My Science School

 

             The muskox is a hoofed Arctic mammal. It is famous for its thick coat of fur. The male muskox emits a strong odour seasonally to attract females.

             The name of the animal derives from this specialty. They are from primarily in Greenland and the Canadian Arctic of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. You may have heard of musk deer, which, in fact, is from another family, called Moschidae.

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          Gazelles are slim, graceful animals that are found in Africa and Asia. They are synonymous with speed and quickness. Although they resemble deer, both animals have very little in common.

          Do you know that gazelles have the ability to run at bursts as fast as 100 km/h, or run at a sustained speed of 50 km/h? They have very light frames, and their physical features enable them to be agile and swift. Their speed helps them to escape from predators.

          Gazelles are found in the hot and dry savannahs and deserts of Africa and Asia. Gazelles have the unique ability to shrink their heart and liver in order to remain hydrated during summer. The Edmi gazelle, also known as the Cuvier’s gazelle, is the only in the mountains. When winter comes, then animal, however, will migrate to warmer regions.

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          Although antelopes and deer look alike, they belong to different families. While antelopes belong to the Bovidae family, deer belong to the Cerivdae family. There are some other important differences between these animals too.

          A male deer has antlers, which it sheds every year. They grow back later. However, antelopes do not shed their horns, as their horns are permanent. Deer have branched antlers. Antelopes, on the other hand, do not develop branches on their horns. Antelopes are commonly found in African, and in European and Asian countries. They have adapted to a large range of habitats. Some antelope species are sedentary, and do not move from one place to another. Some on the other hand, migrate.

          Deer are very common animals and are found in all continents except Antarctica and Australis. Curiously, there is only one species of deer in Africa, called the red deer.

The last and biggest religious war began in Germany in 1618 and continued until 1648. This very messy conflict became known as the Thirty Years’ War.

The war started in a dramatic way. Protestants in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic) were angry with their new king, Ferdinand. He was a member of the powerful Spanish Habsburg family, and wanted to restore Bohemia to the Catholic faith. The Protestants banded together and threw some Catholic officials from the upstairs window in Prague Castle.

The incident sparked off a civil war in Bohemia. In 1619 the rebels expelled Ferdinand and chose a new king, the Protestant Frederick.

Fact File: When the Protestant threw the Catholic officials out of the window of Prague Castle, it became known as the ‘Defenestration of Prague’.

 

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After about 1450, the great nations of Europe began to emerge. For most of their history they had consisted of small warring states, or had been invaded by powerful neighbours. Now things were changing fast.

The connection between France and England was broken at last. Spain and Portugal grew stable enough to found their great seagoing empires. Germany (part of the Holy Roman Empire) had strong leaders from the Habsburg dynasty.

The marriage in 1492 of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain helped to unite the two strong Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Ferdinand and Isabella also completed the great ‘reconquest’ of Spain from Muslim control, which had begun over 400 years earlier.

Fact File: Unlike Spain, Italy remained a divided country, split up into several states rules by different powers. In the north were the wealthy city-states, such as Florence, Milan and Urbino. The crest belongs to the Sforza family, who ruled over Milan.

 

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The 14th century was filled with wars. The longest and most exhausting of these wars was between England and France. It lasted, on and off, until the middle of the 1400's, and is known as the Hundred Years’ War. It actually spanned from 1337 until 1453, by which time the French, inspired by Joan of Arc, had driven the English from Maine, Gascony and Normandy the war was finally won. The conflict was a very complicated one. The Plantagenet kings of England also ruled a large part of France, while the rest belonged to the king of France. Both kings wanted to be the sole ruler of a united country.

There were plenty of other reasons for the war. The French supported the Scots in their struggle against England. The English, in turn, claimed the throne of France when Charles IV died in 1328 and left no heirs.

Fact File: English troops lay siege to the French town of Troyes. The city gates have been shut and barred against them. English officials are trying to persuade the leaders of Troyes to surrender.

 

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In the year 1167, a child called Temujin was born on the desolate plains of Mongolia. When the boy was nine, his father was murdered and his family was left poor and friendless. From this grim beginning Temujin grew up to become one of the world’s greatest conquerors. He was hailed by the Mongols as Genghis Khan – the ‘Universal Ruler’.

In 1206, Genghis Khan became leader of all the Mongol people, and began to build his astonishing empire. He was a ruthless warrior, destroying entire cities and their populations during his conquests. Yet he succeeded in keeping the peace.

Genghis Khan died of a fever in 1227, but the Mongols continued to build up the empire.

Fact File: The Mongols lived on the flat, grassy steppes of Asia, wandering with their herds of sheep, goats and cattle. They carried their tent like felt homes, called yurts, around with them. The Mongols were tough and violent, and splendid horse riders.

 

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William of Normandy ruled England from AD 1066 to 1087. He claimed that Edward the Confessor promised him the throne in AD 1051. He also said that Harold (who was shipwrecked in France in AD 1064) had sworn to accept this.

The story of William’s invasion and the battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, is told in 72 scenes in the Bayeux Tapestry. After the crucial battle William declared himself king. The English nobles lost their lands and French became the language of government. William and his barons built castles to guard their new land. A new age was beginning.

Fact File: In AD 1085 William I ordered a survey of land in England. The findings were written down in the Domesday Book (Domesday means ‘Day of Judgement’). It is the best record we have of life in England at that time.

 

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          Animals move from one place another in search of food, or a comfortable environment. Wildebeests do migrate, but not all of them. Blue wildebeests are migratory, and their migration is one of the most interesting wildlife spectacles on earth! They migrate towards the northern direction.

          The purpose of the migration of the blue wildebeests is to reach greener pastures. They do this in May or June, compelled by hostile weather patterns during this period. The most interesting part is that the migration involves other animal species too. About 1.5 million wildebeests, as well as hundreds of thousands of other animals, such as zebras and gazelles, move together.

          Vultures closely follow this exodus. The carcasses of the wildebeests dying in the process are the source of food for these scavenger birds.

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        Wildebeests are found in Africa. Also known as gnus, they get their name ‘wildebeest’ due to their menacing appearance.

        They have large heads, shaggy manes, pointed beards, and sharp curved horns. They move about in large groups, and are food for the predators of the African savannahs, such as lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas.

        The grassy plains and open woodlands of central, southern and eastern Africa, particularly the Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya, are the grazing grounds of the wildebeests. They graze about incessantly day and night, and travel in large herbs. The two major types of wildebeests are the blue wildebeests and the black wildebeests.

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          The gaur is the largest bovine existing today. This animal is also called the Indian bison, and is found in South and Southeast India.

          The gaur is dark brown in colour, almost black when it is old. It has very large ears. Its tail is short, and reaches only until its hocks. As the animal grows, the hair on its back becomes thin. The length of the animal is between 250 and 330 centimetres from the head to the rear. The male gaur is larger and heavier than females. An adult female can weigh between 440 to 1,000 kilograms.

          A male gaur, on the other hand weighs about 600 to 1,500 kilograms! Do you know that gaurs are among the largest living land animal? The gaur can consistently grow heavier. Other animals that boast such consistency are elephants, rhinos, hippopotamuses and giraffes.

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        Have you ever wondered why some animals are domesticated, while many wild animals are not befriended by Man? The nature of the animal is an important reason for this. Elephants, though widely domesticated in India, have caused the death of many human beings, because they cannot be fully domesticated.

        The African Cape buffalo is a dangerous animal. According to experts, they kill approximately 200 people every year! Therefore, due to its unpredictable and dangerous nature, the animal has never been domesticated. However, some other species of the same family, such as water buffaloes, have been domesticated.

        African Cape buffaloes are so unpredictable that even other animals dare not go near them. Only lions hunt them occasionally. However, the Cape buffalo is a favourite game among hunters and poachers.

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          Both these animals are large species of the Bovidae family. The unique horn structure of the African buffalo is its characteristic feature. The animal has a fused basis for its horns. Therefore, their horns from a continuous bone shield across the top of the head. This formation is known as a ‘boss’. Although this animal is called a buffalo. It is not an ancestor of domestic cattle.

          A grazer, this animal lives in swamps, flood plains, and mopane grasslands. They are found abundantly in the forests of the major mountains of Africa too.

         The American bison, on the other hand, is found only in North America. The European bison, found mostly in European grasslands, is its closest relative. The characteristic feature of this animal is its massive head and huge shoulder hump. Both these bison are covered with thick woolly fur.

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