Rats have very small tails, why do squirrels have particularly large tails?

Introduction: Rats are often seen with very short tails, and they look so thin that they can't be noticed without careful observation. Rats have very small tails, so why do squirrels have very large tails?

In fact, as long as you pay attention to it, you will find that those animals that often move between branches and have jumping behavior have very large tails. For example, some monkeys move in the woods, mainly because the large tail can provide some support and maintain balance. The squirrel has a particularly large tail, and because of this effect, the squirrel's large tail can help the squirrel to maintain its balance when it is shuttling between the trees, especially when it is on the tree.

And the big tail also has a parachute when jumping from a tree.

At the same time, the squirrel's big tail can also protect itself and maintain its body temperature, so the big tail is very important for the squirrel. However, the mice that people usually see in their lives are moving on the ground, so there is no need to use the tail to maintain the balance of the body, so the tail is useless, it must gradually degenerate, becoming thinner and smaller. Therefore, every organ in the body has a certain purpose, and the squirrel's tail is also large for its own better survival.

Forests are very important for many animals, and they are also the habitat of these animals, and the ecosystem in the forest environment is very rich, and each animal can find its own living space in the forest. However, if a large number of trees are cut down, soil erosion will be caused and the habitat of these animals will be destroyed. In addition, it will also reduce the purification of the earth and carbon emissions.

It will also increase gradually. So don't cut down forests, protect the forest environment, and even plant trees. Restore the forest environment so that ecosystems can be maintained and protected.

Because the big tail will allow the squirrel to keep its balance when running and jumping, and if it accidentally falls to the ground, the big tail can also play a cushioning role. Squirrels live in trees. It is colder in winter, and a big tail can play a role in keeping warm.

Because squirrels need to avoid things in this way, it is because squirrels have very long hair, and also because squirrels are very special animals.

The length of a squirrel's tail is generally about 15-25 cm. The tail of the squirrel has more functions, such as when the squirrel sleeps, it will cover the body with the tail as a quilt, and the tail can be covered on the head and body like a quilt to keep warm, especially in the cold winter, it can help the squirrel keep out the cold.

Squirrels generally live for 5-10 years, which can be seen from the following aspects:

1. Living environment, domestic squirrels will live longer than wild squirrels;

2. Eating habits, feed more small particles that are easy to chew, easy to digest, and conducive to prolonging life;

3. Variety, male squirrels live longer than female squirrels, and female squirrels that do not give birth live longer than male squirrels.

Although the squirrel does not live long, scientific feeding can extend its lifespan.

Because the squirrel needs to climb and jump from branch to branch frequently, it needs this large tail to keep it balanced.

Because it basically belongs to animals that rest in trees, the largest tail helps it maintain balance while jumping around.

Control the balance. The squirrel's range of motion is mostly in trees, and walking and jumping on branches requires good balance, and the tail plays a big role.

Because it needs to run on trees, it needs to maintain balance, and its tail also plays a role in maintaining body temperature.

Because squirrels often need to jump around trees, their tails are used for balance.

This is a characteristic of squirrels, and this is also inherited from each squirrel, which is a very normal phenomenon for squirrels, and the flaccid tail is very useful for them.

This has a lot to do with its body mechanism, which can keep you warm and help you escape when you are in danger.

Because the tail of the squirrel is their characteristic, they have been like that since they were children, although they are all rats, but the squirrels are very cute, and the children love them.

The squirrel is a very cute little animal, everyone will be impressed, the squirrel is not only cute in appearance, its big tail is also very conspicuous, the small body of the little squirrel, but has a huge tail, why is the tail of the squirrel so big? What does a squirrel's tail do? Let's take a look at the reasons with me.

Actually, it has a lot to do with the lifestyle of the squirrel. The squirrels are a family of tree squirrels that inhabit trees, and they belong to the family of rodent squirrels of the mammals. This family also includes relatives such as giant squirrels, flower squirrels, and rock squirrels, which are also considered to be generalized squirrels, but live on the ground and have slightly smaller tails than tree squirrels.

Tree squirrels usually jump from one branch to another, and when jumping, the big tail can help it maintain its balance, and can be used as a rudder to control the direction of the fall'Sometimes it even has the role of paragliding. In the hot summer, the tail can be used as a parasol; When it's cold, this big furry tail can be used as a quilt on the body. In addition, tree squirrels can use their tails to hang upside down from trees and perform a variety of difficult movements.

Not only that, squirrels will swing their tails back and forth to confuse their enemies when fighting, and their tails can also be used as shields when necessary, and squirrels also like to wag their tails to say hello. When dealing with a common enemy, the squirrels coordinate their actions through the "language of the tail". Some studies have found that the Tomei tree squirrel can also use its tail to represent social status, and more interestingly, contrary to most animals who like to raise their tails to the sky, the "landlords" of squirrels who occupy territory like to lower their tails a little, but those "poor peasants" and "vagabonds" have their tails raised very high.

Scientists half-jokingly and half-speculatively said that after all, the squirrel's tail is big enough, maybe it would be more effortless to lower the tail, right?

And in the California ground squirrel, a close relative of the tree squirrel, scientists have also discovered another wonderful use of the tail - infrared fraud. Rattlesnake is the natural enemy of the ground squirrel, in order to deal with the snake, the ground squirrel tried all kinds of methods, if it can fight, it will even grab and bite, and if it can't beat, it will kick the sand into the snake's eyes. There is also a mother squirrel who picks up the snake and chews it for herself and her child to eat, confusing the smell of the rat and snake.

When these tricks don't work, the mother squirrel will quickly shake its tail in front of the snake in order to protect the child behind her, to speed up the blood flow, and increase infrared radiation by heating the tail, so that the snake perceived by infrared rays will mistakenly think that there is a big guy on the other side and retreat.

There are several reasons why squirrels have large tails:

1. The big tail of the squirrel can increase the jumping distance of the squirrel, which is conducive to escape.

2. When the squirrel jumps from a height, the big tail plays the role of a parachute, so that the squirrel can land safely; When falling to the ground, the soft and thick tail acts as a cushion to avoid injury.

3. When the squirrel rests at night, use an orange beat, and cover the big tail on the head and body, which plays a role in warmth.

4. When it is hot during the day, the big tail is cocked to shade the sun.

5. Squirrels use their tails as a means of communication. American squirrels use their tails to transmit messages when they work together against snakes. Three flicks of the tail indicate the start of the general attack; Swing twice to indicate the continuation of the attack; Wave it to stop the attack.

In addition, they also use the different swinging states of their tails to indicate the species, size, distance, and direction of movement of snakes that threaten their survival.

The role of the squirrel's tail:

The little squirrel puts its big furry tail over its body as a quilt to keep warm;

In summer, it is hot and rainy, and the tail can not only shield from the scorching sun, but also shelter from the rain, and can be used as an umbrella.

When fighting, it swings its long tail back and forth, and can be used to confuse enemies and be used as a shield.

The swing of the squirrel can also be used for communication between the eyes of the companion's stool, such as wagging its tail to greet the companion;

When dealing with the enemy together, the squirrels coordinate combat actions in the "language of the tail".

In the survival of the fittest in nature, every surviving owner has his own survival strategy, and the little squirrel is no exception. The baby squirrel lives in cold temperate forest areas, and its magic weapon is its long tail. In the cold winter, the little squirrel puts its big furry tail over its body as a quilt to keep warm; In summer, it is hot and rainy, and the tail can not only shield from the scorching sun, but also shelter from the rain, and can be used as an umbrella.

The tree squirrel likes to jump from branch to branch, and its large tail helps it maintain its balance, acts as a snake to steer its bearings, and acts as a paraglider when falling. In addition, when the tree squirrel is playing in the tree, it often uses its big tail to hang upside down on the tree and make various difficult movements. When jumping, its fluffy long tail also has a balancing effect, it supports its body with its hind limbs, and its tail is stretched out, and it can jump more than ten meters away in one jump.

The little squirrel hangs upside down in a tree with a big tail.

In the vast forest, the squirrel is small in size and has little attack power, and many animals will threaten its life, so the squirrel will face the enemy at any time. When fighting, it swings its long tail back and forth, and can be used to confuse enemies and be used as a shield. The swing of the squirrel can also be used for communication between peers, such as wagging its tail to greet its companion; When dealing with the enemy together, the squirrels coordinate combat actions in the "language of the tail".

It has also been found that Tomei tree squirrels use their tails to represent their social status, and interestingly, the "landlord" squirrels who own the territory like to lower their tails a little, while the "poor peasant" and "homeless" squirrels have their tails raised very high. This happens to be the opposite of most animals, because other animals are eager to raise their tails to the sky when they show off their status. Scientists have also discovered that the tail of the California ground squirrel has another wonderful purpose, and that is to carry out infrared fraud.

The natural predator of the ground squirrel is the rattlesnake, and in order to deal with the attack of the snake, they try all kinds of methods, such as fighting the snake, even grabbing and biting, and kicking the sand into the snake's eye if they can't fight; The mother squirrel chews the snake she picks up and eats it for herself and her child to confuse the smell of the snake and so on. When these tricks don't work, in order to protect her child, the mother squirrel will quickly shake the big tail in front of the snake's eyes to speed up the flow of blood and the heating of the tail, so as to increase infrared radiation, and use infrared to confuse the snake, so that the snake mistakenly thinks that the opposite side is a behemoth, and retreats urgently.

The tail of the squirrel animal is larger than the body.

The squirrel has a head length of 20 to 22 centimeters, a tail length of 18 centimeters, and a weight of 280 to 350 grams, with males and females weighing about the same amount and tails larger than their bodies.

Morphological characteristics of squirrels:

The Eurasian red squirrel (also known as the northern squirrel), which is widely distributed in the temperate coniferous forest zone of northern Eurasia, is a typical representative of the squirrel and the prototype of the well-known image of the squirrel. The Eurasian red squirrel distributed at the eastern end of the Eurasian continent has black fur and white belly in winter, and brownish-red gray in summer.

The back hair of the Eurasian red squirrel distributed at the western end of the Eurasian continent is brownish-red throughout the year, and the brownish-red color between the gray is also the main color of most squirrels in the forests of North America.

Taiga in China, Northeast China and Xinjiang is the natural range of Eurasian red squirrels. The more widely distributed squirrels in the broad-leaved forests and coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests in Huamu, Zhiwangbei and other places are rock squirrels. The rock squirrel is smaller than the Eurasian red squirrel, does not have long hair tufts on its ears, is grayish-yellow in color, and will go down to the ground more often, especially in rocky areas, hence the name.

The chipmunk, also a common squirrel in temperate China, spends more time foraging on the ground with black and white stripes on its back, and often preys on small animals and nibbles on tree bark.

The red-bellied squirrel is a bold squirrel that adapts to disturbed forest edge habitats, and is also well found in urban parks, including urban parks and surrounding areas in major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Kunming, and is the most common wild mammal seen by urban dwellers in southern China. <>