Nature’s Deadliest Creatures Visual Encyclopedia

210 Pages·2018·80.8 MB·English

by  Dorling Kindersley

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Written by Derek Harvey
Consultant: Dr. Kim Bryan
First American Edition, 2018
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2018 Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC
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Dorling Kindersley Limited.
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ISBN 978-1-4654-5897-1
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CONTENTS
1 2
DEADLY CREATURES 08
MUSCLES, JAWS,
AND CLAWS 10 VENOMOUS BITES 36
Giant squid 12 Blue-ringed octopus 38
Giant Pacific octopus 13 Arrow worm 39
Peacock mantis shrimp 14 Yellow-legged giant centipede 40
Camel spider 16 Sydney funnel-web spider 42
Great white shark 17 Brown recluse spider 43
Bull shark 18 Redback spider 44
Arapaima 19 Robber fly 45
Viperfish 20 Gila monster 46
Saltwater crocodile 21 Gaboon viper 47
Green anaconda 22 Saw-scaled viper 48
Perentie 23 Black mamba 49
Komodo dragon 24 Boomslang 50
Southern cassowary 26 Inland taipan 51
Secretarybird 27 King cobra 52
Osprey 28 Northern short-tailed shrew 54
Harpy eagle 29 Slow loris 55
Tasmanian devil 30
Siberian tiger 31
Clouded leopard 32
Wolverine 33
Leopard seal 34
Sperm whale 35
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3 4
STINGS AND POISONS 56 TRAPPED! 86
Sea wasp 58 Predatory tunicate 88
Bearded fireworm 59 Brown-lined ribbon worm 89
Purple cone snail 60 Trapdoor spider 90
California sea hare 60 Darwin’s bark spider 91
Disco clam 62 Ogre-faced spider 92
Flamboyant cuttlefish 63 Antlion larva 94
Cyanide millipede 64 Glowing fungus gnat larva 94
Deathstalker 65 New Zealand velvet worm 96
Spanish fly 66 Humpback whale 97
Rattlebox moth caterpillar 67
Puss moth caterpillar 68
Giant silkworm moth caterpillar 69
Queen Alexandra’s birdwing 70
Tarantula hawk 72
Maricopa harvester ant 73
Bullet ant 74
Flower urchin 75
Blue-spotted ribbontail stingray 76
Striped eel catfish 77
Web burrfish 78
DANGER FACTOR
Reef stonefish 80
Our danger factor rates creatures from across a wide
Rough-skinned newt 81
range of species and includes both those that are
Fire salamander 82 deadly in attack and those that are deadly in defense.
The scale goes from a rating of 1 to 5.
Golden poison frog 83
Hooded pitohui 84
Platypus 85
Creatures that are given a rating of 1 are
the least deadly.
Creatures that are given a rating of 5 are
the most deadly.
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5 6
DECEIVERS AND
TRICKSTERS 98 DEADLY NUMBERS 124
Flower crab spider 100 Blue shark 126
Portia spider 101 Red-bellied piranha 126
Femme fatale lightning bug 102 Giant moray eel 128
Orchid mantis 103 Yellow-saddle goatfish 129
Moth butterfly caterpillar 104 Social spider 130
Tasselled wobbegong 105 Western honeybee 131
Humpback anglerfish 106 Asian giant hornet 132
Pirate perch 108 African driver ant 133
South American leaf fish 109 Tropical American army ant 134
False cleanerfish 110 Fossa 135
Indian Ocean crocodile fish 111 Harris’s hawk 136
Alligator snapping turtle 112 South American coati 138
Sidewinder 113 Spotted hyena 139
Cantil 114 Gray wolf 140
Puff adder 115 African wild dog 141
Tentacled snake 116 Lion 142
Black heron 117
Green-backed heron 118
Polar bear 119
Snow leopard 120
Margay 122
Orca 123
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7 8
SKILLS, TACTICS, DISEASE AND
AND CUNNING 144 DESTRUCTION 166
Humboldt squid 146 Rosy wolfsnail 168
Bolas spider 146 Chinese mitten crab 169
Red-veined darter 148 Anopheles mosquito 170
Electric eel 150 Australian paralysis tick 171
Texas horned lizard 151 Tsetse fly 172
Common lancehead 152 Oriental rat flea 173
Spitting cobra 153 Electric ant 174
Brown skua 154 Crown-of-thorns starfish 175
Barn owl 155 Snakehead 176
Golden eagle 156 Nile perch 177
Peregrine falcon 158 Red lionfish 178
Great grey shrike 159 Cane toad 179
Ghost bat 160 Brown tree snake 180
Stoat 161 Brown rat 181
Cheetah 162 Vampire bat 182
Bottlenose dolphin 163 Domestic cat 184
Chimpanzee 164 Red fox 185
Common hippopotamus 186
Moose 188
Cape buffalo 189
African savanna elephant 190
REFERENCE 192
GLOSSARY 204
INDEX 206
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 208
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DEADLY CREATURES
Animals can be deadly for many different reasons—some in attack
and some in defense. But they vary a lot in the risk they pose to
other living things—including humans.
Deadly in all sizes
Any animal that can kill another organism such as ocean plankton, while others are
can be classed as deadly. Some are only deadly on a much larger scale. Only a few
deadly to tiny insects or minute animals are dangerous to humans.
Small killers, small victims Small killers, big victims Big killers, big victims
The smallest animals are usually There are exceptions. This blue-ringed Animals that combine massive size;
deadly to other small animals. This octopus is not much bigger than your physical strength; and large weapons,
spider’s venom kills other spiders, but fist, but its venom is strong enough such as teeth, can sometimes be the
its bite cannot harm anything bigger. to kill a human. deadliest of them all.
725,000
Mosquito
Snake 50,000
Which animals are deadly to humans?
Some big predators, such as sharks, have the
Tsetse fly 10,000
strength to kill humans, but such attacks are
Crocodile 1,000 very rare. The most dangerous killers of humans are
animals that spread disease, such as malaria-carrying
mosquitoes. And many animals, including venomous
Hippopotamus
500
snakes, are deadly in self-defense and will only attack
if they feel threatened.
Lion 100
Shark 10
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000
Humans killed every year
8
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