Category Zology

WHICH IS THE MOST VENOMOUS SNAKE IN THE WORLD?

The inland taipan is the world’s most venomous snake, but this Australian taipan is so shy that hardly anything was known about it by Western science for nearly a hundred years after it was first described in 1879.

The inland taipan’s alternative name, ‘fierce snake’, points to the potency of its venom rather than its behaviour. The other Australian taipan that it shares a common ancestor with, namely the coastal taipan, is far more aggressive.

The inland taipan lives in the remote black soil plains of the outback where the borders of South Australia and Queensland meet.

The inland taipan is most active in the early hours of the day, when it surfaces to hunt for prey and to bask in the morning sun. After a few hours it retreats back into its shelter for the remainder of the day, although in cool weather it may show up above ground in the afternoon too.

The inland taipan has adapted to the extremes of the outback climate by dramatic seasonal changes in its coloration. The color of its back varies from a dark brown to almost black in winter. During the summer months it changes to a pale straw color.

These color changes allow the inland taipan to control its temperature, with the darker markings efficient at absorbing heat and the lighter ones good at reflecting it. The head of the inland taipan is much darker compared to the rest of the body, which makes it possible for the snake to warm up quickly by exposing only its head to the sun.

The inland taipan is one of the few Australian snakes to specialize in eating mammals. It will mainly prey on small to medium-sized rodents, especially the native long-haired rat (Rattus villosisimus), though it will also eat the plains rat (Pseudomys australis) and the introduced house mouse (Mus musculus). The venom of the inland taipan is considered to be the most lethal of any snake, surpassing even the venom of sea snakes. It has evolved over time to be especially effective in killing mammals, which also makes it extremely toxic to humans.

The venom from a single bite is said to be enough to kill at least 100 men. On top of its extreme neurotoxicity, the venom also contains an enzyme called a ‘spreading factor’ that speeds up the absorption. An untreated bite has the potential to kill a person in 30 to 45 minutes, which makes immediate medical attention critical. If provoked, the inland taipan curves its forebody into a raised S-shape in an attempt to fend off the offender. This threat display also prepares the snake for striking.

Credit : Active wild 

Picture Credit : Google 

WHICH IS THE LARGEST MONKEY IN THE WORD?

The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a large Old World monkey native to west-central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males have a larger body, longer canine teeth and brighter coloring. Its closest living relative is the drill with which it shares the genus name Mandrillus. Both species were traditionally thought to be baboons, but further evidence has shown that they are more closely related to white-eyelid mangabeys.

Mandrills mainly live in tropical rainforests but will also travel across savannas. They are active during the day and spend most of their time on the ground. Their preferred foods are fruit and seeds, but mandrills will consume leaves, piths, mushrooms, and animals from insects to juvenile antelope. Mandrills live in large, stable groups known as “hordes” which can number in the hundreds. Females form the core of these groups, while adult males are solitary and only reunite with the larger groups during the breeding season. Dominant males have more vibrant colors and fatter flanks and rumps, and have more success siring young.

The mandrill lives in west-central Africa, including southern Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea (Río Muni), Gabon and parts of the Republic of the Congo. Its range is bounded by the Sanaga River to the north and the Ogooué and Ivindo Rivers to the east. It does not appear to share habitat with the drill, as the two species are separated by the Sanaga River. Mandrills live in tropical rainforests, generally preferring primary forests over secondary forests. They may live in gallery forests surrounded by savanna and travel across grass areas within their forest habitats. They have also been recorded in mountainous areas, near rivers and in cultivated fields.

The mandrill is an omnivore. The core of its diet consists of plants, of which it eats over a hundred species. One study found the mandrill’s diet was composed of fruit (50.7%), seeds (26.0%), leaves (8.2%), pith (6.8%), flowers (2.7%), and animal matter (4.1%), with other foods making up the remaining 1.4%. During the wet season, mandrills forage in continuous forest, when fruit is most available, while during the dry season they feed in gallery forests and between savannas and forests.

Mandrills are mostly diurnal and are awake around 10 hours per day from morning to dusk. They often pick a new tree to sleep in every night. Mandrills have been observed using tools; in captivity, they used sticks to clean themselves. In the wild, mandrills appear to live 12–14 years, but captive individuals can live 30–40 years.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT MAMMAL IS THE DEADLIEST?

Ungainly as it is, the hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest large land mammal. Hippos are aggressive creatures, and they have very sharp teeth. And you would not want to get stuck under one; at up to 2,750kg they can crush a human to death.

Hippos do attack humans. When it comes to these large river horses , there are about 500 deaths per year in Africa. The number is shockingly large and outpaces nearly any other animal on earth. In fact, hippos are known as some of the deadliest land animals in the world, with the mosquito being the overall winner for a long time now (currently, it’s 725,000 per year).

Generally, it’s best to avoid hippos totally. If a hippo does happen to attack, the odds of living through it depend on whether you can get away or not. Sadly, if a hippo is able to grab you, the odds of escaping alive are slim.

Hippos really only attack people that have entered into what they consider their territory. On land, hippos aren’t generally territorial, but getting close is still a bad idea. Despite their stocky legs, an angry hippo can easily outpace a human, averaging 20 mph in short bursts, whereas a human can typically only run 6-8 mph.

When you enter a hippo’s territory in the water, however, things can turn nasty fast. They typically keep to sections of rivers that are around 55-110 yards of shore (that number triples when it comes to lakeshore). They will relax and patrol their territory, readily displacing trespassers.

The most common hippo attacks come from the water with humans on boats. Since hippos are submerged, it can be incredibly hard to see them from the surface. If a human floats by while fishing, it’s easy to miss the massive animal at rest. Suddenly, the hippo will launch itself at the boat, usually capsizing it. Once a human is in the water, there is little they can do to stop the attack.

Besides humans, hippos are known to attack lions, hyenas, and crocodiles. Lions and hyenas generally avoid hippos with how easy it would be for a full-grown adult to kill a pack of either of them. Still, there are occasional instances where desperate lions and hyenas will find an isolated hippo and try to kill it. It doesn’t usually result in much, but a hippo usually doesn’t have a problem defending itself.

The most common interaction that hippos have is with the crocodile. Since they share territory, conflict is more common. Generally, there isn’t much friction between the two species. Still, there are occasional instances of violence. If a female hippo has a calf, any encroaching crocodiles are likely to be chased away. If they don’t learn their lesson, it isn’t uncommon for a hippo to outright kill an annoying croc.

Credit : A-Z Animals

Picture Credit : Google 

WHICH IS THE LARGEST LIZARD IN THE WORLD?

The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard in the world. These wild dragons typically weigh about 154 pounds (70 kilograms), but the largest verified specimen reached a length of 10.3 feet (3.13 meters) and weighed 366 pounds (166 kilograms).

Komodo dragons are large lizards with long tails, strong and agile necks, and sturdy limbs. Their tongues are yellow and forked. Adults are an almost-uniform stone color with distinct, large scales, while juveniles may display a more vibrant color and pattern.

The muscles of the Komodo’s jaws and throat allow it to swallow huge chunks of meat with astonishing rapidity. Several movable joints, such as the intramandibular hinge opens the lower jaw unusually wide. The stomach expands easily, enabling an adult to consume up to 80 percent of its own body weight in a single meal, which most likely explains some exaggerated claims for immense weights in captured individuals. When threatened, Komodos can throw up the contents of their stomachs to lessen their weight in order to flee.

Although males tend to grow larger and bulkier than females, no obvious morphological differences mark the sexes. One subtle clue does exist: a slight difference in the arrangement of scales just in front of the cloaca. Sexing Komodos remains a challenge for human researchers; the dragons themselves appear to have little trouble figuring out who is who.

Komodo dragons eat almost any kind of meat, scavenging for carcasses or stalking animals that range in size from small rodents to large water buffalo. Young feed primarily on small lizards and insects, as well as snakes and birds. If they live to be 5 years old, they move onto larger prey, such as rodents, monkeys, goats, wild boars and deer (the most popular meal). These reptiles are tertiary predators at the top of their food chain and are also cannibalistic.

Although the Komodo dragon can briefly reach speeds of 10 to 13 mph (16 to 20 kph), its hunting strategy is based on stealth and power. It can spend hours in one spot along a game trail — waiting for a deer or other sizable and nutritious prey to cross its path — before launching an attack.

Most of the monitor’s attempts at bringing down prey are unsuccessful. However, if it is able to bite its prey, bacteria and venom in its saliva will kill the prey within a few days. After the animal dies, which can take up to four days, the Komodo uses its powerful sense of smell to locate the body. A kill is often shared between many Komodo dragons.

Monitors can see objects as far away as 985 feet (300 meters), so vision does play a role in hunting, especially as their eyes are better at picking up movement than at discerning stationary objects. Their retinas possess only cones, so they may be able to distinguish color but have poor vision in dim light. They have a much smaller hearing range than humans and, as a result, cannot hear sounds like low-pitched voices or high-pitched screams.

The Komodo dragon’s sense of smell is its primary food detector. It uses its long, yellow, forked tongue to sample the air. It then moves the forked tip of its tongue to the roof of its mouth, where it makes contact with the Jacobson’s organs. These chemical analyzers “smell” prey, such as a deer, by recognizing airborne molecules. If the concentration of molecules present on the left tip of the tongue is greater than that sample from the right, the Komodo dragon knows that the deer is approaching from the left.

This system, along with an undulatory walk, in which the head swings from side to side, helps the dragon sense the existence and direction of food. At times, these reptiles can smell carrion, or rotting flesh, up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away.

This lizard’s large, curved and serrated teeth are its deadliest weapon, tearing flesh with efficiency. The tooth serrations hold bits of meat from its most recent meal, and this protein-rich residue supports large numbers of bacteria. Some 50 different bacterial strains, at least seven of which are highly septic, have been found in the saliva. Researchers have also documented a venom gland in the dragon’s lower jaw. In addition to the harmful bacteria, the venom prevents the blood from clotting, which causes massive blood loss and induces shock.

The Komodo’s bite may be deadly, but not to another Komodo dragon. Those wounded while sparring with each other appear to be unaffected by the bacteria and venom. Scientists are searching for antibodies in Komodo dragon blood that may be responsible.

The lizard’s throat and neck muscles allow it to rapidly swallow huge chunks of meat. Several movable joints, such as the intramandibular hinge, open its lower jaw unusually wide. The dragon’s stomach also easily expands, enabling an adult to consume up to 80 percent of its own body weight in a single meal. When threatened, Komodo dragons can throw up the contents of their stomachs to lessen their weight in order to flee.

Komodo dragons are efficient eaters, leaving behind only about 12 percent of their prey. They eat bones, hooves and sections of hide, as well as intestines (after swinging them to dislodge their contents).

At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, the Komodo dragon eats rodents, chicks and rabbits. Occasionally, he consumes fish and carcass meals of beef.

Credit : National  zoo Smithsonian education 

Picture Credit : Google

WHY SOME SPECIES HAVE YELLOW BLOOD?

When an animal has a high concentration off vanabin in the blood it turns yellow. The yellow color is caused by the metal called vanadium which is found in Vanabin proteins. Scientists do not know why animals have these high concentrations of vanabin as it doesn’t help the circulation of oxygen. So that is still to be explored.

Beetles have yellow-ish blood like several other bugs. You might have noticed this whenever big bug splashes again in the front of your car.

Many people don’t realize that insects typically don’t even have blood vessels. Instead, they have a large hole inside the skeleton where all the blood resides.

Sea Cucumbers have yellow blood. Sea Cucumbers are weird animals. They live down at the bottom of the ocean and are very simple animals. They might look like fruit and the name doesn’t make it easier to categorize this as an animal. But it is an animal and is it quite remarkable. They have thousands of tiny feet as you can see at the picture above. It will move slowly at the bottom of the ocean.Again, the reason for the yellow color is found in the proteins of the blood. It has a high concentration of vanabin which has yellow pigment. One of the strangest facts about Sea Cucumbers is that they can change from male to female during their lifetime. It’s not possible to distinguish the males from the females from the exterior anyway.

Credit : Animal how

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT KIND OF TURTLES LIVE ON THE GALAPAGOS’ SAN CRISTABOL ISLAND?

A study published by researchers a few weeks ago details how a few thousand giant tortoises living on Galapagos’ San Cristabol island may not really be the species they were presumed to be. So, they have the potential to be a new species. What’s the story behind this?

Way back in 1906, explorers collected giant tortoise bones and shells from a cave in San Cristabol island. Recently, researchers compared these with genetic materials obtained from giant tortoises now living on the same island. And, they discovered these near-8,000 giant tortoises were different from the ones recorded over a century ago, though both were classified as Chelonoidis chathamensis. Scientists believe “the evidence suggests that one group of tortoises on the island split into two groups, possibly highland and lowland varieties. This may be a result of sea level rises in the past splitting the island in two”. Meanwhile, Galapagos Conservancy, which was part of the study, has said that the Chelonoidis chathamensis species is “almost certainly extinct.

Further DNA research is required to see exactly how distinct these two groups are because that is what will offer conclusive evidence on whether the tortoises now living are an entirely new species. If so, “under scientific naming nales, this means the living species would need a new common and scientific name

Right now, there are 14 recognised species of Galapagos giant tortoise. However, only 13 species are currently alive-the “Pinta Island tortoise went extinct in 2012 after the last of its species, Lonesome George, passed away”. Only research will tell us if the number of recognised species is likely to go up by at least one.

Picture Credit : Google