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National Geographic ChannelsAnimal Dictionary

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A

Aardvark

African Elephant

Albatross

Ammonites

AnkylosaurusMagniventris

B

Baboon

Beaver

Black Mamba

Blue Whale

Butterflyfish

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H O M E


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Aardvark

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The Aardvark(Orycteropus afer) (afer: fromAfrica) is a medium-sized,burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the

orderTubulindentata, although other prehistoric species and genera ofTubulidentata are known.It is sometimes called "antbear", "anteater", or the "Cape anteater" afterthe Cape of Good Hope. The name comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch for "earthpig" or "ground pig" (aarde earth/ground, varken pig), because of its burrowinghabits (similar origin to the name groundhog). The aardvark is not related to the

pig; rather, it is the sole recent representative of the obscuremammalian orderTubulidentata, in which it is usually considered to form onevariable species of the genus Orycteropus, the sole surviving genus in thefamily OrycteropodidaeThe aardvark is not closely related to the SouthAmerican anteater, despite sharing some characteristics and a superficialresemblance.

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African Elephant


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African elephants are the species of elephants inthe genus Loxodonta (Greekfor 'oblique-sided tooth'[), one of the two existing

genera in Elephantidae. Although it is commonly believed that the genus wasnamed by Georges Cuvier in 1825, Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte. An anonymousauthor romanized the spelling to Loxodonta and the ICZN recognizes this as theproper authority.Fossil members ofLoxodonta have only been found in Africa, where theydeveloped in the middle Pliocene.

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Albatross


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Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied tothe procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the

order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the SouthernOcean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic,although fossil remains show they once occurred there too andoccasional vagrants turn up.Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the greatalbatrosses (genus Diomedea) have the largest wingspans of anyextant birds. The

albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there isdisagreement over the number of species.

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Ammonites


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Ammonites are an extinct group ofmarine invertebrate animals inthe subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs are moreclosely related to living coleoids (i.e. octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish) than they are toshelled nautiloids such as the living Nautilus species.Ammonites are excellent index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer inwhich they are found to specific geological time periods. Their fossil shells usually takethe form of planispirals, although there were some helically-spiraled and non-spiraledforms (known asheteromorphs).

The name ammonite, from which the scientific term is derived, was inspired by thespiral shape of their fossilized shells, which somewhat resemble tightly-coiled rams'horns. Pliny the Elder (d. 79 AD. near Pompeii) called fossils of these animals ammoniscornua ("horns ofAmmon") because the Egyptian god Ammon (Amun) was typicallydepicted wearing ram's horns. Often the name of an ammonite genus ends in -ceras,which is Greek ()for "horn".

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Ankylosaurus


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Ankylosaurus (which is pronounced /klsrs/ [ANG-ki-lo-SAWR-us]or /kalsrs/ [ang-KIE-lo-SAWR-us], and which means "fused lizard") is

a genus ofankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species,

A.

magniventris.Fossils ofAnkylosaurus are found in geologic formations dating to thevery end of the Cretaceous Period (about 66.565.5 Ma ago) in western NorthAmerica.Although a complete skeleton has not been discovered and several other dinosaursare represented by more extensive fossil material,Ankylosaurus is often considered

the archetypal arm

ored dinosaur. Other ankylosaurids shared its well-

knownfeaturesthe heavily-armored body and massive bony tail clubbut Ankylosaurus was the largest known member of the family.

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Baboon


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Baboons are African and Asian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio,part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of thelargest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill andthe Drill are larger. Previously, the closely related Gelada (genus Theropithecus) andtwo species of Mandrill and Drill (genus Mandrillus) were grouped in the same genus,and these Old World monkeys are still often referred to as baboons in everydayspeech. They range in size and weight depending on species. The Guinea Baboon is50 cm (20 inches) and weighs only 14 kg (30 lb) while the largest ChacmaBaboon can be 120 cm (47 inches) and weigh 40 kg (90 lb).A group of baboons is

collectively called a troop or congress

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Beaver


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The beaver(genus Castor) is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent.Castorincludes two extant species, North American Beaver(Castor

canadensis) (native to North America) and Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) (Eurasia).Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges (homes). They are thesecond-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara). Their colonies create oneor more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to floatfood and building material. The North American beaver population was once morethan 60 million, but as of 1988 was 612 million. This population decline is due to

extensive hunting for fur, for glands used as medicine and perfume, and because theirharvesting of trees and flooding of waterways may interfere with other land uses

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BlackMamba


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The blackmamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is the longest venomous snake in Africa,averaging around 2.5 meters (8.2 ft), and sometimes growing up to 4.3 meters (14 ft).

Its nam

e is derivedfro

mthe black coloration inside the

mouth; the actual color o

ftheskin varies, from dull yellowish-green to a gun-metal gray. It is the fastest snake in the

world, capable ofmoving at 4.5 to 5.4 metres per second (1620 km/h, 1012mph)

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BlueWhale


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The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to thesuborder of baleen whales (called Mysticeti).At over 33 metres (108 ft) in lengthand 180 metric tons (200 short tons)or more in weight, it is the largest animal everknown to have existed.Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-greydorsally and somewhat lighter underneath.There are at least threedistinct subspecies: . m.musculus of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B.m.intermedia of the Southern Ocean and B.m.brevicauda (also known as the pygmyblue whale)found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean B.m.indica, found in

the Indian Ocean, may be another subspecies.As with other baleen whales, its dietconsists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill.

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Butterflyfish


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The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of thefamily Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this

group. Foundm

ostly on the reefs o

fthe

Atlantic, Indian and Paci

fic Oceans, there areapproximately 120 species in 10genera.A number of species pairs occur in the Indian

and Pacific oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon.Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish (Pomacanthidae) but unlike theselack preopercle spines at the gill covers. Some members of thegenus Heniochus resemble the Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus) ofthe monotypic Zanclidae.Among the paraphyletic "Perciformes", the former areprobably not too distantly related to butterflyfish, whereas the Zanclidae seemfarless close.

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