Why do some animals have webbed feet?
There are a few reasons why some animals have webbed feet. One reason is that it helps them swim better. Webbed feet act like paddles in the water, which help propel the animal through the water. This is especially helpful for animals who live in areas where there is a lot of water, such as near rivers, lakes, or the ocean.
Another reason why some animals have webbed feet is that it helps them move around in mud or soft sand. When their feet are webbed, it spreads out their weight more evenly, so they don’t sink as much. This makes it easier for them to walk or run without getting stuck.
Some animals also have webbed feet because it helps them to climb trees. The webbing helps them grip the branches better so they can climb up and down more easily.
So, there are a few reasons why some animals have webbed feet. It all depends on their environment and what activities they need to do to survive.
List of Animals with Webbed Feet
Ducks
Ducks are related to Geese and Swans in the Anatidae family.
Ducks have webbed feet, which are designed for swimming. Their webbed feet act like paddles for the ducks. The reason ducks can swim in cold water is their amazing circulatory system. Their blood vessels are laid out very close to each other in their legs and feet in a network that allows the warm and cool blood to exchange heat.
Axolotl
The Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a unique amphibian that can be found in Mexico. It is often called the “Mexican Walking Fish”.
The Axolotl is a member of the salamander family and is closely related to the tiger salamander. It has several unique features that make it distinct from other amphibians. The axolotl has also developed lungs which allow it to breathe oxygen at the surface of the water. It has webbed feet like most aquatic animals.
Penguins
Penguins are birds with black and white feathers and a funny waddle. However, unlike most birds, penguins are unable to fly. Penguins spend as much as 75% of their time underwater, searching for food in the ocean. When they are in the water, they dive and flap their wings as if they are flying underwater.
As most penguin species do, they feed by shallow pursuit diving, using their webbed feet and strong flippers to propel them through the water at speeds up to 15-25 miles per hour.
Otters
The European Otter (Lutra lutra) is also known as the Eurasian River Otter, Common Otter and Old World Otter. It is a European member of the Mustelidae or weasel family and is typical of freshwater otters. The European otter is the most widely distributed otter species being widely spread across Europe. The otter is believed to be extinct in Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Snow Geese
The snow goose (Anser caerulescens) is a species of goose native to North America. It breeds north of the timberline in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern tip of Siberia, and spend winters in warm parts of North America from southwestern British Columbia through parts of the United States to Mexico.
This bird belongs to the genus Anser and the family Anatidae. Both white and dark varieties of this goose exist, with the latter often known as blue goose. The name snow goose derives from the typically white plumage.
The snow goose feeds on roots, leaves and grasses, using their bills for digging up roots in thick mud. Their most common predators are artic foxes and gull-like birds called jaegers. They usually nest in colonies and travel in large flocks made of many family units.
Platypuses
The Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The Platypus is one of the few venomous mammals whereby the male Platypus has a spike on the hind foot which delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans, they also use it to kill small animals in self defence.
The Duck-billed Platypus has webbed feet and a large, rubbery snout. These are features that appear closer to those of a duck than to those of any known mammal. The webbing is more significant on the front feet and is folded back when walking on land
Flamingos
Flamingos are omnivores and filter-feeders. Flamingos mainly feed during the day and use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the bottom of the water where they then sweep their bills upside down through the water. A flamingo’s bill has a filter-like structure to remove food from the water before the liquid is drained.
Common Frog
Common frogs have short hind legs and they have webbed feet. Their snout is rounded and their large black/brown eyes are surrounded by gold, flecked with brown. Common frogs have transparent horizontal pupils and they have transparent inner eyelids to protect their eyes while underwater, as well as a ‘mask’ which covers their eyes and eardrums.
Their webbed feet help them to swim more efficiently.
Australian Pelican
The Australian pelican is a large bird found in the wetlands of Australia. They are easily recognized by their long bill and large wingspan. Australian pelicans are opportunistic feeders, and will eat anything they can find, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and birds.
Capybaras
A capybara is a rodent-like creature that inhabits South America. They are the largest of the rodent family and have a long, cylindrical body with short legs and a tail. They are semi-aquatic and spend most of their time in the water or in mud wallows. Capybaras are herbivores and eat a variety of plants and fruits.
Their webbed feet help them to swim in the water and to walk around the wet muddy ground.
Seagulls
A seagull is a bird that lives near the ocean. They typically eat fish and other small creatures that live in the water. Seagulls are very common in coastal areas, and can be seen flying and perched on rocks and other structures near the shore.
Tundra Swan
The tundra swan is the smallest of the Holarctic swans and most of their body, including their neck, is white. Their diet mainly consists of aquatic vegetation, but they’ll also eat grains and crops. They ahem very few natural predators, although breeding females and young can be at risk of predation from foxes.
Despite their small size, tundra swans are widespread. The whistling swan is most common swan species of North America and tundra swans are listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Despite this, they are at risk from habitat loss and are affected by water pollution. They are also targeted by hunters, which is the main cause of death in adult swans.
Waved Albatross
Waved Albatrosses are distinctive for their yellowish-cream neck and head, which contrasts with their mostly brownish bodies. Even more distinctive is their very long, bright yellow bill, which looks disportionately large in comparison to the relatively small head and long, slender neck.
On the ground they walk with a waddle and appear to be very clumsy, but in the air, they are one of the most graceful birds you could ever see. Waved Albatrosses are extremely loyal birds to each other whereby when a male finds a female mating partner, they will stay together and raise their chicks until one of them dies.
Newfoundland Dogs
A Newfoundland dog is a breed of dog from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The breed is used as a working dog in many capacities, including water rescue, guiding the blind, and pulling carts. Newfoundlands are large dogs, typically weighing between 65 and 100 pounds (29 and 45 kg). They have a thick double coat of black, brown, or grey fur that helps protect them from cold weather and water. They are also known for their gentle dispositions and loyalty to their owners.
Opossum
The Water Opossum (Chironectes minimus) or ‘Yapok’ is found in the tropical forests of South America. They are distributed from southern Mexico to Belize and Argentina. Water Opossums measure 27 – 40 centimetres (10.5 – 16 inches) in length and weigh between 600 – 800 grams (1.25 – 1.75 pounds). Water Opossums have waterproof coats which have a grey and black pattern.
Their hind feet are webbed and both male and female have pouches. Their webbed feet help them to climb trees.
Polar Bears
The Polar Bear is found in the coastal areas throughout the Arctic. Polar Bears are semi-aquatic mammals that live on the fringe of vast ice fields that surround the North Pole. The Polar Bear is the world’s largest carnivore species found on land. Although it is closely related to the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water and for hunting seals which make up most of its diet.
Turtles
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the crown group Chelonia), most of whose body is shielded by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs. The top part of the shell is called a carapace and the bottom is called the plastron just like a Tortoise.
The shell is covered with scutes, scales that are made of keratin (the same protein that our fingernails are made of and the horn of a rhino).
The Order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct species, the earliest turtles being known from around 250 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a much more ancient group than the lizards and snakes. About 300 species are alive today. Some are highly endangered. Turtles, like other reptiles, are ectothermic or cold-blooded, which means that their body temperature changes with their surroundings.
Poison Arrow Frog
Poison Arrow Frogs or Poison Dart Frogs is the common names of the ‘Dendrobatidae’ family of small, diurnal frogs. Poison Arrow Frogs are usually found in Central and South American rainforests, near water sources. Most Poison Arrow Frogs are the size of an adult humans thumbnail, about half an inch to one inches long. Poison Arrow Frogs are recognised by their beautiful bright colors, yellow, black, blue, orange, green and red.
There are about 220 species of Poison Arrow Frogs. Most species of Poison Arrow Frogs are not toxic to animals and humans. However, more than 100 toxins have been identified in the skin secretions of some Poison Arrow Frogs.
Blue-Footed Booby
The Blue-footed Booby Bird is a comical-looking tropical seabird with bright blue webbed feet and bluish facial skin. The head of the bird is a pale cinnamon-brown with dense white streaks. On the back of the neck, there is a white patch where the neck connects to the mantle. The lower breast, central tail feathers and under parts are white. Its blue tapered bill has serrated edges that enables the bird to tightly grasp fish.
The name ‘booby’ comes from the Spanish term ‘bubi’, which means ‘stupid fellow’. This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and like other seabirds can be very tame. It has been known to alight on boats, where it was once captured and eaten.
Natterjack Toad
The Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita) is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Northern Europe. Natterjack Toads are found in southwest and central Europe, but are rare in Britain. Natterjack Toads can, however, be found in southwest Ireland, pockets of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and along the coast between Lancashire and Dumfries. They have also been introduced to Hampshire and Surrey.
The Natterjack Toad has a body length of 6 – 8 centimetres (up to 10 centimetres in rare cases). Female Natterjack Toads are larger than male Natterjack Toads.
Atlantic Puffin
The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is one of four types of puffin and is a striking, pelagic seabird. It is recognised by its brightly colored rounded beak and its similar appearance to a penguin. Also known as the ‘Common Puffin’, it is the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean.
Very few people will have seen them in the wild. The reason for this lack of visibility is due to the fact that there are very few places in the UK where you can see puffins from the mainland due to their vulnerability from ground based mammals, especially rats.
Atlantic Puffins catch their prey by flying underwater, diving for around 20 – 40 seconds at a time, using their wings to swim powerfully down and their webbed feet to point them in the right direction.
Great White African Pelican
The Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is one of the world’s largest flying birds that is found in the shallow swamps of Africa. The Great White Pelican breeds in Southern Europe and in Asia. There are no subspecies of the Great White Pelican. Great White Pelicans are also known as the White Pelican or the Eastern White Pelican.
Pelicans and their relatives make up the order ‘Pelecaniformes’ and they can be distinguished from other birds by having feet with all 4 toes webbed which is known as ‘totipalmate’.
Crab Plover
The Crab Plover Bird (Dromas ardeola) is an Afro-Asian wading bird which is remarkable for being the only representative of the Dromadidae family.
The Crab Plover’s relationship within the Charadriiformes is not clear, however, some have considered the bird to be closely related to the thick-knees, or the pratincoles, however, in evolutionary terms, this unique and unusual shore bird has no close living relatives.
The Crab Plover is found on the Indian Ocean coastlines and islands. The Crab Plover global population is around 60,000 – 80,000 birds observed on wintering grounds. Its distribution is very localised with only nine nesting colonies known in the world. The Crab Plover has a long neck with an upright posture and a strong, long, black gull-like bill which is specialised for eating crabs and other crustaceans. Like other wading birds, the feet of the Crab Plover are only partially webbed. Males and females are practically the same in appearance except for the male’s beak which appears longer and heavier.