Animals

There are many members of the animal kingdom with a short life span, but the shortest probably belongs to mayflies, which live for two years in the nymph stage, and in the winged form their life span can be from 5 minutes to 24 hours.

Biology professor and researcher Luke Jacobus from Purdue University in the US told the publication that these insects move from water to land and air in the subimago stage and reproduce in the imago stage. He noted that mayflies have no working mouths or digestive system and live off the energy stored in the nymph stage.

Without a digestive system, he said, females have more space for eggs inside their bodies, and they can number up to 10,000. Because they are prey for a host of predators, they produce large numbers of young that could survive and continue to reproduce. As Jacobus observed, ancient mayflies are not very different from modern mayflies, and such a system worked well for them as well.

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American, Chinese and South Korean researchers presented the results of their work in a publication in Current Biology, during which they were able to determine that nematodes of the species Caenorhabditis Elegans, which sense sound with their entire body surface, do not respond to absolute sound, as indicated by an earlier study, but to a sound gradient.

In this regard, the scientists came to the conclusion that the worms are able to distinguish and avoid sounds produced by invertebrate predators of small size, but they have no reaction to louder noise.

Moreover, according to experts, the corresponding mechanism of perception of the sound pressure gradient is characteristic of many species of animals, including both mammals and other representatives of invertebrates.

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These lizards live in cracks in the soil, which save them from heat and predators. They are active during the day, feeding on prey insects, but are incredibly difficult to see in the thickets.

The only known habitat for this lizard was where cattle grazed. In April 2023, experts set out on an expedition to find the missing animal. The experts set traps in an area near Mount Surprise, about 300 kilometres south of Cairns. They eventually found 3 skinks, including a Lyon’s Meadow Skink.

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According to an analysis of hundreds of drawings made by five female orangutans at Tama Zoological Park in Japan, these primates can create art that reflects their personality and moods.

The five individuals were given drawing materials and together they created nearly 1,500 drawings between 2006 and 2016. 656 works of art were created by a particularly prolific female named Molly, whose creations stood out in addition to being more complex than the othersIndividual artistic preferences were seen in the colours used by each orangutan, as well as in the shapes they chose to draw and the size of the canvas space. For example, Molly’s drawings were less contrasty than those of the other animals as she pressed her crayons more gently against the canvas.

At the same time, Molly’s creations appeared more saturated in both colours and shapes. These were followed by the drawings drawn by Yuki. Kiki also distinguished herself by using only one colour and pressing down hard on the pencil.

Researchers also noted changes in Molly’s artwork as the seasons changed. In spring, for example, she tended to use purple as her main colour, while green became more prominent in summer and winter. Red was used for drawings when another female was giving birth.

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Scientists offered 28 dogs and their owners to play hide-and-seek in laboratory conditions. The owner hid behind one wall, and a person unfamiliar to the dog hid behind the other.

Both read the same texts in a neutral tone of voice. The dog’s task was to favour one or the other voice. The game consisted of several rounds with 14 different voices of strangers, some resembling the owner’s voice and others differing dramatically.

To make sure that the dogs did not identify their owners by smell, the experts used recordings of the voices in two rounds.

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