The Unexpected Truth about Animals Flashcards
Bat’s infrared sensors are located in their…
noses
How do vampire bats hunt?
approach prey by foot not from the air (suck blood from large mammals)
Which type of bats cannot echolocate?
Fruit bats
What inspired sonar technology used by ships?
Bat’s echolocation
The Us planned to use … with mini-bombs attached to attack Japan
bats
Some species of frogs are able to produce their own…
sunscreen
In the 1950’s the communist Chinese government recommended swallowing (live) … as a form of birth control
tadpoles
Many ancient cultures have associated … with fertility
frogs
The theory of spontaneous generation
claims that animals are not produced by other animals of the same kind but that they arose from non-living matter
-It was believed by preformists that all beings developed from …
a miniature version of themselves (called the homunculus for humans) which could be found in the egg or sperm
Frog fertilize their eggs…
externally
Between the 1940s-1960s African clawed toads were used a live pregnancy tests, urine was injected into their skin and if they produced eggs the women were pregnant
True
Exodus
mass departure of animals/humans
First evidence that storks migrate
One was found in Germany with an African spear through it’s neck
Torpor
state of hibernation
Many of the well known thinkers believed that swallows hibernated at the bottom of …
rivers/lakes like fish do
During migration, birds prefer to fly at high altitudes because of …
faster air currents
Hippos’ sweat turns a crimson color after reacting with air, this led…
Egyptian doctors to believe that they were puncturing themselves to cure their disease, and created the medical procedure of bloodletting which was carried forth (also by western doctors) until the 1800s
The red sweat is actually a natural form of sun protection and insect repellent
What are the closest relatives of the hippopotamus?
whales
Amphibious communicators
(Hippopotamus)
- above water: communicate using bellows through their nostrils
- underwater: sounds transmitted using a blubber blob in their throat and sounds are picked up by the jawbones of the other hippos (who are also submerged)
Cetaceans
whales and dolphins
… made out of hippo teeth were popular during the 1700s
Dentures
George Washington had a pair, which also included slave teeth
Hippos once existed in … but are now extinct there
Egypt
Hippos exist in …
Africa
+ introduced population in Colombia
How were hippos introduced to Colombia?
- they were brought by Pablo Escobar (drug baron)
- owner of Hacienda Nápoles, 20 square km, where he built his own private zoo
- illegally flew in animals from Africa
- after he was shot by the police all animals were re-homed to zoos→ hippos could not be re-homed because they could not be transported→ they were left in their enclosures which slowly fell apart and many of them escaped→ the escapees where mostly males and are not terrorizing villagers on their search for females
- the hippos have now become and invasive species in colombia
In many cultures … are associated with misery and melancholy
moose
Moose get drunk by eating …
fermented fruit
→ some times fall down hills
→ or found drunk in trees
→ but they might not actually be drunk and instead have indigestion from eating too many apples?
Comte de Buffon
French Naturalist (1700s)
Myth about Pandas
when bear cubs are born they are unformed lumps that require the mother’s licking to be shaped
Rhododendron
genus of woody plants in the heath family
World Wildlife Fund’s Logo was inspire by…
Chi-Chi a panda that was brought to the London Zoo in 1958 and was more attached to her zookeeper than her designated mate
Belligerent
hostile/aggressive
Pandas in zoos are very different from their wild cousins because…
they aren’t exposed to the same environment and don’t have the same (or any) relationship with their mothers which prohibits them from being able to be good mothers themselves
The baby panda industry in China boomed after … had begun (extremely barbaric!!!!!!!)
artificial fertilization
China has been using … in trade agreements since they are so sought after by countries
baby pandas
to have in their zoos) (ex: Scotland, baby pandas in exchange for Salmon exporting contracts
Convergent evolution
when when 2 different species develop similar characteristics because they are exposed to the same environmental conditions/pressures (ex: fish and cetaceans)
Theory of recapitulation (1868)
says that the different stages of development that embryos go through mirror the evolutionary steps of their ancestors (false)
What is the difference between apes and monkeys?
apes (no tail, and more closely related to humans)
It is believed that humans and … diverged 5.4 million years ago
chimpanzees
Theory of mind
tailoring your communication according to what you think another individual knows (seen in chimps)
A … population in Senegal lives in caves and uses sticks as spears for hunting
chimpanzee
