Page 88 - World of Animals - Issue #28 Magazine

Animal

answers

Send your animal questions to us at: Sea lions can walk on
land using their long
front and rear flippers

questions@animalanswers.co.uk
There are several key

differences between
seals and sea lions
Seal
Hind
fl ippers

Claws/front
fl ippers
Sea lion
Ear fl ap

Hind
fl ippers

Front
fl ippers

What is the difference between seals and sea lions?

Seals and sea lions are members of a group of between the two families is their ears. True seals have their short arms and inflexible tails make them clumsy
mammals known as pinnipeds. There are three families no external ears, just one tiny hole on each side of their out of the water, but beneath the waves they move

within the group: true seals, eared seals and walruses. heads, while eared seals have small ear flaps. gracefully, using their front limbs to steer. Eared seals

True seals include species like the grey, spotted, However, there is a simpler way to tell seals and sea have longer front limbs, and can curl their back flippers

elephant and monk seals, while eared seals are not lions apart; they have completely different body shapes underneath their bodies. They use their front fins to pull
really seals at all, and include sea lions and fur seals. and ways of moving. True seals are much better adapted themselves through the water, and on land, they can

As the name suggests, one of the main differences for swimming than they are for moving around on land; walk on their limbs quite effectively.

Do all animals Snakes cannot blink –
each eye is protected
by a clear scale
have eyelids?
For humans, eyelids are crucial for keeping our eyeballs
clean and moist, but many animals have different solutions.
In the water, eyelids are not always necessary. Fish eyes
are constantly being moistened by their environment, so Insect eyes are made from
they don’t need eyelids. Aquatic mammals like dolphins and layers of cells, and do not
whales can blink, but they do so much less often than us. need to be kept moist
Back on land, reptiles often lack eyelids too. A snake’s
eyes are each covered with a thin, transparent scale,
connected directly to the rest of the skin. These scales are
fixed into position, keeping the eye safe but preventing any

blinking. Some geckos are also unable to blink, and use
their tongues to keep their eyes clear of debris.
Insects have compound eyes that are completely
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different to our own, and do not need to be kept wet to
function properly, so they have no need for eyelids at all.

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