(INCOMPLETE)
Interesting facts about animals I have found and plan to expand on when I have more time:
- Axolotl
- Male seahorses carry the babies
- Frog hearts only have three chambers (two atria and one ventricle). However, they are able to directly absorb oxygen through their skin so pulmonary-based oxygenation is not as critical
- Insects use copper to bind to oxygen instead of iron. This protein is known as hemocyanin (as opposed to the hemoglobin we carry) and is part of the hemolymph system of insects and other arthropods.
- Hydrangeas change based on pH of the soil
- A friend of mine has a brother who works as a veterinarian at a zoo. He said he had to intubate a giraffe. I asked how it’s possible and he said you just have to use a really long ET tube. http://www.ivis.org/special_books/heard/bush/ivis.pdf
- Convergent Evolution
- Octupus eyes have no blind spot
- Birds have a syrinx instead of a pharynx. This is why parrots are able to talk.
- Birds do not have alveoli
- Birds do have gizzards
- Pangolin
- Scientific American’s Butterfly Metomorphosis Explainer. Butterflies are literally liquified and then reconstituted as an adult. Think about that. It’s a real ship-of-Theseus kind of deal.
- Tarantulas.