The sea otter is a hugely important species, especially to the aquatic life zones off the coast of California.  The otters view sea urchins as a delicacy, and eat them regularly.  This is crucial to maintaining the habitat, as a surplus of urchins leads to a diminishing area of kelp forest (urchins' main source of food), which in turn results in a drop in fish populations that utilize the kelp as an area to spawn (5).  The entire ecosystem collapses; the food web is horrendously disrupted.  The sea otter's role as a keystone species in this area is absolutely crucial!

The Great Horned Owl has a slue of adaptations that allow it to be an unparalleled predator.  They can, of course, rotate their heads an astounding 270 degrees in either direction.  The shape of their face coupled with their facial discs allow for sound to be funneled towards their ears, so that even minute noises can be detected (6).  For another matter, Great Horned Owls are silent killers.  Their feathers are light around the edges so that each flap of their huge wings is relatively noiseless (7).  By this, prey are not forewarned of the owl's approach and thus, cannot flee.  Finally, the zygodactylous talons of Great Horned Owls enable them to grab prey with greater force and keep them from falling as they fly off with their meal (7).  These traits allow Great Horned Owls to be a fearsome predator.

The Basilisk Lizard (also known as the "Jesus lizard") has an amazing ability; it can literally walk on water!  The process is somewhat complicated, but in a nutshell, the lizards push the water with their feet in such a manner that their bodies stay upright and do not sink (8).  It uses a "slap, stroke, recovery" technique with lateral forces in order to accomplish this task (8).  Their feet have special little appendages that flair out in order to help them to "push" on the water and run (9).  This amazing feat allows them to flee from predators in a unique and unmatched way.