The specialty of some animals is they are found only in a particular region and nowhere else in the world. North America is home to many of such amazing animals. Here the list of 10 amazing animals found only in North America.
10 Hawaiian Monk Seal
Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered marine species in the world. Only less than 1100 seals of this species left today. They are endemic to Hawaiian islands. The majority of these seals live in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Monk seals spend the most time in sea waters. Sometimes they can be found resting on beaches. They are known for diving deeper than 300 meters in searching for food. The diet of Hawaiian monk seals mainly includes fishes, crustaceans, and eels.
9 Luna Moth
Luna moth is a strikingly beautiful moth found only in North America. They inhabit in deciduous woodlands of United States, Southern Canada, and Northern Mexico. It’s a large moth with a wingspan of 4.5 inches. The most attractive characteristic of Luna moths is its broad, bright green colored wings.
Both fore and hind wings of Luna moths feature beautiful eyespots. Each hind wings of this moth also have a long green tail.
Top 10 Amazing Animals Found only in Africa
8 Black Footed Ferret
Black-footed ferrets are the only species of the ferret that native to North America. Once they considered extinct. But they reintroduced by captive breeding programs. Still, they are very few in numbers. IUCN enlisted this species within endangered species.
Black-footed ferrets live in great plains and mountain basins of South Western United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico. They have long, slender body which can grow up to 24 inches. An adult ferret weighs up to 2.5 pounds.
They spend the most time, almost 90% of the time in burrows made by prairie dogs.These ferrets are nocturnal, that means they become only active at night. Their diet also mostly consist of prairie dogs
7 Gila Monster
Gila monster is the largest lizard native to the United States. They measure around 20 inches in length and up to 1.8 kg in weight. This lizard is also one of two venomous lizards of North America. The second one is Mexican beaded lizard. They inhabit in deserts Semi-desert areas of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.
The body of Gila monster is covered with pink, black and yellow colored beadlike, scales. They have a broad head and black rounded eyes. The lower jaws of Gila monster consist of venom-producing glands. Their bite is extremely painful, even to humans. But their bite is not fatal to adult humans.
6 American Black Bear
American black bear is a medium-sized, widespread bear that found only in North America. With an average weight of 158 kg, It’s the smallest bear found in North American continent. Despite the name, not all American black bears are black. They also found in brown and cinnamon colors. The diet of this omnivorous animal includes berries, roots, nuts, fishes, and mammals.
5 Groundhog
Groundhog is the largest member of the squirrel family. They found only in woodland areas of Canada and United States. They are known for digging complex burrows that with many levels and as deep as 6 feet.
A fully grown groundhog weigh around 6kg. They have brown fur, long tail and short legs with curved claws. That’s their claws are well adapted for digging burrows. They feed on fruits, tree barks, and plants.
4 Pronghorn
Despite the antelope-like appearance, pronghorn does not belong to antelope family. Instead, it’s a unique animal of North America. They inhabit in grasslands, open plains and deserts of Canada, United States and Mexico. Pronghorns are also called as American Antelope due to their resemble with true antelopes.
An adult pronghorn weigh around 54 kg and has a height between 80 and 100 cm. Their body has a reddish brown color. Males have a black mask and curvy horn. Females also have horns but straight in shape.
Interestingly, the eyeballs of pronghorns measure 1.4 inches in diameter. Not just large eyes, pronghorns also have great vision. They can spot movement up to 4 miles away. These mammals are also excellent runners, can reach a maximum speed of 60 mph.
3 American Alligator
It’s a large reptile found only in freshwater rivers, swamps, and lakes of Southwestern United States. There are only two known species of alligators in the world – American Alligator and Chinese alligator. The American alligator is the bigger. They can be 11.2 ft. in length and up to 450 kg in weight. The American alligator is also the largest reptile of North America.
American alligators have long, rounded snout, flat tail, and short legs. Their mouth contains 75 to 80 teeth. Interestingly, in a lifetime, an alligator can go through 2000 to 3000 teeth. The diet of this apex predators includes fishes, mammals, turtles, and birds.
2 American Bison
Standing six ft in height and weighing around 910 kg, American Bison is the largest mammal in North America. Once millions of bisons have roamed on North America. Overhunting and habitat loss caused steep population decline. Currently, around 50000 bisons live across North America. The Yellowstone National Park has a vision population of 5000.
The signature feature of American Bisons is their towering shoulder hump. Females also have a hump but smaller than males. The large body of Bisons is covered with a dark brown coat. They also have a massive head with a short neck. The horns short and curvy.
Related Articles
Top 10 animals found in Arctic region
8 Most Dangerous Amazon Rainforest Animals
Top 9 Amazing Australian Animals
1 Bald Eagle
Bald eagle is the powerful symbol of United States of America. They are endemic to North America, nest near seacoasts, lakes, and rivers. First of all, bald eagles are not bald. Their head is covered with snow-colored feathers and body is in dark brown. This coloration helps to identify this eagle effortlessly.
An adult bald eagle has a wingspan of 6 – 7 feet and weighs up to 6.3 kg. These powerful fliers can glide over long distances. While diving they could achieve a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
