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A Chinese mystery, can you guess what these are?
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The photo shown below was taken at a market in Shanghai, China. Can you guess what they are?If you guessed, water caltrop 菱, you're right! Water caltrops ( Trapa natans) are the seeds of a floating annual aquatic plant that's native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa. The plant grows in slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, and bear an ornately shaped fruit that resembles the head of a bull or the silhouette of a flying bat. Each fruit contains a single very large, starchy seed. T. natans and T. bicornis have been cultivated in China and the Indian subcontinent for at least 3,000 years for the edible seeds that are used in pastries, served steamed or boiled from street vendors, and even as a remedy for inebriation. ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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15272 |
bio_man |
7 years ago |
One long snout
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The aardvark's outsize snout is tailor-made to house a foot-long, sticky tongue that's the perfect tool for extracting termites from their mound nests. Bush-meat hunters are fond of eating aardvarks, but the "antbear" ( Orycteropus afer) is still relatively common across sub-Saharan Africa.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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3103 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This animal's tongue is connected to its pelvis
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Pangolins, often called "scaly anteaters," are solitary, primarily nocturnal animals, are easily recognized by their full armor of scales. If that's not impressive enough, their tongues are attached near its pelvis and last pair of ribs, and when fully extended is longer than the animal’s head and body. At rest a pangolin’s tongue retracts into a sheath in its chest cavity.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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13318 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This strange disease turns one's skin into bone
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Known an fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive, or FOB for short, this disease can suddenly turn a person’s tissues and muscles into bone, thereby permanently immobilizing parts of the bodies. Joints such as elbows or ankles may become frozen in place; jaw motion can be impeded and the rib cage fixed, making eating or even breathing difficult. Currently, no cure exists to combat this rare condition.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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7994 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Our ancestors never really noticed the color blue
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Our perception has heavily depended on how well we can accurately describe our surroundings. And this description relies on our language. Our ancestors apparently were not capable of perceiving the color blue. If they did, they were not capable of noticing it, simply because there was no term in language for blue. The first civilization to document and affirm the color blue was the Ancient Egyptian Civilization. In fact, the Ancient Egyptians were the only ancestors that were able to produce blue dyes! Moreover, philologists have compared Hindu, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and many more languages only to find no mention of the color blue. However, just because the term for blue did not exist, does not mean our ancestors did not perceive blue. T ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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2885 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
The Ozark cavefish has no eyes
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The Ozark cavefish ( Amblyopsis rosae) is a small subterranean freshwater fish native to the United States. The fish has no pelvic fin; the dorsal and anal fins are farther back than on most fish. It has only rudimentary eyes and no optic nerve.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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4759 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
The rainbow eucalyptus tree has its name because of its vibrant colored bark
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Eucalyptus deglupta, commonly called rainbow eucalyptus, is a very large, fast-growing, broadleaved evergreen tree that is native to moist humid tropical forested areas with high rainfall in New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippine Islands (Island of Mindanao). It is perhaps best noted for its smooth orange-tinted trunk bark which peels in summer to reveal a unique and sometimes stunning multi-colored bark (as described by the common name of rainbow eucalyptus) consisting of streaks of pale green, red, orange, gray and purple-brown. ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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26125 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This strange animal can drink through its feet
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The thorny dragon ( Moloch horridus) is an Australian lizard that grows up to 20 cm in length, and it can live for up to 20 years. Not only is it covered entirely with conical spines, it has the uncanny ability to suck in water from all over its body - including its feet - through capillary action.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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32107 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This blind bird's eyes look like miniature galaxies
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This is Zeus, a blind Western Screech Owl whose eyes look like forming galaxies. The stellar effect is likely caused by chunky vitreous strands in his eyes. The handsome owl was found injured in Southern California and now lives at the Wildlife Learning Centre in Los Angeles.
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Biology Forums Blog |
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6032 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This turtle has a pig's nose
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This strange little guy is the aptly named pig-nosed turtle. Native to the Northern Territory in Australia and parts of New Guinea, it uses that odd, piggy snout just like a double-barrelled snorkel.
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Biology Forums Blog |
2 |
9863 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Unworldly looking mushrooms
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Phillipsia subpurpurea is a species of fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. It is found in Australia where it grows as a saprophyte on wood. It's cup-shaped fruit bodies lack stipes and have purplish interior surfaces.
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Biology Forums Blog |
1 |
9205 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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Biology Forums Blog |
1 |
4708 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Heart-shaped watermelons
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Japanese farmer, Hiroichi Kimura, has perfected growing the heart-shaped watermelon.
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Biology Forums Blog |
3 |
8998 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Butterfly tongue
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This is a coiled butterfly tongue magnified 60 times.
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Biology Forums Blog |
1 |
5288 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Albino alligator
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Bino, an albino alligator that lives at the Sao Paulo Aquarium in Brazil. Read more on albinism.
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Biology Forums Blog |
1 |
5885 |
duddy |
10 years ago |