Anura Bufonidae Tadpoles are dark, almost black, with smooth skin, round bodies and a somewhat rounded tail. They grow to over a centimeter in length. The American toad is located in the Midwestern to eastern region of North America. These toads eat a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates, including earthworms and slugs. An American toad can eat one hundred insects in a night. Most prey is captured with their wide and sticky tongues. American toads are mainly nocturnal, and are most active when the weather is warm and humid. During the day American toads hide under rocks or logs or dig into dead leaves and soil. Breeding occurs in the months of March or July, but may extend into July. Anura Microphylidae Tomato frogs are sexually dimorphic. Both males and females have a yellowish underside and black throat. Juveniles are dull in color, developing brighter coloration as they mature. The female tomato frog is larger than the male. The tomato frog inhabits the forested lowlands of northwestern Madagascar. Adult tomato frogs eat large insects, larvae and invertebrates. Young tomato frogs are "filter-feeder," meaning they strain tiny bits of nutrients from water to get everything needed to grow and develop. Tomato frogs are nocturnal. The tomato frog is a sit-and-wait predator. It sits beneath a protective rock or plant and keys in on movement, acting quickly to ambush prey. The tomato frog reaches its adult size and usually becomes sexually mature in less than a year. Anura Ranidae The golden mantella measures about 1 inch long and is a brilliant golden-ogeographical_range color. It occasionally has red flash marks on the insides of its hind legs, and its eyes are jet-black. The sexes are dimorphic, with males generally smaller in build than females. The golden mantella inhabits Andasibe, Madagascar, and other isolated patches throughout the southeastern part of the country. Adult golden mantellas eat insects such as termites, ants and fruitflies. The golden mantella is diurnal and hunts for food throughout the day. They start to breed within 1 to 2 years of age. Mating usually takes place when food is abundant and with the first substantial rain of the year. Falconiformes Accipitridae The golden eagle is about 30 to 40 inches in length and weighs between 9 and 13 pounds. Its wingspan can be as wide as 7.5 feet, which makes the golden eagle the largest predatory bird in North America. Males and females are similar in appearance, except the female is much larger than the male. The golden eagle lives in Eurasia and northern Africa, and in North America. The golden eagle's diet is primarily small mammals such as rabbits and hares, as well as larger rodents. Incubation lasts for 35 to 45 days, and the young typically hatch several days apart. The nestlings fledge at 9 to 10 weeks, but the eaglet is still dependent on its parents for another 30 days or more. A pair of golden eagles need up to 35 square miles of space in order to hunt. Anura Ranidae Woodpeckers geographical_range in size, from 6 to 9 inches long. Small to midsize birds, they cling to the trunks and large branches of trees and large cactus with their sharp claws. Their short legs and stiff, spine-tipped tails help them stay vertical. America, and are prominent in the southwestern United States and Alaska. Woodpeckers consume insects, sap, oak catkins, fruit and flower nectar. Occasionally, they eat grass seeds, lizards and bird eggs. Woodpeckers mostly forage in or near the forest canopy. They rarely go to the ground except to pick up grit and fallen acorns Woodpeckers are highly gregarious and live together year-round in groups. Woodpeckers are extremely territorial. Woodpeckers tend to be sedentary, but some populations migrate in areas where there large seasonal fluctuations of insects. Anura Ranidae The ostrich is the largest living bird. Adult males stand nearly 8 feet in height and weigh between 140 to 230 pounds. The ostrich is perfectly adapted to a mode of life that depends on running to escape predators. The ostrich can be found among the salt bushes that grow on the South African savanna. Ostriches eat various seeds, grasses, bushes and forage on trees. The ostrich lays the largest egg, weighing up to 3.3 pounds, with a shell 2-mm thick. Ostriches begin breeding at the age of 4, and live for 30 to 70 years. Anura Ranidae Rhinoceros beetles grow to be between 1 and 2 1/2 inches long. Both sexes have horns, making it difficult to distinguish between them. Male beetles use these horns for fighting rival males over feeding sites or females. Rainforests. Costa Rica. Amazon Basin. Forested areas. Adult rhino beetles eat rotting fruit and sap; in spite of their size, they don't eat very much. Rhino beetles have three instars; that is, they go through three molts before changing into the pupal stage. Coleoptera Lampyridae The firefly is a nocturnal, luminous insect. This soft-bodied beetle geographical_ranges from 5 to 25 millimeters in length. It has special light organs on the underside of its abdomen, a flattened dark brown or black body, and large eyes. Fireflies inhabit warm humid areas throughout the world, especially tropical Asia, and Central and South America. Firefly larvae feed mostly on earthworms, snails and slugs. They can detect a snail or slug slime trail, and follow it to the prey. Males and female are luminous, though rhythmic flashes vary by sex. The life spans of fireflies vary, but usually these insects live no longer than three or four months. Sphingidae It is also called the hawk moth and hummingbird moth because of its hovering, swift flight patterns. Sphinx moths can be found in desert regions throughout North America. Because of rapid wing beat, the sphinx moth feeds exclusively on nectar and seeks flowers producing large amounts of water and sugar, such as primrose species. Sphinx moth larva has a prominent horn at the rear of its fleshy body; when alarmed, it rears up its head in threatening sphinx-like posture and may emit a thick, green substance from mouth; caterpillar changes underground into adult without cocoon, then digs to surface. They are Nocturnal. Both males and females die after reproduction. Carcharhiniformes Carcharhiniformes Mass: 90 to 230 kg. The bull shark can be recognized by its unique body shape, which is much wider in comparison to its length than other sharks. These features give the bull shark an almost stout appearance. The bull Shark inhabits coastal waters in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide. The bull shark is an omnivorous animal. It routinely preys upon fish, sharks, rays, turtles, echinoderms, birds, mollusks, dolphins and almost anything else it can find. Remains of everything from humans to hippopotamuses have been found in bull sharks' stomachs. The bull shark is a solitary species that hunts by itself. Most individuals are not migratory, however many bull sharks in South America have been known to migrate thousands of miles from the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean. The largest threat to the shark is the large number of humans who fish for it commercially. Other large sharks also prey upon bull sharks, especially in their juvenile stage. Decapoda Ocypodidea Fiddler crabs are small, semi-terrestrial crabs; male fiddlers have one claw that is much larger than the other, while females have equal-sized claws. Fiddler crabs live near water on the mud or sand. They dig 1/2-inch-wide burrows that go almost straight down into the mud. They provide crabs with shelter from the sun and predators, and give them a place to stay during high tide. Fiddlers eat algae and detritus. When feeding, female crabs use both their claws, while males use just their smaller claw, to scoop up sand or mud, which they pass to their mouths. The crabs scour the material for algae and detritus, and eject non-edible matter in the form of small sand balls. Most fiddlers look for food at low tide and stay near their burrows. Fish, raccoons and water birds prey on fiddler crabs. The average life span of a fiddler is 1 to 1 1/2 years. Carnivora Mustelidae Male sea otters average 5 feet and 70 pounds; females average 4 feet and 60 pounds. They are dark brown with lighter heads that turn grayish white with age. Sea Otters live in shallow coastal waters, especially kelp beds. They range from central California north to Prince William Sound, Alaska, and westward along the Aleutian, Commander and Kuril islands. They can also be on the southern tip of Siberia's Kamchatka Peninsula, and the southeastern coast of Sakhalin Island. Carnivores, sea otters prey on bottom-dwelling invertebrate species such as abalone, urchins, clams and crabs. They are expert divers. They spend about eight hours a day diving and eating. Male sea otters live for 10 to 15 years, and females for 15 to 20. Female otters reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age; however, it is unclear exactly when males become capable of breeding. Sea otters reproduce throughout the year, but most mating occurs from October to November. Gestations lasts five or six months, with the majority of births occurring between late May and June. Proboscidea Elephantidae Mass: 3,600 to 6,000 kg. African elephants are the heaviest land animal, and the second tallest in the animal kingdom. They are a sexually dimorphic species; males appear larger than females. The height of a bull at his shoulder is about twelve feet (about 3.75 m), when the female's height is nine feet (about 3 m). They have enormous ears, each measuring about four feet (120-125 cm) across. African elephants were historically found south of the Sahara Desert to the southern tip of Africa, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Because of poaching and habitat destruction, their population is currently limited to several national parks and game reserves in southern Africa. Elephants eat vegetation like leaves, roots, bark, grasses and fruit. Each day they can consume anywhere from 220 to 660 pounds (100 to 300 kg) of food, and drink up to 50 gallons (190 L) of water. African elephants wander day or night in non-territorial herds that can reach up to 200 elephants, even 1,000 during the rains. Their society is based on a social matriarchal community. Perissodactyla Rhinocerotidae Mass: 900 to 1,400 kg. An average adult Javan rhinoceros is approximately 11 to 12 ft in length, with a height of 5 to 6 ft to the top of its shoulders. There is little sexual dimorphism. They are known for having poor eyesight, but they have keen senses of smell and hearing — despite having smaller ears than other rhinoceroses. The skin is a hazy gray. It contains tough folds that create armor-like plating. Its one horn is made up of keratin and may grow to a length of 10 inches. Females may lack a horn. Each foot contains three hoofed toes. They have molars typical of most herbivores, as well as a unique prehensile lip that functions as an aid for feasting The Javan rhinoceros is known to reside in only two southeast Asian locales: Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia and Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. Approximately 50 to 60 Javan rhinoceroses are living in Ujung Kulon while a small group, consisting of only 7 to 15 individuals, is thought to be living in Cat Tien. The Javan rhinoceros feeds for the most part by browsing. In addition to this, the Javan rhinoceros is known to graze upon leaves, young shoots, twigs and fruit. The Javan rhinoceros is fairly solitary, except for mating pairs and mothers with their young. The range for the rhinoceros extends between 3 to 20 square miles, with various groups having ranges that overlap one another. There is no set mating season. Diprotodontia Macropodidae The largest living and most prolific marsupial, red kangaroos are about 6 ft high and weigh about 90 kg. The females are a little shorter than the males. Also, while the males have a reddish coat, the females are often more blue-gray in color. Red kangaroos live over most of the dry, inland, central part of Australia. This expansive area includes scrubland, shrub land, grasslands and desert habitats. Red kangaroos are exclusively plant-eaters, with a preferred diet of green herbage including grasses and dicotyledonous flowering plants. These herbivores can go without water for long periods of time by consuming moisture-filled, succulent plants. Red kangaroos prefer to live alone or in small groups but come together in larger groups when food is scarce. Eating takes place mostly at night, but may begin in the late evening and extend into early morning. The early part of the day is spent grazing. During the hottest hours of the day, kangaroos rest in the shade of bushes. Squamata Boidae Anacondas may grow to more than 29 feet, weigh 550 pounds or more, and measure more than 12 inches in diameter. The female typically outweighs the male. The anaconda has a large head and thick neck; its eyes and nostrils are positioned on top of its head. It is extremely muscular. The anaconda's range extends throughout South America, east of the Andes and mainly in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Its habitats include tropical rain forests, savannas, grasslands, scrub forests and deciduous forests. The anaconda lives in swamps and calm waters. Carnivorous, anacondas eat capybaras and other large rodents, tapirs, deer, peccaries, fish, turtles, birds, sheep, dogs and aquatic reptiles. They occasionally prey on jaguars. Young fed mice, rats, chicks, frogs and fish. The anaconda is nocturnal and nonvenomous. Solitary, it stays within its own hunting area. Anacondas reach sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years of age. The mating season begins at the onset of the annual rains, with courtship lasting several months. Crocodilia Crocodylidae Mass: 1,000 to 1,2000 kg. The saltwater crocodile is the largest reptilian species alive today. Adult males can reach up to sizes of 6 to 7 meters. Females are much smaller and do not generally exceed 3 meters, with 2.5 meters considered large. The head is very large and a pair of ridges run from the eyes along the center of the snout. The saltwater crocodile has a heavyset jaw that contains up to 68, and no less than 64, teeth. The scales are oval in shape and the scutes are small compared to other species. The saltwater crocodile is most commonly found on the coasts of northern Australia, and the islands of New Guinea and Indonesia. It ranges west as far as the shores of Sri Lanka and eastern India, all along the shorelines and river mouths of Southeast Asia to central Vietnam, around Borneo and into the Philippines, and even out to Palau, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. Saltwater Crocodiles are strong swimmers and can be found very far from land. When young, the saltwater crocodile is restricted to smaller prey like insects, amphibians, crustaceans and small fish and reptiles. When they become an adult, they feed on larger prey such as mud crabs, turtles, snakes, birds, buffalo, wild boar and monkeys. The saltwater crocodile is thought of as one of the most intelligent and sophisticated of all reptiles. Testudines Cheloniidae The hawksbill sea turtle is the only sea turtle with overlapping scales. They have two pairs of prefrontal plates between their eyes. The hawksbill sea turtle is found all over the wold, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean seas. In the Indian ocean as well as the Pacific and Persian Gulf. They prefer a warm, coastal water with abundant vegetation. Bays, inlets and lagoons are favorite habitats. The hawksbill turtle is an omnivore and eats mainly on sea grasses, corals, jellyfish, sea urchins and algae. This turtle will sometimes consume the dead remains of marine creatures. When turtles weigh about 80 pounds, they are sexually mature. Female turtles typically return to the same nesting beaches every year. The beach must be clean and remote to attract a nesting female.