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Review on the Major Challenges and Difficulties of Farm Animal Cloning

2018-06-14T02:24:07.123-04:00

Bats

2005-09-26T16:52:06-04:00

There is an abundant amount of animal species in the world. They all have adapted and evolved to survive in their surroundings. Some have grown fins, others legs, and some have wings. Each adaptation helps them to survive in the particular environment in which they live. Some animals that are members of the same species have adapted and evolved. One adaptation is wings, and they are normally thought to be a feature of birds. One of the only animals that has wings and is not a bird is the bat. The bat is a truly great creature. It has all the characteristics of mammals while also possessing the skill of a bird in flight. Though other mammals, like the flying squirrel seem to fly but actually glide, the bat is the only mammal that can truly fly (Wimsatt, 1977). There are approximately 900 species of bats known in the world and 40 of them live in the United States and Canada (www.bat-control.com, 2004). The different species of bats consist of many different sizes, shapes, and lifestyles, which is normally determined by their environment. They live all over the world and have drawn the curiosity of millions. Bats also have the unique feature of echolocation, which is a hunting method it uses in order to catch insects and other prey. It also helps them with a sense of direction. Even though bats are labeled as pests and are looked at as dangerous animals, they are helpful in many ways. The most apparent feature of a bat is the adaptations which enable it to fly. The fore limbs of the bat are built similarly to the general pattern of other mammals. It has an upper arm, forearm, wrist, and hand with thumb and four fingers. The difference is the bones of the hand and fingers are elongated which spreads and manipulates the wing. They also contain fur on the body, large ears, claws, and a tail. As we can see here they are mammals but there have been adaptations that have evolved in order for the bat to survive in its environment (Barbour, 1970). Bats eyesight is not very great. They are known and considered by some to have a “sixth sense” called echolocation, which they use and depend on for

Lemurs

2002-03-05T13:00:00-05:00

Lemurs, meaning ghosts, are primates that are found only on the island of Madagascar. They can weigh up too eight pounds. Their tails can be up to 25 inches long. And can live up to 15 years. There are 40 different species of lemurs. They are all different in ways. Some are nocturnal, while others hunt during the day. Some live on the ground and the others live in trees. Even though lemurs are different from each other they have stuff in common too. They are all good climbers with good grasping abilities. They

Argentine Horned Frog

2001-04-11T14:00:00-04:00

Argentine Horned Frog (Ceratophrys ornata) CLASSIFICATION: The Argentine Horned Frog comes from the Leptodactylidae kingdom. Some of it’s closest

Bonobo Chimpanzee - 1st person essay

2001-03-25T14:00:00-04:00

A Day in the Life of a Bonobo Chimp Before I show you the first page in my daily journal I must first give you some insight about my kind, the pygmy chimps, or bonobos, as I prefer to be called. I prefer to be called a bonobo rather than a pygmy chimp, because my kind are not chimpanzees, we are practically humans, 99.6% genetically the same to be exact. So please do not refer to me as a pygmy chimp. Were as far from chimps, as chimps are from gorillas. Here is the lowdown on my fellow bonobos and I. Males and females look just about the same, except for the obvious, which will be talked about much more later in my story. My kind has black hair covering their entire body, excluding face, hands, and feet. Children have a white spot on their tail stub, while elders’ hair gets gray with age (another one of those human characteristics). Though we do share the same long arm, short leg characteristic as our inferior relatives, the chimps, we have a more slender body structure than them. We are much smaller than regular chimpanzees, where the ignorant name pygmy chimp comes from, about 2 ½ to 3 feet tall, but weigh between 65 and 90 pounds, males weighing more. In a daily meal depending on the season we eat everything from fresh fruit and honey to termites, worms, and even small reptiles and squirrels. When the season gets hot and dry we must eat the stems and roots of plants. From the humans I have talked to I have learned that my kind is endangered, or for all of the idiotic chimpanzees, there aren’t very many of us left. One woman has told me that we are endangered because of our high expectations of living standards. We wouldn’t think of living anywhere besides the secondary tropical lowland rainforests in Zaire. She told me another reason that my kind was endangered was because of something called, “poaching.” I had no clue what that meant, but after she explained it I was shocked to find that animals other than leopards hunted us. Finally before this female human left I asked her why she wasn’t afraid of me and my kind, and she told me that we seemed much more relaxed than any other animal she has ever seen. I though about this for only

The Secret Life of Great White Sharks

2001-03-09T13:00:00-05:00

Great White Sharks are greatly misinterpreted as vicious man-eaters because of the media, movies, and people’s imaginations, but they are actually large fish who mistake people for seals and other marine life. What is a great white shark? The great white, among the least understood of Earth’s creatures, is an apex predator, meaning that it is at the top of the food chain with no natural predators. This means great whites have their pick of food when it comes to selecting their prey (Klimley 15). Carcharodon carcharias, better know as the great white shark, have existed as a group for over 350 million years (Long). Its name means “ragged-toothed” (Gorman 10). The largest white shark on record was 21 feet long and weighed 7302 pounds. Its ancestors, now extinct, were three times this size, with teeth that were six inches long (White Shark). Today sharks are represented by over 600 species (Long). Great whites are part of a grouping know as mackerel sharks, a grouping which includes the salmon, porbeagle, and maco shark (MacGregor 46). Unlike the true fishes, sharks do not have internal bone, but instead have a cartilaginous skeleton (Long). This stiff flexible material is found in the ridge of your nose and in your earlobes. Because cartilage does not leave fossil remains like bones, there are no fossils of ancient sharks- just their teeth (Klimley 56). Little is known about great whites because they are enormous, bulky, and hard to handle. And that’s when they’re dead. Their body temperature is sometimes ten to fifteen degrees [Celsius] warmer than the surrounding water, which makes them efficient predators in cool water (Gorman 15). The back of the shark is a dull gray color and the underside is colored white. The tail is crescent shaped. There are five gill slits on great white sharks. Studying a live great white shark up close and in detail is, for obvious reasons, practically impossible (Sanders 31). The great white is the only shark that can hold its head above water to see what is happening on the surface (MacGregor 47). It has been said that sharks do not swim through water as much as they “fly” through it with their torpedo like body (Gorman 25). The fins of a shark serve important roles in this action. As the shark moves the Caudal, back, fin to propel it forward, careful adjustment of the pectoral, side,

Are You Unique? (for Cloning)

2000-12-08T13:00:00-05:00

You have been told that you are unique. The belief that there is no one else like you in the whole world has made you feel special and proud. In the near future, this belief may not be true. The world was stunned by the news in the summer of 1995, when a British embryologist named Ian Wilmut, and his research team, successfully cloned Dolly the sheep using the technique of nuclear transfer. Replacing the DNA of one sheep’s egg with the DNA of another sheep’s udder created Dolly. Plants and lower forms of animal life have been successfully cloned for many years, but before Wilmut's announcement, it had been thought by many to be unlikely that such a procedure could be performed on larger mammals and life forms. The world media was immediately filled with heated discussions about the ethical implications of cloning. Some of the most powerful people in the world have felt compelled to act against this threat. President Clinton swiftly imposed a ban on federal funding for human-cloning research. Bills were put in the works in both houses of Congress to outlaw human cloning because it was deemed as a fundamentally evil thing that must be stopped. But what, exactly, is bad about it? From an ethical point of view, it is difficult to see exactly what is wrong with cloning human beings. The people who are afraid of cloning tend to assume that someone would, for example, break into Napoleon's Tomb, steal some DNA and make a bunch of emperors. In reality, infertile people who use donated sperm, eggs, or embryos would probably use cloning. Do the potential harms outweigh the benefits of cloning? From what we know now, they don't. Therefore, we should not rush placing a ban on a potentially useful method of helping infertile, genetically at-risk, homosexual, or single people to become parents. Do human beings have a right to reproduce? No one has the moral right to tell another person that they should not be able to have children, and I don't see why Bill Clinton has that right either. If humans have a right to reproduce, what right does society have to limit the means? Essentially all reproduction done these days is with medical help at delivery, and even before. Truly natural human reproduction would make pregnancy-related death the number one killer of adult women. Some forms of medical help

The Tiger

2000-11-30T13:00:00-05:00

Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. They live in Asia and belong to the same genus as the lion, leopard, and jaguar. Two major subspecies of the tiger are the Siberian tiger and the Bengal tiger. The tiger is thought to have originated in northern Asia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Scientific classification: Tigers belong to the family Felidae. The scientific classifications of each tiger are listed in the "Types of Tigers" section of this report. Appearance The Siberian tiger measures 4.6 to 9.2 ft long, excluding the tail, which is 27 to 37 in long. The Siberian Tiger weighs 400 to 675 lb. It has thick yellow fur with dark stripes. The Bengal tiger is about 10 ft long, including the tail, and weighs around 400 to 569 lb. It is found in southeastern Asia and in central and southern India. Its coat is flatter than the Siberian tiger's coat, it has a darker color, and the stripes are darker. The Sumatran tiger is even smaller and darker. Ears The tiger's ears are its main advantage when hunting. Tigers have white spots behind their ears to help identify one another in the jungle. Hearing is the tiger's sharpest sense. Eyes The tiger's night vision is six times greater than ours. They have a mirror like layer at the back of the eye that reflects extra light. Tigers also have very good colorful eyesight. Mouth Tigers have long, canine teeth that they use to stab and kill their prey. The molars behind them are like scissors. They slice strips of flesh from the carcass. The tigers tongue has a rough surface. This sandpaper like surface allows the tiger to drink, groom themselves, and it helps them remove the last little bit of meat from their kill. Legs The tiger's legs are very powerful. The tiger can leap up to 30 feet. Paws The tiger's paws are like a soft pad. They are not rock hard as they appear. The tiger's claws are very sharp. They can reach up to 4 - 5 inches in length and are retractable. When tigers walk, they retract their claws, in order to keep them sharp. Behavior Hunting: Tigers are very good hunters. They like to hunt large animals, such as: deer, antelope, wild oxen, pigs, and buffalo. Some tigers attack elephant calves when the calves are unprotected. Tigers also prey on small animals such as: monkeys, tortoises, and frogs. Tigers a re very

Wolf Spiders

2000-11-07T13:00:00-05:00

Wolf spiders are a group of ground-dwelling hunting spiders. There are more than 2000 types of wolf spiders. They range from 2mm to 40mm. Some wolf spiders can even walk on the water of a pond. They can walk or run while chasing after it’s prey. They use their front legs to catch their prey, and then they bite and crush the prey with their powerful jaws. They can hunt day or night. Wolf spiders can dig burrows and wait for their prey to come around, and then jump out and eat it. Some even build a trapdoor that they get under, then when their prey

Toucans

2000-11-07T13:00:00-05:00

Toucans are members of the bird family. There are about 40 different species of toucans. They range in size from 7-25 inches. They have a long rounded tail that ranges from half the bird’s body length to its full body length. They are distinguished through their beautiful bodies, which are covered with many colors. The colors in the toucan’s feathers include black, white touches, yellow, scarlet, red bands, green, and blue. They are also recognized by their huge beaks, which are also brightly colored. Some types of toucan’s beaks are half of their body length! They have very strong legs, which are scaly. Their toes are in pairs. The first and fourth toes are

Whitetail Deer

2000-09-27T14:00:00-04:00

The whitetail deer, or scientifically known as Odocoileus virginianus, is one of the most known animals in America. They are found just about everywhere in the United States and can also be found in Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Because they are found all over, deer hunting has become a major sport and in the U.S. People hunt them for food and also for the challenge of getting the "big buck." Whitetails usually grow to three and a half foot tall and weigh 50 to 400 pounds depending on whether it is male or female. The deer reaches its biggest size in the north, up to 4 feet tall and 400 pounds, and it's smallest in the south, where they barely weigh more than 50 pounds. During the summer and fall their fur is reddish brown and during the winter and spring it is blue-gray. They get their name from their tale, which is white on the underside, but probably the deer's most noticeable trait is its antlers, which are only found on males. There are two main "beams" from which the horns come off of, each of them grow from the head backwards but then quickly changes and goes forward. The rest of the horns grow off of these two main horns. The deer antlers are the fastest growing tissue known to man, growing as much as a half an inch daily. When the antlers are growing, they are covered with a living tissue called velvet, during this time they are extremely delicate and sensitive to the touch. Since the deer is a prey species, the ability to run is a big help to its livelihood. They also can also, depending on the situation, trot, walk, or crawl under obstacles. If necessary a deer can reach speeds up to 35 miles per hour, it can also jump up to eight feet in the air to clear fences, logs, or other obstacles. Whitetail deer are found all over the United States, except most of California, Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, southwest Colorado, and northwest New Mexico. They are also found in Canada and South America. They are found in farmlands, brushy areas, and forests. A deer won't travel far during their lifetime. Their home range is about one square mile. Within this range is all the necessary needs for survival, including food, water, escape cover, and shelter. The only time they leave this range

Bats

2000-06-11T14:00:00-04:00

INTRODUCTION There is an abundant amount of animal species in the world. They all have adapted and evolved to survive in their surroundings. Some have grown fins, others legs, and still others wings. One of the animals that has grown wings is the bat. The bat is a truly great creature. It has all the characteristics of mammals while also possessing the skill of a bird in flight. There are more than 800 species of bats in the world. They are of many different sizes, shapes, and lifestyles. They live all over the world and have drawn the curiosity of millions. Bats also have the unique feature of echolocation that it uses to catch insects. Though other mammals, like the flying squirrel seem to fly but actually glide, the bat is the only mammal that can truly fly (Lauber 1968). A Bat's Body Due to the great variety of species of bats some characteristics vary greatly, but the Little Brown Bat is a good example of a common bat. It has fur on the body, large naked ears, the rear legs have claws, a tail membrane, and it has the most distinguishing feature of a bat, wings (Lauber 1968). The upper arm of the bat is short while the forearm is very long (Fig. 1). The wrist is very small and from it comes the thumb and the four longer fingers. The thumb is short and used for climbing or walking. The fingers are long and thin. Interlocking the fingers is the wing. This arrangement of having the fingers in the wing gives the bat amazing flight maneuverability (Honders 1975). These bones look similar to a human hand. They are connected by rubbery skin to the bat's body enveloping all the fingers but the thumb (Anonymous 1990). Echolocation Bats have a "sixth sense" called echolocation. This was first proved by Donald Griffin. Bats produce ultrasonic sound waves and then use the echo of the returning sound to sense the world around them and in particularly to catch insects. These sounds are usually out of the humans range of hearing (Fellman 1993). This system is similar to that of dolphins. The sound is in the form of clicks that increase as the bat gets closer to the insect or whatever it is tracking (Anonymous 1990). Unlike humans, most insects can hear the bat's echolocation sounds. David D. Yager of the University of Maryland has

Sea Eagles

2000-05-15T14:00:00-04:00

The sea eagle, which is also called an erne, is not closely or at all related to the golden eagles but is somewhat realted to certain kinds of vultures. The sea eagal has unfethered lower legs, and a bright yellow bill. Which is a lot longer and heavier than the gray bill of the golden eagals. Sea eagles live in costal regions and around lakes, and streams, they feed a lot but not all on fish. The bald eagle which is the national bird of the United States,

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in our Blood Supply

1999-11-16T13:00:00-05:00

The well-being of the blood supply has always been a vital component of human existence. It is common knowledge that the existing blood supply is deficient to the increasing usage of blood and blood products. Ironically, as the topic of blood donation arises in society, fears and doubts as to how sanitary and healthful the blood of blood donors often surface. For instance, there is much criticism over allowing foreign travelers to Great Britain the opportunity to donate their blood. This criticism stems from the belief that the Great Britain endemic of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or "Mad Cow Disease") can be physiologically related to the lethal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Although there is hardly any scientific evidence that supports this allegation, the United States Department of Agriculture and the FDA have introduced strict restrictions concerning the importation of British cattle products and the blood donation of British travelers. Critics, politicians, and the general public often utilize the conjecture of illegitimate facts and myths to shape their opinions concerning BSE. This is fine and great, but I believe a valid opinion on the subject must be backed by significant facts entailing the clinical epidemiology and history of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, its relation to other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), possible transmission to the human species, the causes of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and any relationships between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. My opinion, based on the facts, is what I offer to you. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a fatal brain disease of cattle. BSE is most common in dairy cattle, but not rare in beef cattle either. Cattle affected by BSE experience a progressive degeneration of the nervous system. Infected animals may show changes in behavior such as nervousness or aggression (hence the term "mad cow disease"), abnormal posture, lack of milk production, anorexia, and excessive licking. All cattle affected with BSE either naturally succumb or are euthanized. BSE is most often found in the Holstein-Fresian of cattle, although all breeds are suseptible. The disease usually is introduced to the cattle near puberty (12-15 months), and the incubation period of the disease is 5 or more years. The period of actual infection to death is frighteningly brief; the animal is usually dead within 4 months of showing symptoms. BSE belongs to a group of animal diseases term Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE). Different forms of TSE diseases can affect felines, rodents, and other ruminant

The Bottle-Nosed Dolphin

1999-10-22T14:00:00-04:00

The Bottle-nosed Dolphin is the most studied and generally the best-known species of dolphin. Bottle-nosed dolphins are classified "Tursiops truncates" in scientific name, and belong to the family Delphinidae, in the suborder Odontoceti, order Cetacea. This animal is a very intelligent individual. Bottle-nosed dolphins are commonly found in zoos or marine parks because of their capability to perform tricks. They can jump through hoops 5 meters high because of their incredibly powerful tail. As well as jumping, Bottle-nosed dolphins can raise themselves upright out of the water and travel backwards, by threshing their tails. Bottle-nosed dolphins are generally coastal creatures, occurring along almost all tropical and temperate coasts, although offshore varieties also occur. In addition, the Bottle-nosed dolphin is called the "all-ocean" dolphin, meaning that it lives in every ocean. It is common for a school of 20 dolphins to live together in coastal regions, but school of 200 dolphins are found in the offshore verities. These schools do not seem to have a leader and generally stay together for life. Such sea life as shrimp, squid, small sharks, other vertebrates and fish are all a part of a Bottle-nosed dolphins diet. When they find a large school of fish, several schools of dolphins join up to form groups of up to 1000 dolphins. They work together to head and catch the fish. Another feeding method the Bottle-nosed dolphin has developed is chasing the fish on to mud banks and snaps them in the air. Bottle-nosed dolphins are an extremely adaptable mammal. For example, the Atlantic Ocean form tends to be a little smaller and stockier with a shorter rostrum (nose) compared to the Pacific form. In Scottish waters, Bottle-nosed dolphins are chubby with a dark gray complexion, while the in Australian waters, Bottle-nosed dolphins are thin, light gray appearance, with a dominant circle around each eye. The reason why this dolphin may change its physical appearance is because there may be more fish in Scotland, or the prey may be a slower breed, making the Bottle-nosed dolphin not work as hard for its food, therefore creating a chubbier breed of Bottle-nosed dolphin compared to other parts of the world. Bottle-nosed dolphin have recently been introduced and are now bonding with humans in dolphin watching and swim-with-dolphin tourism activities in nature. A female Bottle-nosed dolphin will mature between the age of 5 to 12 years, and males at 9 to 13 years. Bottle-nosed dolphins

Tiger Sharks

1999-09-12T14:00:00-04:00

Description of Tiger Sharks Information about Tiger sharks is rare in books so most of this paper will be about sharks in general. The Tiger Shark's Latin name is Galeocerdo cuvier. Sharks are a member of the fish family. There are over 350 species of sharks. Sharks can be as big as 49 feet long (whale shark) and as short as 6 inches (cigar shark). Sharks' bodies do not have bones, but have cartilage instead. They have pointed heads with five gills behind it. Sharks have very sharp teeth that are replaced whenever they lose teeth. Sharks' skin can be reddish brown, bronze, metallic blue or nearly black, although most of them are gray. Some have spots, bands and marbling. Their skin is leathery and covered with small pointed scales which are so sharp that if petted in the opposite direction can actually hurt your hand. Sharks have great senses. Their eyes are sensitive and can even see in dim light. Their sense of smell is outstanding. They also have senses that humans do not. Sharks can feel when other things are around them. Also, they have organs on their snouts which tell them when other fish are around. Sharks are known to eat every creature in the sea including their own kind. Some sharks eat only plants and plankton. Others prefer live food. People have found very unusual things in sharks' stomachs such as hooves of cows, horses, dogs, cats, goats and human corpses. Unlike bony fish which lay hundreds of eggs at one time, sharks litters are much smaller. Some sharks have as few as two offspring at a time. Bony fish babies are born small and puny. Shark "pups" are born fully developed and are ready to eat the foods that full-grown sharks eat. Some of sharks' behavior is interesting and understood. Other behaviors are still mysterious. For example, sharks attack when they are hungry. But why they attack when they are not hungry, we do not know. They may attack for defense, because they think humans are food, because they smell blood or because they smell or sense chemicals that are interesting to them. While people may think that all sharks are dangerous, only about 30 species are considered dangerous, including the Tiger Shark. Even when sharks do attack, the victims usually do not die anyway. Where Sharks Live Sharks are found in all of the world's oceans although most

Giant Panda

1999-05-20T14:00:00-04:00

What animal is black and white and loved all over the world? If you guessed the giant panda, you're right! The giant panda is also known as the panda bear, bamboo bear, or in Chinese as Daxiongmao, the "large bear cat." Actually, its scientific name means "black and white cat-footed animal."

Giant pandas are found only in the mountains of central China. They live in dense bamboo and coniferous forests at altitudes of 5,000 to 10,000 feet. The mountains are covered in heavy clouds with torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year.

Giant pandas are bear-like in shape with striking black and white markings. The ears, eye patches, legs, and shoulder band are black. The rest of the body is whitish. Adults are 4 to 6 feet long and may weigh up to 350 pounds, about the same size as the American black bear. However, unlike the black bear, giant pandas do not hibernate and cannot walk on their hind legs.

The giant panda has unique front paws-one of the wrist bones is enlarged and elongated and is used like a thumb, enabling the giant panda to grasp stalks of bamboo. They also have very powerful jaws and teeth to crush bamboo. While bamboo stalks and roots make up about 95 percent of its diet, the giant panda also feeds on fish and occasionally small rodents. It must eat 20 to 40 pounds of food each day to survive, and spends 10 to 16 hours a day feeding.

Until recently, Washington DC's National Zoo housed Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, perhaps the most well known giant pandas in North America. A gift from China to the people of the United States, they were presented as a gesture of amity and goodwill to President Richard Nixon when he visited China in 1972. Ling-Ling, at age 23, died in December 1992.

Giant pandas are among the rarest mammals in the world. There are probably less than 1,000 left in the wild. Although adult giant pandas have few natural enemies, the young are sometimes preyed upon by leopards.

Habitat encroachment and destruction are the greatest threats to the continued existence of the giant panda. This is mainly because of the demand for land and natural resources by China's 1 billion inhabitants. To offset this situation, the Chinese government has set aside 11 nature preserves where bamboo flourishes and giant pandas are known to live.

Ameba Information

1999-04-08T14:00:00-04:00

Scientific name - Kingdom- Protista, Phylum- Saccoina, Class- Rhizopodea, Order- Amoebida, Family- N\A, Genus- Ameba, Species- proteus Description - Amebas are one of the simplest organisms with animal characteristics. They consist of a single cell that is only about one hundredth of an inch long and it can only be seen through a microscope. The ameba's body is shapeless and is a jelly like mass of material called protoplasm. Its cytoplasm is transparent. The central area is called the endoplasm and it contains the nucleus. The endoplasm also contains contractile vacuoles, which look like clear bubbles. They move by amoeboid motion. Which is where the ameba expands and contracts it pseudopodia, or bulges in the ameba's body, in regular intervals. The rest of the body flows with the pseudopodia. Habitat - Ameba live in most types of fresh

The Grey Wolf

1999-04-08T14:00:00-04:00

Scientific name -Kingdom-Animalia, Phylum- Chordate, Class- Mammilla, Order- Carnivorous, Family- Canida, Genus- Canis, Species- lupus Description -Canis lupus's' height ranges from about 21-38 inches and three and a half feet long. Their weight ranges from 20 -172 pounds. It is one of the largest wolves in the world. They also range in color from pure white to near black. The gray wolves are a very intelligent animal and they learn quickly to avoid humans and there trap's. Grey wolves have a keen sense of smell, acute

Coral reefs

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Coral reefs are arguably the world's most beautiful habitats. Coral reefs have been called the rainforests of the oceans, because of the rich diversity of life they support. Scientists have not yet finished counting the thousands of different species of plants and animals that use or live in the coral reef. There are three types of coral reefs: fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. Fringing reefs are located close to shore, separated from land by only shallow water. Barrier reefs lie farther offshore, separated from land by lagoons more than ten meters deep. Atolls, on the other hand, are formed far offshore and they make a ring-shaped reef that close a circular lagoon. Coral reefs are the largest biological structures on the planet, with the largest being the Great Barrier Reef covering over 2000 kilometers along the east coast of Australia (Focus, 1995). The reef is said to be 500,000 to 2,500,000 years old and is said to be visible from the moon.(Scientific, 1987). There is only one problem with this beautiful structure and that is the carelessness of man. Silt from deforested lands and pollution from crowded coastlines choke them, and overuse by coal miners, fisheries, and even tourists deplete and destroy coral reefs. There are many more factors which add to the destruction of the coral reefs, which if not stopped it will destroy all coral reefs. Corals are animals, not plants, sunlight is the key to their survival. They need it to power the millions of microscopic algae, called zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues. The algae provides the corals with food and oxygen in return for raw materials and a secure place to live. This teamwork is what allows the reef to survive in nutrient-poor tropical seas. This relationship is sensitive to such changes in the environment as cloudy waters or extreme temperatures. The stress on the corals can cause them to expel their algae, a phenomenon known as bleaching(Futurists, 1993). With the algae gone, the coral skeleton is visible and eventually it dies. Died corals lead further on to the death of the reef. There are four environmental factors that effect their growth: temperature, salinity, water depth, and wave action. These factors exposes the reef to changes in the environment very easily especially since it is located so close to shore. This also makes it hard for all of the species which use the coral reef to

Reptiles

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Reptiles are vertebrate, or backboned animals constituting the class Reptilia and are characterized by a combination of features, none of which alone could separate all reptiles from all other animals. The characteristics of reptiles are numerous, therefore can not be explained in great detail in this report. In no special order, the characteristics of reptiles are: cold-bloodedness; the presence of lungs; direct development, without larval forms as in amphibians; a dry skin with scales but not feathers or hair; an amniote egg; internal fertilization; a three or four-chambered heart; two aortic arches (blood vessels) carrying blood from the heart to the body, unlike mammals and birds that only have one; a metanephric kidney; twelve pairs of cranial nerves; and skeletal features such as limbs with usually five clawed fingers or toes, at least two spinal bones associated with the pelvis, a single ball-and-socket connection at the head-neck joint instead of two, as in advanced amphibians and mammals, and an incomplete or complete partition along the roof of the mouth, separating the food and air passageways so that breathing can continue while food is being chewed. These and other traditional defining characteristics of reptiles have been subjected to considerable modification in recent times. The extinct flying reptiles, called pterosaurs or pterodactyls, are now thought to have been warm-blooded and covered with hair. Also, the dinosaurs are also now considered by many authorities to have been warm-blooded. The earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, is now regarded by many to have been a small dinosaur, despite its covering of feathers The extinct ancestors of the mammals, the therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, are also believed to have been warm-blooded and haired. Proposals have been made to reclassify the pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and certain other groups out of the class Reptilia into one or more classes of their own. The class Reptilia is divided into 6 to 12 subclasses by different authorities. This includes living and extinct species. In addition, a number of these subclasses are completely extinct. The subclasses contain about 24 orders, but only 4 of these are still represented by living animals. Of the living orders of reptiles, two arose earlier than the age of reptiles, when dinosaurs were dominant. Tuataras, of the order Rhynchocephalia, are found only on New Zealand islands, whereas the equally ancient turtles, order Chelonia, occur nearly worldwide. The order Crocodilia emerged along with the dinosaurs. Snakes and lizards, order Squamata, are

Polar Bear

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

SPECIES- Ursus Maritimus, Polar Bear, lord of the Arctic. Lives in an area of five million square miles of snow and ice. From Siberia to Alaska and across Canada, Greenland and the Islands north of Norway, he is the master of all living things except man. It lives in the brutal cold, ice, and snow. The temperature can plunge down frequently to -40 degrees and sometimes even lower but that does not bother the polar bear because of its color-less skin and layer of insulation fat. Its range extending around the northern polar region. Necessities of Life-The polar bear eats mostly seals which he has to hunt. His trick is to wait by a breathing in the ice and when a seal comes up by that breathing hole, he grabs it so fast it knocks it unconscious and then he eats it. Other pray is a walrus calf or a musk ox stuck in snow, birds, eggs, fish, and dead whales. And sometimes in the summer it eats berries and grass. The polar bear has no water to drink so it only eats the skin and blubber, avoiding the meat. So by eating the blubber and leaving the meat the male bear is helping keep his body in balance with the surrounding environment. The bear would usually stay in a den or bury it self in the snow to avoid the suns ultra violent rays. Usually the pregnant female polar bear stays in the den. Food Chain-The polar bear finds its way on the top of its food chain. No predator on earth approaches the bear in size. The polar bear towers over everything else in his food chain. The only thing that could stop him is a human with a gun. Super Amazing Facts-The polar bear is well adapted to its special live style. The hairs of its thick coat are hollow, giving extra insulation against the bitter arctic cold. It also has an extra layer of insulating fat under its skin and the hairs on the polar bear are color less, when the sun hits them they look white. Polar bears are twice as big as lions or tigers, a typical adult male weighs half a ton and is five feet high at the shoulder. His paws are a fool wide. When he stands up straight, he can look an elephant in the eye. Explain- My species was endangered bad back

Leaf-cutting Ants

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

One of the most little known species of ants in North America is the leaf-cutter ant. This is mainly because it lives in tropical environments and it is not aggressive to animals or humans if not disturbed. The leaf cutting ant is a social insect. Alone the ant is virtually helpless but with the colony it can be a thing feared by animal and human alike. The leaf-cutting ants have a very important role in the tropical forest. They create and manipulate the environment around them. They also can do major damage. The leaf-cutting or fungus-growing ants are distributed from northern Texas to central Argentina. These ants are injurious since they cut the green vegetation from trees, shrubs and crops, and carry it into the nest, where they cultivate fungi on it. They have been known to denude a tree or ornamental plants in one night. It has been estimated they do $1 billion damage per year in North and South America today, these ants still cause millions of dollars in crop losses in many South American countries. Although primarily an agricultural pest, this insect on occasion may invade the home for cereals. In the United States, the Texas leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana , occurs in Texas and Louisiana. This ant is believed to cause a total yearly loss of $5 million in the United States (unison services. 1998). There are about 9,500 named species of ants. These ants are divided into 16 sub families and 300 genera, all which belong to the family called Formicidae, the family of ants (Hoyt. 1996). The leaf cutting ant belongs to the genus called Atta. There are fifteen different species of Atta and all are limited to the new world (Holldobler & Wilson, 1994). The leaf-cutter ant looks pretty much like a regular ant in North America except that it is a little bigger than most ants. Looking at the ant in the untrained eye a person usually perceives that it is a primitive organism. Looks can be deceiving. The leaf-cutter ant is a complex superorganism unique social, environmental, and food gathering behavior. The anatomy of the leaf-cutter ant is pretty simple. It has a one segment "waist" (pedicel) between thorax and abdomen. Sharp spines on waist and backward from head. Antennae 11-segmented very long and elbowed without distinct club. The legs are very long. This ant can be light to dark reddish brown (Smith.

The Humpback Whale

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

To look up into the mountains and see the steam rolling from a mountain stream on a cold winters morning is a beautiful sight. However, to look out over the horizon and see the white spray of salt water coming from the blow of a huge hump-back whale is much more exciting sight and a whole lot warmer. I lived in the mountains of Colorado for most of my childhood. The first time I had the opportunity to see the ocean was on a vacation to California, when I was about 15 years old. It was even better than I had dreamed it would be. The different animals in the ocean, the color of the water, and the warm sand between my toes was probably what led me to come to the islands of Hawaii. When I first saw the hump-back whale I was amazed at their huge size and how they could breach out of the water so gracefully. It is as if they were trying to play or show off. So when we were asked to choose a favorite animal, I had no problem deciding on the hump-back whale. The hump-back whale gets it's name from the distinctive hump in front of the dorsal fin and from the way it raises it's back high above water before diving. They are a member of the order Cetacea. This order is of aquatic mammals and the hump-back belongs to the suborder of the Mysticeti. The Mysticeti are the baleen whales which have three families and several species. The family in which the hump-back belongs is the Balaenopteridae, the true fin backed whale. The thing that separates this genus from the other fin-backed whales is the pectoral fins, which grow in lengths of about 5 meters (16.4 feet). This Genus is called Megaptera meaning great wing (Tinker 290). There was a controversy over the species name in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1932, Remington Kellogg finally settled the matter with Megatera Novaeangliae (Cousteau 84). The common English name is the hump-back whale. The hump-back whale lives in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Since we live in the Pacific I'll be discussing the hump-backs of the North Pacific. They migrate from North to South. In the months of July through September they gather in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea or the Chukchi Sea. They head south for the winter.

Survival of the Stingray

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Imagine yourself 150,000 years in the future. Another ice age is in full force. Temperatures are much colder, vegetation has ceased to exist, along with several entire animal species. The lion, once the king of the jungle, is no more than an alley cat scavenging for food. The great white shark- reduced to the size of goldfish. A new predator is on the prowl. The stingray, once limited to shallow, sandy beaches, has evolved! With it's new adaptations the power of the stingray is unfurled, free to roam in the wide expanse of sea, air, and land. Many advantages have evolved in the once conservative stingray. From the large size of the present day animal, the stingray has been reduced in size and weight from an average of 12 feet, 60 pounds to 3 feet, 15 pounds to provide from speed, stealth, and agility. The broad flattened pectoral fins have grown a protective hard scale resistant to the hardest of an enemy's teeth, along with the secretion of a special enzyme that causes pain and damage along with a bitter taste to avoid being eaten. It's powerful tail has been lengthened to provide offensive coverage in a 360 degree area. Along with the sharp, barbed spines and deadly poisonous glands, the stingray is now a formidable opponent. With the decrease in food supply, the stingray has adapted with his environment. Formerly a sole marine animal, a stingray's diet has now included the usual fish and crustaceans to birds and small rodents. To achieve this new source of food, the stingray now has the capability to move on land in the form of a speedy slithering such as a snake might move. A set of lungs accompany this adaptation enabling the stingray to breathe on land as well as water. In addition to land and sea, if a stingray should swim swiftly to the surface and break out high above, his new capability to glide would take effect. With a limit of a few minutes the stingray cannot sustain continued flight. He would be able to act as a scavenger stealing away kills from other predators and returning to the murky depths. The bland coloring of his skin enables him to hide from the predators as his skin reflects off the colors surrounding his environment. In a land surrounded by ice and water, a hard nose tooth, similar to a tusk, has grown