Selected movements from “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens

 

Royal March of the Lion (Pianos)

Lions have various physical and behavioral adaptations that help defend themselves and even get food. The key lion adaptations include sharp teeth and claws, camouflaging fur, night vision, sharp sense of smell, manes, roar, and life in pride. Many of these adaptations have happened over the last thousands of years to ensure that lions can survive in the harsh environments in which they live.

Lions have brown to tan fur color that is another adaptation that allows them to survive their surroundings. Since they live in the savannah grasslands of Africa, this color helps them blend into the environment, which hides them from their prey and other enemies. This camouflage adaptation is essential since it allows them to have the element of surprise on other animals. In addition, it is an important quality that helps them remain at the top of their food chain.

While lions hunt during the day, there are instances when they may hunt at night, especially if they didn’t have much luck in the day. They have excellent vision at night that allows them to see their prey from a distance and attack them without their knowledge.

Being the largest cat in Africa, lions are also the strongest, and most of this lies in their powerful paws. They have large feet that carry their bodies’ weight adequately and come in handy when pouncing on prey.

https://wildexplained.com/lion-adaptations/

 

Aviary, Cuckoo in the Woods, Hens and Roosters (Flute, Clarinet, Violins)

Desert birds make the most of very little. They tuck into the shade in the heat of the day, so they won't lose water in panting. They have extremely efficient kidneys, so they excrete almost no liquid. And they obtain moisture from foods, like nectar and fruit as well as insects and other prey.

Birds or mammals can conduct heat from their bodies to the environment by decreasing the insulating value of feathers or fur. On a hot day, a curve-billed thrasher sleeks its feathers which creates a thinner insulating layer.

Birds have some advantages over mammals in dealing with heat. The normal body temperature of birds is generally higher than that of mammals. This higher body temperature means that a Gambel's quail, for instance, with a body temperature of 107*F (42*C), can continue to conduct heat to the air until the ambient temperature reaches 107*F. (A coyote, by comparison, has a body temperature of 102*F.) Also, by dilating the blood vessels going to its bare scaly legs, a bird can dump excess body heat to the environment. A bird's leg temperature may increase 15*F (9.5*C) after its blood vessels dilate. Thus, a hot bird sleeks its feathers and stands tall to expose its legs to the air.

https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_adaptations_birds.php

 

Swift Animals (Pianos)

Antelopes are a large, diverse collection of herbivores of the Bovidae family that are not classified as sheep, cattle, or goats (this type of informal naming is sometimes called a “wastebasket”). There are approximately 91 species classified as antelopes, most of which are native to Africa, but they also occur in Asia and parts of the Americas. Approximately 25 species are listed as Endangered. Addax antelopes have adaptations to help them survive in the desert, like splayed hooves to help them walk in the sand and the ability to get all the water they need from the grasses they eat.

 

Tortoises (Strings: Violin, viola, cello)

Desert tortoises are able to burrow to escape heat. They can store water in their bladder, and are able to tolerate high levels of urea in their blood to keep from losing moisture through excess urinating. They can go for long periods of time without food or water.

These reptiles are very gentle creatures and have a very low rate of reproduction. The desert tortoise shares such extreme conditions of their habitat that no other tortoise in America does. Until the mid-1900s, they were commonly encountered by people in and around their habitats. However, at present, they have become quite rare and are seldom seen, or have vanished completely in some areas. The desert tortoise is the largest terrestrial turtle in the United States.

 

Elephant (Double Bass)

Rhynchotherium is a prehistoric elephant native to North America and Central America for approximately 10 million years.

Fossils of this species have been found in Coal Valley, Mineral County, Nevada, USA.

During the late Pleistocene epoch, Nevada was almost as high and dry as it is today — which explains its abundance of megafauna mammals, including not only the Columbian Mammoth but prehistoric horses, giant sloths, saber tooth tigers, and ancestral camels (which first evolved in North America before spreading to their current home of Eurasia), and even giant, meat-eating birds! Sadly, all this remarkable life went extinct shortly after the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. We currently live in an era known as the “Age of Mammals,” representing the last 66 million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configuration of continents.

 

Kangaroos (Pianos)

During hot weather Kangaroos lick their paws for evaporation. The kangaroo also crouches into a smaller position so less of it is heated up by the sun during cold weather. The fur is used as insulation, they also shiver producing heat.

Kangaroos have very large tendons in their hind legs which act as "springs' ' the springing motion uses less energy that running does so kangaroos are able to jump for long distances. Kangaroos have very long and strong tails for balance. The Eyes of the kangaroo are very far apart allowing them to see beside themselves and see subtle movements from far away. The front legs are very short which stops the front half of the kangaroo from being so heavy when hopping.

Mother kangaroos can produce 2 different types of milk to suit the needs of two different aged joeys.

 

Characters with Long Ears (Donkeys) (Violins)

The donkey (Equius asinus) was the most important load carrier in Ancient Egypt, attested already in the Maadi Period. It was also used for ploughing the seed into the ground. Donkeys were also used to carry people. ... A biography of the Sixth Dynasty reports that 300 donkeys were used as carriers through the desert.

Donkeys were hired by water-carriers, woodcutters, and washermen from workmen, scribes, and policemen in the village. Rental periods could last anything from a few days to a few months. Donkeys were essential, for the practicalities of life in the Theban mountains and for the livelihoods of their owners. And some were important enough to name Rameses.

https://papyrus-stories.com/2019/10/04/a-donkey-called-rameses/

 

Cuckoo in the Woods; The Swan (Clarinet; Cello)

Birds are thought to have descended from dinosaurs. This is because several hundred Deinonychus bones were discovered by paleontologist John Ostrom and Grant E. Meyer in 1964 in southern Montana and researched. John Ostrom named and described Deinonychus, and the discovery of this clearly active, agile predator did much to change the scientific (and popular) conception of dinosaurs and open the door to speculation that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded.

Several years later, Ostrom noted similarities between the hand of Deinonychus and birds, which led him to revive the hypothesis that birds are descended from dinosaurs. Its name means "terrible claw," and it was given this name because of the large, retractable hunting claw on each of its feet like its cousin, the Velociraptor. The Deinonychus was a spectacular, but fairly small dinosaur. It was a fast and vicious hunter.

 

Fossils (Xylophone)

Fossils are the preserved remains of plants and animals whose bodies were buried in sediments, such as sand and mud, under ancient seas, lakes and rivers. Fossils also include any preserved trace of life that is typically more than 10 000 years old. Here we example prehistoric instruments as symbolic “fossils” of music.

Here are some prehistoric instruments from Africa:

Marimba: The marimba is a set of wooden bars struck with mallets to produce notes. The keys are arranged similarly to a piano’s. Developed in Zimbabwe, the instrument is known as the ‘mother of song’ and creator of musical instruments. It was introduced to Central America in 1680, and in 1821 it was declared the national instrument of Guatemala.

Djembe: A goblet-shaped drum, covered with skin and tuned by ropes, the djembe originates from West Africa, and has been traced to the Mandinka caste of blacksmiths known as the Numu. The musical instrument spread across the west coast of Africa with the rise of the Mali Empire (1230 AD), now the modern day countries of Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Gambia.

Balafon: Played like the xylophone, the balafon is a percussion instrument and can be found in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Burkina Faso. It has been in recorded history since the 14th century and according to oral history (told by griots) the instrument originated from Mali.