Discovery Science 🧬

Лемминг: Миф о массовых самоубийствах Have you also heard this entertaining story about suicidal lemmings? How do they gather in huge flocks, climb higher on the rock and cosplay as the star-crossed lover from the song of the King and the Jester? A heartbreaking story, I agree, but if it were true, the entire tundra ecosystem would have collapsed after the first batch of suicide hamsters. After all, a lemming is not just a polar rodent, but an animal on whose shoulders the biodiversity of the entire North rests! A lemming is essentially a live stew on legs around which the entire tundra food chain revolves. Arctic foxes, owls, stoats, skuas - all these guys eat lemmings about as regularly as we eat bread. If the rodent disappears, half of the polar fauna will begin to quietly die of hunger. And tundra rodents multiply in ways that rabbits could never even dream of. In a good year, a mother lemming can give birth to up to 6 litters, each containing 3-4 cubs! During such “harvest” seasons, fierce trash and sodomy begin in the tundra in the spring. Having emerged from under the snow, sexually mature young animals rush around the tundra like crazy: they fight for food, females, migrate anywhere and, of course, replenish the furry army with new recruits. Predators especially rejoice at this devilry. Lemmings are already the main prey of all local predators, but during periods of their invasion there are so many hamsters that you don’t even have to catch them - they fall into their paws themselves! Moreover, the efforts of meat-eaters remain invisible to the rodents themselves - their population is growing exponentially. It would seem that the conquest of the world by hamsters is inevitable, but in the end, a horde of voracious rodents eats up to 70% of the tundra vegetation. As a result, the reincarnated lemmings are punished by all 4 horsemen of the apocalypse for their uncontrolled hedonism. Famine from lack of resources, plague from overpopulation and war for territories and females will wipe out 90-95% of all rodents. So you don’t even have to jump off a cliff. But where did this misconception even come from? The myth about suicidal hamsters came from the writer Arthur Mee. 2 centuries ago he made a mistake by adding unverified information to his book. A documentary about the fauna of the Arctic “White Wasteland” added fuel to the fire, where lemmings jumped from a cliff right in the frame (photo 5). How can you not believe this? In fact, the hamsters were in no hurry to throw themselves off the cliff; the filmmakers themselves threw them there. The film was shot back in 1958 in the USA, and it literally misled half the world. Why the creators decided to hype in such a strange way is unknown... - - - - - 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,

Moloch: Lizard of thorns. It turns out she has a second head Moloch looks like he's about to lie down on the sand and die. He walks along the sand slowly and swaying, freezing every few steps, and an eerie tumor dangles from his neck. But in fact, the hero of this issue is healthy and feeling great! After all, the growth on the neck is a very important, albeit disposable, part of the reptile. This is her false head. When an animal is attacked by some predator, which is not stopped by the prospect of having breakfast with a lump of thorns, the moloch tilts its head down, exposing its false head to the blow. After all, you must admit that it is better to lose a lump of connective tissue than a skull! And he moves so strangely not at all because of the disease that has affected his body, this is a carefully calculated strategy. Despite the fact that the molochs crawl out of their hiding places at dusk, they try not to give themselves away too much, so they move slowly and with frequent stops. And thanks to its silhouette-blurring camouflage and numerous spines, the moloch quite naturally pretends to be a dried-out plant trying to survive in the Australian desert. But unlike native plants, the thorny devil (that's what English speakers call it) feels comfortable in any weather because it is able to extract moisture directly from the air! In the pre-dawn twilight, when the air begins to warm up, moisture falls in the form of dew drops. The water also settles on the moloch, which at this hour specially climbs onto some dune or rock. And then some magic happens. The dew that settles on the moloch is absorbed into microscopic channels and flows through them directly to the reptile’s mouth. All he needs to do is just lick the water! But no, there is no smell of magic here, this is the most ordinary physics, albeit quite complex. The Molochs learned to use the capillary effect. The water molecules inside the channel “stick” to the walls and pull the bulk of the water further, gradually moving towards the reptile’s mouth itself. The chances of observing this effect in everyday life are approaching zero, because the wider the lumen of the tube or channel, the weaker it is. But the Molochs don’t care about this, because the width of their skin tubes is hundredths of a millimeter! And when Moloch gets drunk, he goes to the nearest anthill to eat. Despite its small size, the moloch is a very voracious creature that eats 1.5-2 thousand insects every day. Fortunately, these ubiquitous insects feel great even in the desert. Well, then, after drinking and eating, the reptile hides in an abandoned hole, under a dry bush or between stones. After all, who in their right mind would walk under the scorching sun? Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

A selection of cool photos number 11 Description below: 1. Australian white tree frog swallows a small snake, probably... 2. The bear ate...something gloomy selection...let's fix it! 3. A giant anteater with a baby on its back. 4. Pygmy anteater on a finger. Feel the difference! 5. Piranha teeth. Zhzhzhzh, shred the flesh!!! 6. Moloch lizard. Entirely covered with thorns, it lives in the Australian deserts. 7. The pine cone thinks about the meaning of life. 8. The Great Honey Badger took fatal damage again, but somehow didn't care. But the porcupine doesn't have much time left. 9. Madness in the forest at night, captured on a camera trap. This is not AI generation, the photo is old, that’s why it’s cool. We are trying to launch in Max, since sooner or later we will have to. If you use it, you can read us there. This will really help you pick up the pace. Here is the link: https://max.ru/knigajivotnih 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

They broke their spine and abandoned them! She lay in the box and barely whined. A small bundle with soft ears, who is at most a few months old. Only a piece of bread was left at the bottom of the box. This is how Caramel (as she was later called at the clinic) greeted her morning. A shelter volunteer heard a barely audible squeak, followed the sound, and froze. The puppy didn't get up. The hind legs stretched lifelessly behind the body, the stomach was swollen, the urine did not pass. The doctor then said quietly: “This is not yesterday. This was done a long time ago." Displaced fractures, no sensitivity, possible rupture of the spinal cord. Human cruelty hit where there shouldn't have been pain - at the very beginning of a dog's life. Now Karamelka is in the hospital. She is given water from a syringe, fed, given pain relief, and tested. They are preparing for an operation to return at least a little to the body what was taken away by the hands that call themselves human. And now everything depends on us - on those who could not pass by, who still know how to feel. Every transfer, even the smallest one, turns into a chance for Caramelka: for examinations, for surgery, for a life without pain. Let her know that the world can be not only cruel, but also kind. Let the pain caused by people be replaced by warmth - also human. You can help Karamelka here: https://daylapu-help.ru/card/karamelka.html?utm_campaign=newmp&utm_content=karamelka_t1_c7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=vk&utm_term=82267971 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

e very shy and will not be aggressive when meeting a person. They'll just run away. Therefore, where browns are shot for their reluctance to retreat, much more accommodating blacks soon appear, who practically do not interfere with humans. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Baribal: American bear. How is it different from Russian? Yes, Americans have their own personal bear, so what do you do with it? No, we’re not talking about grizzly bears now, because grizzly bears are a subspecies of the brown bear, which is almost no different from it. But the baribal - the American black bear - is a completely different branch of clubfoot evolution, which is noticeably different from the Russian bear we are used to! First of all, the beast differs in size. Baribals can be obscenely small. In Alaska, for example, bears weigh just like people: the average weight of a male is only 87 kilograms, and a female weighs another 20 kilograms less! But in fairness, it is worth recognizing that the bears living in the central regions of North America are much larger; they can weigh 200 or 400 kilograms. But their average weight still remains relatively small and does not exceed 120 kilograms. Whereas the average brown bear is 30-50% heavier. They also differ in appearance. Black bears have a more slender body, longer legs, and their bodies are covered in jet-black fur with a white patch on the chest. True, not for everyone. Approximately 30% of black bears are actually brown, and in the population of clubfooted bears from the Canadian island of Kermode there are even snow-white individuals! It is believed that this is the result of specification on fishing. So as not to reflect when hiding above the surface of the water. But in terms of nutrition, baribals are very close to our bears. They also respect honey, fish, nuts and berries, after hibernation they lean on meat and carrion, and in hungry years they rob trash cans in cities and villages. But adjusted for the baribal coloring, of course. Since black bears are smaller and sleeker, they spend a lot of time in trees and love to pick fruit from trees and destroy bee hives. They are also not able to take prey from packs of wolves, but they chase lynxes and lone wolves with great pleasure. True, fairly selected prey often has to be shared with a grizzly bear. And also give them the most berry meadows and the best places for dens. Life is hard for a bear who is not at the top of the food chain... However, despite the obvious oppression from brown bears, baribals are thriving: their number in the United States alone (excluding Mexico, Canada and Alaska) is approaching half a million individuals, which is more than all brown and polar bears combined! But how, being under the thumb of their big brother, do they manage to be more successful than him? And all thanks to their smallness! Baribals are much less voracious and much less demanding of environmental conditions, and their population density is higher, as is their reproduction rate. Therefore, black bears restore their numbers relatively easily and even colonize new territories, including the suburbs of human cities. And they practically do not conflict with a person and do not interfere with his life. Baribals ar

omplete death of one of the populations does not mean anything. If the habitat is preserved, then in 5-10 years new crocodiles will settle there, which will again terrorize all living things, actively reproduce and grow by leaps and bounds. And that's cool! Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Saltwater crocodile: It grew so big that it went into the ocean. To eat sharks, rays and turtles People who say that the days of reptiles are irrevocably over have clearly not heard anything about the saltwater crocodile. Not only is it huge and dangerous, the crocodile holds the title of the river's top predator and is the top of the food chain wherever it lives. But this is not enough for him, the saltwater crocodile conquers the ocean! Despite the fact that the saltwater crocodile is born quite small - it weighs less than a glass of sunflower seeds - the animal grows extremely quickly throughout its life. Therefore, by the age of 10, the green lizard turns into a respectable crocodile weighing 200 kilograms, at 16 years it already weighs almost half a ton, and the weight of elders aged 20+ can reach 1200 kilograms. The body length also does not lag behind, so the largest representatives of the crocodile people stretch 6 meters in length! And of course, all crocodile abilities grow and develop along with the dimensions of the crocodile. If newborn crocs feed only on mud crabs and insects, then the largest of them are capable of dragging down both a tiger and a water buffalo weighing more than a ton. But at the same time, due to a decrease in metabolic rate, the saltwater crocodile acquires a new ability: pretending to be a log at the bottom of the river. The older the animal, the longer it can go without oxygen, so especially large reptiles can lie in ambush for up to 2 hours at a time. This size has only one serious drawback, and that is the disadvantage of large prey. The rivers are too small for adult crocodiles, so some of them go to live on the sea coast. But the animals are not too sad about this. They are perfectly adapted to eating all living things both in rivers and on the sea coast. Just like in river ecosystems, on the coast crocodiles have no enemies, but they can afford to feed on sea turtles, sharks, and giant stingrays - a real haven for a predator weighing a ton! Only the space on the coast is not endless, and crocodiles cannot hunt in the open ocean; they are still ambush predators. But they can move around it! When a saltwater crocodile decides that it cannot feed itself on the coast, it simply swims away. And at this time, slow, lazy creatures show amazing endurance and perseverance. It is known that crocodiles are able to swim up to 500 kilometers in 20 days, stopping only to take a nap. One thing is unclear: where are they going? Saltwater crocodiles swim to Indonesia to join local populations and eat Indonesian meat. At the same time, Indonesian crocodiles are swimming to South Asia or even Northern Australia, where there is also something to chew. And this is the main strength of saltwater crocodiles. They are not just powerful and hardy creatures, capable of devouring literally any inhabitant of rivers and coasts. They are also actively settling hundreds of kilometers around. Therefore, even the c