Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written |
A major blow to science
|
view preview
A fire which broke out on Sunday evening at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro has ravaged some of the country’s most important scientific collections. Nearly 20 million items are now irreparably destroyed by what was started by either an electrical short-circuit due to budget cuts or a homemade paper hot-air balloon that may have landed on the roof, said Brazil's Culture Minister Sergio Leitao. Having been founded before Brazil’s independence from Portugal 200 years ago (1808), the museum housed ancient Egypt, Greek, and Roman artifacts and important paleontology and natural history collections, including one of Latin America’s oldest human fossils: the 11,500-year-old skull called Luzia (shown below). The Luzia skull was colle ...
|
|
|
1 |
1165 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
Wolf-like, fox-like, dog-like mammal
|
view preview
The maned wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the largest canid found in the grasslands of southern Brazil. Its markings resemble those of foxes and wolves, yet it's neither related to wolves nor foxes despite its appearance and name, but is actually closer to dogs. And, unlike other large canids, the maned wolf does not form packs. It hunts alone, usually between sundown and midnight, and kills its prey by biting on the neck or back. Interestingly, a large fraction of its diet (over 50%, according to some studies) consists of vegetable matter, including sugarcane, tubers, and fruit; this is unusual for canids. The maned wolf is generally shy and flees when alarmed by humans, and it poses little direct threat to humans. Luckily, the animal is w ...
|
|
|
0 |
2405 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
|
0 |
32664 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This sweet fruit grows in the most unbelievable place
|
view preview
The Brazilian Jaboticaba tree well and truly takes advantage of all the surface area on its trunk by growing its sweet, grape-like fruits all over it. It's said to have evolved its trunk-fruit so animals could reach them and distribute the seeds.
|
|
|
1 |
4176 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
|