Smart conservation
Another #ScienceEveryday meets #Caturday . Conservationists were able to determine if endangered Iberian lynxes were pregnant or not by getting blood samples from triatominae, aka assassin bugs. Read the short lynx to find out more.
Some #ScienceEveryday for #Caturday .
Nice article Liza Gross
Originally shared by National Geographic
Snow leopards have declined in population by 20 percent over the past two decades—primarily due to human activity—but in one community, the cat lives on.
Fluffy might not ♥ you as much as you think
For #caturday and #ScienceEveryday , here’s a video showing research from Prof Daniel S. Mills at University of Lincoln in the UK. He’s working on research to determine if cats are securely attached to their owners like dogs are. So far, his research has shown that dogs behave similar to infants with respect to a parent. Conversely, his research so far, shows that cats could care less. I mean, cats don’t behave in the same manner.
Jumpin’ jerboa
I have a hard time doing #Caturday but my friend Mz Maau suggested I add some kittens to my stream. I hope this jerboa is cute enough.
This one was caught in Afghanistan. Jerboa hop like kangaroos as you could guess. They use their long tail for balance while moving and for stability while standing. They can move as fast as 15 mph or 24 kph. Because they live in the desert and they have large eyes, you can guess that they are nocturnal. They are solitary and build permanent burrows; one for winter and one for summer.
The only interesting science tidbit I found, outside of the Wiki, is that they have a high level of vasopressin in their brains relative to other rodents. Vasopressin is a hormone involved with two things, vasoconstriction (closing of blood vessels) and retention of water. Being a desert animal, the later makes sense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerboa
Image source: http://www.uncp.edu/biology/new/trace_landreth.html
#ScienceEveryday
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
Why are dogs better at some things than chimpanzees?
Eye of Horus
Am be stoner, hello sunshine
Solar powered vertebrate.
No Chiton on science
What can you sea with MRI?
Alfa females: hyena hormones at work
Evolutionary forces – Working Together
Uncovering Merle
I’m not cheetah-ing one #Caturday by posting this dog video
Rhinestone Cowboy
Duck, duck, science
Water as a treat?
Made for Each Other
#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