圖文閱讀:動物世界9

阿特沃特草原雞 Attwater’s Prairie Chickens, Texas

在Fossil Rim野生動物中心裏，一羣年輕的阿特沃特草原雞正在加熱燈下享受溫暖。該中心設在德州的玫瑰谷(Glen Rose),爲這種獨特的瀕危鳥類進行着了一種圈養繁殖計劃。
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Young Attwater’s prairie-chickens bask under a heating lamp at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The center, located in Glen Rose, Texas, runs a captive-breeding program for these unique, endangered birds.
(落在蕨類植物上的)白蹼樹蛙 Frog on Fern, São Paulo, Brazil

在巴西的聖保羅，棲息在一株蕨類植物上的白蹼樹蛙正凝視着鏡頭。巴西擁有730多種兩棲類動物，其中有467種該區域所特有的。
Photograph by George Grall
A white-handed tree frog stares at the camera from its perch on a fern in São Paulo, Brazil. There are more than 730 amphibian species in Brazil, 467 of which are endemic to the region.
在井壁旁(飲水)的母獅 Lioness at Borehole, South Africa

喀拉哈里大羚羊國家公園裏，一頭母獅子正在一個岩石圍起的水塘邊飲水，這個公園建在南非北部開普省的一片3,700平方英里(9,600平方米)的沙漠之中。在二十世紀之交，南非的獅子遭到大肆捕殺，幾乎消失殆盡。但在十九世紀九十年代建立的首個國家動物保護區，已取得了顯著的成效。
Photograph by Chris Johns
A lioness drinks from a rock-ringed borehole in Kalahari-Gemsbok National Park, a 3,700-square-mile (9,600-square-kilometer) slice of desert in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. Lions had all but disappeared from South Africa by the turn of the 20th century due to unbridled hunting, but the seeds of a remarkable comeback were planted in the 1890s with the country’s first game reserves.
貓鼬爪子 Meerkat Paws, South Africa

這張喀拉哈里沙漠貓鼬的局部特寫照片顯示出其強健有力的耙子狀爪子，這是其適應洞穴生活的一項重要特徵。貓鼬們都是挖洞專家，它們經常挖到完全看不見的地方去尋找可能存在的食物，其包括甲蟲，蠍子，昆蟲幼蟲和小型爬行動物等。
Photograph by Mattias Klum
A close-up of meerkat in the Kalahari Desert shows its sturdy, rakelike claws, an important adaptation for their tunneling lifestyle. Meerkats are master excavators, frequently digging themselves entirely out of sight in pursuit of potential meals, which include beetles, scorpions, insect larvae, and small reptiles.