Squid: Some Interesting Facts

Like octopuses squid are also cephalopods, i.e, their feet originate from their head. We have discussed octopus earlier. today we will discuss squid. If you want to know interesting facts about octopuses, click here.

Till date more than 300 species of squid have been discovered. The size of the normal squids hover in around 50-60 cm. while the giant squid can reach up to 13 meters.

They can swim faster than any other invertebrate.

They have the largest eye in the animal kingdom. The giant squid have the eyeballs of the size of a basketball.

Squid show sexual dimorphism. A mature female is larger than the mature male squid.

They have a very large brain and are considered to be very intelligent.

They possess fins, but unlike any other marine animal, fins are not their primary source of locomotion. They swim backwards i.e, they swim tail first rather than head first.

Unlike other molluscs squid don't have any outer shell covering their body. The hardest part of their body is the beak. The beak is made up of chitin and it is used to kill prey.

They are carnivorous i.e, they eat crusteceans, fish and smaller squids.

Due to their visual similarities, squid are some times mistaken for the octopus. Unlike Octopuses the squid have 10 arms(8 arms and 2 tentacles). Like the octopus they squirt dark ink to distract predators and escape.

Their skin is covered with chromatophores. Due to this they can change their color to match their surroundings. Like fishes they also possess gills.

The giant squid is the largest invertebrate animal in the world. The Humboldt squid is very aggressive and it some times even attacks sharks.

Some squid have bio-luminescent organs in their body due to which they are able to glow in the dark.

The giant squid can grow up to 60 ft and weights up to 1000 lbs. They have a large beak which is very sharp and resists bending. The beak is made up of chitin and it is used to kill its prey.

Squid have three hearts. Their blood contains hemocyanin(a copper rich protein)in place of hemoglobin like ours.

Many species of squid are considered food in many countries.

The life span for a common squid is around 1 to 2 years.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have learned something new and interesting.

The Giant Panda: the Cute & Adorable Animal

Let us talk today about a very cute animal. We generally call them The Panda. They are also known as The Giant Panda. This article will focus on some of the interesting features of these cute adorable animal.

They are belong to the order carnivora under class mammalia. They are the rarest of the bear family. But unlike other members of this order, 99% of their diet is bamboo.and they spend most of their days time eating bamboo.

They are around 3 ft tall and weighs around 90 to 140 kgs. A new born cub weighs less than 5 ozs. A panda cub is one-nine-hundredth the size of its mother. This is the second most smallest ratio after the kangaroos(the newborn were the size of a jelly bean).

The cute round face of the giant panda is a result of their strong chick muscle. It starts from the head till the jaws. It is so strong that a panda can easily bite through a thick bamboo stalk that humans find tough to cut with an axe.

The major portion of the food eaten by the panda is not digested. They can absorb only 25-30% of the nutrient of a bamboo. the giant panda can defecate up to 40 times a day.

Pandas have plantigrade feet i.e, entire palm(toe and heel) touches the ground like us while walking unlike horse and cattles(where only the toes touch the ground).

The giant panda have 42 teeth.

If you are thinking about keeping one of them as your pet, consider this: Keeping a single panda in a zoo is very  very expensive. It cost more than 5 times of the rearing cost of an Elephant(the next most expensive). 

They eat on an average 30 lbs of bamboo in a day. In the spring time it can reach up to 100 lbs.

They have developed a unique thumb(which is a modified wrist bone) which is helpful in holding the bamboo stalks.

The female panda ovulate only once in a year and they are fertile only for 3 days of a year.

Unlike other bears living in temperate climate, the pandas do not hibernate.

The pandas are the symbol of peace in China. In China giant pandas are consider to be national treasure.

In 1987 the law passed by the china government ensures life sentenced or even death for the crime of killing a panda. In present the law is revised and made 10 to 20 years imprisonment.

The Giant pandas are the symbol of WWF(World Wildlife Fund) for nature.

As per the IUCN red list the panda are endangered species. Just over 1000 pandas are left in the world. The threats are basically from loss of habitat and poaching.

Hope you liked the article and able to know some of the facts which were unknown to you.

Mammals: Abrief General Idea

In my earlier blog I have discussed interesting facts about some mammalian species, today it’s the total mammalian family that I am going to discuss.

You can find mammals everywhere. They are present in land, water, and sky. They have more than 4500 species in their class. As you all know humans are also a mammal. The largest living mammal(also the largest living animal) is blue whale. It can be 30 m in length. Where as the smallest living mammal is the bumblebee bat which is 1 inch in length. 

But how we can distinguish a mammal from the rest of the animal. Let discuss some of the important features of a mammal.

Presence of mammary gland:

The first and foremost character of a mammal is presence of a mammary gland. The name mammal comes from there. Now, this mammary gland secretes milk which used to nurse the young ones. All most all of the animals in this this class give birth to young one and do not lay eggs. I said almost because duck billed platypus and Echidna are the two types which lay eggs and also hatch them.

Presence of hair:

 All the mammals have hairs on their bodies. The hairs will be present in a mammal in at least in some stages of their life. The hair can be transformed into many other forms like fur, whiskers, spines or even horns. Hairs play a very important role in mammals life. They help in insulation, camouflage, act as a sensory organ, protect the skin and some times(the rhinoceros) also used as a weapon.

Endothermic mechanism:

Mammals(along with birds) are endothermic, which means they can generate their body heat unlike reptiles and other classes of animals. They have a inbuilt thermostat present in the brain which regulates their body temperature. This is why they are termed as warm blooded animals.

Presence of Lungs:

All the mammals where ever they might live, need air to breathe. That is why you will find the aquatic animals to come to the surface at a regular interval.

Mammals are the inhabitants of class mammalia under phylum Chordata and sub-phylum Vertebrata.their are some orders under the class mammalia which are mentioned below. The total number of order in debatable among scientists.

The following are the orders under class mammalia:

Artiodactyla: They are the hoofed animal with presence of even number of toes. E.g, The giraffe, The Cow

Perrisodactyla:They are the hoofed animal with presence of odd number of toes. E.g, The Rhinoceros, The Horse

Cetacea: They are the mammals which are completely adapted to the aquatic lifestyle and are found in water. E.g, the Blue whale

Chiroptera: This class of mammals can fly. Their area of operation is air. E.g, The Bats

Dermoptera: These animals cannot fly like Chiroptera. But they can glide through the air. E.g, The Lemurs

Lagomorpha: These animals can leap. E.g, Rabbit, Hare

Carnivora: They are the flesh eaters. E.g, Tiger, Cheetah etc

Insectivora: These are primitive, insect eating animals.

Hyracoidea: They are called the conies.

Proboscidea: These animal have proboscis. E.g, the Elephants

Rodentia: This is the largest order of mammals. This include all the gnawing animals.

Philodonta: Scaly ant-eater. E.g, The pangolin

Praimates: Mammals with the most advanced brain. E.g, Humans, Chimps, Gorilla etc

Marsupialia: These animal carry their young and immature babies inside a pouch. The Kangaroos

Macroscelidea: The elephant shrews are included in these order

Sirenia: This order includes the sea cows.

Tubulidentata: Only mammal the aardvark.

Xenartha: A premitive group of animals found in America only

Scandentia: These are the tree shrews.

 
Thanks for reading. I hope this blog has given you some insights about the mammals.

Peacocks: Some Interesting Facts

From Indian national animal to Indian national bird. Peacock refers to the male peafowl. They are found in Indian sub continent and in some parts in Sri lanka.

Though most of us use the term to describe both male and female peafowl. Technically peacock is the male peafowl. And the female peafowl is called peahen. Here in this blog peacocks are referred to peafowls unless stated otherwise.  There are 3 known sub species of peacocks(peafowls) viz. Indian or blue peafowl, green peafowl and Congo peafowl. 

Scientific name: Pavo cristatus

Only the male species have tail feathers or plumage females donot have these. These feathers  are not present since birth. They developed after 2 years and is becomes fully developed after 4 years. Each tail feather has a eye like spot and it is called oscellus.

The tail makes 60% of the body length of the peacock.

They have a crested head.

They are social animal and requires companionship.

The male peacock can be of 4-6kgs and female is of 2-4kgsin weight.

They are among one of the largest flying birds. The wing span is about 4.6-5 feet.

Peacocks are polygamous i.e, they mate with one than one female. They have a harem of 2 to 3 females. To persuade females peacock raise their tail feathers and create a fan like structure.

The Congo peafowl doe snot have the train of feathers.

Indian peahens are largely brown, which allows them to blend into surrounding vegetation and avoid detection by predators.

Peafowls are omnivorous i.e, they eat both meat and vegetables. The meal consists of berries, seeds, leaves, insects, small mammals and reptiles.

They are one of loudest birds and can produce many vocalizations. The frequency of calling is increased in the monsoon season. In the wild their calls indicates the presence of some predator like tiger.

Their main predators are tigers, leopards, Mangoos. They fly and hide in trees when threatened. They spend on the trees in the night.

The average lifespan is about twenty years.

There are no blue or green pigment is present in the tail feathers of a male peacock. The color comes from reflecting light at some particular angles.

Peacock is celebrated in Indian and Greek mythology.

IUCN Red list lists Indian Peacocks as least concerned. Wheres the green peafowl is endangered and Congo peafowl is vulnerable as per the list.

What do you think about the peacocks(peafowls). Express your views.

Tigers: World's Favorite Animal

Tigers is the national animal of India. Today I will share some facts about these interesting animal.

There are some living sub species of tiger family. These are Siberian Tiger, Bengal/Indian Tiger, South China Tiger, Malayan Tiger, Indo-Chinese Tiger, Sumatran tiger. They are heaviest among all the members in the cat family. A mature male can weight up to 300kgs with a total length of 3.3 meter.

They have a very powerful forelimb and a very large head. The color of the eyes are yellow. Although white tigers are having the blue eyes. A tiger’s night vision is 6 times higher than that of human’s.

Tigers are carnivores. Their favorite meal includes wild pigs, cattle, deer etc. they can eat up to 18 kgs of meat at a time. Attack on human are rare but in case of frequent contacts some attacks have been reported. Unlike a lion, the tiger sometimes treat other predators also as prey.

The canine teeth of a tiger can reach up to 4 inch in length.

They hunt alone. They prefer bushy areas which helps in camouflage. They are ambush predator.

Unlike other members of the cat family tiger is a very good swimmer. During extreme heat in the day they have seen cooling off in the pools. They have seen dragging their prey in water for quite a distance.

A tiger can have over 100 stripes in their coat and like human fingerprints the pattern is unique for every tiger.

They are highly territorial. A male tiger’s territory can be 5 times bigger than the female tiger(tigress). The territory for a male tiger can reach up to an area of 100 square km. They mark their territory by spraying urine and anal secretions. They solve territorial disputes through intimidation rather than outright aggression.

They can reach a speed up to 65 kph and a maximum leap distance of 10 meters.

A tiger can roar both for aggressive or non aggressive reasons.

The mating season is usually between November to April. Baby tigers are called cubs and they are usually born in litters of 2 or 3. The cubs at their birth are blind and helpless and need care. After 6 to 14 days they open their eyes. Male tigers do not participate in rearing of cubs.

Tiger and lions can interbreed. The result is called ligers(breed between male Lion and tigress) and tigons(breed between male tiger and lioness).

In a poll conducted by Animal planet, Tigers have been voted the world’s favorite animal among people.

According IUCN red list the conservation status of Tigers are Endangered to Critically Endangered. Once they are found widely across Asia have lost most of their habitat. They face the threat from loss of habitat, poaching and lack of prey.

Is tiger your favorite animal. Share your thoughts.