Flying lemur bat

The flying lemur is either of two small batlike mammals that are native to southeastern Asia and the Philippines. The flying lemur usually grows about 18 inches long, not including the 10-inch tail. Its entire body, from the neck to the tips of its webbed feet and tapering tail, is covered with fine soft fur. Attached to the limbs and sides of the body is a furry membrane. When the animal jumps from a tree with its legs outpread, the membrane stretches and supports it in the air for glides as long as 100 feet. Despite its popular name the flying lemur is not a true lemur.

Flying lemur

Life in caves

   For students of evolution, caves are ideal natu­ral laboratories in which to study adaptations. Not only do they offer an environment where heat and cold, humidity and light remain fixed throughout the year, but the unique conditions found in caves produce dramatically exaggerated effects on plant and animal populations. And from their entrances through a twilight zone extending as far back as light can penetrate to the region of perpetual night, they harbor a surprising number of habitats.

guácharo

   A partial cave dweller of the interior zone is the Venezuelan oilbird, or guácharo, the only bird known to live in caves. Though it roosts and nests in the sheltering cave, it finds its food outside—in nocturnal darkness. The guácharo's blue eyes can see, but in the dark the bird navigates effectively, like a bat, by bouncing echoes off objects in its path.

   True cave dwellers like the other animals never leave their dark dwellings, but spend their entire lives in blackness. In such surroundings, these animals show many similar traits, sharing certain features unknown in related forms in the outer world. There are, for instance, no large animals that are permanent residents in caves; rather cave creatures tend to be small and slender, with thin, pale body coverings. Surrounded by high humidity, they need no special hair or scales to hold or repel moisture. They have no use for eyes, evolving instead long organs of touch and a sharp sense of smell for locating sparse food. Scavengers or hunters, they follow their own cycles, unrelated to day and night outside. But while most of these blind animalos bear sightless progeny, young Ozark cave salamanders are born able to see. If their larvae are raised in the light, they develop a dark pigment, but lose it later in dark caves. Apparently the ability to produce pigment has been retained de­spite countless generations spent in darkness.

Where does the koala come from?

The koala is a small mammal that looks like a cute teddy bear. It lives only in Australia, and even if some of these animals were taken elsewhere, they would not live for long unless the ideal type of eucalyptus was found, which is very difficult.

Koala can only eat the leaves of certain types of eucalyptus that grow almost entirely in Australia.

Koala spends most of its life on these trees, they eat only the leaves and tender shoots, and a koala, even if it is very hungry, would eat nothing except eucalyptus.

The eucalyptus provides the koala not only with its food, but also with the necessary water - so the koala does not drink water in all its life!

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Do tigers and lions meet in nature?

Because there are still many people who think that both lions and tigers live in Africa, they wonder which of these two big cats would win if they came to face each other.

But there is not a single wild tiger in Africa. Tigers are native to Asia, with one species living in the warm regions of India, and another species inhabiting the colder regions of northern China and Siberia. Therefore, there is no way for a lion and a tiger to fight in Africa.

The lion, however, does not live only in Africa. Some can also be found in Asia, especially in the country of Iraq and some parts of India. Therefore, if a lion and a tiger were to be found in nature - which is unlikely - it would be in Asia, not Africa.

And if they faced off, the tiger would probably win. The male tiger is larger than the lion, sometimes growing to a length of 3 meters from the nose to the tip of its tail. Large tigers are also more powerful than large lions.

The disadvantage of the tiger is that, unlike the lion, it is a solitary animal. The lions attack in groups, which would give them an advantage if both felines lived in the same area.

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An animal without teeth or jaws

There are many animals without teeth, but almost every animal has some kind of jaw, which can open and close for food to enter. Except the anteater!

This strange South American creature does not seem to have a mouth, its snout is tube-shaped and contains neither teeth nor jaws.

So how does the anteater eat?... with its tongue! The anteater has a very long tongue, sometimes more than 30 cm long, and is very sticky. The anteater looks for a mound of ants, which it tears and opens with its legs and licks dozens of ants with a single movement of its tongue. Then, the anteater puts its tongue back into its snout and swallows the ants all at once.

An ant-eating creature may seem harmless, but the anteater is strong and dangerous. It is an animal that has sharp claws on its legs which not only serve to dig but to defend itself from its enemies. And the giant anteater can be as big as a real bear!

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What is the maximum longevity of living beings?

Human beings can live a little more than 100 years, in fact, overcoming the century is already an achievement, as was the case of the French woman Jeanne Calmet, who reached a whopping 122 years. However, we are by no means the most long-lived beings on Earth. The oldest organism on the planet is a 250-million-year-old bacterium that survived "buried" in a salt crystal.

Plants are much longer-lived than animals. In the list of venerable earthly elders is the Greenland shark which have the longest known lifespan of all vertebrate species (estimated to be between 300–500 years), compared to the 5,000 reached by the Pinus longaeva. Other vegetables that win a prize for longevity are the Californian sequoia, with 4,000 years, and the olive tree, with 1,500.

But there are more facts on this list: the queen termite, a tiny animal, has turned 50, five years younger than the giant salamander from Japan.


LONG-LIVED VEGETABLES

• California Pinus longaeva - 5,000 years
• Baobab of Africa -4.000
• California Giant Sequoia - 4,000
• Sicilian Chestnut - 3,000 years old
• Larice of Lombardy - 2,200 years
• Welwitschia mirabilis of Namibia - 2,000 years
• Spanish Yew - 1,600 years old
• Olive tree of Spain - 1.500 years
• Ginkgo biloba from Tibet - 1,000 years
• Drago of Spain - 900 years

LONG-LIVED ANIMALS

• Greenland shark - 500 years old
• Greenland whale - 210 years old
• Homo sapiens - 122 years old
• Hermann's turtle - 120 years old
• Asian Elephant - 110 years old
• Sperm whale - 105 years old
• Tuátara - 100 years old
• Nile Crocodile - 80 years old
• Giant Tridacna - 60 years old
• Japan Giant Salamander - 55 years old
• Queen Termite - 50 years old

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How does the Archerfish Hunt?

The Aim of the Archer Fish

The archerfish hunts flies and other insects by flushing water into a parabola stroke. When they fall into the water it picks them up by moving to the exact spot in less than 10 milliseconds.

The extraordinary thing is not its speed, but it does it without even looking at its prey during its fall.

It's a typical physics problem: parabolic toss, for which solution he needs to know the position and the initial speed of the fly in the fall and, in addition, something about geometric optics to make sure he hits the target when throwing the jet.

No other species with similar abilities are known. A person can also make a parabolic shot with an object and pick it up at the exact spot of his fall without a glance, but he would not make it in the fraction of a second it takes the archer.

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When was coelacanth discovered?

The mysterious Coelacanth.

According to the fossil record, coelacanth appeared 400 million years ago and was long considered extinct until rediscovery in 1938.

Coelacanth are marine animals that live in deep waters between 150 and 250 m. From their physiognomy, their lobed fins and symmetrical tail stand out. Of its internal anatomy, its oil-filled swimming bladder stands out, allowing it to withstand pressure at great depths.

The coelacanth has great evolutionary importance, because with the lunged fish, they are the closest living relatives of the terrestrial vertebrates.

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Why do horses sleep standing up?

Horses do not lie down to sleep at night

It is an inherent quality in very active animals such as horses to stay alert in every situation, even during a nap. In most cases they do not lie down, like other animals, when they are sleeping. But the question is: why do sleeping horses stand during the night?

Horses are prey to some animals. When a herd of horses is attacked by a predator, precious time would be lost just by stopping. As a result, the horses sleep standing up, thus fleeing quickly when they are attacked.

The habit of horses to stand while sleeping is also seen in animals found in domestic herds. It is an instinct in them to sleep without lying down.

Horses cannot get up quickly if they are lying down. In order to be vigilant for possible attacks by their enemies, they remain in the standing position, even asleep.

Horses sometimes take naps lying down for short periods during the day, in order to rest their legs. They are also found stretching their bodies in these brief periods under the sun. However, when they sleep at night, they will always be found on their legs.

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How were the pterosaurs?

The elongated skulls of some ancient flying reptiles made them look more dangerous, allowing them to go hunting without having to wear themselves out under the Jurassic sun, say paleontologists Alexander Kellner and Diogenes Campos of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro.

While excavating the Araripe plateau in Brazil, Kellner and Campos discovered the well-preserved skull of an unknown pterosaur, the 110-million-year-old Thalassodromeus sethi.

The inside of the cranial crest is filled with grooves that look like blood vessels; such a network would have been effective in transferring heat from the body to the environment.

The enormous crest, which extends from the tip of the beak to almost the nape of the neck, the scissor-shaped beak, and the 4.60-meter wingspan of the T, sethi evoke the image of a flying demon, and hence the name Seth, by the Egyptian god of chaos and violence.

Great facts about crows

For a long time, crows were regarded as unlucky birds and creatures of the occult world.

Crows are distributed all over the world except for cold regions and remote islands.

Crows mature sexually in two years.

Crows are known for their black plumage, but in some species they are not completely black and can be found in other colors such as white, gray or brown, around the neck or beak.

Crows are extremely intelligent birds, capable of adapting to changing situations in order to survive.

The length of a crow is 20 to 30 cm, and its wingspan is twice that size.

Crows are migratory birds and are grouped into flocks to migrate in autumn and winter.

Crows not only inhabit natural environments but are also able to adapt in urban areas.

Crows are monogamous birds and take turns keeping the nest in which they are incubating.

While crows help fight some crop pests, they are also known to be a pest themselves, especially with maize plantations.

Why do bears hibernate?

Hibernation a survival method for bears

It is well known that the winter season introduces many changes in the way animals live and survive, such as the migration of whales, seals, turtles, eels, crabs, fish, butterflies, etc. Hibernation is a widely used term when referring to animals during the winter. Basically, animals hibernate in order to escape the harshness of time and lack of food in these months. They use it as a means to preserve the energy and heat of their body, which is naturally assisted by their own body system.

True hibernation is a state of inactivity or deep sleep, to which some animals enter during the winter season. The animal's body goes through a number of changes, such as body temperature decreasing more than normal and heart palpitations and breathing slowing down dramatically. Contrary to popular belief, bears do not experience true hebernation, but enter a state of winter lethargy, in which their body temperature remains normal.

The bears enter this winter dormancy gradually, a process which follows if they are not disturbed; even in their sleep it is very easy to awaken them. This contrasts with the animals that really hibernate, which are very difficult to awaken and that fall asleep quickly. Before entering their winter shelter, bears must gain considerable weight. Accumulated fat is the only source that energizes their metabolic activity, providing the fluids they need.

The primary purpose of hibernation is, colloquially speaking, to skip the winter season, during which food is scarce. Thus, in order to conserve energy, bears do not eat, defecate, or urinate during their winter dormancy. However, when bears come out of their lethargy, they are much thinner than when they entered. Bears lose about 22% of their muscle strength during the 3 to 4 months without food they spend in hibernation.


SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HIBERNATION IN ANIMALS

The flow of oxygen to the gray matter of hibernating animals can decrease up to 2 percent from normal.

Metabolic activity and heart rate also plummet. The heart rate of a ground squirrel can drop from 300 beats per minute to three or four tics in the same amount of time during hibernation.

Not only winter hibernation: In tropical Madagascar, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur crawls through tree holes and sleeps for an average of seven months to cope with food and water shortages during the dry season.

Hibernation in warm weather, or estivation, is also used by lizards, snails and turtles.

Even fish can hibernate. Notothenia coriiceps, informally known as Antarctic cod, reduce their metabolism by two-thirds and hide under the seabed during the dark Antarctic winters.

A state of suppressed physiological activity is known as lethargy, and a handful of mice, bats and birds use it daily. The blonde-throated hummingbird can reduce its metabolism ten times during the night.

Hibernation is basically an extended form of lethargy, but lethargy alone does not qualify as hibernation.

Animals in a state of lethargy can lower their body temperature to surprising extremes. The Arctic squirrel cools to 27 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mammals that enter true hibernation have to find ways to warm up every few days or weeks.

A pregnant black bear can give birth without leaving hibernation. It doesn't even need to get up to take care of its young, but rather breast-feeds its cubs for months taking advantage of their stored fat reserves.

Tripping over a bear hibernating in the forest is more likely than you think. Some winter openly in 1.5-foot wide nests made of branches and foliage.

When spring arrives, or droughts end, most hibernators emerge from their dens or nests without significant muscle atrophy or loss of bone density.

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Facts about the red fox

The maximum longevity of a red fox was 21 years, although the average is 11 to 13 years.

The red fox is the most widely distributed terrestrial carnivore in the world. It can be found from North America to Eurasia and parts of North Africa.

An adult fox weighs just over 9 pounds.

Fact
Although the red fox is hunted for sport in some parts (especially England), it is not considered an animal that is in danger of disappearing.

A female matures sexually 304 days after birth.

The gestation period of a female is 52 days, at the end of which she has a litter of about 5 puppies.

One of the reasons why the fox is widely distributed in the world is that it is an astute and intelligent animal, easily adaptable to urban environments as wild.

Foxes are essentially nocturnal animals and are the smallest member of the canine family.

Fact
Of all the fox species, the red fox is the most abundant, which is a little larger than a domestic cat.

Foxes are known to have characteristics of both felines and dogs. While more closely related to dogs, foxes have feline features such as vertical irises in the eyes and retractable claws. They are also excellent tree climbers and play with their prey before killing them, as a cat does.

The fox is considered a sacred animal in Japan.

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The woodpecker

   Most woodpeckers are protectors of forests. They eat harmful insects and grubs that live beneath tree bark. The woodpecker finds food by hammering on wood. It drills with its sharp beak, and then "harpoons" insects with its pointed, barbed tongue. Nuts and berries form a small part of its diet.
   All woodpeckers nest in holes of trees and poles. All lay white eggs. Short, stiff tails, and four-toed feet support their bodies as they cling to tree trunks. The northern black-backed and boreal woodpeckers are the only types with three toes and without some red coloring. The yellow-bellied sapsucker girdles trunks with borings and thus is one of the few woodpeckers that could prove harmful to trees.

What is a wombat?

   Wombats live in Australia. They are small, furry, brown animals with round bodies, short stubby legs, and no tails. They have sharp claws that they use to dig long tunnels where they spend most of their time alone. The female bears one young wombat at a time and carries it in her pouch. Wombats are marsupials, mammals with pouches.

   Wombats are shy and gentle and make friendly pets; but when frightened or angry, they will bite with their large teeth. They are nocturnal animals, sleeping through the day and searching for food at night.

   Wombats are vegetarians. They eat grasses, roots and young tree bark. Their teeth are strong and keep growing all the time. Fossils of larger wombats have been found in Pleistocene deposits in Australia.

Canary bird

   No cage birds are more popular than canaries. They are named for the Canary Islands, the home of their wild ancestors. There are still wild canaries on these islands.
   Canaries became cage birds more than 400 years ago. They were taken from their home islands to many other parts of the world. People liked them as pets because they were good singers. Today there are about 50 varieties of canaries.
   Canaries raised in the Harz Mountains in Germany became famous long ago as good singers. Great care is taken in training them. They are really given singing lessons. Music is played for them. Besides, the young birds are kept with older birds that sing especially well.
   A mother canary lays four or five blue eggs. The father bird does not help sit on them, but he helps with the feeding of the baby birds that hatch.
   Canaries are not short-lived pets. Many live to be 15 or 16 years old.

Gourami fish

   Gourami is a fish belonging to the family Osphromenidae, celebrated for its fine flavor. Its original home is the rivers and streams of the East Indian Archipelago. The gourami, Osphromenus olfax, has an oblong, oval body of a greenish brown color, banded by dark, vertical stripes in the immature fish. Though generally about two feet in length, it sometimes attains a length of six feet. The average weight is 12 or 14 pounds. The gourami builds a nest of grass and roots attached to aquatic plants and is assiduous in the care of its young. It is omnivorous in diet and extremely tenacious of life. Attempts have been made to introduce this fish into France but they have not been very successful. It is a highly valued article of food in the East Indies.

Mouse

   The word mouse means thief, A full-grown mouse is between six and seven inches long. Its tail is about one-third of its length and is used for balance. Mice are rodents. Their cutting teeth, although worn down from constant use, keep growing.
   The house mouse came originally from Asia. There are many different kinds of mice. All mice are prolific, having as many as five to eight litters a year, with as many as five mice to a litter. Baby mice are born blind and hairless, but within two to three weeks are able to take care of themselves and have young of their own.
   Mice eat almost anything. The house mouse enjoys human food; the field mouse eats the grain and hay-grass of the farmer; pine mice eat bulbs, roots and potatoes; the red-backed mice eat seeds, berries and roots; and rufous tree mice eat pine needles. The lemming of the far north eats moss, grass and lichens. There is a very curious type of field mouse called the jumping mouse. They seem to leap like frogs sometimes covering 10 feet in one jump. They have long tails. If the tail is injured, their jumping ability is impaired.
   Cats, owls, hawks, weasels, snakes, and man are enemies of the mouse.

The Peacock

   Peacock is the name for the male peafowl. The peafowl is related to other fowl, such as quails, pheasants, and chickens. Almost all zoos have peacocks, many wandering free, because they are easily domesticated and very beautiful.
   The peacock of India and Malaya is a large green and blue bird with long naked legs and a small crested head. A distant cousin discovered recently in the Congo is glossy black with a white tuft in its crown.
   Wild peacocks live in groups in open forests, roosting at night in trees. The male courtship display consists of raising the upper long tail coverts into a fan which reaches the ground on both sides. The feather surfaces are covered with many thin layers of horn which reflect and refract light, making the colors iridescent. Yellowish spots add to the beauty. These tail coverts develop in the male's third year. Each male has a harem of two to five smaller and duller females. The buff-colored eggs are laid in a crude nest on the ground.

Nautilus (animal)

   The nautilus is a sea animal that might look like other members of its class, the SQUID, OCTOPUS, and CUTTLEFISH. However, only the nautilus has a shell. The young animal's tiny horn-shaped shell grows into a flat spiral shape. The nautilus lives only in the front part of the shell. As it grows and adds more shell, it seals off the outgrown part of the shell. This is why the nautilus shell is described as having many chambers or rooms. Old tales tell of this beautiful and buoyant shell which supposedly sailed upon the surface of the South Seas.
   Full-grown, it is the size of a man's fist and the shell is about six inches in diameter. It has nearly one hundred tentacles used for movement and for obtaining food. Two tentacles are smelling organs. Like other cephalopods, the nautilus pushes itself backwards by ejecting water.