Planet Earth

Natural habitats

Natural habitats

All species inhabit Planet Earth but not all of them live in the same place. In fact, they live in different places around the world which are named habitats. There are nine (09) different types of habitats; oceans, rainforests, deserts, grasslands, tundra, savannahs, forests, prairies, the arctic.Each of these habitats are unique and different.

Habitats

• Deserts

Deserts are extremely dry and there is little rain. During the day the temperature is very high and there are always dry winds.

Desert

• Oceans

Oceans covers nearly 75% of the Earth’s surface. There are numerous species of plans and animals who live here. These range in size from microscopic organisms to the size of a 100 ft whale.

Oceans

• Rain Forest

The Rain Forest is made of 3 layers.The first layer is the canopy, the second layer is the understory and the third is the forest floor.The Rain Forest contains about 45% of all animal species.

• Tundra

The Tundra have extremely short growing seasons (6 to 10 weeks).The winters are long, cold and dark  (6 to 10 months).The Tundra have low Precipitation and snow provides insulation. Wildlife includes birds, reindeer, foxes, bears, seals, and walruses.

Rain Forest

 

• Prairie

The Prairie have temperatures vary summer to winter, moderate rain fall and seasonal drought and occasional fires. Typical animal life includes jack rabbits, deer, foxes, coyotes, birds, and many other species.

Tundra

 

Prairie

• Savannah

The Savannah have warm, hot climates, major vegetation is grass, dry and rainy seasons but seasonal fires help maintain balance. The Savannah is home to various reptiles, rodents, birds, and large mammals such as elephants, and zebras.

Savannah

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs

Pangea

The dinosaurs appeared about 245 million years ago during Triassic Period when most of Earth's landmasses were still joined together as the super continent Over million of years Pangea split apart into Laurasia and Gondwanaland, causing dinosaurs to adapt to specific habitats and diversify, giving rise to many new dinosaur species. According to some estimates, more than 1.000 species of dinosaurs

Archosaurus

have roamed the Earth. All dinosaurs descended from reptiles called Archosaurus,

from which dinosaurs branched out two major groups, Saurichia and Ornithiscia. They separated based on the shape and orientation of their pelvis. We don't know what caused them to evolve is big size but we believe that one factor is that they laid eggs which hatched and grew outside the mother's body and the other factor is that their skeletons had air sacks around neck, back and hip, so they could move easily without losing strength.

Tyranosaurus Rex

Velisoraptor

The most popular dinosaurs are Plesiosaurus, Velisoraptor, Tyranosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus, Triceratops and Brachiosaurus. But by around 66 million years ago, most dinosaurs died out and the reason why is still a mystery. The most well known explanation is due to an asteroid strike. But a multitude of factors may have contributed to this extinction. In fact, the dinosaur population was already in severe decline by the time the asteroid struck. However, several dinosaur species survived, out of which ones evolved to become today's birds.

How much do you know about dinosaurs? Take this quiz to find out.

Watch the next video to find out more about dinosaurs' extinction.

Endangered animals

ENDANGERED ANIMALS

• What is an endangered animal ?
• What do they risk of ?
• Where do they live and how they survive ?
• Which animals are endangered ?

If you want the answers to these questions you should read the next presentation.

ANIMAL CAMOUFLAGE

ANIMAL CAMOUFLAGE

All animals on our planet have the same goal which is to survive. In order to survive they need to develop some skills which can provide them with food, water and shelter. They also need skills to hide from predators and hunt down other animals to feed. In addition, they have to survive specific, sometimes extreme, weather conditions of their habitat.

One of these skills they develop is ‘camouflage’. A lot of animals use a kind of a camouflage many times in a day for different reasons, which are to hunt down their prey and hide from their predators.

Read the next presentation to find out some kinds of camouflage

WEIRD ANIMALS

All animals differ with each other but some of them are weird, indeed.

Weird animals have got a strange and sometimes creepy appearance and unique characteristics that even animals of the same group haven’t got. You can’t find them everywhere.

Actually, they live in certain places of the world, some of them in the deep ocean, some others in the desert or in the jungle, etc. Another thing about them is that some of them are in danger of extinction and for that they are protected species.

Watch the next presentation to find out more about some of the most weird animals on the planet!

VERTEBRATES VS INVERTEBRATES

VERTEBRATES  VS. INVERTEBRATES

All animals on our planet are classified into two basic categories, vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrate animals are those which have got a backbone or a spine whereas invertebrate animals haven’t got a backbone or a spine and they are cold-blooded. Most animals on our planet are invertebrates. In fact, ninety five per cent (95%) of animal population are included in invertebrates.

VERTEBRATES

There are five sub- categories in vertebrates; fish, mammals, amphibians, birds and reptiles.

INVERTEBRATES

There are six sub- categories in invertebrates; arthropods, mollusks, worms, cnidarians, sponges, and echinoderms.

Read the next presentation to find out more.

STRANGE FACTS ABOUT INVERTEBRATES

Invertebrates have got two things in common. They haven’t got backbone and they are cold-blooded, which means they can’t control their own temperature.

How much do you know about invertebrates? Take this quiz to find out.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Are you interested in animals just like me? How much do you really know about them?

In this blog we will learn about:

• Vertebrates-Invertebrates (the two categories that the animals are classified)
• Weird animals (their strange appearance, unique characteristics and origin)
• Animal Camouflage
• Natural Habitats