African Elephant

African Elephant Profile

African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa. (Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears.)Elephant ears radiate heat to help keep these large animals cool, but sometimes the African heat is too much. Elephants are fond of water and enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. Afterwards, they often spray their skin with a protective coating of dust.An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things—especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles. African elephants have two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. (Asian elephants have one.)Both male and female African elephants have tusks they use to dig for food and water and strip bark from trees. Males use the tusks to battle one another, but the ivory has also attracted violence of a far more dangerous sort.Because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated, and some African elephant populations remain endangered.Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, and they eat a lot of these things. An adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of food in a single day.These hungry animals do not sleep much, and they roam over great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.Female elephants (cows) live in family herds with their young, but adult males (bulls) tend to roam on their own.Having a baby elephant is a serious commitment. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal—almost 22 months. Cows usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh some 200 pounds (91 kilograms) and stand about 3 feet (1 meter) tall.African elephants, unlike their Asian relatives, are not easily domesticated.

Type: Mammal
Diet: Herbivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 70 years
Size: Height at the shoulder, 8.2 to 13 ft (2.5 to 4 m)
Weight: 5,000 to 14,000 lbs (2,268 to 6,350 kg)
Group name: Herd
Protection status: Threatened
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)

Adélie Penguin

Adélie Penguin Profile

Adélie penguins live on the Antarctic continent and on many small, surrounding coastal islands. They spend the winter offshore in the seas surrounding the Antarctic pack ice.Adélies feed on tiny aquatic creatures, such as shrimp-like krill, but also eat fish and squid. They have been known to dive as deep as 575 feet (175 meters) in search of such quarry, though they usually hunt in far shallower waters less than half that depth.Like other penguins, Adélies are sleek and efficient swimmers. They may travel 185 miles round-trip (about 300 kilometers) to procure a meal.During the spring breeding season (in October), they take to the rocky Antarctic coastline where they live in large communities called colonies. These groups can include thousands of birds.Once on land, Adélies build nests and line them with small stones. Though they move with the famed "penguin waddle" they are capable walkers who can cover long overland distances. In early spring, before the vast sheets of ice break up, they may have to walk 31 miles (50 kilometers) from their onshore nests to reach open water.Male Adélie penguins help their mates rear the young and, without close inspection, the two sexes are nearly indistinguishable. They take turns sitting on a pair of eggs to keep them warm and safe from predators. When food is short, only one of the two chicks may survive. After about three weeks, parents are able to leave the chicks alone, though the offspring gather in groups for safety. Young penguins begin to swim on their own in about nine weeks.

Type: Bird
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 20 years
Size: 27.5 in (70 cm)
Weight: 8.5 to 12 lbs (4 to 5.5 kg)
Group name: Colony
Did you know? Adult Adélie penguins have been observed stealing rocks from their neighbors’ nests.
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)

Aardvark

Aardvark Profile

Aardvarks live throughout Africa, south of the Sahara. Their name comes from South Africa's Afrikaans language and means "earth pig." A glimpse of the aardvark's body and long snout brings the pig to mind. On closer inspection, the aardvark appears to include other animal features as well. It boasts rabbitlike ears and a kangaroo tail—yet the aardvark is related to none of these animals.Aardvarks are nocturnal. They spend the hot African afternoon holed up in cool underground burrows dug with their powerful feet and claws that resemble small spades. After sunset, aardvarks put those claws to good use in acquiring their favorite food—termites.While foraging in grasslands and forests aardvarks, also called "antbears," may travel several miles a night in search of large, earthen termite mounds. A hungry aardvark digs through the hard shell of a promising mound with its front claws and uses its long, sticky, wormlike tongue to feast on the insects within. It can close its nostrils to keep dust and insects from invading its snout, and its thick skin protects it from bites. It uses a similar technique to raid underground ant nests.Female aardvarks typically give birth to one newborn each year. The young remain with their mother for about six months before moving out and digging their own burrows, which can be extensive dwellings with many different openings.

Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in captivity: 23 years
Size: Head and body, 43 to 53 in (109 to 135 cm); Tail, 21 to 26 in (53 to 66 cm)
Weight: 110 to 180 lbs (50 to 82 kg)
Did you know? An aardvark's tongue can be up to 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) long and is sticky to help extract termites from their mound.
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)