Fluffy animal with a long nose. The cutest wild animals

There is no limit to the perfection and diversity of nature. Throughout his life, a person more than once encounters miracles of nature that in fact are not such. Animals alone can amaze any person, because they are all so different. Some animals are famous for their unusual eyes, some for their microscopic size, and others for their fantastic colors. In today's article we will talk about animals with the most variegated colors.

Panther chameleon

photo: Scruffy Hound

In an incredibly short period of time, the panther chameleon can change many colors, ranging from green to bright red. Changing color is a means of protecting the chameleon. Interestingly, he himself cannot change color, since the change occurs as a result of changes in temperature, mood or light.

Red salmon

photo: Jon Deisher

A person's skin tone may change slightly, for example after sunburn or extreme embarrassment, but the skin cannot change from red to green. Sockeye salmon easily changes its color beyond recognition when changing environment. The main color of sockeye salmon is blue and silver, but during the spawning period it completely changes to red and green.

Paradise Bird

photo:Mohammed Fahad

This beautiful name the bird received because of its amazing appearance. To conquer the female he likes, the male will show off his incredibly beautiful plumage in front of her, dance, and, if necessary, even completely change his shape. Currently, these magnificent birds are on the verge of extinction as poachers today kill them for their amazing plumage.

Ocellated Tragopan

photo: Jan Harteman

One of the representatives of pheasants is able to amaze a person with its appearance alone. His fluffy bangs are orange-brown and his chest resembles a heart, on which he lies whale shark, look incredibly beautiful. If you want to see this beauty, you should go to the forests of South Asia, where birds live in large numbers. Another feature is a blue piece of skin that looks like feathers.

Herbal Sea Dragon

photo:Mike

photo:John K

The underwater world is so beautiful that sometimes it seems as if it is not real. One of the most vibrant and magnificent creatures underwater world is a sea dragon. These aquatic creatures are amazing in that they are able to reproduce about 250 eggs at a time, which are monitored by a male, and not a female, as is customary. The eggs are colored bright pink, which is quite rare in nature. The grass dragon itself is very similar in appearance to algae, so it often hides among them when it is necessary to hide from predators.

Blue-footed booby

photo:

Every male wants to get the best female, so sometimes he has to fight for her. The male blue-footed booby uses his bright blue paws for this purpose. If it happens that the males miss the mating season, their legs become much brighter. The bird itself is very beautiful, but it is extremely difficult to meet it, because it lives on Galapagos Islands and on some others with subtropical and tropical climates.

Clown fish

photo: Jonathan Beeston

At first glance, the fish seems very cute and funny, if not for the thick mucus that completely covers its body. Fish really need this mucus because it helps them survive rather than be eaten by larger predators. The fish is orange in color with white stripes.

Lesser flamingo

photo: KK Hui

Probably few people know that the luxurious pink color that flamingos have is actually the result of eating algae. In this case, the saying “you are what you eat” is very appropriate. Of all the representatives of the flamingo family, the smallest is the lesser flamingo, which can be understood by its name alone. Birds live in Africa and in some areas of Asia.

sailboat

photo:Perry

The sailboat's interesting blue stripes have nothing to do with fashion. Interestingly, during the hunt, the stripes begin to burn brightly, thereby confusing their prey. Well, the sailboat uses its original color very cleverly. If necessary, the sailfish can reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, which makes it one of the best quicksand among other fish.

Danaid monarch

photo: Phuong Tran

Butterflies are very beautiful, which is why everyone loves them so much. One of the most beautiful butterflies can be called the butterfly with interesting name Danaid monarch. Its motley color helps it escape from predators, because in this way it shows that it is poisonous. The butterfly also differs from others in that it flies south every year, like many birds.

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According to the New York Times, which has been conducting various surveys and studies since 2006, looking at something cute stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as having sex. good food or cocaine.

So why spend money on illegal drugs when you can just open our article and enjoy the sight of the twenty cutest animals in the world? Please note that we did not include kittens playing in a box, puppies, or anything else indoors in this list. There are only wild animals here. But we will tell you in which hot jungles, arid deserts or deep oceans you can see them.

20. Sloth

Lethargic and serene, the sloth lives in tropical forests South America. But the sloth is not lazy. It's just very, very slow. So slow that this calm slowness makes him really cute.

Like its larger cousin, the pygmy hippopotamus has squat legs, a wide snout, and extremely advanced swimming skills. But unlike its cousin, the pygmy hippopotamus is not one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Without the threat of being grabbed by a huge mouth full of teeth, it's easy to admit that a hippopotamus - when it's dwarf-sized - can be quite cute.

The pygmy hippopotamus is an endangered species. Therefore, it is much easier to find it in zoos than in wildlife.

The incredible big-eyed loris is native to tropical jungles South-East Asia and is distinguished by such plush-looking, but strong legs. Lori can hang on a tree for several hours, holding on with only one limb. And he does this often.

However, despite its incredibly cute appearance, this animal is poisonous. The poison comes from glands in the elbow and is injected through the teeth. However, it is not powerful enough to save lorises from the illegal pet trade. Therefore, the animal is listed in the Red Book.

The chameleon is one of the most attractive reptiles. Perhaps due to its bulging eyes, sad twisted mouth, prehensile tail or very long tongue.

He also has the remarkable ability to change color depending on mood swings and the ability to move like a sailor during seas. Not the most efficient form of transportation, but certainly eye-catching.

About half of the world's chameleons can be found in Madagascar.

Meerkats come from the mongoose family and live in the Kalahari, Namib deserts, South Africa and parts of Angola.

Meerkats are cute not with their faces, which, although far from ugliness, are almost no different from the usual faces of mongooses. The beauty of meerkats is the way they stand, like a human - upright and modestly folding their paws on their stomachs.

Koalas are not as cute as they look. Experts say that the mood of these animals constantly fluctuates from moderately angry to completely angry.

The enduring popularity of koalas shows that in this day and age, good looks can dazzle and make one forget one's personality flaws.

Most koalas live in Australia. Tourists can get to know them closely—we hope they are the friendliest—at Lone Pine Koala Park.

Happy Feet, Madagascar, Mr. Popper's Penguins—these squat waterfowl have figured prominently in pop culture.

There are 17 species of sea penguins. Most are colored in variations of black and white, none can fly, and all are excellent swimmers. Surprisingly, penguins are also excellent runners.

Six species of these birds live in Antarctica, so the most enjoyable way to admire them is on a cruise. And the team of naturalists on board will help determine which specific penguins you are seeing - adélie, king or emperor.

Red pandas have very little in common with their cousins, the monochrome giant pandas.

With thick ringed tails like a raccoon, pointed ears, reddish-brown coloring and short legs, these arboreal animals were very difficult to classify.

There are very few of these cute animals left in nature. In addition, they are very shy, so meeting them is a great success. Your best bet would be to visit one of the panda research centers in China.

About four meters long, the white, baby-faced beluga whale, native to the cold seas of the Arctic, is about one-fifth the size of a blue whale.

With its relatively small size, unique face and bump on its forehead, the beluga whale is undoubtedly charming.

In captivity, beluga whales can chirp on command and blow bubbles. Those who would like to see these animals in the wild can contact the Canadian company Sea North Tours, which organizes tours to the beluga whale habitat.

Of course, a real-life clownfish can't talk or bulge its eyes comically, as Pixar showed. But she can do a bunch of other cool things! For example, changing gender.

You can find clownfish next to their underwater friends, sea anemones. The sea anemone's venom does not affect the bright orange fish and protects it from predators. And the clown pays for the protection by eating the remains of the anemone and maintaining cleanliness.

In the Philippines there is a marine reserve with a real city of clownfish, where you will meet hundreds of species of these fish.

Native South American rodents are a prime example of the dangers of being nice. For the sake of the plush skins of these animals, they were mercilessly hunted until their almost complete extinction in the 19th century.

Their skins are so soft because there are 50 hairs per follicle in chinchillas. In humans, for example, one follicle serves only one hair.

It is difficult to see chinchillas in the wild. They are few in number and live in the mountains. A relatively large population of these animals has survived in national reserve Las Chinchillas in Chile.

Roe deer are chestnut colored, about the size of a goat, and are native to England.

According to the British, it is not difficult to meet roe deer while walking through the forest: “If you walk very calmly through a more or less dense forest no later than an hour after the start of sunrise, you will probably meet them.”

Wildwood Park in Kent is home to several species of deer. Including roe deer.

In captivity, bottlenose dolphins are praised for their intelligence and medicinal properties- swimming with dolphins is good for mental health. In the wild, dolphins can become aggressive and form gangs.

However, this doesn't matter to most people - dolphins are so adorable.

You can meet bottlenose dolphins in warm oceans Worldwide.

Alpaca is prized for its magnificent curly wool, which is used to make sweaters. Alpacas are also very sweet, although they can be quite short-tempered.

You can interact with alpacas at any of the many farms in Peru. And Machu Picchu is great place to observe wild alpacas.

The hummingbird is the tiniest bird in the world. And it is also the fastest - it flaps its wings 80 times per second.

Slightly larger than a bee, hummingbirds even act similarly. They help plants reproduce by carrying pollen, flitting from branch to branch, and drinking nectar. You can admire hummingbirds on one of the many tours around Cuba.

Sea otters are as smart as they are cute. They use rocks as tools to crack open clams and mussels, and sleep face up on the surface of the water, wrapped in kelp. Sea otters are social and swim together in groups of up to 100 individuals.

From Port Alice, British Columbia, travelers travel to day tours to experience wildlife. Including sea otters.

It is no coincidence that many animals on this list are in danger of extinction. After all, quite often part of what makes them cute is their soft, beautiful skin.
Harp seal pups are covered in fluffy, snow-white fur, making them traditional targets for the fur industry. Despite the fact that the import of their fur has been banned in Europe since 1983, and seal hunting in Canada was banned in 1987, hundreds of thousands of these animals still die at the hands of poachers every year.

You can admire harp seal pups during an excursion off the coast of Quebec.

Black and white coloring, a thick butt and an incredibly thoughtful look when eating bamboo are the qualities that make the panda so charming.

Although the panda has the digestive system of a carnivore, it eats like a herbivore, consuming up to 38 kilograms of bamboo a day. This makes the panda extremely dependent on its environment.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, only 1,600 of these cute bears remain in the wild. You can see them during the 12-day expedition Terra Incognita Ecotours.

The smallest primate in the world, the Philippine tarsier has all the basic qualities of a cute creature: huge eyes, a tiny body no larger than a human fist, and small paws with which it grabs tree branches.

Tarsiers are extremely unhappy in captivity. According to experts, these animals need at least one hectare of space, and captive tarsiers can even commit suicide.

Therefore, you can see tarsiers only in the reserve in the Corella Forest in the Philippines.

The fennec fox, the nocturnal animal of the desert, is immortalized in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince as a fox that wanted to be tamed.

The smallest of foxes—smaller than a house cat—with large ears and a tiny, pointed muzzle, the fennec fox looks adorable and seductive. It is not surprising that it is the commercial trapping of fox cubs that poses the greatest threat to these animals, which everyone wants to take home.

For those who prefer to observe this cuddly creature in the wild, there is the Sahara and other dry, sandy areas of North Africa from Morocco to Egypt.

Which animals do you think are the cutest?

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Ecology

According to scientists, eyes evolved about 540 million years ago as a common organ for detecting light. Today, vision is extremely important for many animals, including humans, and it has become very complex and diverse.

Take a look at some of the strangest and most incredible eyes in the animal kingdom.

12. Mountain goat

We all know that pupils are round, because round pupils are what we see most often (in humans), but this cannot be attributed to goats (and most other animals with hooves), which have horizontal slits that take on a rectangular shape when expanded. form. This gives goats the ability to see 320-340 degrees around them, meaning they can see almost everything around them without having to turn their head (for comparison, a person can see 160-210 degrees).

Consequently, animals with rectangular eyes can see better at night due to the presence of large pupils, which are very narrow during the day as they close to limit the access of light. Interestingly, octopuses also have rectangular pupils.

11. Trilobites

Trilobites were one of the most successful animal groups of all time, thriving for nearly 300 million years, long before dinosaurs inhabited the Earth. Although some species were eyeless, most had compound eyes similar to those of insects.

A strange fact about trilobite eyes is that the shell of their eyes was made of inorganic crystals of calcite (a mineral that is the main component of limestone and chalk). In its pure form, calcite is transparent, which is quite suitable as a material for the eye lens.

These crystal eyes are a unique feature of trilobites because the eyes of modern invertebrates are composed of the organic substance chitin. Due to their unusual composition, trilobite eyes were very stiff and unable to focus on anything; instead, trilobites adjusted focus using an internal eye mechanism, which not only resolved any potential problems associated with the mineral lens, but also gave the trilobites such good vision that they could keep both distant and near objects in focus at the same time.

If this didn't seem strange enough, some trilobites had eyes at the end of elongated eyelids, while others had eyes that were like overhanging "bandages" that protected them from bright sunlight. Because the surface of their eyes was made of calcite, the fossils are very well preserved, so more is known about the vision of trilobites than about any other historical creature in general.

10. Tarsiers

The tarsier is a small (squirrel-sized) nocturnal primate native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only exclusively carnivorous primate in the world, feeding on lizards and insects. There are even cases where they catch birds during their flight. Their most remarkable feature is undoubtedly their huge eyes, which are the largest of all mammals in relation to body size.

If human eyes were the same proportions as tarsier eyes, they would be the size of grapefruits. These huge eyes sit deep in the skull and cannot rotate in their sockets. To compensate for this, tarsiers have very flexible necks and can rotate their heads 180 degrees, much like an owl, in search of potential prey.

Each eye weighs more than the entire brain, and this animal's vision is very sharp. Moreover, tarsiers have excellent night vision, suggesting that they can even see ultraviolet light. On the other hand, they appear to have very poorly developed color vision, as is the case with many nocturnal animals (including domestic cats and owls).

9. Unique animal chameleon

The chameleon is known for its ability to change color. This helps it communicate and demonstrate its intentions and moods to other chameleons (only a few species use color changes for camouflage). These lizards also have very unusual eyes, their eyelids merge and cover almost the entire eyeball, except for a small hole through which the pupil can see.

Each eye can move independently of the other, so the chameleon can simultaneously scan for prey and potential threats. This also suggests that the chameleon has a 360-degree field of view.

When a chameleon sees a potential prey (usually insects, although the largest species feed on mice and other small vertebrates), both eyes are aimed at it, thus achieving the effect of stereoscopic vision, which is very important in this context, considering that The chameleon captures prey by "firing" its tongue at high speed, a technique that requires precision in distance and depth perception. Chameleons have very keen eyesight, being able to see an insect from several meters away, and like tarsiers, they can see ultraviolet rays.

8. Amazing insect dragonfly

The dragonfly, which is arguably the most fearsome aerial hunter among insects, also has some of the most amazing eyes in the animal kingdom. They are so large that they cover almost the entire head, giving it the appearance of a helmet, and giving a 360-degree view.

These eyes are made up of 30,000 visual elements called ommatidia, each of which contains a lens and a number of light-sensitive cells. Their vision is excellent, they can distinguish a wide range of colors and polarized light, they are especially sensitive to movement, so they can quickly recognize any potential prey or enemy.

Some species of dragonflies that "hunt" at dusk have perfect vision in low light conditions, while we humans are barely able to see anything. Moreover, the dragonfly has three small eyes that can detect movement even faster than the big ones. These ocelli quickly send visual information to the dragonfly's central nervous system, allowing it to react in a fraction of a second.

Perhaps it is thanks to this feature that the origin of the unique acrobatic skills of insects can be explained. Although dragonflies are not the only insects with extra small eyes (some wasps and flies also have them), dragonflies have the most developed eyes.

7. Leaf-tailed gecko

The Satanic gecko (its second name) has rather surreal-looking eyes, their pupils are vertical and have a series of holes that widen at night, allowing these lizards to take in as much light as possible. The eyes also have many more light-sensitive cells than the human eye, giving animals the ability to detect objects and even see colors at night.

To give you an idea of ​​just how amazing the gecko's night vision really is, it's simply worth noting that while cats and sharks can see six and ten times better than humans, leaf-tailed geckos and other nocturnal gecko species can see up to 350 times better than we can. dim light.

These animals also have strange, intricate patterns on their eyes that provide them with camouflage. These lizards have eyelids and their eyes are protected by a transparent membrane, which geckos clean with their tongue.

6. Colossal squid

Not to be confused with the better known but smaller giant squid. The colossal squid is the largest invertebrate known to science, and it also has some of the largest eyes in the animal kingdom. Each squid eye reaches a diameter of up to 30 cm, it can be larger than a plate, and the lens of its eye is the size of an orange. These huge eyes allow the squid to see in dim light, which is very useful for an animal that spends most his life hunting at depths of more than 2000 meters.

It should be noted that so far only juvenile colossal squid have been caught, but an adult can grow up to 15 meters in length. These giants have even bigger eyes. Unlike the giant squid, the colossal squid has stereoscopic vision, and has an excellent ability to accurately judge distances. An even more amazing feature is that each eye has a built-in "headlamp", an organ that can produce as much light as the squid needs to see its prey in the dark.

4. Four-eyed fish

Found in Mexico, Central America and South America, this fish, up to 32 cm in size, usually lives in fresh or salt water (although it has been repeatedly spotted on sea coasts). It feeds mainly on insects, so it spends most of its time swimming near the surface.

Despite its name, the four-eyed fish actually has two eyes, each separated by a piece of flesh, with all four "parts" possessing their own pupils. This strange “device” allows the four-eyed fish to see perfectly both above and below the waterline, scanning for prey and predators.

The upper half of the eyeball is adapted for seeing in the air, while the lower half is designed for underwater vision. Although both halves of the eye use the same lens, the thickness of the shell is different in the upper and lower parts, therefore the behavior of the fish in the air and in the water is different.

This means that when the fish's four eyes are completely submerged in water, the upper halves of the eyes are out of focus. Fortunately, the fish spends most of its life at the surface of the water, and dives very rarely only for the purpose of protecting the upper halves of the eyes from dehydration.

4. Stem-eyed fly

These small but fascinating creatures are most often found in the jungles of Southeast Asia and Africa, however there are some species that are found in Europe and North America. They get their name from the long, stem-like structures located on the sides of the head, at the ends of which are the eyes.

Male flies, as a rule, have longer and larger stalks than female flies. In turn, females prefer males with the longest eyestalks. Males often stand facing each other during the mating season and compare their stems; the winner is the one with the longest stem.

Moreover, the male stalk-eyed fly has extraordinary abilities that help him increase the size of his eyes and stalks: they swallow air through the mouth and “push” it through the ducts into the eyestalks. They mostly do this during mating season.

3. Dolichopteryx longipes

This is a deep-sea fish that has one of the strangest eye structures known to science. Each eye has a side swelling called a diverticulum, which is separated from the main eye by a septum. While the main part of the eye has a membrane and functions that are similar to those of the eyes of other animals, the diverticulum has a curved composite "mirror" consisting of several layers of crystals.

This "mirror" collects much more light than the normal eye. The diverticulum reflects light and focuses it on the retina, allowing the fish to see both above and below at the same time.

This fish is the only known vertebrate that uses the mirror structure of the eye to simply see, much like a normal lens. It can be found in different parts of the world, but it is extremely rare to see it, because the fish spends most of its life at a depth of 1000-2000 meters. They feed on small crustaceans and plankton, and their body length is about 18 cm.

2. Spiders are ogres

These spiders are widely known for having big amount eyes (although their number varies greatly among different species, from 2 to 8). The Spider-Face Ogre has six eyes, but it looks like he only has two because the middle pair is significantly larger than all the others.

All this is created for the convenience of a nightlife lifestyle. With a slightly scary-looking face, spiders have excellent night vision not only thanks to their eyes, but also due to the presence of a layer of extremely sensitive cells covering them.

This membrane is so sensitive that at dawn it destroys itself, and at night a new one appears. This spider's face is unusual because it can see perfectly at night, but it lacks the reflective membrane that helps other spiders (and other predators) see in low light conditions. In fact, scientists believe that this spider actually has night vision that is better than a cat, a shark, and even an owl (which can see up to 100 times better at night than a human).

1. Crayfish are mantises

And finally, we come to the animal that has the strangest and most amazing eyes in the world. Crayfish - mantises - are not shrimp, but arthropods belonging to another species of crustaceans from the order Stomatopods. They are known for their aggressiveness and formidable weapons (they have very powerful and sharp claws that can easily cut a human finger or even break an aquarium glass with one blow). Mantis crayfish are voracious predators that live mainly in tropical waters.

Their eyes are very complex in structure, but similar to the eyes of a dragonfly. They also have ommatidia (about 10,000 per eye), however, in mantis crayfish, each specific part of the ommatidia has a specific function. For example, some of them are used to detect light, others to detect color, etc. Mantis crayfish have much better developed color vision than humans; their eyes have 12 types of color receptors, while humans have only 3.

Moreover, they have ultraviolet, infrared and polarized vision, making their vision the most complex of all animals. The eyes are located at the end of a special stalk and can move independently of each other, rotating 70 degrees. Interestingly, visual information is processed by the eyes themselves, and not by the brain.

Even stranger is the fact that each eye of the mantis crayfish is divided into three parts, allowing the arthropod to see objects from three different perspectives of the same eye. In other words, each eye has "trinocular vision" and full depth perception, meaning that if a cancer loses an eye, the remaining eye will still be able to judge depth and distance as clearly as a person can with their two eyes.

Scientists are just beginning to understand the secrets of vision, similar to that of the crab, the mantis, so this moment we can only imagine how this creature sees the world.

This touching animal is a real smiley marsupial! His face looks as if a quokka is smiling all the time. A miracle of nature lives in Australia, which, as you know, is generally rich in marsupials. And if kangaroos used to be very popular in this country, now the quokka has won the palm. It's all about her love... for selfies. Quokka is an extremely friendly animal, is absolutely not afraid of people and is happy to be photographed with the most modern gadgets. And one of the quokkas was even presented to the Duchess of Cambridge and her husband during their official visit to Australia. Kate even fed the smiling animal some grass.

Externally, the quokka is very similar to the kangaroo. In terms of size, it is not very large. It can be compared to a domestic cat or a small dog. It has a brown-gray color, thick and short fur, a long tail. Like all marsupials, the quokka prefers to eat leaves and grass, and live in the shade of trees, closer to moisture.

Bearded Tamarin (Emperor Tamarin)

The tamarin is not just bearded, but also imperial. This species of monkey owes its name to its resemblance to the Emperor of Germany and the King of Prussia, William II. It wasn't that they were indistinguishable, but the noble mustaches were at least practically identical. The jungle emperors live in the wilds of the Amazon - they prefer to hide in impenetrable thickets, probably to rule the world on the sly.

By the way, the main ones in the family of tamarins are females - nature also does not deprive them of mustaches, and sometimes the gray beards of females look much more impressive than those of males. As for the territories, here the bearded monkeys show their regal disposition. One small group lives on an area of ​​thirty or even forty hectares. All strangers are certainly expelled. However, imperial tamarins tolerate the proximity of tamarins of other species. Sometimes these South American monkeys even rally against common enemies. And it’s better not to encounter an angry imperial tamarin, because, despite their tiny size, these bearded monkeys have sharp claws, large fangs and desperate courage. The tamarin will fight to the last for its cubs.

Fennec fox

The fennec fox is a tiny animal with huge ears and a sharp, cute face. In fact, members of the canid family smaller than the fennec simply do not exist in the wild. At the same time, it turned out that this little fox gets along well with humans. can be tamed, and if desired, the fennec can even be taught standard commands. For example, like in this video:

The fennec mainly lives in the Sahara Desert - big ears help him cope with the heat, and also contribute to a successful hunt. With such locators, the fox catches the slightest rustle of its intended prey - the fennec feeds on insects and small vertebrates. This animal, it turns out, is completely incapable of a solitary existence - tiny foxes live in large families, in which there is always a ruling couple, which is almost impossible to overthrow from the throne.

Common Dormouse

Remember Lewis Carroll's famous tea party in Alice in Wonderland? There in the teapot sat the same dormouse mouse - pretty to the point of disgrace and very small. Of course, in a fairy tale, all animals acquire almost human features, but meanwhile, the representative of rodents is incredibly pretty in real life! In general, dormouse is divided into two types - mouse-shaped and squirrel-shaped. It must be said that the squirrel-shaped dormouse is much prettier than the one that lives on the ground. It's all about her stunning tail, which is covered with fluffy fur! In addition, the dormouse is very tiny - an adult can easily fit in the palm of a person.

Their habitats: North Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, Altai, the northern regions of China and Japan, the northern parts of Scandinavia and, finally, southern Africa, where the only genus of the African dormouse of the same name is found. It turns out that quite recently it was discovered that dormice of all subspecies are rapidly disappearing from the face of the earth. So, until the last babies died out, scientists listed the animals in the “Red Book” and now mice are also bred at home.

Alpaca

Alpaca belongs to the camel family. These touching creatures live high in the mountains in South America. The fluffy bangs give the alpaca a special charm. By the way, it is precisely by the intricate hairstyle that one can distinguish an alpaca from a llama: after all, as a rule, the latter does not have long hair on its head.

The alpaca is quite small in size: its weight does not exceed sixty kilograms, but it has luxurious wool, which is often used to make clothes. Alpaca wool is very soft and at the same time very durable and light, almost waterproof, with an excellent heat-insulating effect. For 6,000 years, alpacas were bred by the Peruvians along with llamas. But if llamas were used as a beast of burden, alpacas were cared for and cherished.

Aye-aye

They say that the name “Aye-aye” appeared thanks to the exclamations made by anyone who saw the animal for the first time. What is this animal actually called? Madagascan hand-footed and, as you might guess, lives in Madagascar. Once upon a time they tried to classify him as a rodent, then as a primate, although Ai-ai does not resemble either one or the other. It must be said that it does not resemble anything intelligible at all: a small body covered with black fur, eternally surprised eyes and a huge tail, which is longer than the animal itself.

The only part of the aye-aye's body that is free from fur is... the middle finger on the forelimb, or rather both middle fingers. Actually, this finger is the most important tool for the arm: it uses it to clean the fur, drink water and get food. When searching for beetles and larvae hidden in the bark of a tree, the little hand always uses its miracle finger. First, he taps the trunk with it, finding suitable prey, then gnaws through the bark (here sharp teeth come into play), and finally sticks his middle finger into the resulting hole, pricks the larva onto his claw and sends it into his mouth.

Little slow loris

In fact, the full name of this big-eyed animal is: “Small Fat Lori”; small (its size does not exceed 23 centimeters in length), it lives in tropical forests and bamboo groves in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, parts of China and Cambodia. Sometimes the little fat one is mistakenly considered a lemur, which in fact is not at all the case. Small and thick belongs to its own family - Loriaceae. The most amazing thing is that this handsome guy with short thick hair and incredibly touching huge eyes that are always wide open is poisonous.

On the inside of the animal’s elbow joint there are special glands, the secretions from which, combined with the saliva of the loris, turn into a powerful poison! This is so unusual for primates that the small loris received first place in the ranking of poisonous animals that are unknown to the general public. The fat fellow lives in the treetops, daring to go out only when it gets dark - the poisonous animal has a lot of enemies, so it sometimes has to hang for hours, clinging to a tree branch, which, fortunately, allows the loris to make a specific paw structure.

African black-footed cat

They look like real domestic cats - small, even tiny, because the weight of an adult does not even reach one and a half kilograms. In fact, these striped and charming animals living in Africa are real predators! They hunt, like any other representative of the cat family at night - their miniature shapes and appropriate colors help the seals remain completely invisible, and their large ears catch every sound - no one can hide from such animals. Behind the retina there is a special vascular layer that acts as a reflector necessary for night vision. It increases visual ability and causes the eyes to glow bright blue at night.

In Africa they are called “Antlion” - these little ones live, as a rule, in termite mounds and anthills that they themselves have emptied. By the way, insects are not the only favorite dish Black-footed cats - in addition to ants and termites, small predators prefer to eat 54 more species of a wide variety of animals - brave kids do not stop at game that is sometimes twice their own size - for example, dining on a hare is a common thing for wild cats.

Red Panda

In China, where the red-haired beauty is found, this representative of the little panda family is called the “fiery fox” - the similarity is obvious: a pointed nose, fur the color of a red Sicilian orange! For a long time, the red panda hung around in space without classification: some scientists classified it as a raccoon, others as a bear, but in the end it turned out that these animals themselves are a separate, independent family of little pandas. The red panda lives not only in China - sometimes the animal can be found in Nepal.

Unlike its namesake, the common panda, the fire fox belongs to the category of predatory animals, but due to its natural clumsiness, the animal hunts extremely rarely, feeding mainly on bamboo leaves, following the example of distant relatives.

Koala

Contrary to popular belief, the koala is not a bear, although it is often called a marsupial bear. The appearance of this animal is quite unusual. Its coat is short and thick, usually smoky gray in color with a lighter belly, sometimes with a brownish tint. The eyes are small and look slightly blind, but the ears are relatively large, widely spaced, with long hair at the edges. The koala's large, leathery nose is flattened. His tail is typically “bearish” - short and almost invisible, but the claws on his paws are very long and curved.

This cute animal lives exclusively in Australia and mainly in eucalyptus forests - if for any other animal eucalyptus leaves are a deadly poison, then koalas are not at all afraid of such a nuisance. The thing is that marsupials are incredibly picky - they know how to choose only those plant flowers that are not capable of causing harm to health.

Another stereotype that haunts gray animals is the lack of thirst; supposedly, even the very name of the animal contains a decoding of a popular opinion; from the Aboriginal language the word “koala” is translated as “teetotal.” In reality, koalas, although infrequently, still drink water.

Meerkat

Meerkats can seem like real alarmists. Still would! As soon as these animals hear the slightest sound, they immediately rise on their hind legs, stretch out and control the space. Meerkats are indeed extremely vigilant; for their caution they even received the humorous title of “desert sentinels.”

A small people live in South Africa, mainly in the desert, since their short stature coupled with nervousness does not allow them to enter dense thickets. Among other things, these representatives of the mongoose family have phenomenal vision, which allows them to notice and assess the threat from afar.

By the way, what allows meerkats to live in the desert without any problems is not only their vision and permanent alertness, but also the structure of their eyes - the fact is that the little beauties have a well-developed third eyelid that protects the organs of vision from sand, and around the eye itself there is a dark border that works like sunglasses.