Not all animals have the ability to keep their entire bodies off the ground and have been forced to crawl on it when moving due to the physical structure of their bodies. In this article you will learn about the main crawling animals that exist in the world, so we invite you to continue reading this interesting article.
creeping animals
Animals that crawl are all those species that, due to their physical structure, prevent them from moving a large part of their body away from the ground when they move and for this they must make a greater effort. Within the animals that crawl you can get a large number, among which we have species of reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and even some insects. Next, we will explain some of them, which are very interesting to know:
Cocodrilos
Currently, this animal is part of a group of reptiles containing fourteen subspecies, it is considered a semi-aquatic animal belonging to the category of wild animals, found in almost all continents, such as Oceania, Africa, Asia and America. It is noted that the species that live today do not show great differences with those that date back more than fifty million years, that is, the functions are very similar. Their temperature is controlled by their behavior, this is called ectoderm animals.
These animals are quite long, with a flat body. Its tail reaches fifty percent of the crocodile's total length, which is half of its body. As for his belly, it is lighter in color than the top part, as well as its texture since the abdomen part is much softer than the top part. In this last area it has crests, which fulfill the function of protecting it from the attacks of other animals.
As they move, these animals crawl, but very slowly because all four of their limbs are short. However, this only occurs on land, since it changes in the water and has a great ability to swim, especially when the place is not very deep. Also, it can be noted that the maximum speed they can walk on the earth's surface is four kilometers per hour. In the water, the best tool is the tail.
Features
These reptiles have different characteristics that make them very amazing, and each of them has allowed them to live on earth for at least fifty-five million years. Among the many experts and lovers of this type of creature, it can be mentioned that their ability to catch prey, their way of biting, their breath is an ingredient of this amazing animal. In the following paragraphs we will explain a little more about each of them:
Regarding the nervous system of this crawling animal, it can be said that its brain is quite small, although its body is usually large compared to an object and its size reaches the length of an adult's thumb. Something quite similar between these animals and humans is that they have gray matter in the brain and they have a cerebral cortex. This is how the crocodile has memory and intelligence, although it is quite rare. The cerebellum is complex and allows you to control your movements, in turn, your sight and smell are highly developed.
Many believe that turtles tend to live for many years, however, these creeping animals, such as crocodiles, can be considered large, although they do not correspond to the first mentioned, but if they live at least sixty-five years, but have even been found individuals reaching 120 years of age. The great longevity of these reptiles is due to the fact that they can get used to places without feeding problems and without presenting any type of disease, living in harmony.
Its lung capacity is quite high as it can hold oxygen and survives on it for a long time. This ability is so impressive that they can even stay in the water for up to three days without even coming out to breathe. In that sense, they are extremely controlled. When they dive into the water, they expend very little energy since they only make a few movements, only the necessary ones. Therefore, it does not waste energy in the lungs and stores it for the air until its next exit.
The most common area to locate one of these creeping animals is on the African continent, but it is also found in several countries in the Americas, on the Asian continent and in Australia. In these rivers where the water flows calmly, it is very common to find a crocodile, since they are places to their liking, where they can be placidly in environments where they are not abruptly interrupted. Still, they like water courses where they don't have to exert too much force to move from one place to another.
They are quite insidious animals and their movements are quite slow, a very useful skill in feeding, they look for live animals, preferably mammals. However, they can feed on all the animals they can get, they can eat insects, toads and other amphibians, they can also eat birds of different species and fish. This food capacity is one of the characteristics that has allowed it to survive for so many millions of years and adapt to what it is allowed to consume.
These creeping animals fall under the oviparous classification as they fertilize internally through laying eggs. The females and males of these animals do not reach sexual maturity at the same time, but the females manage to reach it when they reach ten years of age, while in the case of males, maturity begins at sixteen. Spring is primarily the time when breeding begins with competition between males for bellows.
Another of the main characteristics of these animals that crawl has to do with their skin, which is scaly, in addition to having keratin, this being a material that is also common in humans, in the compound of their nails. In turn, it can be noted that below their scales there are bony plates which are called osteoderms. This type of formation in their skin allows them to be flexible, but at the same time they have hard skin.
Crocodile Curiosities
There is often a lot of confusion around the supposed resemblance to the also creeping alligator, but in fact these two animals belong to a different family group and their physiognomy are different, because their maxillofacial structure is more pointed in one and rounder in the other. . In addition, crocodiles have scales, holes, and spots that alligators lack. Both animals can live in fresh water, but the same does not happen with salt water since only crocodiles can be found there.
Since 1996, the American species of these reptiles has been found to be vulnerable, and since 2007 it was determined to be in danger of extinction like the White Tiger. In the entire United States today, there are only about five thousand species of crocodiles. Among other curiosities, it can be said that when a tooth falls out, they re-generate a hole so that a new one appears. They like birds because they clean their teeth, so they try to live in harmony with them. In different parts of the world, it is a revered animal like Australia. During the day they bask in the sun and at night they hunt and eat.
Snakes
More than 3400 species of these animals have been registered that crawl in different parts of the world, when we talk about it in principle we are referring to the entire suborder that includes each of these reptiles. They belong to the squamata (scaly) order which also includes iguanas, lizards, and other reptiles in addition to snakes. They also belong to the class of suropsida (sauropsids) that includes a large part of reptiles and birds because they are amniotic vertebrates. What these species of different orders have in common is that they have eggs and amniotic scales.
The characteristics of these reptiles also place them in the subphylum of vertebrates (vertebrate animals), which are all individuals that have their spine or spine in common with the vertebrae, almost all belonging to the chordata phylum. In the same way, it can be noted that within the names of these animals are boa, python, mamba, cobra, snake, snake and other common names that are called species of some of their most common families.
Features
They are animals that have a limbless body that contains more than 100 vertebrae and some have more than 400, which gives them a lot of flexibility. Also, their body and movement are very well adapted, snakes can swim, dive, climb trees, dig, jump, stand upright, and some can slither. They generally move in a wave-like fashion, moving their entire body from head to tip of tail, although some only touch the front of the body first to push off the other, and so on.
Others move with their heads held high, which is known as a horned rattlesnake, and other species can move in a straight line thanks to the scales on their bellies. In addition, it is observed that they can open their jaws widely because their jaw bones are attached to the rest of the body with little force, in addition to having very strong refractive muscles that make it easier for them to open their mouths too much to be able to ingest large prey.
Their teeth can be aglyphs (snakes that are not poisonous have them because they cannot vaccinate poison), opisth glyphs (snakes have them that are not very dangerous because they have ribs), proteroglyphs (they are small and allow them to spit poison, very common in cobras and mambas) or solenoglyphs (they are two hollow fangs, posable and very long, they are held on the buccal roof when they close their mouths and stop when they open them to bite, most vipers have them).
They are mostly covered by scales, which allows them to move when they are in the womb (not all species have them) and what sets them apart from other reptiles is that they change not in parts but completely. As for the development of their senses, they don't really have great strength or ability (only smell and taste), vision for example is not very good as is their hearing, however, they have a lot of sensitivity in terms of ground vibration.
As for the organs they have, we can see that they have a heart divided into two atria and one ventricle, receiving blood from the lungs and the rest of the body to pump it again. Their breathing is possible thanks to a hole called the glottis at the end of their mouth, they have two lungs where the right one is more developed. They also have kidneys in charge of filtering the blood of their body and expelling particles that are not digestible, so the excretory system in the crawling animals of this species is highly developed compared to that of other species, even though it does not have a bladder.
Behavior
Many species of snakes are diurnal and nocturnal. They can really be very active. This is partly due to the fact that they can't control their body temperature as they need to keep you at a stable temperature so they don't die so they can become very active, exercise keeps them warm. Therefore, where they are affects their behavior, even though they are scattered around the world. They prefer ecosystems with jungle or forest vegetation, especially species that live in trees.
They also like rocks and desert places, while many are found in open areas such as pastures or farmland, we do not count the water snakes found in rivers, lakes, ponds, among others. These species have really adapted to the different habitats of the world, many spaces on the surface of the earth and even the sea and other watercourses, hence their diversity in terms of species that have been found over the years. .
One point that was seen during their study is that they have specific prey and people are not one of them, their danger to humans is something in how toxic they are, but more than 80% of all snake species. they are not toxic. However, this does not imply that they are animals that can be domesticated, many countries prohibit their inclusion in urban areas because they represent a danger to other species that inhabit these places.
In addition to this many species have a calm demeanor and only become aggressive when frightened or disturbed, females are also aggressive but this is mainly when protecting their eggs. For the aforementioned reasons, they may cause people to keep them in their homes, but they are not crawling animals destined for captivity, like many species of wild animals by nature.
Reproduction
The males of these reptiles have seminiferous canals that have the functions of the testicles, while the females have long ovaries in the body, to reproduce the males evaginate their cloaca and form a hemipenis that allows them to enter the cloaca of the females. On the other hand, it can also be noted that, through the same cloaca, in addition to the reproductive organs of the sample, the channels are connected to the secretion.
Some of these creatures are viviparous, others can be oviparous and others ovoviviparous, this represents a variation in reproduction since they can lay eggs, develop their young inside or do both. This variation can be seen in the same family while the method of reproduction may be something common that has grouped them in that classification, for example boas and pythons, all boas are viviparous and all pythons are oviparous, but not only their form to reproduce is a trait they share.
In reality, these species can be very similar and belong to different families. They cannot control the temperature, they really depend on the temperature of the room where they are and it is something that affects the laying of eggs. To fix this and control the temperature, they wrap themselves around them and go through an entire internal process that simulates shivering, allowing them to successfully control the temperature.
Food
The first thing to say is that they are carnivorous and can eat birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians that can range from the size of a mouse to that of a gazelle. Of course, this will depend on their size, but knowing that they can measure from 15 centimeters to 8 meters, the size range of their prey can be extended. In this way a small will not have large prey, although these can be compared with its size, an example would be mice.
The Iguana, another of the animals that crawl
Iguanas are some of the largest lizards found in the Americas, and their whip-like tail makes up about half that length. Like other reptiles, iguanas are cold-blooded animals that lay eggs and have an excellent ability to adapt to their environment. The species of these crawling animals vary greatly in size, color, behavior, and their endangered status in the wild. Some, like the green iguana, are quite common; others, like the ringed iguanas of Fiji, are endangered.
Different species look and behave so differently that you may not recognize them as members of the same family. While some iguanas are brightly colored and vibrant, others are quite dull. Because iguanas are found in a wide variety of habitats, each species has its own adaptations. The Galapagos Marine Iguana is an expert swimmer and its black color helps to warm its body after swimming in the cold ocean.
Features
In contrast, the green iguana is most at home high up in the trees of a tropical rainforest, while other iguana species have adaptations that allow them to live successfully in hot, arid desert and rocky areas. With an emerald green body and more pronounced white or blue stripes on males, the three known species of Fiji iguanas inhabit a variety of habitats, from coastal swamps and lowland forests to tropical rainforests on volcanic slopes.
Very arboreal, they have long fingers with sharp claws and long tails to keep their balance in the treetops. Rarely seen on the ground, banded iguanas move from tree to tree using overlapping branches. They are omnivorous, eating leaves, flowers, fruits and small insects. Adults of these ringed caterpillars can reach a length of 53 centimeters, more than half of which is the tail. When mature, they weigh between 99 and 199 grams, with males tending to be larger and heavier than females.
The Caribbean islands are rich in reptiles, with more than 500 reptile species, 94 percent of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Several species of Caribbean iguanas are collectively known as rock iguanas, with some found only on one or two islands. Female rock iguanas lay a clutch of 5 to 20 relatively large eggs each year; the largest eggs produce large young that have evolved in response to a lack of native predators.
Unlike their mainland counterparts, such as green iguanas, island iguanas do not need to produce many offspring as protection against predators. The smallest of the iguana group are the Turkish and Caicos iguanas. They all eat a variety of fruits and serve as important seeds for many native plants. Most iguanas are herbivores, eating fruit, flower buds, and young leaves. Some species also sometimes eat the juicy mealworm or waxworm. The marine iguana dives into the sea to scrape algae off the rocks.
Fun facts
Speaking of food, the iguanas themselves are eaten by a variety of natural predators: hawks, owls, snakes, and humans. Green iguanas are raised on farms in Central and South America for people to eat. Young iguanas are particularly vulnerable to predation by feral cats, and no iguana is safe from a pack of dogs. The iguana's whip-like tail can be used for defense, and many species have tails with sharp "spines" that pack an extra "thump."
The females of most of these creeping animals dig a burrow in a sunny area, lay their eggs inside, cover them, and then leave the eggs alone. Even the arboreal ones leave the trees to lay their eggs. The temperature in the burrow remains fairly constant at 25 to 32 degrees. The warm temperature incubates the eggs. All the eggs in a nest usually hatch at the same time, and the young dig out of the burrow without parental help. On their own, the hatchlings face many dangers.
Turtles
Turtles are a class of crawling animals that have been listed as members of the world's most distant reptilian order. These form the taxonomic category of reptiles "Sauropsiden". Which is a branch of the amniotic condition of vertebrates to which most reptiles and birds correspond or integrate. In addition, it can be stated that they are characterized by having a shell that protects, preserves and protects the internal organs contained in the trunk of their body.
These attractive animals have surprisingly populated the planet earth since the Upper or Late Triassic, which belong to a division of the time scale of the Mesozoic Era. On the other hand, these incomparable creeping animals have the great goodness of being ranked as one of the members of the list of best pets to keep at home. This is achieved if an environment and proper care are maintained, which is normal when deciding to adopt an ideal partner.
Features
Turtles are reptiles that can be seen in different sizes, they have characteristics that make them similar or comparable. The carapace is wide and covers the entire trunk of the body in the posterior region. It is extremely rigid, strong, and extremely compact. Between land and sea, they have their differences. For the former, the hull has a particular dome-like appearance. Instead, for sailors, it is more flattened. Another difference to establish is its total hardness, like that of the pig-nosed turtle, which has a shell of a soft consistency, which implies a total lack of protection.
On the other hand, there is the plastron, which is the flattened part that constitutes the ventral area of the shell, which is joined to it by lateral bone bridges. Consisting of the junction of the ribs, the clavicle, the interclavicular ligament, and the gastralia. In turn, the tones are distinguished by their diversity, their destination depending on the environment in which they are located. Normally, shades where brown, ocher and dark green predominate are displayed. Where for the case where the main tone is brown, together with the colors green, yellow and olive.
Likewise, they are characterized by a wide variety of sizes depending on the species and whether they are terrestrial or aquatic. Their sizes range from 6 centimeters to 2,2 meters. On the other hand, their weight also varies depending on their size, with some turtles weighing 95 grams, while others can weigh up to 700 kilograms. Everyone must run or transfer on 4 legs. Their legs have the peculiarity of having evolved and developed in such a way that they are fins.
Fun facts
All females lay their eggs on the ground after fertilization. Where sex is determined by temperatures, being females when there is heat and males when exposed to cold. In addition, they all have a perfect and exclusive sense of direction. His visual skills are outstanding. More than half of the species are also threatened with extinction. Their shell protects them from predators. World Turtle Day is celebrated every May 23, while World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on June 16.
snail
They are creeping animals that shake little by little, their body always makes central movements, exchanging constrictions and extensions of certain parts. They produce limpid bodies to help speed, reducing the impact with the ground caused by their erosion and allowing them to travel through territories with a strong inclination due to the position of their body. This body fluid also reduces the risk of being harmed by external agents and animosities, it also repels the most dangerous insects, such as ants.
The body fluid also serves the snail to eliminate certain harmful substances, such as those carried by certain destructive metals. The moment they withdraw from the shell, they release an extraordinary type of bodily fluid that completely covers them. In turn, it can be noted that the operculum of some snails has a wonderful smell when consumed, which is why it is used in different parts of the world, as a basic part of incense.
Features
Terrestrial species often live in populated regions, although they do live in forests and densely vegetated areas. It is anything but difficult to see them on cloudy days because they usually do not open to the sun's rays for quite some time, but they do come out on cold days. They like to hide on the ground, but they do not remain inactive when they move in search of food. When it comes to marine snails, they occupy seas and oceans all over the world. There are species that live near the shores, while others lean towards regions that are over a thousand meters deep.
The feeding of these crawling animals responds to a modified diet, that is why there are snails that eat grass, while others lead a different lifestyle that includes eating various types of creatures, so they end up being omnivores or carnivores depending on the environment where they are located. Those that live in the sea, eat fish and even tiny floating remains of animals found on the ocean floor, while others feed by ingesting ocean plants.
crabs
These type of animals that also crawl, are usually covered with a thick exoskeleton, which consists mainly of highly mineralized chitin and is armed with a single pair of claws. Crabs are present in all the world's oceans, while many of them live in fresh water and on land, especially in tropical regions. Crabs range in size from the pea crab, which is a few millimeters wide, to the Japanese spider crab, which has a bone circumference of up to 4m.
Features
These animals usually crawl sideways and that is why the term that identifies them, since it comes from the articulation of the legs, which makes walking sideways more efficient. However, some move forward or backward. However, there are certain species, notably Portunidae and Matutidae, that can also swim, especially the former, as their last pair of walking legs flatten into swimming paddles. In addition, it can be said that their main food source is other marine organisms such as mollusks, worms or algae.
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