Page 46 - Viva ICSE Science 4 : E-book

• Most of them have four legs which help them to walk,
jump, move on land, hunt and protect themselves. On
the other hand, some animals like snakes do not have

legs. They possess scales on their body to crawl on land.

• Some land animals live on trees. They are called arboreal
animals. Monkeys, tree snakes and squirrels are some A snake has scales which
help it to crawl
examples of such animals. They have sharp claws that
help them to climb trees and hold support. Very often

their tails also become adapted to hold the branches of
trees while climbing.

• Animals living in deserts have thick skin or thick outer

covering on their body. This protects them from the heat
of the sun, thus, preventing loss of water from their body. Monkey, an arboreal
animal
Some desert animals like camels store fat in their hump

to survive scarcity of food and water for a long time.
They have capacity to drink lots of water at one time and
survive without water for many months. They also have

broad, fl at, leathery pads at the bottom of their hooves,
thus preventing their feet from sinking into the sand.

Some animals like snails and lizards sleep during the hot A camel stores fat in its

hours of daytime to protect themselves from heat. This is hump
called summer sleep or aestivation.

• Animals living in polar regions like yaks and polar bears

have thick fur on their body to keep them warm. Other
polar animals like penguins and seals, have a thick layer

of fat under their skin called blubber to keep them warm.
They depend on these fats for energy in winters.
A polar bear has a thick
Did You Know! skin to keep it warm

Penguins have fl ipper-shaped Some animals like bears, snakes and ground
wings that help them swim
underwater. The movement of squirrels become inactive and sleep during the
fl ippers resembles the cold weather to protect themselves from cold.
wing movements of This is called winter sleep or hibernation.
fl ying birds.

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