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Ants: Crashing picnics for 158 million years 3 0
Posted by duddy   April 22, 2013   3292 views
There are over 12,000 species of ants in the world, and a new tree of life has been published to better understand how they are all related. Their evolutionary origins have been traced to the tropics in South America, where they play a critical role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.
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[Interesting Facts]

Intelligent animals 3 0
Posted by duddy   April 22, 2013   3018 views
Dolphins are regarded as the second smartest animal alive, and are only outwitted by humans. Compared to other animals their size, dolphin brains are five times larger. Dolphins have been shown to be self-aware, and are capable of a wide range of emotions.
dolphins
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Close up of a llama's eye 1 0
Posted by duddy   April 20, 2013   6369 views
This is a close up of a llama eye. The strange "ruffles" are called 'iridic granules' (corpora nigra) and they are used to to shade the eye from bright sunlight. In bright light these iridic granules can actually interlock to completely cover the centre of the pupil. This leaves just two holes open on either end of the pupil, reducing the amount of light that can enter the eye. These odd looking structures are also found in horses, cattle and sheep.
sight
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[News]

Ant careers 1 0
Posted by ehd123   April 19, 2013   3623 views
It turns out that ants are capable of making career moves. Computer tracking of ants shows that colonies have three main occupations: nursing the queen, cleaning, and foraging for food. Younger ants typically stay near the queen, but as they get older, they make the transition to foraging. This transition with regards to age was an exciting discovery, giving more insight into ant behavior.   Source: http://www.nature.com/news/tracking-whole-colonies-shows-ants-make-career-moves-1.12833 ... Read more
behavior
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[Interesting Facts]

One ugly fish 2 0
Posted by duddy   April 18, 2013   2799 views
The coelacanth is known as a “living fossil” because it looks very much like its ancestors from 300 million years ago. Its genome has been sequenced, and it, in fact, has been found to be evolving at a very slow rate. The genetic sequence also might help give some insight into the transition from fins to limbs.
old extinction
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1 lol! that's relicanth! Posted on Apr 21, 2013 by Alexx 2 Oh my! The resemblance lol Posted on Apr 21, 2013 by colleen 3 It looks like it's already dead Posted on Jan 4, 2017 by bio_man