Africa is the second largest continent, it occupies about 22% of the total land area on the planet. An interesting place where the wild world of nature has remained in its original form. It is not surprising that many facts are told about her exclusively with the use of the epithet “the most”.
A few words about nature
- Africa has the largest desert in the world - the Sahara, with an area of approximately 8.6 million square kilometers and covers more than 10 states. About 40% of the species of animals living in it are endemic.
- The second river after the Amazon along the length (6852 km) is 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 also located on the territory of a hot continent. Victoria affects three states, with a total surface area of 68,000 square kilometers. This wild nature world 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 by the gills, but also by the lungs.
- The ancestors of people appeared precisely in east Africa (central part), the first to be announced by C. Darwin. And in 1974, near Hadar (Ethiopia), they found the skeleton of a humanoid creature that lived about 3.2 million years ago, they even gave it the name "Lucy".
Amazing plants
The African wild world of nature is like a huge outlandish botanical garden, everything in it is unique, wonderful and interesting. Surely many have heard of the baobab (the alley in the first photo). The tree is quite low (12-15 meters), its thickness is surprising, which reaches 10 m. The oldest specimen is growing in Zimbabwe, with the help of 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 - velvichia (pictured), it is called so - amazing. The relict species grows only in Angola and Namibia. It is very difficult to describe her appearance. This is a rosette two-leaved plant with a thick stem resembling a trunk, although it rises only 15-50 cm from the ground. The leaves grow quickly and reach up to 8 m in length and width of about 1 m, gradually form a folded pile of greenery, although there are only two . The life expectancy of Velvichia is high, over several centuries.
Interesting facts about animals
The territory of the continent is almost the home of the most unusual animals in the world. The wildlife of the mainland is diverse and unique. We mention only its most outstanding facts.
- The largest land mammal is the African elephant. Its weight reaches 7 tons, he has no natural enemies, with the exception of man.
- In Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, there are the largest frogs on the planet - Goliaths. Their weight is very significant - up to 3.5 kg, and body length on average about 30 cm.
- The largest primacy of our time - 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 live in the savannahs of the mainland - this is Thompson's gazelle and wildebeest, cheetah and lion.
- One of the unusual endemic species is the giraffe. Having 7 cervical vertebrae, as in other mammals, it nevertheless has the longest neck among animals.
- Madagascar, which is also referred to as Africa, is an accumulation of endemic species, which has been of interest to scientists for more than a century.
African wildlife: lions and other cats
Many documentaries were shot 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 take the second place in terms of the number of predators on the planet after spotted hyenas;
- big cats spend more than 20 hours a day in a dream;
- in addition to the well-known lions, cheetahs and jaguars, the wild nature of Africa includes the little-known reed and Nubian cat, caracal (pictured), serval, golden cat, etc .;
- the cheetah is the fastest land animal, it develops a speed of up to 120 km per hour in three seconds, and it is also one of the few feline species whose claws cannot be removed;
- a sand dune cat (in the third photo), living in the Sahara desert, can do without water for a long time, getting the necessary fluid in the form of the blood of its victims.
This is only a small part of the information about the inhabitants of the mainland. Certainly, the wildlife world of Africa is harsh; harsh conditions of survival dominate in it. It is there that the largest and most dangerous creatures live, which you will not find anywhere else. But at the same time, the African savannah is beautiful and interesting, like any other corner of unexplored nature on Earth.