Quickie Questions - Life - Animals
| Date Answered | Questioner (age, location) | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 20, 2011 | robert(oklahoma/us) | Hello. Please help clarify something. A friend of mine recently told me that the brain does not cause or create thoughts, it merely processes them. According to her, the heart has neurons just like the brain, so the heart actually can think. She also asserted that there is growing evidence from cellular memory and | Recalling my "Philosophy of mind" course at college, and after just a little catching-up reading, I feel safe saying that too little is known scientifically about thinking to distinguish between "creating" and "processing" thought. It seems obvious that the brain does both, so the onus on your friend is to explain what creates thought, if not the brain? Also, does merely having neurons imply a heart is thinking? A nematode worm has all its 302 neurons mapped by science, but does the worm think? |
| December 21, 2009 | dazya (Illinois/cook) | can salt water fish live in plain water? | NO, and neither do fresh water fishes in salt water. |
| August 21, 2009 | Destiny (baltimore) | are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes | I would prefer to say that zebras just have white and black stripes, don't you agree? |
| August 25, 2008 | Vicki (manitoba) | How do alligaters mate | Unfortunately, I am not an expert on this, but I think that this interesting page will answer your question. |
| August 20, 2008 | Caroline (CA) | Do manatees get sick? | Manatees can get sick by viruses, hurt by botes, can ingest hooks, or litter, or they can become entangled in crab trap or monofilament line. Visite this page to learn about Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation. |
| May 14, 2008 | Dhvani. (india) | Who was the first animal to go in space? | The first animal to go to space was the Russian dog Laika, in 1957. |
| April 18, 2008 | rishab (GA/ USA) | Which mass extinction was the mammoth in ? | There is a on-going debate to identify the cause of the mammoth extinction. This article discusses one of them. |
| April 18, 2008 | rishab jayanthi (GA/ USA) | Which mass extinction was the mammoth in ? | There is a on-going debate to identify the cause of the mammoth extinction. This article discusses one of them. |
| March 27, 2008 | Mercedes (Indiana) | What causes canine hemolytic anemia and can it be cured? | Dr. Jean Dodds, a veterinarian studying immunology, states in her article The Immune System and Disease Resistance, that there are four main causative factors of autoimmune diseases. Those factors are: Genetic predisposition; Hormonal influences; Infections, especially of viruses and Stress. MOre information here. |
| March 4, 2008 | Sharon (Hong Kong) | Why are koalas endangered? | Continual loss of habitat (as a result of progressive human settlement and extended road-building) and hunting until the early 20th century reduced the koala population from over 3.000.000 to less than 100.000. Other reasons for the extinction are chlamydia as well as bush fires (often lighted deliberately). More information on this topic here. |
| December 19, 2007 | Tori (Ohio clinton) | an animal that consumes dead animals but does not usually kill them itself what are they called | They are known as scavengers. |
| July 13, 2007 | aditya (delhi/india) | are there any other polar animals rather than polarbear penguine and seal | Yes, there are other animales living at high latitudes. Among the bigger are the Alaskan Malamute, Arctic Fox, Artic Hare, Artic Wolf, etc. |
| July 13, 2007 | Blake (wv,usa) | How did dinousaors die | There are many theories to explain the dinosaurs exctintion. There is now widespread evidence that a meteorite impact was at least the partial cause for this exctintion. |
| July 6, 2007 | kate (united states) | How is climate change affecting caribou in the arctic tundra? | The climate changes are affecting the vegetation at high latitudes, and this could provoke changes on the caribou herds. This interesting article will answer your question in detail. |
| July 2, 2007 | logan (oklahoma,usa) | what is the scientific name and classificationrfor a daddy long legs? | The Pholcidae are a spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae. |
| May 10, 2007 | malik (pennsylvnia) | what animals lives in tundra | Animals can be foud even in the harsh conditions of the tundra. Among others: shrews, hares, rodents, wolves, foxes, bears and deer. Wolves, wolverines, arctic foxes, and polar bears are predators. Also smaller mammals like snowshoe rabbits and lemmings. |
| May 10, 2007 | Aliyyah (Pennsylvania) | What animals live in the Temperate Forest | Some animals of the temperate forest are: deers, red-tailed hawks, wolverines, mooses, bald eagles, bears, etc. |
| April 7, 2007 | Anthony (Ohio, Usa) | Why are animals today smaller than they were, say ,around the dinasaur ages? | Along with the dinosaurs there were also small mammals and insects over the Earth. Now, there are still some animals of considerable size (elephants and whales come to mind). I would think that evolution favored agility over size, along with the absence on today landscapes of large shallow seas and marshes (where large animals would have advantages). The human factor (destroying forests, etc) could have had a role too. |
| March 1, 2007 | an | what are the different phyla in the Kingdom Animalia? | Some of the phyla of the Kingdom Animalia are: Phylum Orthonectida, Phylum Rhombozoa, Phylum Cycliophora, Phylum Gnathostomulida, Phylum Ctenophora, Phylum Cnidaria, Phylum Myxozoa, etc. For a complete list visit the web page Kingdom Animalia . From: Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed March 01, 2007 at http://animaldiversity.org. |
| December 9, 2006 | isaac | what bird is the bigest in the world right know?. | The largest bird is the ostrich. It can grow up to 9 feet (2.7 m) tall. |
| December 2, 2003 | Christian(Honolulu, Hawaii) | What is the habitat of a penguin like? | Very different than habitats in Hawaii! Penguins can only live in Antarctica. It's a common misconception that they live around the north pole too, but they are only found around the south pole! It's cold there and dry. For this reason, many penguins live near the coast of Antarctica in special places, called polynyas. |
| July 11, 2001 | Katelynn (8, Washington, USA) | What is the largest land mammal? | The largest land mammal is the African elephant. These elephants live in the grasslands of Africa. |
| November 29, 1999 | Nick (Wisconsin, USA) | What do you know, in general, about chickens? I like them but do not know much about them. Could you tell me a few things? | I personally don't know much about them, other than that they have feathers and lay eggs! But here is a web page that will help you out. |
| November 29, 1999 | Rikki (California, USA) | How many cervical vertebrae does a giraffe have? | A giraffe has 7 cervical vertabrae, like most mammals. However, they are much longer than most mammals' vertebrae--more than two meters! |
| November 20, 1999 | Jaime (Illinois, USA) | What was the first living thing on the earth not including plants? | Surprise, plants were not the first organinsms on Earth. The first living cells were (big word coming up) heterotrophic anaerobes. This meant that they were other feeders (fed on naturally occuring amino acids) without oxygen. It wasn't until later that photosynthetic (organisms able to use energy from the Sun) developed. |
| November 16, 1999 | Paul (Massachusetts, USA) | What is the largest living thing on earth? | The blue whale is the largest animal in the world. It can reach lengths of 100 feet and weight over 150 tons! They are also the loudest animals. Their calls reach 188 decibals, which is louder than a jet airplane! Imagine trying to sleep in the ocean with all that noise! |
| September 27, 1999 | Kevin (Okinawa, Japan) | In relation to their potency aren't 'daddy long leg' spider's the most venemous of spiders. My understanding is because they are unable to pierce human skin they can't hurt us. | First, a little aside on classification. There are three groups of arthropods that are commonly referred to as daddy long legs in English. The first is adult crane flies (a true fly in the class insecta). The second two groups are both in the class arachnid; cellar, or daddy-long-legs spiders which are true spiders, and Opilones which can have short or long legs and are closely related to but not true spiders. Crane flies are not venemous at all, and the other two groups can have mild venoms. It is true that their jaws cannot puncture humans skin, but it is a myth that their venom is highly toxic. In fact, the only real reaction might be an allergic reaction to the mostly defensive secretions of daddy long legs. |
| July 2, 1999 | Stacy (Washington) | I was thinking about the saying "I'm sweating like a pig" and I wondered how pigs sweat, or if they even sweat in the first place? | Good question! Pigs don't sweat at all because they don't have sweat glands. This is why pigs like to roll around in mud wallows, it helps to cool them off. It's funny how sayings can get started which are actually completely false. |
| May 28, 1999 | Levar (Maryland, USA) | I am doing a science project on can air and water occupy the same space. my dad showed me how a glass turned upside down in a sink of water the glass did not fill up with the water. i tried to look it up in the library but i don't think i am looking for the right section. can you answer my question? | It is possible for gases (air) to diffuse into water. Fish actually breathe oxygen dissolved in water. The air can dissolve through turbulence (mixing) or if the contents are under pressure. A good example of gas dissolved in a liquid is a bottle of pop. When you open it up the CO2 gas dissolved in it starts to fizz out, yumm. |
| April 15, 1999 | Kelsey (Missouri, USA) | How many mammals are there in the animal kingdom? What percent and fraction is it? | There are about 4450 species of mammals. This compares to over 9000 species of birds, 21.700 species of fish, and more than a million species of insects! |
| March 26, 1999 | Beth (Arkansas, USA) | Where should you keep a tarantula during the winter if you have one at home? | I've never had a tarantula before, so I'm not exacly sure! I've read that it needs to be kept warm, though. I would suggest you buy a book on tarantula care from your pet store, to be absolutely sure! |
| February 25, 1999 | Troy (Rotorua, New Zealand) | What are animals without vertebrae called? | Animals without vertebrae, or backbones, are called invertebrates. |
| February 12, 1999 | Sarah | Why do birds always fly in a 'vee'? | Flying is really hard work! But if a bird is following another bird, it will be easier for the second bird to fly. The lead bird kind of creates a path through the air, and the other birds follow. Birds like geese take turns being the lead, which is difficult, and then following behind, which is easier. |
| March 20, 1998 | Cyle (Ohio, USA) | When did the asteroid or comet hit the earth and kill the dinosaurs? | There are many theories about why the dinosaurs died out, but it is generally agreed that they disappeared about 63 million years ago. |
| February 19, 1998 | R.L.T. (Delaware, USA) | What is the genus and species of a kangaroo? Also what is its topagraphic range and gestation period? | The three largest species of kangaroos belong to the genus Macropus. The best-known species is the gray kangaroo - its full latin name is Macropus canguru. Kangaroos generally have one young annually even though the gestation period for a kangaroo is generally around 30 days. The baby kangaroo (called a joey) is born when it is only 2 cm long. It then stays in the mother's pouch for several weeks. It completely leaves the pouch around 7-10 months. Kangaroos are found in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. |
| February 19, 1998 | Sarah (Oklahoma, USA) | What is the scientific name and classification of a rollie pollie? | Roly polys, or pillbugs, are of phylum Anthropoda, class Crustacea, and order Isopoda. Their scientific name is Armadillium vulgare. |
| November 26, 1997 | Dragi (Victoria, Australia) | Do fish sleep? If so, do they remain stationary? | Fish do sleep. While sleeping, a fish may continue to open and close its mouth and gently sway its body from side to side. Both actions help keep water moving across the fish's gills. As the water moves through the fish's mouth, the gills pick up oxygen from the water allowing the fish to breathe. A completely stationary fish is also known as a dead fish! |
