Discovery Science 🧬

with a huge habitat. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Barrel Eye: The strangest eyes. Balls in the center of a transparent head As a person who experienced serious conjunctivitis in his youth (two weeks in a dark room, drops, ointments and a lot of audiobooks), I sincerely envy barrel-eyed people. After all, their eyes are in some way unique: they are not afraid of injuries, parasites and any infections that the waters of the Pacific Ocean can bring. How did they achieve this? You can understand for yourself if you look at their eyes more closely. No, not those black dots on the face - those are the nostrils. You need to look higher and deeper, at the strangely shaped green segments shining through the transparent skin. These are real eyes. It is physically impossible to get close to them from the outside, so not a single dangerous parasitic worm or harmful virus can harm them. And it sounds so cool that it even becomes unclear: why didn’t all the other vertebrates think of this? Why did some deep-sea fish decide to hide their eyes behind a huge transparent lens, while people, birds and frogs are forced to blink 20 times a minute so as not to simply go blind? Because such reliable but crude eye protection actually destroyed the barrel eye’s vision. Through a thick, leathery lens, the fish sees only the silhouettes of animals, can track their size and direction of movement, but even to provide itself with such simple vision, it had to turn its eyeballs into cylinders, the operating principle of which is reminiscent of binoculars. Owl eye skeleton. This shape allows you to look very far, like through binoculars. The same is true for the barrel eye. The only reason why the half-blind fish has not yet been eaten with its giblets is its habitat. The barrel eye lives at depths from 600 to 3600 meters, half of the locals cannot see at all, and as you know, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed king. But in fairness, it should be admitted that the barrel-eyed eyes are capable of more than was expected of them. Previously, we believed that the eyes of a fish could not move in principle, turning it into a kind of underwater owl. This was a mistake; the scaly thing still knows how to move them, and almost 90°. In a vertical position, the barrel-eyed eyes look out for the silhouettes of potential predators ready to attack from above, and in a horizontal position, they look for prey: jellyfish and siphonophores. The fish eats them along with poisonous tentacles, to which it is immune. But how fish look for each other during the breeding season is still a mystery. It is unlikely that they rely on their weak eyesight, but it has not yet been possible to understand the exact methods of finding a soul mate - the fish are too rare. But it is known that both the male and the female did not care about the fertilized eggs and did not even try to protect them. The eggs, covered with an oily coating, quickly float to the surface and spread over a good half of the Pacific Ocean, providing the species

He doesn't see your faces. Can't complain about pain. But he feels when they stroke his gray head. Smetanych is an old snow-white cat, whose life on the street has left too deep scars. Ten years of survival, injury and cold. Without a home, without treatment and almost without hope. When he was taken, he was exhausted. But, as if this were not enough, illnesses fell on the cat grandfather one after another... Due to old injuries and arthritis, Smetanych’s joints feel pain with every movement. He walks slowly and carefully, trying not to disturb his sore paws again. And recently a new problem came. Smetanych’s gums turned into a continuous wound due to severe inflammation. They bleed and throb with pain. Now every meal is torture. The cat meows pitifully at the full bowl, cannot eat and is weakening before our eyes. But he holds on. For life, for people and for that rare warmth that one can still feel in one’s quiet corner. Despite everything, Smetanych did not become embittered. Now he lives in a shelter. He senses when someone is nearby and freezes with pleasure when they scratch him behind the ear. This is his way of feeling that he is still needed. He is incredibly affectionate and patient, despite the constant aching pain. To live without suffering, he needs urgent surgery to remove teeth. But first, urgent examinations are required: a cardiologist, tests and x-rays. To make sure that our old man’s heart can withstand anesthesia. Diagnostics and surgery are expensive, and there are hundreds of other lives in the shelter. We simply cannot handle these expenses without you! Our cat grandfather hardly sees, but he feels. And he is really looking forward to help. Please help: with a repost, support or a calm home for Smetanych. Help Smetanych: https://helpnika.ru/card/smetanych.html?utm_campaign=newmp&utm_content=smetan_t1_c1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=vk&utm_term=82267971 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

What do insects have instead of blood, and what kind of yellow porridge flows out of a swatted fly? Swatting a boring fly is pure bliss. But the triumph of victory is overshadowed by a slimy yellow-gray mess. Why do insects leave not frightening bloody splashes, as a sign of edification to other pests, but some kind of incomprehensible wet spot? Do they have no blood at all or what? Well, firstly, when we crush an insect, its entire body breaks down and turns into a cake. At the same time, all his insides - the intestines filled with semi-digested food, spiracles, genitals, excretory organs - all this is ground up and ends up outside. This, in fact, is the mess that remains from the crush. Moreover, its color, as a rule, strongly depends on what it ate last time. Mosquitoes that get drunk always leave a red wet spot, flies always leave a yellow or brown spot, and a wasp that has eaten blueberries leaves a purple spot. But what about blood? The transport system in the body of insects is completely different from ours. Instead of blood, they use a translucent liquid - hemolymph. Usually hemolymph does not have a pronounced color. This is because there is simply no “coloring” substance in it. Why is our blood red? From hemoglobin - the substance that delivers oxygen. In insects, the blood does not do this. O2 is delivered by a complex tracheal system of many thin tubes called spiracles. Insects breathe over the entire surface of the body (photo 4-5). Although, there are exceptions: for example, some orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc.) have black or brown blood, ladybugs have yellow blood, mealybugs have dark red or crimson blood, and most caterpillars have greenish or bluish blood. The situation is slightly different for spiders and crayfish: the former breathe with lung sacs, and the latter with gills, so their hemolymph has retained its respiratory function, and they have their own hemoglobin. True, instead of iron it contains copper, so their blood is not red, but blue. So if someone shows off and says that he has blue blood, don’t believe him, he’s lying. And if it doesn’t break, then you are dealing with a horseshoe crab. - - - - - We have a huge group, which is 11 years old and there are many zoologists who write tons of text every day from the field in which they are specialists. Due to VK’s failed policy towards authors, all this, unfortunately, rests only on rare advertising and your support. You can support the stability of our nervous system with a minimum subscription of 100 rubles per month. You can request support directly through the button in this post. Thank you! 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

ch of eggs is dropped into the uterus. They are born in just 21 days and in huge numbers - from 20 to 50 children per season, who do not necessarily have the same father. Babies grow quickly and reach sexual maturity at the age of two. But only half of them will live to see their fifth birthday - the average individual encounters too many dangers in life. However, due to their high reproduction rate, Tasmanian devils successfully resisted human intervention until the 1980s. And they did not become extinct, unlike the legendary Tasmanian wolves, which were completely destroyed by humans in the 30s of the last century. But now devils are on the verge of extinction for perhaps the most terrible reason in the history of the Earth. At the end of the last century, the species was struck by an epidemic of viruses that provoked the growth of cancerous tumors and quickly brought the devils to the grave. In just 40 years, their numbers have decreased by 80%. And even the living devils suffer greatly and look so creepy that we do not dare show them to you. But people don't leave the devil's babies to their fate; we are trying to figure out how to save the babies from the disease and stop their extinction. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Tasmanian Devil: Scream and kill. A violent predator with a lot of oddities The Tasmanian devil is the largest of the modern marsupial predators, and, at the same time, the most interesting of them. He manages to combine the dimensions of a small lynx, the endurance of a wolf, a funny thick tail and a downright obsessive attachment to holes. Well, how could the Book of Animals pass by such a handsome guy? Although the devil is a relatively large predator - its mass reaches 12 kilos, it does not look very dangerous. The massive and clumsy short-legged body looks more funny than dangerous. In addition, during the day, devils hide in holes, to which they have a ridiculously strong attachment. Every self-respecting devil has 3-4 holes, usually taken from wombats, and not dug with his own paws. And unlike other predators, which change their location at the first sign of danger, the devil holds on to his holes until the last, without changing them throughout his life. Especially good and comfortable minks can even be passed down from generation to generation, remaining in business for centuries. Но это всё днём, а ночью неуклюжие и занятные домовладельцы превращаются в удивительно ловких и быстрых хищников. Tasmanian devils can climb trees, swim well, run at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour and walk 8-10 kilometers per night. And this is far from the limit; some smart people can walk 50 kilometers per night! It’s just not clear: why? Because getting food can be difficult. Devils live in dry, sparse forests and heather moors, where there is not much prey, so they have to walk far to get it. Moreover, about half of the prey of Tasmanians are wombats, large and strong animals, which can be difficult to cope with. However, predators can feed on carrion, frogs, tree kangaroos and small dogs - the choice of prey depends on its availability and, of course, health status. And here’s what’s remarkable: to assess the health status of the Tasmanian devil, you don’t need to be a veterinarian; anyone can handle it. Just look at his tail. If the tail is straight fat, powerful and more like a sausage, then the animal eats well and does not suffer from diseases. And if instead of it there is a dull rope hanging, this is a clear indication of health problems and malnutrition. The condition of the tail is looked at not only by environmental biologists, but also by the Tasmanian devils themselves during the breeding season. Females, for example, don’t really worry about relationships and choose the fattest male possible. Males, of course, do not like this behavior. They have to defend their females so that they are not taken to the left. The Tasmanian devil's bite is one of the most powerful of any mammal relative to body size. As a result, most adults have scars on their faces and necks. Naturally, kids train in small fights from an early age. During the mating season, the female is ready for fertilization up to 3 times, and each time a new bat

etahs will not even become indignant: at the slightest threat, they simply drop everything and leave. Life is more precious. Seals have a combo with humans: we are too large, noisy and uncomfortable. We look bad as a hunted object, and even worse as potential opponents. But people have had their eye on cheetahs since the 3rd millennium BC - the friendly disposition of big cats became clear even then. Until the beginning of the 20th century AD, and this is almost 5,000 years in a row, predators were captured en masse in the wild. All in order to make them “royal greyhounds”. Not for dinner, but for fun. The captured mustaches were trained to work alongside people and were trained - of course, it is very far from dog obedience, but for an elaborate royal hunt it’s just the thing. The cheetahs were brought to the place, allowed to chase antelopes and other living creatures, enjoyed the spectacle, took the prey and took it back to the palace. And you never know what rich people had to do, you might say, some like to hunt with golden eagles, others like to look for truffles with pigs. But the appetites of the rulers were insatiable; no one ever limited themselves to 1-2 cheetahs for the sake of showing off. The most famous Indian emperor Akbar kept up to 1000 (!) animals at his court at the same time. And during the entire history of his reign, more than 9,000 animals visited there! This is a very, very large number: today only 7,000 individuals live throughout the world. The catch is that the cheetahs did not want to breed in captivity. Each time we had to catch new ones in the wild, take kittens and teenagers. Not everyone survived, so the number of animals caught was simply monstrous. Today this also continues, they just do it quietly. Yes, royal hunts no longer take place, but poachers still catch and sell kittens as exotic pets, and one can only guess at the extent of such turnover on the black market. Such mass fishing became a very important factor in the extinction of the species. Previously, the range of cheetahs was huge, they ran throughout Africa and South Asia, but today only mere dots on the map remain of their former greatness. Other reasons for the disappearance are also related to the excessive “friendliness” of cats: these are conflicts with farmers when the animals camefeasting on livestock, overkill of cheetahs by hunting and habitat destruction. Of course, building a village next to a pride of lions is scary, but the cheetahs will move, not a wall. Author: Arina Taran 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Good cat: Why do cheetahs never attack humans? The cheetah is the kindest wild cat in the world. Is it true that cheetahs never attack humans? Once upon a time, under our article about big cats, I saw a very strange comment. “Cheetahs never attack humans” - that’s what they said on the other side of the screen. I immediately wanted to start an argument, because this simply cannot happen! The cheetah, the fastest animal on the planet, a cruel predator that has honed its hunting skills for millions of years, does not fit in with the image of man’s friend. And imagine my surprise when this turned out to be true! By comparison, the lion, the great and terrible king of beasts, kills up to 250 people every year. And this is now, during the time of firearms! The story with tigers is a little more modest, but it still makes you think - about 50 people die from their paws every year. What about cheetahs? Get ready: in the entire history of wildlife research, there is not a single officially documented case of a cheetah killing a person. 0 casualties! There have been several attacks in captivity, but there the person himself provoked the attack. Once, for example, a woman was bitten after for some reason she climbed into the enclosure of predators at the zoo. The article could end here - no victims, no case, but everything is not so simple. You also wonder why the animals are so kind to us? And how did this kindness turn out for the cheetahs themselves? The most basic and simplest reason for kindness is that people are simply not on their menu. Cheetahs, unlike lions, tigers and other large seals that have spent millions of years honing their skills in close combat with heavy prey, have chosen a completely different direction - small ungulates. They are fun to drive around the savannah, and if something happens, they will not offer serious resistance. Unlike a buffalo or a zebra, for example. Or a large primate. The hunting tactics of cheetahs are perfected to the smallest detail: get as close as possible, start the chase, trip, strangle the fallen victim. Having evolved as sprinters, they received an ultra-lightweight anatomy, which now allows cheetahs to accelerate to 104 kilometers per hour, but makes the predator itself extremely vulnerable. With a height of 94 centimeters at the withers, cheetahs weigh a maximum of 65 kilograms. For comparison, other mustaches with the same height weigh 2 or even 3 times more. Slim, loud animals very quickly get seriously injured in fights, which means they risk starving to death. And this is the second reason for such a calm disposition of big seals. They are well aware of their fragility. Despite their excellent hunting skills, cheetahs do not occupy the top of the food chain, but huddle somewhere in the middle. In the savannah, literally anyone can take away their hard-earned food - lions, hyenas, leopards, and even a pack of wild dogs can drive away a poor runner. After a hard race, cautious che