Category Animal World

What animal has fingerprints extremely similar to humans?

Considering they are our relatives, it’s no surprise that chimpanzees and orangutans have fingerprints that are similar to ours. But someone completely unrelated to us also has fingerprints shockingly similar to ours – koalas! Apparently, this is what is called convergent evolution – “different species developing similar traits independently from each other. Well, as one report rightly worried, we can only hope investigators at a crime scene do not mistake a koala fingerprint for a human’s and set out on a hunt that can never have an ending!

In 1975 police took fingerprints from six chimpanzees and two orangutans housed at zoos in England. They weren’t just looking for a unique souvenir; they were testing to see if any unsolved crimes could be the fault of these banana-eating miscreants. While these primates ended up being as innocent as they seemed, the police did determine that their fingerprints were indistinguishable from a human’s without careful inspection.

A few years later, in 1996, a different type of mammal came under police suspicions: a koala! While it makes sense that orangutans and chimpanzees would have fingerprints like us, being some of our closest relatives, koalas are evolutionarily distant from humans. It turns out that fingerprints are an excellent example of convergent evolution, or different species developing similar traits independently from each other.

For koalas, it’s not really so different. They are incredibly picky eaters, showing strong preferences for eucalyptus leaves of a certain age. It seems that their fingerprints allow them to thoroughly inspect their food before they chow down. Police aren’t exactly worried about koala bank robbers, but it is possible that koala fingerprints could be found incidentally at a crime scene and be mistaken for a human’s, making it pretty difficult to find a match.

Credit : MC Gill

Picture Credit : Google  

 

What animal has a 32 brain?

Leech has 32 brains. Well, not exactly, but sort of Here’s the thing. A leech is an annelid. which means it has a segmented body. It has 32 segments in all The creature’s brain runs through the length of its body, and exists in each segment as a ganglion (a structure containing nerve cells: plural ganglia). The first few segments together form the head ganglion, the next 21 form the mid-ganglia, and the remaining, the tail ganglion. Why these are seen as separate “brains” is because each ganglion has the ability to control the segment it is located in.

Leeches are brown or black-colored worms having a segmented body (34 segments). They possess a special sucker on both ends. In majority of the species, the mouth encloses three jaws, each equipped with small teeth. Leeches move from one place to another by walking in a looping manner.

The largest leech recorded till date measures about 16 inches in length. On an average, the size of leeches is between 7-80 mm. Like earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodites, meaning that a single leech has both male and female sexual organs. Leech bite is painless, which is due to the anesthetic present in their saliva secretion. Leeches have the ability to feed in large amounts (about 5 times their body weight) and store nutrients for future use. Many species can survive for about one year after having a blood meal. They use the preserve food for survival. Some species (e.g. hirudo) lay their young ones in cocoons, while others (e.g., Amazon leech) keep their babies (as many as 300) in the stomach.

Credit : Animal sake

Picture Credit : Google 

How many teeth do a slug have?

With all that regular brushing, rinsing, flossing, the scary decay (not to mention wisdom teeth troubles), and the eventual visit to the dentist, you think having 32 teeth is a bother? But did you know slugs have several hundred thousand teeth? Slugs including snails, have these teeth on their tongue-together called radula that help them scrape at and eat their food. Since their teeth wear down, they are replaced by new teeth. While snails can have even up to 20,000. The Most Number of Teeth” award is won by the umbrella slug that goes through an unbelievable 750,000 of these teeth in a lifetime. A paleoanthropologist was right when he said. “Our teeth are boring.”

Slugs have an important role in the ecosystem and are key composters which help to break down decomposing vegetation. However they are notorious for being able to chomp through garden plants and vegetables in a very short period of time. They do this using their teeth. They need so many teeth  because instead of chewing their food, they have a ribbon-like flexible band of microscopic teeth called a radula. This acts like a circular saw — cutting through vegetation and eating it as they go. When their teeth wear out new rows of teeth move forward and replace them.

Slugs are hermaphrodites and they have both male and female reproductive systems. They are able to reproduce themselves without the need of a partner. In fact, one slug can lay up to 400-500 eggs in a year which can remain in the soil for years and hatch when the conditions are right. Slugs produce slime which enables them to slide along the ground. The slime also enables them to glide over broken glass or razor blades without damaging themselves. They can use the slime as a trail to find their way back to their homes, even being able to tell their own slime apart from other slugs and snails.

Credit :  Perry Ponders

Picture Credit : Google 

What do kangaroos do to cool their body temperature?

Kangaroos lack natural sweat glands, but they have a special network of blood vessels in their forearms. When a kangaroo needs to cool down, it licks its forearms until the fur is soaking wet. As the saliva evaporates, it quickly brings down the kangaroo’s body temperature. Kangaroos have very thin forearms, with short fur. 

Trying to save water can be hard when you live in hot places. As humans, we are able to sweat to help us cool off using evaporation, but this uses up a lot of our body water. Kangaroos, much like dogs and many other furred mammals, don’t really sweat. But they do have a trick up their  sleeve  to help keep cool. Kangaroos have a cooling behavior. They will use their saliva to cool themselves off, licking their forearms to help lower their body temperature. In this more controlled way, they can still use evaporative cooling when they need to. As grazers, food is usually readily available for kangaroos, but that doesn’t mean that life is easy. They, like all animals, still have to face the different challenges that come with living in any habitat. Even if they seem to hop through life without a worry. As the number of humans in Australia increased, they killed carnivores that had hunted kangaroos in the past. Because of this, numbers of kangaroos have gone way up. High numbers can be problematic for the kangaroos because there might not be enough food to eat for all of them. As in most animal communities, kangaroos do best when in balance with other species that they have naturally evolved to live with, but human presence often alters this balance. Humans aren’t the only worry for kangaroos, though.

Credit :  Ask a Biologist

Picture Credit : Google 

Where is the smallest deer in the world?

The pudús are the world’s smallest deer. The two species of pudús are the northern pudú from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the southern pudú from southern Chile and south western Argentina. Pudús range in size from 13-17 inches tall, and upto 33 inches long.

Both species of Pudú – Northern and Southern – are native to South America where they inhabit the dense undergrowth of temperate rain forests. Little is known about their lifestyle because they are so secretive. Pudú are the smallest species of deer in the world, with the Northern Pudú being slightly larger than the Southern Pudú. Fawns typically weigh less than three pounds at birth.

A male Southern Pudú fawn born on December 19 at the Los Angeles Zoo has been named “Haechan” after a musician who, according to his fans, resembles the tiny deer species.  Little Haechan (the Pudú) is thriving under the care of first-time parents Steph and Mario. The tiny fawn prefers to stay close to Steph and can sometimes be difficult for zoo guests to locate. As he grows, Haechan will gain confidence and spend more time away from mom. Destruction of their rain forest habitat has resulted in both Pudú species being under threat of extinction. Breeding programs like those of the Los Angeles Zoo are critical to gaining understanding of these elusive and endangered creatures. The tiny fawn was born to first-time parents, Steph and Mario. The playful newborn may be difficult for visitors to spot in its habitat. According to keepers, he likes to spend a lot of time tucked away, close to mom.

The Northern Pudú (Pudu mephistophiles) is found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The Southern Pudú (Pudu puda) is native to southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. As of 2009, the Southern Pudu remains classified as “Near Threatened”, while the Northern Pudu is currently classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. As a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Los Angeles Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for the Southern Pudu, whose population is declining in the wild.

Credit : Zoo Borns

Picture Credit : Google 

Elephant from India caught smoking in the woods

Biologists in India recently recorded an Asian elephant in Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve in Karnataka blowing out puffs of what appears to be smoke. The elephant appears to pick up and stuff chunks of charcoal into her mouth before exhaling a plume of ‘smoke’. Charcoal is readily available after forest fires, lightning strikes or controlled burns. According to Dr.. Varun R Goswami, a scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India, the elephant may have been eating charcoal as a form of natural medicine, as charcoal is known for its ability to bind with toxins and also works as a laxative. Such animal self medication using natural materials is called ‘zoopharmacognosy’. According to WCS, charcoal may benefit animals by providing medicinal values. It can also act as a laxative, thus doubling its utility for animals that consume it. The charcoal in the wild is usually formed after forest fires, lightning strikes or controlled burns. According to a press statement from the WCS, researchers aren’t sure exactly what the elephant is doing, but it’s probably not just fooling around. Charcoal is known for its ability to bind with toxins and works as a laxative. So eating the charcoal may serve as a sort of wildlife medicine for the elephant. Charcoal is readily available in most places after forest fires or lightning strikes.

Picture Credit : Google