Remembering 5 Amazing Animals That Went Extinct Due To Human Activity

Yesterday, May 15th 2020, was World Endangered Species Day.

Researchers, conservationists, wildlife enthusiasts and photographers took to social media to spread the message about animals that were on the IUCN Red List. They spoke about animals that are classified as Vulnerable & Endangered and spoke of how humans have the power to safeguard their uncertain future.

But at this point, I realized that talking about the uncertain futures of currently-alive animals just wasn’t enough. If we don’t show people what the impact of human activity and the resultant climate change looks like, we won’t be able to garner enough compassion and love towards conservation.

So, I’ve decided to take a new route. To show the world the magnificent creatures who were once with us, but who are now lost to us forever, thanks to deforestation, pollution, rising temperatures – and every other human-made menace.

Here’s a list of 5 brilliant, beautiful and extinct animals whose deaths we’re responsible for: 

Steller’s Sea Cow

This gentle aquatic giant became extinct a mere 30 years after it was discovered in 1741! They were hunted to death by sailors on the sea, for their meat and fur. The hunting was so fast and relentless, the poor animals didn’t have enough time to reproduce and replenish their lineage.

Steller’s Sea Cow belonged to the same class to which today’s manatees and dugongs belong. They were a whopping 30 feet long and at one point you could see them languidly grazing on the sea bed with their calves.

The sad thing is, the Steller’s Sea Cow was driven to extinction before it could even be properly studied. As a result, we know so little about it. Such a huge loss to the world!

Steller’s Sea Cow (Source)

 

Atlas Bear 

The one and only bear species to originate from Africa, Atlas bears were found across the African continent from Libya to Morroco. Resembling smaller versions of North American bears in appearance, Atlas bears were driven to extinction in the mid-1800s.

The rise of the Roman Empire brought about the fall of the Atlas bear population. Once Roman emperors started conquering parts of Africa, troops would capture Atlas bears and take them captive to Rome. There, these creatures would be forced to fight in public games (called Ludi), against deadly opponents like armed gladiators and other animals like tigers and lions. To break the bears’ spirits, trainers would starve and whip them into submission.

Atlas bear (Source) 

 

Laughing Owl 

Also known as the whēkau, this avian species was once the glory of New Zealand. Nesting on the ground and feeding on everything from insects to bats to ducks to kiwis, they were one of the most fearsome predators on the island. It was named the “laughing owl” because of its unique cry, which sounded like a shrieking laugh.

But the arrival of settlers to New Zealand and the deforestation and construction of cities that followed, pushed these birds closer to humans, where they lost access to their normal food, which was deeper in the jungles.

Additionally, the introduction of non-local animals like cats, rats, ferrets and weasels into New Zealand hastened the Laughing Owl’s journey to extinction. Not having evolved the skills needed to fend-off these new predators, Laughing Owls died a slow and painful death.

Laughing Owl (Source)

 

Caspian tiger

It’s a known fact that the tiger is one of the most endangered species on the planet. While some headway is being made in tiger conservation today, this wasn’t the case during early-to-mid 19th Century.

Once found all over Central Asia, the Caspian tiger species met a tragic end sometime in 1970 as a result of an illegal hunting expedition in Turkey’s Hakkari province. This type of indiscriminate hunting of the tiger for its fur, claws and teeth; plus the illegal trade of Caspian tiger cubs, forced the magnificent species to extinction.

Today, you can see similar human activities driving other tiger species towards extinction. If you’ve watched the show Tiger King, you’ll know that keeping tigers in zoos and so-called “rescue centers” (yes, I’m talking to you Carole – and others like her), will not save these creatures….they’ll just delay the extinction and draw out the pain and torture these animals face.

These days scientists are trying to revive the Caspian tiger species by cloning them using previously-collected DNA. But, there’s no guarantee this will work. That’s why it’s important that something is done to ensure that other tiger species don’t go this route.

Caspian tiger (Source)

 

Bramble Cay melomys

The last animal on our list happens to be the very first animal to have become extinct directly as a result of climate change. Bramble Cay melomys are also the latest mammals to go extinct – having died out in 2016.

Living on the Torres Strait of the Great Barrier Reef just a few years ago, Bramble Cay melomys are now dust and bones, relics in Australia’s natural history museums.

This tiny brown rat was named after its choice of accommodation. Living in cays (which are low-lying banks, corals, rocks and other water-facing spaces on islands), this rodent species was endemic to the vegetated coral of Bramble Cay.

Increasing temperatures around the world have for long led to accelerated melting of polar ice. This has resulted in the rise of water levels in oceans around the world. As a result, the low-lying homes of the Bramble Cay melomys were flooded, drowning large populations and forcing the remaining out of their homes and into the open, where predators stalked.

Following the failed efforts by the Australian Government to trap a few melomys and re-populate the species, the animals fell victim to climate change.

Bramble Cay Melomy (Source) 

 

We need to step up and do something about this now

As of today, countless species have gone extinct. Each of these animals and birds had something unique to offer the world. But we won’t ever get to see them or share this planet with them, because of our own mistakes, greed and indifference.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, just stepping away from our normal routines for a few weeks can allow nature to course-correct and put things right.

Carbon emissions have reduced worldwide. As a result, global temperatures have stabilized. Sea ice isn’t melting as fast as it used to and the ozone layer isn’t depleting at such a fast rate, as in the past.

Animals who were driven away from their original feeding or mating or birthing grounds are finally returning home. Everything has started to come full circle as the Earth has begun healing itself.

But, we don’t need the threat of the coronavirus to replicate these environmental benefits. All we need to do is make conscious decisions about the way we live. Doing so can go a long way in ensuring that the animals that are alive today, don’t just become names we tick-off on a future list of extinct animals.

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

P.S: Featured image: Crying Earth 

Martyr Mothers & Other Animal Parents Who Make The Ultimate Sacrifice For Their Babies

On Mother’s Day, as we talk about the supremely important role that our mothers (and other maternal figures) have played in our lives; it’s important to acknowledge that maternal emotions aren’t the sole kingdom of humans. Animals are very maternal too, sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

Here are a few animal mothers (and fathers who take on maternal responsibilities), who deserve a special mention for their extreme devotion to their babies:

Octopus

Octopi are semelparous .i.e. animals that give birth only once in their lives. Why only once you ask? Because they die right after they give birth.

Octopus eggs can take up to 10 months to hatch, depending on the species. When pregnant, the mother octopus finds a secluded cove to lay her eggs and then spends the entire gestation period never leaving the eggs’ side. She constantly blows a steady stream of freshwater on the eggs to keep them oxygenated and to get rid of parasites.

During this time she doesn’t leave the eggs to feed. The octopus momma starves herself to death. But it’s worth it in the end. Her martyrdom ensures that her thousands of babies hatch safely.

Sea Otters

Are you a swimmer? What stroke is your favourite?

It wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t choose backstroke. Not many people like it. But, if you are a sea otter mum, then you may have no choice but to swim in backstroke – especially right after the birth of your baby.

Sea otter pups can’t swim right after birth. In fact, they don’t learn how to swim until they are 6 months old. So, mothers turn themselves into the pups’ personal paddleboard.

For the entire duration of 6 months, the sea otter mum places the pup on her chest and swims on her back. During this time, she doesn’t swim like she normally does – on her tummy.

If she needs to feed, the mother blows air into the pups’ fur to make the pup buoyant. As an added measure, she wraps a blade of kelp around the pup’s body as a life jacket to make sure the pup stays afloat.

This constant backstroke swimming can take a lot out of the mother and she needs to feed at least 25% of her body mass each time she goes to forage for food.

Dolphins & Orcas

The most-fun mammal of the sea and her deadly cousin are two mothers who sacrifice a lot for their babies.

Both dolphin and killer whale (orca) newborns don’t sleep for an entire month after they’re born. Not even a wink of sleep.

Since they can’t leave their calves unattended in the dangerous waters, dolphin and orca mothers stay awake 24/7 for the entire month.

Most other species sleep for long periods of time right after birth. So, this wakefulness is something extremely rare. Studies show that lack of sleep can kill in some animals – rats being an example.

In humans, this type of insomnia is plain torture. I mean, can you imagine what sleep deprivation will do to you right after your delivery? Not to mention the added stress of a wailing baby. Plus, just like rats, we too can die due to sleep deprivation.

But, dolphin and orca moms take this in their stride and remain awake and alert as long as their babies need them to.

Bottlenose dolphin (Source)

Killer whale (Orca) (Source)

Emperor Penguins

Emperor penguin dads are the model fathers. You could even say that they’re better parents than mothers.

You see, for four bone-chilling months, Emperor penguin fathers quite-literally stand guard over their developing eggs. The penguins have a small pouch in their body where they can store the egg, keeping it warm and protected from the cold Antarctic snowstorms.

This is no mean feat. Temperatures in the Antarctic can drop below (-4) degrees Fahrenheit, and sometimes go as low as (-30) degrees Fahrenheit! For four straight months, Emperor penguin dads protect the eggs from the freezing cold, making sure that the temperature doesn’t drop below 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

During this gestation period, the dads don’t go out to feed and brave the storm together as a starving community. Around July, the eggs start to hatch, the mothers return from their feeding session and finally, dad gets to shake off the thick blanket of snow and go out to feed.

Orangutans

If you thought human parents had it tough raising their kids till the age of 18, you’ve got it wrong.

Orangutan mothers have it worse.

Female orangutans are single parents. Apart from donating sperm, the fathers play no role in the upbringing of the baby. It is the mother who needs to do everything, right from birth. And let me tell you, it isn’t easy raising a baby orang.

Orangutan babies are just like human babies – utterly and completely vulnerable. They don’t have any skills and need constant care. The mother orang nurses the baby and carries it around on her back for 3-4 years. In some cases, the baby nurses from the mother and uses her as transportation until he/she is 7 years old. Can you imagine if your kid did that to you?

Once the baby is weaned, the momma orang teaches it to climb trees, to identify edible fruits, to avoid predators, and sometimes (if the baby is a girl) to raise her own baby.

Overall, the baby orangutan spends 15-16 years with its mum. Things don’t get easier when organ babies reach adolescence and adulthood. Orangutans experience massive separation anxiety after getting separated from their children. So, you can imagine how the orang mother may be feeling once its time for her child to leave the nest.

Thankfully, some orangutan daughters do visit their mothers, even after leaving home. So there’s some hope after all.

So, before we end Mother’s Day 2020, let us give a big shoutout to all the moms out there – human and animal.

-NISHA PRAKASH

(P.S: Featured Image: World Wildlife Fund)

5 Fun Facts About Armadillos

1. Armadillos swallow large quantities of air to inflate themselves into a balloon-like shape and float across water bodies.
2. The three-banded armadillo is the only one of its species that can form into a complete ball. Its shell is so hard that even dogs can’t break it.
3. When startled, armadillos jump 3-4 feet vertically into the air. This is the biggest cause of fatal accidents between cars and armadillos.
4. The nine-banded armadillo becomes mother to 4 genetically-identical quadruplets each time it gives birth. Why? It produces a single egg that divides into 4 equal and completely identical parts.
5. Armadillos are the only animals other than humans which can contract leprosy.

 

Bonus:

Armadillos are a delicacy in the United States. In fact, there’s a special dish called the Hoover Hog which locals in the southern United States make, using roadkill armadillo, fresh veggies and spices.  

However, I strongly discourage you to try this dish, as it is one of the causes of leprosy transmission between armadillos and humans.

A three-banded armadillo rolling into a complete ball

Glyptodon; an extinct animal believed to be one of the ancestors of the modern-day armadillo

 

A baby armadillo being fed milk

 

Three banded armadillo

Screaming hairy armadillo

Andean hairy armadillo

 

 

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Minke Whales

1. Minke whales have two V-shaped blow-holes on their heads. They can hold their breath up to 15 minutes.
2. Minke whales are very shy and typically swim alone. But they are also curious and can be spotted swimming up to ships and looking up at people.
3. The killer whale is the minke whale’s natural enemy.
4. Minke whale pregnancies last 11 months long and calves spend up to 5 years with their mothers.
5. Minke whales live up to 50 years of age.

 

Bonus:

Minke whales are the second smallest whales on the planet, measuring only 24 feet in length and weighing just under 4.3 metric tonnes. This is just a fraction of the world’s largest whale, the blue whale, which swims at 98 feet in length and weighs 180 metric tonnes.

Size of a Minke whale compared to other whales

 

A killer whale attacking a Minke whale

A pod of Minke whales

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

5 Fun Facts About Chevrotain aka Mouse Deer

1. Chevrotain are found only in Asia and Africa.
2. Chevrotain are super small in size. The various sub-species of the mouse deer range in size between that of a Chihuahua and a Jack Russell Terrier.
3. Although they resemble deer and have mousey faces, the chevrotain are not related to either of the animals. In fact, they belong to a separate, mostly-extinct species called Tragulidae, of which they are the only surviving members.
4. They have very long and sharp fangs which they use during battle for territory and mates. Their bites can put even Dracula to shame.
5. Female chevrotain are pregnant for most of their adult lives. They mate and get pregnant within a few hours of giving birth.

 

Bonus

Chevrotains walk down into the river bottom and remain submerged for up to 4 minutes at a time when they sense the presence of predators.  They may also create secondary burrows for themselves underwater where they stay until the danger passes. To see what this is like, watch the video below.

 

A chevrotain’s fangs are very sharp and long. Males have longer and sharper fangs than females.

Chevrotain mating

A mother chevrotain feeding a fawn. Mothers stand on three legs, lift a leg in the air and feed their fawns. 

Fawns are one of the smallest creatures in the wild

A mouse deer in the Thai forest

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

 

5 Fun Facts About Bald Uakari

(pronunciation: wakari)

 

1. The Bald Uakari are very unique to look at, with their completely hairless, red ballooned faces and extremely short tails. Their fur ranges from pure white to reddish-brown to orange.
2. Uakari have one of the most powerful jaws in primates and can cut open a hard Brazilian beetle nut with a quick bite.
3. Uakari females give birth just once every two years.
4.  Uakari live in groups called ‘troops’ which can contain up to a 100 monkeys.
5. Uakari are considered vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List, due to extensive hunting by indigenous tribes in its native habitat of South America.

 

Bonus

Uakari are very susceptible to malaria and often fall ill, which reduces the redness of their faces. Animals with paler red faces are rejected by potential mates as they indicate traces of ill health. This can be especially hard for Uakari who have never had the disease, but have pale faces due to genetics.

 

A reddish-brown uakari

 

A white uakari

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Okapi

1. Okapi have tongues that are 30 cms long, which is approximately double the length of a standard television remote and three times the length of the average human tongue.
2. Okapi diet is as diverse as it is colourful. Okapi eat over 100 types of plants & fungi, red clay and charcoal. This type of diet ensures they get all the nutrients they need to be healthy.
3. New born okapi don’t poop until they are four to ten weeks old. Researchers believe this may be a tactic to avoid drawing predators through smell.
4. Mother okapi speak to their babies in infrasound, sounds that are too low for humans to hear.
5. Okapi release a black tar-like substance from their feet, which leaves marks when they walk. This could be a way of marking territory.

 

Bonus

Okapi are extremely shy and live in secluded areas of the forest. Apart from calf-mother pairs, they seldom interact with any species, including their own. Till the time they were discovered in 1901 by British explorer Sir Harry Johnston, Okapi were called ‘African Unicorns’ because people thought they were a myth and didn’t really exist. It was only the indigenous tribes living in the Congo-Ugandan region who had occasionally seen the animals till then. Now they are found only in the Congo and are the country’s national animal.

 

Video: An okapi in the wild

 

An okapi 

 

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve established in Congo helps safeguard this Rare & Endangered species. There are currently only 25,000 documented okapi in the wild. 

The Congolese franc uses okapi as the image for their 50 franc notes.

A mother-calf pair feeding

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Barn Owls

1. Barn owls screech. In fact, other than the tawny owl that hoots, all owls screech.
2. Barn owls never make nests. Instead, they lay eggs on their own pellets and droppings.
3. Barn owls are monogamous pairs who breed only once in their life, laying up to 7 eggs. If food supplies are very high, they may brood again, but with a much smaller nest of 2-3 eggs.
4. Barn owl chicks are the only birds in the world who sacrifice their share of the food to feed siblings who have less to eat or are ill and need more.
5. Barn owls have the most sensitive hearing of all animals on the planet and can hear sounds between 0.5 to 10 kHz. They have lopsided ears, with one ear positioned higher than the other. This difference in placement means the birds can listen for the most minute sounds both from the air and the ground simultaneously.

 

Bonus

Barn owls were voted Britain’s favourite farmland birds in 2017. It’s not uncommon to find artificial nest boxes in homes across Britain, that are created specifically to encourage barn owls to nest.

 

Indian barn owl

 

Australian masked barn owl

 

New Celadonian barn owl

 

A common barn owl

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Bearded Dragons

1. Bearded dragons get their name from the folds of skin underneath their throats, which when enlarged with an inhale of air, appears like human beards.
2. If a bearded dragon loses or breaks its teeth in a hunt, a new set grows back within days. But unlike other lizards, the broken tail of the bearded dragon never grows back.
3.  Baby bearded dragons weigh only 2 grams at birth. That’s the same weight as 5 paperclips!
4. Bearded dragons can change the colour of their skins if they are stressed out or need to change their body temperature. Lighter colours like yellow are taken on when they need to cool their bodies and darker colours like black, when they need more warmth. Bearded dragons choose fiery colours like orange and red to scare-off predators.
5. Bearded dragons have a very unique way of showing their submissiveness to a dominant male. They repeatedly wave one of their legs in the air in a counter clockwise direction, while placing the other three firmly on the ground. Imagine them waving hello to someone and you’ll understand what this gesture looks like. But if you want to see it, visit the link here.   

 

Bonus

In hot and dry places, bearded dragons will open up the spines on their back and collect any water that falls as rain. They then store this water in their back and use it for hydration by licking their backs occasionally.

 

Video: Two-headed baby bearded dragon. This happens due to a genetic mutation that fuses the embryos together. (viewer discretion is advised)

 

Bearded dragon with its flared beard

Different morphs of the bearded dragon family, created through selective breeding

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Magpies

1. Magpies are scared of shiny objects. That’s why it’s advisable to place shiny buttons, coins and glassware near plants to prevent the birds from wreaking havoc on them.
2. The magpies tail is as long as his body, making him one of the longest birds in the avian world.
3. They are the only species of birds that can recognise themselves in mirrors. In fact, they are one of the only non-mammalian species apart from ants and manta rays to have this ability.
4. Apart from self-recognition, magpies can recognise other animals by their faces. So, if you’ve ever had a magpie attack you when you’re out running/cycling, get ready for a lifetime of dislike. These birds form friendships and enemy-ships (is that a word?) that last a lifetime.
5. Unrelated magpie males help widowed females raise the chicks of another male with great gusto, even if it means the female may leave him in the end.

 

Bonus

There’s an old superstition that says the number of magpies one sees in a day can predict if there is bad luck in store or not. In fact, a famous nursery rhyme claims origin from this superstition – One For Sorrow. Here it is:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret,

Never to be told.

Eight for a wish,

Nine for a kiss,

Ten for a bird,

You must not miss.

 

A magpie nest with newborns and unhatched eggs

Magpies are indiscriminate eaters and eat everything from worms to bird chicks

 

 

–NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Fairy Penguins

1. Also called Little Blue Penguins (due to their blue-coloured feathers), Fairy Penguins are the smallest penguin species in the world, standing at 1 foot in height at adulthood. That’s around the same height as a 2-year old baby.
2. Fairy Penguins are the only penguins not found in Antarctica. They live in New Zealand, Australia, Chile and South Africa.
3. Fairy Penguins are monogamous during each breeding season and seldom mate with multiple partners during the same season. But once the chicks leave the nest, they may choose a different partner for the next season.
4. Although they aren’t on the endangered species list, survival of the Fairy Penguins is solely dependent on humans. If it weren’t for the protected lands set aside for them, native predators would have long made this penguin population extinct.
5. Fairy Penguins can be quite the gluttons, eating up to 2 kilograms of fish and krill a day. That’s a lot of food for birds their size.

Bonus

Fairy Penguins moult every February to grow thick, new waterproof feathers. Since they won’t have any feathers at this time, they are trapped on land unable to swim and unable to hunt for food for a week. To overcome this, these penguins eat double the usual quantity and put on weight to survive the week of starvation.

A newly-hatched fairy penguin chick and an unhatched egg

Fairy penguins in the wild

Video:

Newly hatched fairy penguin chick at Cincinnati Zoo

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Fruit Flies

Am not I

A fly like thee?

Or art not thou

A man like me?

(The Fly, William Blake)

 

1. Fruit flies can’t stand carbon dioxide. It makes them woozy and unfocused.
2. Fruit flies’ chromosomes look like barcodes.
3. Fruit flies have 100,000 neurons, which is a very high number for flies and it is this large brain matter that makes fruit flies so intelligent.
4. Fruit flies love their beer and males often get drunk on both alcohol and fruit. Female fruit flies have been observed rejecting males who get drunk often. (here’s an addition: humans like the same beer and wine as fruit flies…go figure)
5. Fruit flies enjoy sex as much as the human whose house they are in. Turns out sexually-deprived males go into depression and look for alcoholic drinks/food, while their sated counterparts steer clear of alcohol. 

 

Bonus

Fruit flies are a boon to science. They have a whopping 14,000 genes in their bodies (humans have 24,000…so that should tell you something) and extremely fast life cycles (fruit flies can  mature from eggs to adults in as less as two weeks), which makes them perfect for genetic experimentations. In fact, fruit flies have contributed to 6 Nobel Prizes between 1933 & 2017.

So, what did fruit flies help us understand?

• Role of chromosomes in heredity
• Role of radiation in genetic mutation
• Control of embryonic development through genetic experimentation
• Role of the olfactory system
• Activation of immunity in organisms
• Molecules that control the circadian rhythm
• Mechanism of cellular healing in severe wounds

 

Fruit flies mating

 

A fruit fly consuming fruit

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

5 Fun Facts About Ladybugs

1. Ladybugs aren’t really bugs. They’re beetles – insects that chew solid food and have hard wings. In fact, they are (correctly) called Ladybird beetles in Europe.
2. When a ladybug is under threat of danger, it releases a yellowish liquid called hemolymph from its knees. This liquid has a truly horrendous smell which deters predators from attacking.
3. Ladybug moms lay two sets of eggs – one set which is hatched and the other set which acts as food for the new borns.
4. Not all ladybugs are darlings. One species, the harlequin ladybug, indiscriminately kills all insects it comes in contact with by infecting them with a deadly parasite called  Nosema apis.
5. Ever had wine that tasted like peanuts or asparagus (shudder!)? This was probably the fault of a ladybug. Sometimes ladybugs that reside in vineyards are accidentally collected with the grapes and crushed in the machines that extract grape juice for wine. The hemolymph released by stressed-out ladybugs taints the wine and gives it a foul flavour.

 

Bonus

Legend says that ladybugs first made an appearance in farms that were plagued by plant-eating insects, after farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary (The Lady of Sorrows) to release them from their sorrows. That’s where they get their name from – The Lady’s Bug. According to stories, the red colour of the ladybug represents the Virgin’s cloak and the seven polka dots, the seven sorrows.

Ladybug

 

Ladybug caterpillar

 

Different colours/species of ladybug

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

 

5 Fun Facts About Hippos

1. Hippos are one of the most aggressive animals on the planet and they ‘yawn’ to show their annoyance or aggression towards another animal. Hippos kill an estimated 500 people each year in Africa.  
2. The ‘red blood’ hippos sweat is actually a natural sunblock and moisturiser which hippos secrete to keep their skin hygienic and healthy.
3. Hippos rise every 3-5 minutes from underwater to take a breath of air. They do this even when they are asleep, rising automatically and submerging again despite being semi/unconscious.
4. Hippos are extremely fast and can run at speeds as high as 30 kms/hour. This is faster than the average human!
5. Hippo calves suckle from their mothers underwater by closing their nostrils and ears.

 

Bonus

Hippos are actually related to whales and porpoises and not other land-based organisms!

 

 

Hippo mother and calf pairs stay together for 8 years, until the baby enters adulthood.

 

Hippo mums gently nudge their babies to the surface for the first few days after birth, to help them swim to the top.

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

5 Fun Facts About Plecos aka Suckerfish

1. Plecos are a type of catfish.
2. When we refer to plecos, we refer to the 138 species of fish that come under the  genus Hypostomus.
3. The plecos’ skin may look slimy, but its texture is like that of a rocky armour.
4. Plecos are gentle with most fishes except their own species, who they can be very aggressive towards.
5. Plecos never reproduce in captivity, but females can lay up to 300 eggs in the wild!

 

Bonus

Veteran aquarium keepers never write or say aloud the plecos’ full name “plecostomus” because of an old superstition that says “speaking or writing the name will cause the fish to die”.

 

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

5 Fun Facts About Puppies

1. What do French bulldogs, Scottish terriers, Clumber spaniels, German wirehaired pointers, Mastiffs and Pekingese have in common? 80% of their species are born via C-section!
2. Puppies are born blind and deaf at birth and only get their eyesight and hearing around the 7 week mark. They get their sense of smell at 3 weeks.
3. Puppy dog face is a real phenomenon. Research shows puppies deliberately make puppy eyes and cutesy expressions when they’re being watched by owners. This is a tactic to get attention, hugs and treats.
4. There are instances of identical twin pups, although they’re very rare. In 2016, an Irish wolfhound in South Africa delivered twin pups who shared the same placenta.
5. Puppies learn important lessons from other dogs and humans before 7 weeks of age. They must be introduced to humans and other animals by this age or they’ll never get over their fear of other creatures and become anti-social.

Bonus

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is training a Weimaraner pup named Riley to find and hunt pests that may damage irreplaceable artwork.

Here’s a cute video on puppy behaviour:

 

 

 

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

5 Fun Facts About The Cheetah

1. Unlike other big cats, cheetahs never roar. They communicate with each other in a series of low chirps and purrs.
2. There are 36 different species of cheetahs in the world and they can be classified into 5 main categories.
3. Cheetahs are super-fast and can reach 112 kms/hour in just 3 seconds. Top speeds have been recorded at 120 kms/hour in 3 seconds!
4. A cheetah’s body is designed to run. The thick rudder-like tail, muscular legs, non-retractable claws, flexible spine and wide chest make it the ultimate lean, mean running machine.
5. There are only 7100 cheetahs left in the wild. The cheetah is on the Endangered Species List and is considered extremely vulnerable to extinction.

 

 

Bonus:

Ancient Sumerians, Egypt’s King Tut and the Mughal emperor Akbar trained thousands of cheetahs as guards and hunters for their royal houses.

(But this didn’t mean they could keep up with the Cheetah during chases and hunts. Take a look at this video which pits two of the fastest creatures on the planet in a race against each other, to know what we mean)

Usain Bolt vs the Cheetah

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

5 Fun Facts About Gorillas

1. They are 98% human! 98% of the Gorilla’s genes are the same as the genes found in humans.
2. They live only in Africa and no where else in the world.
3. They make up to 25 different sounds, which is the highest level of vocalization by any great ape after humans. One gorilla named Koko even knew sign language and could make 1000 different signs!
4. Want to identify a gorilla? Take its nose print. They’re unique (just like human fingerprints).
5. Homosexuality exists in gorilla families and often females pair together and engage in sexual activity.

Bonus:

When we refer to  “Silverbacks”, we mean “male gorillas who’s over the age of 12” and who are often troop leaders. “Blackbacks” are “males under the age of 11”.

 

 

 

Video: 

 

-NISHA PRAKASH 

Could this Bird be the Best Dad in the Bird World?

Found in South America, the Rhea bird is one of the largest flightless birds in the world. Research shows that Rhea dads could be the most devoted fathers in the world of the feathered.

 

Basic info:

Name: Rhea

Scientific classification:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Rheiformes
• Family: Rheidae
• Genus: Rhea

Height: 3-5ft

Weight: 55-80 pounds

Diet: Broad-leafed plants, roots, seeds, fruits, small insects, baby reptiles and small rodents

Mating: Polygamous

Nest size: 10-60 eggs

Flight: Flightless; can run at speeds up to 40 miles/hour

Found in: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay

Related to: Ostrich and emu

A Rhea dad with his chicks (Source)

5 fun facts about Rhea dads

• Rhea dads take on the sole responsibility of building the nest. This includes finding the right spot, procuring the right materials and building a good quality nest (and they do this for every female they mate with – which can be anywhere between 2 & 12).

 

• Rhea fathers are a lot like penguin dads. They incubate the eggs and hatch it themselves (they usually attract the females to the nest – a shallow hole in the ground lined with leaves and moss – and have them deposit their eggs there).

 

• These birds are great at using decoys. They use rotten eggs, mouldy fruit and other animal bait as decoys to distract predators from the nest. These decoys are lined around the nest and are replenished whenever they are consumed. This helps keep the clutch safe from harm.

 

A clutch of Rhea eggs (Source)

 

• Once the eggs hatch (after 6 weeks of incubation), the Rhea father spends the next 6 months caring for the chicks. The chicks burrow into their father’s feathers and revel in his feathery warmth. So possessive is he of his clutch, he even keeps the mothers at bay by attacking them with a ferocious charge and vicious bite.

 

• Often, when they aren’t fulfilled by their existing brood, Rhea dads charge adolescent males as stand-in fathers, while they mate with more females and create a new nest. They then rotate between the nests, caring for the young and making sure they are properly protected.

 

Want to know more about this not-so-deadbeat dad? Take a look at the video below:

 

 

When it comes to fatherhood, its safe to say that the Rhea male is extremely devoted. He is one of those exceptions, who joins ranks of those animal dads who outrank mom in the art of child rearing.

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

 

P.S: Featured Image: Pixabay 

The Tale of the Undead Fish

What happens when you roam the seas for 400 million years? Why you become a Coelacanth of course! Meet the fish that have baffled scientists with their unexpected return from the dead.

 10 mind-blowing facts about the Coelacanth

*(pronunciation: SEEL-uh-kanth)

• They were thought to be extinct

Up until 1938, it was assumed that Coelacanths were extinct. The handful of the specimen caught by fishermen was all dead and the rest were fossils; but, in 1938, a live specimen was caught off the coast of South Africa. As of today, there are two known species of Coelacanths in the wild – one near the Comoros Islands, Africa and the other in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Coelacanths are endangered species. Research suggests that there are just between 230 & 650 coelacanths in the wild today.

Coelacanth fossil (Image Source)

• They are the key piece in the puzzle about the Earth’s first terrestrial vertebrates

Fossil records of Coelacanths show that they originated during the Devonian Period which ended 419.2 million years ago. This was the era in evolution when the first terrestrial animals made an appearance.

The Coelacanths’ physiological characteristics resemble in part those traits we observe in land-based creatures today. Scientists believe that Coelacanths may be the missing link that might point us to the exact moment in evolution when the world’s first underwater vertebrates made their foray to the land.

Evolution of vertebrates from the sea to the land (Image Source)

• They have some very unique organs and some vestigial ones

While Coelacanths may be the clue to the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates, they don’t have a vertebral column themselves. Instead, they have a hollow, oil-filled tube called the notochord. The notochord is the embryonic vertebral column that evolves into a full-fledged spinal cord when the embryo develops.

They are also one of the only animals today that have an intracranial joint in their skull, which allows them to unhinge their jaws from the rest of the skull and consume prey almost three times their own size.

While on the one side these fish can’t do without their notochord and intracranial joint, on the other, they canlive without their lungs. Coelacanths’ are the only known fish to have lungs and these lungs develop normally (as in vertebrates) as embryos. But as they grow older, the lungs become smaller and finally stop working, becoming completely useless. To breathe, the fish uses the scaly plates on its body as gills.

Notochord in an embryo. The notochord develops into a full-fledged vertebral column in most species. (Image Source)

• Their brains contain more fat than actual brains

Coelacanths give the term ‘small-minded’ a completely new meaning. Only 1.5% of their cranial cavity constitutes their brain matter. The rest of the cavity is made of fat. Scientists are still unsure what these fish do with the fat in their cranial cavity. But it has been observed that younger Coelacanths have larger brains and lesser fat and this proportion inverts as they age.

• They are nocturnal

Coelacanths spend most of their days in cool and dark caves sleeping. They only come out at night to feed. They are drift-feeders, meaning they let the current drift them along the ocean floor. They hunt fish and cephalopods like squids, nautilus, cuttlefish and more. They aren’t very competitive when it comes to territory and food and are quite willing to share their belongings with fellow Coelacanths.

Coelacanths huddling in the shadow of a cave (Image Source)

• They use an electrosensory system to navigate the seas

Coelacanths possess a rostral organ in their snouts just like Anchovy which is a gel-filled cavity surrounded by a layer of adipose fat tissue. This organ is extremely sensitive to underwater electromagnetic signals and Coelacanths use this organ to navigate the seas, find prey and avoid obstacles.

Anatomy of a coelacanth (Image Source)

• The females are one-man women during the mating season

Female Coelacanths are serial monogamists and mate with just one select mate during breeding season. This mate may or may not change across the seasons and may or may not be shared between two females.

Once, the gender ratio in the world of Coelacanths was so off balance, it was noticed that the young of two females living in close quarters were sired by the same father.

• They give birth to live young

Coelacanths are the only fish in the world to have live births. In 1975, researchers at the American Museum of Natural History dissected a dead specimen to find it pregnant with five embryos. The embryos resembled full-grown Coelacanths in shape and scale-texture, with just a few differences that they were smaller in size and the embryos had a small yellow film covering their bodies and a large yolk sack protruding from their pelvic fins. It’s believed that Coelacanths’ eggs hatch within the mother’s womb and the ‘pups’ are then birthed live.

A coelacanth embryo (Image Source)

• They aren’t dinner-table worthy

Coelacanths are foul tasting, to say the least. Their scales secrete copious amounts of mucous and their bodies contain toxic oils, urea and wax compounds which are both inedible and harmful to the human body. So don’t be in a hurry to get one on your plate.

A coelacanth in the wild (Image Source)

• They are the only species of fish to have an operetta to their name

Remember the dead Coelacanth with the five embryos in her womb? Well, as it turns out, she was the muse to a musically-inclined scientist’s operetta.

Dr Charles Rand, a haematologist from Long Island produced his quirky ode to the pregnant fish in an operetta entitled Quintuplets at 50 Fathoms Can Be Fun, also called A Coelacanth’s Lament. It was set to the music of the Gilbert and Sullivan song ‘Tit Willow’ and is one of the American Museum of Natural History’s best creations.

The first coelacanth sketch made by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the museum curator who discovered the first live coelacanth specimen. (Image Source)

Now that you know so much about the coelacanth, it’s time to meet one in person.

-NISHA PRAKASH

P.S: Featured Image

Animal of the Week: The Naked Mole Rat

They’re like nothing you’ve ever seen and they draw you in with their secretive lives. Meet one of nature’s weirdest creatures – The Naked Mole Rat. Found only in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, the naked mole rat, a.k.a. the sand puppy is a biological and medical marvel.

 

10 Highly Interesting & Funny Facts about the Naked Mole Rat

 

• The naked mole rat isn’t a mole or a rat. It’s actually related to the porcupine and Guinea pig.

 

 

• Naked mole rat colonies are eusocial – there is a queen, there are workers, soldiers and nurses (just like bees, wasps and ants). Some colonies can number in the 300s.

Hierarchy in the naked mole rat colony (Image Source)

 

 

• Unlike other eusocial queens (read bees, wasps and ants), naked mole rat queens are warriors and fight for the throne. Even after the victory, the queen needs to be on guard and be ready for a fight, to avoid being dethroned by a competitor.

In a naked mole rat colony, the Queen is the King, Emperor and Tzar rolled-into-one. (Image Source)

 

 

• Naked mole rats almost never come above ground, choosing to live in tunnels for their entire lives. This is why their eyes are super-tiny and they are virtually blind, relying on their hearing to live and work.

A pictorial representation of life inside a naked mole rat tunnel colony (Image Source)

 

 

• A mole rat’s incisor teeth can move independently of each other, like two antennas that can operate separately when digging. But they can be made to move together like chopsticks when foraging for food.

A naked mole rats incisor teeth (as depicted here) can move independently of each other. (Image Source) 

 

 

• When under attack, soldier mole rats climb one on top of the other to form a barricade to the tunnel entrance. They open their mouths and display their sharp teeth towards the entrance, gnashing them in the process. Any marauder entering the tunnel is greeted by a wall of deadly teeth.

How naked mole rats confront marauding mole rats who try to force their way into the tunnel (Image Source)

 

 

• Punishment of misbehaving members of the mole rat community includes biting and shoving. The worse the behaviour, the worse is the bite; and it’s usually the queen who metes out the punishment.

A misbehaving mole rat gets a bite for every bad behaviour exhibited. (Image Source)

 

 

• Naked mole rats can’t feel pain! Their skin doesn’t contain ‘substance P’ which is the key neurotransmitter which acts as a receptor for pain. Experiments show that pouring capascin or acid on the rats don’t elicit a response at all.

A naked mole rat’s skin is completely unique. It can’t feel pain and it doesn’t age. (Image Source)

 

 

• Naked mole rat tunnels are divided into ‘rooms’ and are allocated for specific purposes such as the queen’s chamber, nursery and food storage area. There’s even a specific bathroom where all colony members go to poo.

Naked mole rats have separate bathrooms, bedrooms and storage rooms within their extensive tunnelling system. (Image Source)

 

 

• The naked mole rat has a superpower – immortality (or close to it)! Mole rats can live without oxygen for up to 18 minutes and they are the only known animals completely immune to cancer.

 

 

Interesting aren’t they?

 

 

-NISHA PRAKASH

 

P.S: Featured image 

Guinea pig, Naked mole rat & Porcupine