Curiosities
Platypus
The platypus, or duckbill, is a mammal, but it seems to be part bird,
too. It has a body like a beaver and a bill and feet like a duck. A
mother platypus gives milk, as all mammal mothers do. But she also lays
eggs, as all bird mothers do!
Echidna
The echidna is a mammal, but it’s mixed- up just like the platypus. A
mother echidna gives milk, as mammal mothers do. But she also lays eggs,
like a bird. The echidna is also called a spiny anteater. It eats ants
and termites.
Curiosities
Ajolote
The strange lizard called an ajolote looks like a worm with two legs! It
uses its two tiny legs to help it crawl and to dig underground holes
where it hides during the day. Ajolotes are found only in Lower
California.
Glass Snake
The glass snake isn’t made of glass.
It isn’t even a snake. It’s a lizard— without legs. You can tell it
isn’t a snake because it has eyelids. No real snake has eyelids. If you
picked up a glass snake by the tail, its tail would break off! Many
lizards have tails that break off and grow again. But snakes don’t.
Curiosities
Walking Fish
This fish will drown if it stays underwater too long! It has to come to
the top of the water once in a while to gulp air. Sometimes it even
crawls out of the water! It walks on land, pulling itself along with its
fins.
Giant Squid
The giant squid is so big that people once thought it was a sea
monster! From the tail to the tip of the long arms, it measures up to
55 feet (17 m). That’s fifty-five times as long as its picture on this
page. The eye of a giant squid is about as wide as this open book.
