Meet the ANIMALS of the SAVANA

One of the most important biomes that exist on our planet are the savannas. These biomes are found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, but mostly on the African continent and South America. They are also a territory that houses a great biodiversity in terms of herbivorous animals, predators, mammals, birds, reptiles or insects. In today's lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about savanna animals. If you are interested in knowing the fauna that inhabits this important biome, keep reading us!

The original concept of sheet equates to a:

Characteristic biome in which the tree canopy has little coverage, either due to the low density of trees or because these trees are small.

Savannas are biomes that are mainly located located in the tropics of the Earth and they represent an intermediate biome between semi-deserts and jungle biomes.

The ecosystems most representative that are part of the savannah are the extensive meadows with few trees, low-lying vegetation and a rather flat terrain, which is why savannas are often known as tropical grasslands.

The typical climate of the savannah is dry with seasonal rainfall intensity and that each year the region temporarily has green pastures to feed the large herds of animals that live there.

The geographical location of the savannas are the tropical and subtropical areas of the planet, where regions located in tropical dry climates abound. Thus, the most important savannas in the world are distributed throughout the African continent, but there are also some savanna regions in India, Australia, South America (the most important are in Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil) or Madagascar.

In the savannas there is a lot of biodiversity and the fauna varies according to the area in which we are located, due among other things to the alternation between dry and humid climates. Main savannah animals se they can classify as follows.

Savannah herbivores

The herbivorous animals that inhabit the savannas should not worry about hunting and live mainly in the African savannas feeding on the herbaceous stratum. These animals have adapted to feed on any plant, to make the most of the resources, and during the driest season they migrate to regions with a greater development of vegetation.

The young of these animals are rapidly developing and are able to walk within a few hours of being born. Herbivorous animals in the savanna they must protect themselves from predators, so they usually live in herds of several individuals, and thus manage to be more successful in their escape from the large predators that stalk them. In addition, they have also been adapting and developing better and better strategies to avoid being hunted, that is why they are animals with high speed, good distance and peripheral vision and great smell.

Examples of herbivorous animals of the savannah are zebras, horses, wildebeest, antelope, deer, gazelle, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, buffalo, ostriches or the okapi.

Predators of the savannah

Another of the animals of the savannah are those known as predators. Since there are a large number of herbivorous animals in the savannas, there are also a large number of predators, such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs or the black mamba.

The black mamba is one of the most fearsome snakes that exists because it is one of the most poisonous snakes that inhabits the African continent. As herbivores do, developing ever better strategies to avoid being hunted, Predators develop their strategies to be able to hunt them and avoid the escape attempts of the herbivores.

An example of this is the cheetah high speed (and other large predators), which is one of the most beautiful animals that inhabits the savannas. However, most predators cannot maintain this intense speed for long periods of time.

One of the most important adaptations of it is stay together with a group when hunting, because living in society and hunting in a group gives them greater chances of success in their objectives. For the survival of these animals it is very important to live in these groups and hunt a minimum of times every certain time, otherwise they could die.

Savanna mammals

The mammals of the savannah are well known and representative of these biomes. Some of these animals are:

• Primates such as baboons and baboons. They are primates that usually live suspended in the treetops. However, their populations are increasingly depleted because their habitats are increasingly fragmented, with fewer trees and greater distances from each other.
• Herbivorous mammals, as previously commented. Some of these are zebras, wildebeest, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, hippos and the warthog or warthog.
• The carnivorous mammals that hunt and maintain herbivore populations (as already mentioned). These include lions, jackals, cougars, meerkats, or cheetahs.
• Other mammalian animals that feed on insects and small invertebrates such as the land wolf, the anteater or the pig.

Each of the species of animals that inhabit the savannah have adaptations to the conditions that occur in their habitats.

Savanna birds

Within the animals of the savannah, we cannot ignore the group of birds either. And it is that we also have numerous species that inhabit the savannah, among which the following stand out:

• Running birds like ostrich
• The common mouse bird
• Scavengers such as the African white vulture or Egyptian vulture
• Birds that build their nests in the herbaceous layer such as starlings or weavers. Since they build their nests low, they are unprotected from predators.
• Birds like the common quelea, which feed on grass seeds and grains.

Savannah insects and reptiles

Despite the fact that in the savannas there are great thermal amplitudes between the cold season and the hottest, there are cold-blooded animals that are capable of adapting to these conditions, such as the reptiles. Some reptiles that inhabit the savannas are:

• The African crocodile. Inhabitant of lakes, ponds or forest swamps in the center of the African continent
• The sulcata tortoise. This is one of the largest turtles that currently exist on the planet
• Snakes like the black mamba, already mentioned above.

Between the arthropods insects we have the grasshoppers, termites, or ants. These insects feed mainly on vegetation and migrate during the driest season of the year. Other important members of this group of insects are some of the most dangerous flies and mosquitoes in the world, which are capable of transmit serious diseases such as malaria or malaria, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis or yellow fever. These include the presence of the tsetse fly, which is capable of transmitting sleeping sickness.

Now that we know the animals of the savannah, let's get to know the different types of sheets that exist. And it is that according to their geographical location, type of soil, temperature or their flora and fauna, the savannas of the world are classified into different types. These are:

Intertropical savannas

They are usually located in the intertropical areas of the planet, although sometimes they can also be located in the subtropical areas. An example of this class of savannas is found in Africa and the most representative is that of the Serengeti located in Tanzania. This type of savannah is characterized by dry and not very fertile soil, having a temperate climate, with rains part of the year and droughts the rest.

Temperate savannas

They are located in the middle latitudes of the five continents. This type of savannah is characterized by having a humid summer and cold, dry winters. Its soils are quite fertile.

Mediterranean savannas

They are located in the middle latitudes of the five continents and have a more or less Mediterranean climate. This type of savannah has a semi-arid environment with a soil with little vegetation and little showy. The characteristic fauna of this type of savannah are lions, elephants, giraffes, etc.

Mountainous savannas

They are located in high latitudes, alpine and subalpine areas in different regions of the planet, although most are in the mountainous areas of Africa. Because they are located between mountains, they have a high rate of rainfall and a large amount of flora and fauna. Another way in which they are classified is according to the seasonality of the year and the class of soil in:

• Hyperstational: these savannas have very clayey soils and slow drainage, but drier from a meter deep. They are located in humid areas on the edges of rivers
• Seasonal: they have thick, well-drained soils with little capacity to retain water
• Non-seasonal: they are located in rainy areas, but with very poor soils

Savannas usually have quite warm temperatures throughout the year. The summer months are generally rainy and humid, while the rest of the year is usually drier.

As a general rule, the climate is usually tropic with some drier periods and a average temperature around 17 ºC. Its average annual level of rainfall is between 750 and 1300 mm, while during the dry season (at less 5 months a year), rainfall does not reach 100 mm per month, and it is also the coldest time in the year.

Nevertheless, the level of rainfall is not constant from one year to another, but variable. Thus, in years when there is an increase in the level of rainfall, more vegetation can develop up to form a canopy that shades the grasslands, and in years with little rainfall, the growth of grasses.