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Nibble Fish/Red Garra
These active bottom-dwellers live in fast-moving streams where they scour rocks for food with their flat, downward facing mouths. They don’t have teeth but instead a plate-like structure in the mouth used to rasp biofilms off of surfaces. They are also known for being used in beauty parlors to eat the dead skin from around people's cuticles.
Garden Snail
Commonly known as a garden pest because of its insatiable hunger for veggies, this land snail has caused farmers distress across the world. Its shell is used for defense against predators, and they can tuck themselves inside and shut a door-like structure called an operculum to prevent predators from getting at them. Their shell grows with their body too, creating more spirals as the snail ages. It can sometimes be found on restaurant menus as escargot!
American Alligators
Common to the southeastern US, these animals are known for their powerful jaws, sharp teeth, and long scaly tails. Alligators are typically found in freshwater ecosystems, and with eyes peering above the waterline they are skilled and avid hunters that will strike at any opportune meal. They have about 70-80 teeth at any given time but can go through about 3,000 in the course of their lifetime as they constantly lose and regrow them. Additionally, an adult alligator's bite force is equivalent to about 2000 pounds per square inch!
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Some myths claim that alligator snapping turtles are known to attack people, but this isn’t the case. But with a bite force of 1,000 pounds, their powerful jaws can snap through bone—so they should never be handled in the wild.
Common Snapping Turtle
Snapping turtles’ metabolism reduces by around 90% during the winter. They can absorb oxygen underwater to stay alive through cloacal respiration—meaning they can use their cloaca to diffuse oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of their bodies.
Western Hognose Snake
The hognose snake uses its upturned snout to burrow through the earth in search of toads. It has a second set of teeth farther back in its mouth that contain a toxic saliva used to subdue prey. These snakes are also amazing at feigning death. They can cause their bodies to go limp, "convulse", and even bleed or expel feces to convince a predator it is dead!
Red-Footed Tortoise
These slow-moving reptiles spend much of their time foraging and digging burrows in the dirt to keep themselves warm. They live a lazy lifestyle, often spending half of their day or more resting. They are quite long-lived - reaching 50+ years is not uncommon.
Caribbean Hermit Crab
Unlike most hermit crabs, these ones spend most of their time on land and are actually great climbers. They don't grow their shells, but instead steal them from snails or take over empty ones in order to protect their soft backside. Their armored claws are used not just to pick up their food but also for defense against predators or other hermits trying to steal their shell!
Cownose Ray
Cownose rays get their name from the shape of their head when viewed from above. Their mouths are on the bottom of their bodies as they use them to rifle through the sand and find bottom-dwelling animals to eat. They have incredibly strong jaws with plates in their mouths used to crush shellfish. They also carry a venom that is secreted through the skin cells of their spines used to protect against predators trying to take a bite out of them.
White's Tree Frog
These tree frogs are popular pets because of their calm demeanor, smiley faces, and sleepy eyes. They have a waxy coating on their skin that allows them to tolerate drier conditions than many other tree frogs. Their feet have the ability to suction to things, making them incredible climbers. They can even climb glass!
Leopard Gecko
These ground-dwelling geckos are one of the only geckos with eyelids! If you look at their tails you'll notice they are a bit pudgy - this is how they store water (similar to camels). They also use their tails to communicate - waving it during territory disputes, shaking it with excitement, and even letting it drop off when a predator tries to grab them by it.
Emperor Scorpion
In normal light this scorpion is black, but under blacklights they glow in the dark! They have large pincers used for defense, and for grabbing and tearing prey. They also have a curled tail with a venomous stinger at the end of it. While the stinger can be deadly to insects and small animals, to humans it is similar to a bee sting.
Giant Day Gecko
These brightly-colored lizards spend most of their time in the trees hunting insects and sipping nectar. They can communicate by clicking their tongue against the roof of their mouth to make a croaking sound.
Axolotl
Despite their adorable appearance, axolotls are predators. Their fluffy "hairdo" is actually a set of gills, that unlike most salamanders, they keep for life. While they are critically endangered in the wild, these cute carnivores are often kept as pets in home aquariums where they can often be found sitting entirely still for long periods of time awaiting unsuspecting food to swim by before they gulp it down whole. As if that wasn't cool enough, they have the amazing ability to regenerate damaged body parts, even their spinal cords and parts of the brain!
Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
These insects get their name from their ability to draw in air and push it out through holes in their abdomen, creating a hissing sound meant to deter animals. They cannot fly and instead spend much of their time resting or slowly cruising for food. Males have small horns on their heads they use in domniance disputes.
Epaulette Shark
The name of this shark comes from the large black spot on their side, reminiscent of military epaulettes. These sharks use their pectoral fins like legs and are often found "walking around" the ocean floor. They can even leave the water and walk over sand and rocks to get into tide pools where their prey has little chance of escape.
Brazilian Rainbow Boa
This boa is named for the iridescent sheen on its scales that look like rainbows when light hits them. While the scales themselves are don’t have rainbow pigments, the effect is truly stunning! While they have fangs, they are not venomous and they subdue their prey through constriction.
Yellow Spotted Ray
This small ray likes to bury itself in sandy or muddy substrates, keeping its eyes above ground to look out for predators. They have the ability to sense shifts in magnetics fields, allowing them to avoid predators and seek out prey.
Pacman Frog
These stout frogs are ambush predators - they sit and wait for prey to move by, then open their enormous mouths to gobble it up whole. Unlike many other frogs, they lack the long, extendable tongues often used to snag prey from a distance. They are also called a Horned Frog because of the fleshy protrusions above their eyes.
Curly Hair Tarantula
These tarantulas like to dig burrows in the ground and wait still until unsuspecting prey crosses their path. They love to redecorate and will often be found rearranging items around their burrows. If they feel threatened they can flick off the hair-like extensions from their body and cause irritation to the skin and eyes of attacking animals. These "hairs" grow back after molting as the spider grows. They do carry a venom in their fangs as well but rarely use it in defense.
Bearded Dragon
These spiked lizards can often be found lounging on tree branches or basking on rocks. This basking behaviour helps them regulate their temperature and also lets them absorb the suns UV rays which helps them grow healthy bones! The name "Bearded Dragon" comes from a flap under their chin that opens off when they are trying to scare off predators or defend their territory.
Blue Spotted Ribbon Tail Ray
This beautiful stingray has bright coloration to deter predators, letting them know it would be a dangerous fish to snack on. It has two venomous spines on its tail that it can flip up to defend itself if it gets cornered. Like many rays and sharks, they use electroreception - the ability to sense small electrical signals given off by other animals - to hunt their prey.
Ball Python
Ball pythons are a small, docile snake that spend much of their time curled up in warm crevices. They also curl into a "ball" when stressed or frightened. While they are not poisonous, they do have fangs to grab prey whiech they then use their extremely muscular body to constrict and swallow whole.
Green Tree Python
Green Tree Pythons have prehensile tails that allow them to easily maneuver through trees to hunt prey. When they are young they are mostly awake during the day, but become nocturnal as they grow.