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All animals develop specific characteristics in response to their environment, but some adaptations are more weird and wonderful than others.Key facts
- Every animal species on the planet has adapted to help it survive and flourish.
- Some adaptations are weird and wonderful, e.g. the star-nosed mole has a tentacled-snout that compensates for its poor eyesight.
- Some adaptations are bizarre, e.g. the duck-billed platypus.
- Some adaptations are seemingly unnatural, e.g. the echidna and the duck-billed platypus are the only mammals that lay eggs!
Transcript
All of the millions of animal species on our planet have developed traits to help them survive and flourish in their environment.
Some of these adaptations, however, are more weird and wonderful than others.
This is the star-nosed mole, found in North America.
Star-nosed mole
Like other moles, this species digs tunnels underground and eats small invertebrates, insects and molluscs.
Unlike other moles, the star-nosed mole is a good swimmer and underwater hunter, having developed water repellent fur and large, scaled feet.
Most distinctively however, the star-nosed mole has a circle of 22 mobile, fleshy tentacles at the end of its snout, giving the mole its name.
This special nose compensates for poor eyesight, enabling the mole to identify food by touch rather than sight.
In Madagascar, the aye-aye has developed another unique way of catching a meal.
Aye-Aye
The world's largest nocturnal primate, the aye-aye taps on trees to find grubs, gnaws a hole in the wood, then inserts its elongated middle finger into the hole to pull the grub out.
The dugong is an unusual marine mammal, found throughout the Indo-Pacific oceans.
Dugong
Closely related to the elephant, this large vegetarian grazes on underwater grasses with his sensitive, bristled snout.
Their nostrils are high on their head so they can breathe whilst grazing in shallow waters.
In Australia, the first scientists to examine the duck-billed platypus thought they were victims of a hoax.
Duck-billed platypus
Described as a mixture of duck, beaver and otter, the platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal that hunts underwater and lives on land.
Its duck-like beak is ideal for scooping food, it is also adapted to be a sensory organ with electro-receptors and touch receptors to help it to navigate in murky water.
Its webbed feet and beaver-like tail make it a graceful swimmer.
And unusually, the female platypus lays eggs, one of only two mammals to do so, the other being the echidna.
Echidna
Also found in Australia, the echidna has developed spines for defence, a long snout and even longer tongue, which it inserts into cracks and crevices to feast on its favourite snack.
All of these strange characteristics have taken generations to evolve, as species adapt to their environment in order to survive.
