Animal popular science essay

The earliest record can be traced back to 373 BC. Many people saw rats, snakes and ferrets leaving the Greek city of Hlis before a big earthquake razed it to the ground. In the Tang Dynasty's "Kai Yuan Zhan Jing Di", there is also a record that "rats gather in the center of the imperial court and scream, and local slaughter cracks". Almost every time after a major earthquake, survivors recall the signs before the earthquake, and it seems that there are reports of abnormal animal behavior-fish jumping, chickens not laying eggs, bees not returning to their nests, and all kinds of pets restless ...

On average, there are more than 500,000 earthquakes that can be recorded by instruments in the world every year, more than 65,438+million earthquakes that people can perceive, and more than 100 earthquakes that are destructive. From the Tangshan earthquake to the Sakamoto earthquake, to the 92/KLOC-0 earthquake in Taiwan Province Province, until the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the trembling of the earth brought too much fear and trauma to people. However, so far, human beings have not found the law of earthquake occurrence, and accurate earthquake prediction is still the goal pursued by countless seismologists. If animals can help people, how good would it be?

Indeed, the sensory system of many animals is much more sensitive than that of people. Vipers can sense infrared rays; Elephants and whales can sense infrasound waves; Dogs not only have a keen sense of smell, but also can hear ultrasonic waves ... Many animals, especially cave animals, are very sensitive to vibration, so even if you stand on tiptoe, mice can always easily feel your approach and run away. Many abnormal behaviors of animals before the earthquake were caused by this. Before many large earthquakes come, there will be many small foreshocks, and these frequent foreshocks may disturb those animals that are sensitive to vibration. In particular, it should be pointed out that the17.3 earthquake that occurred in Haicheng, Liaoning Province on February 4, 1975 is the only successful prediction with scientific significance and social benefits in the world so far. This successful prediction is based on the monitoring of frequent foreshocks, rather than the widely spread reports of abnormal animal behavior.

So is it possible for animals to develop a set of special skills to avoid earthquakes? For individual animals, including people, earthquakes are extremely unlikely events. Especially those short-lived animals, such as mice, have almost no possibility of encountering a destructive earthquake in their life cycle. It is extremely wasteful to prepare a complex mechanism for an event with almost zero probability. Just as modern humans living in the electrical age occasionally encounter electric shock accidents, it is not necessary for people to live in heavy insulating clothes every day.

In 1970s, the US Geological Survey (USGS) initiated several studies on abnormal animal reactions and earthquakes, and the result was that "there was no credible connection between them". In fact, when the earthquake comes, the abnormal behavior of many animals is just a panic response to the vibration. Before many large earthquakes come, there will be many small foreshocks, and these frequent foreshocks may disturb those animals that are sensitive to vibration. In other words, many other events, such as weather changes, hunger, and even a truck passing by, will cause similar reactions of animals. Readers who have owned pets may have seen their pets lose their temper for no reason.

The argument that animals' "abnormal" behavior can predict earthquakes is also reinforced by a common psychological phenomenon "psychological spotlight effect". When people encounter major events such as earthquakes, they can often recall more clearly what they experienced before the events-the so-called "abnormal" behaviors often occur, but most of them are forgotten.

Another common phenomenon is rumors. There is a common saying that after the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago, almost no animal carcasses were found. However, Margot Homburg Park, a volunteer of the local stray dog foundation in Phuket, Thailand, said, "Many dogs were swallowed up by huge waves. I have nine dogs in the yard 500 meters from the sea. I didn't notice any unusual behavior. My husband felt the earthquake at 8 am, but the dog didn't respond. " When people face the tragic scene of corpses everywhere, will they still notice the corpse of a dog?

There is another fact that cannot be ignored. The losses caused by fake earthquakes are no less than those caused by real earthquakes.

2 bird classification-overview

Traditionally, birds are divided into two subclasses: archaeopteryx and modern birds. All existing birds can be classified into three suborders of modern bird fauna: Archaeoptera, Wedgewing and Modern Archaeoptera. All the existing birds in China belong to modern archaeoptera. Archaeopteryx includes Archaeopteryx. Today, in addition to the three extant suborders, Archaeopteryx also includes the extinct Cladoptera. Birds are not easy to form fossils, so the fossils of prehistoric birds are very rare and precious, which also makes people have many questions and debates about the origin and early evolution of birds. Although there are not many fossils left by birds, there are many existing species, and the class of birds is the latest and largest class of terrestrial vertebrates. There are nearly 9000 species of birds, almost twice as many as mammals. Although there are many kinds of birds, the differences between different birds are far less than those of mammals. The difference between members of a mammal order (such as marsupials) may be greater than that between members of two completely different birds. The difference between blue whales, bats and platypus does not exist among birds. The existing birds can be divided into 27~30 orders, 160 families.

Taxonomy of birds

Archaeopteryx: Mesozoic primitive birds, including Archaeopteryx, have both the characteristics of birds and reptiles.

Today's bird subclass: includes all existing birds and some extinct early birds.

Dentopod: including birds in the early Mesozoic, such as yellow birds.

Archaea: a walking bird, unable to fly or not good at flying, but good at running.

Ostrich: There is only one species, that is, African ostrich, the largest living bird.

American ostrich order: 1 family, 2 species, the largest bird in America.

Ostrich: 2 families and 4 species, including emu and ostrich, the second largest bird in existence.

Wingless birds: 1 family, 3 species, small walking birds endemic to New Zealand.

Objective: 1 family, 46 species, small American walking birds.

Wedgwensuborder: Penguins can't fly, but they are good at swimming.

Penguin order: 1 family, 18 species of penguins.

Palaeonopoda: It includes most birds, most of which can fly, and there are only birds of this order in China.

Loon: 1 family, good at swimming and diving, clumsy on land.

Grebes: 1 subject, good at swimming and diving.

Siniperca: 3~4 families, marine birds, good at flying, including albatrosses, Siniperca chuatsi and petrels.

Pelodiformes: 6 families, warm zone birds, including pelicans, cormorants, frigate birds, etc.

Crocodiles: 7 families, large and medium-sized wading birds, including storks, herons and ibis.

Suborder: 2 families, swimming birds, including ducks, geese and swans.

Hawkiformes: 4~5 families, eagles, falcons, vultures and all other birds of prey during the day.

Chickens: 6 families, all kinds of quails, pheasants, chickens, good at running but not flying.

Crane order: 12 family, including crane, crake, bustard, three-toed quail, etc.

Siluriformes: 16~ 17 family, including snipes, seagulls and puffins, sometimes divided into three orders.

Dove order: includes the extant Dove Family, Lepidoptera Family and extinct Dodo.

Parrot: 1 There are still many families and various parrots.

Cudraformes: 3 families, including rhododendron, banana rhododendron and musk pheasant.

Owl: 2 families, including all nocturnal birds of prey, namely owls.

Nighthawk: 5 families, nocturnal birds, including nighthawk, frog-billed owl, oil owl, forest owl, naked-nosed owl, etc.

Swifts: 3 families, including swift, crested tree swallow and various hummingbirds.

Rodents and Birds: 1 family, endemic to Africa, and the only distribution of the current jaw order is limited to one continent, which is also the only order not distributed in China.

Bite cuckoo order: 1 family, beautiful tropical bird.

Buddha and Buddha: 9 families with diverse birds, including hornbill, kingfisher, bee tiger, Buddha and Buddha.

? Objective: There are 6 families and many kinds of typical birds, including woodpeckers, catfish and bearded birds. Wait a minute.

Passeriformes: the most advanced and successful birds, that is, all kinds of songbirds and sub-songbirds, or perched birds, including more than half of the birds, including more than 60 families.

The smallest animal in the world.

The smallest snake

blind snake

On the east bank of Bohai Sea in China, there is a small snake-blind snake, which is similar to earthworm in size and 17- 18 cm in length, making it the smallest snake in the world.

The smallest fish

Small stout fish

A photo of a chubby little fish released by the Australian Museum in Sydney. This small fish is only 7 mm long and weighs 1 mg. It has no fins and teeth, and its life span is only two months. Australian scientists who discovered it thought it was the smallest fish and vertebrate in the world. At present, Australia is applying for Guinness World Records for small fish.

The smallest horse

Mini horse

Miniature horses, also known as pocket horses, are Australian specialties, with a height of 60- 100 cm, an average height of 80 cm, a body length of about 100 cm and a weight of 50- 100 kg. You can breed around one year old. The feeding method is the same as all kinds of domestic horses. The difference is that mini horses are strong, adaptable, not easy to get sick, simple and extensive in management, and have no special conditions. You can feed them in the yard where dogs can be kept!

The speed of the mini horse can reach more than 36 km/h, and the load can exceed its weight by 65,438+0/3-2/3. No matter the road conditions are good or bad, it is beyond the reach of its means of transportation.

The smallest dog

Chihuahua dog

A Chihuahua named Kadan is only 18.8cm long, which is the smallest dog in the world today and has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The smallest deer

The smallest deer in the world lives in Southeast Asia. Its name is elk. Its height is only about 20 cm and its weight is about 2.7 kg. It is the smallest deer in the family Cervidae.

The smallest bird

Hummingbird is very small, the smallest is only as big as a wasp, less than 2 cm from beginning to end, and the largest is only 4.5 cm, making it the smallest bird in the world. More interestingly, they fly like bees, make a buzzing sound and like to suck nectar. So it is appropriate to name it "Hummingbird"

References:

http://www.eaglechina.org/Article/web03/