'/> Amazing Animals: January 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

10 Charming Animals Whose Names Begin with The Letter R

They may not be as popular as Rabbit, Rat, Robin, Rhinoceros, Rooster or Rottweiler….but these charming animals deserve their spot on our list of animals whose names begin with the letter R.

Raccoon

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Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are medium-sized mammals endemic to North and South America. These nocturnal is found in different habitats such as prairies, forests, marshes, and urban areas. Raccoons are easily identified by the black markings around their eyes resembling a mask. They have clawed feet with long fingers and toes. The dense furs vary from gray to brown. They have pointed snouts and bushy, black-ringed tails. Adults measure about 60 to 95 cm long and weigh around 1.8 to 10.4 kg. Raccoons are omnivores; they feed on fish, frogs, mice, birds, other small mammals, plants, fruits, nuts and even human garbage. In the wild, raccoons can live from 2 to 3 years.

Redpoll

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Redpolls are small passerine birds found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. There are three known species of redpolls namely: Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea), Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret), and the Arctic Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni). They are generally brown or gray-brown in color and with the distinguishable red markings on their foreheads. The bill is small and yellow. Adults average 11.5-14.5 cm long with 20-25 cm wingspan and weigh between 12-16 g. Redpolls are generally seed-eaters but at times feed on small insects.

Red Brocket

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The Red Brocket (Mazama americana), is a species of brocket deer widespread in the dense forests of Central and South America. These small diurnal animals inhabit swamps, rivers and marshes. When fully-grown, Red Brocket deer measure 70-130 cm long, 69-71 cm tall, and weigh 16-25 kg. Generally, they have reddish brown coats, arched back, and a slender body. Males sport anthers that can measure 10-13 cm 4-in length. They feed mostly on leaves, grasses, buds and fruits. Red Brocket deer are excellent swimmers.

Redhead

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The Redhead (Aythya americana) is a medium-sized diving duck found across North America, Australia and New Zealand. These migratory birds are found in a variety of habitat, including ponds, freshwater lakes, coastal waters, marshlands and bays. Adults grow to about 37 cm long with an 84 cm wingspan and weigh up to 0.95-1.4 kg. Redhead adult males sport reddish-chestnut head, black breast, and gray back. It has red neck, yellow eyes and blue bill. The adult females have white breast, brown head and back. These birds find food by diving or dabbling. They feed on leaves, tubers, muskgrass, wild celery, duckweeks, bulrush seeds, water lily seeds and wild rice.

Red Uakari

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The Red Uakari (Cacajao calvus), is relatively a small monkey found in the jungles of South America in particular Brazil, Columbia and Peru. It is roughly 58 cm tall and weighs around 4 kg. The fur color varies from white to golden to red depending on the subspecies. All Red Uakaris are characterized by their shaggy coats, bald heads, pink to red faces, wide eyes and short tails. These agile primates feed mainly on fruits, flowers, seeds as well as small animals. Their population is in a decline due to rampant hunting and habitat loss.Currently, the IUCN lists the Red Uakari as “vulnerable”.

Rhea

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Rheas are either of two species of large, flightless birds endemic to South America. The two known extant species are the Greater Rhea (Rhea Americana) and the Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata).Resembling an ostrich, but are smaller, Rheas have gray-brown plumage, small heads with pointed beaks, long necks, rounded bodies, and powerful long legs. These shy, but agile birds can reach 120 cm tall and weigh up to 20 kg. They are omnivorous and feed on leaves, beetles, lizards and grasshoppers.

Ring-tailed Lemur

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The Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is a medium-sized primate native only to the African island of Madagascar. It has a distinctive long, bushy, vividly striped, black-and-white tail. The skin is smooth and dark gray or black in color. It sports a white head marked with large, dark patches around the eyes. It also has a dark, pointed snout and a long tail longer than its body.The ring-tailed lemur averages 39 – 46 cm in head–body length with a 56 – 63 cm tall and weighs around 2.2 kilograms. A diurnal animal, it feeds mainly on fruits, but also eat leaves, flowers and sap. The IUCN listed the Ring-tailed lemurs as “endangered” due to habitat loss. In the wild, it has a life span of lives 16 to 19 years and can live up to 27 years in captivity.

Redstart

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Redstarts are any of several species of small passerine birds widespread in the Western Hemisphere. Adults can reach 13-14.5 cm long with 21-24 cm wingspan and 12-20 g. Redstarts have black faces, black bill, black legs, gray upperparts, orange breasts and long, red tail. Most species are migratory and breed almost anywhere, including woodlands, gardens, orchards, parks and: and quarries. Redstarts are insectivores feeding mainly on insects and their larvae.

Roadrunner

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The roadrunners (also known as Ground Cuckoo),are two species of fast-running terrestrial birds native to North and Central America. The two existing species of these ground foraging cuckoos are: Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) and Lesser Roadrunner (Geococcyx velox.) Their habitats include deserts, open grasslands, and thorny scrub. Roadrunners are sprint runners that can run at speeds of up to 24 km per hour. On average, they can reach 50 -58 cm long from tail to beak. They are known for their distinctive head crest, oversized dark bill, long legs and black-and-white, plumage. Roadrunners are and feed on anything, including fruits, insects, small reptiles, rodents, and small animals.

Rook

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Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) are small passerine birds widely distributed in north and central Europe and some parts of Asia. They prefer farmlands and wooded steppes. They sport a distinctive all-black plumage with a gray-white face. They have black legs and feet, feathered, rounded nostrils, and strong, thin beaks. Adults can reach 45 to 47 cm in size and weighs from about 337 – 531 grams. Rooks feed mainly on earthworms, insect larvae, other small mammals, fruits, and cereal grains.

Check out the entire Animal Alphabet list here:
Amazing Animal Alphabet Series 1
Amazing Animal Alphabet Series 2

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Cute Otter: They Dedicate All Their Spare Time to Play

Otters are exuberant animals with boundless energy and they dedicate all their spare time to play. In their case, play is not only a practice activity aimed at teaching the young the hunting and fighting skills they will need when older; it is also an end in itself.

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The Playful Hunter

Otters, adapted to fish in the water, are always found near water – courses that offer a steady supply of food. They usually dig large under-ground burrows consisting of a main chamber, a ventilation shaft leading to the surface and an exit tunnel that opens into the water at a depth of a about one meter. Only rarely will they use the abandoned burrows of wild rabbits or other small animals, the young are born in the burrows: initially they are helpless and blind and remain under-ground for some four months until they are weaned.

Learning to Swim

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Although the young instinctively know how to swim, they are very reluctant to actually plunge into the water, and it appears that their psychological adaptation to the aquatic life is not as highly developed as their physical adaptations.By fair means or foul, therefore, their mothers have to persuade them, to enter the water, often enticing them with mouthfuls of fish. The more timid will attempt to climb on their mothers’ backs, but as soon as they gain confidence in the water they reveal their exceptional swimming skills.

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An otter swims by holding its front legs flat against its body and propelling itself along by moving its tail and hind legs. These animals love to twist and turn in the water, swimming for a while on their backs and then on their sides without any apparent motive. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that they behave in this way for sheer pleasure.

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Otters are exuberant animals with boundless energy and they dedicate all their spare time to play. In their case, play is not only a practice activity aimed at teaching the young the hunting and fighting skills they will need when older; it is also an end in itself. Even mature animals play amongst themselves.

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They show every sign of thorough enjoyment, uttering a muted chuckling sound that also serves for communication with other otters. They are capable of a wide range of sounds, that include a high- pitched, modulated whistle, used as a mating call by adults and as an alarm call by the young to their mother when they feel themselves in danger. The alarm call of the adult is an irate squawking that can turn into a dog-like bark when the animal passes from a state irritation to one of outright menace. When not frightened, the young produce an insistent mewing sound.

Fisherman’s Friend

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Otters are very easy to tame, and in China and India they are used by fishermen to drive fish towards their nets. Indeed, when there are plenty of fish, wild otters will drive them towards a narrow creek where they can be caught more easily; several females often join forces to carry out this operation.

Small fish are devoured immediately, but larger fish are brought to the bank – sometimes one is held in the mouth while another is held against the body with the forefeet. The prey can then be divided up at leisure and the young given their share.

Endangered Species

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The only natural enemy of the common otter is man. In Europe this species is at risk of extinction, so drastically have the numbers been reduced by hunting and disturbance. Otters are also seriously threatened by the despoilment of river habitats and pollution.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The World’s Most Colorful Aquatic Animals

Here’s a list of the world’s most colorful and most beautiful marine animals in the world.

The world is beautiful because it is colorful. You might not consider it beautiful if the world is black and white.

Most Colorful Aquarium Fish

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The Mandarinfish or Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus) is probably the most colorful aquarium fish in the world. It is scientifically named Synchiropus splendidus.

Most Colorful Sea Snail

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The world’s most colorful sea snail is the Purple-ring Topsnail (Calliostoma annulatum). This medium sized snail with operculum and gills is also commonly known as Blue-ring Topsnail, Jeweled Topsnail and many others.

Most Colorful Jellyfish

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One of the most beautiful and colorful Jellyfish is the Mediterranean Jelly (Cotylorhiza tuberculata). This species that can attain a diameter of 35 cm is also commonly known as Fried Egg Jellyfish.

Most Colorful Christmas Tree Worms

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Christmas Tree Worms are brightly-colored and beautiful creatures that are scientifically known as (Spirobranchus giganteus). These tiny organisms are tube-building polychaete worms that inhabit sea beds.

Most Colorful Fish

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Coris Gaimard, a Wrasse, is a very colorful fish and it occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade also like the Mandarinfish.

Most Colorful Shrimp

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The most colorful of all shrimps is the Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus). It is also known as the Harlequin Mantis Shrimp or Painted Mantis Shrimp.

Most Colorful Squid

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Surprisingly, there are also colorful squid and the most colorful species is the Bobtail Squid (Euprymna berryi). It is also commonly known as Stubby Squid and Dumpling Squid.

Most Colorful Octopus

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Some Octopus species are colorful too like the Southern Blue-ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa). It looks beautiful because of its bright coloration and seems docile but it is extremely poisonous. The power of its venom is enough to kill a person.

Most Colorful Chiton

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Chitons are sea creatures that are not so popular but many species of Chitons are colorful like the Lined Chiton or Tonicella lineate. This very colorful chiton has blue, purple or black straight or zig-zag lines on each of the eight valves.

Most Colorful Lobster

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Lobsters are colorful too like the European Lobster or Homarus gammarus. It is known as the Common Lobster. This species can weigh as much as 6 kg. It is blue-colored when alive and turns red when cooked

Most Colorful Sea Snail

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Looks are deceiving, this uniquely colored and intricately-designed sea creature known as Cloth of Gold Cone or (Conus textile) is one of the most dangerous and most venomous sea creatures.

Most Colorful Coral

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The Brain Coral is one of the most colourful and unique-looking corals in the world. It is so called due to its resemblance to an animal brain. It is one of the longest living creatures in the world which can live up to 900 years.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Secretarybird – One of Africa’s Killer Birds

Don’t be fooled by its deceiving look, the Secretarybird is a skilled snake-hunter and is listed as one of Africa’s feared killer birds.

Secretarybird

The Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large, land-dwelling bird found throughout Africa. This feared Raptor inhabits savannah and open grassland. Also called “serpent eagle”, it is the only bird of prey that prefers walking than flying – taking to flight only when pursued.

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The Secretarybird can easily be identified by its prominent long legs, a broad black ‘crown-like’ feathers on the back of its neck, and a pair of long innermost tail feathers. Typically, it sports a grey to light-gray body plumage with spots of white in its belly and an all-out black flight feathers. Broad pink toes laced the powerful, heavily-scaled legs Adults are distinguishable with their featherless red face, curved beaks, and brown eyes.

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When fully grown, this killer bird averages 140 cm in length and weighs around 2.3 – 4.1 kg. It has a wingspan of about 2 m. Having the longest legs amongst Raptors, the Secretarybird has an odd way to pick its meal or drink – bending its legs in a squatting position.

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Secretarybirds pair for life.They do their courting and mating activities on the ground. Nests are built high up on Acacia trees, where females lay two oval, light green eggs that are incubated for 42 – 46 days. In captivity, Secretarybirds can live up to 20 years.

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The Secretarybird hunts for prey in pairs. Its diet includes snakes, rats, amphibians, small animals and large insects. In hunting bigger prey, it strikes or grab the prey using its hooked beak and tosses it into the air several times until it get stunned. Then pounding the prey to the ground until death and consume it.



Saturday, January 14, 2012

Amazing Animals: 10 Creatures That Use Gadgets

A list of animals that uses different gadgets in their quality activities.

Some animal species are capable of using gadgets and tools for activities like eating, hunting and many others. Here are 10 notable animals that use different objects.

1.) Green-Winged Macaw

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The attractive and beautiful Green-winged Macaw is prized for its flamboyant plumage. It is considered one of the intelligent bird species. They can manipulate objects such as specially built bike as shown in the above picture.

2.) Chimpanzee

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The chimpanzee is one of the most intelligent animals in the world. It uses 19 different tools, such as sticks to catch fish; it uses rock hammers and sometimes uses human tools too.

3.) Orangutan

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Orangutans are intelligent animals like Chimpanzees. They can create different tool like a leaf to get out of the rain. They use leaves as a straw to drink rain water and use a stick to get honey from bees.

4.) Elephant

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The elephant’s trunk is utilized in so many ways. Elephants use their trunks to knock down trees, to carry logs, to wipe its eyes or picking up a coin.

5.) Dolphin

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One of the most intelligent animals is the Dolphin. Even in captivity, they are very easy to train and can learn varieties of tricks. In their natural habitat, Dolphins use sponges to escape Stone Fish, one of the most venomous creatures in the ocean.

6.) Sea Otter

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Sea Otters are clever animals. They feed on mollusks and in order to break open mollusk shells they use stone or rock.

7.) Digger Wasp

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Digger Wasps are among the cleverest insects in the world. Female Digger Wasps lay eggs underground, and then they seal the passage with pebbles. They do this so that predators will not harm their offspring.

8.) Woodpecker Finch

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Another intelligent bird is the Woodpecker Finch. This bird species uses part of a cactus spine or a twig as tool in order to get dinner.

9.) Green Heron

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Green Herons are smart birds. These bird species use bread hand-outs to act as a lure to attract fish because they have relatively short legs.

10.) Egyptian Vulture

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Another bird species that uses a tool is the Egyptian Vulture. This flying creature is known to use rocks to break open the thick shell of ostrich eggs.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Underwater World: Home to Amazing Sea Creatures

Join me as we explore the underwater world and meet the fascinating and amazing creatures who rule it.
Cephalopods

Cephalopods are a class of large, active animals with big heads and soft, fleshy bodies. They have long tentacles with suckers. They include the octopus, squid and nautilus. Only the nautilus lives in shells like most other mollusks. They have horny jaws and a tubular siphon that they use for both breathing and jet propulsion. They also have excellent sight. These animals can change color very quickly to match their emotions. This is done through cells that cause the blue, red, orange, yellow, violet or black granules in skin-pigment cells to spread rapidly and become more detectable. Some have light-producing organs that when stimulated will produce a bright glow by a chemical process. In some areas octopuses and squid are important food sources.

Octopuses

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Octopuses live in holes, caves and even in empty tins and jars on the bottom of the sea, emerging to feed on small fish and crustaceans, which they kill by ejecting a poison through their beaks. They move slowly, pulling themselves along by the suckers on their eight tentacles. If threatened, octopuses can discharge a cloud of ink from a special sac that acts like a smoke screen, giving them time to escape their enemies by a form of locomotion like jet propulsion. The entrance to the mantle cavity is shut off and the muscle of the mantle contracted quickly, causing a jet of water to shoot from the open siphon and propel the animal rapidly backward.

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This same siphon also draws water over the gills, thus giving the octopus its oxygen supply. An octopus leaves its shelter in search of food. Its main diet is mollusks. The giant octopus (Paroctopus defleini) lives in the North Pacific Ocean and is as much as 10 feet (3 m) across. It is not known to attack people, but it has a poisonous beak that should be avoided.

Squid and Cuttlefish

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Squid has 10 tentacles, all with suction cups; eight are short, while two are long and slender and are used to seize prey. Squid can swim surprisingly fast, propelling their bodies by shooting jets of water through their siphons. Small lateral fins are used for moving more slowly through the water and helping keep the body stable. Squid eyes are almost as complex as those of humans.

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Cuttlefish, a relative of the squid, can adjust the amount of gas and water in an internal skeleton so that they can move freely to higher or lower levels in the sea. When laying eggs the female squid grabs the string of eggs as they leave the siphon and attaches them to the ocean bottom or to floating weeds. The eggs hatch into free-swimming larvas. The largest of all invertebrates is the giant squid, a favorite food of sperm whales and probably the source of many sea monster stories.

Nautiluses

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Nautiluses are the only existing cephalopods that live in true shells. Although fossil remains show many different species, some with conical shells 15 feet (4.6 m) long, only three survive today. They have coiled shells similar to those of a snail, containing many chambers, but only the largest and most recently formed is inhabited. The others are filled with gas, which gives the shell buoyancy and keeps the animal afloat.

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Nautiluses have many small, smooth tentacles, specialized for various Functions. Because they live in the depths by day and come up to within 100 feet (30m) of the surface only at night, they are rarely seen alive, though their shells are often washed ashore.

Echinodermata

Echinoderms are simple animals lacking distinct heads and organs that are used specifically for respiration and excretion functions. The word Echinodermata comes from Greek, and it means spiny-skinned. This phylum includes starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. Some of these, the starfish, for example, have arms or rays that are spaced evenly, and all have radially symmetrical bodies supported by pieces of crystalline calcium carbonate embedded in the skin.

Their bodies usually are arranged in parts of five around a central disk. The young are larval and are planktonic drifters, but the adults of most species live on the bottom. Though they are basically primitive, echinoderms do have some complicated organs. One of these is a system of water tubes running through the body. These tubes are connected to numerous smaller, cylindrical projections called tube feet, which are often provided with a sucker at their tip and are used for feeding and for moving around. They are also a simple means of respiration. Some echinoderms use their arms to move or to hold on to steep surfaces.

Starfish

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Starfish (Asteroidea) have five or more arms and a body with the mouth on the underside and the anus on the upper side. Their tube feet can be extended and used as suckers or withdraw. Contracting muscles can also block off the connections between different parts of the system of water tubes in their bodies. Starfish are carnivorous, some feeding on prey like mollusks by turning their stomachs inside out, engulfing the shellfish and pouring digestive juices on it. Respiration takes place through the tube feet and through apparatuses that protrude from gaps in the skeleton and function as gills. There are male and female starfish, but these cannot be distinguished by sight. Starfish also can regenerate an entire new animal from only one part of the body.

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A crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) has dinner on a coral reef. This large starfish feeds on corals and causes great destruction of reefs. Its heavy spines are venomous and can cause great pain if they puncture the skin. It is often as much as 18 inches (46 cm) across and has 12 to 18 arms.

Brittle Stars and Basket Stars

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The most abundant of all echinoderms are the brittle stars, or serpent stars (Ophiuroidea). One species found in England covers seabeds it lives on with as many as 100 million animals in a third of a square mile (0.85 km2). They have small, disk-shaped bodies with five arms and move the way snakes do.

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Basket stars (Gorgonocephalidae) are unusual brittle stars, although they more closely resemble feather stars. They have multibranched, often tightly coiled arms. The name gorgonocephalid is derived from the basket star’s resemblance to the Gorgon, a monster in Greek mythology that had writhing snakes for hair.

Feather Stars

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The most primitive echinoderms, resembling flowers more than animals, are the feather stars, or sea lilies (Crinoidea). Long ago crinoids on stalks up to 60 feet (18m) long covered the sea bottom, but most of the present-day species are free-swimming creatures that lack stalks. Their long, jointed, flexible arms are branched, and they often swim by waving these arms up and down. Cirri, which are curved rootlike tentacles on the lower side, are used to hold on to seaweeds or rocks. The feather star catches small plankton and particles of food in streams of mucus that are carried along ciliated grooves in the arms to the mouth. Fertilization occurs in the sea, and the young go through a planktonic larval stage before they become adults.