Presentation is the simplest in nature. Interesting facts about simple things

Protozoa are single-celled animals that may have one, two or more nuclei. Single-celled eukaryotes live in colonies and are considered the most numerous and oldest inhabitants of the earth. The simplest organisms that had a nucleus appeared about 1.5 billion years ago. Living organisms without a nucleus appeared about 4 billion years ago.

Interesting information

Different types

1. A tablespoon of sea sand is not so much, however, it contains 100-200 thousand shells of foraminifera, a marine protozoan.
2. Euglena green feeds like a plant on chlorophyll, but under unfavorable conditions for this type of nutrition, Euglena can eat like an animal - on other creatures.
3. Sporozoa is a protozoan that does not have any forms of movement.
4. The shape of the amoeba body is constantly changing, and the sizes can be very different. For example, the size of a small amoeba can be a quarter of a millimeter, and a large one 8 millimeters.
5. Some microorganisms reproduce by fission. Paramecia can divide up to three times a day.
6. The simplest Ciliates have a peculiar skeleton, which consists of polysaccharides.
7. The flagellar microorganism monas stigmatica is considered the fastest. This organism, which consists of one cell, can run in one second a distance that is forty times its length. If a person were so fast, he would overcome more than 60 meters in one second.
8. The empty shells of rhizopods that lived in the sea in ancient times accumulated over many millions of years. It was from them that calcareous (sedimentary) rocks were formed. The chalk we use to write on the blackboard at school is made up of the shells of these microorganisms.

Infusoria slipper

Infusoria slipper is an amazing predator:

1. Among the protozoa there are also predators. The most famous representative of unicellular predators is the ciliate shoe. The ciliates feed on microbes through the mouth cavity, which sucks in water along with the microbes.
2. The speed of movement of the shoe infusoria is approximately 10 sizes of its body per second.
3. Not only microbes, but also other, smaller protozoa, are also at risk of becoming ciliates' lunch.

The paper presents interesting facts from the life of various groups of animals. I hope that the use of this information will make the lesson more interesting when studying the course "Zoology". This information can be of interest to students, become an incentive in the study of biology: find interesting information about animals and provide them in the form of creative work in the form of messages or presentations.

The selection of material is made on the basis of information from the Internet, as well as from popular science literature. 1. Teremov A., Rokhlov V. Entertaining zoology. AstPress, 2002. 2. Records of nature. comp. Makarova N.E. Minsk. Modern writer. 2001

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MOST - THE MOST… INTERESTING ANIMALS

SIMPLE (SINGLE-CELLULAR)

The best of the best…

The biggest from ever-existing single-celled organisms - sea rhizomes of foraminifera. The calcareous shells of these protozoa, which lived more than 70 million years ago, reached a diameter of 22 cm.

The fastest of the protozoa, a representative of the flagellated monas stigmatica is considered. This unicellular organism can cover a distance 40 times the length of its body in 1 second (if a person moved at such a speed, then in a second he would overcome an average of about 66 meters with a height of 165 cm).

It is interesting…

1. In one tablespoon of sea sand, there are 100 - 200 thousand shells of dead marine unicellular rhizomes - foraminifers.
2. The empty shells of dead sea rhizomes, accumulating over millions of years, formed thick layers of calcareous (sedimentary) rocks. Ordinary school chalk is a cluster of small shells of marine unicellular animals.
3. In one cubic centimeter of the contents of the stomach of a cow, there are up to a million special unicellular ciliates that ensure the digestion of the hard cell membranes of plants. The total mass of ciliates inhabiting the stomach of one cow reaches 3 kg.
4. At rest (cysts), protozoa remain viable for more than 16 years.
5. The offspring of one ciliate - shoes for the year could be (subject to the survival of all descendants) 75 10 individuals! A hollow ball touching the Sun with one side and the Earth with the other (the distance from the Sun to the Earth is 170 million km) could contain so many ciliates.
6. In the digestive system of termite insects that feed on wood, protozoa live, which help termites digest the hard shells of plant cells.

COELENTERATES

The best of the best…

The largest coelenterates is an arctic jellyfish cyanide capillata that lives in the northwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean. One of the representatives of this species, washed ashore during a storm, had a bell diameter of 2.28 m, and its tentacles were 36.5 m long.

most dangerous coralzoantaria Palythoa, stinging cells contain polytoxin - the most potent poison of all studied; 0.01 mg of this poison is capable of killing an adult mouse.

The longest tentaclesin furrowed anemone, with a diameter of 1.5 m.

The most poisonous jellyfishAustralian sea wasp and chiropsalmus jellyfish. The poison secreted by chiropsalmus acts almost instantly; if a person is not provided with medical assistance, death occurs in 5-8 minutes.

The most dangerous coelenterates is the Australian box jellyfish sea wasp. It is considered the most poisonous animal in the world. Its poison paralyzes and stops the work of the human heart for 1 to 3 minutes.

largest coral reef(a colony of tiny coelenterates forming a protective calcareous skeleton around itself) is the Great Barrier Reef on the northeast coast of Australia. Its length is 2027 km, width - 72 km, and the total area - 207 square km.

It is interesting…

1. The venom of the physalia jellyfish resembles the venom of a cobra in its action.
2. From 1/200 of a damaged hydra, a new organism can be grown.
3. The maximum swimming speed of jellyfish is 55 km / h.
4. Many jellyfish have an exorbitant appetite. So, one Black Sea aurelia with a bell diameter of 50 cm absorbs about 10 fry per hour (1 fry in 6 minutes).
5. The body of most jellyfish is formed by a gelatinous mass (mesogley), consisting of 98% water and a small amount of collagen protein, which in humans is part of the skin.
6. In ancient and medieval times, red coral, mined in the Mediterranean, was valued much more than precious stones such as emeralds or rubies.

WORMS

The best of the best…

The longest of all the worms, the nemertine, a marine polychaete worm, is considered to live in the seas of the North-West Atlantic. The worm, thrown out as a result of a storm in 1864 off the coast of Scotland, was about 55 meters long.with a diameter of only 1 cm.

The biggest a species among earthworms, or earthworms, is an Australian earthworm, reaching almost 3 m in length with a diameter of 2.5 cm.

It is interesting…

SHELLS

The best of the best…

The least commonare considered molluscs from the group of brachiopods, or armopods. Only 280 species are known to science, and all of them are extremely rare.

The largest marine gastropodthe trumpeter, found off the coast of Australia in 1979, had a shell 77.2 cm long and 1.01 m in circumference. Its live weight reached almost 18 kg.

The most poisonous gastropodfrom the family of cones, cone-geographer. Mollusk venom can kill a person.

The largest bivalve mollusktriactic. In 1956, a specimen measuring 1.15 m and weighing 333 kg was found off the coast of Japan. In live form, he probably had a mass of just over 340 kg.

The largest eyehas a giant Atlantic octopus. The record specimen was discovered off the coast of Canada in 1878. The diameter of his eye was 50 cm.

CRUSTACEANS

The best of the best…

the largest of all crustaceans, the giant Japanese crab macroheira, which is also called the crab on stilts, is considered. Adult representatives of this species have claws with a span of 3.5 m. Such specimens weigh about 18 kg.

The lowest pressurein lobster, which reaches 8 mm Hg.

The largest crustaceantaka-ashi-gani, or giant spider crab, claw sizes reach up to 3.7 m, and weigh up to 19 kg.

The heaviest marine crustaceanNorth American lobster weighing up to 20 kg and more than 1 m long was caught in 1977 off the coast of Canada.

the heaviest the crustacean is the American, or North Atlantic, lobster. In 1977, a lobster was caught in Canada weighing 20.15 kg and measuring over 1 m in length.

The smallest crustacean - water flea. Its body length is less than 0.25 mm. It lives in the waters of the UK.

The longest-livedamong crustaceans are American lobsters, especially large specimens live up to 50 years.

It is interesting…

1. The blood (hemolymph) of crustaceans is colorless in many cases. But in some, for example, in decapods, which include crayfish, the blood is blue. This is due to the presence in it of the pigment hemocyanin containing copper. In other crustaceans, the blood, just like in humans and other mammals, is colored red by the pigment hemoglobin, which contains iron.
2. Male barnacles have spermatozoa up to 6 mm long. This exceeds the length of the animal itself by 10 times and is an absolute record in the animal kingdom.
3. The chitinous shell of crustaceans is impregnated with calcium carbonate (lime). Such a hard outer skeleton prevents the growth of the animal, so periodically the cancer sheds the old cover (molts). During molting, while the new chitinous cover has not yet hardened, the animal is actively growing. A freshly molted crayfish usually eats the discarded old tight cover in order to make up for the lack of lime and make the new cover more durable.

arachnids

The best of the best…

The biggest representative of arachnids - tropical spider - tarantula living in the north-east of South America. Caught in 1965, the male of this species had a limb span of 28 cm. The female, caught in 1985 in Suriname, weighed 122.2 g.

The fastest spiderslong-legged solar spiders, developing speeds of over 16 km / h.

The noisiest spiderthe European buzzing spider makes a buzzing sound audible to the human ear, and the purring spider makes sounds reminiscent of a cat's purr.

The largest among scorpionsis considered to be an imperial scorpion that lives in Equatorial Guinea. Adult specimens of this species, which are black in color, weigh up to 60 kg.

underground scorpionAlacran tartarus has been found in caves over 800m deep.

The smallest representative of spidersis a spider native to Western Samoa. Its body size is only 0.43mm, which is the size of a typographic dot.

The fastest among arachnids - long-legged salpugs living in Africa. Some salpugs at short distances can reach speeds of up to 16 km / h.

The largest trapping netweaver spiders build from the web: the circumference of their network is about 6 m.

The simplest webthe American spider has a bolas that uses a single thread

The strongest threadin Achaearenea tepidariorum, capable of catching a small mouse, which at the same time hovering above the ground.

The most poisonousConsidered to be Brazilian "stray" spiders, they secrete a strong nerve-paralytic venom. These large aggressive spiders often enter homes and hide in clothes and shoes. When disturbed, they bite several times in a row. The Central Asian karakurt spider, called the black death, also gained a very bad reputation, it is also very poisonous.

It is interesting…

1. The arachnoid glands of spiders open on the abdomen with arachnoid warts and secrete several varieties of cobwebs - dry, wet, sticky, corrugated, etc. Different varieties of cobwebs serve different purposes - making a trapping net, a living house, an egg cocoon.
2. The thread produced by spiders is very strong: the breaking load for the web is from 40 to 261 kg per 1 square millimeter of section. Steel wire of the same diameter is less durable than cobwebs.
3. Accurate studies of American scorpion venom have shown that 0.0003 mg of this venom per 1 g of mouse weight is a lethal dose. When stinging, the scorpion injects much more poison into the victim - more than 3 mg. This amount of poison can kill mice with a total weight of 10 kg.
4. A dog tick sucking blood weighs 223 times more than a hungry one. A bull tick in 3 weeks, while it develops from a larva into an adult arachnid, sucks out so much blood that it increases its weight by 10,000 times.
5. One scientist, observing the activity of a weaver spider, recorded the speed of the production of a cobweb thread - 180 cm per minute - and extracted about 140 m of cobwebs.
6. The proboscis of blood-sucking mites has a special apparatus of hooks pointing backwards. These hooks act as a holding anchor, allowing the mite to attach firmly to the host's skin. Simultaneously with the introduction into the skin of the proboscis, the tick injects saliva containing ixodine, a substance that prevents blood clotting, into the wound. In the same way, various infections are transmitted into the circulatory system of the host organism.
7. Scientists have found that the web thread produced by spiders carries a small negative electrical discharge. Spiders need webs for more than just hunting. So, young spiders settle in nature, planning on cobweb threads and flying huge distances. At the same time, air travelers in flight never collide with each other, their webs do not touch when landing. This is due to the electrostatic repulsive forces of the same (negatively) charged webs.

INSECTS

The best of the best…

The most prolificOf the multicellular animals on the planet, insects are considered. So, it is estimated that under favorable conditions, the mass of the offspring of only one female of the cabbage white butterfly per year can be 822 million tons, which is 3 times the weight of the entire population of our planet.

The largest termitesMacrotermes goliaph reaches a length of 2.2 cm with a wingspan of 8.8 cm.

The largest grasshopper of the CIS countriessteppe dybka 7.5 cm long.

The most gluttonousOn the planet, insects are also considered animals. So the caterpillar of one of the butterflies of North America in the first 48 hours of life absorbs an amount of food that is 86 thousand times its own weight.

The most greedy insectthe caterpillar of the polyphemus butterfly, in the first 56 days of life, absorbs food, the volume of which exceeds the weight of the caterpillar by 86 thousand times.

the strongest among the animals are insects: tests have shown that the rhinoceros beetle can hold on its back a weight 850 times its own. The forest dung beetle is capable of moving a load 400 times its own weight.

The largest clustersin one place form insects. According to one American scientist who observed a swarm of locusts, the area occupied by it was 514,374 square kilometers. Presumably, it contained up to 12.5 trillion locusts, and its total weight was at least 25 million tons.

The most dangerous Animals on our planet are considered to be malarial mosquitoes that carry the causative agents of malaria - single-celled protozoan malarial plasmodia. From malaria, in the entire history of mankind since the Stone Age, half of the entire population of the Earth has died. Even today, more than 200 million people a year suffer from malaria.

The largest and heaviestamong insects, goliath beetles are considered to live in Equatorial Africa. The weight of adult males of the royal goliath reaches 100 g, and the length is 11 cm.

The longest Insects in the world are giant stick insects from Indonesia. Females of this species reach a length of 33 cm. The longest beetle (excluding the length of the antennae) is the Hercules beetle that lives in Central and South Africa. Its body length is 19 cm.

the biggest in the world, the diurnal butterfly is the Alexandra birdwing, found in New Guinea. Females of this species have a wingspan of more than 28 cm. The largest nocturnal moth is considered a rare scoop agrippina from Brazil, whose wingspan reaches more than 30 cm.

The smallest The butterfly in the world is considered to be a moth that lives in the Canary Islands: its wingspan is about 2 mm.

The highest speedflight among insects develop dragonflies. So, the Australian dragonfly can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h for a short time. Tropical cockroaches run faster than all other insects. A cockroach about 3 cm long moves at a speed of 120-130 cm / s (that is, in a second it covers a distance more than 40 times the length of its body).

The most acute sense of smellhave male imperial moth butterflies, which can smell the female at a distance of 11 km against the wind. It was found that the smell is emitted by a special substance secreted by the female in a negligible amount - 0.0001 mg.

It is interesting…

1. Dragonfly wings have special thickenings at the ends. These thickenings eliminate the harmful vibration of the wings that occurs during flight - flutter. The elimination of flutter in modern high-speed aircraft was achieved in a similar way - by thickening the leading edge of the wing.
2. Extinct ancient dragonflies that lived more than 200 million years ago were of enormous size: their wingspan reached 90 cm.
3. The songs of crickets, locusts and grasshoppers are a chirring that occurs due to the friction of one part of the body against another. Some species of these insects have a row of tubercles on the inner side of the thighs of the hind legs. The sound is produced when the raised leg rubs its tubercles against the forewings.
4. The compound eyes of insects consist of many separate simple eyes - ommatidia, or facets. The number of simple eyes depends on the activity of the insect and its lifestyle: for example, in a dragonfly, which is a predator, each eye contains 20-30 thousand facets, in a fly - 4000, in a butterfly - 1700, in an ant - 1200. Any moving object consistently enters the field vision of each simple eye, so the insect can accurately determine the speed of a moving object. Based on these features of ommatidia, a device was designed that could instantly measure the speed of aircraft. Traffic police officers (GAI) have the same devices - radars that measure the speed of a car.
5. These blood-sucking flies appear only with the onset of autumn. They bite painfully. Some believe that these are ordinary house flies, which become so evil by autumn. In fact, these are completely different flies and they are called zhigalki.
6. At the slightest danger, the bombardier beetle releases a caustic hot substance from the holes located on its abdomen, the temperature of which reaches + 100 degrees. At the same time, a loud bang is heard. The abdomen of the beetle is very mobile and it can "shoot bursts".

FISH

The best of the best…

The largest marine fishIt is considered a plankton-eating whale shark that lives in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The exact dimensions of one of the whale sharks caught were: 12.65 m in length and 7 m in girth of the thickest part of the body. The weight of this fish reached 15 tons.

The densest skinCalifornian and Mediterranean moray eels possess, which cannot be cut with a knife or pierced with a hammer, a bullet does not pierce.

The largest marine predatory fishis a white shark carcharadon, often called a shark - cannibal or white death. Adult fish of this species reach an average length of 4.5 m with a weight of 520 - 770 kg. However, there were cases when even larger specimens came across. So, off the coast of Cuba, a female white shark was caught, almost 6.5 m long and weighing 3310 kg. The liver of this shark alone weighed 456 kg.

The largest bony fishis considered an ordinary oar king, common in almost all seas and oceans. In 1963, American scientists from the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory saw a fish that was more than 15 m long. Presumably, it could weigh about 500 kg.

The most cruel fishsharp-toothed piranhas that attack any creature that is wounded or struggling in the water.

Most Powerful Bitebelongs to the dark shark, which has developed a force of 60 kg, which is equivalent to a pressure on the tips of the teeth of 3 tons / cm2.

The heaviest among bony fishthe moon is widespread in all oceans - a fish, often swimming on its side. Near the coast of Australia, a fish 4.3 m long and weighing 2235 kg was caught.

the most prolificamong the fish, the moon is also considered a fish. For one spawning, females spawn up to 300 million eggs. However, during the next year, less than 1% of juveniles survive from this number of eggs. The rest die, eaten by a variety of aquatic predators.

The most acute sense of smellin sharks, capable of detecting the presence of one part of mammalian blood in 100 million parts of water.

The largest freshwaterEuropean catfish is considered a fish. So, in the 19th century, catfish were caught in the rivers of Russia, the length of which was 4.6 m, and the weight reached 340 kg.

The fastest among the fish, the Pacific sailboat is considered. At short distances, this fish with a xiphoid outgrowth on its head and a high dorsal fin can reach speeds of up to 109 km / h. Slightly inferior to the sailboat is bluefin tuna, capable of reaching speeds of up to 104 km / h.

longest livedThe fish is the Japanese koi fish, a type of mirror carp. It is known that the age of a fish can be determined by the number of age rings on the scales (just like the age of a tree - by the number of growth rings). So, in a koi that lived in one of the ponds in Japan, the number of age rings on the scales corresponded to 228 years.

The most poisonous fish in the worldIt is considered a wart that lives in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. She has the largest poisonous glands among fishes, opening with ducts on the needles of her fins. The poison contains the substance tetrodotoxin, which has a nerve-paralytic effect. Touching the fins of this fish is fatal to humans. Death occurs within a few minutes from respiratory and cardiac arrest. Interestingly, a fish closely related to the wart - fugu - is eaten in Japan. True, every cook who wants to cook dishes from this fish must receive a diploma from a special school and pass an exam in which he himself must eat the fish he has cooked.

It is interesting…

1. It is known that buoyancy, that is, the ability to effortlessly stay in the water column, is the most important feature of most fish. But it is achieved in different ways: bone fish have a swim bladder, cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) accumulate fat reserves in the liver and other organs and tissues of the body, which lowers the density of the body of the fish in relation to the density of water.
2. The Nile pike is capable of creating electrical discharges with a frequency of up to 300 pulses / s.
3. There are more than 40 species of flying fish. Among them, longfins and flyers are most often found - small fish with a body length of 20 to 50 cm.
4. The muscular system of electric fish - torpedo rays, electric eels, Nile pike, etc. - generates biological electricity. Each such "electric battery" consists of 400,000 - 1,000,000 "elements". Fish have an electric charge of sufficiently high power and strength. So the average representative of the electric eel can give an electric charge of 400 volt-amperes. There were cases when especially large specimens of eels produced a current of 650 volt-amperes.
5. In 1961, the English ship Leopold was rammed by a swordfish. The ship's steel plating was pierced and leaked heavily. The sailors had to call a rescue aircraft with an emergency team. In the past, ships in England were even insured against attack by living swords.
6. The expression "dumb as a fish" is far from the truth. Fish squeak, wheeze, clatter, chirp - a whole cacophony of sounds can be heard with the help of special devices. The most "talkative" fish is the trigla, or gurnard. With the help of the swim bladder, she makes sharp sounds similar to grunting or snoring.
7. The extinct ancestors of the white shark, or man-eating shark, who lived in the ancient seas more than 70 million years ago, reached a length of 30 m. The teeth of these fossil sharks were up to 13 cm long, and a car could easily fit in the open jaws.
8. It is estimated that one tiger shark can grow, use and shed up to 24,000 teeth in 10 years.
9. The shark can smell blood, even if 1 g of blood is dissolved in 1000 liters of water.

Amphibians, or amphibians

The best of the best…

The largest amphibian- gigantic salamander. This is a very rare animal that lives in the mountain rivers and streams of South China. It reaches a length of 1.6 m and can weigh over 30 kg. For example, a salamander caught in Huan province was 1.8 m long and weighed 65 kg.

longest frog jumpbelongs to the African moor frog. In the frog competition in 1977, she made a 10.3 m jump.

The largest toad- yeah, living in Central and South America. It reaches a length of 25 cm and a width of 12 cm and can weigh more than 1 kg.

The smallest toadon Earth, the Brazilian two-toed toad is considered - its length is only 1 cm.

The largest of the green frogslake frog, reaching more than 15 cm, living in Germany and France. This is the same frog that the French eat.

The largest of all frog species- African goliath, which can be up to 40 cm long and can weigh up to 3 kg.

The smallest frog in the world- a dwarf frog that lives in Cuba, it barely reaches 12 mm in length.

The strongest poisonsecreted by the skin glands - batrachotoxin - the frog has a terrible leaf climber (cocoi), its length is only 2-3 cm, and it weighs no more than 1 g. It lives in the western part of Colombia. With the poison of this frog, local Indians lubricate arrowheads. An animal wounded by such an arrow becomes paralyzed and dies. The secretions of the skin glands of the cocoi frog are 20 times stronger than the poison of other poisonous frogs and can freely penetrate through the pores of human skin. It is the most powerful non-protein poison known today. On average, one frog contains so much poison that it is enough to kill 1,500 people, and 30 mg of the poison of this frog is enough to kill 30,000 mice. Dried poison remainsdeadly for 15 years, it is 10 times stronger than the poison of puffer fish.

The most poisonous amphibians in our countrydifferent types of toads are considered: gray, green, reed. The skin of toads contains many poisonous glands, among which two large parotid glands stand out. The poison of these glands, when squeezed, can be thrown out to a distance of up to 1 m. When it comes into contact with human skin, it causes burning and redness of the skin, but not the appearance of warts.

REPTILES, or REPTILES

The best of the best…

The largest reptileconsidered combed crocodile living in Indonesia and Australia. Adult crocodiles of this species have an average length of 4.5 m and weigh about 500 kg. Once a crocodile 8.6 m long and weighing more than 1 ton was killed.

The most ferocious dinosaurVelociraptor, sharp teeth and claws tore through any prey with ease.

The largest flying dinosaurswere quetzalcoatlia, the wingspan was 12 m.

The dumbest dinosaurstegosaurus, the brain was the size of a walnut and weighed 70 g, with a length of 9 m.

largest dinosaur clawswere in Therizinosaurus, the length of the outer bend of the Therizinosaurus claw reached 91 cm.

The largest lizardis a kabaragoya monitor lizard living in New Guinea: its length is 4.8 m along with the tail. It competes with the Komodo monitor lizard from the Indonesian islands of Komodo. The largest specimen of this monitor lizard reached a length of 3 m and weighed 166 kg.

The longest lizardSalvadoran or Papuan monitor lizard, reaching a length of 4.75, the length of the tail is 70% of its total length.

The most dangerous lizardsgila-tooth, gila monster and escorpion living in Mexico.

The largest sea turtleconsidered a leatherback turtle that lives in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The length of adult turtles from the head to the tip of the tail is about 2 m, the weight reaches more than 450 kg. Record weight - 865 kg, length - 2.5 m.

The largest land tortoiseis a gigantic, or elephant, turtle from the Seychelles - its weight reaches 300 kg.

The smallest turtlethe land motley turtle has a shell only 6-9 cm long, and the sea turtle has an Atlantic ridley, 50-70 cm long.

The deepest turtle divemade in 1987 by a leatherback turtle equipped with sensors, diving to a depth of 1200 m in the waters off the Virgin Islands.

The largest of all types of snakes- anaconda, or water boa: the average length of an adult anaconda is 5.5-6 m. The record is a length of 8.5 m, weight - 230 kg, in girth the body of this snake had 110 cm.

The largest venomous snake- King cobra, reaching a length of 5-6 m. Its poison can kill an elephant. Baby cobras can kill as soon as they hatch from their eggs.

The fastest snakemamba. The speed of its movement reaches more than 11 km / h

The longest snake fangshas a poisonous Gaboon viper from tropical Africa, reaches a length of 5 cm.

The most venomous land snakeis a smooth-headed snake native to Australia. 110 mg of this snake's venom is enough to kill 125,000 mice.

The most dangerous species of crocodiles for humans- a large Indo-Pacific, or saltwater crocodile. Every year, crocodiles of this species kill up to a thousand people.

The longest living reptile, apparently, is a land giant Seychellois tortoise. There are cases when turtles of this species lived in captivity for more than 150 years.

It is interesting…

1. Not a large number of cobra venom has an analgesic effect and can be used as a substitute for morphine for people suffering from cancer. At the same time, unlike morphine, snake venom acts for a longer time, does not cause side effects and addiction of the body. Viper venom is successfully used as a hemostatic agent and is used in the treatment of hemophilia (hereditary blood incoagulability).
2. Gecko lizards can walk freely on nearly vertical walls and ceilings, which is why they are sometimes referred to as anti-gravity lizards. It turns out that on the soles of the feet of geckos there are 18-25 rows of tiny sticks-suction cups. When the lizard puts its foot on the support, air is squeezed out of the suction cups under the weight of the animal and a vacuum is formed. There are more than 1,000 of these sticks on each gecko foot.
3. There is an interesting pattern: the hungrier a poisonous snake is, the faster its victim dies when bitten, since a hungry snake releases more poison. For poison is altered saliva, and the poisonous glands are nothing but the parotid salivary glands.
4. Recently, scientists have found out the cause of the famous "crocodile tears", which serve to remove excess salts that have entered the body along with food and water.
5. Animals have different sensitivities to snake venom. The hedgehog is the least susceptible to it - it will withstand a dose of poison 40 times greater than a guinea pig. The same dose of rattlesnake venom can kill 10 snakes, 24 dogs, 25 bulls, 60 horses, 6,000 rabbits, 8,000 rats, 20,000 mice, and 300,000 pigeons.
6. In the collared cobra, sometimes called the spitting cobra, the venom is so strong that if it enters the eyes of mammals and humans, it causes blindness for several days.
7. Snake venom is a truly strong cocktail of various proteins and enzymes. It has a destructive effect on living tissue, but does not play any role in digestion. The formula of the venom varies from snake to snake, but the most common poisons usually contain: a component to paralyze the nervous system, a component to stop the heart, which disrupts blood flow, as well as other components, some of which destroy the proteins of the victim's tissues, others are the cause the formation of blood clots (blood clots) that clog blood vessels and stop the movement of blood, others cause extensive internal hemorrhages.
8. Since snakes cannot bite off pieces and chew food, they swallow it whole. In snakes, the jaws are connected by movable elastic ligaments, thanks to such a movable connection, the snake can move its jaws and open its mouth so wide that it swallows prey several times larger than itself. The teeth of the snakes are directed inward and this ensures that the prey slides in the right direction. In addition, snakes produce a huge amount of saliva to wet the prey and make it easier to slide down the esophagus.
9. When studying the development of alligators, scientists found that at a temperature of +32 degrees, mostly females hatched from eggs, and at temperatures above +33.5 degrees, more males appeared. The same pattern is observed in the development of some turtles.
10. Some species of snakes, including rattlesnakes and pit vipers, detect prey by infrared radiation from its body. Under the eyes they have sensitive cells that detect the slightest changes in temperature, up to fractions of a degree, and thus orient the snakes to the location of the victim. This highly sensitive device allows the snake to locate its prey in complete darkness.
11. For snakes, the senses of taste and smell are very important. The quivering forked tongue, which some people think of as a "snake's sting," actually collects traces of various substances quickly disappearing into the air and carries them to sensitive depressions on the inside of the mouth, where a special device is located connected to the olfactory nerves.

BIRDS

The best of the best…

largest flightless bird- common ostrich, which is found in Central Ethiopia and Niger. Some males of this species reach 2.74 cm in height and weigh 156.5 kg.

largest flying bird- African bustard. Hunters shot birds that weighed about 20 kg. The mute swan can also reach a significant weight - up to 22.5 kg.

Largest wingspanhas a wandering albatross found in the southern hemisphere. The wingspan of these birds reaches 3.6 m. Another bird with an average wingspan of 3.3 m is the African marabou. So, in Central Africa, a male of this species with a wingspan of 4 m was shot.

The smallest bird in the worldis a bee hummingbird that lives in Cuba: adult males reach a length of 5.7 cm, with half of this length falling on the beak and tail. These little ones weigh about 1.5 g.

Highest flying speedthe peregrine falcon develops: its speed in diving for prey can be 350 km / h. In horizontal flight, ducks and geese have the highest speed: it approaches 100 km / h.

Longest and deepest diveshowing emperor penguins. According to scientists, they can dive to a depth of 265 m and stay under water for about 20 minutes.

The sharpest visionin birds of prey. The golden eagle sees a hare in good light at a distance of 4.2 km. A peregrine falcon spots a dove at a distance of 8 km. However, the vision of birds of prey is black and white, they do not perceive color.

The largest nestsbuild bald eagles living in the United States. One day, a nest almost 3 m wide and 6 m high was discovered. The weight of the nest, obviously, exceeded 2 tons. It is possible that several generations of birds took part in the construction of such a nest over several years. The incubation mounds erected by weed hens in Australia are up to 4.6 m high and 10.5 m wide. The weight of such a nest is more than 300 tons.

It is interesting…

1. Weed chickens living in Australia, unlike other birds, do not warm their eggs with the heat of their bodies, but hatch their chicks in "incubators" - they bury their eggs in mounds of sun-warmed soil and rotting plants. These mounds, and sometimes they can reach very impressive sizes, are raked by chickens on their own with their paws. Birds manage to maintain a temperature of + 33 degrees inside such structures, despite the vagaries of the weather. The hatched chicks dig their way to the surface.
2. Egg white albumin is used for poisoning with salts of heavy metals, especially mercury and copper. It forms insoluble compounds with these metals, which delays their absorption into the body and, in combination with emetics, allows you to quickly rid the body of the poison.
3. The flight of birds, in comparison with other methods of movement of animals, is more economical than walking or running. Large birds for the same flight distance expend even less energy than a jet liner.

MAMMALS, or Beasts

The best of the best…

The largest and heaviest mammal in the worldis a blue whale, the recorded length of the largest blue whale is 33.6 m. Another whale, caught in Antarctica, was 27.6 m long and weighed 190 tons. The weight of the animal’s tongue was 4.3 tons, and the heart was about 700 kg .

The fastest marine mammal- killer whale, capable of speeds up to 55 km / h.

The slowest of mammalsis a three-toed sloth native to South America. On the ground, it moves at a speed of 1.5 - 2.5 m / min. On trees, it is somewhat faster - in a minute it overcomes a distance of about 5 m.

Deepest Divehas been reported in sperm whales. The depth to which this species of whale can dive is over 2500 m. Once, a sperm whale was killed off the coast of Australia, which surfaced after diving for about two hours. Two small sharks living at the bottom were found in his stomach. And the depth of the ocean in this place reached 3200 m.

longest sleepnoted in a ground squirrel living in Alaska. She sleeps 9 months a year. For the remaining 3 months, this rodent eats, brings offspring and stores food in its hollow.

Longest gestation periodin the Asian elephant - from 610 to 760 days (more than 2 years).

The fattest milkamong mammals, female sperm whales have: it contains up to 54% fat. For one feeding, the kitten receives 15-20 buckets of thick, like sour cream, milk. Feeding lasts 13 months from the moment of his birth.

The largest representative of the order of predatoryconsidered to be a polar bear. The average weight of males of this species is 380-410 kg with a body length of 2.5 m. Once a bear was killed in Alaska, weighing more than a ton (1000 kg), its length from the tip of the fashion to the tail was 3.4 m.

The smallest representative of the order of predators- kindness. With a body length of 13-25 cm, this animal weighs 40-70 g.

The largest member of the rodent orderthe capybara, or capybara, is considered to live in the marshy forests of South America. Animals reach a length of 1.4 m and weigh up to 110 kg. The largest rodent of our fauna - the beaver - reaches a length of 1 m and weighs over 30 kg.

The biggest hornsof the currently existing animals, the Asiatic buffalo, which lives in India, possesses. The length of the horns, measured from the tip of one horn across the forehead to the tip of the other, in one of the male buffalo was 4.3 m.

It is interesting…

1. The shape of the pupil in animals can be different. So, in a goat the pupil is square, in some antelopes it looks like a stylized image of the heart, and in domestic cats it is slit-like or fusiform.
2. The mystery of the glow of the eyes of animals in the dark is not so difficult. The fact is that the inner surface of the eyes of cats, dogs and wolves has a reflective mirror layer - the tapetum. It is not solid, but consists of small silvery crystals that collect the weak rays of stars, the moon and other distant light sources. Reflected light varies in strength and color. It all depends on the shape, size and angle of rotation of the crystals.
3. Rodent teeth are remarkably strong. Rats and mice gnaw through lead insulation and concrete, and one porcupine gnawed a hole in a glass bottle.
4. The hard-skeletal shrew lives in Africa. The axial part of her skeleton is an interlacing of bone "reinforcement", reminiscent of openwork metal structures. These animals are not in danger of being crushed, even if an elephant steps on their hole. The shrew itself, no larger than 10-12 cm in size, can withstand a load equal to the average weight of an adult.
5. Bats are ordinary vampires, or desmodes, found in South America, feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals. The vampire sits on a sleeping cow, horse, or human in such a way that the victim does not even feel it. With razor-sharp teeth, the vampire cuts off small pieces of skin until blood flows (a substance contained in the vampire's saliva prevents blood from clotting), folds the tongue into a groove and laps it at high speed. For a year, one desmod can drink up to 12 liters of blood.

My colleague cites a case when five hunters shot a wild boar, to celebrate, they immediately began to butcher it and fry kebabs. They washed down the barbecue with an unmeasured amount of vodka. The men are healthy, they say that each drank at least a liter.

All five were in intensive care with a severe form of trichinosis. They no longer hoped to save two, but apparently God loves fools.

People don't learn anything.

Opinions were divided.

There are two approaches to prevention:

2) Opponents of this method refer to the toxic effect of drugs on the human body and recommend to undergo a three-time examination in the laboratory every six months (with intervals of three to four days) - to take feces, a smear, scraping for enterobiosis and not be poisoned by chemistry, because each drug, even with a single dose has an effect on the liver.

Choose yourself.

Prevention

Trichinosis- checking meat in veterinary laboratories. Trichinella meat is destroyed in any case. There are cases when hunters, sparing meat, boiled pieces for a long time and fed them to dogs. The dogs then had to be finished off so that they would not suffer.

Boiling meat 1 cm thick for 2-3 hours theoretically kills Trichinella. But I repeat, trichinosis meat is thrown away. And it's better to burn it so that the homeless don't pick it up.

Freezing with trichinosis practically does not work. I have a friend in the veterinary laboratory, so he has been tormenting a piece of pork with trichinella for six months. It freezes, then thaws, cuts off a piece and places it in a favorable environment. So these bastards have been coming to life for half a year.

Where to take the meat?

To the veterinary laboratory.

For intestinal- this is most often fever, nausea, vomiting, loose stools, skin rashes like urticaria, heaviness and pain in the abdomen, fatigue

For trichinosis- the onset of the disease, as in intestinal, then pain in the joints and muscles, swelling of the face. I would like to emphasize the last sign, since the hunting season is in full swing and many hunters bring home wild boar meat.

Cysticercosis- depending on the hit:
Brain - headaches, convulsions, pseudoepileptic seizures
Eyes - visual impairment
Heart - heart rhythm failure
Dirofilariasis - the feeling that someone is crawling under the skin.

Antibiotics are another group of drugs designed to affect microorganisms.

When traveling to Africa and Southeast Asia, you should follow a few simple rules:

• Never eat any food outside of large restaurants and cafes(if a Thai offers you a scorpion on a skewer near the hotel, kick him out);
• Do not swim in untested freshwater bodies(only pools and the sea), in fast-flowing mountain rivers - it is still possible, but in lakes, puddles, ponds and swamps, and especially in rice fields - it is better not to;
• Do not walk barefoot on green grass. And don't go barefoot at all. Only on the sand on the beach;
• Wash your hands. Constantly. Several times a day. Before meals and after toilet;
• Do not drink untested water;
• A few weeks after arrival, it is better to go to the laboratory and take tests;
• Rest in your homeland (joke).

Animal lovers

If your cat or dog walks on the street - there is no talk at all.

Once every six months, carry out prophylaxis with veterinary drugs. It can be human, but there is a risk of not calculating the dose, because your pet weighs by no means fifty kilograms.

Imagine you are infected with a creature that not only eats half of your food, but also spoils directly into your body. And it clings to the walls of your intestines with hooks and or suction cups. And it can also be carried to the liver and lymphatic system.

Giardiasis

The topic is slippery. To be honest, I didn't want to pick it up.

Until recently, Giardia was considered a normal human microflora and almost symbionts. Only in recent years have they decided to relocate them to the camp of the enemy. The main problem with Giardia is that they are everywhere. If the analysis showed their absence, then this is a bad analysis.

On the territory of the CIS, they proudly declare that there are no Giardia in our tap water! But laboratories in Germany find Giardia in bottled water and in the mineral water of their famous sources. Either the Germans were so dirty, or something is not being said with us.

Giardia - unlike the worms described above - is the simplest organism. Which means it's very small. Giardia cysts pass through the filters of city water pipes, they are constantly found in wells and columns, lakes and ponds.

Giardia exists in two forms. Mobile and cyst. A person becomes infected with just cysts. Dirty hands, household items are guilty of this. Infection occurs even if you washed the fruit with not too clean water or swallowed lake water while swimming. Our smaller brothers, dogs, cats, rodents can also be sources. Giardia cysts enter the water with the feces of a patient or carrier and survive in water for five to six weeks.

Giardia act on the liver and small intestine. Infected patients have pale skin, vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, rash. In some regions of the CIS, a significant percentage of children and adults are infected with Giardia and are their chronic carriers. By the way, in Europe and the USA in some regions, no less, so let them not show off.

Our body is a compact place for millions of invited and uninvited guests from the world of viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and animals.

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Unicellular animals are a category of organisms that stands outside the system. This means that they cannot be completely attributed to any particular kingdom. Unicellular organisms are distinguished by the absence of highly organized tissues. All animals belonging to this group do not have any common features among themselves. The only thing that unites them is a simple structure.

Single-celled animals are usually so tiny that they can only be seen under a microscope. Their habitat is humid. This is soil and water, as well as the body of a person, an animal. All of them, in one way or another, with the help of various adaptations, adapt to various conditions. First of all, it is the shape of the body. It may not have clear boundaries, constantly change, or, on the contrary, be streamlined, spindle-like or elongated. The types of symmetry also differ: radial, translational-rotational, bilateral. Some unicellular animals have a shell on the outside, others, those that live deep under water, are unusual growths.

The cell that makes up the body of these organisms may contain from one to several nuclei. The shell is either only a membrane or a denser, more stretchable pellicle.

A unicellular organism moves with the help of various cilia, pseudopods, flagella. They also react to the influence of such external factors as changes in temperature, lighting, the presence of chemicals.

Single-celled animals get food in different ways. So, during phagocytosis, outgrowths of the cytoplasm capture solid particles of food. Pinocytosis takes place in several stages: first, the surface of the entire cell captures the liquid, and then absorbs the substances contained in it, processes them with the help of digestive enzymes that fill the vacuoles. Inside some protozoa (chlorella) there are chloroplasts, which, using photosynthesis, can produce organic substances from inorganic substances.

Also, the entire surface of the body of protozoa is involved in gas exchange: decay products and excess water come out through it.

Single-celled animals reproduce both sexually and asexually. It depends on the conditions under which they exist. This is how asexual reproduction works. First, the nucleus is divided into several parts, then the cytoplasm is divided into the same number of parts. Thus, from one it turns out several (at least two).

Both male and female are involved. Their structure and dimensions may differ, or they may be the same. As a result of their fusion, a zygote is formed, which further reproduces independently already asexually. It happens that individuals, in contact, exchange particles of nuclei. In this case, the zygote is not formed.

When conditions do not favor the normal life of the protozoa, their body becomes round, covered with a dense shell. This is how a cyst is formed. As soon as conditions improve, the body is freed from a thick film and begins to lead the same lifestyle as before.

It is generally accepted that unicellular animals were the first to appear on Earth in the process of evolution. Archaea and bacteria are among the most ancient. They are similar in many ways (for example, the absence of a nucleus, the presence of a ring chromosome), for this reason they were previously assigned to the same group. But modern science has proven that archaea have their own structural features, and evolved in a slightly different way. Although they are just as difficult to classify as before. The fact is that archaea have never been grown under laboratory conditions, but were discovered during the analysis of samples taken from the places where they live.

Unicellular organisms are a link without which it is impossible to imagine a full-fledged biocenosis. After all, they are eaten by many animals, which themselves serve as food for a number of other inhabitants of our planet.