Category: Mammals
This small species of fox is native to the Arctic region of the Northern Hemisphere. Its dense coat, which is white in winter and brown and in summer serves double duty as insulator and camouflage. The arctic fox is an omnivore that will eat any small creature it can catch, as well as carrion, berries, seaweed, and almost anything else from which it can derive nutrition. Its exceptionally keen hearing enables the arctic fox to hunt small animals burrowing underneath the snow.
The age-defying Brandt’s bat
In most mammals, larger size correlates with longer lifespan, but that is not the case with the Brandt’s bat, who can live up to 41 years and weigh less than 0.28 ounces! These bats resemble larger, longer-lived mammals in that they mature slowly and have fewer offspring – but the size difference is dramatic: a female Bonobo lives for approximately 40 years as well, but she outweighs the Brandt’s bat by a factor of 3,771! Oddly enough, it is suspected that the mutated gene that causes the bat’s dwarfish size is the same one that leads to its long lifespan. Studying animals with unusual longevity like the Brandt’s bat does more than just satisfy our curiosity, it could lead to longer, healthier lifespans for humans and other animals!
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Discover Animals is a web-based educational resource offered by the NAIA
