7 Pair of Animals that are Often Confused with Each Other

Everyone gets confused, especially when it comes to distinguishing two things that look very similar. In the animal world, some species look so similar that we often get confused and can’t tell them apart. Below are a few animals that may look the same, but are actually very different.

African/Asian Elephants

African elephants have a bigger build, but you can’t really tell them apart by size, not unless they’re standing next to each other. Asian elephant have two domes on the head. African elephant trunks have two “fingers” at the tips. Asian elephants also tend to be lighter in color compared to African Elephants.

Alligators/Crocodiles

Gators and crocs have a couple of features that can help tell them apart from each other. Gators have a snout that has a V shape to them and in terms of habitat, they’re only found in China and the Americas. Crocs on the other hand have a more rounded snout and are found in Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and some parts of the Americas. Crocs are also able to lift themselves off the ground when walking, unlike Gators.

Turtles/Tortoises

The biggest difference between these two shelled animals is that turtles spend most of their lives in water and have fins. Turtles would venture to land just to lay eggs. Tortoises live on land, have long stubby feet, and they can’t swim. They’re found in dry and hot places where they dig burrows to live in.

Cheetahs/Leopards

Cheetahs have a more slender body structure compared to leopards. Leopards are nocturnal while cheetahs tend to be more active during the day. Their spots can also help differentiate them. Cheetahs have round, solid black spots while leopards come in patterns that look more like broken rings.

Frogs/Toads

There are about four hundred frog species and three hundred toad species so it really is difficult to spot the difference. Generally, frogs tend to be smaller and have bulging eyes and strong legs. They also have webbed feet since they spend more time in water. Toads prefer to walk than jump, and are usually bigger. Frogs have slimy smooth skins while toads are covered in small warts and have dry skin.

Alpacas/Llamas

Some might mistake alpacas as young llamas, but their size difference is actually one of the things that can tell them apart. Llamas are also less hairy and produce little fleece compared to alpacas. Llamas can also be used to guard alpacas, which make them look more like the big brother of the group.

Seals / Sea Lions

Looking at their flippers, you can tell them apart right away. Seals have a smaller flipper since they mainly use them for swimming and diving. Sea lions walk with their flippers so they’re bigger and a bit more stalky looking. Seals also have a harder time moving on land compared to sea lions.

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Turtles Wearing Customes

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Pig-Nosed Turtle

Pig-Nosed Turtle one look at its fleshy snout and big nostrils, and you can see where the pig-nosed turtle got its name.

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CAUGHT ON TAPE: Dozens of baby turtles hatch and head home

Key West, FL - You likely have seen the bumper stickers "sea turtles dig the dark". You can truth in action thanks to the Florida Keys Turtle Cam that captured quite a site Friday night, using infrared lighting and a live-streaming, high-definition "turtle webcam".

The feed recorded the hatch of about 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles that bolted from the hole and headed straight to the Atlantic Ocean under dim moonlight.

The camera uses infrared lighting so hatchlings won't be confused by artificial light and will go to sea. The moonlight actually guides them by reflecting off the water

The webcam has been focused on the nest in the Lower Keys for almost two weeks, as part of ongoing efforts in the Florida Keys to raise awareness of protecting sea turtles.

Loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill and Kemp's ridley sea turtles are all considered either threatened or endangered, and are protected by the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the web cam.

Source: Here

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Will ecotourism be good for the Turtle Islands?

A group of small islands in the southern province of Tawi-Tawi has long been the birthplace of the gentle and resilient green sea turtles, which is said to be the oldest reptile species in the world.

More than 2,000 of the turtles known locally as “pawikan” nest in the islands every year. Other species, such as the hawksbill turtle, also frequent the area, which lies south of wildlife bountiful Palawan.

Such distinction has earned the island cluster the name Turtle Islands, the last major green sea turtle sanctuary in Southeast Asia and one of the only 10 remaining nesting sites all over the world.

Its remote location and lack of regular means of transportation has made the Turtle Islands, which was once held by the United Kingdom, highly untouched despite the Philippine tourism hype.

But that may soon change. The government has announced that ecotourism projects are being planned for three of the six major isles which are part of the municipality of Turtle Islands.

More tourists

The effort has been launched amid an observed increase in the number of tourists visiting the area in recent year, a statement from the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) showed.

The government agency cited local tourism records, which reported a total of 1,139 local and foreign tourists in 2012, up from only 1,058 for the aggregate of 2010 and 2011.

“Tourists visit us to witness marine turtles lay their eggs or watch the hatchlings struggle out of their nests and make their way to the sea,” MinDA quoted Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali said.

“We need the appropriate facilities that will not only accommodate our tourists, but also ensure the safety and protection of the turtles and their nesting sites,” Sahali said further.

Secretary Luwalhati Antonino of MinDA said a budget of P30 million has been secure for the project, bulk of which will be from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

The projects will include elevated wooden boardwalks, turtle watching lounges and several cottages for the islands of Taganak, Bakkungan and Baguan, the most widely visited islands.

The facilities, MinDA said, will protect the turtles from tourists while allowing visitors to observe the experience they made the trip for: watching the gentle creatures lay their eggs at night.

“[R]esidents of Turtle Islands can earn sustainable livelihood by promoting this famous attraction, while ensuring the protection of the endangered species and their nesting sites,” Antonino noted.

She added that the initiative is part of the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia Philippine East ASEAN Growth Area’s programs to protect the Greater Sulu-Sulawesi Corridor’s biodiversity.

Caution urged

Commenting on the plan, environmental advocacy group Greenpeace urged government to “proceed with caution especially since turtle nesting grounds are particularly sensitive to any slight disturbance. “

“A full resource accounting should be conducted and its carrying capacity determined before any development is started,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaigner Vince Cinches said in an email.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources tagged all marine turtle species as endangered due to the critical decline in the world’s marine turtle population.

In the Philippines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 1979 launched the Pawikan Conservation Project to address the dwindling number of local marine turtles.

Turtle Islands has been declared a protected area in 1997 by the Philippines and Malaysia, which governs three of the islands in the cluster. It was the world’s first transboundary protected area.

Cinches said the plan to develop the Turtle Islands “must conform to all internationally accepted environmental principles and comply with Philippine environmental laws…”

“Moreover, the ecotourism plan should be jointly developed by local communities, scientists, non-government and civil society organization representatives, and other stakeholders,” he added.

All ecotourism activities in the island should also be coupled with education efforts, Cinches said, adding that all visitors must undergo comprehensive briefing and be given guides on behavior in the islands.

Aside fom marine turtles, the Turtle Islands is also home to 34 species of birds, 27 coral species, 128 fish species, 62 species of marine flora and other wild animals such as fruit bats and reptiles.

Ecotourism for the economy

“Ecotourism, as long as developed strictly in accordance with ecological principles, is one of the many services a healthy ecosystem gives,” Cinches told Yahoo Philippines.

The industry provides more income for local government and also “reduces the dependency of communities on poaching and veer them away from doing destructive marine activities.”

“If indeed, Turtle Island Wildlife Sanctuary will be opened to the public, it should be a model for sustainability and one that will ensure true protection of our marine ecosystem rather than just a revenue-making strategy,” Cinches said.

Source: Here

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Sea Turtles' "Lost Years" Transatlantic Journey Mapped for First Time

On hatching, loggerhead turtles make a beeline under cover of darkness from nests in the sand to the open ocean. The turtles will return to the same beaches perhaps a decade later, when they have grown 10-fold: born barely bigger than a slice of pepperoni, they arrive the size of a large pizza. The time in between is known to marine biologists as the turtles' "lost years." Exactly how the juveniles spend their time during those years and how they survive has remained a mystery for decades. Now, borrowing a tip from a manicurist, researchers have determined that the turtles do not quite go where they thought and have new clues on how they grow.

This new window into sea turtle behavior comes as a result of scientists conquering a technological question: how to attach satellite tracking tags to very young, fast-growing turtles. A research team based in Florida now has maps of the reptiles' travel on the first long leg of their journey, they reported on March 5 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Source: Here

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SeaWorld Orlando returns rescued sea turtle to wild

ORLANDO -- A juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle that was rescued in 2012 off the Cape Cod, Mass. Coast was returned to the wild Thursday by the SeaWorld Orlando Animal Rescue Team.

A total of 24 sea turtles were rescued from cold stress by the U.S. Coast Guard in November 2012 and then brought to SeaWorld Orlando for treatment. The turtle released Thursday was the last of the group to be returned to the wild.

Source: Here

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Mapping pinpoints turtles' danger zones

The Atlantic Ocean is home to the last large populations of leatherback turtles — but it is not always a hospitable habitat. The migratory nature of the turtles, the world's largest, makes them vulnerable to unintended capture by fishermen.

But with such ‘bycatch’ largely unreported, and the leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) meandering across wide swaths of the Atlantic, understanding how best to protect them has been difficult. Now scientists have used satellite data that tracks turtle paths between 1995 and 2010 to help identify nine zones in the Atlantic Ocean where leatherbacks and fishermen are most likely to clash1.

Source: Here

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Amazonian Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears

The sight of butterflies flocking onto the heads of yellow-spotted river turtles in the western Amazon rain forest is not uncommon, at least if one is able to sneak up on the skittish reptiles. But the reason why butterflies congregate onto the turtles may be stranger than you think: to drink their tears.

The butterflies are likely attracted to the turtles' tears because the liquid drops contain salt, specifically sodium, an important mineral that is scant in the western Amazon, said Phil Torres, a scientist who does much of his research at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru and is associated with Rice University.

Source: Here

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Coast Guard to help release 500 baby sea turtles

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) -- The U.S. Coast Guard is helping a marine scientist release more than 500 sea turtle hatchlings by hand off the coast of Boca Raton.

On Thursday, crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale will assist Melanie Stadler, a marine scientist with Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

Source: Here

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Tiny Pet Turtles Restricted For Salmonella Occurrence

These cute, tiny and pocket-sized pet turtles are such joy to have, seemingly harmless and docile, but BEWARE! These sweet-faced reptiles are considered dangerous and carriers of Salmonella, a much dreaded bacteria that brings about typhoid fever, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, enteric fever and other life-threatening illnesses.

Many kids still rave over these reptiles and ironically, the small pet turtles are still being sold and purchased, found in some homes for kids to play with and consider as their own lovable pets despite the 40-year old ban in the United States. Since 1975, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered a nationwide ban on sales of the reptiles with shells 4-inches or even smaller. The smaller these turtles are, the deadlier. Although they are also considered amphibians, they are technically categorized to belong to the reptile family.

Just recently revealed in Yahoo News, “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of Salmonella cases linked to tiny breeds of the reptile is on the rise. As of last week, there are six current outbreaks of the bacteria-borne illness directly linked to exposure to the illegal contraband. Yes pet turtles are illegal.”

The bad news is: these innocent little guys are not just carriers of Salmonella but found out to be breeders. In the same article it explains the whole process.

“Here's how it happens: They release the bacteria when they relieve themselves (that's a fancy way of saying turtle poop). Remnants of the Salmonella strain live on their shells and get transferred to human hands and mouths easily.”

You can never overemphasize the value of reminding the washing of kids’ hands every time they handle or touch the turtles but the fact remains, these tiny-shelled guys appear to be harmless and friendly, not a threat at all to young children and small enough to be handled as toys. With this, most of these kids don’t pay much attention to safe pet turtle-handling practices, touching turtles in the process and unknowingly putting their fingers/hands in their mouths.

Almost too often too, they play with the water, dangle their little fingers in the turtle tank water and usually put their hands in their mouth soon after playing. Worse, these tanks and turtle enclosure are washed and cleaned somewhere in the kitchen or the kitchen sink itself, spreading the bacteria in leaps and bounds.

Pet Turtles: An Important Cause of Salmonella Outbreaks

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Turtles

Turtles

Turtles are animals belonging to ancient animals, because the turtles has been there since the age of dinosaurs. And now this animal is included in the protected animals, because the population was recorded only a little. Turtles have a very strong memory, as evidenced when turtles hatch and enter the ocean, sea turtles wade through thousands of miles, when the turtle will lay eggs, the turtle will be back where the turtle was first into the sea.

turtles are reptiles, turtles spend most of his life in the water, looking for food and play, but the occasional turtle ride surface to take oxygen to fill his lungs.

Turtles lay eggs, like reptiles in general, turtle eggs slightly soft and rough. In some species such as sea turtles, the temperature determines whether an egg develops into male or female: higher temperatures lead to women, a lower temperature causes male. When the turtles hatch, the turtle will have the instinct to rise to the surface and to moving towards the water.

Turtles Animal

Turtles

under sea wallpaper

Turtles Sea

Little Turtles Wallpaper

Turtles Wallpapers

Beautiful Turtles in Under Sea

animal wallpaper

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