In honor of our dear Mother Earth, Google created a magnificent Google Doodle on Tuesday, April 22, with all of its favorite creatures. The Google Doodle shows the Rufous hummingbird, dung beetle, moon jellyfsh, veiled chameleon, Japanese macaque and puffer fish. All of these bizarre animals have their own unique talents and are certainly not your standard lion, tiger and bear (oh my!).
Google's selections come from many different climates, locations and biomes. Each animal perfectly represents the incredible biodiversity of our lovely planet Earth and reminds us that there's more to this third rock from the sun than meets the eye.
The doodle starts off with the beautiful Rufous hummingbird. In Google's Doodle, the hummingbird flaps its wings so fast you can almost hear them buzzing, as it sticks its long, needle-like beak into the second pretty, puffy flower of the doodle, which stands for the second "o" in "Google." In real life, the Rufous hummingbird isn't much bigger than it appears on your desktop screen. The hummingbird only measures 3-inches long and yet, in spite of its incredibly small size, the Rufous hummingbird has the audacity to fly 2,000 miles when it migrates from the north to southern climes for the winter and flap its sweet little wings 3,600 times in a single minute.
The next critter Google decided to feature isn't cute at all and its job is rather distasteful. That's right, Google is proud of the dung beetle and thinks we should be, too. Dung beetles are also very small, but they can roll balls that are up to 10 times larger than they are. These small and very helpful beetles are also found on every continent except Antarctica. Egyptians thought they were sacred and American farmers almost certainly agree, as the dung beetle helps them dispose of lots of animal waste every year, which saves a whole lot of money. So thanks for that, dung beetle!
The veiled chameleon also makes an appearance in Google's latest doodle. A chameleon, like blondes and redheads, blush a fascinating rainbow of colors when it gets overly emotional. When the veiled chameleon is calm, it has nice yellow spots so that it can hide in the mountains of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Just don't upset the little guy, or you'll see him turn bright red, green and all the colors in between.
One of the most simple and efficient creatures from the ocean, the moon jellyfish, made the cut, too. These jellyfish are translucent and pretty. They simply float along with the ocean and occasionally get sucked up into nuclear power plants to clog up the works a bit.
Google included another ocean-bound critter called the puffer fish, which is known for its terribly toxic venom that can kill 30 people in one shot. Puffer fish are supposedly delicious, but anyone who tries to eat one runs the risk of death. Talk about extreme eating!
Last, but not least, Google highlighted the Japanese macaque, a monkey who lives in Japan's snowy mountains and like to take baths in hot springs to warm up. These entertaining monkeys enjoy the occasional snowball fight.
