The Strangest Things in the World: A Book About Extraordinary Manifestations of Nature - Thomas R. Henry

The only other member of this animal group is the echidna, or spiny ant eater, of the same part of the world. It is, however, an inhabitant of rocky districts where it digs shallow burrows in sand or hides in rock crevices. The back is covered with sharp, backward-directed spines which give it the appearance of a small porcupine. It has a long, tubular snout from which projects the long, slender tongue covered with some sticky substance. With this it laps up ants and other insects.

Like the platypus, it has short, strong legs with large claws with which it burrows with considerable speed. Burrowing, where possible, is its usual method of flight. Its other defense is to roll itself in a ball, when its sharp spines give it considerable protection. “The only way of carrying the creature”, says George Bennett (Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia) “is by one of its hind legs. Its powerful resistance and the sharpness of the spines will soon oblige the captor, attempting to seize it by any other part of the body, to be relinquish his hold.”

INDEX

Abominable Snow Man, [155]
Ants, [6], [31], [36], [62], [71]
Aphroditids, [39]
Asp, [26]
Bats, [121], [124]
Bear, [133]
Beavers, [185]
Bees, [135], [144]
Beetles, [142], [158]
Birds, [27], [34], [43], [54], [55], [62], [70], [77], [81], [89], [96], [97], [102], [110]
Brachiopods, [52]
Bryozoa, [15]
Caterpillars, [150]
Caves, [3], [43], [57]
Centipedes, [126]
Chameleon, [9]
Clams, [111], [113]
Corals, [114]
Crabs, [18], [125]
Crocodile, [176]
Ctenophores, [118]
Dodo, [55]
Dogs, [169]
Duck Hawk, [97]
Dugongs, [172]
Eagle, [103], [162]
Elephant, [93], [117], [120], [194]
Fireflies, [164]
Fish, [13], [33], [72], [89], [99], [143], [148], [156]
Flowers, [31]
Forests, [20], [42], [119]
Frogs, [24], [160], [162], [167], [186]
Gorilla, [194]
Grasshopper, [113], [128], [130], [157]
Guacharo, [43]
Hornbills, [34]
Horned Viper, [26], [162]
Iguanas, [41]
Insects, [26], [139], [181], [184]
Lemmings, [196]
Lizards, [30], [41], [174], [179], [180]
Locusts, [128], [130]
Manatees, [172]
Mantid, [163]
Mermaids, [172]
Millipedes, [123]
Mollusk, [165]
Monkeys, [21], [37], [141], [183]
Moth, [191]
Ocean, [47]
Octracoderms, [33]
Opossum, [170]
Orchids, [122], [191]
Oysters, [117]
Pearls, [112]
Penguins, [5]
Pigeons, [27]
Plants, [46], [78], [108], [131], [137], [139], [149], [150], [154], [159], [187], [190], [192]
Platypus, [199]
Porcupine, [197]
Proteus, [57]
Proturans, [185]
Rabbit, [192]
Rats, [137], [141], [184], [195]
Raven, [89]
Reptiles, [61]
Rotifers, [85]
Salamander, [178]
Sea Horse, [82]
Sea Urchin, [50]
Seals, [84], [161], [188]
Shark, [134], [138]
Shrew, [181]
Silk Worm, [98]
Skuas, [110]
Snails, [44], [109], [152]
Snakes, [26], [49], [77], [88], [105], [162], [174]
Spiders, [9], [15], [30], [41], [67], [91]
Sponge, [2]
Squids, [67]
Sting Rays, [89], [146]
Tamandua, [21]
Tarantula, [30]
Termites, [45], [115], [137]
Ticks, [20]
Tiger, [196]
Toads, [159], [162]
Tomato, [92]
Toucan, [108]
Trees, [129], [141], [189], [190]
Viper, [26], [162]
Weasel, [193]
Whippoorwill, [70]
Worms, [10], [22], [51], [64], [73], [90], [98], [132], [142], [151], [157], [158]

Topic List

[INTRODUCTION]
[PREFACE]
[The Invisible Underground Jungle]
[The Self-Perpetuating Sponge]
[Living “Stars” in Caves]
[Parenthood Among Penguins]
[The Strategy of Warrior Ants]
[Uganda’s Miniature Dinosaur]
[The Strange Ways of Spiders]
[Worms With a Thousand Eyes]
[Queer Fish, But Definitely]
[Love Life Among the Spiders]
[The Lace Weavers]
[The Ways of Crabs]
[Ticks With Noses in Their Legs]
[The Fourth Realm of Life]
[Rubber-Band Worms that Stretch and Stretch]
[Frog Versatility]
[The Horned Viper Spears Other Animals]
[The World of Insects]
[Gigantic Serpents of the Sky]
[The Limbless Lizard]
[The Maddening Tarantula]
[A Flower That Grows Through Solid Ice]
[The Versatile Ant Farmers]
[Ostracoderms: Ancestors of True Fish]
[The Ever Faithful Hornbills]
[Ants With Tailor Skills]
[Fiend Symphonies of the Jungle]
[Tyrants of the Polychaete Race]
[Eating Habits of Spiders]
[The Suicide Instinct of Iguanas]
[Forests That Eat Meat]
[Cave-Dwelling Birds]
[Where Snails Become Flowers]
[Termites That Eat Lead]
[The Plant That Eats Animals]
[The Ocean’s Sound Barrier]
[Snakes That Act and Look Like Worms]
[A Porcupine of the Sea]
[Worms That Are Unkillable]
[The Remarkable Brachiopods]
[Feathers on Birds Adapt to the Seasons]
[Why the Dodo Became Extinct]
[The Shark of the Soil]
[The Sleeping Habits of Mammals]
[The Eerie Eyes of Animals at Night]
[World of the Blind]
[The Remarkable Clam Worms]
[Winged Reptile]
[Vicious Fire Ants]
[The Architectural Genius of Birds]
[The Ferocious Leech Worms]
[The Complex Spider’s Web]
[Monsters of the Deep: The Great Squids]
[The Vanishing Whippoorwill]
[Ants Can Smell Almost Anything]
[Fish That Fish For Fish]
[Worms That Are Flowers]
[The Heavy Toll of Bird Migrations]
[Deadly Snakes That Take Life Easy]
[Weird Plant-Animals]
[Weird Ways of Birds]
[The Fantastic Sea Horse]
[The Great Seal Migrations]
[Monsters With Buzz Saws]
[Two-Headed Snakes Aren’t Rare]
[Fantastic Sea Creatures]
[The Varieties of Raven Language]
[Worms With Hypodermic Needles]
[The Fatal Black Widow Spider]
[Plants That are Animated]
[The Tomato—Cinderella of Vegetables]
[The Holiest Place on Earth]
[The Vanishing Golden Carpet]
[Evolution of the Bird]
[Speed Ace of the Air]
[The Remarkable Instincts of the Silk Worm]
[The Strange World of the Sea]
[The Cannibal Birds of the Pacific]
[Eagles as Indian Pets]
[The Giant Insects of the Carolines]
[The Valley Where Dusk is Death]
[Enigma of Evolution: the Snake]
[The Fastest Growth on Earth]
[Birds That Duel]
[Brakes on Plant Life]
[Snails Are the Flowers of the Sea]
[The Brutal South Pole Birds]
[Silk-Bearded Clams]
[Pearls Grow in Brooks]
[Grasshopper-Infested Glaciers]
[Monster Clams of Polynesia]
[Corals Combine Plants and Animal Life]
[The First Engineers—Termites]
[Oyster Oddities]
[The World’s Biggest Sneeze]
[The Luminescent Ctenophores]
[The Forest That Time Forgot]
[The Versatility of the Elephant’s Trunk]
[Fiendish Vampires of the Night]
[Remarkable Orchids]
[Nature’s Insecticide: The Millipede]
[Bats Have Built-in Radar]
[Crabs That Climb Trees]
[The Ferocious Centipede]
[The Plant That Makes Men Dumb]
[The Scourge of the Earth: Locusts]
[Trees Can Grow Smaller]
[Underworld Cities]
[Plants That Create Mirages]
[The Octopus Worm: Evolution’s Mystery]
[The Monster Bear of Kamchatka]
[Strange Denizens of the Deep]
[Communism Among the Bees]
[Candles on Bushes]
[The Desert Rat Manufactures Water]
[The Caste System of the Termite]
[The Shark That Stands Upright]
[The Dead Man’s Vine]
[The Insect With Fourteen Lives]
[Shyness Characteristic of Giant Rats]
[Nocturnal Potto]
[Where Trees are Square]
[The Lamp That is a Beetle]
[Rainstorms of Worms]
[The Icy Arctic Wonderland]
[Fish That Live on Land]
[The Special Language of Bees]
[Poisonous Platters of the Sea]
[Our Un-American Food]
[Worms That Commit Mass Suicide]
[Fish That Survive Freezing]
[Plants That Kill]
[Caterpillars That Pretend to be Snakes]
[All Plants Are Luminous]
[Worms That Live in the Snow]
[The Strange Ways of Snails]
[Vision-Producing Plants]
[The Abominable Snow Man]
[Fish That Sing in the Moonlight]
[Brazil’s Vicious Glow Worm]
[Grasshoppers Like Chameleons]
[Beetles That Helped an Army]
[Worms in Medical History]
[Toads That Make Poison Gas]
[Plants That Thrive on Ice-Bloom]
[Poison Arrow Frogs]
[The Seal That Can “Lose” Its Head]
[The Delectable Horned Viper]
[Flying Snakes, Frogs and Toads]
[Eagles Build Log Cabin Nests]
[The Predatory Mantid]
[Fireflies as Electricians]
[The Mollusk Vampire of Hell]
[Climbing and Flying Frogs]
[Mad Dog Cycles]
[The Amazing Survival of the Opossum]
[Mammal Prototypes of the “Mermaid”]
[Limbless Lizards and Glass Snakes]
[The Only Bug in the Sea]
[A Crocodile With Life After Death]
[The Salamander That Lives Like a Worm]
[Three-eyed Lizards of New Zealand]
[Prodigious Fertility of Insects]
[The Lizard That Runs Out of Its Own Skin]
[High Living in the Himalayas]
[Barking Spider Monkeys]
[The Insect That is Born Pregnant]
[Bull-dog Animals]
[Foresight of Kangaroo Rats]
[The Primitive Proturans]
[Air-Conditioned Homes of Beavers]
[The Demon of Puerto Rico]
[Man-Made Plants]
[The Great Seal Migration]
[The Magic Bark of the Cinchona Tree]
[Colombia’s Ant Tree]
[The Strange Behavior of Plants]
[Venezuela’s Nocturnal Orchid]
[The Plant That Strikes Men Dumb]
[Combat of Moth and Shrew]
[The Ferocious Snake Weasel]
[The Rabbit That Swims]
[Gorilla Warriors of the Belgian Congo]
[The Biggest “Rat” in the World]
[The Suicide Marches of Lemmings]
[The Ferocity of the Tiger]
[The Fearsome Porcupine]
[The Plant That Stimulates Visions]
[The Puzzling Platypus]
[INDEX]