Home – Southeast Asia
Habitat – tropical forests and grasslands
Niche – large flying insect
Favorite Food – plant leaves in larval form
Wingspan – up to 10 inches
Status – Vulnerable to extinction
Threats – habitat destruction, specimen collection
In the forests of southern of Southern Asia there lives an insect so large that it defies belief. Brilliantly colored with wings big enough to cover your laptop screen, the atlas moth is truly a sight to behold against the lush green backdrop of its tropical habitat.
Atlas moths belong to the largest family of moths, called saturniid moths or emperor moths. About 800 species make up this family, and among them are the biggest moths on planet earth. The atlas moth is near the top of the list, with adult female wingspans measuring as much as 10 inches across, attached to a body the size of a human thumb. Females are larger than males, but lack the broad, feathery antennae.
Like all butterflies and moths, atlas moths begin their life cycle as larvae called caterpillars hatched from eggs. These caterpillars voraciously consume as much plant material as possible in preparation for their next stage of life. Gobbling a variety of plant leaves, they must store a certain amount of energy before they spin hairy cocoons about their bodies. Within the cocoon, they are protected from many predators and begin the process that turns them into the adult, winged moth form. Surprisingly, adult atlas moths do not eat. They must consume enough food in caterpillar form to both molt into their adult form and sustain the flight of a giant adult insect. Adult lives are spent searching for mates and avoiding predators, working on a tight timeline. Since they can’t eat, they need to accomplish their life goals without the ability to buy more time before death.
Despite their size, atlas moths do not possess much in the way of a defensive arsenal. However, like other moths, they can use their bright, spotted coloration to confuse predators. If an atlas moth is disturbed, it will thrust its wings forward, flashing its bright spots. Often, the sight of what appears to be a much larger, different animal is enough to startle a predator long enough to allow the moth to fly away.
Atlas moths are protected in some regions of Asia due to threats posed by habitat destruction and collection. Since they are so huge and spectacularly colored, they are a favorite specimen to mount on display. Like many other animals living in the tropical rainforests of Asia, the atlas moth will only survive if we’re committed to letting it do so.
Home – Central and South America
Habitat – forests and grasslands
Niche – large insectivore
Favorite Food – ants and termites
Length – between 5 and 10 feet nose to tail tip
Weight – up to 85 pounds
Status – Vulnerable to Extinction
Threats – habitat loss and hunting
The giant anteater is one of Earth’s weirdest looking mammals. Sporting a long, tubular snout and a tail that looks whisked from an ostrich, this resident of South America shuffles throughout the rainforests and plains searching for what concerns him. And what concerns the giant anteater is ants.
The giant anteater’s amazing 2-foot-long tongue is covered with tiny, backward-facing spines that are slathered in sticky saliva when the animal feeds. After it’s broken into the nest with its muscular forearms and wicked claws, the anteater will then start snaking its tongue in and out, lapping up any ant it touches.
Miraculously, the giant anteater obtains most of its water from the ants it consumes. Since it depends on ants for not just its food but also its water, it has has devised a way to ensure it always something to eat in its territory. It only feeds for about a minute at each of the nests it visits. Although it can flick its tongue in and out 150 times in that minute, the anteater only consumes about 1% of the ants it needs daily from a single nest. However, because it exercises restraint, the surviving ants have a chance to rebuild the nest and rear more ants. Thus, because the giant anteater is careful not to over-exploit precious resources, its ensured food for life.
Not only does it have a pretty sweet life on the eating end, but the giant anteater has few enemies to fear other than man. Although big cats like puma and jaguar will attack this german-shepard-sized tank of an animal, they will meet with stiff resistance. It looks like Snuffy from Sesame Street, but the giant anteater can easily overpower even the stoutest foe. Punching out with its long front claws, it can deliver devastating wounds to attackers. And if its able to hug the predator with a firm grip, then you can imagine what happens to flesh and bones under claws and muscle designed to rip open trees. But these normally gentle giants prefer to avoid confrontation. Their extremely keen senses of smell and hearing help them to detect both food and danger as they walk awkwardly on their knuckles to prevent damage to their essential front claws.
Giant anteaters are one of the most successful mammals on the South American continent, but they will only continue to thrive if man allows it. They are hunted for their furs and have been driven from much of their former range due to habitat destruction in the process of industrial development. They are now vulnerable to extinction.
Home – Sub-Saharan Africa
Habitat – trees
Niche – arboreal predator
Favorite Food – chameleons
Body Length – between 4 and 6 feet
Venomous – yes
Status – common
One of Africa’s deadliest snakes doesn’t lurk in rock crevices or along the ground. Instead, the venomous boomslang spends most of its time in trees, slinking along the leaves in search of dinner. In fact, the word “boom” is Dutch for tree. Although it has no limbs, it propels its muscular body with ease over branches and can anchor itself with its tail when ambushing small animals, especially chameleons. Living nearly everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, these are among the most successful snakes on earth.
Boomslangs belong to the largest group in the snake family, the colubrids. Members of this group have very flexible skulls, allowing them to tackle prey much larger than their head. Although they have fangs, boomslangs don’t chew their food. Instead, they use specialized teeth in their throat to pull their paralyzed prey into their gullet, whole. Like other snakes, the boomslang has a specialized sensory organ called the Jacobson’s organ, allowing it to detect smells gathered from the air on its tongue. This remarkable organ lets them to “smell through” the main defense of chameleons, their ability to blend in visually with their surroundings. If the boomslang gets close enough, it can detect exactly where the chameleon is sitting by smelling the air around it.
Boomslangs are deadly because of the venom they deliver through their fangs. It belongs to a family of poisons called hemotoxins, attacking the blood and causing internal bleeding in the victim. The venom is so powerful that it is potentially deadly to humans, and deaths from boomslang strikes are reported yearly in many regions of Africa. But like most snakes, boomslangs do not generally attack people unprovoked. Usually they strike out of self-defense when threatened or cornered.
Home – Carribean
Habitat – dry rocky ground with cacti
Niche – large herbivore
Favorite Food – leaves and berries
Body Length – between 3 and 4 feet
Weight – 10 to 20 pounds
Status – Vulnerable to Extinction
Threats – Habitat loss, competition from invasive species
The rhinoceros iguana is a massive lizard, weighing as much as a beagle and rivaling the length a German shepherd from nose to tail tip. It gets its name from its mottled gray skin and protruding scales on its nose that resembles a rhino’s horn. Although they look ferocious, these iguanas are vegetarian. They subsist exclusively on tender leaves and fruit from low-hanging shrubs in the rocky interior of the island of Hispaniola and immediate Caribbean. More often than not, these shy iguanas will bolt away from danger at high speed and seek refuge in hiding. However, it’s unwise to corner a startled rhinoceros iguana, for it can deliver a powerful bite and will strike out repeatedly with its muscular tail.
Females lack the large nose “horns” and domed helmet of the males, who are fiercely territorial during the mating season and will attack intruders to drive them from their territory and assert dominance. After mating, the female will lay between 10 and two dozen eggs that she will guard with her life in a small burrow. After three months, the eggs will hatch and the youngsters will be left by the mother to fend for themselves in a dangerous world. Few will be lucky enough to reach adulthood.
Despite their formidable size and strength, rhinoceros iguanas are now vulnerable to extinction. Like many animal species native to islands, these iguanas are threatened by invasive species brought by colonial ships centuries ago. Predation and competition for food from pigs, dogs, rats, and cats have cut the numbers of wild rhinoceros iguanas significantly. Habitat destruction in the fragile economies of Haiti and the Dominican Republic has also driven this monster lizard from much of its former range. Its future is in doubt.
Home – Madagascar
Habitat – Tropical Rainforest
Niche – Apex Predator
Favorite Food – Lemurs
Body Length – 23 to 30 inches
Weight – 20 to 30 pounds
Status – Endangered
Threats – Habitat Loss, Illegal Hunting
The fossa is among the most unique of endangered Madagascar animals. It’s the largest carnivore roaming the fourth largest island on earth, stalking a territory of nearly two square miles in its hunt for other mammals. A solitary hunter with the ability to leap great distances and climb trees, it is one of the most specialized carnivores on earth, though scarcely bigger than a housecat.
Fossas belong to the mongoose family – small, agile hunters of the Old World – but in appearance, they resemble lean cats. They have the same short jaws, large frontal eyes, and rounded ears, but fossas are in no way related to felines, instead occupying their own special subgroup in the mongoose family. They are the apex predators of Madagascar, hunting all over its remaining rainforests. To soften its approach on a hunt, the fossa can retract its claws like a housecat and has excellent eyesight, allowing it to hunt at night.
Despite its formidable array of offensive weapons, it’s unlikely the fossa will be able to hold out much longer in the wild if deforestation in Madagascar continues at its present rate. These animals depend on thick foliage to launch ambush attacks on prey. They also maintain low population densities and without expanses of forest to stake out a large territory, individuals cannot survive. Driven from its traditional rainforest home and deprived of its traditional sources of prey, the fossa has been forced to move into human territory, often killing livestock for food. To protect their livelihood, farmers and ranchers have resorted to trapping and killing fossa, which has further impacted their numbers.
