Page 31 - Mammal (DK Eyewitness)

ROUGH FOR GOOD GRIP New Guinea possum tail
Possums are marsupial tree BUSHY BRUSH
dwellers from Australia and The furry “brush” of
Southeast Asia. This tail of a New Canadian beaver tail the red fox makes an
Guinea possum shows the bare, excellent wraparound
scaly skin on the underside at the RUDDER AND ALARM warmer to keep the
tip. The rough skin gives a better The Canadian beaver’s animal snug during
grip than furry skin. The possum’s flat, scaly tail is used as winter. It was once
tail is prehensile - able to wind a rudder when the thought that foxes
around branches and function as animal swims with its were solitary
a fifth limb (see below). broad, webbed back hunters. Now it
feet. The tail can also is known that
be flapped up and they are social
down to give extra animals, and
thrust in an emergency. use their tails
HANGING AROUND And if the beaver is
The spider monkey has a to give visual
muscular prehensile tail - alarmed, it slaps its signals to
a good safety feature tail down on the others in
for life spent in water surface the family
the trees of with a loud group. The
South American smack to warn tip or tag
rain forests. its companions. may be
dark or
white.
Scaly skin
for good grip
Red fox
tail
Ring-tailed
lemur tail

Large scales
on tail Position of scent
gland ­ this has a
role in social
communication

RAT-TAILED
The black-tailed tree
rat has the unfurry,
scaly tail typical of
rats and mice. The
tail is used as an
aid to balance.
Black-tailed
tree rat tail
White tag Tail has no fur
BLACK TIP
The stoat’s winter white coat (brown in summer) is good
camouflage in the snow. Yet its tail-tip remains black. It is PLATED FOR PROTECTION
now thought that this may confuse predatory birds such as Even the armadillo’s tail is well armored, like the
owls, which will dive at the black tip, rather than the rest of its upper body surfaces (p. 27). The tough,
vulnerable head of the stoat. horny plates develop from hardened skin.
Armadillo tail
SMELLY FLAG
Ring-tailed lemurs are
social mammals, active by Horny plates
day and spending less
time in the trees than
other species in the lemur Horsfield’s flying squirrel tail
group. As they walk on all
fours, their distinctive TAIL FOR FLYING
banded tails are held up in The flying squirrel swoops from tree
the air. When challenging to tree, parachuting on flaps of
other males for a ranking skin on the sides of its
in the group, a lemur body. The flattened tail
wipes its tail over scent acts as a rudder and
glands on its shoulders an air-brake.
and forearms and then
flicks the tail over its Flattened to
head, spreading the help with
scent into the air. steering
THE TAIL OF THE WHALE
The muscular tail is made of two large flaps or flukes.
Banding acts as visual The swimming power comes from the muscles in the
signal to other lemurs back moving the flukes up and down.

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