Facts About Nature

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This is what Antarctica would look like without ice.

There are many insects which disguise themselves as bees in order to avoid predators. Examples include bee flies and hoverflies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombyliidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

Also, flowers look different to pollinating insects because the insects can see colors that we can't.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-473897/A-bees-eye-view-How-insects-flowers-differently-us.html

The axolotl is a type of salamander which lives in lakes around Mexico City. In the wild, this salamander never fully matures. It achieves sexual maturity while it still has gills.

The axolotl will only fully mature if it is injected with iodine. This means that the axolotl is a descendent of a prehistoric salamander which did have the ability to naturally go through metamorphosis.

The axolotl is also very good at regenerating its limbs.

I find hippos to be very fascinating.

Facts About Hippos:
- Hippos were sacred to the ancient Egyptians.
- Hippos are the closest living relatives of cetaceans.
- Hippos can make dolphin-like squeaks and whistles underwater.
- Hippos can run faster than a human on land.
- Hippos kill more people than lions do each year.
- The prehistoric South American meridiungulate Astrapotherium was similar to a hippo due to convergent evolution.
- There was once a giant hippo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus_gorgops
- Adult hippos cannot swim. They can only walk underwater.
- Hippo skin produces a pink water repellent. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-hippopotamuses-actuall/

There is a type of fish called a ballyhoo. It is like a swordfish, but the "sword" comes from the lower jaw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballyhoo

Now there's and underbite that makes Homestar Runner look normal!

The "Congo eel" is not found in the Congo and it is not an eel. It is a nearly legless American salamander.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiuma

I've noticed that they are also similar to Carboniferous aistopods via convergent evolution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aistopoda

I've always found plants to be fascinating. We feed them with our breath. They feed us with theirs. We help them pollinate and spread seeds. They provide us with fruit. It's a self-sustaining system.

All of this began with microbes during the great oxygenation event.

Bats have more control over their flight than birds do.

This is because the wing of a bat is supported by four fingers, which can move independently of one another. Bird feathers are basically elongated, branching scales.

Ants, termites, bees and wasps are not the only eusocial animals.

The following animals are also eusocial.

- naked mole rats
- Damaraland mole-rats
- some species of snapping shrimp
- some species of gall thrips
- some species of aphid
- some species of weevil

Also, not all bees and wasps are eusocial. Some are solitary.

The West African lungfish can bury itself in the mud and go without food for 3.5 years.

The West African lungfish is also an obligate air breather, meaning that it cannot breathe water.

Anglerfish aren't as scary as some people think they are.

Not all anglerfish are found in the deep sea.
Not all male anglerfish are parasites. It depends on the species. That form of sexual dimorphism is more common in deep-sea species.
The deep-sea anglers are usually about 20 centimeters long.

Fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants.

This all comes down to cell structure. Plant cells have chloroplasts. Neither animal cells nor fungal cells have them.

Plankton from SpongeBob is probably a copepod ... except that real copepods are far more dazzling.

A merganser appears to have teeth in its bill, but it actually just has a serrated bill for holding tasty fish.



I love mergansers. They are ducks ... with attitude!

I hate it when people use the terms "microbe" and "unicellular life form" interchangeably.

Not all microscopic life forms are unicellular. For example, take a look at this gastrotrich.



You can see the individual cells.

Some deep-sea siphonophores can grow longer than a blue whale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praya_dubia