Vampire bats are dangerous because they carry rabies and other diseases and infect their victims as they suck the blood which is their only food.
Vampire bats (Desmodontidae) are found only in South and Central America. They have extremely sharp teeth and pierce the skin of their prey so gently that the victim does not awaken. Blood is drawn into the mouth by the almost tubular tongue and the vampire bat’s whole digestive system is specially adapted for his diet of blood.
Picture credit: google
Fossils are the remains, moulds, traces or impressions of prehistoric animals and plants found in the ground. The word comes from the Latin fodere meaning to “to dig”, and originally meant any old, curious object dug out of the earth. But since about the middle of the 16th century, fossils have been regarded specifically as hard objects showing evidence of earlier forms of life, often many millions of years old.
There are many kinds of fossils. Some are footprints which strange prehistoric animals left behind in mud long since turned to rock. Others are stones which were ones soft substances, but still preserve the outlines of extinct plants, or of seashells, or of the bodies of animals. Sometimes even the bones of creatures have survived.
The study of fossils, which is called palaeontology, has enabled scientists to fill many vital gaps in the history of the world and its inhabitants. For example, fossils have shown that rocks in great mountain ranges like the Alps or the Rocky Mountains were once below the surface of the sea. They have indicated that the United States and Europe were once covered by tropical forests. Also, they provide evidence of the common ancestry of animals which today differ widely in appearance.
The subject can be rewarding hobby for amateurs. Many important contributions to the world’s great collections have been made by people who looked for fossils in their spare time or even came across fossils by sheer accident.
Picture credit: google
The coccyx is the lower end of the spinal column of man and consists of four nodules of bone, like tiny vertebrae, corresponding to the tail, which is found in lower animals. The bones are deeply buried in muscle tissue, but occasionally they jut backwards and are surrounded by a fold of skin, so as to form an actual tail.
The name coccyx was given by the Greek physician Galen (c. A.D. 130-200) and free comes from the Greek word for “cuckoo”, as the bone rather resembles a cuckoo’s bill.
Picture credit:google
The dodo was rather a stupid bird. Indeed, it was so stupid that it was named dodo by the Portuguese when they discovered Mauritius-its home-in 1507. The Portuguese word doudo means stupid.
Mauritius is an island, 720 square miles in area and lying 500 miles to the east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Until the arrival of man, with his attendant creatures such as the cat and dog, the dodo had been able to live in peace. It had no enemies, which was fortunate because it was big and clumsy and was completely unsuited to fleeing from danger. Its short legs were almost incapable of supporting the weight of the fat, round bocy (about the size of a swan’s) and the ridiculously inadequate, stubby wings were of no use for flying.
Within 180 years of its discovery by the Portuguese, the dodo was extinct. Over the intervening years several were brought to Europe alive, and one was to be seen in London in 1638. By 1680 the dodo had succumbed.
With the help of drawings and by the collection of bones gathered in Mauritius has been made of the poor bird. It can be seen at the Natural History Museum in London.
Mauritius is the only place in the world where the bird is known to have existed. A similar Island of Rodriguez, but this also has become extinct.
The phrase “as dead as the dodo” is used to mean that something is very dead indeed.
Picture credit: google
Pterodactyls (or pterosaurs) lived between 150 million and 70 million years ago. These extraordinary reptiles were able to fly. Some had a wing-span of over 25 feet, making them by far the largest flying animals known to man. Their skulls were often longer than four feet.
Unlike the birds, their descendants, pterodactyls must have been unable to perch upright. They probably hung upside down like bats when sleeping or at rest.
Since most remains of pterodactyls have been discovered among marine sediments, it seems likely that these flying dinosaurs found their food in the sea, like seagulls, by diving for fish.
Picture credit: google
Birds of prey are those that feed wholly or mainly on meat taken by hunting. They catch other birds, and small animals, for their food.
There are two chief families, the hawks and the falcons. The hawks include eagles, such as the bald eagle (symbol of the United States) and the golden eagle. The falcons are smaller but share the same general characteristics-hooked beaks, keen vision and outstanding powers of flight. Owls, also. Feed on flesh.
Besides being fast flyers, many birds of prey are expert at gliding and hovering. Their principal strategy of attack is the “stoop”, when from a great height they sight their prey, close their wings and swoop upon the victim. This manoeuvre calls for a combination of speed and last second breaking unique to this type of bird.
In advanced countries birds of prey have suffered severely from the effects of poisonous agriculture sprays which have polluted their food sources. This has threatened their survival. But the danger has now been recognized, and in many areas their numbers are slowly recovering.
Picture credit: google
[custom_search_and_filter]