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Adélie penguins breed and raise their young on the continent of Antarctica. In September and October—springtime in that part of the world—thousands of Adélies gather on the rocky Antarctic shoreline. The huge gatherings are called colonies. Adélie penguins build nests by scooping out areas in the ground. The female usually lays two eggs in the nest. Adélie penguin eggs hatch in December. In the Antarctic winter, the Adélie penguins live at sea. Both parents care for the eggs. While one stays behind keeping the eggs warm and safe from predators, the other parent heads out to sea to eat. They feast mainly on krill, tiny shrimplike animals, but also eat fish and squid. Parents take turns caring for their youngsters after they hatch until the chicks are about three weeks old. At that point, both parents may leave to forage for food while the chicks gather in the safety of a large group of other young penguins. These groups of young Adélies are called crèches. By March, when Adélie chicks are about nine weeks old, their downy baby feathers have been replaced by waterproof adult feathers. They plunge into the sea, and start hunting for food on their own. Like other penguin species, Adélies are excellent swimmers. They’re powerful and graceful in the water, with torpedo-shaped bodies that pierce through the water. Their modified wings help propel them through water instead of air. These birds are swimmers, not fliers. Check out the book Penguins vs. Puffins for more about these amazing birds! Watch a YouTube playlist all about penguins.
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Temperatures may cool down during the fall season, but the fun is just heating up. Find out why autumn is excellent.
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A caracal crouches in the tall grass, eyeing a bird perched on a nearby shrub. Suddenly the wild cat bursts from her hiding spot and bolts toward the fowl. As the bird takes off, so does the caracal. She leaps up six feet and swats her prey with her paw, causing it to fall to the ground. Then the cat scoops up the bird in her mouth. It’s dinnertime. SOLO CAT Caracals live on rocky hills or grasslands in the Middle East, Africa, and south Asia. The animal is one of more than 30 species of small wild cats. Most caracals grow about three feet long and can weigh over 40 pounds. The feline is usually most active after sunset. And this cat likes its me-time—adults spend much of their days alone, hunting for birds, rodents, rabbits, and gazelles. HUNTING AND HUGGING The body of a caracal is built for sneak attacks. Caracals are superfast, and with footpads cushioned by stiff fur they make practically no noise as they sprint toward targets. The animals’ strong hind legs allow them to jump six feet in the air—the height of a tall adult human. Tufts of hair on the tips of a caracal’s ears may enhance their hearing, making it easier for the cat to listen for prey. These hunters have a softer side too. Mom caracals (which usually have three babies in each litter) cuddle with their young. And the babies cuddle each other too. See, even ninjas need to snuggle sometimes. Text by April Capochino Myers
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Though hyenas look like large dogs, they are actually more similar to cats like lions and tigers. Hyenas have very powerful jaws and strong teeth. Spotted hyenas live in large groups called clans, which can include up to 80 hyenas. They hunt in smaller groups and use various techniques to attack different types of animals. They are successful hunters in groups or alone and will even try to catch fish, birds, and bugs in lakes. After catching their prey, spotted hyenas celebrate by making a sound like a laugh. This giggle tells other hyenas that they have food to share, but it can also attract other animals, such as lions, to the feast. This can spark a game of tug-of-war. The most common type is the spotted hyena. Baby spotted hyenas, called cubs, are born with black fur that grows out as lighter hair with spots. Spotted hyena clans, which are led by females, often meet at a large den in the middle of their territory. Hyenas have a complicated system of greeting and interacting with each other. Since they are in charge, females usually get first choice for the best mud baths and other favorite hyena activities.
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A two-inch-long tube-lipped nectar bat hovers by a narrow, bell-shaped flower in its forest habitat. This hungry animal is after nectar at the bottom of the blossom. To get to the goody, the bat pokes its snout into the flower. With the nectar still out of reach, the mammal sticks out its tongue, which is one-and-a-half times the length of its body. After licking up the sticky sweet, the bat retracts its jumbo-size tongue and flies off. TRANSFORMING TONGUE The tube-lipped nectar bat was first discovered in Ecuador, a country in South America. It has the longest tongue compared to its body of any mammal in the world. In fact, if this bat were a person, its tongue would be almost nine feet in length! The bat stores the extra-long licker in its chest until it comes across a flower with yummy nectar inside. Once the animal’s tongue reaches the nectar in the blossom, the tip transforms. Hairlike bristles on the tongue stretch outward, making it prickly. With these bristles extended, the bat can extract more food from the plant. By chowing down on flower nectar, these animals don’t just satisfy their hunger—they also help maintain their habitat. POLLEN POWER As the tube-lipped nectar bat eats from the flower, it brushes against the petals. This causes pollen from the blossom to fall on the bat’s head. The bat sprinkles the pollen from the flower on the next plant it visits. This can lead to the creation of seeds, which get dispersed and grow into new blossoms. Who knew bats were good at gardening? Watch a video of the tube-lipped nectar bat. Text by Andrea Silen, NGS Staff
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Launching itself six feet above the ocean’s surface, a fish called a mobula ray does a flip before plunging back into the water with a splash. The fish is traveling with about a hundred other rays that also jump, twirl, and belly flop as they move through the sea. These marine animals are expert acrobats. But their moves remain a mystery to scientists. WINNING AT SWIMMING Mobula rays live in warm oceans throughout the world. These fish have a pair of winglike fins that can extend up to 17 feet. The fins help the rays rocket from the sea when they leap. Scientists aren’t exactly sure why all nine species of mobula rays do these jumps. But they think it may be to show off for a potential mate, get rid of parasites, or communicate. Mobula rays are as good at swimming as they are at jumping. As they travel, they move their fins up and down to steer through the water. Even baby mobula rays, born at 25 pounds with their fins curled, are gifted gliders. The babies, called pups, immediately unfold their fins and swim off. FAMILY DINNER Mobula rays tend to swim in schools of a hundred or more fish, especially while feeding. These marine animals snack on tiny fish and small sea creatures called zooplankton. They eat by scooping prey into their mouths with the floppy lobes that hang from either side of their heads. When the rays find an area rich with food, they make sure to share the grub with the group. These jumping fish make us want to leap for joy! Text by Meghan Modafferi, NGS Staff
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You may not have seen a skunk in your neighborhood, but you’ve probably smelled one. Their smelly spray, called musk, is not easy to ignore! Skunks live all over North and South America, in rural areas, suburbs, and the city. But if you see one, watch out! The spray, which comes from two glands near the base of the skunk’s tail, can hit a target 12 feet (3.7 meters) away. If you are lucky, you may get a warning before being sprayed. If threatened, skunks stamp their front feet, lift their tail, and growl. Some species of skunk even spring into a handstand before spraying, which puts the skunk’s warning markings on full display. If the person or animal doesn’t retreat, the skunk aims the spray at the eyes, allowing the skunk to escape. The spray can remain on its target for days. Skunks are nocturnal, which means they search for food at night and sleep in dens lined with leaves during the day. Their favorite foods include fruit and plants, plus insects, bird eggs, small rodents, and birds. Birds like the great horned owl prey on skunks. Scientists believe it’s because the birds don’t have a very good sense of smell, which makes the skunk’s spray useless in an attack.
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The yellow-footed rock wallaby is a marsupial—a pouched mammal—belonging to the same family as the kangaroo. This rock wallaby lives in mountain habitats in isolated portions of Australia. The wallaby moves easily around mountaintops, jumping as far as 13 feet (four meters) from rock to rock and even scaling cliffs and climbing trees. In the hot Australian summers, the wallaby is active only at night, while in the winter it can sometimes be seen sunbathing on the rocks. The yellow-footed rock wallaby has some of the brightest and most distinctive fur of all the wallabies and kangaroos. The wallaby’s fur varies in color and is usually a mixture of brown, gray, white, and yellow or orange. These colors are thought to provide camouflage among the surrounding rocks. The yellow-footed rock wallaby eats mainly grasses, but in the dry season also feeds on whatever leaves fall from the trees and shrubs that grow in its rocky habitat. The wallaby can drink an impressive amount of water during the hot summers. They are able to drink more than 10 percent of their body weight within a few minutes. A female wallaby can give birth throughout the year, typically having one baby at a time and carrying the baby in her pouch for a little over six months. After that time, the young wallaby will leave the pouch but continue to stay by its mother’s side for another week or so in case of danger. Over the next few months, the young animal will be mostly on its own, though continuing to rely on its mom for milk. The population of yellow-footed rock wallabies has fallen in recent years, with less than 10,000 living in the wild today. The population decline is due in large part to the introduction of goats, sheep, and rabbits in the region. The new animals are able to traverse the wallaby’s precarious rocky habitat and compete for food and water. Recently introduced foxes also prey on the wallabies. Text by Jed Winer/NGS Staff
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If you watch cartoons, the first thing you think of when you hear the name Tasmanian devil is probably Taz, the whirling, maniacal, always hungry, angry cartoon character. But Tasmanian devils are real and are feisty like the cartoon Taz! Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous (meat-eating) marsupials in the world. Tasmanian devils live in Tasmania, a large island just south of Australia. In fact, Tasmania is the only place where they are found in the wild. Adult Tasmanian devils are usually about the size of a small dog. They have coarse brown or black fur and a pudgy appearance that makes them look like baby bears. But don’t let their cuteness fool you. They have sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver one of the most powerful bites of any mammal on Earth. Tasmanian devils are strictly carnivorous, surviving on small prey and frequently feasting on already dead animals, called carrion. The most famous characteristic of the Tasmanian devil, though, is its feisty personality. When threatened, a devil will lunge at its attacker, shriek, howl, bare its teeth, and often spin around in circles like the cartoon Taz. Devils will also display these behaviors when trying to join in as other devils are eating an animal carcass or fighting for a mate. Tasmanian devils are nocturnal animals, spending their days alone in hollow logs, caves, or burrows, and emerging at night to feed. They use their excellent sense of smell and sight to avoid predators and locate prey and carrion. They are voracious eaters and will consume everything—including hair, organs, and bones. Like all marsupials, Tasmanian devil mothers give birth to very tiny young (about the size of a raisin). Once born, the babies crawl up the mother’s fur and into her pouch. Tragically, since the mid-1990s, a catastrophic disease has killed thousands of Tasmanian devils. Called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), this fatal condition is a rare contagious cancer that causes lumps to form around the animal’s mouth and head, making it hard for it to eat. Scientists are working hard to find a way to stop the spread of DFTD before it wipes the species out.
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Walruses have long tusks and a prominent mustache. These large marine mammals are found near the Arctic Circle. They are extremely social and snort and bellow loudly at their companions. During the mating season they are quite aggressive. Walruses have wrinkled brown and pink skin, long, coarse whiskers, flat flippers, and lots of blubber on their bodies to keep them warm in the cold Arctic water. They can slow down their heartbeat to withstand the chilly water temperatures and to help them stay under water for as long as ten minutes. Their long tusks are useful in many ways. They use them to pull their enormous bodies out of frigid waters, and seem to walk on their tusks. They also use their tusks to break breathing holes into ice from below. Tusks are found on both males and females and keep growing throughout their lives. These tusks are actually canine teeth and can grow to be about three feet (one meter) long. Their whiskers are very sensitive and help the walruses find their favorite meals, such as clams, way down in the deep, dark ocean floor. Their whiskers are longest at the corners of their mouth. Only Native Americans are currently allowed to hunt walruses, as the species‘ survival was threatened by past overhunting. Hunters in the 18th and 19th centuries captured walruses for their tusks, oil, skin, and meat and now there aren’t any walruses in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia.
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