National Geographic Kids

NATGEOKIDS.COM • MARCH 2021

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IN!

How
frogs

rule the
rainforest

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Animals are

Wild, Wonderful,

and One-of-a-Kind!

Check Out These Aww-dorable Animals!

Newborn PGAINANDAT Fuzzy blue penguins, prickly
giant pandas are This panda cub isn’t very little hedgehogs, big-eyed
vervet monkeys ... discover
pink and only old, but it’s already a spectacular pictures, fun facts,
about six inches pretty awesome climber. and silly surprises featuring the
Panda paws have special pads cutest creatures on Earth.
(15 cm) long. that work sort of like human
thumbs—they come in handy,
yGestaimaarnyolotasnptcgtabin,veudeanaralssil.kl e helping the pandas keep a
4 tight grip on tree branches
as they climb. The pads also
help them hold on to their
favorite food, bamboo.
Bamboo is tough stuff, so
pandas make good use of
big jaw muscles to chew
this treelike plant. These
jaw muscles also help shape
their lovable round faces!

5

Nerd Out With Some Cool Critters!

This book was made for animal lovers
who want to become experts on their
favorite subject. It’s filled with weird
and fascinating info about some of
nature’s most bizarre and brainy
creatures, along with quizzes, cool
photos, and so much more.

Tag Along on These Awesome Adventures!

As a kid, Gabby Wild dreamed
of working with animals—and
now, as a veterinarian, she travels
to fascinating places around the
world to save them. Find out what
it’s like to be a vet and how all
kinds of species—familiar and
exotic—live and survive in the wild.

AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD © 2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC
Discover more at natgeokids.com

Editor in Chief and Vice President, IN THIS ISSUE DEPARTMENTS
Kids Magazines & Digital
Rachel Buchholz 12 Frog Squad 4 Weird
But True!
Design Director, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson Discover five awesome amphibian features that will
turn you into a frog fan. 5 Guinness
Editorial Kay Boatner, Senior Editor / Digital Producer; World Records
Allyson Shaw, Editor / Digital Producer 20 Brainpower
6 All About Money
Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor Discover the different 7 Bet You
ways these animal
Production Sean Philpotts, Director brains work. Didn’t Know!
8 By the Numbers
Digital Laura Goertzel, Director 22 30 Cool Things 10 Amazing Animals
About Sleep 28 Fun Stuff
PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC
These fun facts will PPOAFGUSETSN1E8–R19!
Chairman of the Board of Directors wake you up.
Jean Case
24 Wild Vet COVER: LINAS TOLEIKIS / GETTY IMAGES
Chairman, National Geographic Partners Adventures (FROG); GP232 / GETTY IMAGES (CARA-
Gary E. Knell CAL); MARTIN WITHERS / FLPA / MINDEN
See how one wildlife doctor PICTURES (ELEPHANT); JAMES YAMASAKI
Editorial Director cared for three critters. (ILLUSTRATION); PAUL NICKLEN / NATIONAL
Susan Goldberg GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (PEN-
JUST FOR PARENTS GUIN). PAGE 3: MARTIN VAN LOKVEN /
Managing Editor, Magazines MINDEN PICTURES (FROG); CORINA
David Brindley For corrections and clarifications, DANIELA OBERTAS / ALAMY (DOLPHIN);
go online. natgeo.com/corrections MITSUYOSHI TATEMATSU / NATURE PRO-
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When you read with us, you help further
International Magazine Publishing Yulia Petrossian Boyle, the work of our scientists, explorers, and
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GUINNESS

WORLD

RECORDS

ANDRÉ ORTOLF BROKE THE DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!
RECORD DRINKING FROM
MUSTARD TUBES, WHICH
IS HOW THE CONDIMENT
COMES IN GERMANY.

MORE PLEASE! GINORMOUS
MUSTARD, HORNS

Step up to the plate: André Ortolf guzzled nearly 15 Need something to dry your clothes on? This
ounces of mustard from tubes in one sitting, the most Texas longhorn has the largest horn spread of
drunk in 30 seconds. Ortolf really loves the condiment— any steer. From tip to tip, his horn spread spans
he also holds the record for the fastest time to drink nearly 11 feet—more than twice the width of a
seven ounces of mustard: 12 seconds! grand piano. Although the bull’s horns look like
they could do some serious damage, the steer’s
owners call him a gentle giant.

LOOONG BIKE

Grab your helmet—er, helmets. Engineering students at the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia, built the
world’s longest bike, which measures nearly 136 feet in length. That’s approximately twice the length of a bowling
lane. Seven riders had to pedal the bike for more than 300 feet without tipping over—on a straight path, of course.
Nobody’s making any tight turns on this bike!

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (ALL IMAGES). INFORMATION 5MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS
PROVIDED BY © 2021 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.

ALL BY KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI

ABOUT

MONEY

SOUTH SUDAN, From 1793 to 1857, A frilled lizard
the U.S. Mint
a new country in produced a half- appeared on Australia’s
cent, the smallest
AFRICA, issued its two-cent coin.
value coin in
FIRST American

COINS history.

in 2015.

SCYPHATES (sy-FATES) were An PETERHERMESFURIAN / GETTY IMAGES (SUDAN MAP); BOURNEMOUTH NEWS / REX SHUTTERSTOCK (HALF-CENT); DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE / ALAMY
UNFLATTERING (LIZARD); HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP LTD / ALAMY (SCYPHATE); SAM WOLFE / THE PRESS-JOURNAL VIA AP (GOLD COIN); ZU_09 / GETTY IMAGES
BOWL-SHAPED COINS commonly used PORTRAIT (LEOPOLD I PORTRAIT); SEPIA TIMES / UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES (LEOPOLD I COIN); HAVESEEN / GETTY IMAGES (COOKIES); PAOLO-
of Holy GAETANO / GETTY IMAGES (CAESAR AUGUSTUS); MONEY & COINS @ IAN SANDERS / ALAMY (BALBOA); KELLEY MILLER / NG STAFF (PIGGY BANK)
in the Byzantine Empire between Roman Emperor
the 11th and 14th centuries.
LEOPOLD I
During a DIVING
on a 1670 coin
trip, a Florida supposedly led to
family found
the nickname
300-YEAR-OLD
“LEOPOLD THE
sunken gold coins HOGMOUTH.”
worth around
Caesar Augustus— MONEY TIP!
$1 MILLION. the first emperor of
the Roman KEEP THAT
In 2013, a BUS COMPANY in FINLAND Empire— SPARE CHANGE!
let 1,000 customers pay for tickets with owned
one of the THE AVERAGE
GINGERBREAD world’s HOUSEHOLD HAS
COOKIES. earliest
recorded ABOUT $68
coin
collections. WORTH OF LOOSE
CHANGE LYING
Panama’s currency, AROUND AT ANY
GIVEN TIME.
THE BALBOA, PUT THIS EXTRA

is named for 16th- CASH INTO YOUR
SAVINGS, AND IT’LL
century SPANISH
EXPLORER Vasco REALLY START TO

Núñez de ADD UP.
Balboa.

6 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021

7 brilliantfactsabout
the color green BY PAIGE TOWLER

1 Thelargest Estimatedatover$300 million, 3

snake in the world, the Bahia Emerald weighs more Mahana
the green anaconda, than 750 pounds and is said Beach in Hawaii

weighs around 2 tobecursed. has green
550 pounds—more sand.
GREEN ANACONDA
than an adult

lion.

4 Despite 7

its name, about Legend has it
80 percent of
that wearing green on
Greenland is
St. Patrick’s Day makes
covered in
youinvisible to
ice.
leprechauns—who like
5
6 topinchpeople
During a phenomenon they see!
known as the
For about 100 years 7NAT GEO KIDS
green flash,
starting in the late 18th
Earth’s atmosphere scatters
light in a way that makes century,green dyesand

the settingor risingsun paintswereoften madewitha

briefly appear green. poisoncalledarsenic.

GERARD LACZ / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES

HOW MANY MOONS?

Look up in the night sky and you’ll see our moon.
But astronomers have discovered at least 205 moons
orbiting planets in our solar system! Get to know
them with this moon chart.

MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS JUPITER

0 0 1 2 79
MOONS
MOONS MOONS MOON MOONS

Mars’s two moons
aren’t round and
bright like Earth’s.
Instead, they’re
lumpy and dark.

8 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021

CHECK
OUT THE
BOOK!

BY JENNIFER ADRION AND OMAR NOORY

Ganymede, URANUS NEPTUNE
one of Jupiter’s
moons, is the
largest moon in
the solar system.

SATURN

82 27 14 ZERN LIEW / SHUTTERSTOCK (SOLAR SYSTEM); BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE / SHUTTERSTOCK (NIGHT SKY)
MOONS MOONS MOONS

Europa, another one of
Jupiter’s moons, is thought to
have a deep saltwater ocean

beneath its icy shell.

9MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

WE’RE TWO RELATED OTTERS
SO GLAD WALK NEAR MARINA
THAT YOU BAY, SINGAPORE.
STOPPED

BY!

Welcome to Otter Island!

Singapore

It’s hard enough running a marathon. But Now biologists are studying the

try running those 26.2 miles while dodging island’s 90 or so otters to learn how

scampering otters in the road. That’s life the species, found throughout much of

OTTERS EXPLORE A for the people in Singapore, a country in Asia, is adapting to city life. For example,
NEIGHBORHOOD IN
THE CENTER OF THIS Southeast Asia, where smooth-coated these otter pups live with their parents
ISLAND-COUNTRY.
river otters live alongside humans. about a year longer than other smooth-

About 50 years ago, the rivers on this coated otters, since they don’t have as

island were so polluted that these native much territory to spread out in. Instead

otters could no longer survive there. of burrowing in the dirt, they make dens

But thanks to decades of programs in concrete bridges; instead of sleeping

that cleaned up the rivers, the otters in a forest, they snooze between slabs

have made a comeback in the urban of pavement. This island is now otterly

environment. wild! —Claire Turrell

10 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 A FAMILY OF
OTTERS SWIMS
IN MARINA BAY,
SINGAPORE.

LEAVE THE ADÉLIE
THOSE PENGUIN RUNS TO
CHICKS STAND BETWEEN
ALONE! A GIANT PETREL
AND A GROUP OF
EMPEROR PENGUIN
CHICKS.

GRACIE POSES I DON’T
WITH OWNER MARK THINK THESE
BIEL IN GLACIER SHEEP HAVE A
NATIONAL PARK. PARK PASS.

GRACIE WATCHES Penguin
OVER BIGHORN Rescues Chicks
SHEEP NEAR
THE LOGAN PASS
PARKING LOT.

Dumont d’Urville Station,

Antarctica

This Adélie penguin can’t fly, but

it’s still a superhero.

A group of four-month-old

emperor penguin chicks was headed

to the ocean when a hungry giant

petrel swooped in. The seabird

nipped at the chicks and nearly

nabbed a youngster. Then suddenly

Bark Ranger an Adélie penguin waddled over
and stood between the petrel and
the chicks. Realizing it couldn’t
fight an adult Adélie, the petrel

flew away.

Glacier National Park, Montana “This plucky penguin probably

Gracie the border collie loves to play chase—chase the bighorn sheep, that is! wasn’t trying to be a hero,” penguin

The pup is a “bark ranger” at Glacier National Park, where her duties include scientist Ron Naveen says.“Adélies

herding wild sheep and mountain goats away from popular hiking areas like and emperors share the same habi-

Logan Pass. These animals can be aggressive to humans and attract mountain tat, and they’re wary of predators

lions, so Gracie is keeping visitors safe. “To us, she’s a cute, fluffy dog,” park who threaten them. So the Adélie

ranger Mark Biel says. “But to these animals, she looks like a predator.” probably just saw the petrel and

Gracie trained with domestic sheep for 12 weeks before becoming a ranger. decided to chase it away.”

Now she’s a pro, chasing away animals better than a human ranger could. Wildlife filmmaker Frederique

“People would clap their hands to get the sheep to leave,” Biel says. But Olivier, who filmed the scene, was

that stopped working once the sheep got used to it. glad to see the Adélie arrive.

When she’s not on the job, Gracie lives with Biel and a cat named Bob— JUST CALL “I’ve seen many chicks taken
that she’s not supposed to chase. —Alli Dickey ME SUPER by giant petrels,” she says.
PENGUIN. “I was relieved that this
time the chicks won.”

—Bethany Augliere

DOG

Glacier National

Park, Montana

OTTERS
Singapore

PENGUIN THE CHICKS HUDDLE
Dumont d’Urville TOGETHER TO APPEAR
Station, LARGER WHILE THE
Antarctica ADÉLIE STANDS IN
FRONT OF THEM.
“WELCOME TO OTTER ISLAND!” TEXT ADAPTED FROM A MARCH 2020 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ONLINE ARTICLE. STEFANO UNTERTHINER
(OTTERS, ALL); NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / ALICE WONDRAK BIEL (GRACIE, BOTH); BBC MOTION GALLERY / GETTY IMAGES (PENGUINS, BOTH) 11MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

Red-eyed
tree frogs have an

excellent sense
of smell.

Twhilel steuranwyeosuominetoaamfprohgibfiaann.features A group
of frogs is called
A BY ROSE DAVIDSON
red-eyed tree frog croaks softly on a an army.
branch in a steamy Central American
MARTIN VAN LOKVEN / MINDEN PICTURES (MAIN); INGO rainforest. Suddenly the frog goes EYE SURPRISE can still spy on its habitat.
ARNDT / MINDEN PICTURES (CLOSED EYE, OPEN EYE) silent—it hears something. A viper Birds, snakes, and large
nearly as long as a baseball bat slithers slowly A sleepy red-eyed tree frog spiders all dine on red-eyed
toward the three-inch-long frog. tucks its blue legs into its tree frogs, which live in
The reptile lunges forward, but the snake sides, slips its orange feet rainforests ranging from
isn’t fast enough. The bright-green croaker under its belly, and closes its southern Mexico all the way
springs into the air toward a higher branch. eyes. Now practically invisible down to the northwestern
The viper gives up and slithers off to find against the green plants, the tip of Colombia in South
another meal. frog will spend most of the America. If one shows up,
Earth is home to more than 7,000 species of day snoozing. But camouflage this frog will spot them.
frogs, many of which aren’t much bigger than isn’t this frog’s coolest trick;
a quarter. But these small amphibians possess its see-through eyelid is. And when the frog senses
some seriously big surprises. movement, like if a toucan
“Frogs are way tougher than they look,” says Even though the frog lands nearby, it opens its
Phil Bishop, a scientific adviser for the Amphibian appears to have its eyes special eyelids to reveal its
Survival Alliance. “Some of them have cool, closed, it’s still observing its bright-red eyeballs. This flash
bonus body parts, some of them can practically surroundings. That’s because of red is likely enough to
fly, and some could even kill a human.” the frog’s peepers have a startle the hungry predator,
Check out how five amazing jumpers use translucent eyelid covered giving the frog a chance to
everything from their ears to their webbed with golden lines. It closes get away quickly. Better luck
feet to live their best life in the rainforest. this lid over its eyeballs when next time, toucan.
it’s resting so it looks like it’s
12 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 asleep—but the amphibian

Closed

A SEE-THROUGH EYELID
LETS RED-EYED TREE
FROGS CHECK OUT
THEIR SURROUNDINGS
WHILE THEY REST.

Open

OPEN WIDE! RED- A RED-EYED TREE
EYED TREE FROGS FROG SITS ON A PLANT
REVEAL THEIR SHOOT IN THE SOUTH
BRIGHT-RED EYES TO AMERICAN COUNTRY
ALARM PREDATORS. OF COSTA RICA.

13NAT GEO KIDS

A WALLACE’S
FLYING FROG
GLIDES THROUGH
A RAINFOREST
IN MALAYSIA,
A COUNTRY IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA.

FLYING FEET before making a smooth landing.
Wide, sticky toe pads create cush-
A Wallace’s flying frog eyes a lower branch on
a nearby tree in its rainforest home in ions to soften the impact as Wallace’s
Southeast Asia. Rather than climbing down flying frogs land. These frogs have
one tree and then up the other to reach the been spotted gliding 50 feet, or
branch, the frog simply takes flight. about the distance between the
pitcher’s mound and home plate on
It splays out its four webbed feet as it a Little League field. “They probably
leaps down. Membranes between the frog’s glide that far to escape predators,”
toes trap air from underneath to form tiny Bishop says. Traveling the extra
parachute-like shapes. Loose skin flaps on distance beats becoming a snack.
either side of the frog’s body catch more air
as it falls. It glides easily to the other tree

WOOD FROG FROG OR TOAD?

A toad is actually a type of frog. But they’re different from their frog cousins—called
true frogs—in important ways. Find out how you can tell a true frog from a toad.

Frogs have two bulging eyes. Toad eyes don’t pop out as much.

These hoppers have smooth, moist skin. A toad’s skin is dry.

A true frog lays eggs in clusters. These animals lay eggs in long chains.

Frogs spend most of their time Toads can be found away from water,
near water. in yards and gardens.

14 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 STEPHEN DALTON / MINDEN PICTURES (FLYING FROG, MAIN); QUENTIN MARTINEZ / BIOSPHOTO /
MINDEN PICTURES (FLYING FROG, INSET); MICHELLE GILDERS / ALAMY (WOOD FROG); JOHN SERRAO /

SCIENCE SOURCE (AMERICAN TOAD); CHIEN LEE / MINDEN PICTURES (HOLE-IN-THE-HEAD FROG)

MEMBRANE TINY EARS, BIG NOISE

It’s almost impossible to hear anything over a thundering
waterfall—unless you’re a hole-in-the-head frog living in
a rainforest in Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia. They’re
named for markings that look like, well, holes in their head.
But their actual holes are for ears—just behind their
eyes—that give them super-hearing skills.

Instead of ears, most frogs have an eardrum called the
tympanum that sits just behind each eye. But the hole-in-
the-head frog is one of a few frog species that can croak
out and hear ultrasonic calls, or calls at a pitch too high to
be heard by humans and many other animals. These frogs
likely evolved this way so they could communicate above the
rumble of fast-flowing rivers and streams in their habitat.
“They’re probably communicating things like what species
they are and when they’re ready to mate,” Bishop says.“It’s
the same things most frogs ‘talk’ about—just louder.”

Wallace’s SILENCE? Males
flying frogs live WHAT’S vocalize more
mostly in trees, THAT? than females
coming down only in most frog

to mate and species.
lay eggs.

A WALLACE’S
FLYING FROG RESTS
ON A TREE IN THE
SOUTHEAST ASIAN
ISLAND OF BORNEO.

AMERICAN
TOAD

TAKE A QUIZ TO TEST YOUR FROG SMARTS.
natgeokids.com/march

15MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

dessert?
I thought
you’d never

ask!

AN AFRICAN
BULLFROG
RESTS IN THE
MIDDLE OF A
STREAM .

MEGA-MOUTH ODONTODE

M. WATSON / ARDEA / AGEFOTOSTOCK (AFRICAN BULLFROG, MOUTH CLOSED); STU PORTER / SHUTTERSTOCK (AFRICAN BULLFROG, MOUTH OPEN); REPTILES4ALL / An African bullfrog buries its body into the ground, blending in
GETTY IMAGES (DYEING POISON FROG, MAIN); JAMES B. BARNETT (DYEING POISON FROG, INSET); CHRIS WARE (COMIC). GP232 / GETTY IMAGES (CARACAL, PAGES 18-19) with the sub-Saharan grassland where it lives. It waits patiently
for its next meal to pass by. A fly flutters within eyesight, then—
slurp! The frog juts out its tongue and opens its massive mouth.
Then it pulls in its supper. Or, at least, its evening appetizer.

African bullfrogs can fit a whole lot more than just a fly in their
huge mouths, which open approximately five inches wide, or over
half the size of their eight-inch-long bodies. That’s like if you could
open your mouth more than two feet!

These frogs aren’t picky eaters, dining on rodents, birds, lizards,
and even other frogs. After they’ve used their strong tongues to
pull in prey, they pierce the animal with toothlike structures
called odontodes, located on their lower jaw. Sharp teeth on the
roof of the bullfrog’s mouth keep the prey in place. Now the frog
can take its time and enjoy the meal. Um, yum?

COOLEST SKIN FOR THE WIN MOST
FASHIONABLE
A dyeing poison frog sticks its head out from underneath FROG EVER?

a pile of leaves on the rainforest floor to see if it’s been ME, DUH!

spotted. It’s not likely: From far away, the frog’s black,

blue, and yellow pattern breaks up the outline of its body,

camouflaging it in the northeastern rainforests of South

America where it lives.

Up close, the frog’s bright hues are hard to miss. But these

amphibians still don’t have to worry much about predators.

Their skin is packed with poison that can paralyze or even

kill other animals; the colors are a warning sign to anything

that gets too close.“Dyeing poison frogs get their toxins

from the insects they eat,” Bishop says.

“Predators have learned to associate A DYEING POISON
their colors with a bad taste or FROG BLENDS IN
feeling sick.” The poison WITH FALLEN
from certain species his- LEAVES IN FRENCH
GUIANA, A COUNTRY
torically has been used IN SOUTH AMERICA.

on the tips of hunting

darts, giving poison

frogs their other

common name,

“poison dart

frogs.” Yikes.

16

Male SLURP—GOTCHA!
African bullfrogs
can weigh more Frogs have excellent eyesight and cool camouflage, and can even fly (sort of).
But their most impressive body part might be their tongues. Check out how these
than four amphibians use their flickers to snatch unsuspecting prey.
pounds.

AN AFRICAN 1 OH HEY, PREY 2 COMIN’ AT YA
BULLFROG EYES
ITS NEXT MEAL: A frog’s tongue is made of two major The amphibian opens its jaws and rotates
A GIANT AFRICAN muscles: an extender and a retractor. With the tongue to increase its speed. A frog’s
MILLIPEDE. its mouth closed, its extender fires the tongue accelerates at 12 times the force
tongue toward its prey (hi, fly!) at 13 feet a of gravity, four times stronger than what
second, or six times faster than a fighter jet. astronauts feel during a rocket launch!

Only one 3 SO STUCK 4 DINNER IS SERVED
natural predator—
Once it has snagged a snack, a frog can Say “bye,” fly! Once it’s hooked a meal, a
the fire-bellied- wrap its tongue around prey to keep it frog’s retractor yanks on the tongue, which
snake—is immune to from escaping. Plus, its tongue is covered zooms back into the frog’s mouth like a
with mucus glands that secrete super-sticky rubber band. This takes .07 seconds, or five
this frog’s poison. spit—so good luck not getting stuck, fly. times faster than a human blinks.

WATCH A COOL FROG VIDEO.
natgeokids.com/march

17MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

Caracals can leap 10 feet to swipe a bird out of the air. These wild cats also eat animals like hares and small antelopes. The tufts of hair on the caracal’s ear

tips might help them hear better so they can listen for prey. Moms often raise their kittens in old aardvark burrows in the savannas and scrublands of Africa.

‹‹ Discover the different ways these animal brains work. BY McKENNA BECKER

Almost all animals have brains, but not all brains are the same.
Different sections of the brain do different things, and working together, those parts of the brain help its

owner survive. For example, a wolf might need extra brainpower to recognize smells but less to distinguish
between lots of different colors. So the brains of different animals have adapted over millions of years,
developing bigger sections (compared with the rest of the animal’s brain) based on what that species needs.
Take a peek at these five animal brains to discover how they work—and why.

CEREBELLUM

DOLPHIN
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
Dolphins use echolocation to find prey and navigate

through murky waters. They make clicking noises, then

listen for the sound waves bouncing back to judge where FLYING
LEMUR
things are. So dolphins are great at processing auditory
ANIMAL
information, or sound. A VIEW BEHAVIOR
INSIDE THE
BRAIN BUILD Flying lemurs can glide up
BRAIN to 200 feet in a single leap.
Dolphins have large The tricky part? Landing
AUDITORY CORTEX on a branch high off the
ground. These aerial acro-
inferior colliculus and batics require excellent
coordination, muscle
auditory cortex control, and balance.

sections of the brain

to process sounds that

most animals can’t

hear. After sound

waves hit their ears,

neurons in the inferior

colliculus react and then INFERIOR COLLICULUS
send signals to the

auditory cortex,

where the information OPTIC LOBE

is processed.

So “Click EAGLE

click” = ANIMAL
BEHAVIOR
“Fish
Eagles can spot prey from
nearby.” two miles away and see
almost eight times as far
as humans. Their excellent
vision is also boosted by their
large eyeballs: If humans had
eyes like eagles, they’d be the
size of oranges.

BRAINS are made up of CELLS called NEURONS, which SEND and RECEIVE messages to CREATE THOUGHTS

20 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 CORINA DANIELA OBERTAS / ALAMY (DOLPHIN); NICK GARBUTT / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (FLYING LEMUR); RONALD POL / NIS / MINDEN
PICTURES (EAGLE); THEO ALLOFS / MINDEN PICTURES (ELEPHANT); IMAGEBROKER / ALAMY (SEA LION). TEXT REVIEWED BY JEFFREY R. STEVENS.

NEOCORTEX

A VIEW
INSIDE THE

BRAIN

ART BY CLAYTON HANMER HIPPOCAMPUS

BRAIN BUILD ELEPHANT BRAIN BUILD

Flying lemurs have a larger ANIMAL BEHAVIOR Elephants have a large neocortex—the
cerebellum than some of foldy,outermost layer of the brain—compared
their fellow primates. This Elephants can recognize themselves to other animals. This part of the noodle
part of the brain allows ani- in a mirror, remember faces, and turn contains lots of layers of neurons; more
mals to create coordinated branches into tools. To do all that, elephants space for neurons means more messages
movements.(For you, that have strong information processing and going back and forth, which means more
might mean riding a bike or memory skills. complex thoughts. Elephants also have a
reaching for a glass.) The large hippocampus, which is one of the
muscles, optic lobe, and spots where long-term memories are
other parts of the brain stored.With a brain like that,maybe the say-
send information to the ing is true: An elephant never forgets!
cerebellum about where in
the air the lemur is. Then SENSORY CORTEX MEET YOUR
neurons process this infor- BRAIN!
mation and send instruc- SEA LION
tions to the lemur’s body Humans are great
for how to nail the perfect ANIMAL at making plans,
landing. BEHAVIOR forming goals, and
knowing right from
BRAIN BUILD By brushing their wrong. And it’s all
whiskers against thanks to our pre-
Eagles need a big optic objects, sea lions can frontal cortex, which
lobe to process all that sense shape, size, and is most developed
visual information. Light texture—sort of like in humans. It’s like a
hitting the eagle’s eyeball how fingers would. computer that helps
starts a process in which They can also use their us choose to look
neurons send messages to whiskers to feel ripples both ways at a cross-
each other to analyze the in the water, which are walk and get started
shape, color, and move- sometimes created by on our homework—
ment of what the eagle fish, their favorite food. even when it’s the
sees. Hey, cool bird brain. last thing we really
want to do.

BRAIN BUILD PREFRONTAL CORTEX

Each whisker sends information about how hard it’s being
pressed or vibrated to the sea lion’s large sensory cortex.
Then the neurons processing each whisker figure out what
the sea lion might be sensing … dinner, perhaps?

and CONTROL BODY FUNCTIONS. NEURONS have DIFFERENT SHAPES DEPENDING ON the JOB THEY DO.

21MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

12 3 Astronauts on the

Great frigate birds Big cats like lions International Space

can fly for 2 months straight sleep the same amount as pet Station typically sleep
in sleeping bags that
without landing.They nap cats: 12 to 16 hours a day. hang from the wall.
while they’re flying.
5 Ants sleep more than 250 6
4 Your times a day, napping for just
brain Your
1 minute at a time. brain is
makes sometimes
memories
more active
while you when you’re
sleep. asleep than when
you’re awake.

7 Pillows have been found in 8 9 On average, it takes a 10-year-old kid
ancient Egyptian tombs.
about 20 minutes
Myth busted: The chemical to fall asleep.
tryptophan, found
10 Newborn dolphins
in turkey,doesn’t actually
make you sleepy.

sleep for only a few 11 12
seconds at a time. Scientists think
Acadnessneorotzsenafoirl
13 that both reptiles
and birds dream 3 years.
while they’re

sleeping.

14 T0 stay awake on the 15 On average,

Meerkats sleep on top 1927 first ever solo flight a person passes
of one another in a pile. gas 14 times
over the Atlantic Ocean, aviator a day—mostly
22 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 Charles Lindbergh held his
while they’re
eyes open with his fingers.
asleep.

MARK SCHUURMAN / BUITEN-BEELD / MINDEN PICTURES (1); ILYAS KALIMULLIN / GETTY IMAGES (2); NASA (3); FG TRADE / GETTY IMAGES (4); INFOCUS / SHUT-
TERSTOCK (5); SCIEPRO / SHUTTERSTOCK (6); NEW AFRICA / SHUTTERSTOCK (7); MICHAEL COCITA / SHUTTERSTOCK (8); SORRAPONG APIDECH / EYEEM /
GETTY IMAGES (9); JEFF ROTMAN / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (10); NWDPH / SHUTTERSTOCK (11); JĀNIS SKALDIS / ALAMY (12); JUAN-CARLOS MUNOZ /
BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN PICTURES (13); UNDERWOOD ARCHIVES / CONTRIBUTOR / GETTY IMAGES (LINDBERGH, 14); PIOLKA / ISTOCK (SKY, 14);

16 17 The loudest 18
snores can
SLEEPING
reach more than SPERM
WHALE
100 decibels.

That’s as loud as

highway traffic!

Giraffes sleep for just 20 Groups
of sperm
90 minutesa day. You’re more whales
likely to yawn sometimes
19 Some small spiders and bats if someone
sleep in the folds of tree bark. near you does, sleep
straight
especially if you up and
know them. down.

BY KAY BOATNER

21 22 23
A hotel straddling the
Parrotfish sleep in a bag Gorillas sleep in nests.
border of Switzerland of their own mucus.
and France lets you

sleep with your head in
one country and your

feet in the other.

24 The longest 25 Humans 26 Ancient Greeks 27
spend about believed that People tend to
a person has gone
one-third lettuce juice sleep less
without sleep
is 10 days. of their lives could help during a full
them sleep. moon.
28 asleep.
30
Guinea
Elephants sleep both 29 The position you sleep inmight pigs often
standing upand lying down. provide clues to your personality.
If you sleep curled up, you’re most sleep with
likely shy.
their eyes
open.

MITSUYOSHI TATEMATSU / NATURE PRODUCTION / MINDEN PICTURES (16); ALF RIBEIRO / SHUTTERSTOCK (17); BY WILDESTANIMAL / GETTY IMAGES (18); 23MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS
CHERT28 / SHUTTERSTOCK (20); PICTUREP. / ADOBE STOCK (SWISS FLAG, 21); NMARQUES74 / ADOBE STOCK (FRENCH FLAG, 21); LUISA LEAL PHOTOGRAPHY /
SHUTTERSTOCK (BED, 21); ITO FUKUO / NATURE PRODUCTION / MINDEN PICTURES (22); BERND ROHRSCHNEIDER / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (23); KITTIPONG053 /
SHUTTERSTOCK (26); KEI SHOOTING / SHUTTERSTOCK (27); LORENZO NOVELLI / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES (28); WEIMING XIE / SHUTTERSTOCK (30)

WADIVLEDNTVUREETSHow one wildlife doctor cared for three critters

Animals can’t tell their doctors when they aren’t
feeling well. So that makes the job of a veterinarian
a little … well, wild. Meet Gabby Wild, who travels
the world to provide medical care for animals in
zoos, shelters, national parks, and rescue centers.
Here, the wildlife vet reveals how she treated
three animals in need of a little medicine—and
a lot of kindness.

GABBY WILD

WILD LEADS KHUN
CHAI ON ONE OF
THEIR WALKS.

ELEPHANT CALF GETS SOME TLC

Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia

“In Thailand, people sometimes use elephants as work
animals to help on their farms. One farmer illegally stole
an elephant calf from the forest, which he thought
would be cheaper than buying an adult elephant. But
soon the calf was close to dying. The farmer realized the
young elephant needed medical help.

“He brought the youngster to a wildlife hospital
where I was working, and we named the calf Khun Chai
(which means ‘prince’ in the Thai language). We observed
that he didn’t want to play with the other elephants and
refused to drink the milk we offered him.

“I had studied some elephant behavior, and I thought
that maybe he just didn’t want to be bothered. So when
I went into his enclosure, I sat quietly on the ground and
only looked at him out of the corner of my eye. About a
half hour later, I could feel a light tap on my shoulder—
Khun Chai was patting me with his trunk!

“From that moment on, Khun Chai followed me all
around the rescue center. I fed him milk five times a day,
walked him three times a day, and bathed him a few
times a week. As he ate and gained weight, he became a
healthy elephant.

“We decided that because people had raised Khun
Chai, it would be dangerous to release him back into the
forest. So eventually we moved him to a local conserva-
tion center where he could live with other elephants. I’m
glad I could help him grow up to be healthy and happy.”

24 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021





Male Asian elephants STORK TAKES A BOW REBECCA HALE / NG STAFF (WILD HEADSHOT); DR. GABBY WILD (WILD WITH
usually live with their ELEPHANT, BOTH); THEO ALLOFS / MINDEN PICTURES (ELEPHANT CALF); ERIK
Uganda, a country in Africa BEVAART / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES (STORK FLYING); DR. GABBY WILD (WILD WITH
mothers for about STORK); ERIC BACCEGA / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (STORK ON GROUND)
five years. “Sushi the shoebill stork is special—and she knows
it! She doesn’t like other storks, so she has her own
enclosure and keeper at the Uganda Wildlife Education
Center. Shoebill storks are territorial, so I knew giving
her a checkup would be tricky.

“Knowing that Sushi had a reputation for being a bit
difficult, I decided to take some special care introducing
myself before getting on with her exam. I started with my
best shoebill stork act: I stood up tall, put out my arms,
and tried to make myself look like a big bird—if she
thought I was a bigger bird, she might not attack.

“After watching me silently for a few minutes, I was
surprised to see that Sushi made a graceful bow. So I
bowed back. Then she shook her head as if to say,‘You’re
not doing it correctly,’ and bowed again. We went back and

forth bowing until we were
‘introduced’ properly. After
this, she allowed me to take
a sample of her blood so I
could check and make sure
that my new shoebill buddy
was healthy.”

SUSHI

WILD WALKS WITH
SUSHI TO OBSERVE
HER BEHAVIOR
BEFORE HER FULL
EXAM.

WILD FEEDS Shoebill storks
KHUN CHAI live in the wetlands
MILK USING
A JUG WITH A of East Africa.
REALLY LONG
“STRAW.” WATCH WILD PETS AT THE VET VIDEOS!
natgeokids.com/march

25NAT GEO KIDS

WILD WORKS JAGUAR IN THE DENTIST CHAIR
TO SAVE ONE
OF PIRATE’S Belize, a country in Central America
TEETH.
“Big cats that live in zoos sometimes have problems with their teeth
26 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 and gums. One time I was called to help give a jaguar named Pirate a
procedure to fix a root canal, which is an infection in the center of a
tooth.(People sometimes need this treatment, too!)

“To do Pirate’s dental work, we had to give him anesthesia, which is a
gas that keeps him asleep through the procedure. The gas comes from a
machine that needs electricity to run. Halfway through the dental work,
a big storm came up. The lightning flashed, and the power went out! But
I wasn’t worried: The hospital had two backup generators that kicked in
to supply power.

“But soon the first generator stopped working. I still wasn’t scared:
I only needed 15 more minutes to finish. Then the second generator
stopped—and my hands were in the big cat’s mouth! I knew that I had
less than two minutes before all of the anesthesia wore off, and I would
be working in the mouth of a very big, very crabby, very awake jaguar.

“I finished as quickly as I could, and—making sure that Pirate was
OK—hurried to move him back to his enclosure. Once inside, I didn’t
even take him off the stretcher. I just ran. As the zookeeper locked the
door, Pirate jumped to his feet. I had barely escaped a big bite!”

NICK GARBUTT / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (JAGUAR); DR. GABBY WILD (WILD WITH JAGUAR); MILA ATKOVSKA /
SHUTTERSTOCK (LABRADOR); NAGEL PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK (SNOW LEOPARD)

WHAT’S UP, DOC?

A good veterinarian is like a detective, using clues to investigate what’s wrong with
each patient. To discover how to treat an animal, Wild first asks three questions.

1 23

Jaguars have Who’s here? Why are they here? What’s been going on?
powerful jaws and The basic answer to this
sharp teeth to shred question includes the Wild wants to know why the She looks at the animal’s
animal’s species, age, and animal came in today: history. If it’s a pet,
their prey. whether it’s male or female. Is it here for a checkup? does it have all its shots?
Does it have the sniffles? Has it been sick recently?
CHECK
OUT Here’s how those questions might go for two patients:
THE
Who’s here? Why is the patient What’s been
BOOK! here? going on?

Five-year-old She’s been limping for She went on a hike
female Labrador two days on the left back with her owner
retriever leg and cries when she two days ago and
puts weight on it. has come to the vet
before with a sore
knee.

Three-month- He has a runny nose, is He was orphaned in
old male snow sleeping more than usual, the wild, rescued, and
leopard and seems to have some brought to the clinic.
difficulty breathing.

After Wild finds out the animal’s history, it’s time to meet the patient. She weighs the
animal, listens to its heart and its breathing, and feels its belly.

If the animal is young, she checks to make sure it’s gaining enough weight. If an animal
is older, Wild looks at its teeth—unhealthy teeth might make chewing difficult, which
would mean the animal isn’t getting enough nutrition.

Once she’s assembled all the clues, Wild starts to solve the puzzle of how to keep each
patient healthy.

27NAT GEO KIDS

PLAY! STUFF GAMES,
LAUGHS,
AND LOTS
TO DO!

WELCOME TO EMOJIFEST
Emoji families and friends have gathered at the world’s

first EmojiFest. Join the fun and find the 15 items below.

1. green baseball hat 9. two squids

2. pink ice-cream cone 10. bale of hay

3. yellow-and-white umbrella 11. map

4. stuffed toy bear 12. blue scarf

5. lollipop 13. bumblebee

6. pigeon 14. rooster

7. horseshoe 15. sunglasses

8. blue ribbon ANSWERS ON PAGE 35

28 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021 JAMES YAMASAKI (ART); RUTH MUSGRAVE (CONCEPT)

29MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

I THINK
I JUST
SWALLOWED
A BUG.

If your parents can’t answer these questions, THE FORMULA
maybe they should go to school instead of you! ROSSA RIDE
BEFORE PEOPLE
ANSWERS ON PAGE 35 WERE REQUIRED
TO WEAR THE
ANSWER BELOW!

1 At what temperature does sand melt? 6 Riders on the superfast Formula Rossa
A. 300°F C. 2300°F roller coaster, located in Abu Dhabi,

B. 1300°F D. 3000°F United Arab Emirates, are required to
wear _______.

A. helmets C. bow ties

2 In your lifetime, how B. mouth guards D. goggles

many spiders will you 7 In the Middle Ages, what did women
eat while sleeping?
A. 4 to 8 in Florence, Italy, consider
B. 10 to 15 fashionable?
C. 1,000 to 2,000 A. dyeing their hair purple
D. Zero. Spiders typically don’t let B. wearing braces on their teeth
C. shaving off their eyebrows
themselves get eaten. D. growing long beards

3 What causes the bulge in the middle 8 The strawberry is a member
of which plant family?
of Earth?
A. the weight of the people and animals A. cherry C. pumpkin

living near the Equator B. rose D. Venus flytrap
B. the force created as Earth spins on its axis
C. heavy ice at the poles pressing down

on Earth
D. oceans near the Equator

4 The Basenji, a dog from Africa, 9 Seahorses move mainly by doing what? LUCA BRUNO / AP / SHUTTERSTOCK (ROLLER COASTER); PK6289 / GETTY IMAGES
(SPIDER); MAKS NARODENKO / SHUTTERSTOCK (STRAWBERRY); GRISHA BRUEV /
is also called the barkless dog. A. waiting for the ocean current SHUTTERSTOCK (DOG); BILL KENNEDY / SHUTTERSTOCK (SEAHORSE)
What does this dog do instead to propel them forward
of barking? B. flapping small fins on
their backs
A. scratches C. curling their tails
B. spins in a circle and using them like
C. yodels pogo sticks
D. catching a ride
D. nods yes or no with SpongeBob

5 What is the largest shoe 10 To see a sunrise on this planet, you’d need
size in NBA history? to look west instead of east.

A. 13.5 C. 30 A. Venus C. Mars

B. 22 D. 16.5 B. Earth D. Saturn

30 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021

FFUNINLYL IN PLAY MORE FUNNY FILL-IN!
natgeokids.com/ffi

DUDES IN
DISTRESS

BY KAY BOATNER

Ask a friend to
give you words to
fill in the blanks
in this story
without showing
it to him or her.
Then read out
loud for a laugh.

Today friend’s name and I discovered a time-travel machine disguised as an ordinary noun .

For our first adventure, we set the dial to the historical era . A(n) adjective light filled the room

and I felt like I was verb ending in -ing . When I opened my body part, plural , it was the year number .

We walked through a small village when suddenly a knight shouted in terror, “Look out, it’s celebrity !”

Then we heard a roar from the sky. same celebrity was a(n) mythical creature ! The creature swooped

down and snagged my friend with its adjective noun, plural , then flew away.

It my friend to the tower of a nearby castle. To get to the top, I climbed some

past-tense verb

on the castle wall. The circling creature breathed something hot at me, but I

type of plant, plural

protected myself with my noun and rescued my friend. Later we set the dial on the time-travel

machine to the different historical era . It was definitely time for a change of history.

KEVIN RECHIN

31MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

ThIs

seems

C RITTERfIshy.

CHAT Ifanimalsusedsocialmedia,
what would they say? Follow this
clownfish’s day as it updates its feed.
BY ALLYSON SHAW
Clownfish 2 p.m.

LIVES IN: Tropical waters JokerFish Hey @ManyTentacles, please open
back up! I’m getting tired swimming
off the coast of Asia and out in the open.

Australia

SCREEN NAME: JokerFish
FRIENDS:
» Not so brave on the open
reef,huh? I try to confuse
FAKE EYE predators with the black
spot on my back.If they
think it’s an eye,I can swim in WaterFly
the other direction!

OK, OK, I think it’s safe now. Sorry
@JokerFish, but when things get
really scary, I can’t easily swim
away!
MAGNIFICENTSTARTNUDIBRANCH SADDLE
ANEMONE BUTTERFLYFISH
GARY BELL / OCEANWIDE / MINDEN PICTURES (CLOWNFISH, LARGE IMAGE); WATERFRAME / ALAMY (CLOWNFISH PROFILE, ALL); MATHIEU FOULQUIE / BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN PICTURESPinkPoke
ManyTentacles (ANEMONE PROFILE, ALL); NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY / ALAMY (NUDIBRANCH PROFILE, ALL); TIM LAMAN / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (BUTTERFLYFISH PROFILE, ALL);WaterFly
NORBERT WU / MINDEN PICTURES (CLOWNFISH IN ANEMONE); JOSEPPERIANES / SHUTTERSTOCK (CROWN); YA_BLUE_KO / SHUTTERSTOCK (CLAPPING HANDS); SCUBALUNA / GETTY
IMAGES (POKERS); WESTEND61 / GETTY IMAGES (CLOSED ANEMONE); ANDAMANSE / GETTY IMAGES (BUTTERFLYFISH PATCH); COUGARSAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (SUNGLASSES FACE)ManyTentacles

8 a.m. I finally made the big time! I just glide wherever I want—my
I’m the biggest clownfish cool colors tell other fish I’d be too
JokerFish in the anemone, and that dangerous to eat.
means I finally get to rule
the other fish in here. PinkPoke
#AnemoneQueen
11 p.m.

You deserve it! Since youmoved JokerFish Full moon tonight and you know what
in,you’vealwayscirculated thewater that means—it’s egg time! I’ll lay a
aroundmy tentacles andchasedaway couple hundred, then let my mate
anemone-eaters like @WaterFly and take care of them until
@PinkPoke. they hatch.

I am pretty hungry,but not enough ManyTentacles They’re not moving in, right? ManyTentacles
to face @JokerFish today.I’ll go find WaterFly Because we’re out of space.
a tasty tubeworm instead. PinkPoke
No, those little guys will grow up PinkPoke
I’ll rumble with you. See like I did—floating on the surface
these pokers? After I eat as larvae—until they find their
a jellyfish or anemone,I own home.
ingest the stinging cells
and shoot them out I was a larva once, too! I was so WaterFly
whenever I want. small, about a fifth of an inch long.

Using my own stings They’ll be on their own after
against me? I’m closing up hatching. But if they’re anything like
in defense mode.Later! me, they’ll be winners!

ManyTentacles JokerFish

32 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021

Check out how Nat Geo Kids readers
responded to this poll, then go online
to vote in the next one!

natgeokids.com/whatchathink

35% 10%
FOCLUORV-LEERAF
MCAANTESKTIA-NTUEKEO

Which
is your fave
good luck

symbol?

7% 30%
RDAOINUBBOLWE
EAVMILUELYEET 33

18%
I DOINN’TLUBCEKLI!EVE

DANIEL HURST / DREAMSTIME (CLOVER); MIDUHO MATSUMIYA / GETTY IMAGES (CAT STATUES);
ALEXANDER ISHCHENKO / SHUTTERSTOCK (EYE); LARRY KNUPP / SHUTTERSTOCK (RAINBOW)

ART ZONE COOL SCIENTIST

Put on your lab coat and test out
these supercool scientist drawings
by Nat Geo Kids readers.

S Experimenting W Eagle Scientist
Zoe B., 12 Milan W., 11
Shoreview, Minnesota Trumansburg, New York

The Animal X

Scientist

Elizabeth W., 7
Newbury Park, California

34 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2021

Draw a colorful Send us Nat Geo Kids— Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that
coral reef. your Coral Art Zone it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a
original P.O. Box 98002 release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of National
drawings: Washington, DC Geographic Partners,and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners.Submis-
20090-8002 sions cannot be acknowledged or returned. Selection will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.

W Meteorologist W Barnum Brown
Juliana P., 11
Cameron, aka Mr. Bones
North Carolina
Wade G., 11

Williamstown,

West Virginia

Barnum Brown
discovered the first
complete skeleton of

T. rex.

S Color Blast S Marine Biologist S Supercool Scientist Answers
Clara S., 10 Fisher G., 12
Scientist Evanston, Illinois Eudora, Kansas “Welcome to EmojiFest” (pages 28-29):

Quinn S., 12 35MARCH 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS “Stump Your Parents” (page 30):

Windsor, Colorado 1. D, 2. D, 3. B, 4. C, 5. B, 6. D, 7. C, 8. B, 9. B, 10. A.