Discovery Science 🧬

 teries of the udder. From the alveoli of the udder it enters the cisterns, from there into the ducts, then into the nipple and then into the bucket. So, in one milking, a good modern cow can produce 10-15 liters of milk! And considering that ungulates are milked 2-3 times a day, can you imagine how much effort they have to put in? And this is entirely the result of centuries of selection. Previously, cows were not famous for such high productivity, and they had much smaller udders! Until we came up with the idea of ​​producing milk for ourselves, cows produced it often, but in small portions. In the end, it came out to about only 6-8 liters per day, just enough to feed the calf. Now the cow of the most milk-producing breed is the Holstein, which on average produces from 25 to 30 liters per day. And the best representatives are even capable of producing up to 50 liters of milk! - - - - - - - The Book of Animals was with you! Friends, our group is led by several zoological authors, and sometimes we need money, but VK has destroyed the author’s content and does not pay for advertising. You can support our work in the form of a paid subscription (100 rubles). The button is right in this post. This really saves us from extinction, namely subscription, because we know for sure that we will receive some money per month. Thank you Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Udder: Ever wonder how weird this organ is? There's a story to tell “I haven’t milked a cow, I haven’t seen life!” - that's what my great-grandmother said. Of course, I learned how to milk a cow. But questions about her udder tormented me for many years! Have you ever wondered why it is so strange? Why is it located somewhere under the tail? Why does he have 4 nipples? Why is it so huge? The Book of Animals has collected all the answers to awkward questions in this article. Let's start with question number one - why is it located at the back and not the front of the cow? Or not on the stomach, like pigs or dogs? Everything is simple here: it’s in the back, because it’s so comfortable for the cow herself. There is no need for ungulates to have an udder on top. Unlike primates, they do not hold their offspring in their arms or put them to their breasts. Okay, but why not place the mammary glands on the stomach, like most animals? It's all about anatomy. In front, the cow has a very voluminous chest, inside of which there are lungs and a heart. Next is the stomach with a large four-chamber stomach that can hold over 200 liters of food. Next to this giant stomach are other internal organs and an intestine 40-60 meters long, which is also filled with food! Well, where else to sculpt the udder? So evolution decreed that the organ of milk production should be located in the most convenient place for animals - between the hind legs. Okay, but why are cow udders so weird? Comparing different types of mammary glands, of course, is tactless, but look at girls and chicks: the function of the organ is the same, but the shape is completely different! A cow's udder is not a can, as it might seem at first glance. If you look at the internal structure, you will see separate four lobes. Milk does not splash in them, like in a bucket, and does not flow from one part of the udder to another. Each lobe is independent, as in other animals. It consists of: 1. The mammary gland that produces milk; 2. Tanks where it accumulates; 3. Ducts through which milk comes out; 4. Connective tissue that holds this entire structure; 5. And also veins, arteries, nerves and the nipple itself. Why four separate lobes turned into a single organ is difficult to say. It is impossible to find out in which ungulate ancestors the fusion occurred - the soft tissues of fossil animals are practically not preserved. Why exactly four and not two? This likely provides an advantage when carrying twins, something that aurochs (the wild ancestors of cows) did often enough that selection favored four teats. Plus a larger udder surface = more secretory tissue = more milk per calf. So, we sorted out the structure and oddities. How does milk come out of all this? To begin with, the cow's body intensively filters the blood - it is from this that the finished product is made. To produce 1 liter of milk, it is necessary that about 650(!) liters of blood pass through the veins-ar

  leaves the host itself, leaving a gaping wound open to all infections. Creepy. But these parasites are rare, and on civilized beaches they are usually not found at all. On wild beaches it is better to wear slippers. What conclusion can be drawn from everything written above? And everything is as always. The internet has gotten it all mixed up and is causing a nuisance to the fishing industry, but otherwise harmless sea lice have turned into a “tourist hazard.” In fact, a true sea lice bite is almost impossible, and that's a good thing. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Sea lice: Who bites on the beach and in the water? Here's what you need to know about it I read about sea lice and my hair freezes. These small but terrible monsters manage to simultaneously destroy salmon farms, bite swimmers for all sorts of things, and attack vacationers right on the shore. So much so that their fingers then turn black and become inflamed! What the hell are these creatures? What exactly do holiday destination guides warn about? In fact, the main monster here is the illiteracy of people who, without thinking, throw everything into one basket. There really are sea lice in the World Ocean, and everywhere. This is a whole family of crustaceans numbering 600 species, which exists due to parasitism on fish. And while some of them are relatively harmless and simply feed on mucus, others get under the scales and suck the blood out of the fish, causing enormous damage to both wild populations and “domesticated” fish on farms. But no species of lice has ever been observed to purposefully bite people. Only occasionally their larvae, out of stupidity, can bite a person, but these are isolated bites, from which a healthy person will not even have traces. And yet, if you type “sea lice bites” into the search, you will be presented with a whole heap of photographs with a bright red inflamed rash that itches and itches disgustingly even through the monitor screen. Something doesn’t add up here, don’t you think? What doesn’t add up here is the poor translation from content makers and SMM specialists, whose main task is to fill the site with content, and not be responsible for its quality. They often miss the fact that in the English-speaking environment, sea lice refers not only to fish parasites, but also to small jellyfish and their larvae, which hang out in abundance in shallow tropical and subtropical waters. Which are precisely capable of hurting a person, albeit without significant harm to health. They don’t bite—they simply have nothing to bite with—but they have stinging cells that inject small doses of nerve venom under a person’s skin. It sounds creepy, but it's not as dangerous as it might seem. Yes, sometimes you can get caught in a large concentration of jellyfish larvae. Especially during high and low tides. But the most a healthy person will get is a series of small, burning inflammations that will go away in a few days. But if you directly see an adult jellyfish, then it really can be dangerous and it’s time to swim to the shore. But jellyfish larvae are not interested in fish, at least until they grow up. And some even include sand fleas in the ranks of sea lice. And these are completely parasitic insects with a very unpleasant disposition. Their females crawl under the skin of mammals and grow there, feeding on the blood of a person or animal. The flea torments its owner for about a week, constantly increasing in size and not allowing the wound to heal. After which it shoots out a couple of hundred eggs and

A small selection of interesting things: 1. Royal vulture. Not very pleasant growths, but it's just a goiter. A place where many birds pre-digest their food. 2. Arabian horses have very interesting faces. The result of selection. 3. When a walrus wants to rest or sleep, he does this 😁 4. While Russian grandmothers go out to feed pigeons, South American men feed iguanas, of which there are just as many. 5. The south of South America has its own atmosphere. Cougars intersect with penguin colonies. 6. Male saiga. Lost a horn in the fight for the harem. 7. Echidna looks incredible! 8. A beautiful pangolin that looks so much like a fir cone ☺ 9. Indus dolphin. These extremely rare blind creatures live in the dirty rivers of India and Pakistan. Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

 such close contact is guaranteed to lead to blindness. And here are the figurines. This winter, an international team of scientists was able to study parasite-infected sharks aged 130-150 years and found that their vision was as sharp as in their youth. Age-related changes in the retina are not even recorded in them! The only pity is that this knowledge is absolutely inapplicable to humans. The physiology and lifestyle of Greenland sharks are so different from ours that their methods of extending their life and the health of their organs simply will not work for us, even theoretically. But they are extremely useful for a general understanding of the principles of operation of regeneration mechanisms at the cellular level. Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Greenland shark: Anomalous fish. Lives for 500 years, and her body does not degrade with age at all Today, the Greenland shark is considered the longest-living vertebrate on the planet. Radiocarbon dating of the lens of the shark's eye showed that their age could exceed 500 years! This is several times longer than the life expectancy of other record holders, such as giant tortoises, bowhead whales and humans. Of course, the latter are of keen interest in the anomalous fish. And while some simply study it, like some kind of biological curiosity, others ask: “Can a person do the same?” We used to think that the abnormally long lifespan of Greenland sharks was a side effect of their adaptation to specific environmental conditions. For most of the year, sharks live in deep-sea regions of northern waters, where resources and energy are catastrophically scarce. To survive here, they have to eat anything: shellfish, worms, carrion, any fish. And the largest sharks even attack seals sleeping on the ice, compensating for their slowness with surprise. However, everything turned out to be not so simple. Research in recent years shows that shark metabolism is not just slow, it is abnormal. In the vast majority of animals, metabolic processes in their bodies gradually slow down with age. Explosive growth and development in childhood are replaced first by stable maturity, and then by fading old age. But for Greenland sharks everything is different: the metabolism of newborn babies and elders, who are 2 times older than Pushkin, is almost identical. Their enzymes, protein production rates, and thousands of other processes occur at the same speed and efficiency regardless of age. Part of the small difference in metabolic rate is due to the fact that baby Greenland sharks are selective sluggers. In eggs and the womb (Greenland sharks do not lay eggs, but carry them inside themselves), sharks spend from 8 to 18 years, and after leaving their mother they grow at a rate of only 1-2 centimeters per year, slower than trees! Even though they live in a kind of nursery - in the relatively safe and food-rich shallow waters of Europe and the East Coast of North America. It is logical to expect that if the base metabolic rate is so low, it will be very difficult to fall below. However, there is something more here. Greenland sharks have mechanisms for genome repair and restoration and cell regeneration that are unique to no one else, complementing the standard self-repair mechanisms of the body. And they are so perfect that even the retina of their eyes - one of the most fragile tissues of the body - feels great after a couple of centuries of working in close contact with parasites. The eyes of almost all adult Greenland sharks are infested with luminous copepods, which are anchored in the cornea using special hooks. In humans, such contact with arthropods would surely lead to rapid degradation of vision. This is why we have long believed that decades of

Admin is in touch. People, I don't know what to do. Thousands of spider mites have occupied my favorite flower. Share your wisdom on how to remove them... For now there are two options: throw everything away or use powerful specialized poisons that are dangerous even for humans and the plant itself. Maybe there are simpler options? Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

 tipede fly so awkwardly? Because he doesn't know how... Her flight is chaotic and uncertain for the same reason that she hardly eats: there are no resources, accuracy is not a priority. The priority is only to find a partner. By the way, in case of danger, centipedes are also capable of throwing their legs away - like the haymakers we wrote about yesterday. In general, a long-legged mosquito is an insect that flies into your window, does not want anything, does not threaten anything, and will die in two weeks. The only thing it will have time to do during its adult life is to mate and leave eggs in the ground from which the larvae will hatch. And the larvae will take care of your carrots... Author: Vlad Gorbachev, Book of Animals Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Centipede: Myths and truth about the huge “malarial mosquito” Every summer it's the same story. In the evening you open the window and IT flies into the room. Huge, awkward, with legs in all directions. It rushes randomly around the room, bumps into a lamp, falls on the table, and takes off again. People are a little scared. Someone says: “A malaria mosquito.” Someone: “Don’t touch it, it’s poisonous.” Someone has already swung a slipper. So here it is. In front of you is a long-legged mosquito, also known as caramora. And everything you might think about him is most likely not true. Myth one: it's a huge malaria mosquito Many people mistake the centipede for a malarial mosquito. In fact, malaria mosquitoes look completely different, and centipedes, despite their size, are completely harmless to humans. The centipede is a separate family of Tipulidae, related to the common mosquito about as much as the ostrich is related to the sparrow. There is an external resemblance, but the lifestyle, habits and intentions are completely different. The family is at least one and a half hundred million years old - the first traces of these insects were found in sediments of the Late Jurassic period. While the dinosaurs were sorting things out, the centipede was already flying over the swamps and did not bite anyone. Myth two: she bites No. Physically he can't. The centipede does not have piercing bristles, like a regular mosquito. The proboscis is short and soft. And that “thorn”, which many take for a sting, is the female’s ovipositor, completely safe for humans. That is, the creature that you are trying to kill with a slipper is technically incapable of harming you. It just flies into the light, loses its orientation and rushes around the room in panic. Poor guy... Myth three: the adult centipede is looking for food This is where it gets really interesting. Adult centipedes practically do not eat. Their mouthparts are not suitable for biting or chewing. All adult life is dedicated to one thing: mating and laying eggs. They have at most ten to fifteen days to do this. This is why the centipede so often sits still - it saves energy, which is almost gone. This is a creature in the final stages of its life that is literally running out of fuel. Sometimes males still drink the nectar of flowers - in order to hold out until they meet the female. And the females just sit and wait for the real mosquito man to find them. Who's really dangerous here? An adult centipede is harmless. But its larva is a different story. The larvae are voracious. They live in the soil, in damp places - in meadows, gardens, near water. They damage field, vegetable and berry crops: cereals, corn, potatoes, beets, cabbage, cucumbers, clover. In Britain, the larvae of the centipede are even called leatherjackets - “leather jackets” - for their tough gray skin. The thick skin eliminates the desire of some birds to feed on these worms. Why does the cen

 red haymakers vibrating in unison is probably one of the strangest sights you can see under an old tree stump. You've seen those creepy videos where a person is disturbing the thickets of haymakers? I have attached it to the post. An ordinary spider feeds only on what it catches alive. The haymaker is much more democratic in this sense. Harvesters are primarily predators and feed on small arthropods. But they can also consume plant foods, mushrooms, carrion, bird droppings and animal feces. And while bro the ordinary spider is starving on the web, the haymaker heroically drinks bird poop. And this is evolutionary success, yes! Unlike most arachnids, harvesters absorb not only the liquid contents of the prey, but also solid particles, tearing them off with chelicerae (chelicerae are oral appendages, small paws on the mouth) and bringing them to the mouth. Spiders suck the victim from the inside, like juice from a bag. The haymaker eats like a human - he bites and chews. So you can try inviting him for tea with livers... Is he dangerous? No. At all. Harvesters are not poisonous, they do not have arachnoid glands. There are a pair of glands that secrete an odorous secretion - because of the pungent odor, they are almost not eaten by predatory insects and vertebrates. Chemical protection instead of poison is also a working option. The harvestman is theoretically capable of biting a person, but its chelicerae are so small that it will not be possible to bite through the skin. So, what did he leave in our houses? It’s just that home is an ideal environment. Moderate humidity, dark corners, crevices, small creatures such as springtails and small midges. The haymaker settles where there is something to eat and where no one bothers. And while he sits there, he works for the benefit of our home! Eats insect pests, picks up organic matter, various crumbs. And absolutely silent. These robot vacuum cleaners of yours will be even cooler... In general, there is something to respect for the haymaker. Not only should you not be afraid of him, but you should be glad that he started up. - - - - - - - The Book of Animals was with you! Friends, our group is led by several zoological authors, and sometimes we need money, but VK has destroyed the author’s content and does not pay for advertising. You can support our work in the form of a paid subscription (100 rublesy). The button is right in this post. This really saves us from extinction, namely subscription, because we know for sure that we will receive some money per month. Thank you Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Haymaker: It's not a spider. Since childhood, we have misunderstood this creature. You definitely saw him. A small body the size of a pea, from which eight incredibly long legs protrude, like a compass that has been given too many legs and too little body. Hanging on the wall of the dacha, frozen in the corner of the bathroom, looking at you in the village toilet at the most crucial moment... Since childhood, we have called it a spider. But this is a mistake. The haymaker is not a spider. Harvesters are a separate order of arachnids, but they are very far from real spiders. They resemble spiders, but, unlike them, they have a round abdomen connected to the cephalothorax by a wide base rather than a stalk. A real spider's body seems to be divided into pieces. The haymaker's body is a monolith, in one piece. This is the first thing that gives him away. Second: haymakers never spin webs. Never, under any circumstances. They have no arachnoid glands at all. The eyes are simple, one pair, located on raised tubercles of the cephalothorax. Vision is weak. But the long legs practically serve as antennas - the haymaker uses them to feel the space around him, reading smells and vibrations. By the way, most arthropods, including spiders and insects, smell, hear sounds and even breathe through their legs and other openings on the body! In fossil form, haymakers have been known since the Devonian period. Devonian is 400 million years ago. When not a single dinosaur had yet walked the planet, when the first fish were just carefully crawling onto land, the haymaker already existed. In almost the same form as it sits in our dachas. For example, a 100-million-year-old haymaker frozen in amber was almost no different from modern representatives of its order. Evolution looked at him, shook its paw for good service, and went off to do something else. The design turned out to be so working that there was nothing to improve. If you grab a haymaker by the leg, he tears it off himself - of his own free will, in the right place at the base. Moreover, the wound is immediately closed and the hemolymph does not leak out. No blood, no shock. Just a click - and the foot remains in your fingers, and the haymaker is already running away. The severed leg continues to contract rhythmically for a long time - this is where the name “haymaker” arose: the twitching leg resembles the movements of a scythe. The predator is distracted by a twitching limb, and the harvester disappears. Brilliant and a little creepy. But there is one caveat... Lost limbs are not restored. At all. Unfortunately, not like a lizard's tail... Therefore, adult harvestmen with five or six legs instead of eight are absolutely common. They live and don’t complain. We stayed alive and it was okay. Some species jump when in danger to confuse the enemy. It happens that a large cluster of cowtails begins to tremble at the same time - this is how they deceive predators and avoid attack. A hund

We make Probalance food and every day we study everything that helps dogs live longer and happier. Therefore, we created a large community for dog owners. Here we talk about health, education, behavior and proper care. There are already more than 180,000 of us on VKontakte. Join the Probalance family: https://vk.cc/3Ps0rj Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

 . And the consequences of the underground work of moles - molehills - also do not please anyone. Mounds of discarded soil make the soil inconvenient for cultivation and dangerous for grazing - molehills for horses and cows work no worse than traps, and falling into them often results in a broken leg. So what should we do with moles? If you feed from the garden or, even more so, work in agriculture, then moles are unpleasant neighbors for you, who can cause mischief if their numbers are high. Well, if you manage an orchard or grow flowers, then you don’t need to drive them away. In this case, the moles will not cause significant harm to you. Author: Yaroslav Ilyin Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii

Mole: Does it harm or help? What is the animal actually doing on your property? Among summer residents, gardeners and agronomists, moles have a mixed reputation, to put it mildly. While some people claim that moles are normal guys who work in the garden just like you, protecting it from harmful insects, others are sure that they are crop destroyers that turn neat gardens into a complete nightmare. And the war between these two camps lasts not for years but for decades. So I decided it was time to answer the question once and for all: are moles friends or enemies? Supporters of the mole camp claim that these guys are extremely positive. Contrary to all myths, moles did not care about your plants; they are convinced meat eaters who do not require plant food at all. In addition, the bulk of their passages, storage rooms and bedrooms are located at depths from 50 centimeters to 2 meters. Usually cultivated plants do not take root that deep! Well, the most important thing is that it is an environmentally friendly and natural pest control product. Yes, up to 80% of a mole’s diet consists of earthworms, but the remaining 20% ​​depends on the specific place of residence. In the forest, for example, they eat many centipedes and slugs. And in the garden or garden, they actively attack spiders and root pests, such as mole crickets and chafer larvae. Moreover, moles are the only predators capable of hunting their larvae directly underground. Cute mole rats also perform other tasks in the garden: they loosen the soil and aerate it, and their numerous tunnels act as drainage, removing excess water from the soil. They do this, however, not for human benefit, but for personal reasons: so that their storerooms do not flood. But the result is important to us, not the motive, right? It is for their sake that adult moles bother with water drainage. And if you look at moles from this angle, the conclusion is obvious - they are wonderful guys. But the compilers of textbooks on agronomy and plant protection do not agree with this. They argue that the number of moles must be constantly monitored, and if it exceeds the permissible threshold, they must be mercilessly exterminated. And they also have their arguments. Although the harm from moles is much less than from rodents, insectivores still damage the roots of plants, causing them to rot and gradually die. And their plans to change the condition of the soil often run counter to the plans of agricultural workers. Numerous mole tunnels, for example, inevitably disrupt drainage systems and can unpredictably affect soil moisture, either making them waterlogged or excessively drying them out. Which ultimately reduces the effectiveness of fertilizers and insecticides, which are designed for a certain percentage of leaching. And even eating pests by a mole does not save the situation. Violation of soil characteristics inevitably leads to an increase in the number of parasites, both large and microscopic

 ings and goes in search. If the male gets to the female, he will almost certainly be able to mate with her. But whether he will survive is a big question. If a lady is nervous, her hunting instincts may kick in at the most inopportune moment. She will simply eat her betrothed. Soon after mating, the female will grow an ootheca: a leathery sac with several dozen eggs inside (photo 5). She will put it in a secluded place. Then he will come to his senses, gain fat and repeat the process. The damn flower lives for about a year, during which time you can manage to leave offspring 2-3 times. The damn flower turned out to be so frighteningly beautiful that some people have entire “greenhouses” at home. Large dimensions and a rich palette of colors attract exotic lovers. True, the demand for insects exceeds supply. Wild mantises are caught for private collections. So far this has not affected the population of the species. But how long can the alien beech survive on our planet? - - - - - We have a huge group, which is 11 years old and there are many zoologists who write tons of text every day from the field in which they are specialists. Due to VK’s failed policy towards authors, all this, unfortunately, rests only on rare advertising and your support. You can support the stability of our nervous system with a minimum subscription of 100 rubles per month. You can request support directly through the button in this post. Thank you! Думаете, купить криптовалюту — это сложно? 🤔 совсем нет! Вот удобный способ начать: ➡️ https://bingx.com/partner/investitsii