5 Animals Battling Climate Change

Polar Bear

Where it lives

Canada, Greenland, Russia, Norway, and Alaska, The U.S.A.

Why it is threatened

Due to shrinking amounts of sea ice in the Arctic, polar bears are losing their habitat - and changing sea temperatures are reducing the prey that polar bears rely on for food. 

Adelie Penguin

Where it lives

Antarctica

Why it is threatened

By 2099, 58 per cent of the habitat where Adelie penguins lay their eggs could be too warm and too wet to host colonies. 

American Pika

Where it lives

Mountaintops of the western U.S. and southwestern Canada.

Why it is threatened

Rising temperatures are causing changes in vegetation in the pika's range, making it difficult for the animal to find food. 

Orange-Spotted Filefish

Where it lives

Indo-Pacific coral reefs.

Why it threatened

Not only are coral reefs - the fish's habitat - in decline, but filefish are especially sensitive to warmer waters. 

Gila Monster

Where it lives

Southwestern U.S., northwest Mexico.

Whey it is threatened 

Hotter, drier conditions in the deserts mean this colourful lizard is not getting enough water to survive, causing a decline in its numbers. 

DINO Classification

Classifying dinosaurs and all other living things can be a complicated matter, so scientists have devised a system to help with the process. Dinosaurs are put into groups based on a very large range of characteristics. 

Scientists put dinosaurs into two major groups:

• The bird-hipped ornithischians and
• The reptile-hipped saurischians. 

Bird-hipped (pubis bone in hips points backwards)

Ornithischians have the same-shaped pubis as birds of today, but today's birds are actually more closely related to the saurischians. 

Example: Styracosaurus

Reptile-hipped (pubis bone in hips points forward)

Saurischians are further divided into two groups: the meat-eating Theropoda and the plant-eating Sauropodomorpha. 

Example: Tyrannosaurus rex

Within these two main divisions, dinosaurs are then separated into order and then families, such as Stegosauria. Like other members of the Stegosauria, Stegosaurus had spines and plates along the back, neck, and tail.

Powerful But Gentle

Despite its fearsome appearance, the gharial (or gavial) - a crocodile found in the Indus River and in Indian Subcontinent - lives mainly on fish. Gharials are among the largest members of the crocodile family and have hardly changed in 200 million years. A male can weigh 200 kg and be 21 ft (6.4 m) long from its panhandle snout to its thick, scaly tail.

The gharial is found in clear, fast-flowing water. To catch fish, it snaps with its long, slender jaws (which are easier to clap together underwater than are broad jaws) and seizes small fish with its sharp teeth. Like many other crocodiles, gharials were hunted for their skins; this, along with habitat loss, brought them almost to extinction. Now they are an endangered species. 

Cheetahs - Built For Speed

Breathing deeply, the cheetah prepares her body for the chase. Head low, eyes focused on an impala, she slowly inches forward. In three seconds this streamlined, superfast cat is sprinting at 60 miles an hour (96 km/h), eyes locked, laserlike, on the fleeing impala.

The legendry Jamaican runner Usain Bolt is the world's fastest human. Bolt ran 200 meters in 19.19 seconds, about 23 miles an hour (37 km/h), but that's slow compared with the cheetah. Cheetahs can run about three times faster than Bolt. At top speed, a sprinting cheetah can reach 70 miles an hour (113 km/h). Next time you're in a car on the highway, imagine a cheetah racing alongside you. That will give you an idea of how fast this speedy cat can run. Several adaptations help cheetahs run so fast. A cheetah has longer legs than other cats. It also has a long extremely flexible spine. These features work together so a running cheetah can cover up to 23 feet (7 m) in one stride - about the length of five ten-year-olds lying head to feet in a row.

Most other cats run retract their claws when they're not using them. Cheetahs' claws stick out all the time, like dog's claws. Cheetahs use these strong, blunt claws like an athlete uses cleats on track shoes - to help push off and quickly build up speed. The large centre pad on the cheetah's foot is covered with long ridges that act like the treads on a car tire. A sprinting cheetah needs to be able to stop fast, too. It is able to spread its toes wide, and its toe pads are hard and pointed. This helps a cheetah turn quickly and brake suddenly. It can stop in a single stride from a speed of more than 20 miles an hour (32 km/h).

All of these body adaptations add up to extraordinary hunting abilities. A cheetah stalks up close to a herd of impalas, then streaks forward with lightning speed. As the herd bolts, the cat singles out one individual and follows its twists and turns precisely. As it closes in on its prey the cheetah strikes out with a forepaw, knocks the animal off its feet, and clamps its jaws over the prey's throat.

The dangerous birth of a humpback whale

Humpback whales, unlike highly sociable sperm whales, live in loose and ever-changing groups of about four to ten. However, the stablest and longest-lasting relationships are between a mother and her calf. They keep close to each other for up to a year. 

Usually, a humpback whale gives birth to a single calf, launched tail first. The short umbilical cord breaks as it is pulled taut, and instinctively the newborn calf towards the surface to take its first breath. The mother urges the youngster up, pushing with her snout or one of her flippers. These first seconds are crucial for the calf because until it has filled its lungs with air, its body is heavier than water and it is in danger of sinking and drowning.