Discovery Science 🧬

ture somehow! The babies grow by leaps and bounds and after 18 days they become fledglings. Remember the eternal provocative question of parents: “And if everyone jumps from the roof, will you jump too?” So, the child of the polovnik will answer this question with an unequivocal “Yes!” As soon as one chick jumps out of the nest, the others, without hesitation, rush to jump out after them. For another two weeks, the parents feed the babies on the ground, after which the young fledglings fully rise to the wing. The already grown chicks, together with their parents and helpers, subsequently form a family flock, wandering from tree to tree and destroying insect pests along the way. In the wild, the lifespan of the captive is short - on average only three years versus 15 in captivity. And this is not surprising. This charming bird has many natural enemies. Weasels, martens, owls, hawks, corvids - destroy nests and destroy the entire brood. Only every fifth tit family can boast of surviving offspring. But compared to the next natural enemy, even predators are pitiful amateurs. And the name of this villain is winter. November to February is the hardest period for long-tailed tits. During the day, to keep warm, flocks of birds constantly fly from place to place. And at night they press tightly against each other, sitting on a branch. But even frosts of −40 are not terrible for a well-fed bird. But it’s difficult to find food in winter. Try to find at least one insect when it’s below zero outside and the ground is frozen and covered with snow. Polovniks manage to find wintering insects and spiders under the bark of trees, in the cracks of houses. To increase their chances of survival, long-tailed tits fly to feeders where they pick up bread crumbs. But with the frantic metabolism of birds, all this is just a drop in the bucket, and many plump birds die. Cold and hunger can kill up to 80% of tits in a season. This is where the ability of the females to lay a large number of eggs comes to the rescue. Thanks to this, the population is restored every summer, and currently the existence of this species is not threatened. Author: Tatyana Syrcina Editor: Elizaveta Isaeva 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Opolovnik: The cutest tit in Russia. But her life is a complete nightmare This is not a piece of cotton candy, this is a bird that you can see outside your window. Meet the long-tailed tit. Perhaps the cutest bird of our region! This tiny bird is smaller in size than a sparrow: weight - 6-10 g, maximum length - 16 cm. But every centimeter is a concentration of charm. Just look at the round shapes! Those beady eyes! In the 19th century, the long-tailed tit was very popular among bird lovers and was considered the most beautiful among small birds, for which it received the name Apollonian. Due to its predominantly light color, the titmouse is also called the snow titmouse. And for the shape of a fluffy scoop with a long handle - a ladle. In general, there are names for every taste. The distribution area is the entire forest zone of Eurasia from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. They prefer deciduous or mixed forests, parks, and dense bushes. The proximity of a body of water is welcome. These birds, if they live somewhere near you, are impossible not to notice. They live in a fluffy flock of 6 to 16 lumps, which constantly flutter from place to place in search of food. The food basket of the polovniks contains exclusively insects, their eggs and larvae. Aphids are held in special esteem. The movement of the flock is accompanied by incessant squeaking and chirping - the birds recognize each other by their voices. The group usually consists of parents, children and family helpers. More about the latter a little later. For now, just live with it. Polovniks are skilled nest builders, and they work together, regardless of gender. They prefer to build the future house in the forks of branches at a height of about three meters. The nest is shaped like an egg, with a flight hole located in the upper part. The materials used are mosses, lichens, and blades of grass. And all this splendor is held together with the help of cobwebs and threads from insect cocoons. In the exterior decoration you can see pieces of birch bark, feathers and even plastic bags - all this perfectly disguises the home from uninvited guests. As the air warms up in early to mid-April, the female begins to lay a clutch. Ultimately, the nest can contain up to 16 eggs - a record among small birds. Only after laying the last egg, the female begins directly to incubate, and after 14 days naked yellowthroats are born, the meaning of life of which is to eat. Up to 350 times a day, the female and male rush back and forth in search of food for their insatiable offspring. Often so-called helpers help parents feed the chicks. Most often, these are their own children from the previous year, who for some reason did not create a pair, or whose nest or clutch was destroyed. If such a polovnik does not dare to re-build a nest and hatch eggs, then he joins the existing family and begins to help with feeding the chicks. The genes are still related and we must carry them into the fu

Aardwolf: The weakest wolf in the world. And it’s not a wolf! Even in our enlightened times, wolves are still dangerous. They are strong, calculating, and act in packs. They do not hesitate to break into villages to steal dogs and bully livestock. They even appear on the outskirts of cities to take control of landfills. But compared to them, the aardwolf is just a dandelion boy. Small, kind, cute and absolutely harmless to us. Unless you're a giant termite, of course. Aardwolves live in the bushland of Eastern and Southern Africa. But even locals rarely see them, because wolves are purely nocturnal. During the day they sit in holes and do not stick out. After all, there is a dangerous world outside with lions and spotted hyenas, and an adult wolf weighs only 10-15 kilograms, it is smaller than the average dog! Well, where does he and his frail muscles fit into the hunting ranks? But at night the animals come to the surface and... They begin to pollute it copiously! The family territory of aardwolves is very small, from 1 to 4 kilometers of personal space. But every 50-100 meters it is decorated with piles of excrement and scent marks. So that even the stupidest aardwolf with a completely damaged sense of smell would understand that it is better for him not to meddle here. The place is busy. Family territories of wolves are separated by vast common lands, where the animals do not dig holes for themselves, but spend a significant part of the night. After all, key sources of food are located there - termite mounds. An aardwolf can kill up to 300,000 termites in one night. But here’s what’s surprising: the colonies don’t die. After all, wolves have three strict rules for population control. So, the rules: First: never destroy a termite mound. Lick insects only from the surface. Second: let the termite mound recover. Visit it once every few weeks, or better yet, once every few months. Third: if it hurts, don’t touch it. Better go to the next termite mound and let this one recover. And this is so unlike our wolves. Instead of large flocks, there are family groups and solitary hunting. Instead of strength - caution. And instead of hunting for large prey, there is the humiliating licking of insects. Which, however, is not surprising, since an aardwolf is not a wolf at all. This is a hyena. The hyena is small, weak and quite cute. While all other types of hyenas hunt and search for carrion, the aardwolf has chosen a completely different niche. The animals peacefully lick the termites and do not glow again. Why someone decided to call a hyena a wolf is an open question... Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Why do many crabs have one powerful and dangerous claw, while the other is frail and insignificant? If crabs were people, they would be guaranteed a path to arm wrestling champions. Judge for yourself: in many species one leg is small and frail, but the other grows two or even three times longer than it should be! But why and most importantly why? Is there really any benefit to this? Of course there is, we are talking about nature! Here, for example, are male beckoning crabs (photo 2). They use a large claw for the same purpose as human athletes - to fight each other. Moreover, these battles are bloody and cruel. During the battle, one of the fighters may lose his limb! If the male is lucky and the claw remains in place until mating season, he will lure females with it, waving it with all his might. And the bigger your paw, the easier it will be to seduce the lady of your heart. Why then is the second tiny hand needed? If a large claw provides a spectacle for the crab, then a small one provides bread. With it, the animal collects all the organic crumbs that it can find. This variety of paws has other uses. The coconut crab, aka the palm thief (photo 3), uses its more powerful claw for destruction. With it he breaks the shells of coconuts, the shells of dead crayfish or still living mollusks. And with the second, weaker claw, the animal delivers food to the mouth. Well, rainbow crabs (photo 4) found another, more sophisticated use for it. While the pumped up hand destroys, the weaker hand cuts. The small claw is longer, more graceful and equipped with special teeth. With its help it is so convenient to tear carrion into separate pieces! All of the above are just special cases of asymmetry that permeates all living organisms. Even people are symmetrical only at first glance. Our liver is located almost entirely on the right side of the body, and the spleen can only be found on the left. Yes, and look at your hands: with one of them you do everything, but with the other you cannot even write anything. Doesn't remind you of anything? BOOK OF ANIMALS Come to our Telegram. There you will find a whole mountain of interesting texts. They are in a row, just scroll up. There are deliberately rare, but the highest quality posts. Link - https://t.me/knigajivotnih1 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

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: strength, mass, endurance and banal stubbornness. No speed dating, the fight for the right to become a father can last up to 4 weeks! One female can be approached by a dozen males. They lose weight, strength, get injured, and some don’t even make it to the season finale. In this case, the lady, as a rule, does not tense up at all. She simply lies in the center of biological chaos and waits for the most persistent and tenacious candidate to cope with everyone else. Difficulties for her begin later, during pregnancy. Anaconda is a viviparous species. The eggs take about 6-7 months to develop inside the mother's body. All this time she practically does not eat herself, living off accumulated reserves. Every calorie counts. That’s why the exhausted male with whom you’ve had a stormy relationship throughout the entire breeding season seems extremely appetizing to a lady! As a result, up to 40 baby snakes are born, completely independent from the first day of life. No nannies, care or family values ​​- I gave birth, and then somehow we did it ourselves. It is not surprising that with such a start, adult anacondas grow into silent, lazy and extremely calculating monsters. Author: Arina Taran Editor: Elizaveta Isaeva 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

hreat to them, not food. Evolutionarily, snakes that attacked large dangerous creatures survived worse. 4. Most of the time the anaconda doesn't care about anyone. Judging by horror films and some documentaries, this evil beast only has to scour the jungle in search of food. But no! For most of its life, the anaconda does absolutely NOTHING. After swallowing a fatty meal, the snake turns on the gastrointestinal tract and liver at full capacity. Metabolism accelerates sharply: the intestines thicken, the liver and pancreas begin to produce enzymes, and the heart pumps more blood. This is one of the most extreme metabolic surges among vertebrates - the body literally goes into "turbo" mode. Thanks to this, even large prey is digested in 1-2 days. But when digestion is finished, the opposite miracle happens. The gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys and other organs go into standby mode, decreasing in size and requiring almost no energy. Thanks to this, an anaconda can live for months without food after one meal. Evolution has made it not a voracious monster, but an ideally economical survival machine. If only people could do the same! I ate a double burger with large potatoes, washed it down with a liter of cola - and for a whole week you don’t have to think about what to cook. If the anaconda doesn't eat, it sleeps. For days on end, the reptile lies in the water, sticking out only its muzzle and enjoying the hot sun. Moreover, the anaconda’s eyes and nostrils are located on top - just like a crocodile’s, so nature itself took care of their comfort. 5. Anaconda is not at the top of the food pyramid Yes, few people would dare to fight head-on with an adult 5-meter snake. But the anaconda becomes such a giant only after 6–8 years. This means that the cool reptile spends most of its life not in the status of “absolute horror of the Amazon”, but in the role of completely edible prey. Until the anaconda has grown to the size of a mythical monster from horror films, it itself is forced to constantly hide, save energy and avoid unnecessary conflicts. No congenital status. Just patience, caution and years of successful hunting. So it turns out that the top of the food chain is not starjob, but a temporary position, which not everyone lives up to. Young snakes and small specimens regularly appear on the menu of caimans, pumas, jaguars, and large predatory fish. Why, sometimes even a relative can become a threat! Only females grow to fantastic sizes. For males, the standard length norm is almost half the maximum size of the species. Therefore, a frail little man for a cold-blooded lady in the prime of life - just one tooth. Both size and specific gastronomic preferences are the result of a special breeding pattern. When the female is ready to mate, she releases pheromones, and all the surrounding males flock to this smell. Everyone is trying to take a more advantageous position, squeeze closer and push out competitors. Everything is used

Anaconda: Movies lie. 5 facts that break the mold about this snake Anaconda is the perfect horror movie hero. Huge, quiet, deadly and as if specially created to instill primitive horror. But the more scientists study this snake, the more it... irritates them. Because the anaconda refuses to fit into our stereotypes. We'll tell you about five facts that break the mold about this snake. 1. We don't know the size of the largest anaconda Agree, when we talk about the heaviest snake in the world, I would like more specifics. The only thing worse than knowing that there is a huge, deadly monster in the jungle is not knowing about it. If you don’t know, then our imagination will throw up the most terrible ideas that are worse than the snake itself. To date, the maximum recorded length of the anaconda is 5.2 meters, weight - 97 kilograms. This is quite enough to open a brick factory upon meeting. But there is a lot of evidence of snakes up to 8 or even 11 meters long. And it would be okay if these were isolated tales around the fire, no - there are a huge number of such statements. But science only accepts officially confirmed data for a record, that is, a live or not-so-living snake, or at least reliable reports. But there are none in the deep jungle, and this is very annoying. 2. Anaconda does not strangle its prey Every schoolchild knows that if you fall into the arms of an anaconda, you will never get out alive. The snake will wrap you in tight coils in seconds and strangle you, and then definitely eat you. But this is fundamentally wrong! The snake does not “strangle” as is commonly thought. She does not cut off oxygen to her victim, because this is long and boring. In reality, the reptile squeezes its prey so tightly that it blocks its circulatory system. The pressure of the snake muscles on the victim from the outside is several tens of times higher than the normal blood pressure inside the unfortunate victim. The anaconda reacts sensitively to every sigh and twitch, constantly squeezing its embrace. So the heart of the prey stops in a matter of minutes - and the food is served! 3. Anaconda doesn't eat people Any inhabitant of the jungle can become prey for a giant snake - a victim weighing up to 50 kilograms is placed in the reptile's mouth. Capybaras, tapirs, deer, caimans and even other anacondas - the snake will eat all this for its sweet soul. As you can see, people are not listed on the menu. And all because the reptile does not engage in cannibalism. Swallowing a person is a technically feasible task for a snake. But in reality, reptiles attack people extremely rarely. And no deaths have been documented by science at all! This is because people are difficult prey. Anacondas swallow their prey whole. Humans' broad shoulders and hips make us a physically difficult target to swallow—requiring enormous effort and putting the snake at risk. In addition, anacondas in the wild prefer to avoid people. We are a potential t