Grassland is defined as an area that is filled with tall grasses since these regions are too dry for ashy trees to grow. Grassland regions can be seen across all the continents except Antarctica, however, they differ across the prairies of North America to the African Savanna. These regions support a wide variety of animals life from large birds, reptiles, and some predators as well, here is the list of 10 types of grassland animals in the world,
Grassland Animals
1. Aardvark
Aardvark is one of the animals with no neck known for its excellent sense of smell and even sense of hearing used for finding food and hiding from predators on time. These skinny animals have 1 ½ foot long, sticky tongues used for catching ants and termites. It has been analyzed that 50,000 termites per night and can travel between 16 and 30 kilometers per night while searching for food. One of the animals with a long face has ears like a rabbit, a tongue like an anteater, a tail like a kangaroo, webbed feet like a duck, and a snout like a pig. The avarage lifespan of Aardvark is put 18 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in Captivity.
2. Aardwolf
Aardwolf is a popular grassland animal that belongs to the family of hyenas. As of now, two subspecies of aardwolf are known to humans and can be found in the southern and eastern parts of Africa. The small animal can grow upto 3 feet in length and weigh up to 30 pounds in weight. Talking bout the apperance, they have two layers of dense fur that can be yellowish-white or reddish. These black stripes can cover both sides of the body, including the limbs. The avarage lifespan of an Aardwolf is upto 8 years in the wild and up to 15 years in captivity.
Image Source: Wikimedia
3. Alpine accentor
The Alpine accentor is a small passerine bird that belongs to the family Prunellidae. The body length of bird species is between 15 to 17.5 cm in length and the average weight is between 37 to 43 grams. Talking about the apperance, they have a streaked brown back that looks like a house sparrow, however, adults have a grey head and red-brown spotting on the underparts. Both males and females are almost similar, but males are more contrasted in appearance. They are seen in the regions of southern temperate Europe, Lebanon, and Asia at heights above 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The primary diet of Alpine accentors includes spiders, earthworms, and other invertebrates.
Image Source: Wikimedia
4. African Buffalo
African Buffalo is a popular forest animal of Africa that inhabits sub-Saharan parts of Africa. The body length is between 6.8 to 11 feet in length and the average weight is between 660 to 1900 pounds. They are seen in large herds that consist of thousand animals but on avarage herds are smaller and consist of 12 animals. The eyesight of these strongest animals is poor, however, the sense of smell is excellent. The mating season of African buffalo takes place between March and May where the pregnancy lasts 11 and half months and ends with one baby (calf).
5. African Wild Dog
African Wild Dog is one of the types of wild dogs that inhabit open plains and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Talking about their appearance, they have long legs, strong jaws, and large, bat-like ears. The body of a wild dog is covered with fur that comes with irregular patches of red, brown, black, yellow, and white color. Every animal species have a unique pattern of colors and can help researchers to identify individual animals. The mating occurs between the dominant pair in the pack where female species have one litter per year.
6. Alpaca
Alpaca is one of the fluffy animals that is believed to be bred for thousands of years. They come in a variety of colors such as fawn, grey, brown, black, white, and many combinations of these. It is native to Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, however, they’re e also seen in the Andes mountains of South America. The dietary habit is herbivores in nature and a three-chambered stomach. Their primary diet includes grass, however, they also feed on wood, bark, leaves, and stems.
7. Anaconda
Anaconda is one of the biggest snakes in the world by length that can grow upto 30 feet long. These crawling animals can be found in tropical rainforests, lakes, and swamps of South America. Talking about their apperance, they are green in color and have 2 rows of black spots on their back and white marks on the sides. The mating season of Anaconda is in April and May and post six months female anaconda gives birth to 20-40 young anacondas. The primary diet of anacondas includes fish, turtles, caimans, capybaras, pigs, jaguars, and deer as well.
8. Ant
Ants are also one of the popular grassland animals that help to improve the quality of soil and eliminate parasites and unwanted insects from the gardens. Talking about the apperance, they have a large head, elbowed antennae, strong jaws, narrow waist, and three pairs of legs. Only limited male ants and queens are some of the ants that have wings. Depending on the species, ants can be active both during the day and night and they can carry 50 times greater of their weight. The avarage lifespan of ants varies from several weeks to a few years that also depends on the species and thier role in the colony and species.
9. Anteater
Anteaters are unique-looking creatures that can be as small as squirrels known as silky anteaters and a few of them can grow upto 7 feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of their tail known as giant anteaters. They are toothless creatures. and the to9ngue can be 2 feet long which is narrow and covered with tiny spines. The claws can be 4 inches long and used to defend against jaguars and cougars. The pregnancy of an anteater can be 190 days and ends with a single baby.
10. Antelope
Antelopes are a diverse family that belongs to the cow family (Bovidae). They are found in Asia, the Middle East, and North America, however, African antelopes are quite popular and thrive in grasslands, mountains, deserts, and wetlands. Talking about their apperance, they have even-toed hooves, horizontal pupils, stomachs adapted for re-chewing the food and even bony hornsThey have extremely developed senses that help them detect predators while they still have time to escape. The avarage lifespan of Antelopes is 10 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.
These are the 10 types of grassland animals in the world. Kindly share and post your comments.
