Did you know that nature is full of wonders? Animals, for example, possess different physical characteristics that help them survive in their habitat, like the tall neck of a giraffe.
In this article, we will explore some of the animals with long faces and the role of the face where possible. Keep reading.
Contents
11 Animals With Long Faces
1. Saiga Antelope
This antelope species belong to Family Bovidae under Genus Saiga. They live in Central Asia’s cold climates and countries like Mongolia and Uzbekistan. This type of antelope has light brown fur, just like the other species. But what makes it so unique is the wider and long nose protruding on its face.
The long nose serves several purposes when breathing. It helps to warm the incoming cold air when breathing, mostly during the winter. Also, it helps cool hot air during summer. Each nostril has a mucus membrane, which helps filter dust particles.
2. Aardvark
Aardvarks are close relatives to pigs; they belong to Family Orycteropodidae and Genus Orycteropus. They mainly inhabit the savannahs, woodlands, and rainforests in most parts of Africa.
The aardvark is unattractive due to its long snout on its narrow face. The snout helps in sniffing to locate food sources. However, an aardvark has a long tail like a kangaroo and a long pair of ears like a rabbit’s. It has pig-like white fur that is fairly distributed.
The Afrikaans in South Africa call the aardvark an earth pig due to its close resemblance to a pig, except its face is much narrower and longer than a pig’s. Aardvark is nocturnal, meaning it is active mainly during the night.
Aardvark’s diet consists of insects, mainly beetle larvae, ants, and termites. They normally lap up using the long tongue covered with sticky saliva.
3. Moose
Moose is also called an elk. It is a deer species from the Family Cervidae and Genus Alces. They inhabit most areas in Alaska, Canada, Washington, and Maine.
Unlike the deer, the moose has a long face, with the nose contributing to the long face. The nose is well adapted to sniffing to determine the presence of predators or any potential hazard.
Moose has brown fur on its face and a hanging flap of skin known as a chin. This type of skin is present both in males and females. Its main purpose is to show dominance and mating.
However, the male uses the dewlap to transfer scent to females. They do so by rubbing the cow with their scent. This process of scent transfer during mating is known as chinning.
Moose are herbivores meaning their main diet is plant and plant materials. They spend most of their time browsing on leaves and eating twigs of woody plants. Moose love eating plants like maple, willow, birch, aspen, and pin cherry.
4. Baboons
Baboons are primates occupying most African and Arabian forests and shrublands. They are close relatives to monkeys, except they have long face that looks almost similar to dogs. Baboons come from the Family of Cercopithecidae and Genus Papio.
You’ll find baboons living in groups. There is a hierarchy of supremacy in these groups, the ruler being the older male baboons. The groups are called troops. A single troop can host around 100 adults and young individuals.
Baboons have hairless faces with long sharp canines. They also have long tails, which they use to balance when walking or moving through the tree branches. Another trait is their level of intelligence. Baboons are known to use tools to obtain food. Sometimes they can use stones to break coconut seeds.
5. Giraffes
In the African savannah, you’ll never experience a hard time locating the giraffes. Giraffe belongs to the Family Giraffidae and Genus Giraffa, native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They are close relatives to Okapi and other long-necked animals.
Giraffes are the remaining tall land mammals. They are very tall and can be seen above the acacias. But one of their distinctive characteristics is their long face. Their faces are dark brown furred with no spots like the other body parts.
You’ll find a horn-like protruding on its face that emerges from the skull. This lamp is located between the eyes and the nose, and its main purpose is to serve as a calcium deposit. Calcium is used in developing as they mature into adult giraffes.
Among the most amazing features you’ll ever see are the movable ears, which help locate sound from any direction through adjusting. The horn-like flesh helps in thermoregulation. Their nose is slit-shaped, which helps in preventing incoming dust and dust.
6. Camel
Camels have a good history of being used as a mode of transport during ancient times and modern life. They belong to the Family Camelidae and Genus Camelus. They are native to the hot regions of the Sahara Deserts, Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, and Australia. Some people refer to it as the ship of the desert.
However, like the giraffe, the camel has a long face well adapted to fit in desert conditions. Due to the frequent blown sand and dust, the camel’s nostril can close and open to survive well. On the other hand, camels have long eyelashes that help prevent sand and other blown debris from reaching the eyes.
Did you know that they have three lips? They have one lower lip and two upper lips. The two upper lips come from the single upper lip divided into two. The lips work independently and help select vegetation when browsing.
7. Okapi
Okapi looks almost similar to a giraffe, except it has no dots. They belong to the Family Giraffidae and Genus Okapia. They inhabit most parts of western and central Africa.
They are remarkable creatures with long faces with white fur around their eyes and lateral faces, while the other parts have reddish-brown and black fur.
The long face is very helpful in reaching vegetation easily. Unlike the giraffe, its hornlike flesh can easily damage when fighting.
8. Lelwel Hartebeest
Lelwel Hartebeest is also called the Jackson’s hartebeest. It belongs to the Family Bovidae and Genus Alcelaphus. It’s native to most African countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Chad, Ethiopia, and Central Africa.
The most remarkable feature of this animal is its narrow and elongated face. The long face is a regulatory organ regulating air temperature in hot weather. The large surface area can also dissipate heat effectively and regulate body temperature to avoid overheating.
9. Baird’s Tapir
The Baird’s Tapir, also called Central American Tapir, is native to most parts of Central America, northwestern South America, and Mexico. It belongs to Family Tapiridae and Genus Tapirus. This type of animal is the largest land mammal in both South and Central America.
Baird’s tapir long nose and upper lips function similarly to an elephant trunk. The long nose is very helpful in plucking shoots and leaves from trees and also as a sniffing organ to help in locating food.
10. Giant Anteaters
Giant anteaters are the largest ant eaters ever known. They belong to the Family Myrmecophagidae and Genus Myrmecophaga. They can grow to a height between 7-9 feet. Giant anteaters inhabit most parts of both Central and South America.
The giant anteater’s head can measure approximately 12 in (30 cm) long. It’s very long when you compare the face with the other anteater species. The tubular snout makes up the largest part of its head.
Their long nose helps in navigating food sources. Inside their long face is a specialized long tongue that is thin and covered with sticky saliva to help in picking ants. They do have teeth; instead, they scoop the ants or termites and slurp them in.
Inside the stomach are strong muscles that grind the ants with a strong acid that helps dissolve the food. The giant eaters are quite different from the others because they are terrestrial species. The other species of ant eaters are either arboreal or semi-arboreal.
11. Southern Tamandua
Like the other anteaters, the Southern Tamandua has a remarkably elongated face. Southern Tamandua belongs to the Family Myrmecophagidae and Genus Tamandua. Southern Tamandua mainly inhabits forest regions of Brazil, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, and French Guiana.
These types of ant eaters are very beautiful from the mixture of black or gray with white color carefully distributed in a welcoming pattern. However, their color ranges from brown to blond. They are not aggressive as the giant anteaters, but it’s wise to keep a closer eye because they can sometimes become aggressive.
Conclusion
Most elongated face animals have an adaptation to help them survive in a particular habitat. For example, all the ant eaters have a long, thin, sticky tongue that fits well in their elongated face.
For the sake of the Saiga antelopes and Lelwel hartebeest, the elongated nose on the face helps in regulating air temperature when breathing. Not living behind the shape of the nostrils in both camels and giraffes helps in preventing dust and sand from being blown by the wind.
