks
of rivers and lakes. And like its name
suggests, its main feature is its star-shaped nose. The
22 fleshy tentacles that form its nose are super powerful
sensory receptors capable of sensing electrical activity in
other animals, namely its prey, like aquatic
and terrestrial insects, worms, small amphibians and
fish, and other animals. This supernose especially comes
in handy as the star-nosed mole is functionally blind.
Armadillo girdled lizards are small lizards found in South Africa.
Their bodies, typically about 5 to 6 inches long, are
covered with spiny scales. Their name comes from their defense
position. When they feel threatened, they protect their soft
underbelly by biting their tail and curling up like an armadillo.
We'll dive deep, very deep, to find the goblin shark.
Which looks like it might be from outer space, but actually inhabits
various seas around the world, mainly the waters around Japan.
The goblin shark is sometimes called a living fossil, which is
appropriate given that its lineage is roughly 125
million years old. It lives in medium and deep waters
and can be found at staggering depths over 3000 ft.
It's frightening appearance is primarily due to its protruding jaw,
which is only attached to the skull by cartilage.
This jaw moves forward when the shark strikes. Fortunately,
considering the depths at which it lives, the goblin shark is not much of a
threat to humans. Up in the skies,
the magnificent frigate bird inhabits the Atlantic coast of North and South
America from the United States to southern Brazil.
The most curious aspect of these sea birds is their inflatable skin
pouches called guller sacks, which are exclusive to
males. During the breeding season, males
inflate their guer sacks to attract the attention of females.
We'll be right back with more animal DNA.
We're back with more animal DNA. Let's see if you can answer
this trivia question. Velvet ants are not
actually ants. What are they? A
flies. B bees. C
wasps. D mosquitoes.
If you answered C wasps, you got it right.
We'll need a magnifying glass to see the peacock spider, which is a species
of jumping spider endemic to Australia. At
only about 0.5 millimeters in body length, these spiders
might be missed, if not for their striking, colorful patterns on their
abdomens. Males of this species have a brightly
colored, vibrant fan-shaped pattern on their stomach that resembles a
peacock when unfolded. This display is produced by
scales on the male's underbellies. Some males can even change
the color of their scales, which have three dimensional reflective
structures. The scales can reflect light and change from
shades of red to green to violet in color.
Another interesting feature of the peacock spiders is that they move by
jumping rather than walking or running like other spiders.
And can they ever jump? They can leap 40 times as high as
their body length. Peacock spiders live on the ground and in leaf
litter in coastal forests and shrublands in the southwestern
region of Australia. They feed on small
insects such as flies and mosquitoes which they catch and
kill with their venomous fangs. They have extremely
strong vision which makes them capable predators stalking their
prey and leaping on to them to deliver their venomous bite.
Fortunately, their bite is not harmful to humans.
Peacock spiders are threatened by habitat loss due to forest clearing and
urbanization. Conservation efforts focus on
forest preservation and education about the importance of these
spiders in the ecosystem. It's time to meet another
unbelievable creature, the proboscis monkey, which is
endemic to the island of Borneo, found in Southeast Asia and
countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.
It's known for its large and prominent nose, which is one of the most
distinctive characteristics of the species. Males have
a much larger nose than females, and their nose only gets bigger as they
age. The nose is elongated and bulbous
with a downward slit that can be inflated and deflated.
Although the nose appears exaggerated, it has been shown to play an essential
role in communication and reproductive selection.
These monkeys have dark brown fur on their backs with light blue gray fur
on their stomach and limbs. The head and upper
arms contain bright orange coloring.
Males are larger than females with an average body length of 30
inches. And an average weight of about 50
pounds. While females are about 24
inches and weigh about half as much at 25
pounds. Proboscis monkeys are known to be
semi-terrestrial, meaning they spend significant time on the
ground. They feed primarily on leaves, fruits,
and seeds and can consume large amounts of food each
day. The proboscis monkey is endangered due
to habitat loss caused by logging and land conversion for
agriculture. The tapir is a
large mammal found primarily in Central and South America and parts
of Asia. Tapirs are primarily
herbivores feeding on various vegetation including leaves,
fruits, and branches. There are 4 recognized species of
tapirs the Brazilian tapir, Baird's taper, the
Malayan taper, and the mountain taper. Tapirs are known for
their distinctive appearance, a stocky body, short legs,
and a long prehensile snout. They range from
29 to 42 inches from foot to shoulder.
And weigh a hefty 500 to 800 pounds.
Tapirs are social animals, often living in small groups or
pairs. Tapirs are also excellent swimmers and
can frequently be found in rivers and streams.
Capybaras, also known as water pigs, are large
rodents native to South America. In fact, the
capybara is the largest living rodent in the world, weighing up to
140 pounds and measuring up to 4 ft in length.
Capybaras have short, dark brown, thick fur that helps
protect their skin from the sun and insects. They are
semi-aquatic and are often found near water sources such as
rivers, lakes, and swamps. Copy brows
are social animals and live in groups of up to 20 individuals.
They are herbivores, feeding mainly on grasses and aquatic
plants. Sadly, many of these
intriguing animals we've encountered today are threatened or endangered
primarily due to habitat loss and other human caused factors.
It's up to us to protect these unique creatures so they can continue to
thrive for years to come.
And with that, our journey has come to an end.
See you next time on Animal DNA where we humans decode all the
secrets of our friends in the animal kingdom, to learn more about them and