Page 40 - World of Animals - Issue #41

Top 10 Extreme Animal Survivors

Guanaco

Llama-like masters of mountaineering

Along with llamas and alpacas, guanacos are have broad, two-toed feet, which provide them
GUANACO related to camels. They can therefore survive for with excellent balance.
Lama guanicoe
Class Mammalia long periods without water. In fact, guanacos Oxygen levels are dangerously low in this
living in the Atacama Desert, Chile, rarely drink lofty environment, so the guanaco has adapted
at all, getting all the moisture they need by to make the most of the available air particles.
consuming water absorbent plants such as cacti Its blood is rich in red blood cells, containing
Territory South America and lichens. four-times the number found in human blood.
Diet Plants, lichen and fungi But it’s not just a lack of water that guanacos A single teaspoon of guanaco blood contains
Lifespan 20-25 years have to worry about. These mammals are approximately 68 billion red blood cells, each
Adult weight 90kg (200lb)
Conservation status frequently found in the steep, mountainous packed with haemoglobin that helps to carry
regions of South America, at breathtaking oxygen around the animal’s body.
altitudes reaching up to 4,000 metres (13,100 Life in the mountains can be bitterly cold, so
LEAST CONCERN feet) above sea level. In order to traverse these the guanaco’s shaggy coat is another essential
treacherous cliffs and sheer slopes, guanacos tool, preventing rain from chilling their skin.

6. Cockroach
Nuclear apocalypse? No problem for cockroaches
Tough, adaptable and super resilient, cockroaches are commonly mixed with poison to exterminate roach nests.
among the most impressive survivors of the insect world. An aversion to sweet tastes has since passed through

Tests have shown that these much-maligned bugs are cockroach generations, effectively leading the insects to
capable of surviving powerful radioactive rays, meaning evolve in a matter of years and thus increasing their chances
that in the event of a worldwide nuclear war, cockroaches of survival.
could potentially outlive humans. Perhaps most amazingly of all, cockroaches can live for
Another reason for the cockroach’s hardy reputation is weeks without a head. Cockroaches can continue scuttling

the species’ ability to quickly adjust its instincts in response around long a er being decapitated, breathing through
to environmental factors. For example, some populations spiracles in their bodies. However, without a head they are
of cockroaches have learned to avoid sugary bait, which is unable to eat, so they eventually die of starvation.
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