The first animal was taught about to me in the first class of my first Science College I studied. I was not able to get a clear idea about it in the lecture. Earlier I had been taught only about fish, frog and rabbit in Pre-University Course. This animal was a different one - it was neither like a worm or a fish! It is the Amphioxus (Bronchiostoma lanceolatum, Lancelet). It is a primitive animal from which vertebrate animals developed by evolution. It is fish-like and of 2 inches length. It has a transparent body without fins. But has no eyes.
One day at forenoon I heard a bird's call, "tit titee..tit titee." I was curious to locate its source and went on searching for the bird. But I could not. Suddenly I heard the cry of other common birds of the locality accompanied by their helter-skelter flying away. This is to avoid the attacking by a bird of prey. It had perched on the nearby tree - unseen: I saw it fly after a prey from my side! It is the Shikra (Accipiter badius dussumieri, 'Vairee' in Tamil).
In boyhood days I wondered how the Slender Loris lives with its slow movements. Later on, I viewed an animal that was more sluggish than Slender Loris and is having different and unusual body unlike that of other mammals. Luckily it lives on the tree tops escaping its predators like jaguar and eagles. I refer here only to this animal: Sloth (Bradypus variegatus, Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth).
