Discovery Science 🧬

s survival. Females who are ready to have offspring are more and more patient with border violations. And now neighbor Vasya, who infuriated him with his mere appearance throughout the year, already seems like a very nice guy. And after 36 days, several naked, blind and deaf lumps appear from it. Zorilla babies are absolutely defenseless. They don't even smell like anything! They will spend three to four months with their mother until they achieve complete independence. During this time, they will stand on their paws, learn to hunt and acquire their own pepper. Only after this will they go to conquer the expanses of the savannah, conquer territories and scare away the greatest predators of Africa with their scent. Author: Egor Churakov Editor: Elizaveta Isaeva 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

Zorilla: It's not a skunk, but it's even worse. A beast that burns out the eyes of hyenas and lions On the African savannah, a tiny animal smaller than a cat has to go to extreme measures to survive. Hardened by the arid plains, the Zorilla ferret goes everywhere with a built-in pepper guard. Hyenas, lions and hawks are circling around, but the enemies do not dare to approach, because they can be deprived of their sight with one “zilch”. The harsh amber of our hero can be accidentally smelled almost throughout Africa. From the Sahel near the Sahara and as far south as the Indian Ocean, the black-striped bioweapon is picky and has colonized almost all of Africa's savannahs. The miracle of nature looks just like its overseas colleague - the skunk. The same black, the same white stripes along the body and a fluffy tail lying on the back. And of course, the aroma that makes flowers wither and flies fall dead. However, from the point of view of taxonomy, these animals are not even distant relatives. Zorilla belongs to the mustelidae family. Skunk - to the skunk family. The difficult fate of a small animal in a world of large predators pushed both ferrets and skunks to the same methods of self-defense. Scientifically this is called convergent evolution. Zorilla stinks noticeably. The smell is so pungent that it causes vomiting in most mammalian predators with a sensitive sense of smell. And if the jet gets into your eyes, you can lose your vision. The oily liquid acts on the mucous membrane like pepper. Even birds, whose sense of smell is so-so, are brought to tears by the persistent aroma of their own defeat. To be fair, Zorilla herself doesn’t give a damn. During the daytime, it hides in a safe shelter. It appears on the surface only at nightfall. Hiding in the darkness, the stinking ferret goes out on a night watch. In terms of food, Zorilla does not turn up its nose. Everything that fits into your mouth is useful. Insect - give it here. A small rodent will do. Snake or lizard - wrap two. Even cooperation from hunger is not alien to the animal: scientists have discovered that zorillas hunt together with some species of foxes. The ferret starts the business - he brazenly breaks into the house of gophers, meerkats, ground squirrels and other burrow inhabitants. The fox lies in ambush at the emergency exit. As soon as the residents start pulling at their claws, the fox immediately grabs them. If they want to stay in the shelter, the ferret will grab it. This is how the accomplices honestly divide the loot among themselves. For others, even members of their own species, entry into the ferret's personal space is strictly prohibited. If you take an extra step, the zorilla fluffs up, yelps, hisses, demonstrating obvious dissatisfaction. If a potential enemy is still stupid enough to loom nearby, the ferret uses chemical weapons. Such a strong reaction to strangers is dulled only for a short time and only for the sake of everyone'

Giving stones from penguins: A scandalous tradition with fights, lust and theft! Giving stones among penguins is perhaps the most romantic ritual that can be found among animals. Just imagine: a guy in love spends hours looking for the most beautiful, roundest and neatest stone, and then gives it to his beloved. And this stone becomes the first brick of their common house, in which they will have children. It's beautiful, isn't it? What a pity that this beauty is spoiled by those who like to deceive the system. Comfortable smooth pebbles are quite rare even on the rocky Antarctic islands, and getting just one can be a challenge. Therefore, if “that same” stone is noticed by two males at once, a bloody fight cannot be avoided. And it’s not at all a fact that the winner will be able to bring the pebble to the female, because he could be robbed along the way. Because a beautiful lady, in general, doesn’t care where you got this pebble and how much effort you spent on it. Moreover, one stone will most likely not be enough for you. Do you want to increase your chances of starting a family? Bring several at once. Better yet, distribute them to different females, diversify your likings. At least one out of ten will definitely like you. All that remains is to get these ten stones. By any means, including banal theft from females, you are not interested. The ladies are good too. They always and without problems accept signs of sympathy, even if they are presented by a small-looking male whom you don’t even want to look at. Moreover, even the choice of a partner does not prevent some ladies from portraying an innocent coquette in front of still free males in exchange for stones. But these scammers immediately lose interest in the poor guys as soon as they get what they want. After all, making a promise does not mean getting married. But especially fallen ladies sink even lower - right down to corrupt love. They receive stones from males who are unlucky enough to find a mate at the end of the mating season, or from particularly cheeky “family” men while their wives go fishing. But in fairness, it should be admitted that most penguins remain faithful to their soulmate during the mating season. And they even maintain their connection for many years. What conclusion can be drawn from this story? That all men are sycophants and thieves, and women are swindlers and shifters. Well, or that the behavior of animals should not be measured by the standards of human morality. Each species survives in its own conditions and makes its own sacrifices. In the end, they deceive, fight and go to war not for status or ephemeral wealth, but because this is the only way to leave offspring in their harsh world. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

areas that will not become soup during metamorphosis) - - - - - 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

Is it true that the insect inside the pupa completely dissolves and is reassembled? What does an insect look like at the moment between childhood and maturity, in the pupa? The answer will not please particularly impressionable readers: if you open the wrinkled cocoon in the midst of transformation, a strange mass similar to jelly will appear from it! The body won't be there! Does the insect really dissolve completely in the pupa? And how, then, is it reassembled? To understand what is happening, you need to know what the pupa is filled with. Part of the strange substance is metalloproteinases. Special enzymes that break down proteins into their components. How did they get there? So the old body of the caterpillar must be destroyed somehow! It won’t be able to fall apart on its own; surrendering to the destruction of bacteria and decomposer fungi is also not an option; they will, so to speak, spoil the product. In fact, insects have to digest themselves. How soup-like the body inside the pupa will be depends on the order of the insect. In addition to butterflies, all insects with complete transformation have a transitional form: beetles, mosquitoes, flies. For most of them, the body turns into something resembling frozen jelly for a couple of days. Cells keep each other on their word of honor. In this state it is convenient to sculpt something new from them. Let's take a caterpillar as an example. The cells that used to be its legs will remain in place and will simply reassemble into the limbs of an adult insect. The cells that were once protective bristles will disintegrate. Butterflies don't need them. But the nutrients from the extra body part are very useful for the growing body. And some organs will generally remain unchanged: the anterior and posterior parts of the intestine, the trachea, the excretory system. But what to do with new body parts that the larva did not have before? This is where imaginal discs come to the rescue. These are special cells. They are present in insects from birth, but are activated when the larva turns into a pupa and the old incarnation has melted. It is they who, saturated with nutrients, form new organs from everything that floats around them. In many beetles and butterflies, the imaginal discs contain the development of wings and the reproductive system. And in fruit flies, the discs, like a nesting doll, contain the entire adult body! The process of metamorphosis of fruit flies is the most destructive - their body actually almost completely turns into broth. According to the drawings of the imaginal discs, the new, adult organism is reassembled from the old bricks of the larva. It turns out that of all living creatures, fruit flies are the real lucky ones! In fact, they can celebrate two birthdays a year! Photo: 1. Butterfly pupa 2. The caterpillar creates a chrysalis 3. Stag beetle pupa 4. Mosquito pupae 5. Diagram of the imaginal discs of a Drosophila larva (these are the only

Raincoats, down jackets, raincoats, ponchos and everything else with fluttering elements. Here again visual perception plays a role, but for a different reason. Dogs remember people as a set of stable characteristics: height, shoulder width, silhouette shape, nature of movements. Voluminous clothing dramatically changes these parameters. A person becomes taller, wider, more massive, and his movements look unusual and, therefore, less predictable. In front of the dog is an image that seems to be familiar to it, but not at all the one to which it is accustomed. Add to this the rustling of fabric, the hem of clothing fluttering when moving, and you get a disoriented and even frightened dog. Of course, the reaction to unusual clothes greatly depends on the character of the dog itself. Puppies, overly anxious pets, animals with a delicate mental organization and poor socialization react to everything incomprehensible much more sharply. But confident, well-adapted animals may not pay attention to a hood or raincoat at all. If you notice that the dog is wary, freezes, moves back or barks, the most important thing here is not to increase the pressure. First, don't hover over your dog, don't approach abruptly, and don't stare into the dog's eyes. When a person’s silhouette is already difficult to read because of their clothing, such behavior looks even more threatening in the eyes of a dog. It is better to turn your body to the side, stop, give the animal space and time to get used to it. Look the other way and act calm and predictable. Secondly, do not try to stroke and soothe. Hands are one of the main “signals of intentions” for a dog. If she is already unsure of you, then a sudden movement may be perceived as a threat. And a frightened dog that considers you a danger is a direct path to a bite. If your dog is young or very anxious, it is a good idea to introduce him to new clothes in advance. Let me smell your jacket, raincoat, or whatever you bought for yourself. Put the item on at home, walk around calmly, and show your pet in motion. This way your image will no longer be unexpected and will not cause culture shock during a walk. And most importantly, give the watchdog time to get to know each other and understand that in front of them is still the same familiar person, and not a potential threat. Author: Arina Taran Redaspeaker: Elizaveta Isaeva 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot

If you wear this, dogs will be afraid of you. List of clothes that make pets terrified Sometimes all you need to do to scare a dog is to dress up. For us it’s just a new raincoat or the hood of a sweatshirt, but for a dog it’s a failure of the friend-foe recognition system. And now, in the place of a familiar person, something strange, noisy and extremely suspicious appears. A potential threat that would be quite logical to bark at, or even bite. 1. Black clothes And any: from a tuxedo to stretched home sweatpants. The reason for dogs’ dislike of this color is very simple: due to the peculiarities of their vision, animals have difficulty distinguishing the contours of a person’s body in black clothes. Dogs have dichromatic vision: they distinguish blue and yellow well, but practically do not perceive red and green. Plus, their eyes perceive a static picture and small details a little worse; they understand moving objects much more clearly. Because of this, the world we are familiar with appears to watchdogs to be less saturated with colors and a little more blurry. When we wear black clothes, the contrast of silhouette details is lost. A person turns into one big dark spot; dogs have a harder time reading body language. And for them this is very important! By the position of the arms, legs and micro-movements of the body, they understand us and adapt to our mood and further intentions. Therefore, we can say that dogs are not afraid of black clothes as such - they are nervous from the inability to understand a person and predict his further actions. 2. Overalls Work overalls, jackets, dressing gowns, overalls and everything else. It is not so much vision that plays a role here, but rather smell. Our work clothes retain a lot of specific, unusual and often unpleasant odors. This could be the aroma of gasoline and oil from a car service worker, alcohol and iodine from a doctor, or the suspicious smell of other animals from a veterinarian’s work uniform. If humans have only 5-6 million olfactory receptors, then dogs have more than 200 million. Thanks to this, woollies can smell 100,000 times better than us. And if even for us the overalls smell unpleasant, then imagine what it’s like for the dogs? It is clear that they will deliberately avoid people in overalls. 3. Things that cover the face Hoods, sunglasses, hats, masks, balaclavas, scarves, large headphones. For dogs, our face is not just a part of the body, but the most important source of information. By facial expressions: a smile or grimace, eyes, direction of gaze and other micro-movements of the face, furry ones instantly read a person’s emotions and intentions. And when the face is covered by something, this recognition system fails. The biped immediately becomes incomprehensible, and therefore potentially unsafe, because the watchdog cannot read him. Puppies and anxious dogs react especially strongly to this loss of visual contact. 4. Voluminous and wide clothes