Mistaken Identities on the Wild Side
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Which is Which?
Some closely related animals (or even not-so-closely related ones) are difficult to tell apart unless you look very close. Sometimes it's a case of mistaken identity, other times the local name for an animal can vary from place to place and might overlap with a completely different animal entirely.
Do You Know The Difference?
- The Alligator and The Crocodile
- Dolphin, or Porpoise?
- More on Dolphins and Porpoises
- Are Alpacas Really Just Small Llamas?
- Never Call A Salamander A Newt
- Are Frog And Toad Really Friends??
- A Gaggle of Geese or A Flock of Ducks?
- Quoth the Crow, "I Don't Think So!"
- Butterflies Are Pretty and Moths are Icky?
- Whose Sting Hurts More - A Bee Or A Wasp?
- Seals or Sealions - Which One Balances The Ball?
- Buffalo Steaks Come From Bison
- Which Is More Stubborn - A Donkey Or A Mule?
- Who Would Win A Race Between A Turtle And A Tortoise?
The Alligator and The Crocodile
Do they really look alike?
Crocodiles, Alligators, and Caimans are all members of the order Crocodilia.The English word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek word meaning "lizard" and "Nile", or Lizard of The Nile River
While often confused, one generally reliable rule is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles' heads are V-shaped.
Alligators tend to be clumsier on both land and water than crocodiles, and are reportedly less aggressive.
The alligator's upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw. The teeth in the lower jaw fit into small depressions in the upper jaw.
The upper and lower jaws of the crocodile are the same width, and teeth in the lower jaw fit along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed.
Learn More Here
Dolphin, or Porpoise?
Is there really a difference?
"Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen. The most obvious visible difference between the two groups is that porpoises have flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins, and their shorter beaks."www.wdcs.org
More on Dolphins and Porpoises
A great lens that you should read!!-
Dolphins and Porpoises 101
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Dolphins are the most amazing creatures on Earth. Like fish, they spend all their lives in the sea. But unlike fish, they breathe air, have warm blood and suckle their young. Dolphin Charities are listed here and they deserve our #1 attention. Ex...
Cool Books
Are Alpacas Really Just Small Llamas?
Alpacas (Vicugna pacos) are a domesticated species of South American camelid. They look like a small llama in superficial appearance.Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike them are not used as beasts of burden but are valued only for their fiber. Alpacas and llamas differ in that alpacas have straight ears and llamas have banana-shaped ears. Aside from these differences, llamas are on average 1-2 feet taller and proportionally bigger than alpacas.
Llamas (Lama glama) are also South American camelids. They are widely used as a pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. In South America llamas are still used as beasts of burden, as well as for the production of fiber and meat.
USDA InfoPage on Llamas
Sound Smart
Both baby Llamas and baby Alpacas are called "Crias".
Never Call A Salamander A Newt
....Unless it happens to be one.....
A Great Site To Learn More
Are Frog And Toad Really Friends??
This Page Explains It Really Well
Yes, Frog and Toad are Indeed Friends!
The Frog and Toad Collection Box Set (I Can Read Book 2)
Amazon Price: $9.40 (as of 07/09/2009)
Careful What You Touch
Some species of both "toads" and "frogs" produce toxins through thier skin which can kill other animals.
A Gaggle of Geese or A Flock of Ducks?
Ducks usually eat fish and insects, while geese usually eat grains and grasses. However there are always exceptions to those rules. If you collect down, goose down has less odor than duck down does. Geese tend to have more webbing between their toes than ducks do and "most" geese have a thicker and more rounded bill than ducks. Geese generally are larger than ducks (think Canada Goose vs Mallard Duck).One interesting behavioral difference which I noticed when I kept a home flock of domestic ducks and geese was that the male geese became VERY territorial and aggressive as they aged whereas the drakes (male ducks) never did - they stayed pretty mellow.
Metzer Farms breeds ducks, geese, and other birds for hatchling and egg sales. Their website has lots of great information and pictures on the different breeds.
Quoth the Crow, "I Don't Think So!"
A raven weighs about four times that of a crow.The wingspan of a crow is ~2.5 ft., ravens about 3.5-4 ft.
Ravens have pointed wings, while crows have a more blunt wing tip.
Crows have a fan-shaped tail (squared-off), raven's are long and wedge-shaped.
A raven's bill is curved with a tuft of hairs on top, while a crow has a more-or-less flat, tuftless, bill and ravens have fuller neck feathers
Here, you can see the Common Raven on the top and The American Crow on the bottom. Notice the fuller neck feathers and different beak of the raven.
A Murder of Crows
No kidding. A group of crows is called a murder.
Butterflies Are Pretty and Moths are Icky?
Generally speaking, butterflies have long, skinny antennae with a bulbous knob (or club)at the tip and moths do not. Moths usually have a furry body as well.Moths tend to be nocturnal, sleeping during the day and coming out at night. They are attracted to light sources at night like streetlights and porchlights.
Butterflies are diurnal, they are active during the daylight hours.
A Moth cocoon is fuzzy and soft, whereas a Butterfly doesn't have a "true" cocoon, it comes from a hard and shiney Chrysallis.
www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
Monthly Animal News
Whose Sting Hurts More - A Bee Or A Wasp?
The main difference between Bees and Wasps is that Bees feed their larvae on 'honey' a mixture of pollen and nectar, whereas Wasps feed their larvae on meat, mostly paralysed arthropods (the exception that makes this rule are the Pollen Wasps Masarinae). The Wasp paralyses its prey rather than kills it, this is so that it will not rot before the larvae gets a chance to eat it. If you get to look at them under a microscope you will see another more taxonomically sound difference, i.e. Bees always have some, often many, 'plumose' or 'feather-like' hairs, these help in collecting pollen; Wasps always have only unbranched hairs like you and me.Most bees die after they sting, leaving their stingers behind. Wasps can sting over and over again.
The most noticeable difference is that, side by side, a wasps' body is longer and thinner in relation to a bee's fuzzy and somewhat chubby shape.
A Wasp
Seals or Sealions - Which One Balances The Ball?
Despite their appearance, seals and sea lions are not even closely related to one another. Sea lions are from the family Otariidae, while Seals are from the family Phocidae.
One of the biggest physical differences between sea lions and seals are their ears. Sea lions, have external ear flaps. Seals only have tiny holes on either side of their head from which they hear but they are difficult to see unless you look closely.
The Marine Mammal Center
Buffalo Steaks Come From Bison
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They don't even look alike!Buffalo' is the popular name often used to describe North American bison; however, this is a misnomer. In fact, buffalo are distinctly different animals from bison. Although both bison and buffalo belong to the same family, Bovidae, true 'buffalo' are native only to Africa and Asia.
No one knows why North American Bison have been called Buffalo, although some think that early European explorers likened the unknown bison to the more familiar African and Asian buffalo.
Read On
Which Is More Stubborn - A Donkey Or A Mule?
A Donkey is a member of the same group of animals which includes horses and zebras.A Mule is a cross between a female horse and a male donkey. Mules are sterile, they cannot breed.
A Burrow is a small breed of donkey.
Longhopes Donkey Rescue
Who Would Win A Race Between A Turtle And A Tortoise?
Technically, all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.Turtles are aquatic. The average turtle spends most of its life in oceans, lakes or rivers, and it has evolved adaptations that reflect this lifestyle (for example, webbed feet with which it can swim more easily and a streamlined body). Usually, turtles only venture onto dry land when it's time to lay eggs-and when the eggs hatch, the baby turtles head straight to the water.
Tortoises generally are land-dwellers. Because they don't have to be hydrodynamic, tortoises tend to be stumpier-looking than turtles, with stubby, strong legs and a more rounded body shape. Tortoises that live in hot climates usually stay underground during the day.
Check This Out
Can you think of any others?
bbug wrote
Loved this lens lots of interesting facts.
Posted August 11, 2008
jooloo wrote...
Nice lens. I didn't know you could link directly to a web page. How great and easy. jooloo
Posted August 08, 2008
UncleMike wrote
Not all turtles are aquatic, a more accurate description would be turtles have smooth shells while tortoises have textured or "lumpy" shells.
and yes all tortoises are land dwelling.
I like the lens especially the difference between Ravens and Crows. thanks
Posted August 03, 2008
Quickcutters wrote...
I absolutely loved this lens. I hope you will be doing more like this. Tonight i am going to let my grandson come to your lens he will love reading all about these animals. Thank you for all this info.A
Posted July 15, 2008
Noadi wrote...
Cute lens! I have a llama so I love that you included that animal.
Posted July 07, 2008
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