If you go near a tree and a blue bird flies out with a high pitched sound startling you, it might be a Kingfisher. Here in urban South India we frequently spot this tree kingfisher, called as White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon fusca, 'Meenkotthi' in Tamil).
In books of comics, mermaids were shown as heroines/princesses of the tales. Mermaids have a female human body and a fish tail instead of the legs. Though their existence is fictitious only, they are compared with the mammals, Sea cows (Dugong) here. I too find an another animal resembling a mermaid.
It will be funny to see a tiny horse head to move about inside a aquarium tank, isn't it? It will also be exciting to see it as a 'mermaid' of horse! It is a Seahorse (Hippocampus kuda, 'Kadal kuthirai' in Tamil). It is not a mammal; but it is actually a bony fish! It lives in sheltered shallow waters containing coral reefs and sea weeds.
As a little boy I was shown some flying birds that flew past on the sky at dusk. (By doing this my sisters were clever in diverting my attention while they were on babysitting duty!). Those birds make sounds all through such flights as 'qwakgaa, qwakgaa'! I know now what is this bird, that made me curious and wondering, and also introduced me to the hobby, Bird-watching!
Usually humans learn from animals and use those animals' technologies in machines, such as airplane etc. A bony fish uses a tactic to catch its prey that we humans use! It fishes(!) with an angling rod and a bait as we do in angling! The fish is the Anglerfish (Frogfish). It has a fleshy 'rod' hanging from its head that serves as a bait to lure the preys into its mouth and devour.
Every day we maintain our body and mind to stay fresh, alert and healthy by subjecting or submitting ourselves to this activity (of inactivity)! I mean here our Sleeping! We sleep in about one third of our lifetime – to do our best and clever activities, when we are awake. This wonderful sleeping mechanism is essential to all animals including birds, reptiles and fish. Sleep deprivation makes both the body and mind activities dull and makes all susceptible to accidents, and also to illnesses.
This sleeping time is set by the Biological Clock present inside the brain (Hypothalamus). It is maintained by the Circadian Rhythm that is governed by the light and darkness cycles found in the Earth. But the subtle mechanism of this clock is altered by our activities, desires, excitement and drugs! But even after these alterations this clock reminds (warns) us always about sleeping, and succeeds in making us fall asleep in the next possible instant. If we ignore it repeatedly and put this clock in ‘Snooze,’ we will surely land up in problems such as memory loss, irritability, tremors, headache, mental illnesses, Diabetes and Heart diseases.
There are two types of stages in a sleeping time: Non-Rapid Eye Movement and Rapid Eye Movement stages (NREM & REM). These two stages follow one another and are repeated in about five cycles. The NREM sleep lasts for about 90 minutes and the REM for 20 minutes. NREM sleep is the deeper sleep in which all the systems slow down, and bed-wetting and sleep talking also occur! But in REM, there are rapid movements of eyeballs from side to side and dreams that we remember at morning!
Mechanical engines perform well when given maintenance such as dust removing, giving rest and oiling. Similarly, our body and mind are also maintained daily by the sleep by itself: we need not take any effort in it ourselves!
This wonderful sleeping must be desired and undergone by each one of us, and should not be ignored by each one of us for the health of all of us!
We see many adaptations in animals to their environment . Do you know that the eggs of a fish adapt to its environment? This fish is the Killifish (Cynolebias constanciae). It lives in rivers and streams in Brazil, South America. When there is a dry season, the pond in which it lives dries up and so, it dies in it. But its eggs escape from the season's effects, as they are preserved inside the moist mud of the pond. When the rainy season starts, these eggs sense the change in the environment and hatch out into fry (young fish)!
This Killifish is also kept as pet in aquarium. It is five centimeter in length. In aquarium, to breed this fish a dry season and a rainy season are mimicked to trick its eggs into hatching out! The life span of this fish is about two years and it is also used in controlling mosquito breeding, as it feeds on mosquito larvae also.
We have seen earlier in one of my older posts about the Lung Fish that estivates inside the mud. Here we have now seen the intelligent and wonderful adaptation of these eggs of Killifish too!
It is said that land living, airborne birds developed from aquatic fish by evolution. Some present day fish surpass with the reptiles, and compete over birds to take to air by themselves from the seas as if they are birds now! Yes, the fish I refer to here is the Flying Fish (Exocoetus volitans). It is found in warm oceans such as Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This fish 'flies' away to escape from its predators. Actually in doing so, it leaps out of the sea water and glides above the water surface for a short distance of about sixty meters. For this, first it uses its tail fin to leap out of water and then spreads its strong pectoral fins to glide through in the air!
It is a wonder fish that bypasses or skips even the Evolution (period) to take off to the air!
Consuming fats in excess in any form whether it is oil, animal fat or dairy products, it surely adds the fats to the body increasing its weight. Apart from this fat deposition, the fats are also seen in blood, causing clogging in the blood vessels and hence, blocking the free blood flow to the organs of action such as heart, kidney, brain and muscles etc. This not only impairs the action of these organs but also makes them to strain at work producing all the illnesses such as Heart attack and Stroke. There are many types of fats among which some are good to the health and others are not - bad. From where do they come into the body?
Saturated fatty acids:Dairy products, Lard, Butter, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Chocolates .... Bad, when you take routinely.
Poly unsaturated fatty acids - cis (PUFA): Sunflower oil, Safflower oil, Fish oil .... Good.
Poly unsaturated fatty acids - trans (Transfats): Artificially hydrogenated oils - Margarine .... Bad.
Mono saturated fatty acids: Nuts, Olive oil, Groundnut oil, Sesame oil .... Good.
Triglycerides: Coconut oil, Palm oil, Animal fats .... Bad, if these raise this fat to 150 mg/dL and above in blood.
Low density Lipoprotein (LDL): Animal fats, Plant oils, Chocolates, Margarine .... Bad, if LDL is 100 mg/dL & above.
High density Lipoprotein (HDL): Fish oil, Sunflower oil, safflower oil ... Good, if HDL is 60 mg/dL and above.
Cholesterol: Animal fats, Cheese, Egg yolk, Chocolates, Palm oil, Coconut oil .... Bad, if it is 240 mg/dL and above.
In addition to choosing the good and the best fat diet for the prevention of Heart disease and the Stroke, we should also add the following:
1) Doing Aerobic exercises
2) Taking Anti-oxidants
3) Weight losing
Let us live a wonderful and healthy life by lowering these fats in our diet, and the body!
When ponds dry up, the fish and every living thing in it die. But the ‘Lung fish’ does not die at such a condition. It burrows into the mud and forms a capsule around it and sleeps in it – aestivation! Its metabolism slows down drastically and it can remain in this state for up to two years. When it rains and the pond gets water it releases itself from the capsule and comes out to swim in the water! It is said that it is a primitive fish and that it breathes with its lungs taking in air by swimming up to the pond’s surface. Its lungs are the modified forms of swim bladders found in other fish (that keep their buoyancy in the water). It also has a longer life span than other fish! It is really a wonder fish.
Egrets catch fish in ponds in an ingenious way. They stand still in the shallow waters. Then they lift up one of their legs slightly and move it inside water from side to side repeatedly. This agitates the water and the mud on the pond's floor. The fish lurking come out to the water surface. The egrets catch them quickly with their yellow beaks!
When ponds dry up, the fish and every living thing in it die. But the ‘Lung fish’ does not die at such a condition. It burrows into the mud and forms a capsule around it and sleeps in it – aestivation! Its metabolism slows down drastically and it can remain in this state for up to two years. When it rains and the pond gets water it releases itself from the capsule and comes out to swim in the water! It is said that it is a primitive fish and that it breathes with its lungs taking in air by swimming up to the pond’s surface. Its lungs are the modified forms of swim bladders found in other fish (that keep their buoyancy in the water). It also has a longer life span than other fish! It is really a wonder fish.
Egrets catch fish in ponds in an ingenious way. They stand still in the shallow waters. Then they lift up one of their legs slightly and move it inside water from side to side repeatedly. This agitates the water and the mud on the pond's floor. The fish lurking come out to the water surface. The egrets catch them quickly with their yellow beaks!
