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This behavior is better known by most people as "playing possum" and by scientists as thanatosis ("putting to death" in Greek). When threatened or harmed, some animals mimic the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. The behavior is mostly known in opossums, but in reality it is practiced by various animals, ... |
15 April 2008
02:40 GMT |
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One of the most interesting shows offered by nature in tropical South America is represented by the leaf-cutter ants (Atta). A sole colony can leave a tree leafless in just one night. But these ants are real farmers, which do not eat the leaves, but use them for making compost for cultivating fungi in their undergrou... |
25 March 2008
05:57 GMT |
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There are 4 species of anteaters living in the tropical parts of Americas. Silky anteater has just 45 cm (1.5 ft) in length and weigh one pound (0.4 kg), while the giant anteater up to 2.4 m (8 ft) in total length, weighing up to 30 kg (66 pounds). Anteaters are solitary, territorial and nocturnal; 3 species are arbo... |
4 January 2008
16:08 GMT |
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Ants are really vicious. They bite, sting and splash with formic acid, which is quite toxic. Yet the colony fed by thousands of hard-working laborers represents an irresistible target for parasites. A new Danish research published in the Science journal and carried on the Myrmica rubra ant species has revealed cases ... |
4 January 2008
03:29 GMT |
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1.The name "pangolin" comes from the Malay "pengguling" ("something that rolls up"). There are 7 species of pangolins: four in Africa and three in southeastern Asia. They are unique amongst mammals because of their hard and large scales covering their back, flanks, and tails. The feet sides and the head are covered b... |
3 January 2008
11:11 GMT |
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1.The name of "armadillo" comes from the Spanish "armado" (armored), the name being given after the Spanish conquistadors. 2.Today there are 20 species of armadillos. They evolved in South America and only one species entered North America, the nine-banded armadillo. Living species vary in body length from 12.5 cm (5... |
3 January 2008
08:10 GMT |
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An ant colony contains one or several fertile females called queens, which lay eggs and sterile workers, which are also females. In northern areas, during spring, from a few eggs in 35-45 days sexual flying individuals are formed, males and females. The flying individuals go out on a warm wet day. They mate, but only... |
25 October 2007
15:11 GMT |
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We pride ourselves with our scientific discoveries, but we do nothing more than rediscover what nature already knew and used for ages. For example, humans employ antibiotics for less than a century, but ants have always chemically disinfected their nests, using coniferous resin, as found by a team at the University o... |
22 June 2007
03:33 GMT |
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This is the terror of the forests in tropical America. The army ants (Eciton) make spectacular predatory raids involving up to 200,000 individuals, and everything that is encountered by the killer swarm of ants is dismembered and brought to their nest, from others insects to lizards and mice. People too can be killed... |
30 May 2007
05:28 GMT |
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We go to the doctor to have a baby when we decide we want one. And the new techniques also detect the sex of our embryo baby and eventual genetic diseases. But animals cannot appeal to technologies and they still need a way of regularizing their populations. That's especially important in the case of the species... |
26 May 2007
04:04 GMT |
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