Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, and can be found in nearly every biome and among various biological interactions .
An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow. Animals can create burrows using a variety of methods. Burrowing animals can be divided into three categories: primary excavators, secondary modifiers and simple occupants. [3] Primary excavators are the animals that originally dig and construct the burrow, and are generally very strong. [4]
For animals that burrow by compressing soil, the work required increases exponentially with body diameter. In amphisbaenians, an ancient group of burrowing lizard-like squamates, specializations include the pennation of the longissimus dorsi, the main muscle associated with burrowing, to increase muscle cross-sectional area.
Many groups of burrowing animals (pink fairy armadillos, tuco-tucos, mole rats, mole crickets, pygmy mole crickets, and mole crabs) have independently developed close physical similarities with moles due to convergent evolution; two of these are so similar to true moles, they are commonly called and thought of as "moles" in common English ...
A fossil burrow of the Palaeocastor beaver.. Burrow fossils are the remains of burrows - holes or tunnels excavated into the ground or seafloor - by animals to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion preserved in the rock record.
They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from 34 to 52 mm (1 + 1 ⁄ 4 to 2 in) long. [3] Weasels feed on small mammals and have from time to time been considered vermin because some species took poultry from farms or rabbits from commercial warrens.
Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million in total. Animals range in size from 8.5 millionths of a metre to 33.6 metres (110 ft) long and have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs .
In the Baltic Sea, the invasive Marenzelleria species of polychaete worms can burrow to 35-50 centimeters which is deeper than native animals, thereby releasing previously sequestered contaminants. [ 38 ] [ 37 ] However, bioturbating animals that live in the sediment ( infauna ) can also reduce the flux of contaminants to the water column by ...