Animal
Atlas
The

A Pictorial Guide to the World's Wildlife
Illustrated by Kenneth Lilly
Written by Barbara Taylor

Contents
REVISED EDITION
Managing Editors Christine Stroyan, Kingshuk Ghoshal
Managing Art Editors Anna Hall, Govind Mittal
Senior Art Editor Vikas Chauhan
Project Art Editor Renata Latipova
Editors Abigail Mitchell, Virien Chopra
US Executive Editor Lori Cates Hand
Producer, Pre-Production Kavita Varma
Senior Producer Jude Crozier
DTP Designers Bimlesh Tiwary, Anita Yadav
Senior Picture Researcher Surya Sankash Sarangi
Consultant Derek Harvey
FIRST EDITION
Project Editor Susan Peach Art Editor Richard Czapnik
Designer Marcus James Production Teresa Solomon
Managing Editor Ann Kramer Art Director Roger Priddy
Consultants Michael Chinery MA and Keith Lye BA, FRGS
This American Edition, 2020
First American Edition, 1992
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
1450 Broadway, Suite 801, New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 1992, 2020 Dorling Kindersley Limited
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mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written
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Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
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ISBN 978-1-4654-9097-1
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4

How to Use This Atlas

5
6

Animal Groups
Animal Habitats

8

The Arctic

north america

10

Fo r e s t s , L a k e s ,
a n d Pr a i r i e s

1 2 The Rockies
1 4 We s t e r n D e s e r t s
1 6 The Everglades
1 8 Central America
south america

2 0 The Galápagos
2 2 The Andes

24

Amazon Rainforest

26

T h e Pa m p a s

europe

4 6 The Himalayas
4 8 T h e Fa r E a s t
5 0 Southeastern Asia
and India

2 8 C o n i f e r Fo r e s t s
3 0 Wo o d l a n d s
3 2 Southern Europe
africa

34
36

The Sahara

Rainforests and Lakes

38
40

The Savannah
Madagascar

asia

42
44

Siberia

Deserts and Steppe

australasia

52
54

The Outback

R a i n f o r e s t s a n d Wo o d s

56

The Barrier Reef

5 7 Ta s m a n i a
5 8 New Zealand
5 9 Antarctica
6 0 Amazing Animals
6 2 Animals in Danger
6 4 Index

How to Use This Atlas
Each double-page spread in this atlas covers a
particular type of habitat (the place where an animal
lives). For example, the spread shown below is about
European conifer forests. Habitats are arranged by
continent, and there is a section in the book for each of

Where on Earth?

Wild cat
(Felis silvestris)

This globe shows you where
in the world the habitat
featured on the spread is
situated and its rough extent.
On this page, for example, the
red color shows the area
covered by the European
conifer forests.

the continents—North America, South America, Europe,
Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Antarctica. The heading
at the top of each page tells you which section you are in.
Below you can see what the maps and symbols on each
spread show, and what the abbreviations stand for.

Latin names

How big?

Length: up to
1.6 in (4 cm)

Scientists have given each species of animal a Latin
name, so that people all over the world can use the same name, no
matter what language they speak. An animal's Latin name is divided
into two parts. The first part is a group name given to a number of
similar animals. For example, Felis is the group name given to all
small cats. The second part of the name identifies the particular
species of animal and often describes one of its specific characteristics.
The full name for the wild cat shown here is Felis silvestris,
which means “cat of the woods.”

Labels next to
each animal give the animal's vital
statistics: its height, length, or
wingspan. Like people, animals
of the same species vary in size,
so the measurement can only be
approximate. Individual animals may
be bigger or smaller than this size.

EUROPE

EUROPE

Conifer Forests

Eaten alive

The female giant ichneumon lays
her eggs next to the larvae of wood
wasps, which the young grubs feed
on when they hatch. Because wasp
larvae tunnel deep inside tree trunks,
the ichneumon drills through the
wood with an egg-laying tube,
which is 1.5 in (4 cm) long.

Fish snatcher

The osprey feeds on fish
that it snatches from
lakes. It has long, sharp
claws and horny spines
under its toes, which
enable it to grip a
slippery fish. An adult
osprey can carry a fish
weighing up to 4.5 lbs
(2 kg). In the fall, the
osprey migrates to Africa,
where the weather is
warmer and there are
plenty of fish for it to eat.

A thick band of dense evergreen
forest stretches across the northern
parts of Europe, covering large areas of
Scotland and Scandinavia. There are
smaller evergreen forests farther south,
such as the Black Forest in Germany and
the Ardennes in Belgium. The most common trees in
these forests are conifers (trees that have cones), such as
pines, spruces, and firs. In recent years, acid rain, which
is especially harmful to trees with needlelike leaves, has
damaged many European conifer forests.
Animals that live in these forests
have to survive in a severe climate.
The winters are bitterly cold, but
most conifer trees keep their
leaves year round and provide
some shelter. Some forest animals, such
as the stoat, grow white coats in the winter
so that they are camouflaged against the snow.
Other animals, such as the wood ant, hibernate
during the winter, while some birds, such as the
osprey, migrate south to warmer places.

Antler fights

In the fall mating season,
called the rut, the male red
deer fights rival males with
his antlers to win females for
mating. He sheds his antlers
each spring. New ones grow
in time for the next mating
season.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Length: up to 2 ft 1 in (64 cm)
Wingspan: up to 5 ft 9 in (1.7 m)

Smelly protection

Long ears

The brown long-eared bat's huge ears are
three-quarters the length of its body. They
are so big that a young bat cannot hold
its ears up straight until it is old enough
to fly. The bat feeds on moths, midges,
and flies. During the cold winter
months, it hibernates in a cave.

Western
capercaillie
(Tetrao urogallus)
Length: up to
3 ft 9 in (1.15 m)

Dancing display

In spring, the male capercaillie puts on a display
to attract females. He fans out his tail, points his
neck upward, and makes odd gurgling sounds.
He may even jump and clap his wings. Displaying
capercaillies are very aggressive and will threaten
deer, sheep, or even humans who disturb them.

Flying acrobat

Western red deer
(Cervus elaphus)
Height at shoulder: up to 4 ft 3 in (1.3 m)
Body length: up to 8 ft 9 in (2 m)

If it is threatened, the polecat
produces a foul-smelling liquid
from glands under its tail. The
polecat also uses this scent to
mark its territory. Polecats do
not hibernate, and hunt for
small mammals all year round.

Northern
long-eared owl
(Asio otus)
Length: up to 16 in (40 cm)
Wingspan: up to
3 ft 3 in (1 m)

Giant ichneumon (Rhyssa persuasoria)
Length: up to 1.6 in (4 cm)

The pine marten is an acrobatic
and swift nighttime hunter. It
has strong legs, broad pads,
and long claws that help it
climb, and its bushy tail helps
it balance. It eats many
things, from small birds to
rats, beetles, and fruit. It
hunts on the ground and
in the trees.

European pine marten
(Martes martes)
Body length: up to 23 in (58 cm)

I

A

Polecat (Mustela putorius)
Body: up to
18 in (46 cm)

Red crossbill
(Loxia curvirostra)
Length: up to 7.8 in
(20 cm)

V

A
N

I
D
WESTERN
CAPERCAILLIE

The crossbill uses its
crossed beak to tear open
pine cones, so it can lick out
the seeds. Adult crossbills
regurgitate partly digested
seeds to feed their young.
Every few years, crossbills move
out of their normal breeding areas
and invade other parts of Europe.
If conditions are good, they may
settle in the new area for one or
more seasons.

mm

millimeter

sq mile square mile

cm

centimeter

kph

in

inch

kilometers
per hour

m

meter

mph

miles per hour

ft

foot

kg

kilogram

km

kilometer

lb

pound

sq km

square
kilometer

˚C

centigrade

˚F

fahrenheit

Scale

You can use this
scale to figure
out the size of the
area shown on
the map. The maps
in the book have
been drawn to
different scales.

Lake
Onega

NORTHERN
LONG-EARED OWL

WOOD ANT

B R I T I S H
I S L E S

B A LT I C

GIANT
ICHNEUMON

The many lakes in the northern
European forests provide animals
with places to drink.

SEA

BROWN
LONG-EARED BAT

POLECAT
W
KILOMETERS

0
0

100

MILES

200

100

300

400

ENGL

N

ISH CHANNEL

200

Animal symbols

The animal symbols
on the map show
the main area where the
animals can be found,
but some animals are
widely distributed over
the whole region. There
is one symbol for each
of the animals illustrated
on the spread.

Map

BLACK
FOREST

O
E

ARDENNES
FOREST
WESTERN
RED DEER

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE BOOK

RED
CROSSBILL

Lake
Ladoga

Crossed beak

28

4

N O R T H
S E A

Danu

R
U

T

H
de

O

The wild cat is closely related to the
domestic cat, but it is slightly bigger
and has a thicker tail with black rings
on it. The wild cat hunts at night for
small mammals, birds, and insects. The
forests provide it with cover for hunting.

EUROPEAN
PINE MARTEN

OSPREY

N
WILD CAT

Wild cat (Felis silvestris)
Body length: up to 2 ft 5 in (74 cm)
Tail: up to 14.5 in (37 cm)

Stripey tail

Winters in the forests are bitterly
cold, with snow covering the
ground for up to half the year.

A

Brown long-eared bat
(Plecotus auritus)
Wingspan: up to 11 in (28 cm)

The “ears” of the northern
long-eared owl are only
tufts of feathers—its ear
openings are on the sides of
its head. It hunts at night
using its sharp eyesight and
good hearing to find small
mammals on the floor.

C

Wood ants build huge nests
on the forest floor from
pine needles and other
plant material. Nests keep the
ants warm in winter, when they hibernate
in the soil beneath the mound. When
threatened, a wood ant sprays its enemy
with a stinging liquid called formic acid
from glands on its abdomen.

False ears

Wood ant (Formica
rufa) Length: up to
0.35 in (0.9 cm)

S

Underground city

R

r

O

is

la

E

R

P

E

N

be

The map shows the area of the
habitat featured on the spread
and surrounding regions. On
these pages, for example, the map
shows a large part of Europe,
covering the conifer forests and
the areas around them. The map
also shows major geographic
features in the region, and where
the animals live. You can see the
shape and position of the forests
themselves on the globe in the
top-left corner of the page.

Many European conifer forests have
been planted by people and are
harvested for their timber.

29

Photos

The photographs
around the map
show you what the
habitat looks like
and what sort of
vegetation can be
found there.

Animal Groups
About a million different kinds of animals have been
discovered and described so far, but there are probably
three or four times as many that people have never studied
or named. Animals have several features in common.

They move, breathe, feed, grow, have young, and respond
to changes in their surroundings. To make animals easier to
study, biologists divide them into a number of groups. The
main groups are shown below.

Invertebrates

Fish

Invertebrates (animals without
backbones) were the first animals
to evolve on Earth, between 600 and
1,000 million years ago. Hundreds
of thousands of species are alive
today, and they far outnumber the
vertebrates (animals with backbones).
Invertebrates come in many different
shapes and sizes, including corals,
jellyfish, insects, snails, spiders, crabs,
centipedes, and worms.

Fish were the first group of vertebrates
to evolve from invertebrates about 500
million years ago. There are more than
30,000 species alive today—about the
same as all the mammals, birds,
reptiles, and amphibians put
together. Examples include
butterflyfish and sharks.

Characteristics of fish:

Monarch butterfly

Characteristic
of invertebrates:

• do not have a backbone
Desert
tarantula

Amphibians

Japanese giant
salamander

• tadpoles breathe through gills at first;
adults breathe through lungs

Green toad

Birds

Kiwi

Characteristics of reptiles:

• cannot maintain a constant body
temperature; may sleep through very
hot or very cold weather
• have dry, scaly skin, sometimes
with bony plates for protection
• most live and breed on land
• breathe with lungs

Western
diamondback
rattlesnake

Mammals evolved from reptiles about
200 million years ago, during the age
of the dinosaurs. There are nearly
6,000 species alive today, including
kangaroos, rats, cats, elephants, whales,
bats, monkeys, and humans.

Characteristics of mammals:

• mother feeds her young on milk
• bodies are covered with fur or hair
• can maintain a constant body
temperature and have sweat glands

• birds are the only living animals
with feathers

of their bodies

Collared lizard

Mammals

Characteristics of birds:

• breathe with lungs
• can maintain a constant body temperature
• lay eggs with hard, waterproof shells;
usually incubate eggs with the heat

Blue shark

Reptiles evolved from
amphibians about 300
million years ago. More
than 10,000 species are alive
today, including lizards,
snakes, tortoises, turtles, and
crocodiles. The dinosaurs were
also reptiles.

Characteristics of amphibians:

Birds evolved from reptiles
about 140 million years
ago. There are more than
10,000 species alive today,
including parrots, eagles, penguins, kiwis,
owls, and storks. Most birds can fly. They
are adapted for flight by having wings
instead of front legs, a light skeleton with
hollow bones, and a covering of feathers.

• have fins to help them swim
• bodies are usually covered
with scales
Reptiles

Amphibians evolved from fishes more
than 350 million years ago. There are
more than 7,000 species alive today,
including frogs, toads, and salamanders.

• adults live mainly on land, but breed in water
• cannot maintain a constant body temperature
• skin is usually soft with no scales
• life cycle is usually in three stages: egg,
larva (or tadpole), and adult

Butterflyfish

• adapted to live in water
• absorb oxygen from the water
through gills; a few have lungs as well

Scarlet
macaw

Siberian tiger

to cool their bodies
• intelligent, with large brains
• breathe with lungs

Kangaroo rat

5

Animal Habitats
Animals live all over the world, from the frozen
Arctic to hot deserts. The place where an animal lives is
called its habitat. Many species can live together in the
same habitat because they eat different kinds of food or
make their homes in different places. The animal life in
any habitat is a finely balanced mixture of species, and
this balance can easily be disturbed.
The map on these two pages shows the main types of
habitats around the world. Animals have adapted to live
in each of these habitats by developing characteristics
that help them survive. Similar
types of habitats can be found
in different parts of the
world, and the animals
that live there have

adapted in similar ways. For instance, the kit fox that lives
in the North American deserts looks very similar to the
fennec fox that lives in the Sahara Desert.
Physical barriers, such as mountains and seas, prevent
many animals from moving freely from one place to
another. Some, however, can fly or swim, so they spread
over large areas. Tortoises, for example, can swim or float
great distances across the sea.

N O R T H
A M E R I C A
Deciduous woods once spread
across large areas of North
America and Europe, but many
of them have now been cut down.

Polar and tundra
The low temperatures, biting winds, and long,
dark winters make the Arctic and Antarctic
very harsh environments for animals. Yet
many animals do survive there, especially in
the seas or on the frozen lands around the
Arctic, called the tundra. In the brief summer
period, many animals migrate to the Arctic
to breed and raise their young.
Find out more: pages 8–9, 42–43, 59.

Coniferous forests

The Everglades in Florida is
a vast marshland area covered
with sawgrass.

P A C I F I C
O C E A N

Grasslands

The largest forests in the world stretch
across the top of North America,
Europe, and Asia. They are called the
taiga. The trees are mostly conifers,
such as fir and spruce, with needlelike
leaves that stay on the trees year
round. These forests provide food and
shelter for many animals, especially
during the cold winter months.

Grasslands grow in places where it is too
dry for large areas of trees. The roots of
the grasses bind the soil together and
provide food for huge herds of grazing
animals. There is tropical grassland,
called savannah, in Africa, while
the North American prairies, South
American pampas, and Asian steppe
are examples of cooler grasslands.

Find out more: pages 10–11,
28–29, 42–43.

Find out more: pages 10–11,
26–27, 38–39, 44–45.

Deciduous woodlands
Deciduous woodlands are found
south of the conifer forests, where the
climate is mild and rainfall is plentiful
throughout the year. The trees are
mostly broadleaved species, such as
oak and beech, which drop their leaves
in the fall and rest over the cooler
winter months.
Find out more: pages 10–11, 30–31.

A T L A N T I C
O C E A N

S OUTH
A MER IC A

Scrubland

The pampas is a huge area of grassland in South America. Much of it is
used by farmers for grazing cattle.

Dusty, dry land dotted with tough
shrubs and small trees is found around
the Mediterranean Sea, in Australia,
and in California in the United States.
Most rain falls in the winter months,
and animals that live in these regions
adapt to survive the dry, hot summers.
Find out more: pages 32–33.

A
6

Small, scrubby bushes are among
the few plants that survive in the
dry regions around the
Mediterranean Sea.

N

T

A

R

Deserts

Rainforests

Marshes and swamp

It hardly ever rains in the deserts,
so the animals that live there have
to survive without drinking for long
periods or get all the water they need
from their food. They also have
to cope with boiling-hot days and
freezing-cold nights. Many animals
come out only at dawn and dusk
when it is cooler and more humid.

Rainforests grow near the equator,
where the weather is warm and
humid year round. Most of the trees
are evergreen with broad leaves.
Rainforests contain the richest variety
of wildlife to be found anywhere on
Earth. More than 50 percent of all the
different kinds of plants and animals
in the world live in the rainforests.

Find out more: pages 14–15,
34–35, 44–45, 52–53.

Find out more: pages 24–25,
36–37, 54–55.

Marshy, waterlogged places develop
near lakes and rivers and along
coasts. One of the largest marshland
areas is the Everglades in Florida.
Mangrove swamps often fringe the
coasts in tropical areas. Both these
habitats are rich in food supplies
and places to breed, and provide
homes for a wide variety of animals,
especially birds and insects.
Find out more: pages 16–17.

Mountains
Mountains are found in both warm
and cold regions of the world. They
provide a wide range of habitats for
wildlife, from forests on the lower
slopes to grassland and tundra farther
up. The higher up you go, the colder
it becomes. Above a certain height—
called the tree line—the temperature
is too low for trees to survive. Even
higher up is the snow line. Above this
it is so cold that the ground is always
covered in snow and ice. The climate
in mountainous regions can be
severe, with low temperatures, fierce
winds, and low rainfall. Mountain
animals also have to cope with steep,
slippery slopes.
Find out more: pages 12–13,
22–23, 46–47.

A huge area of coniferous trees—
the largest forest in the world—
stretches across northern Asia.

EU R O PE
M E D I T

A
E

R

R A
N E
A N

S

I

A

S E A

The biggest coral reef on Earth is
the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast
of northeastern Australia.

A F R I C A

P A C I F I C
O C E A N
Mount Kilimanjaro in
Africa lies almost on
the equator, but it is
so high that its peak
is covered in snow.

I N D I A N
O C E A N

Rainforests are packed with dense
jungle vegetation and are home to
a wide variety of animals.

A U S T R A L A S I A

The central part of Australia—called
the outback—consists of dry, rocky
deserts where few plants can grow.

Antarctica is the coldest and most
isolated continent on Earth. A thick
ice cap covers most of the land.

C

T

I

C

A

Coral reefs
Coral reefs are made of the skeletons of
tiny creatures called corals. Over millions
of years they build up on top of one
another to form a reef. Reefs develop
only in warm, shallow, salty water. A
huge variety of fish, corals, sponges,
and other animals lives on a reef.
Find out more: page 56.

7

THE ARCTIC

The Arctic

Food store

During the summer the Arctic fox
stores food, such as dead birds, under
rocks. Thanks to the cold climate,
this food keeps as well as it would in
a refrigerator. The fox eats it in the
winter months, when fresh food is
hard to find. The fox's thick fur coat
helps it survive in temperatures
as low as –58°F (–50°C).

The arctic consists of the northernmost parts of
North America, Europe, and Asia, which is tundra
(frozen land), and a huge area of frozen ocean
around the North Pole. It is one of the coldest
places on Earth. The temperature rarely rises
above 50°F (10°C), and in the winter it
often drops to –40°F (–40°C). During the brief summer
period, it is light for 24 hours a day. Light and warmth
encourage the growth of tiny sea animals and plants called
plankton, which are eaten by fish, seals, and birds. On land,
flowers bloom, providing food for millions of insects. Many
birds migrate to the Arctic to breed and raise their young.
When the winter sets in again, these birds return
to warmer climates.

Polar bear
(Ursus maritimus)
Height at shoulder: up to 4 ft 11 in (1.5 m)
Body length: up to 9 ft 7 in (2.9 m)

Arctic fox
(Alopex lagopus)
Body length: up to
2 ft 5 in (75 cm)
Tail: up to 16.7 in
(42.5 cm )

Wonderful
whiskers

The bearded seal lives
in the seas around the
edge of the ice cap. It has
long, sensitive whiskers, which
it uses to feel for shellfish on the
sea bed. In spring, the female hauls
herself onto the ice to give birth.

Bearded seal
(Erignathus barbatus)
Length: up to 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)

Reindeer warble-fly
(Hypoderma tarandi)
Length: up to 0.7 in
(1.8 cm)

Hooded seal
(Cystophora cristata)
Length: up to
8 ft 10 in (2.7 m)

Fearsome fly

The reindeer warble-fly lays
its eggs in the fur of caribou and
reindeer, which migrate to the Arctic
in summer. When the eggs hatch, the
grubs burrow through the skin and
live in the deer's flesh. The grubs later
fall off and grow into adults.

Balloon nose

Lethal paws

The polar bear is a huge
animal and can weigh as
much as 10 adult people. It
feeds mainly on seals, and
often catches them at holes in
the ice when they come up for
air. One swipe from the bear's
massive paws can kill a seal,
and its claws then grab and
hold onto its prey.

Longest hair

The musk ox
has the longest
coat of almost any
mammal. Some hairs in
its outer coat are nearly 3 ft
3 in (1 m) long. If a group of
musk oxen are attacked, they
form a tight circle and defend
themselves with their sharp
horns, while the young stand
in the middle for protection.

Narwhal
(Monodon monoceros)
Body length: up to 16 ft 9 in (5 m)
Tusk: up to 9 ft 10 in (3 m)

8

The male hooded seal has a
strange balloonlike structure
on the end of his nose. In the
breeding season, he blows air
into this structure, which can
become 12 in (30 cm) long.
The air amplifies the loud calls
he makes to warn off other
males. The hooded seal spends
most of its life at sea, searching
for fish and squid. It only
comes out onto the ice to
mate, breed, and molt.
Musk ox
(Ovibos moschatus)
Height at shoulder: up to 5 ft (1.5 m)

Arctic unicorn

The narwhal is a mammal related to whales and
dolphins. It has only two teeth. One of the male's
teeth grows into a long, spiraling tusk, which sticks out
through a hole in his top lip. The tusks are used to
display dominance, and males have been seen fighting
one another with their tusks.

THE ARCTIC

Champion migrator

Sea canary

The Arctic tern raises its chicks in the Arctic during the brief
summer period. Then it flies 8,000 miles (13,000 km) to
Antarctica to take advantage of the summer months there
when plenty of food is available. This is the longest
migration route of any bird. An
Arctic tern can live for 30
years or more, so it
may travel more
than 500,000 miles
(800,000 km)
Beluga whale
(Delphinapterus leucas)
in its lifetime.

Beluga or white whales communicate with each other using a
variety of songs, leading 19th-century sailors to know them as
“sea canaries.” They also make clicking noises that bounce off
objects around them and help them find their way around.
In winter, beluga whales gather together
in huge herds and migrate south.

Length: up to 14 ft 9 in (4.5 m)

Arctic tern
(Sterna paradisaea)
Length: up to 14 in
(36 cm)

M

MUSK OX

T

B E
A

C

R

BELUGA WHALE

C

I R
C

REINDEER
WARBLE-FLY

C

A

O

S E A

R

I

U

R T
F O

A

T

H

A

R

E

A
I C

N

L E

BANK
ISLAND

S
Lena

COMMON EIDER

POLAR BEAR

Olenëk

I

Mountain hare
(Lepus timidus)
Body length: up to
1 ft 10 in (55 cm)
Tail: up to 2.5 in
(6.5 cm)

LAPTEV
SEA

Few animals live on the frozen
polar ice cap, as there are no
plants or insects to provide food.

ELLESMERE
ISLAND

• NORTH POLE

O C E A N

FF

IN

IS

LA

ND

ARCTIC FOX

ARCTIC
TERN

A

A R C T I C

MOUNTAIN
HARE

BEARDED SEAL

BA

D

NARWHAL

N

WALRUS

E E
R
G

Changing color

The Mountain hare can change
the color of its coat to match its
surroundings. In the winter, its
fur is white and gray. This makes
it hard to see against the snow.
In spring, when the snow melts,
the hare sheds its white fur and
grows a brown coat.

N

L

A

HOODED SEAL

A T L A N T I C

KILOMETERS

0

Common eider
(Somateria mollissima)
Length: up to 2 ft 4 in (71 cm)

MILES

Much of the island of Greenland is
covered in flowing rivers of ice,
called glaciers.

ICELAND

O C E A N

0

Areas of the Arctic that are not
permanently covered in ice are
known as tundra, which is frozen
under the surface.

300

600

300

NORWEGIAN
SEA

900
600

Island nests

The common eider duck breeds
among clumps of grass on small
islands in the Arctic Ocean. These
remote nesting sites help protect the
young. The female bird plucks soft down
feathers from her breast and uses them to
line the nest. If the parent birds have to leave
the nest, they pull the down over the eggs.
This keeps the eggs warm and helps hide
them from enemies, such as gulls and foxes.

Walrus
(Odobenus rosmarus)
Length: up to
11 ft 5 in (3.5 m)
Tusks: up to
39 in (100 cm)

Digging teeth

The walrus has long tusks, which it uses to dig
up shellfish and other small animals from the
sea bed. Walruses live in large groups and spend
much of the day sleeping. In the breeding
season, walruses gather together and males
compete against each other to win mates.

9

NORTH AMERICA

Forests, Lakes, and Prairies
The evergreen forests of Canada consist of dense areas of
spruce, pine, and fir trees. These forests are marshy underfoot,
with many lakes. Farther south, forests of oak, hickory, and
chestnut trees once spread across the eastern part of North
America, but today, vast areas have been destroyed for lumber
or farming. Some forest animals, such as the raccoon and
the opossum, have adapted to this new environment, but many have
declined in number or retreated to the hills. The prairies once formed a
huge sea of grass. Millions of bison and pronghorn antelope once grazed
there, but they were almost wiped out by hunters in the 19th century.
Sage grouse
(Centrocercus urophasianus)
Length: up to 30 in (76 cm)

Big cheeks

The least chipmunk has large
cheek pouches, which it uses
to carry food back to its
underground burrow.
Inside the burrow are
chambers used for
storing food, living,
and nesting. During
winter, the chipmunk
hibernates in its home.

Raccoon
(Procyon lotor)
Body length:
up to 2 ft (62 cm)
Tail: up to 14 in (36 cm)

Trash raider

The raccoon has long, sensitive
fingers that it uses to search for
food. It often comes into cities
and raids trash cans for leftover
food scraps. The raccoon's thick
fur coat keeps it warm during
cold winter months.

Least chipmunk
(Tamias minimus)
Body length: up to 4.5 in (11.4 cm)
Tail: up to 3.3 in (8.5 cm)

Pest control

Sage smells

The sage grouse feeds on the leaves of the
sagebrush plant. Eventually its flesh takes
on a strong sage flavor. During the spring,
the male puts on a special display to win a
mate. He puffs out his chest feathers,
opens and closes his tail, and inflates the
air sacs on his neck, which make loud
booming, popping noises.

Two-spotted ladybug
(Adalia bipunctata)
Length: up to 0.25 in (6 mm)

The two-spotted ladybug is common
throughout North America and can be
found in forests, fields, and gardens.
It feeds on small insects and helps
keep down the number of
pests in gardens and fields.
The ladybug's hard, red
wing cases protect its
soft wings and body
underneath.

ko
Yu

n
BALD EAGLE

MOOSE

R

O

C

Moose (Alces alces)
Height at shoulder: up
to 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)
Length: up to 10 ft 4 in
(3.2 m)

K

P
A

The forest lakes are home to
many water birds, including
gulls, ducks, and swans.

C

The moose is the largest deer in the
world. In the fall, a male may
weigh more than 1,000 lbs (450 kg).
The moose's broad hooves and long legs
help it travel through deep snow, bogs,
or lakes...