My Science School

Saltwater crocodiles enjoy "catching a wave" and can travel hundreds of kilometres by surfing on ocean currents. This current riding behaviour allows for the conservation of energy. Estuarine or saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), found in Southern Asia and Australia, are the world's largest reptiles and can grow up to 5.5 metres in length.

Working at the remote Kennedy River in northeastern Australia, the team of scientists — which included the late Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter" — tagged 27 adult seawater crocodiles with sonar transmitters, employing 20 underwater receivers deployed along a 39-mile-long stretch of the river (63 km) to track the reptiles' every move for more than 12 months. They found both male and female adult crocodiles undertook long-distance journeys, regularly traveling more than 30 miles (48 km) from their home area to the river mouth and beyond into open sea.

The scientists also discovered the "salties" always began long-distance travel within an hour of the tide changing, allowing them to go with the flow. They halted their journeys by hauling out onto the river bank or diving to the river bottom when the currents turned against them.

The researchers originally were just aiming to investigate the territorial habits of the crocodiles and how they divvied up land among themselves.

Credit : Live Science 

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Before the 1600s, a giraffe was known as a Camelopard, deriving from the ancient Greek for camel and leopard, referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouring. The word 'giraffe' has its earliest-known origins in the Arabic word zarafah meaning "fast-walker. The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French word girafe.

In 46 BC, Julius Caesar had celebrated his triumphs in Egypt by returning to Rome with a vast menagerie, the star attraction of which was a giraffe, the first ever seen in Europe. The Romans did not know what to make of such an animal and named it the "cameleopard", for it seemed to them to embody characteristics of both the camel and leopard. Caesar had the animal torn to shreds by lions in the arena, probably to emphasize his power by the disposal of such a rare creature in a casual manner. Lorenzo had read of the success of the spectacle of Caesar's giraffe and saw a way to cement his reputation in Florence by emulating it. He also realised that he could gain further political influence by passing the animal on and promised to send it to Anne of France, after its sojourn in Florence.

Whether the giraffe was provided by Qaitbay is uncertain as there is no record of its procurement, but it seems likely: he is known to have had giraffes in his menagerie; he appealed for Lorenzo for help against the Ottomans around the time of the giraffe's arrival in Florence and Lorenzo did intercede on his behalf shortly afterwards.

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The Octopus Stinkhorn Mushroom looks like an octopus and stinks like rotting flesh to attract flies that spread its spores, ensuring that its species spreads. The six-tentacle fungus, Clathrus archeri, is native to New Zealand and Australia, but is also found in the U.K. and North America.

As with all fungi, the part we see is just the reproductive organ or fruiting body. The majority of the fungus is a network of filaments underground and running through dead wood. These filaments feed on dead plants and animals, helping break them down to form soil.

When they are ready to reproduce, stinkorns grow one or more pale, egg-like structures above ground – visible at the base of the stalk in the photo above. Four to eight red arms, each up to 10 centimetres long, then grow out of the egg on a short white stalk. The arms are covered in a foul-smelling brownish slime. The slime contains spores; it smells like dung or rotting flesh to trick flies and other insects into landing on the spores. These insects then transport the spores to the next place they land, allowing the fungus to spread. Despite the disgusting smell, octopus stinkhorn is not known to be poisonous to humans or pets.

Credit : Ascension 

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Some species of ants, e.g., army ants, are completely blind and can become disorientated and march in circles until they die of exhaustion. Army ants navigate by following pheromone trails left behind by others. However, should an ant lose the scent, it might loop around and start following another ant in the group; the others follow and a huge ant spiral forms. The largest ant 'death spiral' ever discovered was 1200 feet in diameter, with each ant completing a circuit in two and a half hours.

The insects, found in South America, hunt in swarms of up to 200,000 individuals and are capable of killing 100,000 living creatures a day.

They eat essentially anything that moves and there’s very little defence, because they attack in such huge numbers.

Cornell University entomologist Sean Brady, while studying army ants in South America, described the amazing phenomenon of the insects marching, which is entirely silent.

He explained that you know they're coming from the reactions of other creatures in the jungle.

He said: 'The other insects are scared, and they make noises as they flee the invading army. Ant birds follow the ants from the sky and feast on the remnants left behind by the ants.

'You will hear the high-pitched chirping of the other insects, and you'll hear them and other small animals scurrying in fear. They know what is next.'

Credit : Daily Mail 

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Baby turtles make sounds to communicate with each other while still in the egg, to help synchronize when they hatch. Being able to coordinate hatching times is an important survival technique. If they all hatch together, there is a better chance that more of them will make it across the beach and into the water.

Researchers from Brazil, Mexico and the US got together to study the nests of 12 leatherback sea turtle nests in Oaxaca, Mexico. Starting on day 51, the point at which the babies's ears should be developed enough to hear sounds, they monitored the nests for any signs of noise. They immediately began detecting sounds, recording more than 300 different noises in total. They classified the sounds into four categories, including chirps, grunts and "complex hybrid tones," or sounds composed of two parts that they classified as pulse characteristics and harmonic frequency bands. 

That latter sound - the most complex of the bunch - was only recorded in nests that contained just eggs, rather than eggs and hatchlings (most had begun hatching by day 55). The baby turtles, the researchers believe, may be coordinating their hatching timing by emitting the sounds. This phenomenon has been observed in other animals ranging from birds to crocodiles, likely as a survival mechanism. In the case of the turtles, hatching en masse brings a certain strength in numbers. While some babies will be picked off by predators, a bird can only eat so many sea turtles at a time, meaning at least a few will make it to the sea. 

This finding, the authors point out, means that light pollution might not be the only anthropogenic nuisance threatening baby sea turtle survival. Noise pollution could be affecting them, too. 

Credit : Smithsonian 

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Shark teeth have naturally built-in toothpaste! The surface of shark teeth contains 100 per cent fluoride, the active ingredient in most toothpastes. They also have the handy ability to replace their teeth several times during their lives, because their teeth sometimes end up stuck in prey or are otherwise forced out.

According to the study, their teeth are perfectly designed for such tasks, never suffering from cavities.

While shark teeth contain the mineral fluoroapatite (fluorinated calcium phosphate), the teeth of humans and other mammals contain hydroxyapatite, which is an inorganic constituent also found in bone, explained co-author Matthias Epple.

“In order to make teeth more acid resistant, toothpaste often contains fluoride,” Discovery News quoted Epple, a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen, as saying.

“In the surface of human teeth after brushing, a small amount -- much less than 1 percent -- of hydroxide is exchanged by fluoride.

“In contrast, (the surface of) shark teeth contains 100 percent fluoride. In principle, sharks should not suffer from caries. As they live in water and as they change their teeth regularly, dental protection should not be a problem for sharks,” he said.

Credit : Hindustan Times 

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A species of "immortal" jellyfish can age backward. The Turritopsis dohrnii jelly fish can revert back to its juvenile stage from its adult stage, doing it several times over, making it the only known officially immortal creature. When starvation, physical damage or other crises arise, instead of sure death, Turritopsis turns itself into a bloblike cyst, which then develops into a polyp colony (the first stage in jellyfish life) which can spawn hundreds of genetically identical jellyfish - near perfect copies of the original adult.

Fully grown, Turritopsis dohrnii is only about 4.5 mm (0.18 inches) across, smaller than a pinky nail. A bright-red stomach is visible in the middle of its transparent bell, and the edges are lined with up to 90 white tentacles. These tiny, transparent creatures have an extraordinary survival skill, though. In response to physical damage or even starvation, they take a leap back in their development process, transforming back into a polyp. In a process that looks remarkably like immortality, the born-again polyp colony eventually buds and releases medusae that are genetically identical to the injured adult. In fact, since this phenomenon was first observed in the 1990s, the species has come to be called “the immortal jellyfish.”

The cellular mechanism behind it—a rare process known as transdifferentiation—is of particular interest to scientists for its potential applications in medicine. By undergoing transdifferentiation, an adult cell, one that is specialized for a particular tissue, can become an entirely different type of specialized cell. It’s an efficient way of cell recycling and an important area of study in stem cell research that could help scientists replace cells that have been damaged by disease.

As for Turritopsis dohrnii, this jelly is not only an extraordinary survivor. It’s also an increasingly aggressive invader. Marine species have long been known to hitch rides around the world in the ballasts of ships. Researchers have recently identified the immortal jellyfish as an “excellent hitchhiker,” particularly well-suited to surviving long trips on cargo ships.

Credit : AMNH

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The whale shark is the mascot for the city of Porbandar in Gujarat. The world's largest fish (41.5 feet), the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), feeds largely on plankton. It can live up to a 100 years but produces offspring only once every few years. It was slaughtered commercially for its fins and meat, until 2001 when the Indian government banned the killing of whale sharks.

In a first of its kind, the Porbandar Nagarpalika adopted the whale shark as its mascot with Mrs Shiyal publicly signing the declaration and holding it forth for the people to see. "I have spoken to the collector, Mrs Sheila Benjamine, and we have decided to erect a statue of the whale shark on the Porbandar beach for everyone to see and know," she said.

The campaign to spread awareness about the world's largest fish, which was till recently being hunted along the Gujarat coast for export, is being spearheaded by the Wildlife Trust of India and its partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and is being supported by two major corporate houses with units in the state: the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited and Tata Chemicals Limited.

Credit : Hindustan Times

Picture Credit : Google

Water Bear – They bear it all

Tardigrade, also called 'water bear, it definitely, the toughest and handsomet champ out there. This microbe is literally chockfull of superpower genes. Imagine living without food or water for about 120 years! If that doesn't wow you, here's more. Tardigrades can live in temperatures just above absolute zero and also well above the boiling point; they can withstand pressure even six times more than what is found at the ocean depth and survive radiation better than humans. Tardigrades were even sent to space and guess what? They came back fit and fine. If there's one creature prepared to face the apocalypse with a brave grin, it's this one!

Himalayan Jumping Spider - In top form

This is no ordinary spider that is content with living in a corner of your home, hidden from the broom. The Himalayan Jumping Spider craves for more a life up in the Himalayan mountain ranges at heights much greater than 6000 metres above sea level! Tackling freezing temperatures and lack of atmospheric pressure is a breeze for this spider, but that's not all. It can also go without food for a comfortably long period. After all, the only food that comes its way is frozen insects that get blown up the mountain range by strong winds.

Devil Worm - Living deep down

Maybe worms are the ones to compete with microbes. Here's yet another record for a creature that can live in the ocean depths the devil worm. The high temperature, crippling pressure and virtually no oxygen all suits it just fine. We did not know they existed up until they were discovered in 2011. The devil worms live at depths of about 3.6 kilometres below sea level with only bacteria for company and food!

Pompeii Worm – Too hot for words

When it comes to surviving extra temperatures, microbes usually win all the prizes. But here's a worm that makes the macroscopic world proud. These worms are most cozy when they are tucked in a hydrothermal vent with temperatures as high as 80°C, with their heads poking out to catch food. And the head portion is nearly 60 degrees cooler than the rest of its body!

Green Parrot - Volcano for home

Imagine the surprise when a team of researchers peer through the top of Volcano Masaya in Nicaragua - a bunch of green parrots roosting inside the crater is really the last thing one would think of! Microbes and worms, step aside! The parrots have entered the race now, though keep in mind that it is not the entire species that can tackle this extreme condition. How these birds put up with the heat and the toxic sulfur gases that the volcano emits is really remarkable!

Sahara Desert Ant the desert Championing

The Sahara Desert Ant might not have anything to do with hydrothermal vents, but it braves the desert heat in style. These ants live in burrows under the sand and make it a point to come out during the hottest time of the day and hunt for dead insect corpses in the scorching heat. They expertly look at the sun's angle, make quick calculations and figure out the shortest way back to their burrows. Their long legs are definitely a great help to rush back home with the food!

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The lesser bilby, also known as the yallara, the lesser rabbit-eared bandicoot or the white-tailed rabbit-eared bandicoot, was a rabbit-like marsupial. The species was first described by Oldfield Thomas as Peregale leucura in 1887 from a single specimen from a collection of mammals of the British Museum. Reaching the size of a young rabbit, this species lived in the deserts of Central Australia. Since the 1950s–1960s, it has been believed to be extinct.

The lesser bilby was a medium-sized marsupial with a body mass of 300–435 grams, a combined head-body length of 200–270 millimetres and tail from 120 to 170 mm. Its fur colour ranged from pale yellowish-brown to grey-brown with pale white or yellowish-white fur on its belly, with white limbs and tail. The tail of this animal was long, about 70% of its total head-body length.

Macrotis have long fur with a silky texture, the species have long tails and mobile ears that resemble those of a common rabbit (lagomorphs); they are burrowing animals that have long and narrow muzzles. The overall coloration of this species was more subdued than the bilby, Macrotis lagotis, and smaller in size; the shorter ears of M. leucura measured 63 mm from base to tip. The underside of the tail had a greyish patch at the base, but the long and bushy fur is otherwise white.

An illustration reconstructing the animal in its native setting was painted by Peter Schouten.

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The bilbies, also known as the greater bilbies or rabbit-eared bandicoots, are small, nocturnal marsupials found only in Australia. The bilby has one of the shortest gestation periods among mammals lasting from 12 to 14 days. With fewer than 10,000 left in the wild, bilbies are rated as vulnerable on the IUCN List.

Since the 1800s, habitat loss from land-use conversion and increased predation and competition stemming from species invasions have caused bilby populations to decline. (These forces also caused the extinction of the only other known species in the genus Macrotis—M. leucura, a smaller form commonly called the lesser bilby—sometime between 1931 and 1960.) Between 1982 and 1994 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the bilby as an endangered species on its Red List of Threatened Species. Since 1994, however, the IUCN has upgraded the animal’s status to vulnerable. Although reintroduction programs designed to create sustainable bilby populations in other parts of Australia have been established in New South Wales and Southern Australia, as well as several parts of Western Australia and Queensland, possibly fewer than 10,000 bilbies remain in the wild.

The bilby and the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), an invasive species that has become an agricultural pest in Australia, are known to compete with one another for food. In 1991 members of the organization Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia Inc. started a campaign to replace the “Easter bunny” in Australia with the “Easter bilby” to raise public awareness of bilby conservation while also educating the Australian public about the ecological damage caused by introduced rabbits.

Credit : Britannica 

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Sloth bears are a bit misleading by name. They are not related to sloths, and they are not slow moving. In fact, they’re agile bears that can run faster than a human and will attack if surprised. It was a European zoologist, George Shaw, who named the sloth bear for its long, thick claws and unusual teeth. He thought that the bear was related to the tree sloth due to these features. Sloth bears sometimes hang upside down on tree branches, much like a tree sloth.

The sloth bear is a bit messy in appearance. It has long, rough, unruly hair around its ears, shoulders, and neck that is cinnamon to dark brown in color. The pale muzzle and a flexible nose sniff out interesting smells. The sloth bear often has a white patch of fur on its chest in the shape of a Y, O, or U. With a stocky body and powerful legs, this medium-size bear is able to climb trees. The sloth bear cannot pull in its claws like a cat's, so it looks a bit awkward when walking.

Sloth bears adapt well to many different habitats. They live in the hot, dry grasslands and forests of South Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Does having a thick and shaggy coat seem odd for this environment? That coat protects them from being bitten by their favorite food—termites! It also gives sloth bear cubs something to grip when their mothers carry them on their backs. 

These bears are unusual because they do not hibernate like some bears. They often sleep in caves and near rivers when available. Sloth bears tend to be nocturnal when living around humans. But without human disturbance nearby, they are often active during the day.

The sloth bear has a nose for sniffing out food but it cannot see or hear as well as other bears. It is not aggressive, but it will defend itself against tigers, leopards, and other bears by standing on its back legs and using its teeth and claws.

While it might have a “bear” of an appetite, the sloth bear has more in common with an anteater than other bears. Even though it is omnivorous and dines on fruit when available, the sloth bear also eats termites and ants. As an adaptation for this creepy-crawly diet, the bear has few hairs on its nose and can open and close its nostrils as needed. This keeps bugs from crawling up the bear's nose while it eats! 

Large, thick 3-inch (8-centimeter) claws come in handy for ripping apart termite nests in soil, old logs, or trees. This is a noisy activity. In fact, sloth bears are well known for being noisy bears, especially while they eat. A large gap between the upper teeth makes the perfect space for sucking up termites. Like vacuum cleaners, the bears' lips and tongue create a powerful suction and loud slurping, sucking sounds. They also eat honey, sugarcane, flowers, eggs, grubs, and carrion.

Credit : San Diego Zoo

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The giant panda's distinct black-and-white markings have two functions: camouflage and communication.  Most of the panda - its face, neck, belly, rump - is white to help it hide in snowy habitats. The arms and legs are black, helping it to hide in shade. Mother pandas keep contact with their cub nearly 100% of the time during their first month - with the cub resting on her front and remaining covered by her paw, arm or head. 

At 5 months old, giant pandas learn how to climb - sometimes practicing by climbing on their mum. They have an extended wrist bone that they use like a thumb to help them grip food. They have an extended wrist bone that they use like a thumb to help them grip food. Pandas need at least 2 different bamboo species in their range to avoid starvation

Although pandas are 99% vegetarian their digestive system is typical of a carnivore. For the 1% of their diet that isn't bamboo, pandas eat eggs, small animals, carrion, and forage in farmland for pumpkin, kidney beans, wheat and domestic pig food. Sometimes, to mark their scent, panda's climb a tree backwards with their hindfeet until they're in a full handstand upside down - enabling them to leave their scent higher up. On average, pandas poo 40 times a day.

Credit : World Wildlife Fund

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The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only bear in South America and is endemic to the tropical andes. Andean bears live along the Andean mountain range from Venezuela to the south of Bolivia and are terrestrial, as well as arboreal. They are omnivorous, although meat is only a small part of their diet. They are also known as ukuku (in Quechua), and as spectacled bear, and they are an important part of the Andean and Amazonian cosmovision. They are thought to be mediators between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the Matsiguenga peoples consider it the creator of life, the Maeni. Internationally, the Andean bear gained fame as Paddington, who travelled to England from “darkest Peru.”

This bear is constantly threatened due to changes in territory use, which has fragmented its habitat size, as well as hunting by humans (usually in retaliation of perceived livestock attacks or for use of their body parts for traditional medicine and rituals). Additionally, its elusive nature prevents it from being extensively researched, which makes its protection and management all the harder. Finally, the responsible institutions for its conservation throughout its distribution are poorly financed and lack resources.

We work with the Andean bear since 1977, when WCS financed Bernard Peyton’s study on Andean bear populations in Peru. Currently, we work to strengthen the institutions that protect the bear through workshops, technical support in planning and monitoring, as well as provisioning of manuals related to human-bear conflict. We are one of the founding members of the Andean Bear Alliance, associated with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the IUCN Bear Specialist Group, whose goal is to provide the necessary funding for the conservation efforts of the Andean bear, as well as the coordination for research and conservation efforts throughout its range for greater impact.

Credit : WCS Peru 

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The largest bear in the world and the Arctic's top predator, polar bears are a powerful symbol of the strength and endurance of the Arctic. The polar bear's Latin name, Ursus maritimus, means "sea bear." It's an apt name for this majestic species, which spends much of its life in, around, or on the ocean–predominantly on the sea ice. In the United States, Alaska is home to two polar bear subpopulations.

Considered talented swimmers, polar bears can sustain a pace of six miles per hour by paddling with their front paws and holding their hind legs flat like a rudder. They have a thick layer of body fat and a water-repellent coat that insulates them from the cold air and water.

Polar bears spend over 50% of their time hunting for food. A polar bear might catch only one or two out of 10 seals it hunts, depending on the time of year and other variables. Their diet mainly consists of ringed and bearded seals because they need large amounts of fat to survive.

Polar bears rely heavily on sea ice for traveling, hunting, resting, mating and, in some areas, maternal dens. But because of ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat resulting from climate change–the primary threat to polar bears Arctic-wide–polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the US under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008. As their sea ice habitat recedes earlier in the spring and forms later in the fall, polar bears are increasingly spending longer periods on land, where they are often attracted to areas where humans live.

The survival and the protection of the polar bear habitat are urgent issues for WWF. In October 2019, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Polar Bear Specialist Group released a new assessment of polar bear populations showing that the number of polar bear subpopulations experience recent declines has increased to four, with eight populations still being data-deficient. The good news is that five populations are stable while two have been experiencing an upward trend.

Credit : World Wildlife Fund

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