Africa is a wild world of nature. Interesting Facts

Africa is the second largest continent, it isoccupies about 22% of the total land area on the planet. The most interesting place where the wild world of nature remained in its original form. It is not surprising that many facts about her are told exclusively using the epithet “most”.

A few words about nature

• Africa has the largest desert in the world- The Sahara, its area is approximately 8.6 million square kilometers and covers more than 10 states. About 40% of the animal species in it are endemics.
• The second after the Amazon river length (6852km) located in Africa - this is the Nile. Its area covers the territory of eight countries: Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda.
• The second largest freshwater lake is alsolocated on the territory of a hot continent. Victoria affects three states, with a total surface area of ​​68,000 square kilometers. This wild world of nature has become a habitat for more than two hundred species of fish, many of which are not found anywhere else on the planet, including a unique protopter, breathing not only with its gills, but also light.
• The ancestors of the people appeared in East Africa(central part), Charles Darwin first announced this. And in 1974, near Hadar (Ethiopia), they found the skeleton of a humanoid creature who lived about 3.2 million years ago, he was even given the name "Lucy".

Amazing plants

African wild world of nature - like a hugeamazing botanical garden, everything in it is unique, wonderful and interesting. Surely many have heard of baobab (alley on the first photo). The tree is rather low (12-15 meters), its thickness is surprising, which reaches 10 m. The oldest specimen grows in Zimbabwe, using carbon analysis, scientists have determined that it is about one thousand years old. And although the tree is very thick, its wood is porous and soft. From it weave ropes and threads, make light boats.

Another plant - velvichiya (pictured), and itscalled - amazing. Relict species grows only in Angola and Namibia. To describe her appearance is very difficult. This rosette two-leaved plant with a thick stem resembling a trunk, however, it rises from the ground by only 15-50 cm. The leaves grow quickly and reach 8 m in length and width of about 1 m, gradually form a folded pile of greenery, although there are only two . Life expectancy velvichii high, more than a few centuries.

Interesting facts about animals

The territory of the continent is a home for almost the most unusual animals in the world. The wildlife of the continent is diverse and inimitable. We mention only its most prominent facts.

• The largest land mammal is the African elephant. Its weight reaches 7 tons, it has no natural enemies, with the exception of man.
• Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon are home to the largest frog on the planet, the Goliath. Their weight is very significant - up to 3.5 kg, and an average body length of about 30 cm.
• The largest primate of modernity - the gorilla - is found only in the equatorial forests of central and western Africa, as, indeed, the giant reptile - the Nile crocodile.
• Four of the fastest animals inhabit the savannas of the continent - these are the Thompson gazelle and the wildebeest, cheetah and lion.
• One of the unusual endemic species is the giraffe. Having 7 cervical vertebrae, like in other mammals, he nevertheless possesses the longest neck among animals.
• Madagascar, which also belongs to Africa, is a collection of endemic species, which is of interest to scientists for more than a century.

African wildlife world: lions and other cats

Many documentaries have been made about them, and scientists and zoologists continue their observations of the amazing life of the most graceful creatures on the planet. Do you know that:

• Lions are the second largest predator on the planet after spotted hyenas;
• big cats spend more than 20 hours a day in their sleep;
• In addition to the well-known lions, cheetahs and jaguars, the wild world of Africa’s nature includes a little-known reed and Nubian cat, a caracal (pictured), a serval, a golden cat, etc .;
• The cheetah is the fastest land animal, it reaches a speed of up to 120 km per hour in three seconds, and it is also one of the few cat species whose claws are not removed
• A barchan cat (in the third photo) that lives in the Sahara desert can go without water for a long time, receiving the necessary liquid in the form of the blood of its victims.

This is only a small part of the information about the inhabitantsthe mainland. Of course, the African wildlife world is harsh, with harsh survival conditions dominating it. It is there that the largest and most dangerous creatures dwell, which are not found anywhere else. But at the same time, the African savanna is beautiful and interesting, like any other corner of uncharted nature on Earth.