Discovery Science 🧬

Tongue Woodlice: Ate a fish's tongue and then became a new tongue. The perfect parasite All these mechanical/bionic prosthetics are a total bummer, to be honest. They are expensive, heavy, inferior and consume a lot of energy. Whether it's biological prostheses - that's where the future lies! And I’m not the only one who thinks so, the fish agree with me. Their prosthetics are superior to human ones in everything, and they have only one drawback - they are too persistent. Here is an ordinary average fish with a tongue swimming along the west coast of North America. And a tongue woodlice floats nearby. She understands that this fish has a tongue, so she sneaks into its mouth and sucks on it. It would seem like a typical vile parasite, but it’s not that simple. The fun begins when the fish's tongue atrophies from lack of blood supply. Instead of running away or dying, like any self-respecting parasite, the woodlice takes the place of the withered tongue! Despite the fact that it does not merge with the nerve endings of the fish, the arthropod manages to amazingly accurately copy the movements of a real tongue, completely taking over its functions. And in return, she eats some of the food and mucus from the oral cavity of her owner. No more blood! Do you know what's the funniest thing? If the fish does not catch the infection during tongue prosthetic surgery, then the length and quality of life of the fish will not change AT ALL. For people with all our technologies, such quality of prosthetics is an unattainable ideal. This is because woodlice is an ideal parasite. And the ideal parasite instinctively understands the main rule of parasitism: the less harm you cause to the host, the higher your overall chances of survival and successful reproduction. And who knows, maybe in ten or two million years the tongue woodlice will take the next step and turn into a symbiont? Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

he raccoon dog exterminates another invasive species - muskrats. So every cloud has a silver lining! - - - - - 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

Raccoon Dog: A Soviet Experiment That Gone Wrong The USSR was not afraid of large-scale experiments. But not every one of them went according to plan. This is what happened with the raccoon dog. Instead of bringing “fur gold” to the country, this beast is still robbing all over Europe! The homeland of the raccoon dog is the Far East and Japan. In Japanese mythology, the beast is called a tanuki - a merry fellow, a joker, a big lover of sake and one of the most popular characters in folklore. In life, a raccoon dog is a small animal: length up to 80 cm with tail, weight 4-6 kg. Outwardly it resembles a raccoon: gray-black color, thick fur, bandit mask. But don’t be fooled: our hero belongs to the canine family, his closest relatives are foxes. The true similarity with a raccoon is its absolute unpretentiousness and adaptability. Our hero is the most “herbivorous predator”. Unlike wolves and foxes, the raccoon dog does not bother itself with active hunting, but is engaged in gathering. Fruits, vegetables, grains, carrion, fish, shellfish - everything is included in her diet. In winter, when nature is not generous, the raccoon brilliantly hibernates - the only canine representative capable of this! In the 1930s, the USSR decided to “enrich” nature and imported the raccoon dog for its valuable fur. From the 30s to the 50s, about 10 thousand individuals were released in 76 regions of the USSR. The animal has not taken root in Central Siberia - the winter is too long. But in the European part of the country I felt at home. And the problems began. Raccoon dogs began their independent expansion beyond the USSR - they penetrated Scandinavia, central and western Europe. And then it turned out: raccoon fur is much more valuable. In a raccoon dog, it is rougher, does not warm, quickly gets wet and turns into a rag. At the same time, the beast became a real threat to local inhabitants. The badgers were the first to suffer. The raccoon occupies other people's holes and creates such unsanitary conditions that the rightful owners leave their homes. Raccoon dogs are also super prolific: the female and male together raise 6-10 puppies, sometimes up to 19! The young become independent at 4.5 months. The raccoon occupied the niche of a swamp hunter, which no local predator could occupy. Local birds are accustomed to the fact that it is safe to nest in swamps. The raccoon masterfully ruins them! In some regions, birds make up almost half of the animal's diet. Due to its omnivorous nature, the raccoon has become a collection of pathogens - it spreads rabies, fleas, and parasitic worms. Moreover, he himself does not suffer from some diseases, but he spreads the infection very well. When people realized the consequences of the experiments, it was too late. The population can no longer be controlled—about 130 thousand individuals live in Russia alone. And in Sweden they had to implement a strict control program. But there is also a benefit: t

year, not in two, but in a century! The obscene bivalve is included in the list of long-lived animals - the lifespan of a geoduck is 120-140 years! Author: Egor Churakov Editor: Elizaveta Isaeva 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Guidak: Obscene shellfish. The whole world laughs, and the Chinese eat with pleasure! We tend to see similarities between things and forms. As soon as you look at the geoduck, thoughts about some vulgar things naturally suggest themselves... The advantages of this mollusk, however, outweigh its obscene visual form, because it is a valuable commercial species! Our extravagant hero is a clam. Yes, not a simple one, but the largest burrowing mollusk in the world: the largest individuals reach a weight of up to 3 kg! What tumbles obscenely out of the fragile bivalve shell is a long, wrinkled siphon. Roughly speaking, it is a tube through which the guidak contacts the world. Although in size it is more like a hose - the length of the device reaches 1-2 meters! With its help, the mollusk feeds, reproduces, and moves. The animal, reminiscent of shots from the personal messages of any pretty girl, lives in the shallow waters of the western coast of North America, the eastern coast of Japan and the Far East. But you won’t be able to just kick a geoduck while walking along the coast. He censored himself by burying himself in the sand to a depth of 1-2 meters. Only the tip of the siphon is visible on the surface, through which the mollusk carries out all its necessary life activities. Through the entrance hole the mollusk breathes and feeds. Guidaks filter water so well that they are recommended to be kept in aquaculture reservoirs so that the fish always live in premium cleaning conditions. Through the outlet hole, the guidak spits out everything that it has not digested: sand, leftover food and excess water. The spectacle is specific. The geoduck also reproduces through the siphon. But not in the way you might think... Fertilization in it, like in all other mollusks, is external. Everything needed to create children is thrown into the water. In the water column, the reproductive cells find each other and create a free-floating larva, which after a month settles to the bottom and burrows into the ground. Guidak hides his shame not from shame, but from numerous predators who are not averse to feasting on their tender bodies. Starfish, sea otters and sea kelp sharks try to grab the spot. True, the guidak, after all, also ended up on the man’s dining table. But who in their right mind would eat a shellfish that looks like... Farms that raise these animals in aquaculture, however, are raking in money with a shovel. The US state of Washington receives a quarter of all revenue from the sale of obscene shellfish to China. Where else? Despite its appearance, guidak is quite tasty; it looks like squid. This quickly made it a delicacy in the Middle Kingdom. Some also believe that this mollusk is an excellent aphrodisiac. Do I need to explain where this belief came from? Guidaki, however, are associated with fertility, but only with their own. During her life, the female throws out up to 5,000,000,000 eggs! To be fair, she does this not in a

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fspring. So what happens: touching the cockroaches was a mistake? If we just ignored them, would there be fewer problems? Alas, no. If we simply ignored them, then intraspecific natural selection would rule the cockroach ball. Their evolution would develop not in the direction of adaptation, but in the direction of the fastest possible reproduction and maximum gluttony. They would eat up all our supplies and, perhaps, would learn to eat food that is inedible for them now. So yes: it is people who are to blame for the fact that cockroaches have become so tenacious. But it was impossible otherwise. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot