What is a pollinator?
A pollinator is an animal that carries pollen from a male flower to a female flower to fertilize the plant so that more can grow.
Most people know that bees are pollinators. Bees carry the yellow pollen from flower to flower. But not all bees are pollinators. And pollinators include other animals.
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The Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus) is a non-venomous reptile in the Pythonidae family of constrictor snakes.
The Reticulated Python has smooth scales in 69-79 rows with a complex geometric pattern. It has irregular diamond shapes with smaller markings with light centres.
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The West African Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica rhinoceros) is a reptile in the Viperidae family of venomous viper snakes. It is a viperid snake.
The West African Gaboon Viper from Sub-Saharn Africa has a flat, triangular head with a pair of horn-like structures between its nostrils. They are not real horns. They are hard protuberences called rostral horns.
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What does a chelonian beak look like?
A turtle is a chelonian. Chelonians include turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.
All chelonians have a beak, like a parrot’s beak.
A chelonian has no teeth, so its beak is important for eating. Its beak has horny blades that are made of keratin.
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What is a group of rattlesnakes called?
A group of rattlesnakes is called a rhumba of rattlesnakes.
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The Great Padloper (Homopus femoralis) is a small chelonian reptile in the Testudinidae family of land tortoises.
The Great Padloper Tortoise has a brown domed-shaped shell called a carapace, although it can be reddish-brown or olive-brown. It has darker markings bordering its scutes (scales). As it ages, the dark markings often become thin white lines. The top part of the carapace is slightly flattened. Its pale cream bottom shell is called a plastron. It has a small head and brown eyes. It has four toes on its thick, stumpy legs.
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How does a Python eat?
The jaws of a python are not like a human’s jaws. Humans cannot open their mouth very wide, but a python can.
The jaws of a python are extremely flexible because they are not fused together and they are not connected to the back of its mouth.
A python can open its jaws so wide that it can eat a medium-sized animal whole – such as a deer, antelope, pig, cat, or dog.
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The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a large reptile in the Varanidae family of monitor lizards. It is an ectotherm varanid.
The Komodo Dragon has sharp teeth and a long, yellow, deeply-forked tongue.
It eats invertebrates, birds, and mammals, such as monkeys. It uses venom to kill its prey, because the toxins stop the prey’s wound from clotting. The animal loses blood pressure and lots of blood. The Komodo Dragon takes a bite out of an animal, even a large animal, and the animal dies within a few days.
The Komodo Dragon can eat a monkey or a deer whole. So, why does it need a long tongue?
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The Anatolian Rock Lizard (Anatololacerta anatolica) is a lizard in the Lacertidae family. It is a lacertid.
The Anatolian Rock Lizard has a dark olive-brown, long, slender, flattened body with variable markings. It has a series of dorsal-lateral (back and sides) spots which forms a line along its body. Its underparts are pale.
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The Jackson’s Forest Lizard (Adolfus jacksoni) is a small to medium-sized reptile in the Lacertidae family of wall lizards. It is a lacertid.
The Jackson’s Forest Lizard is long and slender with shiny scales and a long tail. It has brown stripes on either side of its body with rows of greenish spots. It has a pale underbelly. It has large black eyes with yellow eye rings. It has short legs with five toes on each foot.
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Why do snakes inflate, swell, or puff up their throat?
Not all snakes inflate their throat.
Some snakes that inflate their throat include the African Puff Adder (Bitis arietans), the North American Eastern Hognose (Heterodon platirhinos), and the African Eastern Vine Snake (Thelotornis mossambicanus).
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The Eastern Vine Snake (Thelotornis mossambicanus) is a venomous reptile in the Colubridae family of vine snakes. It is also known as the Eastern Twig Snake, African Creep Snake, or the Savanna Vine Snake. It is a colubrid snake.
The Eastern Vine Snake is a thin, grey snake, with a beige underbelly. The top of its head is green, often with black speckles. Its body also has speckles. Its eyes have horizontal pupils, often in the shape of a keyhole. When startled, it inflates (swells) its throat to show black spots between its scales.
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It is common for the shell of a tortoise, in the wild, to show signs of everyday chips and knocks, both on the upper shell (carapace) and the lower shell (plastron).
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What is a group of cobras called?
A group of cobras is called a quiver of cobras.
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The New Caledonian Giant Gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus) is a reptile in the Diplodactylidae family of gecko lizards. It is also known as Leach’s Giant Gecko.
The New Caledonian Giant Gecko has a thick body with loose skin and a small, stumpy tail. It can vary in colour, from green or grey to light or tan brown.
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The Amazon Tree Boa (Corallus hortulanus) is a reptile in the Boidae family of non-venomous, colubrid, boa constrictor snakes. It is a boid (pronounced bo-id). It is also known as the Garden Tree Boa or the Macabrel.
The Amazon Tree Boa is long and slim. It varies in base colour from black, brown, grey, red, and orange to yellow. Its patterns can be banded, speckled, rhomboid shapes, or completely plain with no patterns or markings. It has a distinct head and it has dark, rounded eyes. It has sharp, long, needle-like teeth.
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Animal evolutionary researchers have found that reptiles and birds cry similar tears to humans.
Researchers in Brazil, at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador, published their new study in Frontiers in Veterinary Sciencein 2020.
They collected samples of the tears of captive healthy animals in conservation centres. The tears were from seven species of reptiles and birds. The reptiles included tortoises, caiman lizards, and sea turtles. The birds included macaws, hawks, owls, and parrots.
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The Jacky Dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus) is a medium-sized reptile in the Agamidae family of agamid lizards. It is also known as the Tree Dragon, the Stonewalker, or the Blood-Sucker.
The Jacky Dragon has an elongated, rough-scaled, brown to pale-grey body with dark markings along the middle of its back. The dark markings are combined with pale blotches. It has a dark-brown bar between its eyes and its ears. It has five crests on its head. It has a bright yellow lining in its mouth, and orange-red corners of its mouth, with a broad, thick, fleshy tongue. Its hind (back) legs are longer than its front legs. Its feet have five clawed toes.
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