Terrestria: The Earth's Brand

Among the many kinds of defense and hunting mechanisms of the animal kingdom, one of the most famous and feared is the use of venom. It is used to dissuade predators and to debilitate preys by animals of all sizes and groups. If you want to learn more about the most toxic animals in the world, keep reading. Photo by: Leszek Leszczynski https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ 10.- Pufferfish: Pufferfishes are widely known for their ability to inflate when they feel threatened and the fact that they have sharp spines covering their body. But if that is not enough, they have another defense mechanism. In their internal organs, they have a very strong neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, which name comes from the name of the order formed by these fishes. When it enters the body of any animal, it blocks sodium channels of the neurons. This inhibits the generation of action potentials, which are responsible for the transmission of nervous impulses. This inevitably leads to the fa...

Crocodilia is an order of reptiles formed by 3 different families. Those families contain genera such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans, gharials and false gharials. They have a semi-aquatic and predatory lifestyle for which they have developed some amazing adaptations. Most of them are quite big and some are giant creatures, like the saltwater and Nile crocodiles. If you want to learn about the tools that make these animals some of the most amazing predators in the world, I recommend you keep reading. Photo by: Lip Kee https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Just as any other predator, these reptiles have a diverse arsenal of weapons that they use to hunt. All have brutal bite forces that they use to grasp their preys tightly, leaving their victims with no option to scape. For example, the Nile crocodile, despite being the second biggest crocodile, has the strongest bite in the animal kingdom. With a snap of its jaws, it can create a pressure of 5,000 psi, 4 times t...

Some animal species have developed the amazing ability to mimic different features of other animals and benefit from it. They do it with different goals such as to avoid predators, to hunt more easily, or to ensure that their life cycle continues. Not all mimicking animals are the same, some just imitate the physical aspect and others imitate behavior as well. In today’s article, we are going to cover five of the most interesting masters of disguise in the animal kingdom, if you are interested, keep reading. 5. YELLOW-LEGGED CLEARWING: Photo by: Patrick Clement https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ As amazing as it may sound, the insect in the photo isn’t a wasp, although that is what they want everyone to believe. It is called Synanthedon vespiformis (vespiformis means with the shape of a wasp) and it is a moth. It is found in oak areas because their larvae feed on oak wood. To avoid its predators, this kind of moth mimics the size, shape and color of wasps, whi...

Chameleons are probably one of the most interesting families of animals in the world. They have something that make people love them, they are fascinating creatures with great adaptations and they are stunningly beautiful and colourful. If you share my passion for chameleons, join us in an article in which we will learn some of its many amazing characteristics.  Color change is undoubtedly the most famous feature of chameleons (although not all species can do it), but most people don't know its real objective. Although a few species of chameleons actually use it to camouflage, this is not the case of the majority. Most species use it to express their mood, to warn other males or to try to scare predators. Another objective of colour change is to regulate their temperature, as they are poikilotherm and, therefore, can't internally regulate it. They turn to darker colours when they want to absorb heat and to lighter colours when they need to cool down.  Photo by: Steve @ t...