Interesting Facts about Dogs

There are more than five million puppies born in the United States each year.

When a puppy is born, he is blind, deaf, and toothless.

Dogs don't actually sweat by salivating. They sweat through the pads on their feet.

The oldest recorded age for a dog is 29.

Greyhounds can reach a speed of up to 45 miles per hour.

There are over 800 different dog breeds.

There is only one barkless dog in the world, the Basenji.

Dalmations are born without their spots. The spots appear as they mature.

Smiling at a dog causes him to think you are baring your teeth to show aggression.

There are about 68 million dogs with owners in the United States.

If a dog lives to be 11 years old, it would have cost about $13,550 to own that dog, including all his regular dog supplies.

The top five favorite breeds of dogs in the US are:
Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Beagle, and Dachshund.

About Batman Stingray

Stingrays are sensitive animals and they could not endure that type of mutilation.  Stingrays also have an amazing ability to regenerate their disc, which would further recognize 'batman rays' to be a developmental disfunction.

Batman Rays are the result of a defect during embryonic development of the disc.  The frontal area of the disc fails to fuse together.  This morph is very uncommon, and no one to date has been able to reproduce these rays with success.  Much like Albino or Xanthic morphs, these rays are a genetic misfit, and are usually only birthed in captivity because the survival rate of a deficient animal in the wild is next to none.  This is due to predation and competition for food. They live just normal stingray and needing the same fish supplies.

The so-called ‘Batman’ stingray morphology. The disk failed

to fuse in front of the head during embryonic development of

this Potamotrygon motoro.

These rays move, eat, and act like normal stingrays.  Special care must be provided as they tend to have a harder time competing for food.  Beyond the few that are being kept in captivity, very little is known about the Batman Ray.  We can assume that it is a genetic mutation, similar to a 'cleft lip' in a human, and that it is in no way man-made.  These stingrays demand a very high price due to rarity.

There is no known genetic component to cleft lips in humans, and batman morphology in stingrays almost certainly has nothing to do with genetics.

Dog Drinks Slow Motion

Have you ever observed closely how dogs drink water? Let's enter to the time warp and split seconds in thousand times to see clearly how dogs drink water.


The set up was not just in dog bow, not on pet feeder & waterer, not in fond or anywhere just outside, it's on the laboratory with the high definition camera was set.

Spider Silk as Artificial Muscle

Spider silk's unique ability to contract when wet is applied to produce artificial muscles.

Spider silk is renowned for its lightweight yet stronger-than-steel fibers, and now scientists are finding a new use for the fine, strong thread: as an artificial muscle.

Scientists at the University of Akron have developed two new ways to apply spider silk, and normal silk from silkworms, to artificial muscles. If refined and commercialized, scientists say the silk could be used in everything from robotics to microchip systems.

"No one thought about using spider silk as an artificial muscle," said Todd Blackledge, a professor at the University of Akron who studies spider silk. "But wrap a finger of drag line spider silk around your finger and dip it in water, and your finger will turn blue from the contraction of the fiber."

Scientists have known for years that some spider silk contracts dramatically, up to 50 percent, when it gets wet. The phenomena is known as super contraction. Scientists speculate that spiders use super contraction as a way to help tighten their webs when dew appears in the morning.

While powerful, super contraction generally only happens once; for a second contraction the fiber must be dried and manually stretched back to its original length.

Like human muscle, spider silk muscles would have degrees of movement, depending on the amount of water in the air around the muscle. High humidity would mean maximum contraction, low humidity would loosen the treads. Water breaks apart the hydrogen bonds inside the thin strands of protein, causing new, contracting bonds, to form. As the water evaporates the hydrogen bonds reform in their original positions.

While studying super contraction, the scientists found a second type of movement, known as cyclic contraction. Unlike super contraction, which generally is a one-time occurrence, cyclic contraction can instantly expand and contract as the humidity around the fiber changes, no drying necessary. While faster and more responsive than super contraction, cyclic contraction isn't nearly as dramatic; the fiber only shortens by 1 to 2 percent instead of 50 percent.

Video about Scientists experiment on Spiders Silk. http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/9550-science-investigations-spider-silk-video.htm

Essential Products on Cold Weathers at PetStreetMall

Those small numbers are fine with Blackledge, who notes that human muscle, despite its seemingly wide range of motion, only contracts between 10 and 20 percent. The new artificial muscle could be used in microelectromechnical systems (or MEMS) -- tiny devices that operate on very small scales to, for example, separate individual cells. All a spider silk, cyclic contraction-based spider silk artificial muscle would have to do in a MEMS system is open or close a tiny channel to separate individual cells.

A MEMS system would be a great first use for spider silk artificial muscles because not much silk would be needed. Despite decades of research and dozens of attempts to create artificial spider silk, no one has succeeded in creating an effective replacement. All the silk for an artificial muscle would have to be gathered by hand from real spiders, a fairly labor intensive task.

Luckily, says Blackledge, the same silk worm-based silk that goes into dresses and medical products also exhibits similar contraction properties as spider silk and could also be used for artificial muscles at tiny scales.

Scaling up spider silk for human limb-sized artificial muscles could be problematic, says Brent Opell, a professor at Virginia Tech. A single thread of drag line spider silk is very narrow, about five microns in diameter, and has a high surface area that lets it quickly absorb large amounts of water to quickly contract.

Stacking multiple fibers next to each other will likely slow the diffusion of water through the fiber and slow the speed of contraction.

While there are still multiple issues that still need to be resolved before any actual device using spider silk as an artificial muscle is built, the idea does have its merits, especially when compared to other artificial muscles out there, says Adam Summers, a professor at the University of Washington.

"Spider silk is a remarkably long-lived polymer that would last for tens of thousands of cycles," said Summers.

Other artificial muscles exist that are superior to spider silk in terms of speed or amount of contraction, says Summers, but often require high amounts of electricity or toxic chemicals for activation and break down after a couple hundred cycles.

Blackledge also only studied one of the seven different types of silk produced by one of the more than 40,000 species of silk-producing spider species. Other spider species could produce silk with much higher cyclic contraction percentages or super contraction that has a faster response time.

Source:

Animal Planet at Discovery Channel

Parrots: exceptionally intelligent birds

• All parrots’ eggs are pure white.
• Parrots don’t have vocal cords, so they actually “trumpet” the sound by pushing air out of their trachea.
• Wild parrots do not learn to talk, but the African Grey is the easiest to teach.
• Parrots, when not nesting, live in groups known as flocks and are prone to squawking and screaming.
• Parrots are zygodactyls i.e. they have four toes on each foot.
• Most of the parrots build their nests in holes in trees, termite mounts, rock cavities or ground tunnels. Only a few build stick nests.
• The vocalizations of some parrots can be heard for up to 1 mile.
• While eating, parrots hold their food in one of their feet, which can be either left or right, making parrots left as well as right handed.
• Parrots have a thick muscular tongue that helps them eat fruit, seeds, buds, nectar, and pollen.
• Chocolate is poisonous to the Parrots.
• The Owl Parrot is a bird that cannot fly.
• Parrots are an endangered species.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Neognathae
Order: Psittaciformes

Parrots are fine-looking birds, mainly found inhabiting tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Grouped into two families, Psittacidae (true parrots) and Cacatuidae (cockatoos), they include as many as 350 species within their order. A parrot can be described as a bird with a strong curved beak, erect carriage, strong legs and clawed zygodactyl feet. Parrots can control the pitch of the sound by manipulating the shape and depth of the trachea. Experts say that when parrots talk, they are actually making variations on whistling.

Most parrot fossils were excavated in Europe. The earliest dates back to the Eocene, and are 50 million years old. Most of the complete skeletons were found in Germany and England. These birds are considered the great “parrot ancestors.” However, fossils of modern parrots—with the same bone structure and appearance as the ones we see today, are about 23 million years old.

There are actually two major groups of parrots: the psittacidae, and the cacutaidae. The latter has a movable head crest while the psittacidae have brighter, more vibrant colors. There are also enormous skeletal differences.
Some parrots are in danger of extinction. This includes the Spixs Macaw, of which only 7 survive in captivity. Naturalists once thought they had completely disappeared from the wild, but one was seen spotted flying in the South American rainforest. Breeding efforts have been stepped out to increase the parrots’ numbers.

Great Parrot Talent:

Megalodon: greatest fish predator ever lived

• The greatest shark to have ever lived!
• Megalodon was the largest carnivorous fish in history.
• The Carcharodon megalodon comes from the Greek word for “big tooth”.
• C. megalodon was certainly piscivorous as well just like other sharks.
• This shark was as big as a bus at a length of 60 feet and estimated to weigh between 30-60 tons.
• The largest tooth of Megalodon ever found measured 7 inches in slant length.
• The weight is comparable to 7 large African elephants weighing 7 tons each!
• The Swiss naturalist, Louis Agassiz, gave this shark its scientific name, Carcharodon megalodon in 1835.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Disputed; either Lamnidae or Otodontidae
Genus: Disputed; either Carcharodon or Carcharocles
Species: C. megalodon

Carcharodon Megalodon was a giant shark that lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era, between 2 million and 16 million years ago. Little is known for sure about these giant predators because all that remains of their existence are fossilized teeth. C. megalodon was a warm water pelagic fish and it thrived in all the oceans of the world in its time. The teeth of this ancient shark have been excavated from many parts of the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Malta and India.

There is evidence that C. megalodon preyed on whales, Cetotherium, and Odobenocetops, sirenians, dolphins, porpoises, pinnipeds and giant see turtles. The teeth from the megalodon shark are truly massive in both length and width. The largest teeth are as large as a man's hand and can weigh well over a pound. Another factor that greatly increases the value of a tooth is the degree of preservation. The vast majority of teeth that have become fossils have been destroyed by natural processes (erosion, chemical processes, etc.). Most megalodon teeth found have undergone quite a bit of destruction, with chunks of the tooth broken off, the enamel eaten through, or significant erosion wearing the natural features of the tooth.

Several hypotheses as to how an apex predator like C. megalodon suddenly became extinct after millions of years of existence. Factors such as abrupt global cooling of the Earth's climate coincided with changing ocean circulation, and shortage of food, have been known to cause demise of even dominant marine species.

Rabbits: interesting rabbit facts and trivia

• Rabbits are not rodents, they are lagomorphs.
• A male rabbit is a buck, female rabbit is a doe and baby rabbit is a kit.
• A group of rabbits is called a herd.
• Rabbits groom themselves
• A rabbits teeth never stop growing.
• Rabbits have 28 teeth
• Rabbits have a tiny "peg" tooth behind each incisor.
• Rabbits can be litter trained
• A pet rabbit can live as long as 10 years
• Rabbits can purr similar to a cat
• Rabbits cannot vomit
• Rabbits can jump 36" and higher
• The world record for the rabbit high jump is 1 meter.
• The longest ears are 31.125 inches long.
• Rabbits can suffer heat stroke
• Rabbits do not hibernate
• A 4 pound rabbit will drink as much water as a 20 pound dog
• The only place a rabbit sweats is through the pads on its feet
• Rabbits eat their own night droppings called cecotropes
• Predators can literally scare a rabbit to death
• When rabbits are happy, they will jump and twist, this is called a binky
• Rabbits can see behind them without turning their heads, but have blind spot in front of their face.
• The longest-lived rabbit was nearly 19 years old when he died.
• Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genera in the family classified as rabbits, including the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), Cottontail rabbit (genus Sylvilagus; 13 species), and the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi, endangered species on Amami Ōshima, Japan). There are many other species of rabbit, and these, along with pikas and hares, make up the order Lagomorpha.


Rabbits are ground dwellers that live in environments ranging from desert to tropical forest and wetland. Their natural geographic range encompasses the middle latitudes of the Western Hemisphere. In the Eastern Hemisphere rabbits are found in Europe, portions of Central and Southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Sumatra, and Japan. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been introduced to many locations around the world, and all breeds of domestic rabbit originate from the European.

Monitor Lizards: the tropical predators

• All monitor lizards are tropical reptiles.
• The claws of monitors are long and sharp.
• Monitor lizard jaws are very strong and once they bite something it is very difficult to get them to let go.
• Monitors are carnivorous and will devour anything they are capable of dismembering and gulping down.
• Monitors do not divest themselves of their tails, like some other lizards. Once lost, the tail of a monitor does not grow back.
• Many species of monitor lizards hold their heads erect on their long necks, which gives them the appearance of being alert.
• Monitors tend to swallow their prey whole, like snakes.
• Monitor lizards lay 7 to 35 soft-shelled eggs, usually deposited in holes in riverbanks or in trees along water courses.
• The Nile monitor often lays its eggs in termite nests.
• Komodo dragons are the largest lizards in the world and belong to the family of monitor lizards.
• Some are small reptiles of less than a foot in length, while the Komodo dragon, the largest living lizard, grows to 364 lb.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Scleroglossa
Infraorder: Anguimorpha
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus

Monitor lizards or biawak are members of the family Varanidae, a group of carnivorous lizards which includes the heaviest living lizard, the Komodo dragon, with the crocodile monitor being the longest in the world. Varanidae is monotypic, containing only the genus Varanus. Their closest living relatives are the anguid and helodermatid lizards.

Monitor lizards are generally large reptiles, although some can be as small as 12 centimetres in length. They have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. Most species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semi-aquatic monitors are also known. Almost all monitor lizards are carnivorous, although Varanus prasinus and Varanus olivaceus are also known to eat fruit. They are oviparous, laying from 7 to 37 eggs, which they often cover with soil or protect in a hollow tree stump.

Armadillos: super armored animal

• The armadillo is so heavy it will sink in water unless it inflates its stomach with air. Even then only its nose shows above the water.
• All four young, always of the same sex, are identical quadruplets and developed from the same egg. Armadillos are the only mammals in which multiple young form from a single egg with any regularity.
• Despite its short legs, the armadillo moves relatively quickly. With its strong feet and thick claws it can burrow with considerable speed.
• A full grown armadillo is about the size of a large lunchbox, and weighs around 17 pounds.
• Because of its naturally low body temperature, armadillos have been used in leprosy research that includes the development of a vaccine.
• Many towns in Texas hold beauty pageants for armadillos. Contestants groom, show and race their pet armadillos.
• The armadillo is covered with platelets on its midsection, has hornlike skin, stiff hoods on its shoulders and hips, and additional protection on its face, tail and feet. Only its abdomen is unprotected.
• The armadillo eats ants, worms and other ground insects and is classified as a meat eater.
• Fossil remains of extinct giant armadillos have been found in the Pleistocene strata of South America.
• Armadillo flesh is palatable and is used for food.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Cingulata

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one".

Armadillos are prolific diggers. Many species use their sharp claws to dig for food, such as grubs, and to dig dens. The Nine-banded Armadillo prefers to build burrows in moist soil near the creeks, streams, and arroyos around which it lives and feeds. The diet of different armadillo species varies, but consists mainly of insects, grubs, and other invertebrates. Some species, however, are almost entirely formicivorous (feeding mainly on ants).

Armadillos are often used in the study of leprosy, since they, along with mangabey monkeys, rabbits and mice (on their footpads), are among the few known non-human animal species that can contract the disease systemically. They are particularly susceptible due to their unusually low body temperature, which is hospitable to the leprosy bacterium.

Butterflies: fascinating butterfly facts and trivia

• The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'!
• Butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches.
• Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.
• The Brimstone butterfly (Gonepterix rhamni) has the longest lifetime of the adult butterflies: 9-10 months.
• The caterpillars of some Snout Moths (Pyralididae) live in or on water-plants.
• Many butterflies can taste with their feet to find out whether the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on to be their caterpillars' food or not.
• People eat insects – called "Entomophagy"(people eating bugs), many bugs are both protein-rich and good sources of vitamins, minerals and fats.
• Butterflies and insects have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies, called the exoskeleton (related to crabs and lobsters), keeping water inside their body to keep them from drying out.
• Female butterflies usually are bigger and live longer than male butterflies.
• A butterfly has compound eyes: each eye is made up of about 6,000 tiny parts called lenses, which let in light.
• The female moth produces a scent that a male moth can smell a mile away.
• Butterflies can’t hear, but they can feel vibrations.
• Butterflies don't have mouths that allow them to bite or chew.
• A caterpillar grows to about 27,000 times the size it was when it first emerged from its egg
• The wings of butterflies and moths are actually transparent.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Rhopalocera

A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form.

Butterflies are characterized by their scale-covered wings. The coloration of butterfly wings is created by minute scales. These scales are pigmented with melanins that give them blacks and browns, but blues, greens, reds and iridescence are usually created not by pigments but the microstructure of the scales. This structural coloration is the result of coherent scattering of light by the photonic crystal nature of the scales.

Both butterflies and moths belong to the order lepidoptera, a Greek which means scale wing.The iridescent scales, which overlap like shingles on a roof, give the wings the colors that we see. Contrary to popular belief, many butterflies can be held gently by the wings without harming the butterfly. Of course, some are more fragile than others, and are easily damaged if not handled very gently. Butterflies along with most moths have a long straw like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices. When not in use, the proboscis remains coiled like a garden hose.

Studies on the reflection and scattering of light by the scales on wings of swallowtail butterflies led to the innovation of more efficient light-emitting diodes. Researches on the wing structure of Birdwing (of Palawan, Philippines) butterflies led to new wide wingspan kite and aircraft designs. The structural coloration of butterflies is inspiring nanotechnology research to produce paints that do not use toxic pigments and in the development of new display technologies. Furthermore, the discoloration and health of butterflies in butterfly farms, is now being studied for use as indicators of air quality in several cities.

Mouse: adaptable intelligent animal

• The typical laboratory mouse runs 2.5 miles per night on its treadmill.
• A rat can walk longer on desert than a camel without drinking water.
• Mice have tails that are as long as their bodies.
• Mice see best in dim light. Their eyesight is weak, but their other senses are acute.
• Mice have teeth that never stop growing. Mice teeth can grow up to 5 inches a year.
• Mice squeak at very high frequencies, often above the range of human hearing.
• Mice can jump down 12 feet without injury; they also have a 12-inch vertical jump.
• Mice explore their territory daily, showing no aversion to new objects (neophobia).
• The female mouse ovulates every other day.
• A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten. A female is called a doe. A male is called a buck

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Genus: Mus

The word "mouse" and the word muscle are related. Muscle stems from musculus meaning small mouse - possibly because of a similarity in shape The word "mouse" is a cognate of Sanskrit mus meaning 'to steal,' which is also cognate with mys in Old Greek and mus in Latin. Mice range in size from 11 to 21 cm (4 to 8 inches) long (including a long tail). They weigh from .25 to 2 oz (7.1 to 57 g). The coat color ranges from white to brown to gray. Most mice have a pointed snout with long whiskers, round ears, and thin tails. Many mice scurry along the ground, but some can hop or jump.

Mice are common experimental animals in biology and psychology primarily because they are mammals, mice also share a high degree of homology with humans. They are the most commonly used mammalian model organism, more common than rats. The mouse genome has been sequenced, and virtually all mouse genes have human homologs. There are other reasons for why mice are used in laboratory research. Mice are small, inexpensive, easily maintained, and can reproduce quickly. Several generations of mice can be observed in a relatively short period of time. Mice are generally very docile if raised from birth and given sufficient human contact. However, certain strains have been known to be quite temperamental. Mice (and rats) have the same organs in the same places, just different proportions.

Mice live for one to two years. They can start having babies at 6-8 weeks old and have 5-10 in each litter (pregnancy lasts 3 weeks). Babies are born hairless with their eyes closed. One mother mouse can produce over 100 babies a year.

Goose: Amazing migratory birds

• The first bird domesticated by man was the goose.
• The original and classic foie gras is made from goose liver.
• Geese are entirely herbivorous, consuming plant material exclusively.
• Migratory geese flight range 2 – 3 thousand miles.
• Resident geese flight range: 100 –200 miles to find food, water, and safety.
• Geese will find a new mate if mate dies or is killed.
• The Geese eggs in a nest are called a "clutch", avegaring 5 per nest.
• In the event the clutch is lost to a predator, the goose will lay a new clutch.
• Baby geese are called "goslings".
• Natural predators of geese are foxes, raccoons, owls and snapping turtles

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Superorder: Galloanserae
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Anserinae
Tribe: Anserini

The most familiar and widespread goose in North America, the Canada Goose, can be found all across the continent, from the tundra in Canada to the Gulf Coast. Many populations are resident in urban and suburban areas, and often come into conflict with people. In appearance, a “resident” Canada goose is identical to a migrant. The only differences between a resident and migrant are that the resident breeds in the United States and does not migrate. The “acid test” to determine residency is the presence of nests and goslings in the contiguous United States during the spring breeding season. In the wild, the birds can eat nearly all plant species and parts, including aquatic, but especially enjoy grasses, clovers, sedges, grain, and berries.
Generally the term foie gras is used for goose liver, although it is also used to refer to duck liver. Goose liver is considered superior by most people.

Mother goose lays 1 egg approximately 1_ days apart until full clutch is obtained. Mother goose waits until all eggs are laid before she begins to sit on nest to incubate eggs. Incubation time: 28 – 30 days. Undeveloped eggs (still fluid) will sink or float vertically with the wider portion of the egg pointing down. All geese eggs in a single clutch hatch on approximately the same day.

Spiders: amazing hunters and nature balancer

• The sex organ on a male spider is located at the end of one of its legs.
• Male spiders are usually smaller than female spiders.
• Most spiders are very nearsighted.
• Webs get dirty and torn, so lots of spiders make a new one every day.
• Spiders have as many as 8 eyes, but some spiders have only 6 eyes and several spiders have fewer or even none.
• Fear of spiders is called Arachnophobia.
• Most spiders have fangs, through which venom is ejected.
• Spiders are invertebrates, which means they don't have backbones.
• Spiders are not insects. Insects have three body parts and six legs.
• Spiders have eight legs and two body parts, the abdomen and the thorax.
• Spiders have silk spinning glands called spinnerets, at the tip of their abdomen.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae

Spiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have two body segments, eight legs, and no chewing mouth parts. About 40,000 species have been identified. In spiders' bodies the usual arthropod segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax and abdomen, joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. These small creatures help plants reproduce by pollinating them. They also help recycle dead trees and animals back into the earth. They are also a vital source of food for birds, fish, and small mammals. Without invertebrates, like spiders and insects, many other living things would not survive.

The silk of a spider is mainly composed of a protein very similar to that used in insect silk. It is initially a liquid, and hardens not by exposure to air but as a result of being drawn out, which changes the internal structure of the protein. Most spiders have four pairs of eyes on the top-front area of the cephalothorax, arranged in patterns that vary from one family to another. The pair at the front are of the type called pigment-cup ocelli ("little eyes"), which in most arthropods are only capable of detecting the direction from which light is coming, using the shadow cast by the walls of the cup. However the main eyes at the front of spiders' heads are pigment-cup ocelli that are capable of forming images.

The largest spider is the South American tarantula, as big as a dinner plate and heavy as a stick of butter. The smallest is the Comb-footed spider, smaller than the head of a pin. The smallest, dwarf spiders of the subfamily Erigoninae, are less than 1 mm (about .05 inches) in body length. Cooked tarantula spiders are considered a delicacy in Cambodia, and by the Piaroa Indians of southern Venezuela – provided the highly irritant hairs, the spiders' main defense system, are removed first. Spider venoms may be a less polluting alternative to conventional pesticides as they are deadly to insects but the great majority are harmless to vertebrates. Australian funnel web spiders are a promising source as most of the world's insect pests have had no opportunity to develop any immunity to their venom, and funnel web spiders thrive in captivity and are easy to "milk". It may be possible to target specific pests by engineering genes for the production of spider toxins into viruses that infect species such as cotton bollworms. Possible medical uses for spider venoms are being investigated, for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, Alzheimer's disease, strokes, and erectile dysfunction.

Arachnophobia is a specific phobia, an abnormal fear of spiders or anything reminiscent of spiders, such as webs or spider-like shapes. It may be an exaggerated form of an instinctive response that helped early humans to survive, or perhaps a cultural phenomenon that is most common in predominantly European societies.

Armadillos: Great body structure for medical research

• The scientific name of the nine banded armadillo is Dasypus novemcinctus. Dasypus is from the Greek word for rabbit, novem is from the Latin word for nine and cinctus is from the Latin word for a band.
• The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one."
• Armadillos spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.
• Armadillos are not blind, but they do have poor eyesight.
• Contrary to popular belief, the nine-banded armadillo can not roll itself into a ball to escape predators!! Only one of the twenty-odd varieties of armadillos — the three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus) — is able to roll up.
• Nine-banded armadillos always give birth to four identical young — the only mammal known to do so.
• Armadillos are used in leprosy research because their body temperatures are low enough for them to contract the most virulent form of the disease.
• Armadillos like to swim, and they are very good at it.
• Armadillo teeth have no enamel.
• Like most insect eating mammals, armadillos have a very long, sticky tongue to slurp up bugs as quickly as possible.
• Armadillos have a very low metabolic rate, which means they don’t produce much body heat.
• One way that armadillos conserve energy is through reta mirabila (Latin for “miraculous net”) — a system of veins and arteries in their legs.
• Baby armadillos have soft shells, like human fingernails.
• In many parts of the world, including the United States, you might find armadillo meat on the menu.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Cingulata

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. The other types are covered with too many bony plates to allow them to curl up. Other armadillos have to rely on their armored shells for defense while they scuttle away through thick, thorny brush or dig themselves a hole to hide in. They also do not have a very strong immune system, making them an ideal model for many types of medical research.

“Virgin births” Armadillos are a result of the female’s ability to delay implantation of the fertilized egg during times of stress. This reproductive tactic is one reason why the armadillos are so good at colonizing new areas (such as the United States). Armadillos have a strong dog paddle, and can even go quite a distance underwater, walking along the bottom of streams and ponds. They can hold their breath for four to six minutes at a time. When they need to cross larger bodies of water, they swim across. Because their heavy shell makes it hard for them to float, they gulp air into their intestines to make them more buoyant. The ability to cross streams and rivers has helped armadillos expand their home range. Armadillos also have very few teeth — just several peg-like molars. Since they primarily eat insects, they don’t have to do a lot of heavy chewing, making big, strong teeth a waste of energy to grow. They also are equipped with strong claws to tear open ant nests. Their cousins, the anteaters, have very similar tongues and claws.

Armadillos are not good at living in cold areas, because they can’t keep warm very well! Armadillos don’t have a lot of body fat, so they must forage for food on a daily basis. Just a few cold days in a row can be deadly to an armadillo. Despite this fact, armadillos are steadily moving north. Hot blood going out through arteries is cooled by cold blood coming in through veins, and vice versa. This means that not much heat actually goes out into the legs, keeping it in the body. This also means they will get frostbitten very easily, since they have no way to warm their extremities through blood flow. Marine mammals, like whales, use a similar net of veins and arteries to stop the loss of body heat through the fins.

Crickets: cute body structure

• The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs, just below the knee.
• While crickets have wings, the majority of them do not fly.
• Spiders, some wasps, ground beetles, birds, small rodents and lizards are cricket predators.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Superfamily: Grylloidea
Family: Gryllidae

Crickets have long antennae and hind legs adapted for jumping; organs for hearing are located on their front legs. Solitary by day, crickets remain in crevices, under rocks, or in shallow burrows dug in the soil, emerging at night to feed on plants.
Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets also have been known to eat their own dead when there is no other source of food available. If left unchecked in houses, especially in large numbers, they will cause damage to clothing and other fabrics. They also have been known to feed on other insects, as in the smaller ones that live among ants.

Crickets do not rub their hind legs together to chirp. The left forewing of the male has a thick rib (a modified vein) which bears 50 to 300 ridges. The chirp (which only male crickets can do) is generated by raising their left forewing to a 45 degree angle and rubbing it against the upper hind edge of the right forewing, which has a thick scraper (Berenbaum 1995). This sound producing action is called "stridulation" and the song is species-specific. There are four types of cricket song: The calling song attracts females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near, and is a very quiet song. An aggressive song is triggered by chemoreceptors on the antennae that detect the near presence of another male cricket and a copulatory song is produced for a brief period after successful deposition of sperm on the female's eggs.

The Cricket wings are often too small to be of any use and lie useless across the back. Most get about by jumping from place to place, and through time, have developed legs
that are built for jumping at great heights when put in comparison to their size. Crickets vary in size from specie to specie, with most being in the range of ½” to 1”. One species that appears to clean up after ants in the ant’s own house is smaller than ¼’. The common house cricket is usually on the smaller end, most often not being much over the ½” range. As their name suggests, these are most commonly found around and inside houses.

Chameleons: amazing tongue hunting animal

• A chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of its body
• The chameleon's tongue extends faster than the human eye can follow, at around 26 body lengths per second.
• Chameleon's tongue hits the prey in about 30 thousandths of a second
• Even a small chameleon is capable of eating a large locust or mantis
• All chameleon species are able to change their skin color.
• Chameleons are mostly oviparous, some being ovoviviparous.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Chamaeleonidae

More than 160 species of Chameleons are known, arranged in nine genera. The main distribution of Chameleons is in Africa and Madagascar, and other tropical regions, although some species are also found in parts of southern Europe, southern India and Sri Lanka. There are introduced, feral populations of veiled and Jackson's chameleons in Hawaii and isolated pockets of feral Jackson's chameleons have been reported in California and Florida. Chameleons inhabit all kinds of tropical and mountain rain forests, savannas and sometimes semi-deserts and steppes. They are mostly arboreal and are often found in trees or occasionally on smaller bushes. Some smaller species live on the ground under foliage.

The chameleon's tongue's tip is a bulbous ball of muscle, and as it hits its prey, it rapidly forms a small suction cup. Once the tongue sticks to the prey, it is drawn quickly back into the chameleon’s mouth, where the chameleon's strong jaws crush it. Chameleon's eyes are the most distinctive among the reptiles. The upper and lower eyelids are joined, with only a pinhole large enough for the pupil to see through. The eyes can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously, giving them a full 360-degree arc of vision around their body. When prey is located, both eyes can be focused in the same direction, giving sharp stereoscopic vision and depth perception. They have very good eyesight for reptiles, letting them see small insects from a relatively great (5-10cm) distance.

Different chameleon species are able to change into different colors which can include pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown and yellow. Chameleons are naturally colored for their surroundings as a camouflage. Chameleons change their color in response to light exposure and ambient temperature, as well as to express their mood (not for camouflage, as is commonly believed). Emotions and attraction of a mate can induce the color changes seen in a chameleon. The color changes also play a part in communication.

Sharks: made to hunt predators

• Sharks have been around for about 400 million years - long before dinosaurs even existed.
• Sharks apparently are the only animals that never get sick. They are immune to every type of disease including cancer.
• Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet.
• Sharks never run out of teeth. If one is lost, another spins forward from the rows and rows of backup teeth.
• A shark may use over 20,000 teeth during its life.
• A sharks skeleton is made of cartilage, allowing greater flexibility.
• The most harmless sharks tend to be the largest, such as the Basking Shark, the Whale Shark and the Megamouth Shark.
• Two-thirds of a Sharks brain is dedicated to the sense of smell.
• Shark skin is made of denticles instead of ordinary fish scales.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Selachimorpha

Sharks (superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protect their skin from damage and parasites and improve fluid dynamics; they also have replaceable teeth. Sharks range in size from the small dwarf lanternshark, Etmopterus perryi, a deep sea species of only 17 centimeters (7 in) in length, to the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, the largest fish, which grows to a length of approximately 12 metres (39 ft) and which feeds only on plankton, squid, and small fish through filter feeding.

Lobsters: Incredible animal body

• It takes a lobster about seven years to grow to be one pound.
• Lobster blood is a clear fluid. When the animal is boiled, the blood turns to an opaque whitish gel. It has no discernible flavor and is perfectly safe to eat.
• Lobsters can regenerate legs, claws, and antennae.
• Lobsters molt (shed their shells) to grow.
• Lobster larva will molt about six times while still in the egg.
• Lobsters exhibit 'handedness'. Some lobsters will have the crusher claw on the right side while others will have it on the left.
• Lobsters may come in a variety of colors besides the usual blue-green, including blue, yellow, red, and white. ome even come in two colors, having half of their shell one color and the other half a totally different color. Of these only the white ones (true albinos) don't turn red when cooked.
• The nervous system of a lobster is decentralized and has been likened to that of a grasshopper.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Astacidea
Family: Nephropidae

Lobsters are invertebrates, members of the Class Crustacea of the Phylum Arthropoda. This class includes animals without backbones and with hard shells like crab, shrimp, crayfish, water fleas and wood lice. A male lobster is called a cock and a female a hen or chicken (when she weighs about 1 pound). Lobsters are sexed by examining the first set of appendages behind the walkers. The male (gonopeds) are bony while the same appendages on the female are feathery. In both cases, you have to look closely because sometimes they are folded up tightly under the body. With a little practice, you can also tell by looking at the tail. On females the tail is relatively broad compared to the male's to accommodate the egg mass.

There are two kinds of lobsters, the "true" lobster (also called American lobster) and the spiny lobster. The true lobster has claws on the first four legs, lacking in the spiny lobster. The spiny lobster has a pair of horns above the eyes, lacking in the true lobster. Spiny lobsters also have two large cream-colored spots on the top of the second segment of the tail. Lobsters regenerate, in fact they can amputate their own claws and legs (autotomy) to escape danger. The term 'amputate' can be in the passive sense as well. I've seen a lobster spontaneously drop a claw for no apparent reason. The lobster's body has 19 parts, each covered by a section of the shell. The shell is thin and soft where the parts join, so lobsters can bend their body and move about. Lobsters breathe through gills located beneath the shell on both sides of their thorax (center part). Lobsters eyes are compound eyes, consisting of hundreds of lenses joined together on the ends of pair of jointed organs called stalks. The four small antennae on the front of their heads are used to "smell" their food or chemicals in the water. The tiny sensory hairs along their legs are used to "taste" their food. Lobsters keep their antennae and eye stalks moving constantly to search for food and to watch for enemies.

True lobsters have two very powerful claws. One claw is sharp and used for cutting, the other is bony and used for crushing. Lobsters that have their heavy ("crusher") claw on the right are considered "right-handed" and the others are "left-handed". Some lobsters are ambidextrous, they usually favor the claw that is the largest. Lobsters can lose claws, legs, eyes and antennae through accident or self-defense, but are able to regenerate them. Lobsters often fight with other lobsters for territory. If another lobster seizes their claw, they may drop their claw to escape. Sometimes, the more aggressive lobster will tear the claw of the opponent off. A lobster with a claw missing is called a cull It takes about 3 to 4 molt cycles for the claw to grow back to full size. Lobsters have a sophisticated nervous system that allows it to sense actions that will cause it harm and feel pain. Lobsters don't have an autonomic nervous system that puts it into a state of shock when it is harmed. For this reason, they will feel pain until their nervous system is completely destroyed. After they are released from the mother's swimmerettes and hatch, the larva will float freely in the water column and molt several more times before taking the form that we recognize as a lobster. At this point they may be only 1/4" in length.

Before they shed the old shell, they will form a thin one underneath. Growing lobsters secrete enzymes that soften the shell and connective shell joints. The shell spilts up the back and the creature backs out leaving it behind...including the membrane that covered the eyes. They will increase their size by about 20% at every molt. By the time a lobster is of legal size, it will have molted about 20-25 times, averaging 4-5 molts a year. After a molt the animal is vulnerable because the new shell is very soft. It will hide among the rocks on the bottom for 6-8 weeks until its shell hardens enough to offer some protection. They often eat their old shell which will replenish the lost calcium and speed up the hardening of the new shell. A young, immature lobster (first 5-7 years) will molt about 25 times a year. An adult male lobster molts twice a year and an adult female lobster once a year, usually in the summer. When lobsters get older, they will molt only once every 3-4 years. The only way to gauge the exact age of a lobster would be by their shell. However, since lobsters shed their shells so often, it is impossible to determine their age. Knowledge of body size at age makes scientists believe that lobsters can attain a maximum age of 100 years. The normal life span is about 15 years. Lobsters can grow to be 3 feet long in overall body length.

Dragonfly: amazing insect predator

• Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 to 60 mph.
• Dragonfly eyes contain up to 30,000 individual lenses. Human eyes only have one.
• Dragonflies only flap their wings at about 30 beats per second (bps) compared to a bee’s 300 bps.
• Dragonflies have two sets of wings. They don’t have to beat their wings in unison like other insects do. Their front wings can be going up while their backs ones are going down.
• Although 80% of the brain is devoted to sight, dragonflies are not able to register detail well.
• Excellent and strong fliers, dragonfly can loop-the-loop, hover, and fly backwards.
• There are nearly 2500 different species of dragonflies.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Epiprocta
Infraorder: Anisoptera

Dragonflies have been around 300 million years. One prehistoric fossil had a wingspan of 2 1/2 feet! Today, the largest dragonfly is found in Costa Rica. It has a wingspan of 7 1/2 inches. Below you’ll find more interesting facts about dragonflies.

Female dragonfly lay eggs sometimes as many 100,000 at a time. Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants and butterflies. They are therefore valued as predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects. Dragonflies are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. While underwater they eat mosquito nymphs, tiny fish, and pollywogs. When they have matured to airborne insects, they catch mosquitoes and gnats in mid-air before devouring them. Surprisingly, dragonflies will spend only a very short part of their life span as actual dragonflies. They will live as nymphs for up to four years, shedding their skin up to fifteen times, yet when they finally mature into adults, the dragonfly stage, they will survive only a few months.

Camels: Ships of Deserts

Incredible Facts about Camels:

• Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand. Camelids lie down to rest and sleep.
• Camels have a split upper lip, which aids them in grazing.
• Camels feet are soft and spread out so they won't sink in the sand. They have two toes on each foot joined by a tough web and leathery padded souls.
• Camel's coat moult in spring and grow a new coat by autumn. A camel sheds around 2kgs of wool every time they moult.
  
• Camels eat vegetation and feed on grasses. They frequently seek out plants high in salt content.
• A camel’s body temperature rises during the heat of the day and then cools down at night.
• A camels can go for days or weeks with little or no water or food.
• A camel’s stomach has three sections, similar to a domestic cow (bovine). This makes it a ruminant.
• The camel's nickname "Ships of the Desert" comes from their walk. Like a giraffe, the camel moves both legs on one side of its body at the same time, then the other side. The rolling motion resembles a ship at sea.
  

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Camelidae
Genus: Camelus

Camels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus. The dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has two humps. They are native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively. The term camel is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camellike creatures in the family Camelidae: the two true camels, and the four South American camelids, the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña. The camel's average life expectancy of a camel is forty to fifty years. A fully-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at the shoulder and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump. The hump rises about thirty inches (75 cm) out of its body. Camels can run up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph). A female camel is a cow, a male camel is a bull and a baby camel is a calf. When calves are born they weigh 30-40kgs but by the time they're adults, they weigh around 500-600kgs. They get to this size at 6-7 years but can live up to 50 years. Calves remain close to their mother until they are around 5 years old.