An eagle is Mexico’s national animal – but which one?
Mexico’s national animal is the majestic golden eagle. The country’s arresting coat of arms even depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake.
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This draws on an Aztec legend that said you would know where to build your city once you saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a lake. Additionally, the eagle was originally a representation of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god and deity of war.
Golden eagles are the most widely distributed of all eagle species, being found across North America, as well as Eurasia, and parts of North Africa.
The species is divided into 6 subspecies, the one found in Mexico being the North American golden eagle. As well as the golden eagle, Mexico also has an official national dog (the Xoloitzcuintli), a national arthropod (the Chapulin, a type of grasshopper), a national feline (the ocelot), and a national amphibian (the axolotl).
The golden eagle is the biggest species in the Aquila genus of eagles, otherwise known as the ‘booted’ or ‘true’ eagles. Females are some 20–30% bigger than males, a phenomenon called ‘reversed size dimorphism’ (‘reversed’ because in most birds and mammals where one sex is larger than the other, it is generally the male). In the UK, the average male weighs 3.7kg and has a wingspan of 2.0m, and the female 5.2kg and 2.2m.
Eight other countries have eagles as their national animal, including Egypt with its steppe eagle and USA’s bald eagle