Bolgarov Leonid

Material for scientific and practical conference

Download:

Preview:

Municipal educational institution

"Secondary school number 70"

School scientific and practical conference

"We are the future of Russia"

These amazing animals ...

The world

student 1 "b" grade

Supervisor:

Olga Kutepova

primary school teacher

Saratov 2012

  1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… .3
  2. The animal kingdom …………………………………………… .4

a). Protective coloring ……………………………… ..4

b). Precautionary coloring ………………………………… ..4

  1. The relationship of animals with each other ………………… 4
  2. Land animal records …………………………… ... 6
  3. Interesting facts from the life of animals …………………… ..7
  4. Marine animals and their records …………………………… 8
  5. Protection of the animal world. They need to be saved! ...................... 9-10
  6. Literature …………………………………………………… 11

Introduction

The theme I have chosen "These amazing animals ..." interested me not by chance.

I am interested in getting to know the life of animals in different climatic zones and on different continents. I really like to learn everything new, amazing facts, records, etc. Therefore, I was very interested in the preparation of the conference.

Objective: study and systematize, scientific material on this topic.

Object of study:various animals, their life and adaptability to the external environment, by studying the material in the scientific press.

Hypothesis: the influence of living organisms on the perception of the life of living nature, on a person will be effective if people are:

Study animals and flora.

Be interested in nature around your home, school, city.

Protect animals.

Take an active part in the protection of nature.

Based on the object to achieve this goal, the following tasks have been identified:

Analyze the literature on the research topic.

Take an active part in activities related to nature conservation.

1. The animal kingdom

There are four kingdoms of living organisms on our planet: plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms. Animals Is a very ancient and incredibly diverse group of living organisms. The overwhelming majority of species of living organisms on Earth belongs precisely to the animal kingdom. In addition, only among animals do we observe the development of behavior and nervous activity similar to humans.

SO, we begin our journey through the amazing animal kingdom.

The earth is inhabited by about 1 million 500 thousand species of various animals. They inhabit the entire globe: land, seas, rivers, oceans.In other words, their habitat is diverse: water, air, earth.

Protective coloration.

Animals have a coloration that merges with the environment where they live. This is the most common way to defend against enemies. It is very difficult to spot a green grasshopper in green grass, a lark sitting on the ground, a lizard in the sand.

Warning coloring.

But the color in animals is also very bright. For example, the ladybug bug has a bright red color with black circles. Some butterflies have bright spots, snakes have yellow spots on their heads. These animals have venom glands that secrete a poisonous liquid to protect against enemies. Therefore theirbright color as if says: "You see how bright I am - I am poisonous, do not touch me."Enemies are afraid to attack them, and they save their lives.

Some animals have stripes on the body, like a zebra, a tiger, spots like a panther, a snow leopard, a giraffe. These stripes, spots dismember the body into separate pieces, there is no clear outline of the animal's body, and the enemy does not see this animal and does not attack it.

2. The relationship of animals with each other.

Animals are predators - they feed on live prey, there are herbivorous animals, they feed on plants. And there are omnivores that feed on both animals and plants.

The relationship between animals is not only about eating each other. Among animals, there are examples of friendship with each other.

The most famous example of friendship is the friendship of the hermit crab with the sea anemone.Cancer lives at the bottom of the sea. He has a very soft body, and therefore anyone could destroy him. But the cancer has defended itself, it climbs inside an empty shell and moves only with its shell-house. To protect himself even better, he plants an anemone on his house. This small marine animal has poisonous tentacles with which it kills small animals. Actinia itself does not move, but waits for small fish or other animals to swim by. But when the hermit crab transplanted her onto his shell, she became a traveler. This friendship is beneficial to both. Actinia protects cancer from enemies, and cancer gives it food leftovers from its dinner.

A very interesting example can be cited from the life of crocodiles.They are fierce predators, they attack large animals, tear them apart with their strong, bent teeth. Since crocodiles do not know how to brush their teeth, pieces of the victim's meat get stuck between their teeth and begin to rot. The crocodile could die from cadaveric poison, which would get into the blood, because it would get blood poisoning. He is rescued by small birds - kulichi. The crocodile goes out on land, opens its terrible mouth, and the little cakes fly into his mouth and begin to eat the remains

meat of the victim. This is beneficial to both the crocodile and the bird. Kulichka receives food and saves the crocodile from death. The crocodile will never close its mouth while the bird is there. This is how crocodiles are friends with kulichi.This kind of friendship is called "Symbiosis"

3. Records of land animals

  1. African elephant -the heaviest land animal. An adult African elephant weighs 6 tons!
  1. The smallest animal -it is a dwarf shrew. It weighs about 2 grams!
  1. Polar bear - the largest land predator.
  1. Ostriches - the largest birds in the world. Their height reaches 3 meters. They run fast, reaching a speed of 70 km per hour!
  1. Giraffe - the tallest animal in the world. An adult male can grow up to 6 meters!
  1. The smallest lizard in the world -dwarf gecko. Its length is only 1.6 cm!
  1. The smallest horse- Argentinean falabella. The smallest horse was 38 cm tall and weighed 12 kg!
  1. Cheetah Is the fastest land animal. At short distances, it develops a speed of up to 120 km / h!
  1. Scientists believe - the number of insects on Earth is hundreds of millions of times greater than the number of people living on the entire planet!

Southern Europe. It is located on an area of ​​six thousand square kilometers and consists of millions of anthills!

11 the most venomous snake- Taipan from Australia. One bite can kill 100 people.

12. Animal champion for laziness- two-toed sloth, moves at a speed of 1 m / min, in case of danger 4 m / min!

4. Interesting facts from the life of animals

The most dangerous animals on our planet are mosquitoes, ticks, flies, cockroaches, gadflies.They are carriers of dangerous diseases: malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, sleeping sickness and other deadly diseases. Deaths from little bloodsuckers are a thousand times greater than from tigers, snakes, and sharks combined.

There are about 1000 species of bats in the world. They live everywhere except Antarctica. They eat insects, which they catch on the fly at night. They emit special sounds (people cannot hear them) ultrasounds. Sounds reach the victim, are reflected and go to the big ears of the bats. And she senses where her prey is. Their sonars catch the squeak of a mosquito for 16 km!

Pandas live only in China, they feed on young bamboo shoots. Black "glasses" around the eyes and black ears on a white muzzle help the pandas to see each other in the dense thickets of bamboo. There are now about 1000 pandas in the wild. China does not sell its pandas, but leases it to other countries in zoos.

Elephants live in savannas, where there is no rain in summer, but elephants can smell water at a distance of up to 4 km, and go there to drink.

There are fish that raise their children in the mouth. The telapia fish lives off the coast of Africa. She lays eggs in the mouth of the male. They hatch there, and when fry appear from the eggs, then for the first time they hide in the dad's mouth in case of danger.

bird's milk became a symbol of something extraordinary, which does not exist in the world. It turns out that there is, our pigeons feed their chicks with it. Before the chicks appear in the goiter, both parents form milk with which they feed their chicks. Newborn chicks launch their chicks. Newborn chicks launch their beaks into the goiter of mom and dad and feed on milk for one and a half to two weeks. In addition to pigeons, petrels and penguins feed their chicks with similar bird milk.

The smallest bird in Russia is the kinglet.It weighs 5 grams. And the largest wood grouse weighs 5-6 kg.

Chameleons can quickly change color depending on the coloration of their surroundings. Each chameleon's eye spins on its own, looking out for insects. The chameleon has enough prey on the fly. With incredible precision, shooting her with his long, sticky tongue.

5. Marine animals and their records

The largest blue whale weighs 150 tons, almost as much as 50 African elephants.Its body length is 33 meters. A whale can eat 4 tons of small food (plankton) per day. Kitten is born under water. The mother immediately pushes him to the surface. So that he breathes in the air.

Especially smart dolphins!They live in friendly groups, they know how to communicate with each other and convey about 50 words with sounds. Sperm whales dive up to 1 km in depth, and swim at a speed of 16-30 km per hour.

Sharks are strong, large fish.They are in motion all the time. They do not have a swim bladder like other fish. AND

if they stop. They will go to the bottom. Sharks have large, sharp teeth to grab their prey. A great white shark or "man-eating shark" is the size of a passenger bus.

Records of marine animals

  1. Blue whale - the largest animal. Its length is 33 m!
  1. The smallest sea fish -dwarf goby that lives in the Indian Ocean. Its length is 8.7 mm!

3. Sailfish -the fastest fish, develops a speed of up to 110 km per hour!

  1. Whale shark - the largest fish. It can be up to 13 meters long! It feeds on plankton.
  1. Marine iguana -the only lizard that lives in the sea!
  1. Giant squid -the largest invertebrate animal reaches 13 meters in length!
  1. The most venomous sea snake - bonito.
  1. The mollusk tridacna has the largest shell.It reaches one and a half meters in length and weighs almost 25 kg!
  1. The largest jellyfish is the arctic cyanea. Bell reaches 2.5 meters, and the length of the tentacles is 36.5 meters!
  1. In seahorses, the offspring are carried by males:the female lays her eggs in a special pocket on the male's abdomen!

6. Protection of the animal world. They need to be saved!

Unfortunately, the number of wild animals is rapidly declining. Some of them have become rare, others have already disappeared from the face of the earth. People cut down forests to make way for crops, and animals die. So, the Javan rhino is only 30 individuals in the reserve on the island of Java. Animals such as a wild bull-tour, a wild horse - tarpan, a Turanian tiger, a wandering pigeon, a Steller's cow - were destroyed. Many animals got to the page of the Red Book.

Animals of the red book

The Red Book warns us about the danger of extinction of a number of animals.Urgent measures are needed to protect them. For example, it is necessary to establish strict deadlines and rules for hunting. Hunting on rare animals is generally prohibited. Valuable fur animals have long been bred on fur farms, in

nurseries. Reserves have been created for the protection and reproduction of valuable animals and plants.

The reserve is a form of protection of natural areas. All economic activities are prohibited in them: logging, mining, mowing hay, collecting plants, grazing animals, building.

Many species of rare animals and plants were saved from extermination thanks to nature reserves.Thus, the bison, kulan, tiger, sika deer, and maral have restored their numbers. Also birds flamingos, turach, egret, sultanka and many others.Our state has issued laws on the protection of air, water, minerals, soil, plants, animals.

We, schoolchildren, must also learn to protect nature and love animals. We can do a lot of useful things.I want to end the information with a sad but true poem!

A homeless kitten was sitting in the entrance,
He looked sadly through the crack of someone's door.
Unhappy, frozen, in the corner, in the dark,
He heard a rumble in his stomach.

I looked at people passing by sometimes
All of them went home in cares.
He directed his dimming gaze to them,
He expected sympathy and help from them.

With his eyes he asked people: "Help,
Take me, give you shelter.
Don't let me die of hunger here,
I cannot bear such torment! "

And people, showing no sympathy,
They walked by, not noticing the kitten ...
Night has already come, silence is all around,
And the sufferer's soul flies up to the sky.

Literature

  1. Big encyclopedia "Why". Publishing house "Rosmen", Moscow, 2003
  1. Children's encyclopedia. "A big book of questions and answers for the very smart." Publishing house "Contemporary Literary",

Minsk, 2008

  1. Children's encyclopedia. What's happened? Who it? 1,2,3 vol. Publishing house "AST", Moscow, 20
  1. Interactive encyclopedia. Publishing house "Makhaon", 2011
  1. Who? Where? Why? An Illustrated Encyclopedia for Little Why Children.

Eksmo Publishing House, Moscow, 2010

  1. Shkolnik YK .. Animals. Complete encyclopedia. Eksmo Publishing House, Moscow, 2010
  1. These are mysterious animals.

Publishing house "Rosmen", Moscow, 2010

Red Wolf

The red wolf belongs to the canine species and is native to South and Southeast Asia. He is closer to wild dogs, lives in packs, practices group hunting. They primarily hunt medium-sized ungulates, which they tire out in long pursuits. They are afraid of humans, although they are brave enough to attack large and dangerous animals such as wild boar, buffalo and even a tiger.

Babirussa

Babirussa, or "pig-deer", is a member of the pig family and is found only on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togiyan, Sula and Buru. Babirussa constantly grinds off her "horns" because they grow incessantly. If they didn't, the horns might grow into the skull and pierce it.

Frilled battleship

The frilled armadillo is approximately 10 centimeters long. In seconds, the battleship turns into an impregnable fortress. It is a nocturnal animal that lives in burrows and feeds mainly on ants. It uses its large front claws for digging, and it also swims well.

Fossa

Fossa is the largest mammalian carnivore on the island of Madagascar. It is about the size of a puma. It has semi-retractable claws and flexible ankles that allow it to climb up and down trees with its head up.

Gerenuk

Gerenuk, also known as Waller's gazelle. It is a long-necked species of antelope that can be found in East Africa. Gerenuk is translated from Somali as "giraffe's neck". Gerenuks have a relatively small head relative to their body, while their eyes and ears are proportionally very large. Gerenuks rarely graze, they mainly feed on acacia. In order to reach the tall branches, they often stand on their hind legs.

Naked mole rat

This creature has many characteristics that make it very important to humans. On the one hand, it is resistant to cancer. And they live up to 28 years, which is unheard of in mammals of its size. At the same time, the seemingly naked mole rat does not age at all over these 28 years. It is constantly being researched and tried to find a cure for cancer and a remedy to stop aging.

Dolphin Irrawaddy

These dolphins are a type of ocean dolphin. They can be found near the sea coast and in river estuaries, in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia.

Genetically, the Irrawaddy dolphin is very close to the killer whale.

Markhor

Markhur is a species of mountain goat that lives in the north-east of Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are no more than 2,500 of them left. Markhor is the national symbol of Pakistan.

By the way, markhor is not so simple. The foam that is produced during chewing helps people with poisonous snake bites.

Crab Yeti

Also known as Kivaidae. But they are generally referred to as "yeti crabs" because they are completely white and appear very fluffy.

Rhinopithecus (or snub-nosed monkey)

Snub-nosed monkeys live in different parts of Asia and get their name from their short nose and round face. Snub-nosed monkeys inhabit mountain forests, and in winter they go down. They spend most of their life in trees and live in flocks of up to 600 individuals. They have a large vocal repertoire and love to perform solos.

Maned wolf

The maned wolf is the largest canine mammal in South America and looks like a large fox with reddish fur. This mammal lives in open and semi-open spaces. Long legs are a way of adapting to tall grass.

Indian muntjac

It was found in South Asia. He is omnivorous. It feeds on grass, fruits, shoots, seeds, bird eggs, as well as small animals and carrion. If he sees a predator he barks like a dog. Males behave very much like dogs. They bite like dogs and fight for territory and females.

Cyphonia clavata

It is a species of tree fly, but it most resembles an ant. In fact, the part that most resembles an ant is an appendage that the fly is ready to easily part with in the event of an attack from a predator.

Sunda colugo

Also known as the Sunda flying lemur, it is not actually a lemur and clearly does not fly. Instead, he jumps and glides among the trees. It lives only in trees, is active at night, and it feeds on soft parts of plants, such as young leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits. It can be found throughout Southeast Asia, more specifically in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Crested deer

The tufted deer has a black tuft of fur on its forehead and pronounced fangs.

This is a close relative of the muntjak, but he lives a little further north, mainly in China. It is a timid, lonely animal.

Lamprey

Lampreys are a type of jawless fish that lives primarily in coastal and fresh waters. Adults are characterized by a toothed funnel mouth. They attach to fish and suck their blood. Lamprey appeared on Earth more than 300 million years ago.

Raccoon dog

The raccoon dog, or Tanuki, is an indigenous canine species in East Asia.

The raccoon dog is so named because of its strong resemblance to the raccoon, to which it is in no way related. By the way, they are very good climbers.

Patagonian Mara

The Patagonian Mara is a relatively large rodent found in parts of Argentina. It is a herbivore, which is very similar to a rabbit, but has nothing to do with it.

Amazonian royal flycatcher

The Amazonian royal flycatcher, as you might guess, lives only on the Amazon. They are very small and feed on flying insects.

For their size, they build very large nests, up to two meters in diameter. The nest hangs above the water, and therefore it is difficult for predators to access it.

Zebra Duker

Zebra Dukers are small antelopes from the Ivory Coast. They have golden or reddish brown coats with characteristic zebra stripes. Hence the name. They live in rainforests and feed on leaves and fruits.

Star-nosed

The star-nosed mole is a mole that lives in humid areas in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It has 11 pairs of pink fleshy appendages that are used as a sensory organ.

Unique, and all living creatures, especially animals, are no less unique. In some places there are those that people may not even know about, but there are those that they know and envy.

And so let's see which animals are the most unique.

These amazing animals

1. Anteater.

This animal is unique in its gluttony and what it goes to in order to get its dinner. Anteaters adore insects and their larvae, it can also be the larvae of bees, termites.

An anteater can attack a hive of bees with impunity, withstand hundreds of bites and run away with a proud, well-fed look in search of a new meal.

In addition, the anteater has a unique muzzle shape with a very long tongue, with which it takes out the larvae.

2. Honey badger.

Now an even more voracious animal is the honey badger. This robber ravages bee hives with enviable consistency. He doesn't care about the bites, but he doesn't care. For the sake of honey, he is ready to keep the attacks of angry bees for hours. In addition, he has very powerful paws, and he is able to dig out any rodent hiding from him in the hole.

But something else makes it unique. Honey badgers do not disdain snakes, and deadly poisonous ones. He can attack a cobra and he will not care about her bites, he will kill her, the poison will affect the honey badger, and he will "turn off" for a while, but after a while he will wake up and eat the cobra, and the next day he will be ready to eat another cobra.

3. Wolverine.

This is a very vicious animal, with its small size it is not afraid of either wolves or other large animals. There were times when he drove a wolverine into a corner, and she fought back, even won. It is similar in size to a large dog, with the largest individuals reaching a weight of 30 kg.

The wolverine is very voracious, they attack everything that they meet, not large horned ones, even moose, which are much larger than wolverines, wolves, they are ready to attack anyone for food, they are very aggressive.

In addition, the animal is very hardy, although not fast, it will pursue the victim until it weakens and the wolverine kills it.

4. Starfish.

This animal is truly unique, why? Cut the starfish into small pieces and after a while new starfish will grow from these pieces. Isn't it a miracle? The animal has a unique regeneration that will be the envy of all species on the planet. Scientists are now doing a lot of experiments on these animals, because they want people to be able to regenerate as well.

Kea is a unique parrot of its kind that lives only in New Zealand. What is unique about this bird? Kea is a very curious bird and is absolutely not afraid of people.

For this, tourists fell in love with them, kea fly up close to people and begin to do nasty things: spoil cars, get into bags with food. In addition, they are very playful and it is a pleasure to watch them.

Kea is also famous for its bloodthirstiness, they sometimes attack sheep, sit on their backs and begin to peck at the subcutaneous fat, sometimes animals die because they cannot throw off the bird.

6. Narwhal.

How is this animal different from any other mammal? He has a huge 3-meter tusk on the bow.

This makes it unique, because you will not find anything like it again. Until now, it is not exactly clear why I would pick a tusk. In addition, this is a very rare animal and to meet it is still a miracle.

7. Amur tiger.

A very rare animal, their number reaches less than 500 individuals. It is as beautiful as it is rare. The tiger has an amazingly beautiful coat and impressive size, sometimes reaching a weight of 300 kg. With this size, it is very fast and hardy.

For the killing of this animal in China, a death sentence is imposed. The tiger also swims great. And his eyesight is 5 times sharper than that of a person.

The list goes on, because there are hundreds of unique animals. But for now, we will limit ourselves to only seven animals.

The variety of shapes, colors and sizes of creatures that inhabit our planet surpasses even the most fertile imagination. We are pleased to introduce you the most unusual animals in the world... Some of them look like characters from a science fiction film about Mars, others seem to come from another dimension, but they all live on Earth and were created by Mother Nature.

25. Octopus Dumbo

A funny octopus opens the hit parade of amazing creatures. He lives at great depths (from one hundred to five thousand meters) and is mainly engaged in the search for crustaceans and worm-like on the seabed. The octopus got its name, reminiscent of a baby elephant with large ears, thanks to two unusual fins.

24. Darwin's Bat

Bats are found in the waters around the Galapagos Islands. They are terrible swimmers and have instead learned to walk the ocean floor on their fins.

23. Chinese Water Deer

This animal received the nickname "Vampire Deer" for its outstanding fangs, which are used in battles for territory.

22. Star-nosed

The small North American mole gets its name from a circle of 22 pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of its snout. They are used to identify food starnose (worms, insects and crustaceans) by touch.

21. Ay-ay

In this photo - one of the most unusual animals in the world with the name "ay-ay" or "aye". This native of Madagascar is distinguished by his unique method of finding food; he knocks on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts an elongated middle finger to pull the prey out.

20. "Living stone"

Pyura Chilensis are living, breathing organisms found on Chilean beaches. Their appearance allows them to avoid predators. Interestingly, these creatures have both male and female organs and can reproduce without the help of a partner.

19. Fish pacu

Freshwater fish with human teeth are found in rivers in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as in Papua New Guinea. A nightmare for local fishermen who are afraid to swim in the water due to the fact that pacu confuse male testicles with nuts falling from trees into the water.

18. Drop fish

One of the strangest animals in the world. By the outward appearance of this creature, we can say that it is despondency embodied. It lives in deep waters off the coast of Australia and Tasmania.

A drop fish lives in the depths and its flesh is a gel-like mass with a density slightly less than that of water. This allows the "dull" creature to stay afloat.

17. Eastern long-necked turtle

These turtles can be found throughout Australia. Their wonderful necks can be up to 25 cm long.

16. Surinamese pipa

The leafy appearance of the Surinamese pipa is a natural defense against predators. These toads have a unique breeding method: the female lays eggs and the male releases sperm at the same time. The female dives down and the eggs fall on her back, in the cells, where they are, until it is time for the young pip to be born.

15. Crab Yeti

In the "hairy" claws of this crustacean living in the depths of the southern part, there are many filamentous bacteria. They are needed to neutralize toxic minerals from the water and, possibly, serve as food for their host.

14. Bearded man

These beautiful birds live on Everest, the Himalayas and other mountainous regions in Europe and Asia. They were almost destroyed because people feared that the bearded men would attack animals and children. Now there are only 10 thousand of them left on Earth.

13. Pike blend

They live in the waters off the west coast of America, can grow up to 30 cm in length and have frighteningly large mouths. Their pike blend dogs show each other as if they are kissing. Whoever has a bigger mouth is more important.

12. Decorated tree kite

Many people's nightmare revived: a snake that climbs trees and then jumps down. Before jumping, the reptile curls up in a spiral, and then abruptly turns around and throws itself into the air. In flight, it stretches out and smoothly lands on a lower branch or other tree. Fortunately, bats do not pay attention to people, they are more interested in bats, frogs and rodents.

11. North American kamicli

This cute raccoon animal is native to the arid regions of North America. Some are so easy to tame that miners and settlers once kept them as companions and gave them the nickname "miner's cat".

10. Striped tenrec

It lives only in the tropical forests of Madagascar. The tenrec is somewhat porcupine-like, and the needles in its central back can vibrate. With their help, animals locate each other.

9. Pink sea cucumber

Looks like a character in a science fiction movie, but in fact - a harmless creature. And it looks more like a jellyfish than its relatives holothurians. Around its red mouth are tentacles that scoop edible mud from the bottom of the sea. From there, it enters the creature's intestines.

8. Rhinopithecus

Famed TV presenter and naturalist David Attenborough once remarked that these marvelous monkeys with a stubby nose and a blue "mask" around their eyes looked like "elves." Or, looking at them, you can say that "plastic surgery has gone too far." Rhinopithecus live in Asia, at altitudes up to 4000 meters and are rarely seen by people.

7. Mantis shrimp

The colorful stomatopod or mantis shrimp spends most of its life hiding in burrows. Able to pierce the walls of aquariums by moving at speeds up to 80 km per hour. During mating games, mantis shrimps actively fluoresce, and the wavelength of fluorescence corresponds to the wavelength that the pigments in their eyes can perceive.

6. Panda Ant

Among the most unusual animals on the planet is a fluffy creature with the color of a panda. In fact, this is not an ant, but a wingless wasp that lives in South America. It is very similar in appearance to an ant, but, unlike him, it has a powerful sting.

5. Leaf-tailed gecko

The master of disguise is from Madagascar. Thanks to its leaf-shaped tail, it can fit into the "interior" of the local jungle.

4. Gerenuk

It's hard to believe that this long-necked adorable is not a mini-giraffe, but a real African gazelle. In order to reach the tall branches, the gerenuk lacks only the length of the neck. You still have to get up on your hind legs.

3. Chinese giant salamander

It can grow up to 180 cm long and weighing up to 70 kg. If you are in China and see such a creature in a local reservoir, then you should know that the water in this reservoir is very clean and cold.

2. Angora rabbit

Looks like the result of a Bigfoot / Kitten crossing experiment. Angora rabbits were extremely popular in the 17th and 18th centuries among the European nobility. They were not eaten, but kept as a pet.

1. Goblin shark (aka goblin shark)

The first number in our top 25 strange creatures is the rare shark, which is sometimes called the "living fossil". It is the only surviving member of the scapanorhynchid family, with a genealogy of about 125 million years. Goblin sharks live all over the world at depths of more than 100 m, so they are not dangerous for swimmers.

A selection of 30 of the most unusual creatures on our planet ...
Based on materials: wikipedia.org & animalworld.com.ua & unnatural.ru

Madagascar sucker
Found only in Madagascar. On the bases of the big toes of the wings and on the soles of the hind limbs of the suckerfoot, there are complex rosette suckers, which are located directly on the skin (in contrast to the suckers in sucker-footed bats). The biology and ecology of the suckerfoot is practically not studied. Most likely, it uses folded leathery palm leaves as shelters, to which it sticks with its suction cups. All the suckers were caught near the water.

Angora rabbit (ladies')
These rabbits look quite impressive, there are specimens, the wool of which reaches 80 cm in length. Their wool is extremely valued, and a wide variety of things are made from it: stockings, scarves, gloves, just fabrics and even linen. One kilogram of this rabbit's wool is estimated at about 10 - 12 rubles. One rabbit produces about 0.5 kg of this wool per year, but usually much less. Most often Angora rabbits are bred by women, therefore it is sometimes called "ladies'". The average weight of such a rabbit is 5 kg, body length 61 cm, chest girth 35-40 cm, but other options are also possible.

Monkey marmoset
This is the most amazing species of monkeys living on Earth. The weight of an adult does not exceed 120 g. When you look at this tiny creature the size of a mouse (10-15 cm) with a long tail (20-21 cm) and with large Mongoloid eyes with a conscious gaze, you feel a kind of embarrassment.

Coconut crab
This is one of the representatives of decapod crustaceans. The habitat of this animal is the western part of the Pacific Ocean and islands in the Indian Ocean. This animal of the land crayfish family is quite large for representatives of its species. An adult can reach 32 cm in length and weigh up to 3-4 kg. For quite a long time, it was mistakenly believed that a palm thief could split coconuts with his claws in order to eat them later, but now scientists have proven that this cancer, despite the enormous force of its claws, is not able to split a coconut, but can easily break your arm ...

Coconuts that split when falling are their main source of food, which is why this cancer was called the palm thief. However, he is not averse to feasting on other food - fruits of plants, organic elements from the earth, and even creatures of God similar to himself. His character, meanwhile, is timid and friendly.

The coconut crab is unique in its kind, its sense of smell is developed as strongly as that of insects, in addition, it has olfactory organs that ordinary crabs lack. This feature developed after this species emerged from the water and settled on land.

Unlike other crabs, they do not move sideways, but forward. They do not stay in water for a long time.

Sea cucumber. Holothuria
Sea cucumbers, egg capsules (Holothuroidea), a class of invertebrates such as echinoderms. The modern fauna is represented by 1150 species, divided into 6 orders, which differ from each other in the shape of the tentacles and the calcareous ring, as well as in the presence of some internal organs. There are about 100 species in Russia. The body of the sea cucumber is leathery to the touch, usually rough and wrinkled. The body wall is thick and elastic, with well-developed muscle bundles. The longitudinal muscles (5 bands) are attached to the calcareous ring around the esophagus. There is a mouth at one end of the body, and an anus at the other. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of 10-30 tentacles that serve to capture food, and leads into a spirally twisted intestine.

Usually lie "on the side", raising the front, mouth end. Holothurians feed on plankton and organic debris extracted from bottom silt and sand, which is passed through the alimentary canal. Other species filter food from the bottom waters with sticky mucus-covered tentacles.

Hell vampire

This animal is a mollusk. Despite its outward resemblance to an octopus or squid, scientists have separated this mollusk into a separate series Vampyromorphida (lat.), Because only it has retractable susceptible whip-like filaments.

Almost the entire surface of the mollusk's body is covered with luminescent organs - photophores. They appear as small white discs that grow larger at the ends of the tentacles and at the base of the fins. Photophores are absent only on the inner side of the membranous tentacles. The infernal vampire is very good at controlling these organs and is capable of producing disorienting flashes of light lasting from hundredths of a second to several minutes. In addition, it can control the brightness and size of color spots.

Amazon dolphin
It is the largest river dolphin in the world. Inia geoffrensis - as scientists called it, can reach 2.5 meters in length and have a mass of up to 200 kg. Young individuals are light gray in color, but brighten with age. The body of the Amazonian dolphin is full, with a narrow muzzle and slender tail. Round forehead, slightly curved nose and small eyes. You can meet the Amazonian dolphin in the rivers and lakes of Latin America.

Star-nosed
Zvezdnos is an insectivorous mammal from the mole family. It is possible to meet such an animal only in Southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Outwardly, the star nose differs from other animals of this family and from other small animals only it has a snout structure in the form of a rosette or an asterisk of 22 soft moving fleshy naked rays. similar to its European relative, the mole. Its tail is relatively long (about 8 cm), covered with scales and sparse hair. When the star-nose is looking for food, the rays on the stigma are constantly moving, with the exception of the two middle upper ones, they are directed forward and do not bend. When he eats, the rays are drawn into a compact lump; while eating, the animal holds food with its front paws. When the star-nose drinks, he lowers the stigma and the entire mustache into the water for 5-6 seconds.

Fossa
These amazing animals live only on the island of Madagascar, nowhere else in the world, even in Africa. Fossa is the rarest animal and the only member of the genus Cryptoprocta, while the fossa is the largest carnivore inhabiting the island of Madagascar. The fossa's appearance is a bit unusual: it is something between a civet and a little cougar. At times, fossa is also called the Madagascar lion, the ancestors of this beast were much larger and reached the size of a lion. Fossa has a strong build, massive and slightly elongated body, its length can reach 80 cm (on average, the body of fossa reaches 65-70 cm). The feet of the fossa are high, but rather thick, in addition, the hind feet are longer than the front ones. The tail of this animal is very long, often reaches the length of the body and reaches 65 cm.

Japanese giant salamander
The largest amphibian found in the world, this salamander can reach 160 cm in length and gain weight up to 180 kg. In addition, such a salamander can live up to 150 years, although the officially attested largest age for a huge salamander is 59 years.

Aye-Aye (or Aye-Aye)
Madagascar aye (lat. Daubentonia madagascariensis) or ah-ah, this is a mammal of the suborder of semi-monkeys; the only representative of the aye family. One of the rarest animals on the planet - there are only five dozen individuals, therefore it was discovered relatively recently. The largest animal of the nocturnal primates.

The body length of an aye is 30-37 cm without a tail, 44-53 cm with a tail. Weight - about 2.5 kg. The head is large, the muzzle is short; ears are large, leathery. The tail is large, fluffy. Coat color from dark brown to black. They live in the East and North of the island of Madagascar. They are nocturnal. They feed on the fruits of the mango tree and coconut trees, the heart of bamboo and sugarcane, tree beetles and grubs. They sleep in hollows or nests.

This animal is one of the most unique mammals on the planet, it has no similarities with any other animal. The aye aye has a thick, wide head with large ears, which makes the head seem even wider. Small, protruding, motionless, and glowing eyes with smaller pupils than the nocturnal monkey. Its muzzle bears a great resemblance to the beak of a parrot, an elongated body and a long tail, which, like the whole body, is rarely covered with long, stiff hair like bristles. And finally, unusual hands, and these are just hands, their middle finger looks like a withered one - all these features, tied together, give ay-ay such a peculiar look that you involuntarily rack your brains in vain zeal to find a related creature similar to this animal " - this is how AE Bram wrote in his book The Life of Animals.

Listed in the "Red Book", ah-ah the most wonderful animal, over which there is a serious danger of extinction. Daubentonia madagascariensis is the only representative of not only the genus, but also the family that has survived to this day.

Guidak
The photo shows the longest-lived and at the same time the largest (up to 1 meter in length) burrowing mollusk in the world (the oldest specimen found is 160 years old). The concept of Guidak is taken from the Indians and translates as - "digging deep" - these gastropods can indeed be buried deep enough in the sand. A “leg” protrudes from under the thin fragile shell of the hyodaka, which is three times the size of the shell (there have been cases that specimens with a leg length of more than 1 meter have been found). The clam meat is very tough and tastes like a sea ear (it is also a clam, terribly tasteless, but with a very beautiful shell), so Americans usually cut it into pieces, beat it and fry it in butter with onions.

Liger
Liger (English liger from English lion - "lion" and English tiger - "tiger") is a hybrid between a male lion and a female tigress, looking like a giant lion with blurred stripes. In appearance and size, it is similar to the cave lion and its congener the American lion, extinct in the Pleistocene. Ligers are the largest big cats in the world today. The largest ligrome is Hercules from Jungle Island, an interactive theme park.

Male ligers, with rare exceptions, have almost no mane, but unlike lions, ligers can and love to swim. Another feature of ligers is that female ligers (ligers) can produce offspring, which is unusual for feline hybrids. The extraordinary gigantism of ligers is due to the fact that ligers receive genes from the lion father that contribute to the growth of offspring, and the mother tigress lacks genes that restrain the growth of offspring. While the tiger father does not have genes that promote growth, and the lioness mother has genes that inhibit growth, which are passed on to her offspring. This explains the fact that the liger is larger than the lion, and the tiger is smaller than the tiger.

Imperial tamarin
The name of the species ("imperial") is associated with the presence of lush white "mustaches" in these monkeys and was given in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Body length - about 25 cm, tail - about 35 cm. Weight of adults - 250-500 grams. Tamarins feed on fruit, are diurnal. They live in small groups of 8-15 individuals.

Imperial tamarins are native to the Amazon rainforest and are found in northwestern Brazil, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia. In the east, the area is limited by the Gurupi River, in the upper Amazon by the Putumayo rivers in the north and Madeira in the south. Although the species lives in hard-to-reach places, its conservation status is assessed as vulnerable.

Cuban cracker
Cuban crack-toothed, an outlandish creature that looks like a large hedgehog with a funny long-nosed muzzle, when it bites, it kills insects and small animals with poisonous saliva. For humans, a crack-toothed tooth is not dangerous, rather the opposite. Until 2003, the animal was considered extinct, until several specimens were caught in the forest. The snake tooth has no immunity to its poison, so fights between males are usually fatal for all participants.

Parrot kakapo
The New Zealand kakapo parrot, also known as the owl parrot, is probably the most unusual parrot in the world. He never flies, weighs 4 kilograms, croaks in a nasty voice and is nocturnal. It is considered to be extinct in nature due to the ecological distortion caused by rats and cats. Experts hope to restore the kakapo population, but it is very reluctant to breed in zoos.

Cyclocosmia
This type of spider stands out from the representatives of its kind only with a very original shape of the abdomen. Cyclocosmia breaks through burrows 7-15 cm deep in the ground. Its abdomen, at the end, is, as it were, chopped off and ends with a chitinized flat disc-shaped surface, it serves to close the entrance to the burrow when the spider is in danger. This method of protection is called Pragmosis (English Phragmosis) - a method of protection in which the animal, in case of threat, hides in a hole and uses part of its body as a barrier, blocking the path of the predator.

Tapir
Tapirs (lat. Tapirus) are large herbivores from the order of equid-hoofed animals, somewhat resembling a pig in shape, but possessing a short trunk adapted for grasping.

The sizes of tapirs differ from species to species, but as a rule, the length of the tapir is about two meters, the height at the withers is about one meter, and the weight is from 150 to 300 kg. Life expectancy in the wild is about 30 years, the cub is always born alone, pregnancy lasts about 13 months. Newborn tapirs have a protective coloration of spots and stripes, and although this coloration appears to be the same, there are some differences between species. The front legs of tapirs are four-toed, and the hind legs are three-toed, on the toes are small hooves that help to move on the dirty and soft ground.

Mixin
Mixina (lat. Myxini) ordinary lives at depths of 100-500 meters, its predominant habitat is near the shores of North America, Europe, Iceland, Eastern Greenland. Sometimes it can be found in the Adriatic Sea. In winter, myxina sometimes descends to great depths - up to 1 km.

The size of this animal is small - 35-40 centimeters, although sometimes giant specimens are found - 79-80 centimeters. Naturalist Karl Linnaeus, who discovered this miracle in 1761, initially even included it in the class of worms because of its specific appearance. Although in fact, myxins belong to the class of cyclostomes, which are the historical predecessors of fish. The color of the mixins can be different, but the predominant colors are pinkish and gray-red.

A distinctive feature of myxines is the presence of a series of mucus-secreting holes that are located along the lower edge of the animal's body. It should be noted that mucus is a very important secret of myxin, which is used by animals to penetrate into the cavity of a fish chosen as a victim. Mucus also plays an important role in the respiration of the animal. Mixina is a real slime-making plant, in particular, if you put it in a bucket full of water, then after a while all the water is converted into slime.

The fins of myxines are virtually undeveloped; they are difficult to distinguish on the long body of the animal. The organ of vision - the eyes do not see well, they are masked by the light areas of the skin in this zone. In the round mouth there are as many as 2 rows of teeth, there is also one unpaired tooth in the region of the palate. Myxins "breathe through the nose", while water enters the hole at the end of the snout - the nostril. Respiratory organs of myxins, like all fish, are gills. The zone of their location are special cavities-channels that run along the body of the animal. Myxina hunts only for those fish that are sick, weakened (for example, after spawning) or have fallen into gear, nets set by man. The process of attack itself is as follows: the myxine eats up the wall of the fish's body with its sharp teeth, after which it enters the body, first consuming the internal organs, and then the muscle mass. If the unfortunate victim is still able to resist, then the myxine passes into the gills and fills them with mucus, abundantly secreted by its glands. As a result, the fish dies from suffocation, leaving the hunter the opportunity to eat her body.

Nipple
Nosach, or Kachau (lat.Nasalis larvatus) - is a monkey, widespread only in one small area of ​​the globe - the valley and coast of the island of Borneo. The sucker belongs to the family of monkey monkeys, and it got its name from the huge nose, which is a distinctive feature of males.

Until now, it has not been possible to establish the exact purpose of such a large nose, but, obviously, its size plays a role in choosing a mating partner. The coat of these monkeys is yellowish-brown on the back and white on the belly, the limbs and tail are gray, and the face is not covered with hair at all and has a rather bright reddish, and in the young it is bluish.

The size of an adult nose can be up to 75 cm if you exclude the tail, and twice as large - from the nose to the tip of the tail. The average weight of a male is 18-20 kg, females weigh almost half as much. Almost never moving away from the water, the nosy were reputed to be excellent swimmers who can swim more than 20 meters under water. In the open shallow waters of the tropical forests, the sooths move, like most primates, on four limbs, but in the wild thickets of mangroves (this is the other name for the tropical forests of the island of Borneo) they walk on two legs, almost vertically.

Axolotl
Representing the larval form of the ambistoma, the axolotl is considered one of the most interesting objects to study. Firstly, axolotls do not need to reach an adult form and undergo metamorphosis for reproduction. Are you surprised? The secret lies in neoteny - a phenomenon in which sexual maturity occurs in the axolotl as early as "childhood" age. Note that the tissues of this larva react rather poorly to the hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.

Experiments have shown that lowering the water level when breeding these larvae at home promotes their transformation into an adult. The same thing happens in cooler, drier climates. If an axolotl lives in your aquarium, and you want to turn it into an ambist, then be sure to add thyroidin hormone to the larva's food. A similar result can be achieved with injection. As a rule, the transformation of the axolotl will take several weeks, after which the larva will change the shape of the body and its color. In addition, the axolotl will permanently lose its external gills.

Literally translated from the Aztec language, the axolotl is a "water toy", which is quite consistent with its appearance. Once you see an axolotl, you are unlikely to forget its unusual, bizarre appearance. At first glance, the axolotl resembles a newt, but it has a rather large and wide head. The smiling "physiognomy" of the axolotl deserves special attention - tiny beady eyes and an exorbitantly wide mouth.

As for the body length of the amphibian, it is about thirty centimeters, and axolotls are characterized by the regeneration of the lost body parts. The natural habitat of the axolotl is concentrated in the Xochimailco and Cholco - mountain lakes of Mexico.

If you look closely at the head of the amphibian, you will notice six long gills, symmetrically located on the sides of the head. The gills of the axolotl outwardly resemble thin shaggy twigs, which the larva cleans from time to time of organic debris.

Thanks to their wide, long tail, axolotls are excellent swimmers, although they prefer to spend most of their life at the bottom. Why bother yourself with unnecessary movements if food floats into your mouth by itself?

At first, biologists were greatly surprised by the axolotl respiratory system, which includes both the lungs and the gills. For example, if the aquatic habitat of the axolotl is not sufficiently oxygenated, the larva quickly adapts to such a change and begins to breathe through the lungs.

Naturally, the transition to pulmonary respiration negatively affects the gills, which gradually atrophy. And, of course, you should pay attention to the original color of the axolotl. Small specks of black color evenly cover the green body, although the abdomen of the axolotl remains almost white.

Zoologists have expressed various assumptions as to what exactly attracts kandiru to the human genitals. The most plausible assumption seems to be that kandiru are extremely sensitive to the smell of urine: it happened that kandiru attacked a person a few moments after he urinated in water. It is believed that kandiru are able to find the source of the smell in the water.

But the kandiru does not always penetrate the victim. It happens that, having overtaken the prey, the kandiru bite through the human skin or the gill tissue of the fish with long teeth that grow in their upper jaw, and begin to suck blood from the victim, which causes the body of the kandiru to swell and swell. Candiru is hunted not only for fish and mammals, but also for reptiles.

Tarsier
Tarsier (Tarsier, lat. Tarsius) is a small mammal from the order of primates, a very specific appearance of which has created a somewhat ominous halo around this small animal weighing up to one hundred and sixty grams.

Especially impressionable tourists say that when they first see how huge shining eyes are gazing at them without blinking, and the next moment the animal turns its head almost 360 degrees and you look directly into the back of its head, it becomes, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. By the way, local natives still believe that the tarsier's head exists separately from the body. Well, this is all speculation, of course, but the facts are obvious!

There are about 8 species of tarsiers. The most common are the Bankan and Filipino tarsiers, as well as a separate species - the ghost tarsier. These mammals live in Southeast Asia, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines, as well as in the adjacent territories.

Outwardly, tarsiers are small animals, the size of which does not exceed sixteen centimeters, with large ears, long thin fingers and a long tail of about thirty centimeters, and at the same time with a very small weight.

The fur of the animal is brown or grayish, and the eyes are much larger in comparison with human proportions - about the size of an average apple.

In nature, tarsiers live in pairs or small groups of eight to ten individuals. They are nocturnal, and feed on food exclusively of animal origin - insects and small vertebrates.

Their pregnancy lasts about six months and a small animal is born, which in a couple of hours after birth, grabbing the mother's fur, will make its first journey. The average life span of a tarsier is about ten to thirteen years.


Narwhal
Narwhals (lat.Monodon monoceros) are a protected rare species belonging to the family of unicorns and due to their small number in the Red Book of Russia. The habitat of this marine animal is the water area of ​​the Arctic Ocean, as well as the North Atlantic. The size of an adult male often reaches 4.5 meters, with a mass of about one and a half tons. Females weigh a little less. The head of an adult narwhal is round, with a large bumpy forehead, and the dorsal fin is absent. Narwhals are somewhat outwardly reminiscent of beluga whales, although compared to the latter, animals have a slightly spotted skin and 2 upper teeth, one of which, growing, turns into a three-meter tusk weighing up to 10 kg.

A narwhal tusk, twisted to the left in the form of a spiral, is quite rigid, but at the same time it has a certain limit of flexibility and can bend up to thirty centimeters. Previously, it was often passed off as a unicorn horn, which has healing powers. It was believed that if you throw a piece of narwhal horn into a glass of poisoned wine, it will change its color.

At this time, there is a hypothesis, which is very popular in scientific circles, proving that an animal needs a narwhal's horn covered with sensitive ends to measure water temperature, pressure and other parameters of the aquatic environment that are no less important for life.

Narwhals most often live in small groups of up to ten animals. The basis of the diet of narwhals, which, by the way, can hunt at a depth of more than a kilometer, are cephalopods and bottom fish. The enemies of narwhals in nature can be called other inhabitants of these territories - polar bears and killer whales.

However, the greatest damage to the narwhal population was nevertheless brought by a person who hunted them because of their delicious meat and horn, which is successfully used for making a variety of handicrafts. At this time, animals are under the protection of the state.

Octopus Jumbo
Dumbo is a very small and unusual deep-sea octopus, a representative of cephalopods. Found only in the Tasman Sea.

Jumbo got its name, apparently, in honor of the famous cartoon character - the elephant Dumbo, who was ridiculed for its large ears (in the middle of the body, the octopus has a pair of rather long, paddle-shaped fins resembling ears). Its individual tentacles are literally connected to the ends by a thin elastic membrane called umbrella. Together with the fins, it serves as the main mover for this animal, that is, the octopus moves like jellyfish, pushing water out from under the bell of the umbrella.

The largest Jumbo was discovered in the Tasman Sea - half the size of a human hand.

Medusa Cyaneus
Jellyfish Cyanea - considered the largest jellyfish in the world, living in the Northwest Atlantic. The diameter of the bell of the cyanea jellyfish reaches 2 meters, and the length of the filamentous tentacles is 20-30 meters. One of these jellyfish, washed ashore in the Massachusetts Bay, had a bell diameter of 2.28 m, and its tentacles extended 36.5 m.

Each such jellyfish eats about 15 thousand fish during its life.

Piglet squid

This is a deep-sea inhabitant, nicknamed "pig squid" due to its rounded body. The scientific name for the piglet squid is Helicocranchia pfefferi. Not much is known about him. It is found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at a depth of about 100 meters. Swims slowly. And under the eyes (like many deep-sea animals) it has luminous organs - photophores.

The "piglet", unlike other squids, swims upside down, so its tentacles look like a crest.

Karl's snake
There are currently 3,100 species of snakes on our planet. But Karl's snake from the island of Barbados is the smallest of them. The maximum length that it reaches in adulthood is 10 centimeters.

Leptotyphlops carlae was first officially described and identified as a new species in 2008. Blair Hage, a Pennsylvania biologist, named the snake after his herpentologist wife, Carla Ann Hass, who was also part of the discovery team.

It is believed that the Barbados thread, as this snake is also called, is close to the theoretically possible minimum size for snakes that evolution allows. If suddenly the snake happens to be even smaller, it simply will not be able to find food for itself and will die.

Karl's snake feeds on termites and ant larvae.

Due to its diminutiveness, the thread snake bears only one egg, but it is large. The size of the snake that was born already at the moment of birth is half of the mother's body. However, this is normal for snakes. The smaller the snake, the larger proportionally its offspring - and vice versa.

Leptotyphlops carlae has been found so far only on the island of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea, and even then only in its east-central part. Most of Barbados' forests have been cleared. And since the thread snake lives only in the forest, it is assumed that the territory suitable for the habitation of the outlandish creature is limited to only a few square kilometers. So the survival rate of the species is a concern.

Lamprey
Lampreys look like eels or huge worms, although they have nothing to do with either. They have a naked, slimy body, which is why they are mistaken for worms. In fact, these are primitive vertebrates. Zoologists group them into a special class of cyclostomes. You cannot say about cyclostomes that they have a tongue without bones. Their mouth is equipped with a complex system of cartilage that supports the mouth and tongue. There are no jaws, so food is sucked into the mouth like a funnel. Teeth are located along the edges of this funnel and on the tongue. Lampreys have three eyes. Two on the sides and one on the forehead.

Lampreys are predators and attack mainly fish. The lamprey sticks to the victim, gnaws at the scales, drinks blood and bites meat (from the area into which it stuck). In our country, lampreys are hunted in the Neva and other rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, as well as in the Volga. Lamprey is considered an exquisite delicacy in Russia. But in many countries, such as the United States, lampreys are not eaten.

Killer clam
This curiosity lives on coral reefs at a depth of almost 25 meters. The mollusk weighs up to 210 kilograms with a body length of up to 1.7 meters. Life expectancy is up to 150 years. Due to its impressive size, it has spawned many rumors and gloomy legends.

It is called Giant clam (from the English giant clam), Tridacninae, Tridacna. The giant clam is a delicacy in Japan, France, Southeast Asia and many of the Pacific islands. Lives due to symbiosis with algae that live on it. And also knows how to filter the water passing through it and extract plankton from there.

In fact, he does not eat people, but if an imprudent diver tries to touch the mollusk's mantle with his hand, the shell valves will reflexively close. And since the force of compression of the muscles of the tridacna is enormous, the person runs the risk of dying from a lack of oxygen. Hence the name - "killer shellfish".