What are the animals that start with letter A? Information, pictures and the list of animals that begin with the letter A.
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Albatross
The albatrosses, of the Diomedeidae biological family, are large marine birds related to procellarids, petrels and petrels of diving in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenosa). They spread widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show that they once happened there and occasional vagabonds are found. Albatrosses are among the largest of the flying birds, and large albatrosses (genus Diomedea) have the longest span of all existing birds, reaching up to 3.7 meters (12 feet). Albatrosses are generally considered to fall into four genera, but there is disagreement about the number of species.
Alligator
A alligator is a crocodile of the genus Alligatoridae. The two living species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). In addition, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. alligator first appeared during the Paleocene era about 66 million years ago.
The name “alligator” is probably an Anglo-Saxon form of the lizard, the Spanish term for “the lizard”, which the first Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Later English spellings of the name included allagarta and alagarto.
The average weight and length of a US adult alligatoris 360 kg (790 lb) and 4.0 m (13.1 ft), but sometimes grows to 4.4 m (14 ft) in length and weighs more than 450 kg (990 lb). The largest ever recorded, found in Louisiana, measured 5.84 m (19.2 ft). The Chinese alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 2.1 m (6.9 ft) in length. In addition, it weighs considerably less, with men rarely more than 45 kg (99 lb).
Adult alligators are dark brown or dark brown with white bottom, while juveniles have white or yellow markings that contrast with age.
The average life of a alligator was not measured. In 1937, an adult specimen was taken to the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia from Germany. Now he is at least 80 years old. Although there are no valid records on their date of birth, this alligator, officially called Muja, is considered the oldest alligator living in captivity.
Anaconda
Anacondas are a group of large snakes of the genus Eunectes. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized.
Although the name is applied to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one particular species, the common or green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), which is the largest snake in the world in weight and the second longest.
Anchovy
An anchovy is a small common saltwater forage fish of the Engraulidae family.
The 144 species are placed in 17 genera; They are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Anchovies are generally classified as blue fish.
Anchovies are found in scattered areas along the world’s oceans, but are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very hot seas. They generally accept a wide range of temperatures and salinity. Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, such as in estuaries and bays. European anchovy is abundant in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Alboran Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea.
This species is regularly caught along the coasts of Crete, Greece, Sicily, Italy, France, Turkey and Spain. They are also found on the coast of North Africa. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe towards the south of Norway. Spawning occurs between October and March, but not in cooler waters than 12 ° C (54 ° F). The anchoveta seems to breed at least 100 km (62 mi) from the shore, near the surface of the water.
Annelid
The annelids (Annelida, from the Latin anellus, “small ring”), also known as ringed worms or segmented worms, are a great phylum, with more than 17,000 existing species, including fox worms, worms and leeches. The species exist and have adapted to diverse ecologies, some in marine environments as different as tidal zones and hydrothermal vents, others in fresh water and others in humid terrestrial environments.
The annelids are bilateral symmetric, triploblastic, celomatosous and invertebrate organisms. They also have parapodia for locomotion. Most textbooks still use the traditional division into polychaetes (almost all marine), oligochaetes (which include earthworms) and species resembling leeches. The cladistic research since 1997 has radically changed this scheme, seeing the leeches as a subgroup of oligochaetes and oligochaetes as a subgroup of polychaetes. In addition, Pogonophora, Echiura and Sipuncula, formerly considered as separate phyla, are now considered to be subgroups of polychaetes. The annelids are considered members of the Lophotrochozoa, a “super-phylum” of protostomes that also includes molluscs, brachiopods, flatworms and nemerteans.
Ant
The ants are eusocial insects of the Formicidae family and, together with the wasps and related bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. The ants evolved from ancestors similar to wasps in the Cretaceous period, about 99 million years ago, and diversified after the emergence of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their thin waists.
Ants form colonies that vary in size from a few dozen predatory individuals that live in small natural cavities to highly organized colonies that can occupy large territories and that consist of millions of individuals. The largest colonies consist of several breeds of females without sterile wings, most of which are workers (ergas), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialized groups. Almost all ant colonies also have some fertile males called “drones” (aner) and one or more fertile females called “queens” (gynes). The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants seem to operate as a unified entity, working collectively together to support the colony.
Ants have colonized almost all Earth’s land masses. The only places that lack indigenous ants are Antarctica and some remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in most ecosystems and can form 15-25% of the biomass of terrestrial animals. Its success in so many environments has been attributed to its social organization and its capacity to modify habitats, take advantage of resources and defend itself. Its long coevolution with other species has given rise to mimetic, commensal, parasitic and mutualistic relationships.
Anteater
Anteater is a common name for the four existing mammal species of the Vermilingua suborder (meaning “worm tongue”) commonly known to eat ants and termites. Individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with the sloths, they are within the Pilose order. The name “anteater” also applies colloquially to the unrelated anteater, numbat, echidnas, pangolins and some members of the Oecobiidae.
The existing species are the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla, approximately 1.8 m (5 feet 11 in) long, including the tail; the silky anteater Cyclopes didactylus, about 35 cm (14 in) long; the southern tamandua or the Tamandua tetradactyla anteater, approximately 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) long; and Tamandua Tamandua norteña mexicana of similar dimensions.
Antelope
An antelope is a member of a number of species of ungulate toes, indigenous to various regions of Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a papermaking taxon (miscellaneous group) within the Bovidae family, encompassing those Old World species that are not cattle, sheep, buffaloes, bison or goats; even so, antelopes are generally more deer-like than other bovids. A group of antelopes is called flock.
The 91 species, most of which are native to Africa, are found in about 30 genera. The classification of tribes or subfamilies within Bovidae remains a subject of debate, with several alternative systems proposed.
Armadillo
Armadillos are placental mammals of the New World in the order Cingulata with a leather armor. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the Xenarthra superorder, along with anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo means “little battleship” in Spanish. The Portuguese word for “armadillo” is tatu derived from the Tupi language. Similar names are also found in other languages, especially European ones.
Approximately nine existing genera and 21 existing armadillo species have been described, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands in their armor. Its average length is approximately 75 cm (30 in), including the tail. The giant armadillo grows up to 150 cm (59 in) and weighs up to 54 kg (119 lb), while the pink fairy is a tiny species, with a total length of 13-15 cm (5-6 in). All species are native to the Americas, where they live in a variety of different environments.
Recent genetic research suggests that an extinct group of giant armored mammals, glyptodonts, should be included within the lineage of armadillos, having diverged some 35 million years ago, much more recently than previously assumed.
Atlantic Bonito
The Atlantic bonito, Sarda sarda, is a large fish similar to the mackerel of the Scombridae family. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and hunting fish.
The Atlantic bonito belongs to a group that has the dorsal fins very close or separated by a narrow intermediate space. Its body is completely to scale, with those scales in the area of ​​the pectoral fin and the generally larger lateral line. The bonito (fish of the genus Sarda) differ from the tuna by their compressed bodies, their lack of teeth on the palate and certain differences in color.
The Atlantic bonito shares the waters of the Atlantic with the striped bonito, Sarda orientalis (whose Atlantic population is sometimes considered a separate species, Sarda velox). The pretty striped has been taken on the Atlantic coast to Cape Cod. It is similar in its habits, but somewhat smaller than the most common Atlantic bonito. The Atlantic bonito is distinguished from its relative by the dark oblique strips in the back and with a maxilla of only half as long as the head, while the pretty striped has stripes in its upper part almost horizontal and a maxilla superior to the half the length of the head.
Atlantic Mackerel
Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), also known as Boston mackerel, Norwegian mackerel, Scottish mackerel or simply mackerel, is a species of mackerel found in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, where it is extremely common and occurs on large sandbanks in the pelagic zone up to about 200 m (660 ft). Spend the warmer months near the coast and near the surface of the ocean, appearing along the coast in spring and leaving with the arrival of colder weather in the months of autumn and winter. During the fall and winter, it migrates to deeper waters and further south, in search of warmer temperatures.
The body of the Atlantic mackerel is elongated, blue steel marked with dorsally wavy black lines and ventrally silvery-white, its long, pointed snout. It has two spiny dorsal fins, which are widely separated, two pectoral fins and small caudal and anal fins, also spaced. 4-6 dorsal finlets and 5 anal fins are typical among members of this species. The body of the fish narrows gradually, ending with a large tail fin. The typical size for a mature fish is 30 cm (0.98 ft), but people have been caught as large as 60 cm (2.0 ft). The maximum published weight is 3.4 kg (7.5 lb). Reproduction, which is oviparous, occurs near the shore in spring and summer, during which a female can produce up to 450,000 eggs. Juveniles reach sexual maturity around 2 years of age and can live until they are 17 years old.
A highly commercial species, Atlantic mackerel is sought after for its meat, which is strong in flavor and high in oil content and omega-3 fatty acids among other nutrients. About 1 million tonnes of Atlantic mackerel are caught annually around the world, most of it sold fresh, frozen, smoked or canned. Despite its high commercial level, Atlantic mackerel is listed as of Minor Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the global catch has remained sustainable.
