Bird-of-Paradise

Fun Facts About Birds Of Paradise:

     Amazing Facts about the Bird of Paradise Plant Species.

The scientific name of this plant is Strelitzia, pronounced STRE-lit-see-a.
The plant was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. She was of the House of Mecklenburg – Strelitzia.
The Bird of Paradise, as it is commonly known, is a tropical herb. It has large oval leaves on long stems. The flowers of the plant are blue and orange and resemble an exotic bird in flight

Bird of Paradise originated in South Africa.
It belongs to the banana family.
Bird of Paradise blooms from September to the end of May.

• The long blue tongue is the female part of the flower.
  Bird of Paradise will thrive in most soils, but fertile loam is best. Soil must be well drained. 
• Over watering will cause root rot.
  The most flowers are produced along the plant’s periphery. 

• It takes 3 to 5 years to grow a Bird of Paradise plant from seed.
  Seeds must be soaked in water and nicked in order to germinate because the shell of the seed is extremely hard.
• Bird of Paradise plants are usually pest free. Check for aphids on occasion. 
• Though Bird of Paradise is a tropical plant, it can withstand temperatures as low as 24 degrees Fahrenheit, though flowers and buds will be damaged.
• Bird of Paradise is grown commercially in California and Hawaii.

Bird-of-paradise:

     
                                                                                                                                                                             
The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found in Papua New Guinea, Indonesian Papua (Papua and Irian Jaya Province) and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Maluku Islands and eastern Australia. The family has forty-one species in 14 genera.[1] The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the sexually dimorphic species (the majority), in particular the highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-type polygamy.

The family is of cultural importance to the inhabitants of New Guinea. The trade in skins and feathers of the birds-of-paradise has been going on for two thousand years. The birds have also been of considerable interest to Western collectors, ornithologists and writers. A number of species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss.

Taxonomy and systematics:

For many years the birds-of-paradise were treated as being closely related to the bowerbirds. Today while both are treated as being part of the Australasian lineage Corvida, the two are now only thought to be distantly related. The closest evolutionary relatives of the birds-of-paradise are the crow and jay family Corvidae, the monarch flycatchers Monarchidae and the Australian mudnesters Struthideidae.

A 2009 study examining the mitochondrial DNA of all species to examine the relationships within the family and to its nearest relatives estimated that the family emerged 24 million years ago, older than previous estimates. The study identified five clades within the family, and placed the split between the first clade, which contains the monogamous manucodes and Paradise-crow, and all the other birds-of-paradise, to be 10 million years ago. The second clade includes the parotias and the King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise. The third clade provisionally contains a number of genera, Seleucidis, the Drepanornis sicklebills, Semioptera, Ptiloris and Lophorina, but support values for some of these is inclusions is low. The fourth clade includes the Epimachus sicklebills, Paradigalla and the astrapias. The final clade includes the Cicinnurus and the Paradisaea birds-of-paradise.

The exact limits of the family have been the subject of revision as well. The three species of satinbird (the genera Cnemophilus and Loboparadisea) were treated as a subfamily of the birds-of-paradise, Cnemophilinae. In spite of differences in the mouth, foot morphology and nesting habits they remained in the family until a 2000 study moved them to a separate family closer to the berrypeckers and longbills (Melanocharitidae). The same study found that the Macgregor's Bird-of-paradise was actually a member of the large Australasian honeyeater family. In addition to these three species, a number of systematically enigmatic species and genera have been considered potential members of this family. The two species in the genus Melampitta, also from New Guinea, have been linked with the birds-of-paradise, but their relationships remain uncertain, more recently being linked with the Australian mudnesters. The Silktail of Fiji has been linked with the birds-of-paradise many times since its discovery, but never formally assigned to the family. Recent molecular evidence now places the species with the fantails.

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Centipede

CENTIPEDE:

Centipedes (from Latin prefix centi-, "hundred", and pes, pedere, "foot") are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of legs, e.g. 15 or 17 pairs of legs (30 or 34 legs). A key trait uniting this group is a pair of venom claws or forcipules formed from a modified first appendage. Centipedes are a predominantly carnivorous taxon.

Centipedes normally have a drab coloration combining shades of brown and red. Cavernicolous (cave-dwelling) and subterranean species may lack pigmentation and many tropical scolopendromorphs have bright aposematic colours. Size can range from a few millimetres in the smaller lithobiomorphs and geophilomorphs to about 30 cm (12 in) in the largest scolopendromorphs. Centipedes can be found in a wide variety of environments.

Worldwide, there are estimated to be 8,000 species of centipede, of which 3,000 have been described. Centipedes have a wide geographical range, reaching beyond the Arctic Circle. Centipedes are found in an array of terrestrial habitats from tropical rainforests to deserts. Within these habitats, centipedes require a moist micro-habitat because they lack the waxy cuticle of insects and arachnids, and so lose water rapidly through the skin. Accordingly, they are found in soil and leaf litter, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs. Centipedes are among the largest terrestrial invertebrate predators and often contribute significantly to the invertebrate predatory biomass in terrestrial ecosystems.

CENTIPEDE BITE:

A centipede bite is an injury resulting from the action of a centipede's forcipules, pincer-like appendages that pierce the skin and inject venom into the wound. Such a wound is not technically a bite, as the forcipules are modified legs rather than true mouthparts. Clinically, the wound is viewed as a cutaneous condition characterized by paired hemorrhagic marks that form a chevron shape caused by the large paired forcipules of the centipede.

The centipede's venom causes pain and swelling in the area of the bite, and may cause other reactions throughout the body. The majority of bites are not life-threatening to humans and present the greatest risk to children and those who develop allergic reactions.

TREATMENT:

Individuals who are bitten by centipedes are sometimes given a urine test to check for muscle tissue breakdown and/or an EKG to check for heart and vascular problems.

Reassurance and pain relief is often given in the form of painkillers, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, antihistamines and anti-anxiety medications. In a severe case the affected limb can be elevated and administered diuretic medications.

Wound care principles and sometimes antibiotics are used to keep the wound itself from becoming infected or necrotic.

DESCRIPTION:

Centipedes have a rounded or flattened head, bearing a pair of antennae at the forward margin. They have a pair of elongated mandibles, and two pairs of maxillae. The first pair of maxillae form the lower lip, and bear short palps. The first pair of limbs stretch forward from the body to cover the remainder of the mouth. These limbs, or maxillipeds, end in sharp claws and include venom glands that help the animal to kill or paralyse its prey.

Centipedes possess a variable number of ocelli, which are sometimes clustered together to form true compound eyes. Even so, it appears that centipedes are only capable of discerning light and dark, and not of true vision. Indeed, many species lack eyes altogether. In some species the final pair of legs act as sense organs similar to antennae, but facing backwards. An unusual sense organ found in some groups are the organs of Tömösváry. These are located at the base of the antennae, and consist of a disc-like structure with a central pore surrounded by sensory cells. They are probably used for sensing vibrations, and may even provide a sense of hearing.

Forcipules are a unique feature found only in centipedes and in no other arthropods. The forcipules are modifications of the first pair of legs, forming a pincer-like appendage always found just behind the head. Forcipules are not true mouthparts, although they are used in the capture of prey items, injecting venom and holding onto captured prey. Venom glands run through a tube almost to the tip of each forcipule.

Behind the head, the body consists of fifteen or more segments. Most of the segments bear a single pair of legs, with the maxillipeds projecting forward from the first body segment, and the final two segments being small and legless. Each pair of legs is slightly longer than the pair immediately in front of it, ensuring that they do not overlap, and therefore reducing the chance that they will collide with each other while moving swiftly. In extreme cases, the last pair of legs may be twice the length of the first pair. The final segment bears a telson and includes the openings of the reproductive organs.

Centipedes are predators, and mainly use their antennae to seek out their prey. The digestive tract forms a simple tube, with digestive glands attached to the mouthparts. Like insects, centipedes breathe through a tracheal system, typically with a single opening, or spiracle on each body segment. They excrete waste through a single pair of malpighian tubules.

Scolopendra gigantea, also known as the Amazonian giant centipede, is the largest existing species of centipede in the world, reaching over 30 cm (12 in) in length. It is known to eat lizards, frogs, birds, mice, and even bats, catching them in midflight, as well as rodents and spiders. The Permian genus Euphoberia was the largest centipede, growing up to 1 m (39 in) in length.

LIFE CYCLE OF CENTIPEDES:

Centipede reproduction does not involve copulation. Males deposit a spermatophore for the female to take up. In one clade, this spermatophore is deposited in a web, and the male undertakes a courtship dance to encourage the female to engulf his sperm. In other cases, the males just leave them for the females to find. In temperate areas egg laying occurs in spring and summer but in subtropical and tropical areas there appears to be little seasonality to centipede breeding. It is also notable that there are a few known species of parthenogenetic centipedes.

The Lithobiomorpha, and Scutigeromorpha lay their eggs singly in holes in the soil, the female fills the holes with soil and leaves them. The number of eggs laid ranges from about 10 to 50. Time of development of the embryo to hatching is highly variable and may take from one to a few months. Time of development to reproductive period is highly variable within and among species. For example, it can take 3 years for S. coleoptera to achieve adulthood, whereas under the right conditions Lithiobiomorph species may reach a reproductive period in 1 year. In addition, centipedes are relatively long-lived when compared to their insect cousins. For example: the European Lithobius forficatus can live for 5 or 6 years. The combination of a small number of eggs laid, long gestation period, and long time of development to reproduction has led authors to label Lithobiomorph centipedes as K-selected.

Females of Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha show far more parental care. The eggs, 15 to 60 in number, are laid in a nest in the soil or in rotten wood. The female stays with the eggs, guarding and licking them to protect them from fungi. The female in some species stays with the young after they have hatched, guarding them until they are ready to leave. If disturbed, the female will either abandon the eggs or eat them; abandoned eggs tend to fall prey to fungi rapidly. Some species of Scolopendromorpha are matriphagic, meaning that the offspring eat their mother.


Close up of rear pair of legs of centipede:

Underside of Scolopendra cingulata, showing the forcipules:

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BITTER GOURD HEALTH BENEFITS

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                               BITTER GOURD HEALTH BENEFITS

By Dr. Sandra Habicht

Bitter gourd is a functional vegetable with beneficial effects on health:

Bitter gourd is a popular vegetable in some Asian countries, where the health benefits of the plant are well-known—particularly, its ability to lower blood glucose in diabetics. Bitter gourd has been used to treat diabetes in traditional medicine and is now commercially available as tea (from fruits or leaves), juice, extracts, and pills. Although these products promise health benefits, most of the manufacturers do not offer scientifically proven data on the effectiveness of bitter gourd or their products. However, in recent years researchers worldwide have started to focus on the antidiabetic effects of bitter gourd. The goal is to provide safe and clear preparation and dosage recommendations so that consumers will realize the greatest benefit from consuming fresh bitter gourd or bitter gourd products.

It is scientifically proven: bitter gourd lowers blood glucose levels!
Bitter gourd treatments of cell cultures or feeding trials with laboratory animals such as mice or rats show bitter gourd does have blood glucose lowering properties. Bitter gourd is not like most medicinal drugs, which are effective only in one target organ or tissue; rather, it influences glucose metabolism all over the body.

Bitter gourd lowers dietary carbohydrate digestion

The glucose metabolism starts in the gut. Carbohydrates and sugars are metabolized to glucose (one type of sugar) before glucose is transported from the gut to the blood. Bitter gourd reduces the amount of glucose that is released into the blood by inhibiting the enzymes that break down disaccharides to two monosaccharides (e.g. glucose) (Oishi et al. 2007, Kumar Shetty et al. 2005). Bitter gourd can influence the transport channels for glucose, which also reduces glucose transport into the blood (Singh et al. 2004). This effect is important for the treatment of both Type I and Type II diabetic patients and helps to prevent high blood sugar levels after meals.

Bitter gourd plant insulin discovered:

The pancreas reacts to increasing blood sugar levels by secreting insulin into the blood. Insulin helps to transport the sugar from the blood to the skeletal muscle and the fat tissue where it is used to produce energy. Insulin will also stop the liver to produce sugar from glycogen storages and to release the sugar into the blood.
Thus, insulin is necessary to lower high blood sugar levels. In Type I diabetes, also called insulin-dependent diabetes, the pancreas does not produce or secrete enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels low. Bitter gourd has been shown to be effective in treating Type I diabetes in rats or mice by increasing pancreatic insulin secretion Yibchok-Anun et al. 2006, Fernandes et al. 2007). Additionally, scientists found an insulin-like molecule in bitter gourd (Khanna et al. 1981). Although bitter gourd may reduce the number of insulin injections required to manage Type 1 diabetes, it cannot replace insulin treatment completely or heal this form of the disease.

Bitter gourd reverses insulin resistance:
Bitter gourd can play a role in the prevention and treatment of Type II diabetes, which is also called insulin-independent diabetes or adult onset diabetes. This form of the disease usually occurs in people who are overweight and inactive. In Type II diabetes, the liver, skeletal muscle, and fat tissues do not respond adequately to insulin—they are “insulin resistant.” Feeding trials with insulin resistant or Type II diabetic rats and mice have shown that bitter gourd helps to prevent or reverse insulin resistance (Nerurkar et al. 2008, Klomann et al. 2010). People with insulin resistance or those with a high risk of developing Type II diabetes have a good chance to prevent and treat the disease without drugs by increasing their physical activity and changing their diet.

Bitter gourd prevents diabetic complications:

Chronically high sugar concentrations from Type I and Type II diabetes increase the risk of inflammation and oxidation in the whole body, leading to blindness, diabetic feet, kidney disease, stroke, or heart attack. Consuming bitter gourd can help prevent these complications, as it not only decreases blood sugar levels, but also has some antioxidative properties (Sathishsekar und Subramanian 2005, Klomann et al. 2010).

Bitter gourd can protect the body from other non-communicable diseases:

Being overweight is one of the most important risk factors for diabetes and other diseases, and Type II diabetes is often accompanied by hypertension, high plasma cholesterol, or high plasma lipids. Together, these conditions increase the risk of stroke or heart attack. For overweight Type II diabetic patients, bitter gourd can help to improve health. In mice and rats, bitter gourd has been shown to reduce hypertension (Singh et al. 2004), plasma cholesterol (Nerurkar et al. 2008), and plasma lipids (Nerurkar et al. 2008). Apart from this, bitter gourd helps weight loss. There is also evidence that bitter gourd might be effective in cancer treatment.

 More bitter gourd does not help more. Please be careful!

Exclusive consumption of bitter gourd, bitter gourd juice, or other bitter gourd products can lead to dangerous hypoglycemia when consumed by diabetic patients under oral drug treatment, in too high dosages, by children, or on a hungry stomach. Pregnant or breastfeeding woman should not consume bitter gourd or bitter gourd products. Although bitter gourd can help prevent insulin resistance or severe diabetic complications, it is important to consider situations in which bitter gourd may be harmful to your health.

                      

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Cassowary bird

 Cassowary bird:

The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds, in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands, and northeastern Australia.There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the Southern Cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds, and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when provoked they are capable of inflicting injuries to dogs and people, although fatalities are extremely rare.

Description:

The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north Queensland rain forests is not well understood.

Females are bigger and more brightly colored. Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft) tall, although some females may reach 2 metres (6.6 ft), and weigh 58.5 kilograms (129 lb).

           All cassowaries have feathers that consist of a shaft and loose barbules. They do not have retrices (tail feathers) or a preen gland. Cassowaries have small wings with 5-6 large remeges. These are reduced to stiff, keratinous quills, like porcupine quills, with no barbs. A claw is on each second finger. The furcula and coracoid are degenerate, and their palatal bones and sphenoid bones touch each other. These, along with their wedge-shaped body, are thought to be adaptations to ward off vines, thorns, and saw-edged leaves, allowing them to run quickly through the rainforest.

A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that is 125 millimetres (5 in) long. This claw is particularly fearsome since cassowaries sometimes kick humans and animals with their enormously powerful legs (see Cassowary Attacks, below). Cassowaries can run up to 50 km/h (31 mph) through the dense forest. They can jump up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and they are good swimmers, crossing wide rivers and swimming in the sea as well.

All three species have horn-like but soft and spongy crests called casques on their heads, up to 18 cm (7 in).These consist of "a keratinous skin over a core of firm,cellular foam likema terial". Several purposes for the casques have been proposed. One possibility is that they are secondary sexual characteristics.Other suggestions include that they are used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon for dominance disputes, or as a tool for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging.

The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack, whose personal observation suggests that the casque amplifies deep sounds. However, the earlier article by Crome and Moore says that the birds do lower their heads when they are running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions".

From an engineering perspective the wedge-shaped casque is also the most efficient way to protect the head by deflecting falling fruit. As cassowaries live on fallen fruit they spend a lot of time under trees where seeds the size of golfballs or larger are dropping from heights of up to 30 metres. Mack and Jones also speculate that the casques play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to their discovery that at least the Dwarf Cassowary and Southern Cassowary produce very-low frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest. This "boom" is the lowest known bird call, and is on the edge of human hearing. Crowe described a cooling function for the very similar casques of guineafowl.

The average lifespan of wild cassowaries is believed to be about 40 to 50 years.

Diet:

Cassowaries are predominantly frugivorous. Besides fruits, their diet includes flowers, fungi, snails, insects, frogs, birds, fish, rats, mice, and carrion. Fruit from at least 26 plant families has been documented in the diet of cassowaries. Fruits from the laurel, podocarp, palm, wild grape, nightshade, and myrtle families are important items in the diet. The cassowary plum takes its name from the bird.

Where trees are dropping fruit, cassowaries will come in and feed, with each bird defending a tree from others for a few days. They move on when the fruit is depleted. Fruit is swallowed whole, even items as large as bananas and apples.

Cassowaries are a keystone species of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement.

As for eating the Cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat so is the Cassowary".

Role in seed dispersal and germination:

Cassowaries feed on the fruit of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree Ryparosa were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%)

Cassowary attacks:

Cassowaries have a reputation for being dangerous to people and domestic animals. During World War II American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of them. In his book Living Birds of the World from 1958, ornithologist Thomas E. Gilliard wrote:

    "The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. There are many records of natives being killed by this bird."

This assessment of the danger posed by cassowaries has been repeated in print by authors including Gregory S. Paul (1988)
and Jared Diamond (1997). Of 221 attacks studied in 2003, 150 were against humans. 75% of these were from cassowaries that had been fed by people. 71% of the time the bird chased or charged the victim. 15% of the time they kicked. Of the attacks, 73% involved the birds expecting or snatching food, 5% involved defending natural food sources, 15% involved defending themselves from attack, 7% involved defending their chicks or eggs. The 150 attacks included at least one human death.

One documented human death was caused by a cassowary on 6 April 1926. 16-year-old Phillip McClean and his brother, aged 13, came across a cassowary on their property and decided to try to kill it by striking it with clubs. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away as his older brother struck the bird. The cassowary then charged and knocked the older McClean to the ground and kicked him in the neck, opening a 1.25 cm (0.49 in) wound which may have severed his carotid artery. The boy managed to escape, but died shortly afterwards as a result of his injuries.

Cassowary strikes to the abdomen are among the rarest of all, but there is one case of a dog that was kicked in the belly in 1995. The blow left no puncture, but there was severe bruising. The dog later died from an apparent intestinal rupture.

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crocodile attack

Crocodiles:

They are large aquatic tetra-pods that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, in which all its members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily. A broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae, that includes the tomistoma, was excluded in this article since new genetic studies reveal the possibility of tomistoma as a close relative of the gharial.This article applies the term crocodile only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae. The term is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: which includes all members of Crocodylidae, including the tomistoma, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), and the rest of Crocodylomorpha, which includes all of the prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors.

A mature saltwater crocodile:

The saltwater crocodile  also known as saltie, estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest terrestrial and riparian predator in the world. The males of this species can reach sizes of up to 7 m (23 ft) and weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). However, an adult male saltwater crocodile is generally between 4.3 and 5.2 m (14 and 17 ft) in length and weighs 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb), rarely growing larger. Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft). As its name implies, this crocodile can live in salt water, but usually resides in mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India, throughout most of Southeast Asia, stretching south to northern Australia, and historically ranging as far west as off the eastern coast of Africa and as far east as waters off of Japan.

CROCODILIAN SPECIES LIST:


Alligator mississippiensis: 

      
 Common name:   AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
 Distribution:        Southeast United States
                     

Alligator sinensis:

Common name:       CHINESE ALLIGATOR
Eastern Chinaame: CHINESE ALLIGATOR

 Caiman crocodilus:

Common name:  SPECTACLED CAIMAN  
Distribution:        Central & South America








Caiman latirostris:

Common name:    BROAD-SNOUTED CAIMAN
Distribution:         South America

Caiman yacare:

Common name:    JACARÉCAIMAN 
Distribution:         South America

Melanosuchus niger:

Common name:     BLACKCAIMAN
Distribution:          South America

Paleosuchus palpebrosus: 

Common name:   CUVIER'S DWARF CAIMAN 
Distribution:        South America
 
Paleosuchus trigonatus:

Common name:  SCHNEIDER'S DWARF CAIMAN
Distribution:       South America


 Crocodylus acutus:

Common name:   AMERICAN CROCODILE 
Distribution:        North, Central & South America

Crocodylus cataphractus:

Slender-snouted crocodile Common name:    SLENDER-SNOUTED CROCODILE
Distribution:                                                      Africa




Crocodylus intermedius:



Common name:      ORINOCO CROCODILE 
Distribution:           South America

 Crocodylus johnstoni:

Common name:   AUSTRALIAN FRESHWATER CROCODILE 
Distribution:        Australia

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King cobra

Secret of the king cobra:

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m).This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia. Despite the word "cobra" in its name, this snake is not a member of Naja ("true cobras") but belongs to its own genus.It has cultural significance as well.

Description:
The king cobra averages at 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft) in length and typically weighs about 6 kg (13 lb). The longest known specimen was kept captive at the London Zoo, and grew to around 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m) before being euthanised upon the outbreak of World War II. The heaviest wild specimen was caught at Royal Island Club in Singapore in 1951, which weighed 12 kilograms (26 lb) and measured 4.8 m (16 ft), though an even heavier captive specimen was kept at New York Zoological Park and was measured as 12.7 kilograms (28 lb) at 4.4 m (14 ft) long in 1972.The length and mass of the snakes highly depend on their localities and some other factors. Despite their large sizes, typical king cobras are fast and agile.

The skin of this snake is either olive-green, tan, or black, and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. Juveniles are shiny black with narrow yellow bands (can be mistaken for a banded krait, but readily identified with its expandable hood). The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance, though like all snakes, they can expand their jaws to swallow large prey items. It has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two short, fixed fangs in the front of the mouth, which channel venom into the prey like hypodermic needles. The male is larger and thicker than the female. The average lifespan of a wild king cobra is about 20 years.

The dorsal scales along the centre of the king cobra's body have 15 rows. Males have 235 to 250 ventral scales, while females have 239 to 265. The subcaudal scales are single or paired in each row, numbering 83 to 96 in males and 77 to 98 in females.

Taxonomy:

The king cobra is the sole member of genus Ophiophagus, while most other cobras are members of the genus Naja. They can be distinguished from other cobras by size and hood. King cobras are generally larger than other cobras, and the stripe on the neck is a chevron instead of a double or single eye shape that may be seen in most of the other Asian cobras. Moreover, the hood of the king cobra is narrower and longer.A foolproof method of identification is if on the head, clearly visible, is the presence of a pair of large scales known as occipitals, at the back of the top of the head. These are behind the usual "nine-plate" arrangement typical of colubrids and elapids, and are unique to the king cobra.
The species was first described by the Danish naturalist Theodore Edward Cantor in 1836.

Behavior:

A king cobra, like other snakes, receives chemical information via its forked tongue, which picks up scent particles and transfers them to a special sensory receptor (Jacobson's organ) located in the roof of its mouth.This is akin to the human sense of smell. When the scent of a meal is detected, the snake flicks its tongue to gauge the prey's location (the twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo); it also uses its keen eyesight (king cobras are able to detect moving prey almost 100 m [330 feet] away), intelligence,and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey.

Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim. King cobras, like all snakes, have flexible jaws. The jaw bones are connected by pliable ligaments, enabling the lower jaw bones to move independently. This allows the king cobra to swallow its prey whole, as well as letting it swallow prey much larger than its head.

Diet:

 The king cobra's generic name, Ophiophagus is a Greek-derived word which means "snake-eater", and its diet consists primarily of other snakes, including ratsnakes, small pythons and even other venomous snakes such as various members of the true cobras (of the genus Naja), and even the much more venomous krait.When food is scarce, they may also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may "constrict" its prey, such as birds and larger rodents, using its muscular body, though this is uncommon.After a large meal, the snake may live for many months without another one because of its slow metabolic rate.The king cobra's most common meal is the ratsnake; pursuit of this species often brings king cobras close to human settlements.

Defence:

When confronted, this species will quickly attempt to escape and avoid any sort of confrontation.However, if provoked, the king cobra can be highly aggressive.

When confronted, it rears up the anterior portion (usually one-third) of its body when extending the neck, showing the fangs and hissing loudly.It can be easily irritated by closely approaching objects or sudden movements. When raising its body, the king cobra can still move forward to strike with a long distance and people may misjudge the safe zone. The king cobra may deliver multiple bites in a single attack but adults are known to bite and hold on. In spite of being a highly dangerous snake, it prefers to escape first unless there is nowhere to go.Since this species is secretive and tends to inhabit less-populated forested regions and dense jungle,it is rarely encountered and seldom comes across humans, except those individuals which are caught for performances and thus many victims bitten by king cobras are actually snake charmers.

If a king cobra encounters a natural predator, such as the mongoose, which has resistance to the neurotoxins,the snake generally tries to flee. If unable to do so, it forms the distinctive cobra hood and emits a hiss, sometimes with feigned closed-mouth strikes. These efforts usually prove to be very effective, especially since it is much more dangerous than other mongoose prey, as well as being much too large for the small mammal to kill with ease.

A good defence against a cobra for anyone who accidentally encounters this snake is to slowly remove a shirt or hat and toss it to the ground while backing away.

The growling hiss:

The hiss of the king cobra is a much lower pitch than many other snakes and many people thus liken its call to a "growl" rather than a hiss. While the hisses of most snakes are of a broad-frequency span ranging from roughly 3,000 to 13,000 Hz with a dominant frequency near 7,500 Hz, king cobra growls consist solely of frequencies below 2,500 Hz, with a dominant frequency near 600 Hz, a much lower sounding frequency closer to that of a human voice. Comparative anatomical morphometric analysis has led to a discovery of tracheal diverticula that function as low-frequency resonating chambers in king cobra and its prey, the mangrove rat snake, both of which can make similar growls

Reproduction:

The king cobra is unusual among snakes in that the female king cobra is a very dedicated parent. She makes a nest for her eggs, scraping up leaves and other debris into a mound in which to deposit them, and remains in the nest until the young hatch. A female usually deposits 20 to 40 eggs into the mound, which acts as an incubator. She stays with the eggs and guards the mound tenaciously, rearing up into a threat display if any large animal gets too close, for roughly 60 to 90 days.Inside the mound, the eggs are incubated at a steady 28 °C (82 °F). When the eggs start to hatch, instinct causes the female to leave the nest and find prey to eat so she does not eat her young. The baby king cobras, with an average length of 45 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in), have venom which is as potent as that of the adults. They may be brightly marked, but these colours often fade as they mature. They are alert and nervous, being highly aggressive if disturbed.

Venom:

The venom of the king cobra consists primarily of neurotoxins,but it also contains cardiotoxic and someothercompounds.Similar to other venomous creatures, toxic constituents inside the venom are mainly proteins and polypeptides.

Like other venomous snakes, LD50 values of the king cobra venom depend on the injection and research methods; typical values are 1.7 mg/kg for subcutaneous injection, 1.31 mg/kg for intravenous injection and 1.644 mg/kg for intraperitoneal injection.The mean value of subcutaneous LD50 of five wild-caught king cobras in Southeast Asia was determined as 1.93 mg/kg in another study. The book "Snake of medical importance" (1990) gives 0.34 mg/kg of intramuscular injection for the specimens found in China. Besides, the toxicity may vary among individuals coming from different geographical localities.

This species is fully capable of delivering a fatal bite and the victim may receive a large quantity of venom with a dose anywhere from 200–500 mg or even up to 7 ml.Engelmann and Obst (1981) list the average venom yield at 420 mg (dry weight).Accordingly, large quantities of antivenom may be needed to reverse the progression of symptoms developed if bitten by a king cobra.

During a bite, venom is forced through the snake's 1.25 to 1.5 cm (0.49 to 0.59 in) fangs into the wound, and the toxins begin to attack the victim's central nervous system. Symptoms may include severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. Envenomation progresses to cardiovascular collapse, and the victim falls into a coma. Death soon follows due to respiratory failure. Moreover, envenomation from king cobras is clinically known to cause renal failure as observed from some snakebite precedents of this species.

The mortality rate and death time resulting from a bite can vary sharply with many factors, including the quantity of venom involved, the site of the bite and the health state of the victim.Data provided by different sources, which may be recorded in different regions, could also have a significant difference. For example, while a website mentions that many bites from king cobras involved non-fatal amounts of venom,another report of clinical statistics released by the South Indian Hospital reveals that two-thirds of the bitten patients actually received severe bites from this species.According to the University of Adelaide Department of Toxicology, an untreated bite has a mortality rate of 50–60%.Bites from a king cobra may result in a rapid fatality which can be as early as 30 minutes after envenomation.

There are two types of antivenom made specifically to treat king cobra envenomations. The Red Cross in Thailand manufactures one, and the Central Research Institute in India manufactures the other; however, both are made in small quantities and, while available to order, are not widely stocked.Ohanin, a protein component of the venom, causes hypolocomotion and hyperalgesia in mammals.Other components have cardiotoxic,cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects.In Thailand, a concoction of alcohol and the ground root of turmeric is ingested, which has been clinically shown to create a strong resilience against the venom of the king cobra, and other snakes with neurotoxic venom.
The haditoxin in the king cobra venom was discovered by Singaporean scientists to be structurally unique and can have unique pharmacological properties.Biochemical studies confirmed it existed as a noncovalent dimer species in solution. Its structural similarity to short-chain α-neurotoxins and κ-neurotoxins notwithstanding, haditoxin exhibited unique blockade of α7-nAChRs (IC50 180 nM), which is recognized by neither short-chain α-neurotoxins nor κ-neurotoxin.
 
Cultural significance:

In Burma, king cobras are often used by female snake charmers.The charmer is usually tattooed with three pictograms, using an ink mixed with snake venom; superstition holds that it protects the charmer from the snake.The charmer kisses the snake on the top of its head at the end of the show.

In the Indian Subcontinent, the king cobra is believed to possess exceptional memory. According to a myth, the picture of the killer of a king cobra stays in the eyes of the snake, which is later picked up by the partner and is used to hunt down the killer for revenge. To prove this theory, a king cobra was captured and left free in an enclosure that had small openings. Several people stood in front of the openings, but the snake rose to its full height and locked eyes only with the captor. Because of this myth, whenever a cobra is killed, especially in India, the head is either crushed or burned to damage the eyes completely.

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