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Animal Myths
Animals do some pretty strange things! Giraffes clean their eyes and ears with their tongues. Snakes see through their eyelids. Some snails can hibernate for three years. But other such strange animal tales are mere myths. A myth is a story that is made up and is not true. National Geographic Kids found out how some of these myths started - and why they're not true.
Myth- Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're scared or feel that they might be attacked.
How it started - It's just a trick of the eye! Ostriches are the largest living birds, but their heads are pretty small. "If you see them picking at the ground from a distance, it may look like their heads are buried in the
ground," says Glinda Cunningham of the American Ostrich Association.
Why it is not true - Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand - they wouldn't be able to breathe! But they do dig holes in the dirt to use as nests for their eggs. Several times a day, a bird puts her head in the hole and turns the eggs. So, it really looks like the birds are burying their heads in the sand!
Myth-Mother birds will reject their babies if they've been touched by humans.
How it started- Friendly humans who find a chick on the ground may want to return the baby bird to the nest. But the bird is probably learning to fly and shouldn't be disturbed. The tale may have been invented to
keep people from handling young birds.
Why it is not true- "Most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell," says Michael Mace, of San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. "They won't notice a human scent." One exception: vultures, which sniff out dead animals for dinner. But you wouldn't want to mess with a vulture anyway!
Questions :
1) According to the passage , why should we not handle young birds that we find on the ground ?
2) Think of any one animal and write the strange thing you have observed about it .
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Answers
Explanation:
9 unusual facts about giraffes that may astound you!
JUNE 21, 2016 BLOG
It’s safe to say Giraffes are some of the most astonishing creatures on the planet, these African giants are the tallest land mammal on the planet, some towering up to an incredible 18 feet! Even if you stacked three average males (at 5ft 10 inches tall) on top of each other, they would still be shorter than some of the taller male Giraffes!
These fascinating mammals have evolved over 15 million years, from antelope-like animals. Gradually natural selection favoured antelope with longer necks as they were more likely to reach nutritious vegetation higher up, during times of greater competition between species.
The Giraffe species we know today turned up around 1 million years ago. You may look at a Giraffe’s neck and think what an amazing evolutionary adaptation it is, you’d be right, but that’s not the only thing that’s fascinating about them!
1. NASA drew inspiration from baby Giraffes
Weightlessness has always been a problem in outer space, humans are not very well adapted to the lack of gravity and this plays havoc with Astronauts circulatory system. When astronauts have a lengthy stay in space, their leg veins get weaker, due to the fact that the circulatory system of the legs don’t have to work as hard to pump the blood back up the body. This means astronauts veins get lazy and weak, causing quite a few problems when they return back to Earth!
NASA circumvented this problem by studying baby giraffes, baby giraffes learn how to stand immediately after being born, due to their rapidly inflating leg veins! NASA took this incredible natural adaptation and applied it to create the Lower Body Negative Pressure Process. This device seals around the astronauts waist and applies vacuum pressure, rapidly expanding the leg veins and making blood rush into the legs and pelvic area. When this pressure is applied regularly, the astronaut’s leg veins remain as strong as they would on Earth!
Baby Giraffe
2. No need for sun cream!
Due to the fact Giraffes tongues are out so frequently, grazing on vegetation, they have evolved a blueish/black colour, ensuring they don’t burn under the African sun!
Giraffes Tongue
3. Or hands
Giraffes tongues are up to 20 inches long, it is also prehensile meaning it can grasp things like vegetation!
Giraffes Tongue
4. Weird mouths
You’d think the strangeness would end with their tongue, you’d be wrong. The inside of a Giraffes mouth is covered with hard, finger-like papillae, protecting the Giraffe from thorny foliage.
5. Spot the difference
Just like human fingerprints no two Giraffe’s have the same spot pattern.