Here’s the motherload of Amazing Animal Facts

Here’s the motherload of Amazing Animal Facts

Happy birthday Lacerant Plainer #LPSAmazingAnimalFacts

I’ve compiled a ton of mostly my posts about amazing animal science.

You’ve been slimed

http://goo.gl/0edXq

Why are dogs better at some things than chimpanzees?

http://goo.gl/cFCnm

Eye of Horus

http://goo.gl/tKc3A

http://goo.gl/eFyb7

Am be stoner, hello sunshine

Solar powered vertebrate.

http://goo.gl/4ucrc

No Chiton on science

http://goo.gl/cdnkm

What can you sea with MRI?

http://goo.gl/TwfZZ

Alfa females: hyena hormones at work

http://goo.gl/rgZ5Q

Evolutionary forces – Working Together

http://goo.gl/k26Bj

Uncovering Merle

http://goo.gl/fhIni

I’m not cheetah-ing one #Caturday by posting this dog video

http://goo.gl/gtzIH

Rhinestone Cowboy

http://goo.gl/yZs30

Duck, duck, science

http://goo.gl/VUrUL

Water as a treat?

http://goo.gl/4EG7u

Made for Each Other

http://goo.gl/5IMDD

#HappyBirthdayLP_NoTinFoilHatRequired

#HappyAlienDayLacerantPlainer

#AliensAmongstUs

Originally shared by Chad Haney

Bobbit worm, Eunice aphroditois

Besides looking interesting, the bobbit worm has an interesting feature. It’s hemoglobin is extracellular.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1164035/

Hemoglobin is the oxygen carrying protein in our red blood cells (RBC), i.e., it is intracellular. What that means is, unlike our blood, the bobbit worm has free hemoglobin; just floating around. That might not seem amazing to you but here’s why it is amazing. In mammalian blood, hemoglobin is protected from oxidation inside the RBC by many other proteins  You’ve seen iron rust. That’s oxidation and hemoglobin’s oxygen binding component has iron. When iron is oxidized it can generate free radicals which are toxic. That’s why you hear people recommending anti-oxidant rich fruits/vegetables. When iron is oxidized and creates free radicals it is called Fenton chemistry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenton’s_reagent#Fenton_Reaction.28Medicine.29

Additional interesting info on the bobbit worm from Wiki, which is where the image is from.

Armed with sharp teeth, it is known to attack with such speeds that its prey is sometimes sliced in half. Although the worm hunts for food, it is omnivorous. It is also covered in bristles that are capable of a sting that results in permanent numbness in humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbit_worm

Edit Many invertebrates have extracellular hemoglobin. I haven’t had time to find out what mechanism the bobbit worm uses to project its heme from oxidation.

#ScienceEveryday