Page 68 - Volt Elevate The World Around Us Book 4

y Animals like deer and zebra have short hair on their body. Animals like yak and polar
bear have long and thick hair on their body that keep them warm in the cold regions.

Animals that have hair on their body, give birth to their young ones and feed them
with their milk are called mammals.

y Animals like snakes, crocodiles and lizards have scales on their body.

y Some animals like porcupines have spikes on their body that protect them from
enemies.

y Birds have feathers on their body. They keep the birds warm and help them in flying.

y The body coverings of some animals match or blend with their surroundings helping
them to hide from enemies. This is called camouflage. For example, stick insect and
Indian leaf butterfly camouflage themselves in their environment.

Footprints of Animals and Birds

When animals and birds walk on soft soil, wet sand or snow, they leave marks on the

ground. These marks are called footprints or tracks. These footprints help us to know
which animal or bird has passed by even if we do not see them.

Different animals and birds have different kinds of footprints because the shape and

size of their feet are not the same.

y Dogs have four toes and a heel pad so, their footprints show four round marks with a
larger pad. Cats also have similar footprints but they are sharper as they walk softly.

y Cows and buffaloes have split hooves so, their footprints look like two long, oval
marks side by side.

y A horse’s footprint looks like a round or oval horseshoe.

y The footprint of an elephant is very large and round which shows the huge size of

its feet.

y The footprints of lions and tigers are larger than those of cats and dogs, with four
toes and a big pad.

y Birds have clawed feet so, their footprints look like a ‘V’ shape with three toes pointing
forward and one backward. For example, the footprint of a pigeon or crow shows
three narrow lines in front and one at the back. Ducks and geese which have webbed

feet, leave footprints that look flat with web-like marks.

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