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® Br ca ti anni LEARNING L I B R A R Y Familiar Animals Get to know the animals that live closest to us CHICAGO LONDON NEW DELHI PARIS SEOUL SYDNEY TAIPEI TOKYO PROJECT TEAM Judith West, Editorial Project Manager Christopher Eaton, Editor and Educational Consultant Kathryn Harper, U.K. Editorial Consultant Marilyn L. Barton, Senior Production Coordinator Editors Theodore Pappas Anthony L. Green Mary Rose McCudden Andrea R. Field Michael J. Anderson Colin Murphy Locke Petersheim Indu Ramchandani (Encyclopædia Britannica India) Bhavana Nair (India) Rashi Jain (India) Design and Media Specialists Nancy Donohue Canfield, Design Megan Newton-Abrams, Design Karen Koblik, Photos Joseph Taylor, Illustrations Amy Ning, Illustrations Jerry A. Kraus, Illustrations Michael Nutter, Maps Copy Editors Barbara Whitney Laura R. Gabler Dennis Skord Lisa Braucher, Data Editor Paul Cranmer, Indexer ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA PROJECT SUPPORT TEAM EDITORIAL Linda Berris Robert Curley Brian Duignan Kathleen Kuiper Kenneth Pletcher Jeffrey Wallenfeldt Anita Wolff Charles Cegielski Mark Domke Michael Frassetto James Hennelly Sherman Hollar Michael R. Hynes Sandra Langeneckert Gene O. Larson Michael I. Levy Robert Lewis Tom Michael Janet Moredock DESIGN Steven N. Kapusta Carol A. Gaines Cate Nichols ART Kathy Nakamura Kristine A. Strom Nadia C. Venegas ILLUSTRATION David Alexovich Christine McCabe Thomas Spanos MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT Jeannine Deubel Kimberly L. Cleary Kurt Heintz Quanah Humphreys COPY Sylvia Wallace Jennifer F. Gierat Glenn Jenne Mary Kasprzak Thad King Larry Kowalski Joan Lackowski Dawn McHugh Julian Ronning Chrystal Schmit Sarah Waterman INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/ INDEXING Carmen-Maria Hetrea Edward Paul Moragne Marco Sampaolo Sheila Vasich Mansur G. Abdullah Keith DeWeese Catherine Keich Stephen Seddon EDITORIAL TECHNOLOGIES Steven Bosco Gavin Chiu Bruce Walters Mark Wiechec COMPOSITION TECHNOLOGY Mel Stagner MANUFACTURING Dennis Flaherty Kim Gerber INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Leah Mansoor Isabella Saccà ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, INC. Jacob E. Safra, Chairman of the Board Jorge Aguilar-Cauz, President Michael Ross, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Dale H. Hoiberg, Senior Vice President and Editor Marsha Mackenzie, Managing Editor and Director of Production © 2008 BY ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, INC. Cover photos (front): Dale C. Spartas/Corbis; (back): Royalty-Free/Corbis. Cover insert photos (left): Darrell Gulin/Corbis; (center): D. Robert & Lorri Franz/Corbis; (right): Craig Tuttle/Corbis International Standard Book Number: 978-1-59339-518-6 No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. BRITANNICA LEARNING LIBRARY: FAMILIAR ANIMALS 2008 Britannica.com may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.britannica.com. (Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.) Printed in U.S.A. Familiar Animals I N T R O D U C T I O N Do snakes chew their food? Why are donkeys called “beasts of burden”? What insect might survive a nuclear bomb blast? Are pigs smart? Familiar Animals, you’ll In To help you on your journey, we’ve provided the following guideposts in Familiar Animals: ■ Subject Tabs—The colored box in the upper corner of each right-hand discover answers to these page will quickly tell you the article subject. questions and many more. ■ Search Lights—Try these mini-quizzes before and after you read the Through pictures, articles, article and see how much—and how quickly—you can learn. You can even and fun facts, you’ll encounter amazing animals from around the world. make this a game with a reading partner. (Answers are upside down at the bottom of one of the pages.) ■ Did You Know?—Check out these fun facts about the article subject. With these surprising “factoids,” you can entertain your friends, impress your teachers, and amaze your parents. ■ Picture Captions—Read the captions that go with the photos. They provide useful information about the article subject. ■ Vocabulary—New or difficult words are in bold type. You’ll find them explained in the Glossary at the end of the book. ■ Learn More!—Follow these pointers to related articles in the book. These articles are listed in the Table of Contents and appear on the Subject Tabs. Br ® ca itanni LEARNING L I B R A R Y Have a great trip! © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. A cracker butterfly rests on the leaf of a plant. © George D. Lepp/Corbis © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Familiar Animals TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PEOPLE PLEASERS Ants: Insect Castle Builders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Cats: The Tiger in Your House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Butterflies and Moths: Fly by Day, Fly by Night . . . . 38 Cattle: Most Valuable Creatures on Earth. . . . . . . . . . 8 Cockroaches: Indestructible Insect . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Dogs: The Loyal Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Crickets: The Wing-Singers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Donkeys: Beasts of Burden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Grasshoppers: Garden-Variety Hoppers . . . . . . . . . . 44 Horses: Strong and Graceful Animal Friends . . . . . . 14 Mosquitoes: An Itchy Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Bees: Inside the Hive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Pigs: Smarties with Dirty Faces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 BEASTS OF FIELD AND FOREST Sheep: Follow the Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Bison: Majestic American Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 BIRDS AND BUGS Coyotes: Howling at the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Birds: Birds of a Feather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Lizards: Cousins of the Dinosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Eagles: Riders of the Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Monkeys: Cute Clowns and Big Bullies . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Kingfishers: Laugh, Kookaburra! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Rabbits and Hares: Long Ears and Strong Legs. . . . 56 Owls: The Nighttime Hunters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Raccoons: Masked Bandits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Parrots and Cockatoos: Bright Colors Snakes: Legless Wonders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 and Brilliant Whites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Peacocks: Proud Birds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Insects: The World’s Largest Population . . . . . . . . . 32 Br ® ca itanni LEARNING L I B R A R Y © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. NOW?by a cat, K U O Y DID ever been licked h If you’ve have roug know cats his is because u o y n e th o. T They all d h little tongues. overed wit ts c re a s e u e their tong pockets. The pock d e g groom sharp-ed water and p u k c li help them their fur. © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. CATS T he T iger s e u o H r u o in Y SE A  T GH I RCH LI f a cat lives with you, you have a member of a proud, sometimes fierce family as a pet. A tiger is a cat. So are lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Jaguars, lynx, and pumas are cats too. What’s one thing that house All cats have five toes on their front paws and four on cats have in their back paws. They have long sharp claws. They use their common with lions? claws for climbing trees, catching food, and protecting How are they themselves against other animals. All cats but the cheetah different? can move their claws in and out. All cats purr, making a low, continuous, rattling hum. The purr is a relaxing, selfcomforting sound that can signal a friendly mood. Many cats also meow, though “big cats” (such as lions and tigers) roar. Most cats don’t like to go in water, but they can all swim if they have to. Cats can hear even faraway things. And they can see at night when it’s very dark. They are also among the fastest animals. As a matter of fact, the cheetah can run faster than any other animal, but only for a short distance. Pet cat being cuddled. Though domestic cats are usually fed by their © Jose Luis Pelaez, Inc./Corbis owners, cats naturally get their food by hunting. They’ll eat anything from mice to zebras, depending on how big a cat they are. Some will eat fish, clams, and snails. When house cats play with string and small toys, they’re displaying their ancient family hunting instinct. Cats have existed on the Earth for a very long time. The people of Egypt were the first to keep cats as pets. They gave them milk in gold saucers and made statues of cats. When cats died, they were often buried in special graveyards or even made into mummies! LEARN MORE! READ THESE ARTICLES… BIRDS • DOGS • RABBITS AND HARES The domestic cat (house cat) is one of the most popular house pets. In ancient Thailand, cats lived in kings’ castles. Answer: Both lions and house cats eat meat. They also both purr, have five toes on their front feet, and are very quick. But cats can live in your house. Lions are too big and too wild to be a pet. © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ★ © Craig Lovell/Corbis 7 Most Valua h t r a E on SE A  © Hans Georg Roth/Corbis n Iran they were sacrificed to the gods. In India they are treated as sacred. In the ancient world they were used as money. Almost everywhere they have been used as a source of milk, butter, cheese, and meat. Cattle have, for thousands of years, been humanity’s most valuable animals. The word “cattle” once meant all kinds of domestic animals. Fill in the blanks: The word comes from the Latin word capitale, which means A ________ “wealth” or “property.” The word “cattle” is a male bovine, is used now only for certain bovines, the and a ________ animal group that includes oxen, bison, is a female. and buffalo. A bull is a male bovine, and a cow is a female— though often we say “cow” for both. A calf is the young of either sex. A bovine between 1 and 2 years old is called a “yearling.” The life span of cattle would be about 20 years, but nearly all are sent to slaughter much earlier. Today’s domestic cattle of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia are very much like the cattle that lived in those areas 2,000 years ago. In Europe and America, however, cattle ranchers have produced new types. Cattle today are classified as dairy, beef, or dualpurpose types. Dual-purpose means that they are used for both dairy and beef. (Top) Cows at a livestock market. One popular cow is the Brown Swiss breed. It is (Bottom) Longhorn resting under a tree. classified as a dairy cow in the United States and as a dual-purpose type in other countries. It may be one of the oldest breeds of cattle. A grown Brown Swiss cow weighs about 1,500 pounds. Other popular breeds include the Guernsey, the Jersey, and the Holstein. © Royalty-Free/Corbis LEARN MORE! READ THESE ARTICLES… HORSES • PIGS • SHEEP 8 RCH LI T GH I s e r u t a e r C e l b © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. CATTLE DID YO © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Answer: A bull is a male bovine, and a cow is a female. © Gunter Marx Photography/Corbis ★ Cattle have served many purposes to human beings over the years. Holstein cows such as these can be a source of dairy products. U KNO Cattle a W? nd other bovine a ruminan nimals a ts—anim re als that food up b aft rin to be re er it has been s g their che wa This pro wed and reswa llowed, llowed. cess is k nown as the cud.” “chewin g 9