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S . K. BHATNAGAR
‘ lUrks"k ^jru*’
5/108 SFS MANSAROVAR JAIPUR
i
STRANGE EVENTS IN BIO WORLD
PRAYER
gs izHkks !
dSls d:a vfHkO;Dr viuh Hkkouk
Qwyh u lek jgh vk’p;ZZ ds vfrjsd ls
izÑfr esa latks;s ,d ls c<+dj ,d
fofp= vn~Hkqr vpjt zHkjs –'; tks vkius
tho tUrq jp Hkkafr Hkakfr ds fp= fofp= vkius
fNik fNik thou dgkuh mudh mUgh ds vax vax esa
cuk xq.kksa dk fiVkjk ] jp feyu dh izfØz;k
cka/k dj mls okrkoju dh Mksj ls
tue e`R;q vko’;eHkkoh ?kksf"kr djrs gq,
dfj’ek fd;k vkius vgks dSlk ! lp dSlk !
dqN xq.k gksrs lc izkf.k;ksa esa ,dls
dqN gjsd esa vius vius ,sls fo’ks"k ]
foLe; gksrk jgrk ns[k ns[kdj ftUgsa
vk’p;Z u gks ikrk lgt gh 'ks"k
dhft;s Ñik dj ikaÅ o.kZu dqN bl izdkj
izÑfr ds bl vuwBs dk;Z dyki dk
tks Hkh ns[ks gks tk; vfHkHkwr blls ,slk
Hkj tk; vpjt tfur vkuUn ls euHkh mldk AA
ii
Preface
S.K.Bhatnagar
iii
CONTENTS
A THE PRESENT *
1 CONGREGATION 3- 4
2 INGENEOUS WAYS 5- 8
3 REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENTS 9 - 12
i PARENTAL CARE
ii MOULTING
iii METAMORPHOSIS
4 ACQUIRING HOME 13 - 16
i COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
iv
ii VISUALSYSTEMS
8 ANCIENT AGRICULTURE 24 - 25
9 FINDING FOOD 26
10 HYPNOTISM 27
11 IMMORTALITY ! 28
i TECHNIQUES
ii TOOLS
iii DECEPTION
iv ARMOURY
vi TRICKS
13 COURTSHIP GAMES 43 - 49
14 MOBILITY 50
15 STRANGE MAMMALS 51
v
18 FLYING ACES 57 – 60
19 GREAT JOURNEYS 61 - 64
20 CUES AND SKILLS 65 – 68
21 SIGNALLING 69
20 NOVEL USE 70
20 CONCLUSION 71
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1
INTRODUCTION
( ii ) Wonders galore
4
when millions of Corals of Great Barrier Reef spawn simultaneously .
generating innumerable coloured eggs or sperms floating
‘sparkingly’.
3000 bald Eagles gather in Alaska each November for a lavish feast
of salmons swimming upstream towards their spawning retreat . .
Oh what a scenario- a havoc for poor fishes, and for the birds a treat .
5
2 INGENIOUS WAYS
7
The most bizarre means to protect the young
is adopted by Australian frogs and Toads family ,
with the female, swallowing her fertilized eggs;
and the eggs and tadpoles in her tummy
survive as a surrounding jelly
or secretions let them develop safely
so that when time is ripe to emerge, the tadpoles
merrily hop out of her mouth --albeit awkwardly .
8
released by their mother quite regularly ;
Sibling rivalry is of course common in nature,
but such shocking instances are rare luckily .
9
3 REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENTS
i PARENTAL CARE
Seals are weaned within two weeks and then are on their own
So baby seals moult, changing their camouflage white furry coats
for grey pelt, and enter water to fish for themselves one fine morn.
ii Moulting
iii METAMORPHOSIS
12
(along with their soul ! if any !) and makes one wonder
whether this spectacular phenomenon –Metamorphosis, was
inspirer of the pauranic belief in ‘repeated cycles of births’
and ‘transmigration of soul’ in our rishi munis in ancient times !
13
ACQUIRING HOME
However, male weaver bird of Kenya does not weave but uses
complex knots to build a sturdy light nest to lure females ..
22
( ii ) VISUAL SYSTEMS
25
and carry the bits to their colony’s nest for fungus
cultivation ; they ‘weed’ the ‘garden’ of ‘aliens’
and ‘harvest’ chunks of fungus for their feasts . .
26
FINDING FOOD
Again
it is not that only famous Chyavan rishi knew how
to become young once again- for the jelly fishes
have been practicing this art from ancient times anyhow
and that too without taking, well, Chavan prash, somehow!
30
ii TOOLS
At one time it was thought that humans were the only living creatures
to use tools .Now we know that animals, including other mammals,
birds, and insects, have discovered that tools can help them to acquire a
meal :
The Green-backed Heron makes its own fishing bait-a live one
of an insect or an artificial one of feather or twig etc and throws it on
water surface to lure prey within stabbing range of its sharp bill .
32
iv ARMOURY
.
Poets the world over often characterize nature as peaceful, calm
and gentle, but reality is very different from this soothing day-dream;
For In the battle for survival, evolution has created a deadly armoury
of weapons--swords, arrows , electric shocks, chainsaws, chemicals
and poisons , all being part of its mind boggling noxious arsenals .
34
Small Cookie-cutter Shark ,with luminous under parts,
becomes invisible by adjusting the amount of emitted light
and homing on a prey darts for a big bite of its flesh in a flash .
From shoes ,cans, nails etc on one hand and jellyfish, crabs ,snakes
turtles and birds to seals ,dolphins, even other sharks the dangerous
Tiger Shark can eat anything and every thing due to a set of vicious
serrated teeth that are curved and notched and usable as a chainsaw .
Archer fish takes aim with a water gun by firing a jet of water
while remaining under water , on an insect much above water
with great accuracy ,enabling it to dislodge victim it for its meal .
Unique weapon of a Sword fish –its ‘sword’, formed from its pointed
snout, is used to plunging in , slashing, slapping and stunning fishes .
The Carpet shark looking like an underwater boulder lies still on sea
bed with fleshy fringes dangling from lips like algae ,its skin mottled
like rock and encrusted with algae completes the disguise .
Nestled among the leaf on forest floor the Gaboon Viper ‘disappears’
,its shape broken up by bold markings of black, brown, buff and grey,
and head like a fallen leaf, it lies in ambush, merged with surroundings .
.
Larvae of Lacewing of Florida steal wax from ,mealy bugs, their prey
and covering themselves with this wax live incognito among the prey .
Just as some creatures disguise to kill, others do so for defense and try
to look like surroundings using stripes, lights, or colour changes in a
trice.
Some fish such as Viper fish carry their own light ‘bulbs’
which they can brighten and dim to order to be able to blend
in with the ambient light and their outline melts away .
36
Masters at colour change, flat fish blend in superbly
with grainy sea bed. The ‘Founders’ can even reproduce
checker board, a design not found anywhere in Nature .
When it rains, the ‘Sloth’ turns green due to algae growing in its
coarse coat enabling it to blend with green vegetation ;
In dry season algae turn brownish enabling it to merge with dry trunks .
37
Actually the harmless American Hawkmoth caterpillar can
quickly disguise itself as a tree snake flicking a ‘tongue’ in
and out of a ‘snake’s head’ like end and a pair of false eyes ;
From the triangular snake Head to the glint in the eye it is
in fact one of the World’s top impersonators of snakes .
Wasps can inflict a nasty sting, and their black- and- yellow outfit
is copied by bees, moths, flies and other insects to scare predators .
vi TRICKS
39
The Octopus , Cuttle fish and Squids squirt ink straight into enemies
face , creating instant black cloud enabling them to run away quickly,
with ‘‘heels’ over their heads’ and escape cleverly .;
hence called Cephalopods (feet over head) by biologists correctly .
40
When Sea cucumber is attacked , in desperation, it vomits
its entrails-some through the mouth some through its anus
shocking and entangling the attacker and drowning it .
Arctiid Moths have ‘ears’ to hear a bat approach and a sound alarm of
rapid clicks that ‘tell’ a bat not to bother it ; and Tiger moths react by
clicks similar to that of bats effectively jamming bat’s information
processing system a precursor of modern frequency jamming system !.
41
Vulernable looking Potto of Africa a primate conceals a fearsome
weapon, a phalanx of spines ; sufficient to dissuade an invader.
Vivid pink black and yellow green maroon blue spots of ‘Arrow-poison
frogs’ of America act as warning colours and along with very powerful
poison and antibiotics in its skin provide good defense .
Deadly Bulldog ants of Australia ,relatives of fire ants bite and sting at
the same time and bound through the air towards intruders using
chemicals for communication ,orientation and defense .
Many animals seek safety in size and/or numbers like heavy weight
Musk oxen ,white Rhino and blue whales-the later being largest
animals on earth today.
Cassowarys are known for their vicious powerful Dagger feet
and Whale sharks have skin as tough as an armour .
43
COURTSHIP GAMES
For continuing their line many ,if not most, animals adopt courtship
tactics, fight rivals, indulge in displays and dances and play the mating
games ;the competition is fierce and to succeed in mating games they
use every possible colour, sound and some very strange behaviour .:
American Male red sided garter snakes begin a frenzied race at just
one whiff of female’s sex hormones which they can ‘taste’ by flicking
their tongue in air .
Indian Moon moth has the most acute sense of smell in nature-it can
smell a single molecule of female sex hormone scent from up to 5 kms
away .
Green stink bugs sing and ‘telephone’ each other using body vibrations
sent as signals along plant stems utilizing the later as telegraph wires .
44
When Zebra stallions fight for a female their battles follow a set of
precise, complex rules-- like kaurav –pandav ?
Sea anemones are known for slow motion under water battles ;although
delicate they are armed with lethal stinging cells laden with poison
which rivals fire off in vollies at each other .
BY HOOK OR CROOK
reddish, his head elongates ,his jaws enlarge and a hook develops on
the lower jaw ; other species also undergo conspicuous changes –silvery
Sockeye salmon’s back arches, his head turns green and body scarlet
and he develops fierce set of teeth ; and there after males battle over
females .
46
Thatched huts , lichen-covered bridges, canopies ,silvery stages ,blue
tinted walls, maypoles, towers ,and alleys carpeted with sparkling
jewels-these are just some of the Australian Bower bird’s fabulous
constructions .
The male Stickleback turns red and he dances to attract the female fish
and to take her to the dome shaped mud ‘nest’ built by him and there
he tends the eggs and tries to oxygenate the water around them.
Mayflies are known for their acrobatic dance of death ;their larvae live
up to 3 years but when time comes they float to the surface of water to
breed and die in just one day ; First they moult as pre adult ,then
minutes later into an adult and when a female rises to join the swarm the
males dance mate and die all in a day .
Dusky slug changes sex with age-beginning life as male it turns into a
female as it develops.;
In Clown fish of Great barrier reef if the dominant female dies its
partner –dominant male turns into female ; but among Blue headed
Wrasse of the Atlantic if a dominant male dies the largest female turns
into male.
Shark courtship is a complex manoeuvre requiring the male to ‘dock’
along side the female ;It has two sex organs to enable him to dock on
left or right side with the help of claspers and the sperms are transferred
using a muscle driven hydraulic system into female .
48
For Praying Mantis males, sex is a dangerous activity since male is
on female’s menu and it tends to eat them during copulation .However
,the threat of death does not damage a male’s sex drive. In fact ,once
the males head has been chewed off, a nervous reflex causes him to
copulate more vigorously--;and only if he carefully avoids her fore legs
and makes hasty retreat can he avoid being eaten .
Kidnapping and Child marriage are a curse not only for Indian humans
for Male Hamadryas Baboons kidnap young females from their mothers
to add to their personal harems .
Male spiders of some varieties try wooing the females with a nuptial
gift of an insect wrapped in silken cocoon and enter courtship cautiously
to avoid being eaten by the larger predatory female .
NOTABLES
The caterpillars of moths and butterflies have 3 pairs of true legs called
‘ walking legs’ at the front (on thorax) and 6 pairs of false feet at the
back (on abdomen) to move in a rippling fashion ;some even spin a
carpet of silk to help them to move over smooth surfaces .
51
STRANGE MAMMALS
American bull frog can leap 9 times its own length; and that of South
Africa 40 times its own length—the equivalent of an Olympic long
jump champion leaping between trees and branches,
Agile bush babies of West Africa move rapidly throughout the forest
canopy at night ,in search of insects to feed, .,covering 33ft in 5
seconds or less ;.and such is the accuracy and speed of movement that
grasshoppers and moths may be caught on the wing .
SPEED SPECIALISTS
Fast moving predators and prey try constantly to outdo each other in a
race that means life or death .
Fast moving Sun spiders are fastest animals on 8 legs moving in short
busts exceeding 16 km / h.
The Sailfish is oceans fastest fish clocking 110 km/h. in short bursts but
the blue fin Tuna reaches nearly 110 km/h in longer run .
54
Australian dragon fly is the title holder of fastest flying insect with
speed of 98km/h and capable of intercepting other insects on the wing
and challenged only by male horsefly pursuing female at 145 km / h;
Tiger beetles are among the fastest animals on six legs ,sprinting at
50 cm/second making it faster than world’s top human sprinter;
The Sperm whale is the deepest diving mammal-in the oceans and can
dive to a depth of 3300ft at a rate of 560ft per minute and owes this
ability due to oil filled tubes in spermaceti organ in its head .
When diving to great depths Elephant seals sleep during their journey
up and down-to and from 2246 ft under water where they can stay up to
2 hours and take cat naps on the way.
55
Deep diving Emperor Penguin has small stones in its stomach that
help it to dive like a scuba diver wearing a weight belt; At the surface it
travels by ‘porpoising’ at 11 km/h; They then ‘toboggan’ across the ice
from the sea to their nesting rockery on Antarctic main land .
Sharks have aerofoil-like pectoral fins that give them lift as long as
they move forward ;
In Whales and Basking Sharks the oil filled liver occupies most of
the body cavity allowing them to float motionless on the surface ;
Most Bony fishes have an O2 rich air filled swim bladder which adjusts
to maintain buoyancy .
The Portuguese man of war has a purple bag like float that sits on the
surface of the sea while its tentacles trail through the water for 30 ft .
The Pearly Nautilus maintains buoyancy by adjusting the ratio of gas
and fluid contained in its shell chambers .
57
FLYING ACES
58
European Swift eats , drinks, sleeps, preens, collects nest
material and mates on the wing . Youngsters that have just left
the nest may be aloft nonstop for hours continuously on an epic
flight .
Frigate birds are such speedy acrobatic flyers they can steal
food from other seabirds mouth; Further skimming the ocean
surface at full speed they can pluck fish or squid from just
beneath the surface and can even catch flying fish as they leap
from the water .
59
Humming birds can fly forwards, backwards, sideways, straight
up or down ,and even upside down .They can hawk for insects at
high speed and hover in front of flowers as its shoulder joint
where wings are attached can move in all directions .
The record for flying the highest over land by any bird is held by
the Chough .This member of crow family flies regularly at
11500-20500 ft in the Himalayas and at times up to 27017 ft .
62
Great journeys
Epic journeys are a way of life for the Caribou of arctic Canada.
Hundreds and thousands of Caribou travel 1000 km in each
Direction between summer breeding grounds of Tundra and
wintering area of Taiga.
Animals use all kinds of cues to find their way across the world
and back again .Land marks, position of the Sun in day and stars
by night and even earths invisible lines of force in the earths
magnetic field are their reference points.
68
Like bats the Amazon knife fish and the elephant-trunk fish of
Africa use radar to find their way but instead of sound they use
electricity. By generating an electric field around their body
these fishes can ‘read’ and interpret any of the pulses that hit a
rock or plant or other obstacle and bounce back enabling them
to build a map of the surroundings .
69
SIGNALLING
70
Novel use
Mole rat uses chemicals to keep law and order .In fact a Queen
governs her colony with a cocktail of chemical messages and
starts her rule by spreading her pheromones to ensure that no
other female can breed .
71
CONCLUSION
And of course
Edited by
S.K.Bhatnagar
Great Events which moulded Life
Tkho txr dh egku ?kVuk;sa
thou ,d igsyh gS
lqurs vkjgs cpiu ls ge
vkrs jgrs ckj ckj blesa
dHkh [k+q’kh dHkh xe
ij bl ckjs eas D;k fn[kkrk gesa
ifjn`’;& thoksa ds fodkl dk
Hkyk cqjk tks tks xqt+jk chrk
rhu fcfy;u lky ds bfrgkl esa
dYiuk ds yksd ls
jg dj nwj [k+wc
[kkst [kkst HkwxHkZ ls
Tkakp ij[k lcwr
Ekgku ?kVuk;sa ?kVha tks
;qx ;qxkarj essa dbZ ckj
ns[ksa Hkkysa mUgsa ftUgksus
nh gS fn’kk ubZ ]gj ckj
Økafrdkjh ifjorZuksa dk
djds ftUgkasus mn~?kkVu
NksM+h Nki vfeV thou ij
djsa muds izHkko dk fo’ys"ku A
Ikzkx,sfrgkfld dky
Age of Gymnosperms
Age of Reptiles 'kq: gqbZa
nkSukss lkFk lkFk [k+wc ^Qwys Qys *
Q+uZ vkSj ,EQ+hfc;Ul lkFk fy;s
Ikj izÑfr u j[k l[kh la;e t+knk nsj
Ykx xbZ u tkus fdl m/ksM+cqu esa nsj lcsj
ekSdk fey x;k ;ejkt dks fQj ls
rkaMo djus yx xbZ e`R;q fQj ls
Tokykeq[kh HkHkd ds gks x;s yky fQj ls
dky dk xzkl cu x;s yk[kksa izk.kh fQj ls
;kuh Triassic dk Hkh var nq%[kn gqvk
Ikj thou gkjk ugha] fQj ls gjk gqvk
Ek’kgwj Jurassic dky 'kq: gqvk
Dinosaurs dk jkt izkjEHk gqvk
fteuksLiElZ dk opZLo cuk jgk
Q+uZ gjs Hkjs ygjkrs jgs
14
bl vk’p;Ztud vn~Hkqr dky esa
fo’kky Hkhedk; Mk;ukslkWlZ ds
fgyrs Mqyrs pgydneh djus ls
ckj ckj Mksy Mksy mBrh /kjrh is
>wers gq, Åap Åaps pines dh
Lkc vksj QSyh [k+q’kcw ls Hkjs ekgkSy esa
NksVs NksVs ikS/ks angiosperms ds
vius Qwyksa ls lqxa/k fc[ksjus yxs
Mammals vkSj birds dk tue gqvk
,sls [k+q’kuqek ! vthcksxjhc ekgkSy esa
NksVs NksVs eSeYl lges lges ls
fnu esa vDlj Nqis jgrs b/kj m/kj
jkr dks fudyrs fcy ls Mjs Mjs
?kwe ?kke [kk ih fQj Nqi tkrs
NksVs NksVs ifjans Mky MkYk Qqndrs
mM+rs fQjrs pgpgkrs vkleku esa
.
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