Extreme Animals LEVELED BOOK • Q

Extreme
A Reading A–Z Level Q Leveled Book
Word Count: 1,342

Animals

N •Q
K •
Written by Kathie Lester 
Illustrated by Signe Nordin

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Extreme
Animals

Written by Kathie Lester 

Illustrated by Signe Nordin
Extreme Animals
Level Q Leveled Book
© Learning A–Z Correlation
Written by Kathie Lester LEVEL Q
Illustrated by Signe Nordin
Fountas & Pinnell N
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 30
www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com
DRA 30
 Biggest
A giant blue whale is as long as half of a
football field. It is the largest mammal to
inhabit the Earth—now
or ever. Its body is so
heavy that it has to be
supported by water. 50 40 30 20 10

If it were a land animal instead, a blue whale

Many unusual animals have special
would be crushed by its own weight.
stories to tell. They seem to go to extremes
to get noticed. Something about each of these A baby elephant can weigh 136 kilograms
animals makes them different from other (300 lbs) when it’s born, and it will keep
types of animals. It might be an ability, or growing for thirty years.
a special talent, that makes them stand out. An average-sized adult
Is it their speed or their size—or even elephant weighs as much
their coloration? as two pickup trucks, but
some extra-large elephants
One is as tall as a two-story house, and
have weighed twice as much. A grown male
another is as small as a mouse. Maybe one
can reach a height of over fifteen feet.
can jump higher or hide in a small space; or
they can see farther or scream louder. This An adult giraffe is as tall
book tells many odd, unknown, and fun facts as a two-story house. Its long,
about these unusual animals, and what makes powerful neck and long legs make
them different and special. Read on to learn it the tallest land animal anywhere.
about some of the most extreme animals A baby giraffe is already 1.8 meters
in the world. (6 ft) tall when it’s born.

Extreme Animals • Level Q 3 4

 Smallest Loudest
A little Chihuahua looks as if it’s all ears! A blue whale’s cry, or song, is as
This friendly little dog is so small that loud as the noise of a rocket
it can fit into your pocket being launched. It will sing for
and go along with you as long as ten hours—
wherever you go. It has and its sound can be heard
a sweet temperament, far away in the ocean.
but it’s very brave and
A howler monkey earns its name. It uses
will bark at dogs that
its piercing howl at the beginning and end of
are many times its tiny size.
each day to claim territory
The tiny bee hummingbird is so small that and to announce the best
it weighs less than the water in a teaspoon. food locations. The howl
From the tip of its long beak to the end of its can be heard by other
tail, it measures less monkeys up to 8 kilometers
than 5 centimeters (5 mi) away.
(2 in) long.

The big-eyed tarsier monkey can be as Quietest

small as a mouse. It lives in the hottest A tall, long-legged giraffe is one of the
rainforests and sleeps in trees quietest animals. It isn’t quiet because it’s
during the warmest part shy—it just doesn’t use its voice.
of the day. The tiny Instead of sounds, a giraffe
tarsier hunts for its food communicates with body
at night, when its big language.
eyes provide excellent night vision.

Extreme Animals • Level Q 5 6

 Longest Life Fastest
The big, slow, tortoise that lives in An adult ostrich can run as fast
the Galapagos Islands has as a racehorse. The tall,
a lot of time to explore its long-legged ostrich
island home from one may look awkward
end to the other—as it can when it walks, but
live for 150 to 200 years. it’s the fastest land animal on two feet.

Shortest Life When it’s chasing something it

wants to eat, an adult cheetah can run
A mayfly usually lives only one day
over 105 kilometers (65 mi) an hour.
after it hatches into
That’s as fast as
an adult insect. It
a car drives on
has a lot to do
the highway.
during its short life,
including finding a A peregrine falcon diving through
mate. It doesn’t stop the air can match the flying speed
to eat or drink! of an airplane.
A peregrine can
Slowest swoop down on
Snails don’t hurry for any reason. its prey at over
You could take a nap or 322 kilometers
read a story while a (200 mi) an hour.
garden snail slowly
crawls across your shoe.

Extreme Animals • Level Q 7 8

 Fun Facts About Reptiles Fun Facts About
Snakes have very sharp
vision, but they never shut
Water Creatures
No licking! The tongue of a big humpback
their eyes—even when
whale weighs as much as a small car does.
they sleep. Snakes have
transparent eyelids that
slide down to protect
their open eyes from dust.

If a lizard’s tail breaks

off, a new tail will grow to
replace it. The ability to lose A type of lungfish can live for four years
its tail helps a lizard escape without food or water if it has to.
from animals that try to
catch it.

A tuatara looks like a small lizard

with a third eye on the top of its
head. This extra eye isn’t
used for seeing. The
If it stays very still, a crocodile can hold its
extra eye is a sensor
breath for an hour underwater. But it can
that’s used to
drown if it waits too long to take a breath.
measure sunlight
and heat.

Extreme Animals • Level Q 9 10

 A mudskipper is an A kangaroo can
athletic fish that can climb a lean back and balance
tree. Even though it’s a fish, on its big tail while
it can move faster on land punching and kicking
than it can swim in the with all four feet
water. at the same time.

The flat, diamond-shaped A big, awkward-

halibut is the largest looking hippopotamus
flatfish. It looks can run faster than
odd to us because a person. For a short
both of its eyes are distance, a hippo can
located on the same run 48 to 64 kilometers
side of its head. per hour (30-40 mph).

Fun Facts About Mammals

Every zebra has its own pattern A camel can close its nose to keep out the
of stripes. Each zebra is slightly different. blowing desert sand.
Most zebras may It can also cool
look alike to us—but the air that it
not to other zebras. breathes in just
by twitching its nose.

Extreme Animals • Level Q 11 12

 Fun Facts About Insects Fun Facts About Birds
A butterfly stands An eagle is a very large bird, but it weighs
on its food. It has little very little. Its bones are hollow to help it fly at
taste bud sensors in high altitudes
its feet that tell it without tiring.
whether it’s standing Its bones are so
on something good to eat. lightweight
that its feathers
The ears of a cricket
actually weigh more than
are located on its knees.
its bones do.
To hear the chirping
voice of another cricket, A tiny hummingbird is fast and mobile—
it turns its knees toward moving quickly in
the direction of the sound. many directions.
Much like a
An ant is as sensitive to smells
helicopter, it can fly
as a dog. Ants communicate by
sideways, or up and down,
sending out special smells
or even fly backward.
to each other.
One smell tells The eye of an ostrich is bigger in size
where to than its brain. Its big eyes and
find food, tall build
and another help it to
ostrich eye
smell tells other see objects
ants to run away from danger. far away. ostrich brain

Extreme Animals • Level Q 13 14

 What other
extreme animals
do you know?
_________________________________________
A penguin is a bird that swims and walks
with ease, but it can’t fly. The bones in its _________________________________________
wings are heavy and solid to help it steer a _________________________________________
course in water. But those bones weigh too
_________________________________________
much for the bird to fly.
_________________________________________
A flamingo is bright pink
because of the pigment, or _________________________________________
color, in the food it eats. It has _________________________________________
long legs to wade far out in
_________________________________________
the water to search for food.
Would a flamingo be green if _________________________________________
it liked to eat leaves? _________________________________________
These extreme animals are _________________________________________
the rock stars in the animal kingdom—they _________________________________________
get noticed everywhere they go. You may
already be familiar with some of them, but _________________________________________
others you may never have seen or heard of
before. As you have learned in this book,
extreme animals come in many different sizes
and shapes!

Extreme Animals • Level Q 15 16