Discovery Science 🧬

Murex: Who lives in the most beautiful shell that many people have at home? The imperial clam should look imperial, right? Murex mollusks really look delicious. Just look at their elegant shells, covered with many spines; finding one on the beach on vacation is a great success. And double luck if you know how much murex was valued by the emperors of Byzantium, the Roman Empire and even the rulers of ancient, now almost forgotten, Phenicia. The mollusks themselves, however, do not even know that they are important. They simply crawl along the intertidal zone of the Mediterranean Sea and the coasts of the Atlantic, where they enjoy a quiet invertebrate life. Despite the fact that mollusks are considered exclusively marine, they can easily survive 8-12 hours in the air, so low tides do not harm them in any way. But marine predators here are not able to get them. During high tide, slow-moving mollusks actively seek food for themselves—even slower mollusks. Having found one, the murex crawls onto it and begins to slowly but surely drill out its shell with the help of its radula, a special organ covered with many dense teeth. But this is far from a quick process, and during drilling the murex is vulnerable. So it is overgrown with thorns that will prevent a potential predator from swallowing it. The spikes, by the way, are surprisingly strong, and even a person cannot easily break them. But all their “royalty” is manifested not in appearance, but in inner wealth. About 3,500 years ago, the Phoenicians discovered that mollusk glands can secrete a yellowish liquid, which quickly turns deep purple when exposed to air. And since at that time this was the only way to create a permanent purple dye, the extract of the sublingual murex gland quickly gained popularity. Later, the production of the dye was mastered by the Greeks, and then by the Romans and Byzantines. It was they who gave the paint its modern name - purple. Purple robes have become a symbol of power and incredible wealth, which, however, is not surprising. After all, to dye just one kilogram of wool, you need to kill more than 30 thousand mollusks, and such work is incredibly expensive. Therefore, just half a kilo of dyed silk was more expensive than an entire village. With land, people, fields and herds. Over time, purple became not just a symbol of power, but a symbol of the emperors themselves, and production came under their complete control. Therefore, when the Byzantine Empire, the last empire of the ancient world, fell under the onslaught of the Ottomans, the secret of purple production died with it. It was forgotten for more than 500 years. But modern science works wonders, so in the 90s, chemists together with archaeologists were able to recreate an ancient recipe as close as possible to the original. However, the return of the legendary color did not impress anyone except historians. After all, today there are hundreds of cheaper paints that the chemical industry g

riend. Fourthly, give your parrot some leisure time. Diggers, foragers, chewers and other useful toys will occupy your parrot's beak and brains in your absence, without damaging his psyche. - - - - - 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! Единственное лицензированное Telegram-казино 🏆 ⭐️ Ежедневные раздачи до $5000 ⭐️Всегда здесь:https://t.me/game_jacknova_bot?start=ceFJNzuX1W5

Why do small parrots go crazy over a mirror in a cage? Imagine the situation: you are sitting calmly at home, drinking tea, not bothering anyone. And then, out of nowhere, your complete copy appears in front of you. He does the same thing as you. Says the same thing as you. And looks just like you. This alien does not answer questions, only mockingly copies behavior, gestures, and phrases. Sounds like the beginning of a psychological horror film. But in fact, we described the typical everyday life of a parrot, which sweetly “plays” with the mirror. Mirrors are recommended in almost all pet stores. They say that birds really like them. And this is true. But there is one big “but”. Wavys, cockatiels, lovebirds and other small and medium-sized species in the mirror do not see a reflection, but another parrot. Only very strange. He does not respond to signs of attention, does not try to get to know each other. He completely copies the movements and sits in the same place. In short - a shady guy. If a bird lives in a flock, it is unlikely to pay attention to such a repulsed relative. You can't play or chat with him. It's another matter when the bird lives alone in a cage. Communication is a vital necessity for parrots, just like it is for you and me. In the wild, cockatiels fly in groups of 50 birds, and flocks of corellas can contain several thousand individuals. And if a lonely parrot is faced with a choice: to communicate with a strange neighbor or not to communicate at all, he will choose the first option. The parrot coos at the mirror, cleans it, and sometimes even feeds it. It is these actions that we perceive as play. But the bird will receive neither an answer nor a greeting from its strange relative. This is where the pet's roof begins to leak. The parrot loses interest in the world around it and its owner. Now his only goal is to win the attention of his fellow man from the looking glass. He will constantly spin around the toy and scream at it. The bird can range from rage to complete apathy. Slowly and surely he is losing his mind. If things get really bad, in addition to mental health, physical health also suffers. They describe cases when the unfortunate person fed the reflection to the point of complete exhaustion, trying to please a “friend” who never existed. Is such a terrible scenario really awaiting any parrot who even once looks in the mirror? Of course not. Troubles with the head happen to those birds who spend too much time tete-a-tete with the mirror. What to do to keep the animal sane? Firstly, a parrot should not live alone. If the parrot lives in a pair or group with other birds, the mirror usually does not cause any problems - the bird simply does not take it as seriously because it has real companions. Secondly, remove the mirror from the cage if he still lives alone. Third, communicate more. If you devote enough time to your pet, even if you have a mirror, you will completely replace his non-existent f

als. You can meet these ocean conquerors both on the shore and hundreds of kilometers from any land. Basically, water strider reproduction is fairly standard. The male fertilizes the female, she retains a supply of sperm inside herself and fertilizes several clutches of eggs with them. They didn’t come up with anything radically new in this regard. However, I will only give you half a point for this answer. After all, reproduction itself is literally half the battle. It is preceded by complex mating games. The fact is that females are much less interested in mating than males - once is enough for them throughout their lives. But male water striders are ready to mate many times and with different partners, because in this case their chance of leaving offspring becomes higher. But what to do if the lady is not interested in you? That's right, blackmail her! The male grabs the lady with his front paws and begins to tap the water in an intricate rhythm. And these blows will sooner or later attract the attention of the fish, which will definitely eat them both, which, of course, does not suit the female. Therefore, she is forced to give what he wants in order to save the lives of both of them and her offspring. As they say: Truth is born in dispute. And in blackmail - water striders. Results! So, it's time to evaluate your knowledge. Write your points in the comments. If you scored 2 points or less, then you definitely need to improve your knowledge in biology. Fortunately, you are already reading the Book of Animals, which means the forecast is favorable for you! If you get a C, don't be upset. Your level of knowledge is more than sufficient for a person who is far from biology, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. But 4 points is already serious. Not every biologist is able to score so many points, especially if he is not a specialist in the field of zoology and ecology. Be proud of yourself, you deserve it! Well, I doubly praise those smart kids who earned an A+. If you are not connected with the natural sciences and still managed to do it, then your lively and sharp mind absorbs knowledge like a sponge. Keep up the good work! Author: Yaroslav Ilyin Единственное лицензированное Telegram-казино 🏆 ⭐️ Ежедневные раздачи до $5000 ⭐️Всегда здесь:https://t.me/game_jacknova_bot?start=ceFJNzuX1W5

Water striders: We've seen them since childhood, but we don't know anything. And some facts are a brain explosion Water striders need no introduction. They have become so familiar that the average person thinks he knows everything about them. Only it's not like that. The expert has arrived. Let's play a game: I'll ask you five questions and you'll answer each one before you read the corresponding section of the article. And then, at the end of the text, I will give you an assessment of your knowledge, like a school biology teacher. Well, are you ready? So here are five questions, think carefully: 1) Why don’t water striders drown? 2) What do they eat? 3) What group of insects do they belong to? 4) Where do water striders live? 5) How do they reproduce? Why don't water striders drown? The short answer I'll give you credit for is because they have hairy legs. And if you need details, here they are: the feet of all four walking legs of water striders are covered with many hairs, lubricated with fat from special glands. Air bubbles always remain under the hairs, so the foot does not sink, but rests on the surface tension film of water. Essentially, the animal walks on four air cushions. What do water striders eat? Water striders are active predators that primarily feed on insects. Insects that have fallen on the water, floating larvae or even fish fry are a favorite and respected delicacy. However, water striders from the genus Halobates have a different diet - they do not hesitate to eat carrion and zooplankton - small crustaceans that sometimes swim too close to the surface of the water. Correct answer: most feed on insects and aquatic larvae that have fallen on the water. Some are carrion and zooplankton. What group of insects do water striders belong to? The vast majority of insects belong to one of the largest orders of insects. All beetles are Coleoptera. All ants, bees, wasps and hornets are Hymenoptera. But butterflies and moths are lepidopterans. Water striders are no exception here and are included in the order of hemipteran insects. Simply put, they are bedbugs. What they have in common with the notorious bedbugs is a complex and advanced proboscis, which water striders use to pierce the protective coverings of their prey, pump it with toxic saliva and suck out the resulting nutritious soup. By the way, they can also bite humans. And it is quite painful, although not dangerous. Where do water striders live? “A simple question,” you say. “On the surface of lakes, swamps and large puddles,” you answer. And for this answer you earn 0.5 points, because it is incomplete. Water striders also live in the ocean! The previously mentioned Halobates is a genus of 40 species of sea water striders. They can go for generations without setting foot on the ground, feeding on zooplankton and dead jellyfish. Holobates lay their eggs on marine debris: feathers, boards, plastic and on the remains of larger anim

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Today we will find out who is the most meat-eating meat-eater. And we will start, of course, with deer. The amount of meat in their diet tends to 0, but they are not purebred herbivores; they happily chew dead animals, chicks or fish washed ashore. Whenever possible, many phytophages snack on animal food. Well, what do you want? Meat is an excellent source of protein, and its micronutrient content is high. Next on our list are ants, bears, humans and other omnivorous animals. The meat content in the diet of omnivores varies from 25% to 50%. Omnivores have special adaptations for consuming meat (shortened intestines, specially shaped teeth) and, for the most part, are able to easily and quickly switch from one type of food to another. With predators the situation is more complicated. Their bodies are adapted for hunting and digesting carrion. But vegetation is processed with difficulty, so its share in the diet is less than 50%. What doesn't stop wolves from eating watermelons? Well, the position of the most meat-eating meat-eater goes to cats! And spiders. Which is essentially the same thing, because spiders are just arthropod cats. They belong to the group of hypercarnivores. These creatures provide 70% of their food needs by eating flesh. And cats and spiders are 100% meat eaters! Единственное лицензированное Telegram-казино 🏆 ⭐️ Ежедневные раздачи до $5000 ⭐️Всегда здесь:https://t.me/game_jacknova_bot?start=ceFJNzuX1W5

hs The mammoth family also did not live to this day, but they clung to life with incredible tenacity. In a desperate attempt to survive the end of the Ice Age and human expansion, these elephants settled on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean. But their strength was not enough: the last of the mammoths died 3,700 years ago, which is not so long ago by historical standards. After all, at this time the ancient Greeks were already forging bronze swords and silver jewelry. And the famous pyramid of Cheops has stood for more than 700 years! Island mammoths were able to survive for so long thanks to living on a secluded island. They lived in a stable and predictable environment and were able to avoid the fate of other megafauna. For a while. We still don't know what caused their death. Previously, scientists believed that genetic degradation was to blame for everything: the population size did not exceed 20 individuals, which means inbreeding was the norm for them. However, recent evidence shows that the effect of inbreeding was much weaker than expected. And the genetic load - a combination of diseases and non-functioning genes - even decreased immediately before the extinction of mammoths. So this question is open again. Stegodon: Overdone with tusks Just a million years ago, Stegodons were a fairly large family of elephants that inhabited South Asia, including even the islands. But they all, as one, faced the same problem: huge tusks! The tusks of the largest stegodons could reach a length of three meters, which was equal to the length of their body. Moreover, some of them had tusks growing so close to each other that the trunk simply did not fit between them and hung to the side. How they managed to perform basic actions with such a configuration of tusks is still a mystery. I think it was great to add a touch of paleontology to our channel. Write in the comments if you want to see articles about extinct animals more often. Единственное лицензированное Telegram-казино 🏆 ⭐️ Ежедневные раздачи до $5000 ⭐️Всегда здесь:https://t.me/game_jacknova_bot?start=ceFJNzuX1W5

5 interesting extinct elephants: From a titanium of 14 tons to a puska of 6 kilos With elephants, everything seems to be easy and clear: Big, gray, with trunks and tusks, what else can I add? But the deeper you dive into the wilds of elephant history, the more strange and contradictory creatures you find there. We dug through the pedigree of elephants from top to bottom and found five of the strangest creatures - from elephants without trunks to those whose tusks prevented them from living! Erytherium: The smallest elephant Of course, elephants did not immediately become big. Like other mammals, they evolved long and hard from babies. And the first proboscideans, like Erytherium, were not at all impressive with their size. Eriteria lived on the territory of modern Morocco as much as 60 million years ago and were slightly larger than a cat! And the weight was inferior to the Maine Coon - only 5-6 kilograms! According to some reports, he didn’t even have a trunk. But, oddly enough, the trunk is not the most important thing for proboscideans. Much more important is the similarity in the structure of the teeth and skull bones. And in this he was really similar to modern animals. Unless it hurts a little! Oh, if only he knew what his descendants would turn into! Dinotherium: The Largest Elephant That's right, the African elephant is far from the largest proboscis. They used to be much larger. About a million years ago, dinoteria roamed Africa. Giants 4 meters high and weighing from 8 to 14 tons. For reference: a large and healthy savannah elephant weighs 5-6 tons! Dinotheriums also differed in appearance from modern elephants. Dinotheriums had an unusually long neck, by proboscis standards, a much more muscular trunk and, at the same time, very small ears. But the strangest thing about them is their inverted and downward-pointing tusks, whose length could reach 1.5 meters. Moreover, the scope of application of such strange tusks is still unknown. Stylish beard? Or was the bark scraped from the trees? Not clear. Gomphotherium: The most toothy elephant Unlike the two previous characters, gomphotheres were similar to modern elephants in both size and body proportions. With one exception: they had 4 tusks at once. The top pair is standard, just like modern elephants. Gomphotheres needed them for fighting, protection, stripping bark from trees and moving heavy objects - just like elephants. But the lower one looked strange - the short and wide tusks turned into a kind of hoe, with the help of which the gomphotheres tore out and ate low vegetation. Thus, this elephant has turned into a generalist who can get food almost anywhere. It's just a pity that it didn't help them. Gomphotheres went extinct approximately 15 million years ago, leaving no descendants. However, they are still great - their bones have been found from Africa all the way to North America. Successful variety. Mammoths of Wrangel Island: The Last of the Mammot