The Arctic is the area surrounding the North Pole, defined as anything north of the Arctic Circle or where the average temperature is below 50°F in July. It is sparsely populated by animals such as lemmings, musk ox, caribou, arctic fox, wolves, polar bears, wolverines, stoats, arctic hares, arctic ground squirrels, seals, and walruses. These animals depend on tundra nutrition, and can be divided into small herbivores, large herbivores, and predators. The latter group includes arctic fox, wolves, polar bears, wolverines, stoats, seals, and walruses.
The Arctic is the northernmost region of the earth’s surface. It is the area surrounding the North Pole. There are several definitions for the Arctic region, but the two most popular refer to anything north of the Arctic Circle, or anywhere where the average temperature is below 50°F (10°C) in July, which roughly corresponds to the limit of the Arctic. woods. Both are generally the same area, although the latter definition of the Arctic is broader and includes the Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands, Greenland, Iceland, and parts of northern Canada and Siberia.
Due to extreme cold, sparsely vegetated soil (the ground is usually frozen), strong winds, and drought, the Arctic is sparsely populated by humans or animals, although both live there. Arctic animals include lemmings, musk ox, caribou (also called reindeer), arctic fox, wolves, polar bears, wolverines, stoats, arctic hares, arctic ground squirrels, seals, and walruses.
All arctic animals depend on tundra nutrition, both directly, as in the case of herbivores, and indirectly, as in the case of predators. The tundra is arctic land where it is too cold for trees to grow reliably, so the vegetation instead consists of small shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses and lichens. Occasionally, there will be scattered trees.
Arctic animals can be divided into small herbivores, large herbivores and predators. Small herbivores are the most numerous animals, represented by arctic rodents such as lemmings and arctic ground squirrels, and the beautiful arctic hare. Although lemmings and arctic ground squirrels are both rodents, they are quite different. Lemmings are solitary while arctic ground squirrels are highly social. Squirrels hibernate during the winter while lemmings stay active throughout the day, braving temperatures tens of degrees below freezing every day. All arctic animals that depend on shrubs for food must conserve them to survive the winter, although roots and bulbs will often still be available during this time. Lemmings have longer and warmer fur than arctic ground squirrels.
Another group of Arctic animals are the large herbivores: the musk ox and the caribou. Both are large, stocky animals, according to Bergmann’s rule, which states that animals living in polar regions have a tendency to be larger, probably to retain heat. Both have antlers, with reindeer displaying complex branching and reaching over a meter (3 feet) in length. Humans in the northern regions have hunted and depended on reindeer, including for their milk, for thousands of years. This relationship was especially important during the Ice Age, when glaciers covered large parts of Eurasia and North America and many human tribes depended on reindeer meat to survive the winter.
The rest of the arctic animals are predators. Predation is a relatively popular lifestyle in the Arctic due to sparse vegetation, although, as in all environments, herbivores outnumber predators. Predators or omnivores in the Arctic include arctic fox, wolves, polar bears, wolverines, stoats, seals and walruses. Some of these, like the arctic fox and polar bear, are a beautiful pure white, which helps them sneak up on prey in the snow. Many arctic predators eat fish or other marine creatures, especially walruses, which like to eat clams.
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