In Year 6 we have been studying Evolution and Inheritance. Part of our learning in science has been to find out how and why different animals have adapted to their environment. We investigated how camels had evolved to survive in a desert biome and then created our own weird and wonderful creatures that have adapted to a South American country with all their varied biomes. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed writing them!
The Worm-Tail Cobra by Sam Thomas
The worm-tail cobra is an interesting reptile native to South America. It is a species of snake with a worm on the tip of its tail. It is also known as bait snake (this is because it lies in wait for birds and other prey) by the humans who live near the cobra’s habitat.
Worm-tail cobras live in the rainforests in Peru, Brazil and Colombia – high up in the tees. They live in a tropical biome: due to camouflage there is only a 3% chance of finding them in rainforests.
The worm-tail cobra has bright- green skin (if it is not appropriate they will shed their skin continuously until perfect) to blend in with the trees that they occupy; this coating is essential as they need to blend into the surroundings to fool prey. They have small slits for eyes so they are only active in day light. Razor-sharp fangs sink into prey, immediately paralysing the unfortunate bird.
Female worm-tail cobras are pregnant for 6-9weeks before laying their eggs; the eggs take about a fortnight to hatch. The hatchlings are abandoned before even hatching and have to survive on their own. They reach maturity at about 12 years living to be over 90 years old.
They are predators and are not prey to anything. They eat birds as they attack the worm on their tail over any animal. They are carnivores eating all different types of bird.
Every day they lie in the canopy of trees in plain sight hoping birds will come along; this species are incredibly greedy. This reptile is petrified and aggressive towards humans. Humans may be attacked or even killed by the worm-tail cobra. Sometimes the cobras are attacked by humans in self-defence.
These newly discovered brutes are declining due to lack of trees in rainforests. We must help each and every one of these extremely rare reptiles survive by not chopping down the Earth’s rainforest and help stop deforestation. Everyone needs to help these fascinating animals by being eco-friendly and not buying palm oil products.
The Chiodiale by Natalie Bower
The chiodiale is a creature who targets humans when they enter the Brazilian part of the Amazonian jungle. To the chiodiale humans mean trouble. Let me tell you more about this beast: it has strong legs, a fish tail, sharp, crocodile teeth and razor-sharp hearing. More on that later! A pack of chiodale is called a running flush and a baby is called a club. These card references were put in place because chiodale love gambling and cheating (they are part cheetah after all).
One chiodiale eats 87.3g in berries each day and over 10kg of fish! Consuming the berries is unusual as a chiodiale is part cheetah, part crocodile, part whale and this is strange because none of these animals eat berries! The fish is perfectly normal for that combination of animals. When a chiodiale catches a human, it does not eat the human: the chiodiale only kills it. The chiodiale is normally cruel and will either starve, drown, or suffocate the human for a slow death, symbolising the slow decimation of the amazon rainforest.
Chiodale live in the Amazon rainforest, specifically in Brazil as the jungle is dense there. Of course the forest is slowly being cut down forcing chiodale to target humans. The chiodiale is only protecting its young and all of the other animals that live in the rainforest. The chiodiale only has one threat: the sun. Chiodale are nocturnal due to the immense sunburn the chiodale suffer from; it can be deadly. Chiodale never stay in one place unless protecting the 50- 100 eggs the female can lay. Most chiodale sleep either underwater or in trees.
Most physical adaptations the chiodiale have developed are extremely useful including strong legs enabling tree climbing and fast travel. Gills and a whale tail allow strong swimming and breathing underwater, which is useful as in the scenario that a human comes by, a chiodiale hides in the water and pounces on its target. Sharp hearing is a chiodiale’s dominant sense with sight close behind. With teeth like knives, a chiodiale is an unstoppable force for any threat.
A female chiodiale can lay 50-100 eggs in one pontoon (a hoard of chiodiale eggs) and over 1000 in a lifetime. Two thirds of chiodiale eggs die before birth so it is necessary for a chiodiale to lay so many. Chiodale always leave their young in 2 human years but to the chiodiale the clubs are only 2 months old in chiodiale time. The lifespan of a chiodiale is 600 human years (50 chiodiale years) but sadly, barely any last that long.
Some chiodale have very strange behaviour for the species it is. Some people think the chiodiale are ruthless killers and they would be right in saying that. There is more to the chiodiale than meets the eye. A person actually befriending a chiodiale is exceptionally rare but possible. One instance is when a person showed the chiodiale that they were not a threat and then the chiodiale accepted the human (but not as the dominant species).
The chiodiale are endangered despite just being discovered. The WWF is not defending this animal, yet… Would you protect these creatures, willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the rainforest and all of the animals in it?
The Crocofly by Oliver P
The crocofly [crocodylus archaeopteryx] has just been found by a scientist from Argentina. This fascinating tetrapod is located in Brazilian deserts and is from the genus haeroglite. Did you know that a group of crocoflies is called a cry?
The crocofly is a carnivore meaning it only eats meat. It does not drink a great deal of water because of irregular rainstorms. This creature is not prey and scientific research proves that it never will be; it has major adaptations like its near-to-impenetrable skin. One of the most common foods found in a crocofly’s stomach was a mouse which was found alive inside the ribcage of this animal; many believe the crocofly may have choked. These animals do not have very effective digestive systems as many skeletons have been found with animals inside of them.
It lives in Brazilian deserts, which have an arid climate and common sandstorms. Many are found inside oases, which are rivers or pools of water. These areas mostly consist of: little water, dead cacti and dried plants.
When the crocofly drinks water, it recycles the water as it urinates into a small bag which turns the liquid into clean water and also turns salt and other unhealthy objects into faeces. Its light lime coloured skin reflects sunlight so that it does not sweat and lose water. Its skin is used to protect itself from sharp sand and animal bites. It has light wings which enable it to fly and take refuge in another place.
When a male crocofly lays his eggs the female buries them deep in the sand and abandons them in hope for them to survive. When it is born it stays underground drinking water that has seeped into the ground from uncommon precipitation; it makes most of what it receives. They stay in this stage until they have reached maturity. This usually takes around eight years or longer depending on when it hatched. These animals live for around 40-50 years and can sometimes live for longer.
This animal is not endangered and probably will not be as it well hidden from most humans’ field of vision. Have you ever heard about the discovery of this animal? We hope you enjoyed this factual animal report.
Foxragonia by Ross Dooher
You might be wondering what a foxragonia is. Well it is a super-rare creature that lives in the Andes, Peru. It is quite a sight to see if you can spot it.
The foxragonia is a predator. It likes to prey on smaller animals and eats them in one bite usually. Sometimes animals try to fight back which is why they have their fire breath to roast anything that fights back.
Foxragonia’s diet consists of: trees, small animals, molten rocks (lava), snakes, and sometimes people with dark and evil souls. They incinerate sinister people as they believe their souls will try to extinguish the foxragonia species.
This creature is unusual due to the fact it has two heads, two stomachs and two tails their scales can change colour and camouflage to look like its environment. The fox head has teeth that move back and forth to act as a chainsaw to cut down trees and then eat them whole. Pine trees are its favourite food to eat. The dragon head can sense IR (infrared) waves so even in the dark it can hunt; it is like a rattle snake but even deadlier.
Foxragonia lay eggs and sometimes more than one young may hatch from the egg. The egg will hatch and instantly eat whatever the parents left it. The babies are called dragoni. The young dragoni will then leave the cave after 4-5 months and will fend for itself in the cold mountains were life is tough and dying is simpler. The dragoni will try to avoid all mistakes as other larger animals could make a tasty snack out of it such as large basilisks. But that is where the poisonous spines on the tail come in handy. They can be shot out of the tail into predators and the tops slit open. That makes it harder to pull out and lets the poison leak into the blood stream and slowly kill the attacker. Foxragonia suck up many liquids with their spines such as: sulphuric acid, carborane acid, lava, water, blood, stomach acid from people (hydrochloric acid), nerve poison if male, hydrogen cyanide if female and tree sap. They will then proceed to grow up and reproduce teaching the young dragoni those very survival skills.
How to tame them you may ask. Well first you need to mask your scent. Roll in fox fur because it is half fox it won’t attack foxes and will ignore you. Then keep feeding a newly born dragoni all the time and it will gain your trust. Then lure it out when it trusts you and take it home.
Now should be aware to stay away from these creatures unless they are tame or you have a death wish because you look like tasty food to them even though they are 31 metres (102 feet) tall so maybe leave them alone or disappear.
The Parrocrocodeerake/Parrocroc by Brian
The parrocroc is a very deadly animal that live in rainforests. Its scientific name is ‘parrocrocodeerake.’ They normally live in Brazil in South America and they are very dangerous reptiles; in fact, there is only one species of this animal.
Wood, meat and the worst of all, humans are eaten by parrocrocs. This special animal can drink anything that’s liquid. They are omnivores which means that they eat meat and plants. They prey on animals such as: birds, swans, anacondas and many more. They can easily chomp off chunks of wood and swallow it whole. In the rainforest, it is at the top of the food chain. The only thing they do not eat are insects.
The habitat they live in are tropical rainforests and the climate in rainforests is known as tropical. Parrocrocs don’t have a permanent home as they constantly move around. They can also live in dry forests. They live in this habitat so they can eat tons of wood there and another reason they live there is because of the lakes and rivers.
The way they have adapted is very interesting: their beaks are outside of their teeth because they sometimes swallow food whole. They only chew very tough foods like swans. They have very thick, sharp and strong wings because they are used to slice massive foods into little pieces. This is because Parrocrocs have a very thin throat and would choke if it had big portions of food. When they are underwater, they eject their feet longer so it can be easy for them to swim. Parrocrocs also use this so they can eject the legs further so they can hop out of the water to catch prey like birds. They also have the tail of a rattlesnake. This is so when a deerake (baby parrocrocs) is lost it shakes its tail and it makes a rattling noise so they can check if there are any parrocrocs nearby. If they hear another rattle that means that there is one close to the deerake. Parrocrocs’ behaviour to humans is uncontrollable. Humans are a parrcroc’s favourite meal. Besides, a parrocroc will do anything to kill a human and eat it. They also have a large stomach so they can store as much food as possible. A full parrocroc would usually survive for at least 4 weeks without food or water. This is because they always move around so they don’t have time to hunt much. Their antlers help them recognise other parrocrocs. Parrocrocs are blind so if they use their antlers to feel another parrococ’s antlers, it tells them they are with friends or family. Also, parrocrocs have enhanced hearing so they can listen to rattles of other parrocrocs’ tails.
Gestation usually takes 2 weeks until the eggs can be laid and it takes at least 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch. Female parrocrocs lay 2-3 eggs at a time. New born parrocrocs are called deerakes. Over time, the female parrocrocs become pregnant with eggs: this usually takes 5 years. After the deerake are born, the female sometimes slices a bit of the male’s wing so the deerake can be fed. Do not worry, the male’s wing will grow back after a few weeks.
The only threat to parrocrocs and deerake is Climate Change. They are slowly struggling to find different habitats due to climate change. Did you know? That a Parrocroc lives up to 100 years old: this is because they age once every decade. Fun facts: When a Deerake is born and you do not feed it, after just 1 minute it will die. Parrocrocs actually cannot walk: they either fly or bounce up.
