In some places early January is the most extreme time of the year. This is a time where mother nature really let's loose and prepares for the rest of the year, releasing temperatures that would freeze the bum of Old Man Jenkins.
In this drastic drop of temperatures, there are animals that have adapted to the weather.
Now my first animal on this list isn't really one you would expect
Now this animal is one that loves to live his life on the high side. Resulting in it's Latin name, "omnisuperstes" which means "highest of all". First discovered by TG. Longstaff on his expedition in 1922 at the height of 5,000 metres. It later gained popularity when also seen by Richard Hingston in his expedition on 1924 at 6,700 metres and Lawrence W. Swan at 5,500 metres in her joint expedition to Makalu in the year 1954 ๐๏ธ.
The Himalayan Jumping Spider is poisonous although it isn't dangerous to humans.
Like all ordinary jumping spiders, they have the same 4 large eyes on their face, which gives them sharp eyesight for hunting.
It helps to measure and guage distances for a nice effective jump between slopes to catch their prey.
They prey on springtails, flies and other small insects.
I know a whole lot of people would be asking themselves right now..
What the hell is a wฤtฤ?
Well Thank God for Wikipedia ๐๐
Wฤtฤ (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous. Wฤtฤ are preyed on by introduced mammals, and some species are now critically endangered. - Wiki
Well that's it for Wฤtฤ's. The Mountain Stone Wฤtฤ, is the one we would be looking at.
Native to New Zealand, this particular specie has evolved a way to deal with the chill in the Southern Alps. When the temperature drops below freezing, our ice cool Wฤtฤ friend would freeze too. Later when it thaws out, the Wฤtฤ follows and resumes life as an ice chill giant insect freezing machine๐ฅถ๐ง
When your talking of extremely cool birds, you can't even hold the conversation without this crowned Ave.
The Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch is a sturdy bird whose natural habitats are the rocky tundra of Alaska down south to the mountain ranges including the Sierra Nevada.
While many cowards move downslope or migrate south in the winter, the rost finches are toughing it out on the Aleutian and Pribilof islands year-round.
Another extreme trait of the finches is the fact that it breeders higher than any other bird in North America as it nests on the slopes of 20,310 foot Mount Denali.
Cus, what's more appealing to a female than a male who lives his life on the edge?๐
The Siberian Salamander is another freezer organism. But Unlike the Wฤtฤ above who only freezes for short period of times, this salamander can go cold for years
Having a wide distribution from Northern Russia eastwards to Korea and Japan. It's the only amphibian far north of it's range.
When winter approaches, adult males may go to near moss ponds where they can breed in the coming spring.
Here, they can freeze without any fear of damage from ice crystals, as temperature drops to -22โฐ Fahrenheit. As temperature rises, the salamander rises and becomes active.
Surely no extremely cold list would be complete without the Ice walkers crawlers
These chill insects looks like a mix of a cricket and a cockroach, which in turn brings up it's Latin name. ( Cricket in Greek = gryll , Cockroach in Greek = blatta)
These omnivorous insects manage to eat by scouring glaciers and snow at unholy temperatures of freezing or even below freezing looking for dead insects. If the temperature rises above 50โฐ Fahrenheit, some species may die.
That's it for our extremely cool animals. Thanks for reading and if you liked don't forget...
For further reading on these cool animals, check out these links
