Amazing Killer Whale

The Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) is the fastest sea mammals. It speeds through the ocean at 45 kilometers per hour (km/hr). The killer whale hunts fish and larger mammals. It has a mouthful of pointed teeth shaped to hold slippery food  like squid. A killer whale is also known as the Orca. They hunts in packs. So also known as wolves of the sea.

Killer whales are regarded as apex predators, lacking natural predators and preying on even large sharks. Like dolphins, orcas use echolocation i.e. bouncing sound off of objects to determine their location  to hunt and use a series of high-pitched clicks to stun prey.
Orcas are very fast swimmers. They can swim up to 30 mph

Recent studies have found that orcas are among the most contaminated marine mammals in the world. Pollution and chemical contamination make orcas more susceptible to disease and likely cause reproductive difficulties.
The IUCN currently assesses the orca's conservation status as data deficient because of the likelihood that one or more killer whale types are separate species. Some local populations are considered threatened or endangered due to prey depletion, habitat loss, pollution.

Great White Sturgeon Facts

The white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus also known as the Pacific sturgeon, Oregon sturgeon, Columbia sturgeon, Sacramento sturgeon, and California white sturgeon. It is the largest freshwater fish in North America and is the third largest species of sturgeon, after the Beluga and the Kaluga.
The white sturgeon has a slender, long body, head and mouth. This fish has no scales; instead it has large bony scutes that serve as a form of armor. A sturgeon's taste buds are located on the outside of its mouth. The underside is a clean white. It can smell food with four barbels, used for sensing food, near its huge toothless mouth. 

White Sturgeon can live to be over 100 years old. White sturgeon in the Kootenai River are at such a low level that they were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1994. 

In addition to overfishing, dams constructed along the Columbia and Snake Rivers have also become a threat to sturgeon.

Tribal fishery managers have experimented with spawning sturgeon artificially and raising sturgeon in hatcheries with the goal of releasing juvenile sturgeon in the upstream areas of the Columbia and Snake Rivers to help rebuild sturgeon populations in these areas. Initial results are promising. 

Lice Facts

Lice (singular: louse) Pediculosis capitis or head lice.

The order has traditionally been divided into two suborders, the sucking lice (Anoplura) and the chewing lice (Mallophaga)the Mallophaga are paraphyletic and four suborders are recently recognized:

Anoplura: sucking lice, occurring on mammals exclusively.

Rhyncophthirina: parasites of elephants and warthogs.

Ischnocera: mostly avian chewing lice- one family parasitizes mammals.

Amblycera: a primitive suborder of chewing lice, widespread on birds.

Most lice are scavengers, feeding on skin and other debris found on the host's body, but some species feed on sebaceous secretions and blood. 

Head lice are tiny insects that live on the skin covering the top of your head, called the scalp. They are not dangerous and do not cause any bodily harm. Lice can be spread by close contact with other people. Head lice infect hair on the head. Tiny eggs on the hair look like flakes of dandruff. However, instead of flaking off the scalp, they stay put. Head lice can live up to 30 days on a human. Their eggs can live for more than 2 weeks.

Crows Facts

House Crow - photo © Rajiv Lather

 Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. 

Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals.  Crows and ravens often score very highly on intelligence tests. Certain species top the avian IQ scale. Crows have been found to engage in feats such as tool use, the ability to hide and store food across seasons, episodic-like memory, and the ability to use individual experience in predicting the behavior of environmental conspecifics. Recent research suggests that crows have the ability to recognize one individual human from another by facial features. Crows make a wide variety of calls or vocalizations. Whether the crows' system of communication constitutes a language is a topic of debate and study. 

Two species of crow have been listed as endangered by the US fish and wildlife services: The Alala and the Mariana Crow.

Millipedes Facts

Millipedes / Diplopoda are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment.
Most millipedes are poisonous. This protects them from being eaten. 
They are usually slow movers.  
Centipedes move faster, and only have one pair of legs per segment. Millipedes were among the first animals to colonize the land. 
Millipedes all have relatively short antennae with 8 segments. 
The oldest know fossil millipede is probably Kampecaris tuberculata from Silurian Red Sandstone. 
Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical bodies, although some are flattened dorso-ventrally, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a ball, like a pillbug. 
Illacme plenipes which has an amazing 750 legs or 350 pairs.

Centipede Facts

Centipede 'hundred legs' is the common name for any member of the arthropod class Chilopoda, comprising species with long, flattened bodies with many segments, and with one pair of jointed appendages on each segment except the last two. The appendages on the first segment take on the form of jaw-like, venomous claws with poison glands that are used in capturing prey. Centipedes are covered by a hard exoskeleton, made out of protein and a tough polysaccharide called chitin. Centipedes play key roles in food webs. moreover, the house centipede, which may be seen as a household pest to be exterminated, actually is one of the most beneficial creatures to inhabit human dwellings, consuming actual household pests like bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, and so on.

The largest centipede, Scolopendra gigas , also eats mice and some small lizards. Scolopendra gigas grows to be about 10 inches. House centipedes feed on spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, and other household pests. They kill their prey by injecting venom through their fangs. The house centipede is capable of biting a human, but this seldom occurs. Scientists who study centipedes are called myriapodologists.

Gazelles Facts

Gazelles are known as fast animals - some are able to maintain speeds up to 60 miles per hour for long periods of time, or run at a speed of 30 mph for several miles. they can bounce off all four legs held in a rigid position, which is called pronking. Gazelles are herbivores (plant-eaters). They eat desert shrubs, acacias, young shoots, and grasses. They spend most of their time grazing. Gazelles are nimble and beautiful animals.

Chimpanzees - Amazing Facts

Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. The chimpanzee is the animal that is closest to people genetically Chimpanzees are great apes that are closely related to humans. 
Recent studies have shown that chimpanzees engage in evidently unselfish behaviour within groups like 
-adopting an orphan chimpanzee 
-chimpanzee spirituality 
-incipient romantic love 
-rain dance 
-empathy toward other species.
Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as wrestling, play chasing, or tickling. The average sleep time of a chimpanzee in captivity is said to be 9.7 hours per day. 
Chimpanzees use large sticks and branches as clubs or throw them at enemies like leopards and humans. 
Chimps supplement their diets with meat, such as young antelopes or goats. Their most frequent victims, however, are other primates such as young baboons, colobus monkeys and blue monkeys. 
These clever primates live in a variety of environments in western & central Africa. Because of the fast deforestation of their habitats, chimpanzees are an endangered species.

Duiker Facts

A duiker  is antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Duiker is a tiny, shy antelope with only the males having short horns. They eat fruit, pods and seeds, roots, bark, flowers, fungi, they supplement their diet with meat duikers take insects and carrion from time to time, and even stalk and capture rodents or small birds. The Blue Duiker has a fondness for ants. The alarm call is a nasal snort, if caught bleats loudly, a sound that attracts other Duikers, and calls mothers to assist lambs.

Amazing Facts- The elk or wapiti

The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species of deer in the world. The elk is a large animal of the artiodactyle ungulate order, possessing an even number of toes on each foot, similar to those of camels, goats and cattle. Only the males have antlers, which start growing in the spring and are shed each winter.


Elk are susceptible to a number of infectious diseases, some of which can be transmitted to livestock.
Elk die from hunting, predation, starvation, disease and harsh winters. Mountain lions are their main predators, but wolves and grizzly bears can also prey upon the elk. their group is called Gang.

Bobcat or Lynx rufus Facts

Bobcat /Lynx rufus , sometimes called wildcats , it is smaller than the Canada lynx but is about twice as large as the domestic cat. Its tail appears to be cut or'bobbed' so named as bobcat. The bobcat is the most abundant wildcat in the U.S. Bobcats have been hunted extensively by humans, both for sport and the fur. 

Bobcats are elusive and nocturnal, so they are rarely seen by humans. Although the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it will hunt anything from insects and small rodents to deer.

Chilean four eyed frog - Amazing Facts

The Chilean four eyed frog has a pair of eye-spot marks on its rear end. There are really big poisonous glands with spots on them , but they look like eyes . the spots are usually covered by the thighs ,when it feels any threat, it will raise its rump to expose the fake eye-spots and cause them to swell up a bit and this shocks predator as it looks bigger than it really is.

Anteaters Facts

Anteaters, also known as antbear.The name "anteater" is also colloquially applied to the unrelated aardvark, numbat, echidna, and pangolin. It is commonly known for eating ants and termites.

The Giant Anteater and regular anteaters have no teeth. There are three genera still living: the Giant Anteater, the Silky Anteater, and the Northern and Southern Tamandua anteaters.

Agouti Facts

Agouti designates several rodent species of the genus Dasyprocta, they are related to guinea pigs and look quite similar but have longer legs. Agoutis have five toes in front and three rear, the first toe is very small. The tail is very short /non-existent and hairless. They can live up to twenty years, quite a long time for a rodent.

Tomato Frog Facts

Tomato frogs found on the island of Madagascar are tomato red in colour, with a black eye line and green eyes. Their skin secretes a sticky goo and if a predator bites it, the goo will gum up the attacker's mouth, and glue its eyes closed. This gives the tomato frog plenty of time to escape.  They are also on the endangered species list. They breed in the rainy season and are nocturnal. They tend to eat small insects and invertebrates.

Mussel Facts

The word "mussel" is also used for many freshwater bivalves, including the freshwater pearl mussels. Freshwater mussel species inhabit lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, canals. Mussels are classified with the Heterodonta, the taxonomic group which includes most of the bivalves commonly referred to as "clams".

Marine mussels are eaten by humans, starfish, seabirds, and by numerous species. Freshwater mussels are eaten by otters, raccoons, ducks, baboons etc. Humans have used mussels as food for thousands of years and continue to do so. In cooking, the byssus of the mussel is known as the "beard" and is removed before the mussels are prepared.

Octopi, Optopuses, and Octopodes Facts

Octopuses are highly intelligent, probably more than any other order of invertebrates. When under attack, some octopuses can perform arm autotomy in a manner similar to the way skinks and lizards detach their tails. The trailing arm serves as a distraction to would-be predators.

It's a common mistake to refer to the arms of an octopus' tentacle-like. The tentacles are longer than the arms. Tentacles usually have suckers only at the tips.

Three plural forms of the word octopus - octopi, optopuses, and octopodes.

The Giant Pacific Octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, is often cited as the largest octopus species. 

The neurological autonomy of the arms means that the octopus has great difficulty learning about the detailed effects of their movements. The brain may issue a high level command to the arms, but the nerve cords in the arms execute the details. There is no neurological path for the brain to receive feedback about just how its command was executed by the arms; the only way it knows just what motions were made is by observing the arms visually. There are about 300 species of octopuses (Octopoda) alive today. 

These species are are divided into two groups, the Cirrina and the Incirrina.

The Cirrina - finned, deep-sea octopuses

The Incirrina -the benthic octopuses and argonauts

Yaks Facts

The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus - are the official animals of Tibet. About ten million of the world's yaks live on the Tibetan plateau. A yak is special because it is built to survive tough environments. They have three times more re blood cells than normal cows that's why they are able to live without any problems on the high elevation grasslands. Yaks hair is woven into yarn and used to make tents and rope. Yaks are herd animals. Yaks are herbivores (plant-eaters). Yak meat is eaten by nearly every Tibetan family. Yak milk is high in fat. The yak’s digestive system allows food to digest at a temperature of 104 degrees F, keeping it warm even in extremely cold conditions. Yaks can climb up to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) above sea level. 

The wild yak is much larger and its fur is much longer and shaggier than the domestic yak. A large population of domestic yak remains, but wild yak are few due to loss of their habitat and extensive hunting.

Temnospondyls Facts

Courtesy :Wikipedia

Temnospondyls are a strange and diverse group of the same early amphibians living in a variety of habitats, provided they were in the water or near the water. 

Most were semi-aquatic temnospondyls, although some were almost completely terrestrial, only returning to water to breed. 

These temnospondyls were among the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on earth. Although amphibians are considered temnospondyls, many with features such as scales, claws, and as the armor of bony plates, which distinguish modern amphibians.

Newts Facts

Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile is called an eft, and adult. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and can be fully aquatic, living permanently in water, or semi-aquatic, terrestrial life, but back in the water each year to breed.

• Poisonous Newt - The red eft is found in North America. The eft's bright red colour is a warning to its enemies that it is very poisonous.

• Disappearing or most threatened newt - The great crested Newt is Britain's largest and most threatened newt. The reason behind that is the increased use of agricultural poisons .

Leopard Facts

The leopard (Panthera pardus) are the smallest of the four big cats , other three are lions, tigers and jaguars. Leopards are nocturnal animals, meaning they are active at night.

During the day resting in thick bushes or trees. Leopards are solitary, and prefer to live alone. They are very agile and good swimmers. They can jump 20 feet. 

They are endangered in Asia and parts of Africa. Threatened south of, and including, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya in Africa. Leopards are known for their ability in climbing, and have been observed resting on tree branches during the day, dragging their kills up trees and hanging them on tree.

They are powerful swimmers, although not as strong as some other big cats, such as the tiger. They are very agile, and can run at over 58 kilometres per hour. They produce a number of vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, meows, and sawing sounds.

Amazing Facts- Cheetah

 

The word "cheetah" is derived from the Sanskrit word that means "variegated". Most wild cheetahs are found in eastern and southwestern Africa. The cheetah is the world's fastst land animals.

The most interesting in the cheetah is its speed. The cheetah is 100 km / h, with gusts up to 450 short meters.Also, which has an impressive acceleration from zero to one hundred km / h in three seconds. This speed is faster than many of the racing cars.

Cheetah fur was considered a status symbol. Today, cheetahs have a growing economic importance for ecotourism and are also found in zoos. Cheetahs are far less aggressive than other cats and can be tamed. Ancient Egyptians often kept cheetahs as pets, and also tamed and trained them for hunting.

The cheetah can not roar like other big cats. However, you can purr while inhaling. Although the cheetah can not growl can yip, Chur, growling, howling and purring. Cheetahs are tan in colour with black spots all over their bodies. They can also be distinguished from other big cats by their smaller size, spotted coats, small heads and ears and distinctive 'tear stripes' that strtech from the corner of the eye to the side of the nose.

Royal Bengal Tiger and White Tiger Facts

The Tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. Tigers can eat upto 27kilos of meat in one night. The Bengal tiger is called Panthera tigris tigris. 

Royal Bengal Tigers can have an incredible size ranging in length from under 6 feet to over 9 feet, while the length of its tail can be over 3 feet. The Tigers have an incredible vision, his vision is enhanced by a reflective layer behind the retina called the tapetum, in which light reflects off the retina, enabling tigers to see six times better than humans. Begal tiger is classified as endangered by IUCN. The threat of poaching due to the demand for tiger bones and other body parts in traditional Chinese medicine is still a pressing issue.Tigers are carnivores. Bengal tigers live in India and are sometimes called Indian tigers. They prefer to hunt large ungulates such as chital, sambar, gaur, and to a lesser extent Barasingha, water buffalo, nilgai and takin. A tiger's roar can be heard as far as 3 km away. The tiger is one of the animals displayed on the Pashupati seal of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh and India. The team from Kolkata in the Indian Cricket League is called the Royal Bengal Tigers.

White Tiger  

The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the Bengal tiger, which was reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and especially of the old state of Rewa. Dark-striped white individuals are well-documented in the Bengal Tiger subspecies, also known as the Royal Bengal or Indian tiger. Outcrossing is a way of bringing fresh blood into the white strain.  The white tigers Ranjit, Bharat, Priya and Bhim were all outcrossed.

Purple Frog Facts

Its a "living fossil". Purple frog was found in a 'biodiversity hotspot', in the mountains of southern India. It is bloated and purple and has very tiny eyes.

Common names for this species are Purple Frog, Indian Purple Frog, Pignose Frog or Doughnut Frog. It was discovered by S.D. Biju and F. Bossyut in October 2003 and was found to be unique for the geographic region.

The scientific name (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) derives from the Sanskrit word nasika (nose) referring to the pointed snout, batrachus Greek for frog, and Sahyadri as the local name of the mountain range where it was found - the Western Ghats.

The Hindu : States / Kerala : New amphibian discovered

A team of researchers including from the Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Kozhikode has discovered a new species of limbless amphibian from Western Ghats, additional director of ZSI centre Kozhikode, C. Radhakrishnan told The Hindu here on Monday.

The new species, Ichthyophis davidi, a yellow striped caecilian according to him, has been discovered from the Belgaum district of Karnataka, which is part of the Western Ghat.

The new species Ichthyophis davidi is one of the largest known yellow striped caecilians from Western Ghats and is named in honour of David Gower, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, in recognition of his contributions to Indian caecilian studies, he said.

According to him, it has been systematically placed under the genus Ichthyophis of the Ichthyophiidae family. The members of the genus Ichthyophis include both striped and non-striped caecilians. These animals are nocturnal and are found in forests and plantations.

Western Ghats, one of the global biodiversity ‘hot spots’, support 25 species of legless amphibians (the caecilians). Among the 25 species, only 5 are yellow striped forms, which are limited in distribution. He said that the members of the team had also discovered a few other new species of amphibians from the region earlier.

Habitat destruction, due to human interference, and usage of chemical fertilizers in the plantations (areca, banana and cardamom) according to him is limiting the distribution of these limbless amphibians in Western Ghats. Conservation of the forested patches adjacent to plantations and usage of organic manure in the plantations next to forested patches are the best means to safe protect the caecilians in Western Ghats, he said.

Gopalakrishna Bhatta of the Department of Biology, BASE Educational Services Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru; P. Prashanth of Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, Agumbe, Nirmal U. Kulkarni of Mhadei Research Centre, Belgaum and K.P. Dinesh of ZSI regional centre Kozhikode are the researchers behind the discovery besides Dr. Radhakrishnan. The discovery has been published in the latest issue of Current Science, he said.

Resources :The Hindu : States / Kerala : New amphibian discovered

The Chinese Giant Salamander Facts

The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is the largest amphibian in the world. It reaches a maximun length of 1.8 metres. The Chinese salamander has a broad head and mouth, wrinkly skin and is usually dark coloured with light colours underneath and black patches on its upper side.The Chinese giant salamander feeds on insects, frogs, and fish. It has very poor eyesight, and therefore depends on special sensory nodes that run in a line on the creature's body, from head to tail. The giant salamader is known to vocalize, making barking, whining, hissing, or crying sounds.Some of these vocalizations bear a striking resemblance to the crying of a young human child, and as such it is known in the Chinese language as "infant fish"  it is considered critically endangered due to habitat loss, pollution, and over-collecting, as it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Beddome's Toad Facts - Amazing Facts

Beddome's Toad (Bufo beddomii) is a species of toad found in the Western Ghats of India. Beddome's Toad measures 1.75 inches from snout to vent. It is brown with indistinct black spots and limbs marbled with carmine. Its skin is covered with sharp warts , and it too is a rare toad about which very little information is available .

Echidna or Spiny Anteater Facts

The Echidna also known as the Spiny Anteater is a primitive oviparous{egg-laying} mammal that lives in Australia and New Guinea. Echidnas and the platypus are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes. Echidnas are small, solitary mammals covered with coarse hair and spines.

The echidna lives for over 50 years in captivity. They have snouts which have the functions of both mouth and nose. When attacked, the echidna will quickly burrow in the ground or curl up in a ball. Contrary to previous research, the echidna does enter REM(rapid eye movement) sleep, Despite its being only when the ambient temperature is around 77°F . At temperatures of 59°F and 82°F, REM sleep is suppressed.

Damselfish Facts

Damselfish are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Perciformes, family Pomacentridae. Damselfish belong to the Pomacentridae family. Aquarists often use Damselfish to biologically stabilize a new aquarium. Damselfish are found throughout the world, and are almost always associated with coral reefs. Males of this family guard the eggs passionately. Damselfish are closely related to Clownfish.  The average size of most Damsels in an aquarium is around two inches, but in the wild the largest member of this family reaches over 14 inches in length. 

African Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus moquini)

Oystercatchers are shorebirds that live on temperate and tropical coasts around the world, occuring on every continent except Antarctica. There are 13 species worldwide , nine of which occur in southern hemisphere. They are large and noisy plover-like birds, with massive long orange or red bills used for smashing or prying open molluscs.Both male and female are similar in appearance, however, females have a slightly longer beak than males.  One species of oystercatcher became extinct during the 20th century, the Canarian Oystercatcher. Another species, the Chatham Oystercatcher, which is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, is listed as endangered by the IUCN, and the African Oystercatcher is considered near threatened.

Basking Shark / Cetorhinus maximus Facts

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is a huge filter feeding shark which grows to be up to about 33 feet long. It is the second largest shark after the whale shark . The basking shark is also called the sunfish, the bone shark, the elephant shark, the sailfish shark, and the big mouth shark.After closing its mouth, the shark uses gill rakers that filter the nourishment from the water. Gill rakers are bristly structures in the shark's mouth that trap the small organisms which the shark then swallows. The water is expelled through the shark's 5 pairs of gill slits. It has long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Over-exploitation has reduced its populations to the point that some have apparently disappeared and others need protection.

Aye-aye Facts - Amazing Facts

The Aye-aye is a mammal that lives in rain forests of Madagascar, a large island off the southeast coast of Africa.  During the day, the Aye-aye sleeps in a nest which is located in the fork of a tree. It builds the nest out of leaves and twigs. The Aye-aye is an endangered species. The scientific name of the Aye-aye is Daubentonia madagascariensis  is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth. Aye-ayes are primates, mammals closely related to monkeys, apes, and people.

The Aye-aye has large eyes, black hair, big ears, and a long, bushy tail. The Aye-aye eats insects, insect , larvae, nectar, seeds, fungi and fruit . Aye-ayes are like a mammalian version of the woodpecker. Superstitions around the aye-aye may have developed because it is apparently unafraid of humans. It will even walk right up to human passersby to take a closer look. The aye-aye's reputation is, of course, entirely unfounded. However, because of the way the aye-aye is perceived, this perfectly harmless creature is often killed on sight.

Beluga Whale - Amazing Facts

The Beluga Whale  or white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. Male belugas are larger than females. Belugas have a dorsal ridge, rather than a dorsal fin. The evolutionary preference for a dorsal ridge rather than a fin is believed to be an adaptation to under-ice conditions, or possibly as a way of preserving heat. Belugas can be playful—they may spit at humans or other whales. Unlike most whales, it is capable of swimming backwards.  Belugas are very social animals assembled in pods or social groups of more than 2 - 25 whales. They are slow swimmers who are hunted by killer whales, polar bears, and people. The Beluga uses echolocation to locate the prey. The beluga is listed as near threatened by the IUCN.