In wet Carolina pine savannas, leaf traps spread near the soil. Prey supplements nutrients, but photosynthesis still supplies energy. In spring, a long stalk raises white flowers above the low traps.
In an old British pasture, a pink cone rises between the grasses. As its cap spreads, the edge splits above a smooth white stem. A tiny change in the turf becomes a different silhouette.
In a sheltered bay, eggs are buried in sand near the high tide line. The young grow on neighboring tidal flats. Later, the broad shell carries a clue to this species: three fixed spines beside the tail. And the “crab” in its name is a chelicerate, not a true crab.
Eggs on a sandy beach; young growing on the tidal flat beside it.
Tri-spine Horseshoe Crab
Tachypleus tridentatus
IUCN Red List 2018: Endangered (EN)
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Across South American grassland, a narrow snout sweeps near the ground. The anteater keeps its digging claws curled as it walks; at an insect nest, its sticky tongue does the collecting. Later, its shaggy tail can fold over the resting body like a cover.
Those huge foreclaws curl inward as it walks on the edges of its forefeet.
Giant Anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
IUCN Red List 2024: Vulnerable (VU)
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At dawn, the secretarybird leaves its acacia roost for open grass. It walks with wings folded, searching for prey to strike with its legs. By night it returns to the trees, where a pair also builds a broad nest of twigs.
A bird of prey that hunts on foot, striking with its long legs.
Secretarybird
Sagittarius serpentarius
IUCN Red List 2020: Endangered (EN)
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