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In addition to cute Giant Pandas, China also has these strange and rare animals

Deer have horns on their heads and carnivores have canine teeth. This is the subjective impression of most people on these 2 types of animals. 

Unfortunately, this impression flow is really wrong. Although it is widely distributed, the overall number of great bustards is very rare. There are currently less than 1,000 in China, and they have been listed in China's Red Book of Endangered Animals and are nationally protected animals.

 

Deer have horns on their heads and carnivores have canine teeth. This is the subjective impression of most people on these two types of animals. Unfortunately, this impression flow is really wrong. 

Not to mention that the biggest difference between carnivores and herbivores is whether there are cracked teeth (the collective term for the last premolar of the upper jaw and the first molar of the lower jaw). 

Even in deer animals, many have no horns on their heads, but canine teeth. One of the very developed members, the Little Molu is one of them.

 

The deer belongs to the Artiodactyla deer family, with a body length of 43-50 cm; a weight of 2.5-4.5 kg, which is about the size of a rabbit. 

It is the smallest deer animal in the world and is related to large and medium-sized relatives such as sika deer and red deer. 

The heads (males) have beautiful bifurcated horns. Both females and males have bald heads. 

On the contrary, two long and curved canines are exposed in the mouth. The male canines are especially developed. It grows into a tusk shape and is an earlier population of deer, which has important scientific value for studying the origin of ruminants.

 

Except for the yellowish-white abdomen, the coat color of the other parts is mainly reddish brown. 

The three leucorrhea below the throat form a shape similar to the English letter T at the lower jaw.

It mainly inhabits Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, the Greater Sunda Islands, etc. In Indochina, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China is also distributed in a small amount. 

Tropical evergreen forest is their main place of activity. The branches and fruits in the lower part are the main food sources; they can also sit on the ground and rest like humans.

The crocodile lizard is a unique species in the Dayaoshan area of ​​Guangxi, my country. It is not difficult to tell from the name that it is an animal with the dual characteristics of a crocodile and a lizard. Their heads and torso are very similar to lizards, covered with thick The flat tail with black stripes and ridged scales is similar to a crocodile, hence the name.

 

Although the crocodile lizards are closer to the combination of lizards and crocodile in image, they are real members of the lizard family. 

Belonging to the crocodile lizard family that appeared earlier under the order Lizard, as early as the dinosaur era about 200 million years ago. They have already emerged. 

Because of their older age, their brains are only the size of a peanut, which is the smallest of all reptiles.

 

The body of the crocodile lizard is about 5 cm long, but the tail is 20 cm; there is a small milky white dot in the center of the head, called the top eye, which is used to perceive light.

The back is olive brown with 6-7 darker horizontal lines on it. Streaks; black stripes are inlaid on the brown-red skin on the side of the body, black short streaks on the pale yellow belly.

Like to stay on the rocks or branches by the sunny pond, with insects, small fishes, earthworms, tadpoles, etc. 

Usually walks with one step and three shakes, extremely slowly, but will quickly escape in emergencies.

 

Binturong has a body length of 61-97 cm and a weight of 9-20 kg. It is the largest civet in the world. It wears long and messy black-gray hair and looks like a bear. It is the southernmost point of China, northeastern India, Bengal and They are found in the eastern part of Bhutan, as well as the islands of Indonesia and the Philippines. 

They are mainly inhabited in dense virgin forests and the intersection of dry forests and grasslands. They feed on various fruits and small animals. Banyan fruit is among their favorite. They live alone, usually foraging at night and twilight, and usually rest in a tree.

 

The two most special features of binturongs are their tails and the female genitals. Binturong’s tail is fluffy and varies in length from 50 to 84 cm. 

This tail, which is almost as long as the body, has the ability to entangle, carry objects, and act like a human hand.

Females have clitoris bones that make they appear to have the same reproductive organs as males, just like spotted hyenas.

 

Due to the severe destruction of the habitat and the hunting by poachers, the number of binturongs in China has drastically reduced and is currently a critically endangered species.

 

As the name suggests, the goose-throated antelope is a kind of antelope with a throat like a big goose. 

The adult goose-throated antelope has a body length of 88-109 cm and a weight of 29-42 kg. It is a medium-sized antelope and the only species in the genus Oryx that has only male long horns.

 

The back hair of goose-throated antelope is brown, but the inside of the hips and limbs are white; the tumor on the front of the neck makes their neck look like the neck of a big goose.

Some subspecies have deep lines on the face; northern and northwestern China, The grasslands and semi-desert areas of Mongolia, Pakistan, and Arabia are their homes. 

They live in small groups of no more than 12. They mainly feed on weeds and arbors. In winter, they form large groups of about 30.

 

Goose-throated antelope used to be an important hunting animal in history (referring to animals that are allowed to hunt legally due to a large number), but due to problems such as uncontrolled hunting and habitat destruction, it has become an endangered species and even disappeared in some areas.

 

With a body length of 2 meters and a weight of hundreds of kilograms, the giant soft-shelled turtle is the largest turtle in the world. It is named after the spotted pattern all over its body. 

The carapace is flat and smooth, dominated by olive green or black green; the body is close to round. It was once distributed in the Taihu Lake and Honghe River Basin.

 

Due to water pollution, food reduction, and wanton hunting caused by human activities, there are only 4 turtles left in the world, and only 1 is a female, which is a critically endangered species in the list of endangered species.

 

Unlike their close relatives, turtles only live in freshwater. The giant soft-shelled turtle perceives the surrounding environment by water waves, and feeds on fish and shrimps.

It has a strong sense of territory, and almost no other species are allowed to enter its territory except during the mating period.

When the weather is too cold or too hot, it will hide in the sand Sleep inside to conserve energy in the body.

Usually mating in April and May every year, after mating females will shovel their eggs in the sand pit on the shore.

 

 

The Great Bustard (Bao Sansheng) is the bird with the largest size difference between male and female in the world. 

The male is about 1 meter tall, 75-105 cm long, weighs 20-30 kg, and its wings spread more than 2 meters.

In contrast, females height is less than half a meter and the weight is less than 10 kg. 

Such a wide disparity in body size caused people to regard them as two different birds for a long time, so that the folks said that only females must mate with other birds to breed offspring. The great bustard also recalled this. Gained a reputation for lewdness.

 

Of course, this is just a rumor. In reality, female great bustards are very picky about the opposite sex. 

Before mating, they will carefully check the other half's cloaca for parasites to determine their health. Therefore, in order to allow the girl to accept himself, the male great bustard will deliberately eat some poisons to kill the parasites in the body by poisoning the poison.

 

Great bustards are widely distributed in the world. They can be seen in southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and China's Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Northeast, North China, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. 

They live in open desert grasslands. Zone.

The body resembles an ostrich and is one of the largest flying birds. It has two strong and powerful legs, good at running. The head and neck feathers are light gray, the upper part of the chest, back to tail, and both sides of the body 

It is light brown with wide black stripes on it, which looks like tiger skin. It is an excellent protective color. 

The rest of the body is gray and white, with a bunch of black feathers just below the abdomen.

Males have beards; in summer in northern China Courtship and reproduction on the desert grassland.

In the autumn and winter seasons go south to overwinter.

All kinds of insects and plant leaves are their staple food.

 

Although it is widely distributed, the overall number of great bustards is very rare. There are currently less than 1,000 in China, and they have been listed in China's Red Book of Endangered Animals and are nationally protected animals.

 

His "mentally handicapped invention" rescued countless patients, but was excluded and cursed by his colleagues

When electronic products such as televisions and computers are broken, people always have a habit of "just pat and pat". In the last century, he invented a technique that can cure a certain disease as high as 90%. But just because it is just a technique, without surgery or taking medicine, it was ridiculed and excluded by colleagues.

When electronic products such as televisions and computers are broken, people always have a habit of "just pat and pat".

 

Although I don't know what's wrong with it, the metaphysical practice of "shooting" can often restore some electronic products to normal.

 

If someone is sick, how about a doctor who treats you in a way similar to "patting and shaking"?

Without taking medicine or surgery, your condition really improved. Would you think it was the doctor’s credit or a coincidence?

Or the effect can be felt by the patient, but it is not so easy to get the approval of the medical community.

At the end of the last century, a doctor named John Epley faced such a dilemma.

 

In the last century, he invented a technique that can cure a certain disease as high as 90%.

 

But just because it is just a technique, without surgery or taking medicine, it was ridiculed and excluded by colleagues.

 

At that time, many doctors thought that he was a "witch doctor" who treated illnesses by metaphysics.

 

Because of this, he was also sued in court and almost even his medical qualification was revoked.

However, he has persisted in promoting this method for more than ten years.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, referred to as BPPV

Clinically, there is a strange and common dizziness called "Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, referred to as BPPV).

 

Otolithia

Although this name is a bit confusing, it also has a popular name, which is what we call "otolithia".

This disease is more common in women and the elderly. Patients often experience short-term dizziness, nausea, eye tremor and occasionally vomiting.

The most typical symptom is that when I lie down at night, I suddenly feel nauseous and nauseous.

Lie down in a different position and stay still for a while, and the dizziness will disappear after a few seconds to a few minutes.

 

However, he just breathed a sigh of relief, turned over, and turned around again. This is what makes this disease the most painful. Over and over again, you are totally unsure when it will happen. While dizzy and unbearable, it also brings huge impact and inconvenience to life.

As early as 1921, Nobel laureate Robert Barany (Robert Barany) described the main symptoms and characteristics of this disease for the first time. But until the 1980s, all doctors were helpless.  Tens of thousands of people are still attacked by this peculiar and cruel disease every year.

Sometimes in order to stop dizziness, some doctors can only implement more extreme methods, cutting off the vestibular nerve in the form of surgery.

 

The dizziness does not stop dizziness, but it also damages the balance function and hearing of the human body. No one will make such a decision as a last resort.

 

At that time, this intractable disease that had plagued humans for a long time also attracted Dr. Epley, who loves to delve into problems.

When he was in college, he often mingled in the physics laboratory of the University of Oregon. After getting his medical degree, he also helped develop an early cochlear implant at Stanford University Medical Center.

 

Even after officially becoming a doctor, he is still full of enthusiasm for scientific research and experiments.

 

He knows that a variety of human vertigo is related to the ears, so Epley also intends to attack this problem.

 

By chance, he read a research report that a kind of chalk-like particles was found in the semicircular canal of the inner ear of patients with vertigo.

 

It was later confirmed that this kind of particles is what we often call otoliths, composed of calcium carbonate, neutral polysaccharides and protein mixtures.

 

Under normal circumstances, it is attached to the utricle and balloon of the vestibular system of the inner ear.

 

The author at the time proposed that when such particles stick to the semicircular canal of the inner ear, the receptors will send out false motion signals, resulting in positional vertigo. The two orange circles in the middle are utricles and balloons.

But this hypothesis cannot convince Epley, because it still cannot explain the "repeatability" and "paroxysm" of vertigo-if the vertigo is caused by particles sticking to the receptors, then why does the vertigo stop after a while?

In this regard, Epley put forward his own views.

The three semicircular canals are filled with lymph fluid, because the density of particles is higher than that of lymph fluid, and gravity can make these particles move.

So he speculates that when the head position changes, these particles also move, which induces vertigo.

When the patient stays still, these particles naturally follow, and the dizziness stops in this way.

Now we all know that the vestibular and semicircular canals are where the positional receptors are.

 

Among them, the utricle of the vestibular system can feel the linear variable motion in the horizontal direction, and the balloon can feel the linear variable motion in the vertical direction.

 

The otoliths attached to the two plaques are the key substances that sense acceleration in these two directions.

 

However, once the otoliths "fall off" from the utricle and balloon, they fall into the semicircular canal and stimulate the hair cells inside.

 

As a result, the sense of balance is disturbed, and the patient feels dizzy that "turns around the world".

Utricles and balloons, with otoliths attached to them. 

To get rid of this vertigo completely, Epley thought of a way-to move these particles that “shed off” into the semicircular canals and move them back to where they should be.

How to move? It can be done by the gravity gifted by nature, which can be said to be very simple and crude.

 

In order to imitate the movement of otoliths, he made a human inner ear system with plastic tubes, etc., and then put small metal balls into it.

 

Through various flips to adjust the plastic inner ear, they finally figured out a set of movements to move the otoliths lost in the semicircular canal back to their original position.

As soon as this set of "helping otoliths get out of the maze" technique was available, Aipley began to try it on patients, after all, there is no need to worry too much about side effects.

 

Although the treatment of turning and tilting only on the bed seems very strange, patients who are suffering from vertigo are still willing to give it a try.

 

At that time, the first few patients who came to seek medical treatment also felt very miraculous, and their vertigo was easily relieved without taking medicine or surgery. However, the cautious Epley still had doubts about his invention.

 

After all, according to past experience, this type of disease is "benign", and most patients can generally heal on their own as long as they take time.

 

He also didn't know whether the treatment worked or the patient relieved itself.

 

It was not until he rescued a patient who had been suffering from vertigo for nearly ten years before he really realized that a great invention was born.

However, he couldn't imagine how hardly anyone wanted to believe his great invention.

 

One day in October 1980, he was very excited to introduce his "manipulation reset" to his colleagues at a medical conference in California.

 

At that time, he also specially invited a young woman to show this series of reset movements in front of everyone.

 

However, after the demonstration, what he got was not applause, but the shaking of his head or even his eyes.

 

Before leaving, another doctor handed a note with the extremely scribbled "I don't want to waste my precious time listening to this kind of shit theory."

In the eyes of these doctors, Epley's methods are no different from some witch doctors.

 

In the past, the treatment of this disease required surgery to cure it, but now it is claimed that it can cure the patient by tilting the head a few times.

 

This is too ridiculous. What's the difference between using "Tap TV" to deal with the fault?

Because of this research, many of his colleagues began to doubt his medical literacy.

Sometimes he was deliberately alienated, and everyone did not want him to diagnose and treat patients.

Once, an anaesthetist saw him in the operating room to help patients with otolith reduction treatment.

 

The patient is an elderly woman who has lost mobility due to vertigo and can only live on a wheelchair.

After Epley's work, the patient's dizziness really disappeared.

 

However, the anaesthetist present would rather die than believing the situation in front of him. His backhand was a report and a complaint against Epley.

Although the hospital's investigation was in the end, Epley's struggle had just begun.

By 1983, Epley had cured many patients, and he felt it was time to submit his academic papers.

 

But his first paper was rejected by The Journal of Otology, saying that his therapy had no theoretical basis.

After that, he continued to revise the papers, and voted in several magazines, and eventually fell to nothing.

In a situation of nothing, even the graduate students who had been partnering with him left their own way after obtaining a doctorate.

 

However, the repeated rejections and the departure of the partner could not shake his determination.

 

Because seeing more and more patients being cured by himself, he also firmly believes that the day when he is recognized will always come.

 

In the face of hostile colleagues, his actions are still to constantly produce evidence and rush to promote therapy at major conferences.

 

The more frustrated he became, he even specially invested in the design of a revolving electric reset chair.

In this way, the rotating electric chair allows manual reduction to be applied to patients with neck injuries and obesity, so that the treatment can be completed more efficiently.

However, as soon as this device came out, in the eyes of peers, Epley looked more like a freak.

 

For this kind of nonsensical theory, he has built such a heavy medical device, only a fool can make it.

After suffering from cold eyes and ridicule, it was not until 1992 that one of his reports was finally adopted and published by the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

 

In this report, Epley described the "manual reduction" treatment of 30 patients with vertigo, which achieved an effective rate of up to 100%.

 

Counting from Epley's invention of this treatment technique, it has been 12 years since then, and his results were officially recognized for the first time.

That year, Epley was also 62 years old. 

However, things are not over yet, and many doctors still have prejudice against him.

 

In 1996, Epley received a notice from the Medical Association that he was suspected of using unauthorized medical technology and was required to cooperate with the investigation.

 

Misfortunes never come singly. At that time, two doctors also stood up and accused him, saying that he recklessly used neurological drugs on patients with inexperience, and they suspected that this drug would cause damage to the inner ear canal.

 

This not only means that his medical license may be revoked, but also the danger of being sent to prison.

Under the blow of pressure, Aipley's body is going from bad to worse.

 

It was already retirement age, and he had to use his pension to pay for lawyers' fees.

Sticking to oneself is not necessarily the right choice, but sticking to the truth is never wrong.

 

In the summer of 2001, this multi-year accusation was finally completely rejected by the judge.

 

The judge at the time ruled that the accusations made by the two doctors were one-sided, unobjective, and hostile.

 

Of course, good things should also be in pairs. In the same year, the New England Journal (NEJM) also published an article on the treatment of vertigo, stating that Epley was the inventor of "manual reduction."

 

To commend and commemorate Epley’s contribution, this technique is also known as the "Epley technique".

Until now, doctors all over the world are using this technique to treat this disease, which is simple and efficient.

 

In the clinic, 90% of patients got rid of the troubles and got rescued by this technique.

 

Although prejudice has delayed the promotion of Epley's technique for more than 10 years, without Dr. Aipley's persistence, perhaps the patient's path to seek medical treatment will be even more slim. 

His greatness is not only because of invention, but also because of his belief.

 

Birds and dolphins, group portraits of animals with high intelligence

The smartest animals in nature gather together. There are highly adaptable crows, opportunistic ravens, happy and cheerful bottlenose dolphins, and the cruel character killer whales in the sea-click in and watch them exhibit. skill.

 

▎Birds and dolphins, groups of animals with high intelligence

Birds and dolphins, these two animals once spread all over the world in the form of totems. In many aboriginal and ethnic minority areas, myths and legends about them have not declined for a long time and have been passed down to this day.

 

 

In all kinds of myths and stories, they are full of images and changeable personalities. For a while they become friends of mankind and help us overcome difficulties together; for a while, they become enemies of mankind, with evil desires trying to destroy us—no matter what For good or bad, they are all executors of the mysterious power beyond nature.

For a long time, people respect them as "God's messengers" and "God's servants", and they have been worshipped and sacrificed by people. However, there are thousands of birds and beasts, why are they only treated with such high standards?

 

The reason is very simple and very strong-because they are smart. However, how smart they are, many people probably don't know much about them.

 

So next, please follow my narration and appreciate their extraordinary ingenuity from the perspective of myths, legends and natural science.

 

1. Bird of Wisdom: Crow

-The three-legged golden crow that destroys the world-

In ancient Chinese mythology, there were originally ten suns in the sky, and a three-legged black crow crouched in the middle of the ten suns. They were originally the sons of Emperor Jun and Xihe. They are brothers to each other. They are called "Golden Crow" or "Three-legged Golden Crow" because they can make the sun shine.

 

Originally, the ten Golden Crows had a clear and orderly division of labor. Every day, a brother rode on the suncar of his old mother Xihe, and then used the brilliance of the sun to illuminate the world. For them, it is easy to do this.

 

These ten brothers are all workaholics. They love to go for a ride. They can’t wait every time. Over time, because of dissatisfaction with the order of God, the brothers have fierce disputes.

Finally, the extreme enthusiasm for work makes them do A very irrational decision was made-ten brothers brought ten suns and descended on the world on the same day.

 

The ten suns rose to the sky together, emitting ten times the brilliance and heat, so the earth burned, the peaks broke, the lakes dried up, and the sea evaporated. Just as the water was deep and hot, the people were dying, and the whole world wailed mourning.

 

Later, we all know that the "Arrow God" Hou Yi descended on the earth with his wife Chang'e. He stretched his bow and shot arrows for nine days. From then on, the climate on the ground was suitable and everything could grow-Hou Yi also became a great hero to protect the people.

 

In our country and the culture of most Indian tribes, crows are considered to be ominous. It is worth mentioning that in ancient my country, the views of crows in the north and south were completely opposite. The Southern Song philosopher Xue Jixuan’s "Langyu Ji" records "the southerners love magpies and evil crows, and northerners love crows and evil magpies".

The contemporary Hong Mai also stated in his book "Rongzhai Continued Bi" that "bei people used The sound of black is happy, the sound of magpie is wrong, and the southerners are opposite."

  

However, some cultures, such as Japan, regard crows as auspicious birds and are worshipped as "national beasts". Yatagou (three-legged crow) has certainly become the emblem of the Japanese football team, as well as the emblem of the Japan Football Association.

Crow, the nourishing life of urban white-collar workers

Biologically, the crow is the general term for the bird crow. There are 39 species in this genus, all over Eurasia; there are also a few species in Africa, Australia, North America and the Pacific. They are the smartest birds, but also one of the smartest animals, with a very high level of intelligence.

 

The big-billed crow that inhabits East Asia and Northeast Asia is one of the larger species of passerines. Its body length is about 46-59cm in adulthood, which is even longer than many raptors.

Compared with the small-billed crows and bald-nosed crows of the same genus, the big-billed crows are characterized by a thick beak and a protruding forehead. They have a strong ability to adapt to the environment, and they are not afraid of people, and they can be seen everywhere in the mountainous plains.

 

As environmental problems such as the heat island effect and garbage siege in major cities have become more and more significant, big-billed crows have gradually moved to live in cities and suburbs where humans live.

 

Once accustomed to the busy traffic and bustling street people; once accustomed to the noisy, car whistle noise in the city-the big-mouthed crow fully used his brain, with his own ingenuity, he mastered a different urban survival skill.

 

Today, big-billed crows have a very comfortable life: they will choose to build nests on abandoned buildings and large steel bars. The best place for breakfast, lunch and dinner is the garbage treatment plant around the nest, or the garbage in the community. Containment station. 

They go back and forth between the habitat and the garbage treatment plant every day, working nine-to-five, like a white-collar worker in the city; they can easily open the sealed garbage bag and make the most of human residues. Young crows can quickly learn this technique.

 

Even better, some of them can even understand traffic lights. When the green light is on, they shed nuts and crush the fruit with the rolling traffic; when the red light is on, they know that the car has stopped, so they fly to On the road, look for nuts broken into small pieces as snacks.

 

Raven, the clever robber who snatches and grabs

One of the outstanding fellows in the Crow family is the raven that spreads across the northern hemisphere. 

The raven is the heaviest bird in the order of the passerine, and the heaviest individual recorded even reaches 1.63kg.

The mature raven is about 59-69cm in length, which is a circle larger than the big-billed crow.

 

Ravens’ ability to adapt to the environment is better than that of big-billed crows. What’s even more powerful is their amazing ability to reproduce. In the thousand years of coexistence with humans, they have been considered a disaster because of their large populations.

Ravens are omnivores, carrion, insects, food residues, agricultural grains, berries, fruits and small animals, all of which are their dishes or belly.

 

In terms of foraging, ravens have two characteristics: they are good at speculation and grabbing. These two characteristics reflect the ingenuity of the raven to a certain extent, and we will say the same next.

 

The characteristic of being good at speculation is mainly manifested in the fact that the raven's diet will change depending on the region and season. They will actively hunt voles or insects, and will hide excess food in places invisible to other ravens in case of emergency. 

The ravens that nest and build burrows on the side of the road will even eat the carcasses of animals crushed by vehicles.

In winter when food is scarce, they will quietly follow canids such as wolves and foxes until they reach their caves. When the wolves went hunting and the defenses in the cave were weak, the ravens sneaked in, took advantage of their precautions and made a decisive move, and quickly escaped with carrion and other food.

 

Another feature, arrogance and arrogance, is inseparable from the raven's temperament of deceiving softness and fear of hardship-they will set up a big flag and write a letter: this mountain is mine, this tree is mine, I have to pass by, hey, stay and buy Lu Cai! One of the unique hobbies of ravens is to forcibly snatch food from other weak animals, and they enjoy it.

 

Small canines, mammals and other birds have been bullied more or less by ravens.

Observation found that some raven flocks even snatch human prey. When human hunters shoot down the birds with a shotgun, the ravens rush like a cloud of lead, and some ravens deliberately yelled and hovered at low altitude to interfere with hunters and hounds. 

Some of them flew straight to the place where the bird lands, grabbing human prey with sharp claws, and then all the ravens scattered like a command.

 

Of course, the ravens are not blindly arrogant, they are well versed in the way of cooperation and win-win, and they really understand the meaning of trickery. Therefore, in front of the hard rotten flesh of the bird's beak that cannot be stripped, they will call canines such as wild dogs or wolves, and share the food location with them with kindness. 

After these canines use their sharp teeth to tear apart the carrion, the raven will naturally share a big cup of soup.

 

In addition, the wisdom of the ravens is also expressed in their calls. The raven has a wide range of pronunciations, and most of the pronunciations have practical functions, allowing them to socialize with other individuals within the group. 

When predators come, they will use their calls to sound an alarm to inform other members of the group of imminent danger; when they compete with other animals for food and are at a disadvantage, they will call out and call friends to help it.

When their partners go out for too long, they may even feel lonely, and call them to return home as soon as possible by imitating their partners' calls.

A clever raven can also imitate many different sounds. These sounds are strange and unbelievable, including: the sound of airplane wings roaring, the sound of car alarms, the click of camera shutters, and many people. 

The sound of arguing and fighting together. Of course, they can also imitate human voices. After careful training, ravens can learn faster, speak more clearly than other birds, and can even circulate and be full of emotion.

 

Ravens are curious collectors. They are naturally unable to resist objects that are sleek and shiny. They will steal anything that satisfies the above description, round small stones, golf balls, metal rings, or even a single one. 

Eggs, they have to find ways to get them in their hands, watch them carefully, and then pack them into storage, making them a rare object in their collection room.

Ravens are also one of the favorite birds to play; in winter with ice and snow, they will climb up and slide down on the naturally formed snow slopes.

They will try to drill through branches and branches in various flight positions and at different speeds the hollow in the middle. Also study difficult and deep aerobatics skills, such as upside-down somersaults, side-flying sharp turns, or low-altitude dives.

 

For the ravens, curiosity and play are like road signs on the journey, guiding them to the land of wisdom.

 

2. Water Spirit: Dolphin

God's mount that saves lives 

Dolphins are the collective name for many animals under the order of the cetaceans, including about 20 genera and more than 60 species of creatures. All of them are mammals. 

In addition to their cute appearance and friendly personality, they have always been popular in human culture.

 

The ancient Greeks liked dolphins very much. They believed that seeing the white waves raised by the dolphins around the ship was a symbol of good luck.

In Greek mythology, dolphins also appeared frequently-the most famous are the minstrels Arion and The story of the dolphin.

Arion is the son of the sea god Poseidon. He was robbed by sailors on a boat and was eventually forced to jump into the sea. As he was about to drown, Arion opened his mouth and sang a song. 

A dolphin was moved by Arion's beautiful singing, so he swung his tail fin, swam to his side, and rescued him ashore.

 

Today, in the Temple of Poseidon in Greece, there is a statue of Arion riding a dolphin; and the sacred beast symbolizing the sea god Poseidon also happens to be a beautiful dolphin. In addition, in Nossos Palace in Crete, beautiful dolphins can be seen everywhere in huge murals.

 

In addition to saving people, the dolphins are also the hip mounts of many deities, and even the incarnations of deities appearing in the world. In Indian mythology, the mount of Varuna, the god of rain and the sky, is a dolphin. Also, the goddess of Ganges who guards the Ganges, her mount Magara often appears in the image of a dolphin. 

This shows that there is a relationship between the dolphin and the gods. There is a close relationship; and the bridge connecting the two is undoubtedly the extraordinary wisdom of the dolphins.

 

Bottlenose dolphin, a little bit dirty guy

Bottlenose dolphins with a streamlined body are the clever representatives of the dolphins family. They have developed intelligence, complex cerebral cortex, and a large number of brain circuits and neurons.

 

Bottlenose dolphins have an average length of 2-4 meters and a weight of 150-650kg; their whole body is gray and black, their skin is as smooth as silk, and their texture is like sponge.

 

Their brain weighs 1.6kg, which is 100g heavier than the human brain; their brain tissue is even more complex than the brains of many primates (such as orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees).

 

They are social animals, and generally live in clusters, each with a population of up to a dozen; in waters with abnormally abundant food, they can also form a "super group", with the number even exceeding 1,000.

 

Individuals of dolphins use sound to communicate with each other, and they can also send out ultrasonic waves for echolocation. They can distinguish the environment and hunt down their prey even in the dark seabed.

Dolphins can establish super strong social relationships and are intimate with each other. 

If an individual is severely injured and unable to move forward, other members generally will not leave it behind and flee, but can't bear to leave around the injured companion.

 

Building on this warmth is the selfless altruism of the dolphins-when injured or sick dolphins appear in the group, healthy and strong individuals are obliged to take care of them, and even lift them to the surface with their bodies to help. They breathe. (Because dolphins are not fish, they do not have gills, and after diving for a period of time, they need to surface to breathe.)

 

When the mother dolphin gives birth, other female dolphins in the group will also become midwives. They will spread out, surround the new mother and newborn in the middle, be alert to changes in the surrounding environment, drive away natural enemies such as sharks, and prevent other large The fish came to invade.

 

The reason why the altruism of dolphins is selfless is because this altruism is not limited to their own species. In New Zealand, people once observed a dolphin named "Moko" frequently harassing a female sperm whale and its cubs. 

Under the harassment of the dolphins, the group of sperm whales was troubled, and finally turned around and left their established channel. 

In fact, if the group of sperm whales continue to move straight forward, they will enter the shallow water area and eventually stranded.

Consistent with myths and legends, there are also several examples of dolphins saving humans in history. In dangerous sea areas where sharks are infested, dolphins will keep circling around humans to protect humans from sharks.

 

In addition, bottlenose dolphins are friendly, lively and curious at the same time. They like to follow the advancing ship and play in the waves drawn from the stern; they also try to approach the diver.

 

When shooting an undersea documentary, you can often see groups of dolphins teasing divers carrying photographic equipment on their shoulders, making the divers in a hurry and wondering what to do.

 

 

Leaping waves hit the wave ruthless character! Killer whales across the four oceans

Beautiful and huge killer whales are distributed in all oceans in the world. According to the different ethnic groups, their eating habits are very different, and the predation strategies of different ethnic groups are very different. Do you know what the majestic shark fears most? The answer is the killer whale.

Leap the waves and hit the rugged characters! Killer whales across the four oceans 

In movies, TV series, documentaries, and countless marine aquariums, killer whales are the absolute beauty of the aquatic animal world.

 

Not only are they scary in appearances, but no matter children or adults, everyone is deeply fascinated by the black and white body color of killer whales-look at the small white dots on the black body, it is simply a giant panda in the water, no wonder there are So many people like it!

 

 

Mountain and sickle, distinct dorsal fin

Killer whales have an average body length of 8-9 meters and weigh 6-9 tons. They are large and muscular; they are the largest aquatic species in the small-headed dolphin family of toothed whales, also known as killer whales, killer whales, and orcas; From the North Pole to the South Pole, it is distributed in all oceans in the world.

 

Although killer whales all over the world are called killer whales and their appearance is roughly the same, the huge differences in habitats (such as polar and tropical) have caused them to differentiate into many different sub-groups, and these sub-groups are not genetically structured. There are significant differences in, ecology and living habits.

 

 

Some scientists even advocate that killer whales of different races should be classified into different subspecies or even new species; but at present, this is just a proposal.

 

In addition, killer whales are highly dimorphic animals, and the differences between males and females are mainly reflected in body size and dorsal fin: adult male killer whales are a bit larger than females. Records show that the largest male killer whale is 9.75 meters long and weighs 9524 kg; while the female is 8.53 meters long and weighs 6803 kg.

The dorsal fin of the killer whale is located in the center of the back, flat, narrow and towering, like long spines growing across the branches of thorny plants. Most male dorsal fins can grow up to 1-1.8 meters high, with a solid bottom and sharp top, like a steep mountain, which is highly recognizable and full of tough masculinity.

 

 On the other hand, females have relatively small dorsal fins, which are basically no more than 1 meter in length. 

They are shaped like a short-handled sickle, slightly bent behind their backs, showing their feminine beauty appropriately.

 

 

Killer Whales have Diversified diet, even close relatives can eat well

The killer whales at the top of the marine food chain are keen to hunt all kinds of fish, mammals, marine invertebrates, seabirds and turtles.

Their food types are the most diverse of cetaceans, with different habitats Ethnic groups have their own unique eating habits, which will be passed on from generation to generation.

 

For example, killer whales that live in the Arctic will hunt walruses, harp seals, ring seals and crested seals for food, and occasionally besiege large whales such as narwhal and beluga.

 

 

The killer whales of Antarctica have a soft spot for leopard seals, and the two animals have been hostile to each other for a long time. There, the killer whale even became the only natural enemy of the leopard seal.

 

The killer whales living in Alaska have surprising food addictions. Their favorite food is precisely their close relative, the white-rumped vaquita.

 

The white-rumped vaquita is a small dolphin that swims very fast (a little bit bigger than us humans). They are covered with black skin and have white spots on their abdomen and dorsal fins. If you don’t look at the size alone, they and The killer whale is almost carved out of a mold.

 

Imagine if you also have a relative who shines and drools when you see yourself, and wants to swallow you all the time, how tired you have to live?

So here, we express our most concerned condolences to the hard life of the white-rumped porpoise.

 

In addition, the killer whales living on the northwest coast of North America also prey on land animals. Moose and other deer animals often swim across the sea between islands near the coast to find food. When they enter the water, hum, they enter the range of killer whales.

What horns, hairs, hooves, and tails can make it difficult to digest. Killer whales don't care about these. Since the cute and attractive deer came to the door, of course they would eat it quickly.

 

Thirty-six counts! Dazzling predation strategy

Killer whales are extremely intelligent, and they may be one of the smartest animals in the sea; this is mainly reflected in their predation strategy-each group has a set of different predation strategies that are quite different.

 

These strategies are complicated and often suspicious, making people guess the beginning but not the end; and the strategies are intertwined and interlocking, and the wonderful things abound. 

Watching them hunting is like watching a live "Thirty-Six Strategies", which is dazzling and amazed!

Killer whales living in the Arctic will single out small prey such as walruses, harp seals, ring seals, etc.

When facing bowhead whales, humpback whales, and even huge fin and blue whales, they call Peng Huayou, using quite clever means to launch the wheel tactics-this is actually the same as the wolf pack tactics-siege without attacking, frequent harassment, until the opponent's physical strength is exhausted before launching a general attack.

 

When hunting fur seals, killer whales will launch the strategy of "the reality is the imaginary, and the imaginary is the real": they will appoint a strong forward with a large dorsal fin to swim on the water surface to attract the attention of the seal group .

At this time, the other killer whales dived deeper and approached quietly from the left and right sides of the seal group. Hearing only one command (of course, only they can hear their command, it is ultrasound after all), the killer whales on both sides jumped out of the sea, opened their blood basins and opened their mouths to give the seals a lightning strike. 

The seals were frightened. Rong lost her color, so she had no choice but to flee and plunge into the sea. As for the guys with inflexible legs and poor reactions, they have become the dead souls under the sharp teeth of killer whales.

 

But in fact, the strategy to this step is only a false move. The main purpose of the killer whales that suddenly jumped out is to intimidate the seal group and make them jump into the sea in a panic. 

Once in the sea, the Nature TV will automatically switch the channel and start broadcasting the killer whale exclusive program.

 

The fastest swimming speed of the killer whale can reach 55km/h, and the northern seal, the representative of the seals, can only reach 8km/h even if they do their best.

 

At this time, the big killer whale that previously served as the bait took the lead in attacking, and the killer whales ambushing in deeper waters followed closely behind. So blood, fat, meat, and fur (the fur seals are hairy). All kinds of things are either swallowed in the abdomen, or torn into pieces, just floating in the upper, middle and lower layers of the sea, as if they are showing to the world. 

This is the collective cemetery of the sea dogs. The picture is really too bloody, so I just touched it here.

 

 

 

Picture 13: Rao Ah Rao ~ Dance of Killer Whales

 

The killer whale population living in New Zealand mainly feeds on cartilaginous fish, and its menu includes a variety of ray fish and sharks. For killer whales, sharks are more than just food, they are also their competitors, so if they can fill their stomachs and eliminate a guy who will snatch their food resources, such a cost-effective business will kill two birds with one stone. Why not?

 

When attacking large filter-feeding sharks, they basically use wolf pack tactics to win by number; but if their opponents are similar to themselves or smaller (the great white sharks, ferret sharks and Pacific sleeping sharks are all in this category), the tiger The whale will use the hand-to-hand tactics of "fist and fist": one after another killer whales swing their tails to increase their speed, and directly slam these sharks from the side.

 

 

 

Figure 14: Killer whale hitting a shark

 

After evading the powerful collisions time and time again, some sharks concussed their brains and fell into a state of fainting after turning their eyes. Next, the killer whale with its index finger moved swallowed its saliva and opened its mouth wide to eat and chew.

 

What are sharks most afraid of? The answer is killer whale

In 1997, cetacean researchers discovered that when killer whales in the Farallen Islands were hunting great white sharks, they used the above methods to knock the great white sharks stunned, and then they turned the shark's whole body in a circle so that its belly was facing up. The great white shark suffocated and died before tearing its body apart and eating its flesh. There was a cruel hunt like a revenge ritual.

 

An interesting digression-for great white sharks, killer whales may be the most unwilling creatures to see in the vast ocean. They are afraid of killer whales, scared to the point of incredible.

 

 

 

Picture 15: Retreat, there are killer whales here!

 

Scientists have done a study in the western waters of Australia where great white sharks gather. After they played the calls of killer whales, the great white sharks in the surrounding waters looked like a group of frightened wild horses, turning their heads and fleeing; for as long as three hours. During the playing time of, not even one shark appeared in the sea area.

 

Today, the calls of killer whales have been proven to have a strong shark repellent effect. Researchers are using this advantage to transform the beaches, so that the beaches where tourists gather are protected from sharks and become safer.

 

The ruthless role of the ocean hunting ground

Having said that, among the killer whale's predation methods, the most wonderful thing may be the next trick-"Mantis catches cicadas, and the oriole is behind."

 

Killer whales living in many areas have the habit of preying on birds, and birds such as cormorants and seagulls are regular visitors to their stomachs. There was a record that killer whales deliberately drove schools of fish to the surface of the sea, and the seagulls flying in the sky took a look, oh my god, good fellow! Fish are densely packed! So the seagulls roared and plunged into the sea, and began to prey on small fish.

 

 

 

Picture 16: Orca herd driving away prey

 

At this time, hehe, while showing a smug grin, the killer whale quickly floated up, swallowing many greedy seagulls in their mouths, and asked them to settle down in their stomachs and spend the rest of their lives without thinking. .

 

The killer whale is a cunning and intelligent animal. In nature’s hunting grounds and wars against other creatures, they are majestic and commanding generals, as well as far-sighted and talented staff and soldiers, and at the same time decisive and unhesitating frontline fighters.

 

The three advantages converge in one place, no wonder they can sail across the four oceans and become the most feared and ruthless characters in the sea.

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