Secret World of Animals.

1. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.





2. Crocodiles are blind in the water but very keen of sight in the air.



3. A tarantula can survive for more than two years without food.


4. Owls are the only bird that can see the color blue.




5. Snails have four noses.


6. An ant can lift fifty times of it’s own weight

Komondor -Thready Dog

The Komondor originates from Hungary and was bred originally for Herding and guarding sheep - its distinctive appearance allows it to easily intermingle with the sheep and, at first glance, appear to be one of the flock. It's origins can be dated back to antiquity. This dog is classified as one of the Working Dog Group which we go on to describe in detail in the section at the bottom of this page. The Komondor was first Registered by the AKC (American Kennel Club) in 1937.

Okapi -unusal animal

The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is an unusual animal living in high altitudes in the rain forests of Congo, in central Africa. It was only discovered by scientists in 1901. With white-and-black stripes on its legs, it was first thought to be some kind of a rainforest zebra or a forest-dwelling horse. However, okapi is not related to a zebra but guess what… it is the only living relative of the giraffe!

Just like the giraffe, the okapi has big, upright ears, and a long dark tongue that comes in handy in grooming and stripping fruits, branches, buds and young leaves from trees. It has chocolate-brown body coat with tan-colored chest. Though shorter than giraffe, adults stand up to 1.5 m tall at the shoulder, a body length of about 2.5 m and weigh between 200 to 300 kilograms (440 to 660 lb). Adult males own hair-covered horns that could grow up to 15 cm long. Females are slighter taller than males and have lighter body color. Okapis have a life span of about 20 to 30 years.

Facts about animals,birds,reptiles etc

* A 1,200-pound horse eats about seven times it's own weight each year.
* A bird requires more food in proportion to its size than a baby or a cat.
* A chameleon can move its eyes in two directions at the same time.
* A newborn kangaroo is about 1 inch in length.
* A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body.
* A rat can last longer without water than a camel can.
* An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
* A single little brown bat can catch 1,200 mosquitoes-sized insects in just 1 hr.
* A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.
* A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but monkeys can't.
* Beaver teeth are sharp that Native Americans once used them as knife blades.
* Gastric frog, native to Australia,is known to give birth to its young one through the mouth.Giraffes and humans both have seven bones in their neck

Angora Rabbit

The Angora rabbit (Turkish: Ankara tavşanı) is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft wool. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara (historically known as Angora), Turkey, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 18th century, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century. They are bred largely for their long Angora wool, which may be removed by shearing, combing, or plucking. There are many individual breeds of Angora rabbits, four of which are ARBA recognized.They are English, French, Giant and Satin. Other breeds include German, Chinese, Swiss and Finnish, to name a few.

The bird which sing pleasantly..

The common mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a superb songbird and mimic. Its own song has a pleasant lilting sound.The mockingbird sings all night long, especially under bright springtime moonlight.Mockingbirds are usually about ten inches in length, with a fifteen-inch wingspan, grayish upper portions, white undersides, and white patches on the tail and wings. The female has slightly less whiteness in its feathers than the male.Masterful mimicry of various other bird songs and calls is included in its long, complex vocal arrangements. The mockingbird will continue to accumulate new sounds throughout its lifetime.If you are fortunate enough to hear a mockingbird singing into the night, you are most likely in the presence of an unmated male, which are more likely to be heard during a full moon.Their song can be heard throughout most of the year, from February to August and then again from September to early November

World smartest animal

The chimpanzee monkey tops the list of smartest animals in the world. Ways of communicating and problem solving abilities of these creatures make them intelligent. Sign language used by chimps is applied in communicating efficiently. It has been found that these monkeys combine different symbols and create a language for communicating with each other. Chimpanzees are quite organized in various activities they perform. They prepare their own tools with the help of available materials and use them in hunting. Qualities like self-awareness, altruism and empathy are exhibited by chimpanzees. Being territorial in nature, the chimps exhibit behavioral traits like possession, invasion, etc. In terms of memory, chimpanzees are superior than human beings; it is therefore the smartest animal in the world. Social hierarchy is an important feature of the nature of chimps. The urge to move up the social hierarchy also is found in these animals.

Long Eared Jerboa

Common name:Long-eared jerboa
Scientific name:Euchoreutes naso

Jerboas are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long tufted tails and very long hindlegs. The long-eared jerboa can be distinguished from other jerboas by its enormous ears, which are about a third larger than its head. Very little is known about this species. Other jerboas are primarily nocturnal, spending the hours of daylight in underground burrows, which they dig themselves. as it lives in extremely harsh conditions, with temperatures in the Gobi desert falling as low as -40°C in winter, and rising as high as +40°C in summer. Its huge ears may help it to cool down in the hot summer months when it is active. In winter, the species most likely hibernates in burrows underground.The species is thought to be declining as a result of human disturbance of its habitat.

Do u know goat has which shape of eye??

The proper name for a group of goats is a trip.Baby goats are kids.males are called bucks.females are called does.A domestic male is sometimes called a billy; a female, a nanny.Goats are great swimmers.If bottled raised, goats will become bonded to their caregivers.Goats were domesticated around 7000 B.C.Domestic goats are found worldwide.Pygmy goats are a goat species, not a breed.There are six recognized dairy goat breeds in the United States: Alpine, La Mancha, Oberhasli, Nubian, Saanen, Toggenburg.Each breed of dairy goat gives a different tasting milk. Oberhasli goats give milk that tastes closest to cow's milk.Anything you make with cow's milk, you can make with goat's milk.Goat's discovered coffee beans.

Goat milk has a higher butterfat content than cow's milk.Hearty seafarers, goats were kept by sailors for milk.Ancient Greeks used goat skins to make vellum and parchment.Goats are depicted in Paleolithic art.True wild goats are found throughout southern Asia.The Ibex (another wild goat species) populates Europe, Asia and Africa.Matriarchal herds of goats consist of 5 to 20 individuals.Goats are browsers, not grazers.Goats are extremely picky about what they eat.Goats DO NOT eat tin cans.Goats have only bottom front and side teeth, the top jaw does have a large back molar for crushing things.Goats have rectangular eyes - this allows them to see very well in the dark.Goats contribute to desertification in Africa.

The Rocky Mountain "goat" is not a true goat; it is closer to a sheep.Wild goats don't sleep.Goats use straw to scratch their backs.Cashmere comes from the undercoat of the Asian Kashmiri goat, with the average annual yield per animal being less than one pound.Mohair comes from the Turkish Angora goat.Most mohair now comes from Angora fleece raised in the U.S., with the average annual yield per animal being four pounds.Goats catch colds and can succumb to pneumonia.The fat molecules in goat milk are five times smaller than the fat molecules in cow milk. Goat milk is broken down in the stomach in twenty minutes; it takes an hour for the stomach to break down cow's milk.Goats are great as stock animals. Goats are easier on the trail than other pack/stock animals. Properly conditioned, a goat can carry up to 25%-30% of its body weight

Can u guess the age of cow??

• A cow can climb up the stairs, but cannot climb down. This is because her knees cannot bend properly.
• A cow produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
• A cow stands up and sits down about 14 times a day.
• A cow usually spends 6-7 hours in day eating cud and around 8 hours on chewing it.
• Almost all the cows chew at least 50 times per minute.
• An average cow has more than 40,000 jaw movements in a day.
• Cows can drink up to 35 gallons of water a day.
• Cows do not bite grass; rather they curl their tongue around it.
• Cows have almost total 360-degree panoramic vision.
• Cows have an acute sense of smell and can smell something up to 6 miles away.
• Cows have a single stomach, but four digestive compartments.
• A cow named Cow No. 289 holds the record for the highest lifetime yield of milk for a single cow, at 465,224 lbs.
• You can guess the age of a cow that has horns by counting the number of rings on the horns.

U love penguin but know fact about it??If not read this!!

• Penguins don't fly, they swim.
• Penguins lay eggs.
• They are warm blooded like humans.
• When mothers lose a chick, they steal another mother’s chick.
• They are mostly found below the equator.
• Penguin chicks have fluffy feathers.
• Penguins have short legs and no knees.
• They have good arrangement of bones in hand. This makes them flexible.
• Their knees and upper legs are covered with feathers.
• Their feathers are short, overlapping and tightly packed.
• They are often black and white in color.
• Some species have yellow feathers.
• Male penguins take care of their chicks.
• In cold places, males balance eggs on their feet and cover with belly flap to keep warm.
• They bite fiercely to defend themselves and their nests.
• Penguins use sign language to communicate with each other.
• They make use of their flippers and head to talk to other penguins.
• They feed on fish, cephalopods and krill.
• Penguins swallow their food as a whole.
• They have a variety of bill shapes.
• Giant petrels and leopard seals are enemies of penguins.
• They also call, blow and preen.

Parrots cannot eat chocolate,to know the reason read it down!!

When many people picture a parrot, they immediately think of the mostly green colored bird with the colorful wings that is familiar to them from pirate movies or a visit to the zoo. Parrots come in a wide variety of colors though, including red, orange, and blue. Their wings often are multi colored, as are their necks and the crown of their heads. Some parrots, Cockatoos in particular, can also be solid white or solid black.

While eating, parrots hold their food in one of their feet, which can be either left or right, making parrots left as well as right handed.Parrots, when not nesting, live in groups known as flocks and are prone to squawking and screaming.Parrots, mainly pet ones, are very good at mimicking.

They can easily imitate the speech and calls of other birds and animals, even humans. African gray parrots are the best mimics.

Parrots are zygodactyls i.e. they have four toes on each foot. Two of their toes point forward and two point backward. Most of the parrots build their nests in holes in trees, termite mounts, rock cavities or ground tunnels. Only a few build stick nests. Wild Macaws and Cockatoos can fly up to 500 miles in a day, while searching for food.The vocalizations of some parrots can be heard for up to 1 mile. Larger parrots can live more than 75 years, while smaller ones live up to 15 years only.Parrots cannot eat chocolate because it is poisonous to their body.Parrots have a thick muscular tongue that helps them eat fruit, seeds, buds, nectar, and pollen

There is a quote saying,“When an elephant is in trouble, even a frog will kick him”here see some info about frogs:

• A frog is an amphibian.
• More than 4,000 types of amphibians exist in this world, out of which only 45 species are found in Europe.
• A frog is cold blooded (poikilothermic).
• Frogs range from 1cm to 30cm in length.
• Frogs are unable to live in the sea or any salt water.
• Frogs are able to lay 4,000 eggs at one time.
• Frogs have webbed feet and long back legs which they use for jumping and swimming.
• Frogs do not need to drink water, as they are able to absorb water through their skin.
• A frog is able to change the color of its skin to match its surroundings.
• The eyes and nose of a frog are located on top of its head. This feature enables it to breathe and see, when most of its body is submerged in water.
• While under water, the frog’s eyes are protected by a transparent eye lid called a nictitating membrane.
• Frogs use their long sticky tongue to capture their food.
• Most frogs eat small insects like flies and cockroaches. The larger ones eat snakes, small mammals, birds and even other frogs.
• The factors that determine a frog’s habitat are rainfall, soil type, places of refuge and calling and egg laying sites.
• Each species of frog is blessed with a unique call, which is used to mark out a territory and attract females of the same species
• Frog eggs, or spawn undergo a change in body structure and physiology, from the tadpole stage to the adult frog stage.
• Some frogs are able to jump up to 20 times their own body length in a single leap.
• The Scottish highlands house the biggest frog.
• A toad is dry and has warts. It prefers to walk instead of jump.
• Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) from West Africa is the largest known frog with a body length that exceeds 30 cms.
• The smallest frog that is known, is a Brazilian species (Psyllophryne didactyla) that has a maximum length of less than 1 cm

DO U KNOW??RABBITS HAVE GOOD MEMORY...TO KNOW MORE FACTS READ THE FOLLOWING!!!

• Rabbits are herbivores and eat carrots, vegetables, tree barks and herbs.
• Rabbits are social, loving and interactive animals.
• Rabbits weigh between 2 to 11 pounds.
• There are over 45 recognized breeds of rabbits.
• Rabbits live in groups called herd in a warren.
• Rabbits have a very good memory.
• Each rabbit has his own distinct identity.
• Rabbits have long sensitive ears, which can turn in any direction and can also help in regulating their temperature.
• Rabbits can make various sounds.
• Rabbits have large eyes and a blind spot right in front of their face.
• Rabbits can see behind themselves without rotating their heads.
• Rabbits have 3 pairs of scent glands located under the chin, anal and inguinal glands.
• A male rabbit is called buck and a female one is called doe.
• A baby rabbit is called kitten or a kit.

Spiders digest their food outside their body.To know some more,look down,

• Spiders are invertebrates, which means they don't have backbones
• spiders with hair on them are mammals, and thus produce delicious (and unusually cold) milk. Spiders produce milk using the same glands that they produce silk threads with.
• spiders cannot physically die of natural causes? If kept safe, a spider can continue to live and grow larger for a theoretically unlimited amount of time.
• In fact, in China there exists a collection of 'holy' spiders, hatched some 2,800 years ago during the height of the Mang-Tsun dynasty.
• Male spiders are usually smaller than female spiders.

Sea Horse

Seahorses belong to the family of Syngnathidae. This word, is a combination of two Greek words Syn-meaning fused and Gnathus-which means jaws. Hippcampus is the genus that they belong too. Hippos means horse and campus, means sea-monster in Greek.

• Seahorses differ in color, some are orange, red, yellow, green and even grey.
• Zebra stripes and spots, are two patterns that seahorses come in.
• A herd, is the term a group of seahorses are known as.
• Seahorses have an interior skeleton.
• Seahorses are unable to curl their tail backwards.
• Seahorses belong to the Teleost suborder or bony fish group.
• The average lifespan of a seahorse in the wild is estimated to be 1 to 5 years.
• Seahorses beat their dorsal fins back and forth to propel themselves through the water in an upright position
• Seahorses are the only animals in the entire animal kingdom in which the male has babies. The female seahorse deposits the eggs into the male's small pouch, these eggs are then fertilized by the male.
• These little creatures are at risk because about twenty-five million of them are being traded around the world, in a span of a year.

VARIOUS TYPES OF LIZARDS:

There are about 3,000 species of lizards.Though most lizards have four legs, some have only two legs and some are even legless.Depending on the species, lizards range from a few inches in length to more than 10 feet in length.Only two species of lizard are venomous: the Gila Monster and the Beaded Lizard.The tail of some lizards separate from the body when the lizard is grabbed.The tail that is left behind wriggles, confusing the other animal. This defense gives the lizard time to escape. Another tail will grow back, but it will be shorter and of a different color.

Most lizards can change color, making them more difficult to be seen by their enemies Lizard skin is covered with scales or plates that are made of the same material as human fingernails: keratin. Basilisks can run on their hind legs when threatened. They run fast enough to run across the top of water.The Gecko is the only lizard with a true voice. Some lizards have tongues that are longer than their entire bodies.Lizards use a Jacobsen's Organ, known scientifically as a Vomeronasal Organ, as opposed to a nose. They smell by tasting the air.

When the underside of their throats flutter, they are moving the air past the Jacobsen's Organ.The Komodo Dragon is the largest lizard in the world.Only the Chameleon and the Agamid lizards keep their teeth. All other lizards lose their teeth and replace them with a second set.

Some lizards, such as the Green Iguana, have a third eye on top of their heads.This eye does not form pictures, but does contain a lens and a retina-type structure.This connects to the pineal gland in the brain and governs hormone production related to basking time.They are found on every continent in the world except Antarctica

INTRESTING FACT ABOUT DONKEY

• For thousands of years donkeys have been the 'helping hooves' of humankind - they are the original beasts of burden.
• In many countries of the world, and in many situations, they are used as the preferred mode of transport.
• Donkeys can live for over 50 years
• Donkeys are very strong and intelligent
• Donkeys are not easily startled (unlike horses) and have a keen sense of curiosity.
• It is difficult to force or frighten a donkey into doing something it sees as contrary to its own best interest or safety.
• In the desert environment a donkey is able to hear the call of another donkey 60 miles away, they have far larger ears than horses.
• Their large ears also help keep them cool.
• Food is scarce in the desert, donkeys utilise 95% of what they eat which means their manure is not a very good fertilizer for land. Their digestive system can break down inedible vegetation and extract moisture from food more efficiently.
• They don't like the rain and being out in it for long periods can damage their health as their fur is not waterproof.

DOG WITH TWO DIFFERENT EYE

• Have you ever seen a dog with two different colored eyes and wondered what was wrong? The answer is that nothing is wrong.
• The eyes work perfectly fine and the only difference between two same colored eyes and two different colored eyes are just the colors.
• The irregularity comes from more or less pigment in an iris of one eye and it is called Heterochromia when one eye is one color and the other is another color.
• Some dogs are more prone to Heterochromia than others; it all depends upon the genes.
• Some dog owners will choose a dog for having Heterochromia because this makes the dog stand out or look different.
• Other dog owners will refuse a dog with two different colored eyes because they might think there is something wrong with the dog or the dog is unlucky.
• But the fact is beauty doesnt lie on dogs eye instead beauty is in the eye of the beholder..So,take care of your in different dog!!

Watch video of puppies which have different eye:

PHONEIX

PHONEIX BIRD

The Phoenix symbolizes rebirth. This giant bird was alone because it reproduced through parthenogenesis. It several times more powerful than an eagle, it could swoop down and capture large animals and devour them during flight.It would swallow in one large gulp and digest while gliding over the mountains. It flew so high that no arrow could reach it.The Phoenix would make its nest on the highest moutains, only mountain climbers could see it. It was the only bird which needed fire to incubate the single large egg it laid after flying for a hundred years.The egg shell was so thick that the new fully grown Phoenix would not be able to get out of thick insulated shell, fire was needed to heat it and eventually melt the surface. The old Phoenix would be there on the nest - the Phoenix would know the time had come for it to die and the new Phoenix to take its place.

The Phoenix was the creature which taught man how to make fire, by rubbing sticks with its powerful beak. The nest would be made up incendiary stuff, when it burnt the old Phoenix would catch fire, because over time its bones would have become wooden and its feathers oily - the old Phoenix would catch fire the egg would crack open and the new fully grown Phoenix would escape the flames, flapping its large wings and fly off to rule the sky. No evidence of its existence is there because it self-immolates. It is never seen, because it is master of stealth and searches for large creatures like lions and bears to eat. Because these animals are not found in many parts of the world the Phoenix starved, realising it is going to die it committed suicide by burning itself without laying an egg. The Phoenix realised there was no point in reproducing when its main meal was no longer available

The following video reminds the PHONEIX BIRD:

Glass Wing Butterfly

• Just one of God's Wonders, lives in South America
• Glasswing Butterfly(Greta Oto) is a brush-footed butterfly
• Its most common English name is glasswing, and its Spanish name is "espejitos", which means "little mirrors.
• A butterfly with transparent wings is rare and beautiful.
• A wingspan of 2.2 to 2.4 in (5.6 to 6.1 cm)
• Is a member of the subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, subtribe Godyridina.

A dog's life

ODD as it seems, the state of Missouri is home to 1,462 licensed commercial dog breeders. Between them, they breed about 1m puppies a year. About 40% of all the dogs that end up in pet shops across America are born in Missouri’s smaller country towns.

Some breeding places hardly bear inspection. Cori Menkin, senior director of legislative initiatives for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has seen “horrific” conditions there, with up to 1,000 breeding bitches under one roof. The worst of these “puppy mills” are filthy with urine and piled-up faeces. The animals have such matted coats that they cannot defecate properly. Some bitches freeze to death; others spend their whole lives on wire-floored cages, unable to walk on solid ground. “Whenever you are engaging in an industry that uses live animals and is seeking to make as much profit as possible, less money is put into the business, meaning less care is provided for the animals,” Ms Menkin says. 

Animal-rights supporters claim that the laws governing these breeding sheds are vague, unenforceable and insufficient to maintain even the most rudimentary care. This is why they gathered more than 190,000 signatures in support of the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act—an exercise in direct democracy that was passed on November 2nd to improve conditions in the state’s breeding facilities. 

The groups created the ballot initiative after repeatedly failing to get bills passed by the Missouri General Assembly, explains Barbara Schmitz, director of the Missouri branch of the Humane Society. She estimates that licensed premises may account for only half the number of puppy mills in the state. There are probably as many unlicensed ones, adding up to almost 3,000 in all, operating under laws that have not been updated in 18 years. 

In 2009 the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which oversees breeders, created a programme called Operation Bark Alert. Under this, individuals can report unlicensed breeders to the state. According to Misti Preston, a spokesman for the department, the initiative has helped rescue more than 3,600 dogs and put 180 unlicensed commercial breeders out of business. 

But the department can only do so much. Ms Preston admits that there are only 12 inspectors and that, between them, they have to check on more than 2,800 facilities each year—including breeding sheds, dog pounds and pet shops. And with puppies selling for $50-200 each, the fines levied are so low that they are simply seen by unscrupulous breeders as part of the cost of doing business.

The new amendment will provide clearer, enforceable standards. It allows no more than 50 breeding bitches in any one facility. Breeders with more than ten will have to provide sufficient food and clean water, veterinary care, regular exercise and adequate rest between breeding cycles. The amendment also regulates the size of kennels, so that the animals have room to stretch. Any violation of this law will count as a class C misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of up to 15 days in jail and a fine of up to $300, still rather low.

Ms Menkin hopes the amendment will have an impact on breeders not only in Missouri, but other states as well. “We hoped that people in Missouri would understand the reputation they have garnered in the rest of the country as being the puppy-mill capital,” she says. “And I’m glad they came out to vote to change it.”

Bioniche cuts fiscal 2011 first-quarter loss almost in half to $3.5 million

A big improvement in animal health product sales helped Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. (TSX:BNC) cut its first-quarter loss almost in half, the Ontario-based biopharmaceutical company said Wednesday.

"I'm pleased with the company's performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2011," chairman, president and CEO Graeme McRae said in a news release.

"We are progressing well with the construction of our world class animal health and food safety vaccine manufacturing centre, while maintaining an active animal health and food safety business and considering new opportunities for our core mycobacterial cell wall-DNA complex in human health."

Consolidated revenues related to animal health product sales for the quarter were almost $6.7 million, up from $5.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

Research collaborations and licensing revenue brought in additional revenue of almost $1.2 million.

Bioniche shares were down a penny at $1.63 Wednesday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Arsinoitherium

Arsinoitherium was an early, rhinoceros-like mammal that lived during the early Oligocene (about 38 to 23 million years ago). Although it looked like a rhinoceros, it is more closely related to elephants. Fossils of Arsinoitherium have been found in Faiyum, Egypt. 

Anatomy: Arsinoitherium was a large quadruped that had 5-toed feet and a small brain. It had 2 huge, conical, hollow horns made of bone on its snout. It was about 11.5 feet (3.5 m) long and about 6 ft (1.8 m) tall at the shoulder. 

Diet: Arsinoitherium was an herbivore, a plant-eater. It may have grazed in forests near rivers. 

Classification: Class Mammalia (mammals), Subclass Theria, Infraclass Eutheria (placental mammals) Order Embrithopoda, Family Arsinoitheriidae, Genus Arsinoitherium.

Animals that Grow Up (Simple Life Cycle):

Most animals including fish, mammals, reptiles and birds have very simple life cycles:

* they are born (either alive from their mother or hatched from eggs)

* they grow up

These animals have three stages -- before birth, young and adult. The young are typically similar to the parent, just smaller. The young slowly "grow" to become adults.

Amphibians:

Amphibians, like frogs and newts, have a slightly more complicated life cycle. They undergo a metamorphosis (a big change):

* they are born (either alive from their mother or hatched from eggs)

* they spend their childhood under water, breathing with gills

* they grow into adults and move to the land, breathing with lungs

Animals that Undergo a Complete Metamorphosis:

Insects

These insects have four stages in their life cycle:

* egg: unborn stage.

* larva: young stage -- this is when most of the feeding is done.

(they usually look like worms)

* pupa: inactive (no feeding) stage between larva and adult stages.

(usually well camouflaged)

* adult: final, breeding stage.

(they usually grow wings)

Animals that go through a complete metamorphosis are what my daughter Kaitlyn calls "Wow!" animals -- they go to bed looking one way and wake up a completely different creature. Wow!

Animals that Undergo an Incomplete Metamorphosis:

About 10% of insects go through an incomplete metamorphosis. They do not have a pupa form -- these include dragonflies, grasshoppers and cockroaches.

These insects have three stages in their life cycle:

* egg: unborn stage.

* larva: young stage -- this is when most of the feeding is done.

* adult: final, breeding stage - including wings.

Animals in space

FRUIT FLY

• The first animals intentionally sent into space were fruit flies, which traveled along with corn seeds aboard a U.S.-launched V2 rocket in mid July, 1946.

• The purpose of the experiment was to explore the effects of radiation exposure at high altitudes. Some further V2 missions carried biological samples, including moss.

RHESUS MONKEY

• A rhesus monkey called Albert became the first monkey launched on June 11, 1948; also on board a US-launched V2 rocket.
• Albert suffocated during the flight.

DOG LAIKA READY FOR SPACE

• The first animal to actually go into orbit was the dog Laika
• launched on board the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft on November 3, 1957.
• Unfortunately, Laika died during the flight.

frilled shark

o   ­The frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus, is a species of deep-sea shark in the family Chlamydoselachidae, regarded as a "living fossil"

o   These species are very different from the other hexanchiform sharks

o   The frilled shark was thought to be extinct itself; it was only discovered alive in Japanese waters in the 19th century.[2]

o   On January 21, 2007, a specimen was found alive off the coast of Japan near the Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo.

o    The shark was captured but was not adapted to live in the warm, shallow water that it was moved to. The specimen died soon after capture.

http://www.fishingfury.com/20070124/extremely-rare-frilled-shark-captured-on-video/

FAST DIGESTING ANIMAL

Name of the animal is MOLE

With 22 tentacles on the snout mini star, rats are able to detect soil

And digest food faster than the human eye blink.

It takes only fraction of second to digest

Lives in eastcoast of North America

The Retirement of heebnvegan

I started heebnvegan as a vegan voice in the Jewish blogosphere. I've accomplished more with this blog than I ever expected, but after five years, I have decided to retire the blog.

To some readers, heebnvegan is nothing more than the sum of its parts: a collection of more than 360 individual posts. While I am certainly proud of many of the posts exploring the intersection between Judaism and animal protection, among other issues, heebnvegan has become so much more to me.

Thanks to heebnvegan, I have furthered my knowledge about Jewish and vegetarian issues. heebnvegan has been a vehicle for me to grow my Jewish identity and understand my compassion for animals in greater depth. It has given me a platform to write op-eds, letters to the editor, and guest posts and to speak at a synagogue, a university's religious studies class, and another university's Hillel. heebnvegan has put me in touch with bloggers and other people who are doing great work in the Jewish community and given me the opportunity to interview the world's foremost Jewish vegan, musicians I admire, and people who devote their lives to making this world a better place. It has given me a great conversation-starter for academic and professional networking as well as numerous social situations. It's allowed me to feature voices that deserve to be heard through guest posts, and it's enabled my ideas and writing to be quoted from and referred to on other blogs and Web sites. And I certainly appreciate all the complimentary books, CDs, and admission to events I've received along the way.

As some readers know, I have undertaken an exhaustive reevaluation of my dietary habits of late. This quest has led me to eat processed foods less frequently, and it has reaffirmed my decision not to eat fish. As I question my dietary habits and come up with slightly different takes on the same overall picture, I'm left with one cardinal rule that I've hammered home time and time again: Tza'ar ba'alei chayim (unnecessary animal suffering) is the norm, not the exception to the rule, in modern animal agriculture. The best way to avoid causing animals unnecessary suffering is to stop consuming the products of cruel animal agriculture.

Thank you to everyone who read heebnvegan and helped keep this blog alive for so long. Thanks to The Jew & The Carrot, Failed Messiah, Jewish Vegetarians of North America, and VeggieJews for inspiring and informing the plurality of heebnvegan's content. And last but not least, Baruch Hashem.

Sincerely,

Michael Croland
Editor, heebnvegan

Jonathan Safran Foer vs. Bourdain part II: The magical natural community of animal flesh eaters

This post follows up, in a very different way, from the earlier post on the debate between Jonathan Safran Foer and Anthony Bourdain. Both posts are ways of thinking community in the midst of a debate about eating animals.
One of Bourdain's major arguments against JSF is that eating animals is a special and unique bond, a special and unique production of community. JSF wonders if we can produce community only through eating other animals, and Bourdain basicallys says no. The example he gives is the tea party, that they probably wouldn't agree on much expect how awesome barbecuing is. Which is odd, because if he decided to say that Obama was a secret Muslim socialist fascist, he'd be able to bond over that. That is to say, community can be produced through other ways, it just depends on what ways we want to produce community, what ways we feel are ethically justifiable. Though of course, maybe Bourdain is right about the uniqueness of flesh eating in producing community.
One doesn't have to be a sacred sociologist in the tradition of Durkheim, Mauss, and Bataille (though it helps) to realize how important sacrifice is to producing community. Remember, sacred life is an ambiguous life: it is both protected and at the same time absolutely killable. It is through the sacred life that we sacrifice that we are able to produce inside and outside, us and them, lives to be protected and lives to be killed or let die. In other words, community (there is of course an entire intellectual tradition that tries to think community outside of foundational violence and separation. See Bataille, Blanchot, Nancy, Agamben, Derrida, and Esposito for some of the more important examples). How else can we possibly understand Bourdain's many incoherent arguments? Rather than trying to respond with rational arguments to JSF, Bourdain treats us to transcedentalism as why we must kill and eat animals. In one of the weirdest moments of the debate Bourdain is going on and on about magic, and about how roasting the flesh of other animals is completely magical and produces community and communion. At this point the moderator steps in and asks Bourdain if he means that it is natural, to which Bourdain readily agrees. Magic=nature=roasting and eating animals. Of course, the structure of sacrifice also equates magic with nature, both a practice of giving to the gods while at the same time producing natural divisions. This is also the way to understand Bourdain's bizarre insistence that the Christmas turkey is an everyday example of dead animals producing culture. As JSF responds, that isn't an everyday example, but rather a one day a year example. [sidenote: This always JSF's maneuver in these discussions: simply refuse to argue about the marginal cases, and insist that we give up eating animal flesh in all the instances everyone agrees that meat eating is indefensible.] This is again the logic of sacrifice, that the exceptional moment of the sacred structures the everyday as well.
Okay, on some level I am being silly here. On some level Bourdain is just speaking gibberish. But I am interested why this gibberish is instead sense to Bourdain and for many other people. I am interested in why the moderator hears one of his guests talking about magic and immediately thinks the natural. By abstaining from our cultural sacrificial rituals, I have also (to some degree) abstained from our sacrificial ritual. And I want to underline this last point, the abstaining from the ritual preceded the abstaining from the logic. This makes such a debate between JSF and Bourdain so interesting and so impossible. The ability to communicate is based in many ways upon a shared sacrificial language and logic, upon a shared community and culture. Bourdain can talk about magic and have the moderator hear the word natural, even though those words are antonyms, because they share a similar logic and language. And in that logic and language sacrificing animals is both at once supernatural and natural. What is gibberish for me living in my different culture is obvious to those within this other, border community.
What I am saying is that in a very real way, Bourdain is right, the sacrifice of animals produces an unique culture. What we have to figure out is if that is a culture we wish to be members of. Think about it this way, for any of you who have lived in the South or had discussions with certain Southerners, many people contend that the Civil War was not about slavery, but instead about conflicting culture, about trying preserve a way of life. And without a doubt, that is true. But it was a way of life, a culture, that necessitated the sacrifice of the black body through rape, murder, and enslavement. The connection between sacrifice and culture explains why Derrida included "Heidegger's Ear" -- an essay on sacrifice, friendship, and animals-- as an appendix in the French publication of The Politics of Friendship, his work on rethinking community (even sacrificing community).
This is one of the main reasons that so many people in the vegan movement have had such reaction against 'localvorism' [.pdf], or at least the pro-meat eating version of localvorism. While in many ways opposing factory farming should make us allies, and in some cases it does, when you read Michal Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, you realize that both of them are desperately worried that factory farming is destroying the sacred rituals of slaughtering other animals. In other words, the vegan movement wishes to exist from this particular logic of sacrifice, of which the factory farm system is the fullest expression of, meanwhile these particular localvores which to oppose factory farming because they feel it is destroying the sacredness of killing animals. Those of us who oppose the killing of other animals have the particular problem of working from outside the material-semiotic realities of the community that engages in sacrificing animals. These debates almost always replicate the cultural chasm between those eat animal flesh and those that don't.