The monster beetle...

The brown and yellow Pachnoda sinuata, a species of beetle from South Africa, feeds on overripe fruit and roses, and has a very interesting shell pattern to ward off predators.

The beetles are thought to exhibit animal mimicry - viewed from behind, the colours and patterns on their shells create a clever illusion of a small monstrous animal with wide eyes and big teeth.

The fact that the shells have evolved to have this resemblance suggests that there is a selective advantage to being able to imitate an animal with teeth, perhaps the birds which prey on Pachnoda sinuata mistake the beetles for a different animal, or perhaps the display is confusing.

A caterpillar that Mimics a Snake

 The Elephant Hawk-Moth Caterpillar, the Larva of the Elephant Hawk-Moth has developed a rather effective survival mechanism.

When startled by a predator the caterpillar withdraws its long trunk-like nose, creating a slightly more bulbous head shape. The large eye-like markings on either side of its head then give the impression of a much more imposing creature to scare off predators. 

This creature bears a resemblance to a snake.

A combination of the snake like eyes and face shape is often enough to ward of predators, which would usually be birds. If the caterpillar is mistaken for a poisonous snake, birds will most likely leave it alone.

It is easy to see how this mechanism of mimicry has a huge selective advantage.

Can you see the resemblance to this snake?

The unique and powerful Weaver Ant...

Weaver Ants are known for their unique and remarkable cooperative nesting behaviour in which workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk.

The first phase in nest construction involves workers surveying potential nesting leaves by pulling on their edges with their mandibles. When a few ants have successfully bent a leaf onto itself or drawn its edge toward another, other workers nearby join the effort. When the distance between two leaves is beyond the reach of a single ant, workers form chains with their bodies by grasping one another's petiole (waist). Once the edges of the leaves are drawn together, other workers retrieve larvae from existing nests using their mandibles. These workers hold and manipulate the larvae in such a way that causes them to excrete silk. The workers then manoeuvre between the leaves in a highly coordinated fashion to bind them together. 

The time required to construct a nest varies depending on leaf type and eventual size, but often a large nest can be built in significantly less than 24 hours! Although weaver ant's nests are strong and impermeable to water, new nests are continually being built by workers in large colonies to replace old dying nests and those damaged by storms. 

Their ability to cooperatively build nests, form chains and carry up to 100 times their own mass clearly explain their ecological success.

Fanged Deer

Tufted Deer (Elaphodus cephalophus) are named for the tuft of reddish hair that grows on their foreheads. Males have tiny antlers that barely poke through this tuft. They’re small for deer standards, only reaching 50-70 cm in height.

What they lack in size they make up for in demeanor. These are solitary animals (although they occasionally travel in pairs) that travel in fixed routes throughout their territory which is fiercely defended by males. A very noticeable feature of these deer are their large, fang-like canines and in males these can get to be up to 2.6 cm long. While other species of deer will use their antlers to defend their territory and win females, the tufted deer uses its canines to fight and defend itself instead.

When feeling threatened, the tufted deer will let out a loud bark before running away in a wild pattern that makes it difficult for a predator to follow it.

The Tallest Antelope of them all...

The Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) is a species of antelope that possesses several useful adaptations. The word "gerenuk" means "giraffe necked" in the Somali language. Their enormously elongated necks and thin, spindly legs help them to reach the branches high up on the trees and eat the leaves and shoots there. This is very useful as there are over 40 species of antelope living in Africa and this adaptation allows the gerenuk to occupy a different niche in ecosystems to other antelope species, reducing competition.

Gerenuks have also adapted to survive predation, using very large ears which can hear from far distances to alert them of stalking predators.

Unfortunately, while their long, thin legs are perfect for giving them an extra boost to reach acacia leaves, they’re also incredibly fragile, and there have been several cases of gerenuks snapping their leg bones while running across the Savannah. It just goes to show how specialisation in one area can leave other aspects of life inherently lacking.

A most Interestingly shaped nose

Star-nosed moles have a very distinctive feature, a circle of 22 pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of their snouts. These are used to identify food by touch, such as worms, insects and crustaceans.

The extremely sensitive star-like structure is covered with roughly 25,000 minute touch receptors known as Eimer's organs. Other mole species also possess Eimer's organs, though they are not as specialized or numerous as in the star-nosed mole. The 22 appendages are extremely sensitive to touch and to electrical impulses and allow the moles to find and identify their invertebrate prey without using sight, they can locate and devour their prey in just 230 milliseconds. his multifunctional 'star' is also used to keep soil and food from entering the nose.

These moles are also able to smell underwater, accomplished by exhaling air bubbles onto objects or scent trails and then inhaling the bubbles to carry scents back through the nose.

Star-nosed moles also have shovel-like feet that are extremely large in comparison to their size. This adaptation allows them to dig their tunnels more quickly and effectively. They can excavate roughly 7 to 8 feet of soil in an hour. The further they travel underground, the more food they're likely to come across. These large feet also help them when it comes to swimming, as they act much like paddles.

Nature's Shock absorber...

The Pileated woodpecker are the largest species of woodpecker found in North America and posses many useful adaptations.

Pileated Woodpeckers have sharp, chisel-shaped beaks and strong neck muscles specially adapted for hammering large holes in trees. The Woodpecker's beak and neck are so strong the bird has been known to split smaller trees in two whilst looking for carpenter ants.

They also have specialised tongues nearly four times as long as their beaks. The tongue itself is sticky and has a barbed end, which allows the Woodpecker to spear its prey and bring it back to its beak without the insect escaping. Beyond its length, the Pileated Woodpecker's tongue is extremely muscular and elastic, allowing it to travel easily through the holes and burrows created by the bird's beak. Their extra-long tongue bone wraps around their entire skull to act like a shock absorber, which is very useful to avoid headaches or damage as the hammer.

While most birds have three toes facing forward and one facing backward, so that they can perch, pileated woodpeckers have two facing forward and two facing backward. This allows them to grip bark more effectively and gives a steady foundation when pecking a hole in a tree. The Pileated Woodpecker also has very stiff tail feathers, which provide the bird with better balance when gripping an object.