Category Animal World

What are the characteristics of a slow loris?

SLOW LORIS

With its big eyes and cute face, slow Loris is perhaps one of the most adorable creatures in the wild. But it is also the world’s only venomous primate. Native to the rainforests of South and Southeast Asia, the slow loris lives in trees. These lethal furballs are known for their bites that are loaded with venom. The animal’s venom gets activated when its saliva mixes with an oil that is secreted by the gland on its upper arm. When threatened, the slow loris raises its arm. It then licks the gland and the saliva and oil mix produces the venom, which then goes to the animal’s canines and is delivered to the victim through a bite. Its venom is said to cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans...

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What makes the platypus different from most other animals?

PLATYPUS

The platypus has the most distinct features when compared to other marine animals. With a flattened head, a large bill, a paddle-like tail, and webbed feet, the platypus is perhaps one of the most visibly unique animals. And do you know what else is striking about them? They are also one of the few living venomous mammals.

The males among the semi-aquatic mammals are venomous and have a sharp set of spurs on their hind heels. These spurs are connected to the venom glands located over the thighs and are used in defense. Scientists have also found out that the venom contains a hormone that could help treat diabetes.

They are also known to use venom against other males.

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What is de-extinction?

You must have heard of the term extinction. A species is declared extinct when the last member dies and no individual from that species exists anywhere on our planet. Local extinction refers to a species disappearing from one region, including a country. But have you heard of de-extinction? Come let’s find out what it is and what its implications are also known as resurrection biology, de extinction refers to the process that attempts to recreate extinct species through technology. Since these species no longer exist the new ones will be “new versions of the species. For the last few years, one of the main species in the news for de-extinction has been the woolly mammoth. A project seeks to create “a cold-resistant elephant with all of the core biological traits of the woolly mammoth, and will use the African elephant as the host. With the creation of this new version, the project also hopes the ecosytem that the animal inhabited can be improved – the Arctic tundra, now dominated by the threat of melting permafrost. Many view de-extinction as an opportunity to right the wrong humanity has meted out to wildlife. It is also seen as a first step towards safeguarding endangered species and those on the brink of extinction. The process can also be a chance for humans to learn about the crucial role wildlife plays in our planet and be sensitive towards them. But, de-extinction is not without concerns. The chief worry is the question of ethics – the new versions of species will be a product of humans and not nature. Also, if humans start creating plants and animals, is it far-fetched to think they could end up creating even humans in the future? And, there’s the financial aspect. Bringing back an extinct species costs money-a lot of it. It could rather be spent on safeguarding threatenend species, educating people on wildlife protection, creating a greener planet, etc.

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What’s intraspecific competition?

Competition occurs everywhere, be it among peers or siblings. Even in the wild. Competition in the ecology is considered a negative interaction and happens when resources are limited. An ecological interaction in which competition occurs between members of the same species, as they compete for limited resources (for survival and reproduction), is called intraspecific competition.

This occurs when the niches overlap, that is, when the members use the same resources and the resources become limited. In the case of animals, the resources induce  food. water, territory and mates. For plants, the resources they compete for include light, water, root space and minerals.

Competition can be categorised into two-intraspecific and interspecific. The former occurs between individuals of different species. The latter, as explained, occurs between individuals of the same species. And as such, this competition is more intense as they are competing for the same niche! Here the animals are using the same resource which is in limited supply. And the better the competitor, the better are the chances of survival.

This form of competition can further be classified into scramble and contest. Scramble competition is when individuals depend on declining available resources even as the number of competitors increases. This is an indirect form of competition. The contest or interference competition is rather a direct form of competition and here the competitors defend the resources from others.

What happens to a species when there is intraspecific completion?

Intraspecific completion directly impacts the species and suppresses its growth. For instance, the young ones of certain species can take longer to mature in crowded conditions. When there is a high population density, the number of young ones the members of the species can produce decreases. Further, it is often seen that when there is a high population density, many juvenile animals will move away from the regions in which they were born.

This is because they could find territories with more resources and less competition. This dispersal phase can also be detrimental as there is no surety that they will find sufficient resources. They also risk predation as they traverse unfamiliar territories.

It also affects the population size. This is because when there is a high population density, growth is affected, fecundity (the biologic capacity to reproduce) is suppressed and survival is impacted. As such the population starts declining. Once the population has lowered, fecundity starts getting better and survival chances increase. The population then starts growing.

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Which animal is covered with scales?

In the animal kingdom, you will see that there are animals and insects with scales or shells. These help the animals protect themselves from predators. Animals both on land as well as in sea can have scales or shells. Let us take a look at some such animals.

GILA MONSTER

The Gila monster is a tough, heavily bodied lizard whose body is covered with beadlike scales called osteoderms. The scales cover all of its body except the belly. The lizard is known for its strong and venomous bite. When it bites its prey, the lizard doesn’t loosen its grip for several seconds and this allows the venom to flow into its prey. These lizards live in desert and semi-desert areas and are large-bodied, with short, fat tails.

PANGOLIN

Solitary, nocturnal creatures, pangolins are known for their body covered in an armour of scales. These scales help in protection. When threatened, the pangolin will use its front legs to cover its head and expose its scales. It can roll itself into a ball when it is touched. Pangolins are called scaly anteaters because of their diet which includes ants, termites, and larvae. They have no teeth and use their tongues to gather food. They live on the ground while some can climb trees. As many as eight species are found, with a distribution of four species each in Asia and Africa.

SEA URCHINS

 Sea urchins are spiny marine invertebrate animals. These sea animals live in tidal areas and the deep ocean and are seen on the seafloor. They are noted for their round-shaped spiked shell called “test”. They move across the ocean floor using their tube feet, which are small anatomical features seen on their undersides. The spines stretch out of the test and are used to move when they come across obstacles such as rocks. The largest urchin is the Sperostoma giganteum and is seen in Japan. As many as 950 species of sea urchins exist.

ARMADILLO

Armadillo is Spanish for “little armoured one”. The name refers to the bony, armour-like plates that the animal has. The set of plates covering the animal’s body is called the carapace. An animal found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, the armadillo lives in open areas such as grasslands while some live in forests. In all, over 20 species of armadillo exist. Did you know that two species of armadillo are able to roll up completely into a ball? The animal uses this technique to protect itself.

DIABOLICAL IRONCLAD BEETLES

With an extremely tough outer shell that justifies their name, the diabolical ironclad beetles are considered to withstand a lot of pressure and are almost unbreakable. The outer wing case of these beetles are called elytra. They inhabit the woodlands of western North America. They live under tree bark and cannot fly. Their elytra is fused together tightly and from a shield. When compression tests were carried out by scientists to test how much force the shield could withstand without cracking, it was found that force up to 149 newtons could be withstood by their shields.

LONGHORN COWFISH

The Longhorn cowfish is known for its uniquely shaped body. Its cubical body is encased in a protective hard shell called carapace and is made up of hard, bony plates. It is a solitary species and is found among seagrasses, reefs, harbours, estuaries, and so on. Its tiny fins and tail jut out from its shell. It received its name from the pair of horns that project from its eyes.

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When humans retreat, do animals surge ahead?

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit us way back in 2020, several regions across the world went into lockdown. Around the same time, several stories of wildlife sightings at unusual places surfaced. A group of animal movement researchers tells us more about what could have caused this.

At some point in 2020, more than half the world’s population was said to have been under lockdown. With hardly any human movement, many bustling places became quiet. That was when “cougars were seen prowling through the suburbs of Santiago, Chile, golden jackals became more active during the day in Tel Aviv, Israel, and dolphins appeared in the normally busy harbour of Trieste, Italy”. This made animal movement researchers wonder if human movement impacted animal movement or if humans were simply noticing animal presence better during the pandemic. And so, they commenced the COVID-19 Bio-Logging Initiative. Many of the researchers were already studying animals and recording their movements through GPS tags, etc. The devices continued their work during the lockdown too, helping them compare animal movement during and before the pandemic.

Their data showed movements for thousands of animals, “from 43 species including elephants, giraffes, bears, deer and cougars”. The researchers could “look at how their behaviour and movement patterns changed during the lockdowns in 2020 compared to the same period one year earlier”. Both humans and the structures (including buildings and vehicles) they build can impact animal mobility, and the study showed this- “mammals were 36 per cent closer to roads during lockdown, and that their movement distances over ten days were 73 per cent longer during strict lockdowns compared to the same period one year earlier”. The researchers feel that less traffic could have helped mammals get closer to roads while absence of humans could have prompted them to explore new areas.

But not all species demonstrated this change, indicating difference in lockdown policies among countries and “differences between species in their ability to change behavior”. It is likely that “some species are more flexible in how they respond to changes in human activities”.

The findings of the study point to how humans impact animal behaviour. “With this knowledge we can start to think of new ways to change our behaviour that will positively impact wildlife.”

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