All About Nature: Animals to Paint Online

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What is a Grassland? A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost one-fourth of the Earth's land area is grassland. In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep-rooted grasses dominate the flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland, less than one tree per acre. There are many different words for grassland environments around the world, including savannas, pampas, campos, plains, steppes, prairies and veldts.

There are two types of grasslands, including:

• Tropical grassland - hot all year with wet seasons that bring torrential rains. Located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, sometimes called savannas.
• Temperate grasslands - hot summers and cold winters. The evaporation rate is high, so little rain makes it into the rich soil. Located north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Animal Adaptations: The animals that live in grasslands have adapted to dry, windy conditions. There are grazing animals (that eat the grass), burrowing animals, and their predators; insects are abundant. A moderate of level species diversity exists on a grassland.

Where are Grasslands? Grasslands are located in North America's interior (called prairies), in southeastern South America (Argentina's pampas and the campos of Uruguay and Brazil), in Eurasia (the Eurasian steppe in Mongolia and parts of the former Soviet Union), in Africa (the semi-arid steppes of the Sahel of north-central Africa and the wetter grasslands, veldts, of East Africa and Madagascar), and in Australia and New Zealand (called rangelands).

Animals that Live in Grasslands: Many animals live in grasslands, from invertebrates (like grasshoppers and beetles) to large mammals (like antelopes and bison). The different grasslands of the world support different populations of animals.

• Africa - aardvark, African wild cat, African elephant, many antelopes, baboon, buffalo, Cape hunting dog, cheetah, giraffe, gnu, hartebeest, hippopotamus, hyena, impala, jackals, kudu, leopard, lion, meerkat, mongoose, oryx, ostrich, red-billed oxpecker, rhinoceros, vulture, wildebeest, zebra, and many other animals.
• Australia - dingo, emu, kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, and many other animals. Many non-native animals have been introduced, including the camel, donkey, goat, horse, rabbit, and sheep.
• North America - American toad, badger, black-footed ferret, bison, black-tailed jackrabbit, bumble bee, burrowing owl, California condor, carrion beetle, common snipe, coyote, deer, dragonfly, eagles, eastern cottontail, elk, ferruginous hawk, fox snake, golden owl, gopher snake, grasshopper, gray wolf, ground squirrels, killdeer, lady beetle, larks, long-billled curlew, meadow vole, monarch butterfly, northern grasshopper mouse, prairie chicken, prairie dog, prairie rattlesnake, prairie skink, pronghorn antelope, red fox, red-tailed hawk, shrew, skunk, stink bug, tiger beetle, western meadowlark, western tiger swallowtail, white-tailed jackrabbit, and many other animals.
• South America - armadillo, opossum, fox, jaguar, llama, puma, rhea, tapir, many rodents, and many other animals.
• Eurasia - golden pheasant, leopard gecko, snow leopard, vole, and many other animals.

Printouts of Grassland Animals:

Aardvark Aardvarks are large mammals that eat ants.

African Elephant The African Elephant is the largest land animal.

African Wild Cat African Wild Cats are fierce, solitary hunters.

Anteater Anteaters are mammals with very long snouts from South and Central America.

Antelope Antelopes are graceful mammals with beautiful horns.

Ant Ants are social insects.

Asian Elephant The Asian Elephant is an endangered species.

Bactrian Camel Bactrian Camels are two-humped camels from deserts and steppes of Asia.

Badger The badger is a nocturnal mammal with a black-and-white striped face.

Bison The American Buffalo (which is actually a Bison) is the heaviest land animal in North America.

Black-Footed Ferret The Black-Footed Ferret is an endangered type of ferret from North America.

Blue-tongued Skink An Australian lizard with a long, blue tongue.

Boa Constrictor A large constricting snake from South and Central America.

Bobcat A fierce, short-tailed wild cat from North America.

Bull Snake Also known as the gopher snake and the pine snake, this hissing constrictor lives in North America.

Camel Camels are large mammals that live in dry areas of the Middle East.

Cape Hunting Dog The Cape Hunting Dog hunts in packs in Africa.

Cheetah The cheetah is the fastest land animal, a cat from Aftrica.

Coyote Coyotes are meat-eaters related to wolves.

Deer The deer is a shy, fast-moving plant-eater.

Dhole The dhole is a wild dog from Asia.

Dingo The dingo is a wild dog from Australia.

Donkey Donkeys are hoofed mammals adapted to environments with little water.

Dragonfly The dragonfly is a flying insect with a long abdomen.

Earthworm An earthworm is a little animal with a long, soft body and no legs. They are found worldwide

Emu The emu is a large Australian bird that cannot fly.

Fox The fox is a meat-eating mammal with a long, bushy tail.

Gecko Geckos are the only lizards that make noise. Some geckos live in grasslands.

Giraffe The giraffe is the tallest land animal; it is found in Africa.

Gnu The gnu is a fast-running, herding, grass-eater from eastern Africa. It is also known as the wildebeest.

Goat Goats are sure-footed, hoofed mammals.

Golden Eagle Golden Eagles are large birds of prey.

Gopher Snake Also known as the bull snake and the pine snake, this hissing constrictor lives in North America.

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are insects that can hop, walk, and fly. There are about 10,000 different species of grasshoppers worldwide.

Gray Wolf Gray wolves are carnivores that live in packs and howl.

Great Horned Owl A large bird of prey from North and South America.

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus is a large African mammal that stays in the water a lot.

Hyena A meat-eating mammal that hunts and scavenges prey.

Impala A high-jumping, lightly-built antelope from southern Africa.

Jack Rabbit Jack rabbits are hares; they have very long legs and long ears.

Jaguar The jaguar is a large, spotted wild cat from South and Central America.

Kakapo A large, flightless, nocturnal, solitary parrot from New Zealand.

Kangaroo Kangaroos hop and have pouches. Their babies are called joeys.

Leopard Leopards are widely-distributed, spotted wild cats.

Lion A group of lions is called a pride.

Llama Llama are woolly mammals from South America.

Meerkat Meerkats (also known as suricates) are a type of African mongoose that can stand upright.

Mole Moles are almost-blind, burrowing mammals.

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle See how a Monarch Butterfly starts out as an egg, hatches into a caterpillar, becomes a pupa, then emerges as a fully-grown adult.

Mongoose Mongooses are sleek, meat-eating mammals.

Mouse Mice are small rodents with long, scaly tails.

Oryx Oryx are long-horned antelopes from dry areas in Africa.

Ostrich The ostrich is the largest bird. Although it can't fly, it runs very fast. It is from Africa.

Painted Lady Butterfly A very widespread and common butterfly.

Painted Lady Butterfly Life Cycle The life cycle of this common butterfly.

Pika Pikas are small, furry mammals who stockpile food for winter.

Prairie Chicken Prairie Chickens are a type of grouse that live in North American grasslands.

Pronghorn Pronghorns are the fastest moving mammals in North America.

Puma A long-tailed American wild cat with no spots. It is also known as the catamount, panther, mountain lion, and cougar.

Quagga The Quagga is a recently-extinct relative of the zebra from Africa.

Quoll The Quoll is a cat-sized carnivorous marsupial from the island of Tasmania and mainland Australia.

Rabbit A fast-moving mammal with long ears.

Redbilled Oxpecker Redbilled Oxpeckers are birds that perch on large mammals in southern Africa.

Red Fox The Red Fox is a meat-eating mammal with a long, bushy tail.

Red-Tailed Hawk The Red-Tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, a raptor from North America.

Rhea The Common Rhea or Nandu is a large, flightless bird from South America.

Rhinoceros The rhinoceros is a large, thick-skinned African mammal with one or two horn-like spikes on its head.

Roadrunner Also known as the Ground Cuckoo, this bird is a fast runner that rarely flies.

Scorpion A venomous arachnid with a large stinger on its tail.

Sheep Sheep are mammals with thick, furry fur and hoofed feet.

Shrew Shrews are tiny, ferocious mammals that are found worldwide.

Skunk Skunks are black and white mammals that can produce a terrible odor.

Snow Leopard Snow Leopards are rare, pale leopards from the snowy central mountains of Asia.

Tapir A plant-eating, hoofed mammal with a small trunk.

Tasmanian Tiger The Tasmanian Tiger was a large, meat-eating marsupial from Tasmania, mainland Australia, and New Guinea. It is probably extinct.

Tiger Tigers are large, fierce cats that have stripes.

Wallaby Wallabies are small to medium-sized kangaroos.

Warthog The warthog is a wild pig from Africa.

Western Meadowlark A brightly-colored songbird from western and central North America.

White Rhinoceros The White rhinoceros is a large rhino with gray skin and two horn-like spikes on its head.

White-Tailed Deer The white-tailed deer is a shy, fast-moving plant-eater.

Wildebeest The wildebeest is a fast-running, herding, grass-eater from eastern Africa. Also known as the gnu.

Wombat The wombat is a rare, burrowing marsupial from mainland Australia and Tasmania.

Zebra Zebras have black and white stripes;they are from Africa.

Zorilla The Zorilla is a skunk-like mammal that lives in Africa.

All About Nature: Animals to Paint Online

Go to Animal Printouts

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