THE WORLD’S STRONGEST ANIMAL IS THE COPEPOD?

Relative to their size, typically about 1mm long, copepods are also the world’s fastest animal, being able to jump at a rate of about a half a meter per second.  Their incredible strength, relative to their size, makes them over ten times stronger than any other known species on the planet and even stronger than any mechanical motor produced to date.

In order to achieve these great jumps, used to evade predators, the copepod uses two propulsion mechanisms and a very fast nervous system, which is very rare for invertebrates; they also have uniquely designed neural pathways with neurons surrounded by myelin, which increase the conduction speed.  When they detect a predator, a signal is rapidly sent to their legs and set of antennae, which together causes them to jump with a ridiculous amount of force, relative to their size.

For perspective on just how much thrust power these little guys have, if you were able to jump with similar power behind your thrust or more aptly, scaled up the size vs distance/time unit traveled, you would be able to jump about half a mile in one second flat in water.  In air, which has significantly less drag, you’d jump much further than that.

All this would of course depend greatly on the density of the water, drag, velocity, density of the base from which you were jumping from, etc., so it’s not simply a 1-1 correspondence that you can scale up like that.  However,  just for a fun ballpark estimate, assuming similar aerodynamics to the copepod, a relatively solid base to thrust from, and water density of around 1000kg/m^3 (typical salt water) vs air density of around 1.275 kg/m^3 (typical sea level), in air, you’d be jumping about 6-12 miles per second, if you had that kind of strength in proportion to your size that the copepod has.

Common household chemicals are being found in polar bear brains?

Again, thanks to humans, perFluoroAlkyl Substances (PFASs), Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and their precursors, which are resistant to thermal, biological and chemical degradation are bioaccumulating in polar bears. PCBs were banned in the United States in 1979 due in large part to their role in cancer and as a neurotoxin, but  prior to that they were widely used as coolants and plastizers in household items such as paint and cement and as a stabilizing agent for countless other products. PFASs are found in coatings for textiles, paper products, carpets, upholstery as well as food packaging that are water, oil and soil repellent. These nasty chemcials are also found in pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and fire-fighting foams. The problem with PFSAs is that many of them are known or suspected neurotoxins and/or carcinogens. The good news is PFASs have not been produced in the western world since 2002 but the bad news is, China loves them and despite their ban in the west, scientists have measured a ten-fold increase in production and use since 2002.

Even though the United States listed polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008, and Canada and Russia listed them as a species of special concern, all of this listing will be for naught is climate change is not halted. Sadly, there may be a day in the future where the only bears to celebrate on February 27th will be the ones in the zoo.

Of course, it does not have to be this way. The threat to polar bears is human-caused and thus the solution is human-based. Maybe it is time for polar-bear friendly labeling, just as there is dolphin-friendly labeling. Maybe, international pressure needs to mount on China with regards to PFAS. Maybe, U.S. citizens must sue to the EPA for not addressing climate change and thus not upholding the Endangered Species Act. We have the power to alter the course of the polar bear and ensure it this iconic species of the arctic has a happy ending. But the question is will we?

Two-thirds of polar bears could disappear by 2050?

Thanks to human inaction on climate change, our planet continues to heat and polar sea ice continues to shrink and melt. Polar bears depend upon sea ice to hunt, and studies predict our planet will warm to the point where enough sea ice annually melts to lead to the disappearance of two-thirds of polar bears by 2050. The current decline in sea ice is already forcing polar bears to swim such long distances that they are drowning from exhuastion.

Polar Bears can sniff out their dinner 20 miles away?

Polar bear noses are highly attuned sensory organs that put a blood hound’s sniffer to shame — when detecting the next meal, anyhow. A polar bear can track an icebound seal up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, and can sniff-out a seal’s breathing hole in the ice more than half a mile away, even if the seal is absent. That must be quite the tease at zoos when a polar bear’s lunch might just be a few hundred feet away, yet always unattainable.

Polar Bears can go days, even weeks, without eating — and often do?

To adapt to an environment where food is not always abundantly available, polar bears know how manage famine. If a polar bear is unsuccessful catching dinner for more than seven to 10 days, its metabolism will slow down until it finds its next meal.

During this time they survive off of their fat reserves, which is why the fatty ringed and bearded seals are a polar bear’s favorite entree. Sadly, climate change is making food harder to find and some bears are adapting by regularly cannibalizing their own kind.

Polar Bears are very tiny when they are born?

Hard to believe but that 2,2029 pound bear  mentioned above started life as a one-pounder (0.5 kg).  The mother keeps the cubs in the den until they reach about 22-33 pounds (10-15 kilograms). The males take 8 -14 years to reach their adult size. Females reach full size around ages 5 and 6. The cubs nurse for about 2/12 years.

Male polar bears can weigh the equivalent of a dozen men and be 11 feet tall?

At the San Diego Zoo, their polar bear exhibit includes a life-size male polar bear standing on its hind legs. My 6-year old daughter stood next to this impressive 11 foot statue and was absolutely dwarfed — scarily so. A typical adult male polar bear weighs between 775 and 1,200 pounds (351 to 544 kilograms), or the weight of about a half-dozen men. However, according to Polar Bear National, the biggest polar bear ever recorded was a male weighing a whopping 2,209 pounds (1,000 kg) equal to about a dozen men. By contrast, adult females typically weigh about half of the average male tipping the scales at a measly (by polar bear standards)  330 to 650 pounds (50 to 295 kg).

Polar bears have see-through fur?

Ask any child what color a polar bear is and s/he will exclaim, “white” with great enthusiasm, but truth be told, their fur is actually transparent and holds no color. It only appears white because it reflects visible light. They’re nearly invisible under infrared photography. Polar bear skin, surprisingly however, is black!  To humans and other creatures that see only in visible light, polar bears nearly blend in seamlessly with their snowy environment. However, reindeer have outsmarted the polar bear’s tricky fur by evolving a visual system than can see in ultraviolent light, which means polar bears stand out like a sore thumb against their icy white backdrop.

In zoos you may have noticed that polar bears have almost yellow or green-tinged fur. The yellowing of the fur is due to age and dirt, while the greenish color is from the algae that can grow on polar bear fur in unnaturally warm and humid environments.

Dolphins 'call each other by name?

Research has revealed that the marine mammals use a unique whistle to identify each other.

A team from the University of St Andrews in Scotland found that when the animals hear their own call played back to them, they respond.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr Vincent Janik, from the university's Sea Mammal Research Unit, said: "(Dolphins) live in this three-dimensional environment, offshore without any kind of landmarks and they need to stay together as a group.

"These animals live in an environment where they need a very efficient system to stay in touch."

Signature whistles

It had been-long suspected that dolphins use distinctive whistles in much the same way that humans use names.

Previous research found that these calls were used frequently, and dolphins in the same groups were able to learn and copy the unusual sounds.

But this is the first time that the animals response to being addressed by their "name" has been studied.

To investigate, researchers recorded a group of wild bottlenose dolphins, capturing each animal's signature sound.

They then played these calls back using underwater speakers.

"We played signature whistles of animals in the group, we also played other whistles in their repertoire and then signature whistles of different populations - animals they had never seen in their lives," explained Dr Janik.

The researchers found that individuals only responded to their own calls, by sounding their whistle back.

The team believes the dolphins are acting like humans: when they hear their name, they answer.

Dr Janik said this skill probably came about to help the animals to stick together in a group in their vast underwater habitat.

He said: "Most of the time they can't see each other, they can't use smell underwater, which is a very important sense in mammals for recognition, and they also don't tend to hang out in one spot, so they don't have nests or burrows that they return to."

The researchers believe this is the first time this has been seen in an animal, although other studies have suggested some species of parrot may use sounds to label others in their group.

Dr Janik said that understanding how this skill evolved in parallel in very different groups of animals could tell us more about how communication developed in humans.

Butterflies taste with their feet?

Butterflies taste with their feet as their taste sensors are located there. They can taste it by just standing on their food. They don't have mouths that allow them to bite or chew, instead they have a long straw-like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices. But the proboscis doesn't have any taste sensors. A butterfly's taste sensors are located on the bottom of its feet. When not in use, the proboscis remains like a garden hose. By standing on a leaf, the butterfly can taste it to see if it the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on to be their caterpillars’ food or not.

In the photo above, you can see the proboscis of the recently emerged monarch butterfly. Notice that it is in two pieces and has a forked appearance. As soon as it emerges, the butterfly begins working on the proboscis with two palpi (found on each side of the proboscis), forming it into one tube. It must do this successfully in order to be able to nectar.
Butterflies fly between 5 and 30 miles an hour. People who study butterflies are called Lepidopterists. A butterfly can lay up to 500 eggs. Butterflies flap their wings quite slowly, usually from 5-20 beats per second. Butterflies are important pollinators. They come fourth after beetles, flies, and bees. Some butterflies have wingspans of 11 inches.
Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees

As a caterpillar, they will increase up to several thousand times in size before pupating (process in which caterpillars transform into adult butterflies in a structure called a chrysalis )

An Octopus has 3 Hearts, 9 Brains & Blue Blood

This NOAA Fisheries video features spectacular underwater footage of octopus swimming and eggs hatching. NOAA researcher Liz Conners of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center points out the challenges of managing the Pacific octopus in Alaska and how researchers are working to develop new technology to better capture, tag, and study the octopus. The research study is a collaborative effort among the North Pacific Research Board, NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska fishing community. Learn more about the Pacific Giant Octopus here.

 A 50-pound octopus can squeeze through a hole only 2 inches in diameter. If their beak fits, they can get through. They are about 90 percent muscle.You can tell a male octopus from a female by looking at the tip of its third arm on the right (starting between the eyes and going clockwise). Males have a special tip on this arm that has no suckers on the last few inches. This specialized tip is visible even in immature octopus. To mate, the male inserts this special arm into the female’s body cavity. A captured male will try to protect this arm.

Female octopus can wait until months after mating to fertilize the eggs.An average female Giant Pacific Octopus in Alaska can lay 90,000 eggs.Fishermen like to cut off the tip of an octopus’ arm and use it for halibut bait because it continues to wiggle even after being cut off.Octopus frequently lose an arm to predators, but they grow back.Giant Pacific Octopus are cannibals. They will happily kill and eat smaller octopus.

All species of octopus have venom. The venom of the Giant Pacific Octopus is not dangerous to humans, but Australia’s blue-ringed octopus is known as one of the most poisonous marine animals—its venom is deadly to humans.

Octopus actually have shells similar to clams and snails. There is a pair of small, spike-shaped structures called stylets inside the octopus’ body that are a vestigial shell—meaning it really has no function.

It is tempting to use “octopi” as the plural of “octopus”, but DON’T DO IT. “Octopi” would be a proper Latin plural, but the word “octopus” has a Greek, rather than a Latin, root. The correct use is to use the word “octopus” to refer to one or several individuals of a single species; use the plural “octopuses” only when talking about multiple species.

 An octopus has three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood. Two hearts pump blood to the gills, while a third circulates it to the rest of the body. The nervous system includes a central brain and a large ganglion at the base of each arm which controls movement. Their blood contains the copper-rich protein hemocyanin, which is more efficient than hemoglobin for oxygen transport at very low temperatures and low oxygen concentrations.

A lion in the wild usually makes no more than twenty kills a year?

This “King of Beasts” once roamed over most parts of the world including Africa, North America and Eurasia. Today, however, they are restricted to the savanna, open expanses, and grassy plains of Africa, and to a small area of western India. There are about 15,000 lions in the wild today. Just ten years ago that number was closer to 50,000.  The shrinking numbers are due to hunting and overpopulation of humans.

One hundred and fifty years ago, there lived a subspecies of lion, Panthera leo persica, which was found from India to the Middle East. There are only an estimated few hundred alive today. They can be found in the Gir forest sanctuary in Gujarat, in western India. A sanctuary was set up in 1966 in the Gir forest to try and protect the surviving numbers of Asiatic Lions in India. They are endangered due to hunting and other human factors.

The Lion is the only cat that lives in large social groups, shares its territory, and regularly hunts together. The Lion’s diet consists of wildebeests, antelope, zebras, wild pigs, buffalo, impalas, and other hoofed mammals. The Lionesses do all the hunting in large number of groups or pairs. Prey will be approached with stealth until it is in range, then the cats will lunge and kill the prey by biting its neck. Lions are the dominant carnivores in their habitat and will drive away competitors or even kill them.

The Lion’s head and body can be up to eight feet, two inches, and tail up to three feet, five inches. Its weight can be up to 550 pounds.

Lions are primarily ground-dwellers, but occasionally jump up tree branches.  Most Lions will remain in the same territory all year long, however some are nomadic and follow the seasonal prey.

Lions live together in a pride based upon a group of related females (Lionesses) and their cubs. Surprisingly, the pride is led by a dominant female.  When a new male joins a pride it will drive away the other males and kill any remaining cubs, then mate with the females to produce his own offspring.

A Lioness will give birth to up to six cubs after a gestation period of 15-17 weeks. All of the Lionesses in the pride share in the rearing of the cubs and the males may even be playful with them.

Kangaroo tail a 'third leg' that gives speed, not just balance?

The role of kangaroos’ unusually large, muscular tails appears to have been definitely answered, with scientists discovering the tail propels kangaroos forward with as much force as its front and hind legs combined.

Researchers measured the force the tail exerts on the ground and found it is critical in getting kangaroos moving at slow speeds, to a greater degree than even its legs.

Filmed experiments confirmed that kangaroos plant their tails on the ground in sequence prior to their hind legs, pushing them forwards. This gives the tail the role of a “third leg”, doing a similar job to a human leg – a far different role than proposed by the previous theory that it merely provided support and balance to kangaroos.

The research, conducted by scientists in Australia, the US and Canada, is the “final piece in the puzzle” in our understanding of kangaroos’ unusual locomotion, according to Terry Dawson, a University of New South Wales academic who has studied the animals for nearly 40 years.

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“We weren’t quite sure why kangaroos diverged so much from the normal patterns of movement found in other animals,” Dawson, who worked on the study, told Guardian Australia.

“Previous studies thought the tail was just a strut, but it’s actually the front legs which are struts, they don’t provide much force. It’s the back legs and tail which provide the propulsion, much more than we previously thought.

“We didn’t know the kangaroos were using the tail as a third leg. Without that, the tail wouldn’t need to be so strong, although it would need to be pretty heavy because it is a large animal moving at speed. The males also use it for fighting, sometimes balancing on it completely in order to kick another kangaroo.”

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Dawson’s study suggests the kangaroo evolved this system to free its front legs for slow-moving grazing.

A kangaroo’s movement is unusual because the animal expends a proportionally larger amount of energy when moving at slower speeds, compared with when it is going full tilt.

The marsupials can reach speeds of up to 65km per hour, with the tail performing a different role when the animal is moving quickly. The tail will be raised high to balance the kangaroo, preventing it from pitching forward.

Unlike four-legged animals such as horses and dogs, kangaroos don’t require a greater number of steps to move more quickly, the animals’ distinctive long hopping far more energy efficient than a quadruped’s rapid movement.

“Their hop is like an extreme gallop of a horse, in its aerial phase,” Dawson said. “We worked out that their legs are structured so they can take longer steps. When they go faster they straighten their legs out, making them take a much larger stride.

“The hopping locomotion got locked in a very long time ago, when a small group of possum-like animals came down from the trees and started bounding around on the ground.

“I think, after all this time, I know how they move now.”

Why can't hens fly?

The truth is they can, but really, really badly.  Thousands of years ago, their ancestors would have had the power of full flight – and then we came along.  We know they used to be able to fly because of the lightness of their bones and the numerous air pockets in them.  Plus they have in common with all other flying birds the air sacks around the lungs that they need to make their breathing more efficient. Although it proved impossible to source an copyright free image of a hen actually flying, below is Daphne, with her first experience of snow. She almost flies back in to her coop after deciding it really isn't for her!

Image Credit Flickr User Teresia

Do fish have eyelids?

The simple answer is no!  That’s why you will never get a nod and a wink from a fish.  They have a thin transparent layer that covers the eye, similar to our cornea, to protect it from nasty particles.  A lot of people think that fish have poor eyesight.

Image Credit Flickr User Benson Kua

In fact, it’s wonderful and they can see some of the color spectrum that we can’t.  Their eyesight is important to them because they rely on it to recognize other members of their own species.  Which raises another question – fish don’t have mirrors, so how do they know which fish is a fish like them?  All in the genes, the recognition factor is not learned behavior; it is something with which they are all born. No surprises there, then.

Do spiders have a heart?

Haven’t you read “Charlotte’s Web”?  Of course a spider has a heart!  They look after piglets and ensure that they become “some pig”!  Biologically, a spider does have a heart but not really as we know it!  The spider heart is much simpler than the human one.  It is a tube that is positioned at the back of the abdomen.  There it is, below.

Image Credit Wikimedia

Openings on either side of the heart, called ostia, allow blood in to the heart and pump it back out.  The spider has a valve system and that means it can take up any position it wants without the blood going the wrong way!  It can go upside down, sideways – any way it wants without the ‘red stuff’ gushing out!

Why do zebras have stripes?

Zebras were once completely black but one day a zebra stood next to a white picket fence that was being painted and the result is history.  Okay, maybe not.  It is for camouflage purposes.  The stripes help the zebra hide against the long grass.

Image Credit Flickr User alles-schlumpf

It is irrelevant that the zebra’s stripes are not green or orange, like the grass, because the zebra’s main predator is the lion.  The lion is color blind and so will not be able to see the difference between the different colors.  Another reason is so that zebras all look the same.  A lion will try and pick off a weak animal, but when the zebras run as the lion attacks, they all look identical to the lion – or at least that is the plan!  It is also thought that the stripes make it difficult for the lion to guess which way a zebra is moving. Of course, when the lion is your main predator, it's no laughing matter,

Is wombat poo really square?

Yes, strange – even peculiar – but true!Wombats have two sets of muscles in their anal sphincter.  These muscles are parallel to each other so the resulting waste is square, or rather cuboid in shape.  It could just be an accident of nature but this squareness could also have a use.  Wombats use their feces to mark their territory and often deposit them on ‘wobbly’ terrain such as logs or stones.

Image Credit Flickr User El Captain

The shape may help the marker stay there for longer.  Incidentally, wombats have even been known to put their ‘marker’ on top of mushrooms! It would be great if we could have shown you a picture of that but…

Why do elephants have big ears?

No, it’s not “because Noddy won’t pay the ransom” (which is a joke you will not get unless you are British anyway).  There are two main reasons why their ears are so large and the first is around, you guessed it, hearing.  Elephants can often be a long way from each other in the wild and they, like some other mammals that could be mentioned, like to know what is going on around them. When they want to tune in to something that is happening a distance away they turn towards the sound.  Then, they open their ears wide and this helps “catch” the sound.

Image Credit Flickr User Arno & Louise Wildlife

Another reason is to cool itself down.  The ears naturally have a very large surface area - and they don't always have a swimming pool nearby. When an elephant feels itself getting too hot it pumps blood in to its ears.  There are lots of vessels in the ears, because of their size and so a lot of blood can be pumped in to them at once.  Then the elephant waggles its ears and the blood cools down.  Result, we have an elephant that isn’t going to get overheated.

Why do giraffes have long necks?

This is because many years ago a giraffe got his head stuck in a hole in the ground.  He pulled and pulled and eventually managed to pop his head back out.  Unfortunately, all that pulling had lengthened his neck – something that he passed on to all his children.  Honestly?  Is it because it helps them reach the long leaves at the top of the trees on which they graze? That is probably wrong as well.  Giraffes mostly feed below their head line and in dry seasons they feed amongst the undergrowth.Yet with that long neck and legs that seem to go on forever, it's always surprising we don't see this more often...


So why the big long neck?  Is it to see lions at a distance?  Unlikely!  The biggest theory here is that it boils down to the one thing to which so much boils down: sex.  Male giraffes use their necks when they go in to combat against each other in the mating season.  Before a scrap they point upwards with their noses, as if to show that they are taller than the opponent. If this doesn’t work then it’s war! When they actually fight they use their neck like a hammer, slamming it down on their foe.  The one with the longer, heavier neck wins – and gets the girl. So the trait is passed on to the next generation.