A Closer Look At Some Of The Amazing Animals That Thrive On Land And Water
Semi Aquatic animals, are those that are able to live both on land and in water, and that spend some of their time in each. Some are able to breath in each environment, or to hold their breath for very long periods of time. Many of them require both environments to fulfil their lives, such as for breeding or providing food. Others such as sloths, or some types of monkeys, just simply like swimming in water, using it for recreation and bathing.
There are some that start their life in water, then spend most of their life on land, and some, like sea turtles that are the exact opposite, birthing on land then spending most their life if water.
Fully aquatic animals such as most fish, squid and octopus, would suffocate on land. Just as there are many terrestrial land animals like cats, dogs, ants and squirrels that, while some may be able to swim, predominantly live on land and don’t need water for any particular lifecycle stage, beyond the necessity to drink.
In this post, we take a look at some of the many semi-aquatic animals there are around the world, and how they make use of the land and the water.
14 Semi Aquatic Animals
Penguins
Penguins are usually found on Antarctica or the surrounding islands, with few species living further north around South Africa and the Galapagos Islands. They spend as much as 75% of their time underwater, searching for food in the ocean. When they are in the water, penguins dive and flap their wings as if they are flying under water.
They do however, breed on land, usually producing a single egg but occasionally two. In most cases though, only one will survive. They live on land in large colonies, and baby penguins are often left alone in creches with other babies while their parents are off hunting for food in the ocean. They can’t breathe in water, but can hold their breath for a long time, dive deep for their fish and can swim up to average speeds of 15 miles per hour.
Hippoputamus
The Hippopotamus (hippopotamus amphibius) is the third largest living land mammal on the earth. They are one of the classic animals you think of as semi-aquatic, spending lots of their time in the water. They inhabit rivers and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa in large groups of up to 40 hippos.
During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river. They emerge from the water at dusk to graze on grass. While they may be territorial in water, they are less so on land, where they spend most of their terrestrial time alone.
Hippopotamuses need water deep enough to cover them, within commuting distance of pasture. Hippos must submerge into the water because their thin, naked skin is vulnerable to overheating and dehydration.
Alligators
Alligators are known to live in regions of China, as well as the United States. Their range is pretty well defined within these two distant areas of the globe. Alligators don’t really like to travel much, so their range stays fairly regular over time. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is found most commonly in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arkansas.
Both the American and Chinese alligators live as freshwater inhabitants. They love warm, humid conditions and live in marshes, swamps, rivers, and lakes. They spend the majority of their time in freshwater, with a minority of it spent in brackish water (slightly salty) and a still smaller portion spent in saline water.
While these semi aquatic animals love to be in the water, baby alligators are born on land, hatching from eggs within a nest, usually scraped into the ground near the water source that will become their hunting ground. When not in the water, they are never usually too far away from it.
Platypus
The Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is native to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. These semi-aquatic mammals feed by digging in the bottom of streams with their bill.
Platypuses are unique in that they’re the only mammals with electroreception, meaning they can find underwater prey using electrical impulses. This allows them to see and hunt in waters that would be completely dark to other animals. Even in baby platypuses at 10 days post hatching, putative electroreceptors (composed of modified mucous glands) became visible. So this ability develops early.
Duck-billed Platypuses live terrestrially in burrows, but they spend much of their time in freshwater ponds and streams hunting for food and avoiding predators. They are quite unique, in that together with the four species of echidna, the platypus is one of the five extant species of monotremes, which are the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.
They are not good swimmers at first, and it is not until they are fully weaned at around 3 to 4 months that these semi aquatic animals are able to swim confidently on their own. Until that time they remain in their burrow and close by to their parent.
Walrus
Walruses are social animals and live in herds of up to several thousand individuals. They are mostly found on sea ice, where they rest and give birth. Walruses
feed on a variety of marine creatures, including clams, crabs, and snails.
The Atlantic walrus is less social than the Pacific walrus and is typically found in smaller groups. The Atlantic walrus is also more likely to be found on land, rather than on sea ice. This is because there is less sea ice in the Atlantic Ocean than in the Pacific Ocean.
They can swim and dive soon after birth but stay close to their mothers for protection. As they develop, walruses can hold their breath for up to thirty minutes at a time when they are diving for food. They rely heavily on the water for their food, and the land for their shelter, rest and breeding.
Seal
There are around 33 different species of Seal, and while they all have differences, one thing that they have in common, is that they are slick and built for swimming in the water. They have flippers and fin shaped feet, which is actually where their scientific clade name ‘Pinnipedia‘ comes from. In Latin, the word ‘pinniped’ means fin-footed. While incredibly agile in the water, they don’t look like they would do so well on land. And yet, they need to be on land to breed and raise their young.
Semi aquatic seals need the shore to nurse and raise their young. They are warm-blooded and suckle their young just like humans. They move on land by wiggling on belly and keep hind flippers straight out, it all looks a bit uncomfortable. While they can’t breathe under water, they can dive for up to an hour to depths of more than 200 metres and even down to 500 metres without surfacing for breath.
Otter
The European Otter/ Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) is now very common along the coast of Norway and in Northern Britain, especially Shetland where 12% of the UK breeding population exist. They are classical semi aquatic animals.
This opportunist mammal may inhabit any unpolluted body of freshwater, including lakes, streams, rivers and ponds, as long as there is good supply of food. Otters may also live along the coast in salt water, however, they require regular access to freshwater to clean their fur.
They are exceptional swimmers, but can only stay under water for short periods of time, rarely over 30 seconds at a time. They are able to travel competently on land and in the water, capable of terrestrial speeds of over 10 mph. European otters usually live in burrows or ‘holts’ dug into firm ground, but will also happily occupy man made structures or natural caves where available. Otters and beavers are sometimes mistaken for one another, especially in the water, but are very different animals.
Beavers
Beavers are one of the largest species of rodent in the world, and the largest in Eurasia. The only rodent with a larger size on average, is the Capybara. There are two species of beaver, the North American Beaver, and the Eurasian Beaver, and in both cases, these are naturally semi aquatic animals.
While these animals live on land, water is essential for the sustenance and safety of beavers. Their skills in transforming their habitat not only benefit them, but also the entire ecosystem, granting these animals a well-deserved title as keystone species. They are master manipulators of their environment, making dams and lodges, diverting waterways to provide the nourishment and protection they need around their home.
All beavers have four webbed digits on their hind feet, which helps them move quickly and efficiently in the water. Their front feet are not webbed, but have very sharp claws.
Water Vole
The water vole is found in much of Great Britain, northern and central Europe and in parts of Russia. In Britain, these semi aquatic animals live in burrows excavated from the banks of calm rivers, ditches, ponds and streams.
They often live in complex burrowing systems, that have many entrances, at least one of which is usually under water. While they spend time in the water, often to evade predators or enter their burrow from the cover of water, water voles are not great swimmers. They don’t have webbed feet or any adaptions in their tail to aid with swimming like some other semi aquatic animals that swim have.
Dragonflies
Dragonflies are are not actually a fly even though they both have six legs and three body parts, head, thorax and abdomen. The main difference between them is that flies only have two wings whereas dragonflies have four wings.
Dragonflies are usually found around water such as lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as ‘nymphs’, are aquatic. Once the larvae matures, the dragonfly becomes terrestrial. They are semi aquatic animals because they can’t live without either environment at some stage of their life.
Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees and butterflies, catching its prey while it is flying.
Polar Bears
While they live on land, usually in a maternal den, scrape or on pack ice, as adults, polar bears are excellent swimmers. They can swim at speeds of 9.7 kilometres per hour (6 miles per hour) and usually swim under water at depths of only about 3 – 4.5 metres (9.8 – 14.8 feet). They can remain submerged for as long as 2 minutes and are able to close their nostrils when under water.
They are known to swim for hours at a time and cover vast distances. Baby polar bears are not good swimmers though, and this is a skill that takes time to develop.
Polar bears rely on the water for most of their food. They live mostly in the barren Arctic where other land animals are few and far between. The intestines of these semi-aquatic hunters are adapted to digest the fats of marine animals, which helps to replenish their blubber and keep them warm in their harsh, arctic climate.
Turtles
Turtles vary in size depending on species. Sea or Marine Turtles tend to be the larger ones when compared to pond or land turtles. While some turtles are terrestrial, while others live the vast majority of their life in the water, most turtles are semi aquatic animals. Even female sea turtles come ashore to build a nest and lay their eggs. As such, all turtles spend the first part of their life on land.
Once they hatch from their eggs and dig their way out of their nest, baby turtles will head for the water. But for their incubation period, and the first few days of their life, all turtles are on land. Of those that live in water, some males may never be seen for decades after they reach the sea, swimming out into open ocean, only to return years later in maturity to breed. Females will return seasonally to the shore to lay eggs however.
Capybara
The capybara is the largest rodent in the world, and can be found in various regions of South America and in Panama. They live in savannas, forests, rivers, swamps and marshes — wherever there is sufficient water for them to drink and enough food for them to feed on.
Capybaras live mostly on land, but have webbed toes which enables them to be excellent swimmers. They can survive completely underwater for up to five minutes, an ability they use to evade predators. They are also able to sleep in the water, keeping only their noses out.
During midday, as temperatures increase, capybaras wallow in water to keep cool and then graze in late afternoons and early evenings. They graze mainly on grasses, water plants and aquatic plants, as well as fruit and tree bark.
Allen’s Swamp Monkey
The Allen’s Swamp Monkey (Allenopithecus nigroviridis) is a primate species that is categorized in its own genus Allenopithecus in the Old World monkey family. They can be found in the Congo basin, in the Republic of Congo and in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The slight webbing of the fingers and toes point to its partially aquatic way of life. These monkeys inhabit swampy, water-rich areas. They are very good swimmers and can dive well. When threatened, they can quickly dive into the waters to avoid danger.
Unlike other primates, its swampy habitat is not so strongly exposed to the danger of the forests that many other monkeys face.
More Semi-Aquatic Animals
- Muskrat
- Coypu
- Sea cows
- Elephant seal
- Mink
- Salamander
- Water Snakes
- Marine Iguanas
- Newts
- Crocodiles