#Facts About Elephants African elephants & Asian Elephants Elephants are the largest land animals On earth. They have characteristic long noses or trunks;
There are two species of elephant. The Asian elephant and the African elephant live on separate continents and have many unique features.
There are several subspecies that belong to one or the other of these two main species though there is disagreement over just how many subspecies there are.
African elephants are the larger of the two species. They grow 8. 2 to 13 feet (2. 5 to 4 meters) from shoulder to toe
2268 to 6350 kilograms) according to the National geographic. Asian elephants can grow up to 6. 6 to 9. 8 feet (2 to 3 m) from shoulder to toe
African elephants live in Sub-saharan africa the rain forests of Central and West Africa and the Sahel desert in Mali.
Asian elephants live in Nepal India and Southeast asia in scrub forests and rain forests. Elephants eat grasses roots fruit and bark.
They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground.
An elephant has an appetite that matches its size. An adult can eat 300 lbs.
136 kg) of food in a day according to the National geographic. A group of elephants is called a herd.
Females as well as young and old elephants stick together in a herd. Adult males tend to wander on their own.
Elephants also have certain rules. For example when they are meeting each other they expect the other elephant to extend its trunk in greeting.
The matriarch will often teach young elephants in her herd how to act properly. Male elephants are called bulls
and females are called cows. After mating the cow will be pregnant for around 22 months. When the baby elephant is born finally it can weigh around 200 lbs 91 kg) and stand about 3 feet (1 m) tall.
A baby elephant is called a calf. As the calf grows it will gain 2 to 3 lbs. every day until its first birthday.
By the time they are 2 or 3 years old calves are ready to be weaned. Male calves will wander off on their own
while females will stay with their mothers. When they are 13 to 20 years old they will be mature enough to have their own young.
Elephants live 30 to 50 years in the wild. The taxonomy of elephants according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS) is:
Kingdom: Animaliasubkingdom: Bilateria Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordatasubphylum: Vertebratainfraphylum: Gnathostomata Superclass: Tetrapoda Class: Mammalia Subclass: Theriainfraclass:
Eutheria Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genera & species: Loxodonta africana (African savannah elephant) Loxodonta cyclotis (African forest elephant) Elephas maximus (Asian elephant) Subspecies:
ITIS recognizes: Another possible subspecies is Elephas maximus borneensis (Borneo pygmy elephant. The World Wildlife Fund has determined that DNA evidence proves that the Borneo pygmy elephantis genetically different from other Asian elephants.
According to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the Asian elephant is endangered.
Though it is known not exactly how many Asian elephants remain it is believed that the population is decreasing.
The African elephant is considered vulnerable. Overall its populations are increasing. According to the African Wildlife Foundation there are around 470000 African elephants roaming the globe.
The African elephant can be identified by its ears. Stretched out its ears are shaped like the African continent.
Asian elephants have smaller ears which are rounded more on top and flat along the bottom.
Heat radiates out of the elephant's massive ears acting as a cooling mechanism. The largest elephant ever recorded was an African elephant according to the San diego Zoo.
It was 24000 lbs. 10886 kg) and 13 feet (3. 96 m) tall from its feet to its shoulders.
When it gets too hot African elephants will suck water into their trunks and then blow it back out to shower themselves with a cool mist.
An elephant's trunk has more than 100000 muscles according to National geographic. They use it to breathe pick things up make noises drink and smell.
In the same way that humans tend to be right-handed or left-handed elephants can be tusked right
or left-tusked. Their dominant tusk is easy to identify because it will be worn more down than the less dominant tusk according to the World Wildlife Fund.
An elephant's skin can be as thick as 1 inch but it is sensitive to the sun. To protect it elephants will cover themselves in mud
or dust a
#'Climate Smart'Agriculture Is Blossoming (Op-Ed) David Cleary Director of Agriculture at The Nature Conservancy contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices:
Op-Ed & Insights. In a somber scene-setter for the climate summit in New york this week the World meteorological organization the United Nation's meteorological office released a report showing that world carbon emissions in 2013 reached a record high and atmospheric
carbon is increasing at the fastest rate seen in more than thirty years. Some hard questions face the international order which has spent much of that period in an interminable round of meetings meant to combat climate change.
Against that backdrop the pertinent question the UN report raises is: Why bother? If we appear to be losing the battle
what difference does yet another meeting and round of press conferences make other than to worsen traffic conditions in lower Manhattan?
It matters when it comes to food. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are now familiar agricultural foes in much of the world.
Farmers have been managing weather since agriculture began but all the evidence suggests that climate change will now severely tax the world's ability to feed itself within a generation.
Grains for example can grow faster if temperatures are higher. But higher temperatures reduce the amount of time seeds have to mature
Climate smart agriculture is a space that bears watching and perhaps even some guarded optimism is in order.
#Most Interesting Science News articles of the Week<p></p><p>Love sweet love sloth potty breaks
Bones from young cattle and teeth from leopards suggest its residents ate and dressed like royalty.</
and nearby mound containing the hind limbs of young cattle the seals of high-ranking officials which were inscribed with titles like the scribe of the royal box and the scribe of the royal school and leopard teeth (but no leopard).<
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42717-leopard-teeth-found-at-giza-pyramids. html target=blank>Tasty Life:
Leopard Teeth Calf bones Found in Ruins Near Pyramids</a p><p></p><p>Sloths are the quintessential couch potatoes of the rainforest
and these sluggish tree-dwellers also serve as a hotel for moths and algae.</</p><p>Three-toed sloths descend from the trees once a week to defecate providing a breeding ground for moths that live in the animals'fur
and nourishing gardens of algae that supplement the sloths'diet new research finds. Leaving the trees burns energy
and makes sloths easy prey for predators but the benefits of a richer diet appear to be worth the perils.</
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42744-why-sloths-leave-trees-to-poop. html target=blank>Why Sloths Leave the Trees to Poop</a p><p></p
><p>Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered intricate mosaics on the floor of a 1500-year-old Byzantine church including one that bears a Christogram surrounded by birds.</
</p><p>The ruins were discovered during a salvage excavation ahead of a construction project in Aluma a village about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Tel aviv the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA
) announced Wednesday (Jan 22. Excavator Davida Eisenberg Degen said the team used an industrial digger to probe a mound at the site
</a p><p></p><p>The colorful mantis shrimp is known for powerful claws that can stun prey with 200 lbs.
They see color like no other animal on the planet.</</p><p>In fact the 400-million-year-old visual system of the mantis shrimp works more like a satellite sensor than any other animal eye said study researcher Justin Marshall a neurobiologist at the University of Queensland
in Australia. Instead of processing ratios of stimulation from just a few color receptors the mantis shrimp has 12
><p>Polar bears have shifted to a diet of more land-based food in response to climate change
</p><p>The results suggest that polar bears at least in the western Hudson bay area may be slightly more flexible in the face of climate change than previously thought.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42807-polar-bear-diet-shifting. html target=blank>Polar bears Hunt On land as Ice Shrinks</a p><p></p><p>The world
A better approach would be to act as a watchdog against legitimate testable problems which science would then be accountable for.
Onkelinx made the announcement March 3 at an event celebrating Belgium's involvement in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) which is an international treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. In Images:
and working to save the world's threatened elephants Sonja Van Tichelen European Regional Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said in a statement.
Rampant ivory poaching is causing precipitous declines in elephant populations and the Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 96 elephants are killed each day by poachers in Africa.
The ivory trade was banned in 1989 but the demand for ivory now is higher than ever
Not only are we losing an elephant every 15 minutes but the ivory trade is undercutting law
and order in elephant range states and enriching organized crime syndicates the slaughter of elephants must be stopped Van Tichelen said.
Belgium is set to join several other countries that recently destroyed their stockpiles of ivory. In February France crushed more than 15000 pieces of ivory
Recently officials with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development of Vietnam announced they are considering crushing the country's stores of rhino horn elephant ivory and tiger bone.
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter@denisechow. Follow Live Science@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Live Science c
whose dedicated work with chimpanzees has helped to promote the field of conservation in countless ways.
Is a Rhino Hunt Really Conservation?(Op-Ed) Indeed Ahimbisibwe is now a leader in her community.
How Two Women Brought a Sea Change to Conservation (Op-Ed) A Crocodile Hunt Redefined in Southeastern Cuba (Op-Ed) Stepping up Conservation in Fiji in Stilettos (Op-Ed
#Once Endangered, Bald eagle Populations Soar Bryan Watts is director of the Center for Conservation Biology a joint program of the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University.
When Mitchell Byrd took over the annual bald-eagle survey for the state of Virginia disco was king the Dow jones Industrial Average was just over 800
But after all of these years Mitchell's commitment to bald eagles is staying Alive with the beginning of the 2014 flight season in early March Byrd began the 38th year of his involvement in the aerial survey.
In the four decades that he has worked on the aerial survey of Virginia's Chesapeake bay drainage basin Byrd has witnessed the U s. national bird's recovery from around 30 nesting pairs to a population that may be nearing a saturation point.
Eagles were eliminated just about from the bay before the insecticide DDT was banned in 1972 and Byrd began logging the bird's comeback in the region in 1977.
Since that time biologists have learned a lot about eagles. At the Center for Conservation Biology new technology has helped us understand the lives
and movements of individual eagles at a level that was just about unimaginable 38 years ago. We've been able to deploy nest cameras to watch the birds'chick-raising habits and their family life.
Technology has advanced to the point that we can track movements of individual eagles. To do so we fit solar-powered transmitters on the birds'backs.
Since the bald eagle comeback has proven such a success In virginia's stretch of the Chesapeake we've been able to study these birds as a population not just as individuals.
Though individual eagles hold a great deal of interest they are even more fascinating when you consider the raptors as a community.
We've seen more than one instance of bald eagles nesting in the middle of a great blue heron rookery. Why?
We're not really sure. And we don't suggest the bald eagle as a role model for human behavior:
Our studies document instances of deadbeat dads and cheating wives among the populations of the United states'national bird.
We've also witnessed threats to the domestic tranquility of these birds. Raccoons are pretty bad they can eat eagle eggs
and chicks but they're nothing like great horned owls who will swoop into a nest decapitate the chicks
and leave often after whitewashing the nest with their feces. High-tech tools like satellite transmitters and nest videocams have given us a better understanding of eagle life
but the census flights remain a primary tool for keeping tabs on the population. The annual bald eagle assessment involves two rounds of flights.
The first the survey round begins in early March and involves systematically flying over all tributaries to check nests that we've recorded from previous years.
This part of the survey also includes mapping new nests constructed since the last breeding season.
We return in late April flying what we call the productivity round. Now that we know exactly where the eagles are nesting we fly back to each nest counting the number of new chicks.
This two-pronged survey method allows us to monitor the number of breeding pairs and get a handle on their distribution
and breeding success. Three of us have been doing these flights together for 23 years. We make a good team.
An ex-fighter pilot flies the plane. Named Caton Alexander Shermer he goes by Capt. Fuzzzo.
That's correct Fuzzzo is spelled with three z's. He says the middle z is silent.
Byrd sits in the copilot seat keeping the log and marking each nest. I'm the spotter.
I sit in the back and call out the nests. Armed with a stack of topographic maps for plotting nests a stack of datasheets for recording survey information
and a supply of no. 2 pencils Byrd travels through eight hours of banks dives
and pulling g's. Spotting eagles has gotten sportier. Those lazy flying days of the'70s when nests were rare
and a day's flying could be recorded on a single sheet are gone long. The tremendous population recovery has made for intense flying days
when we set goals of checking on 100 nests before breaking for lunch. The census surveys have gotten pretty intense
since the bald eagle population has recovered. Eagles mostly eat fish and they never nest far from water.
So we fly low along the shoreline. For long stretches we see a nest every few seconds.
Even with three experienced people doing the job we keep busy. Experience pays off too.
Eagles tend to nest in the same places often reusing a nest so out of the three of us we know
when a popular nest tree is coming up. Sometimes for reasons known only to the eagles a tree might go without a nest for a year or two.
We remember those trees too. After flying over all those nests we've gotten pretty good at quickly gauging the age of eagle chicks by evaluating size and plumage.
These flights involve more than just keeping track of the numbers of breeding eagles in our territory.
We're always discovering something new about bald eagles. For instance a small segment of our territory between the Virginia towns of Jamestown and Smithfield served as home to the earliest breeders on our beat.
In the 1980s a pair of early birds that we called the Christmas Eagles nested on Jamestown Island.
This year we found birds raising chicks that came from eggs laid in November a time
when most eagles around here haven't even begun courtship or nest-repair activities. We don't know why birds here breed so early
or why the early birds seem to concentrate in this one short stretch of the James river.
Frankly there's a lot we don't know about the national bird and that's why it's so important to continue the research especially these annual census flights.
No one complains about the increased workload especially not Byrd. Still fresh are the memories of undertaking long heartbreaking flights without finding a single nest.
For the first two years of the survey researchers found no eagle pairs along the entire James river from deep in the interior of Virginia to the Chesapeake bay.
By contrast the 2013 survey along this historic drainage documented 205 pairs that produced 267 young
and the James river is just part of the area that we fly. For Byrd it's been a great 38 years.
It's been great for me too and I'm happy to say that Byrd intends to keep going up every year to count the crop of young bald eagles.
Watts's most recent Op-Ed Was wanted: Osprey Watchers as Citizen-Scientists. The views expressed are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was published originally on Live Science
#Why Chocolate Really is the Secret to Happiness (Op-Ed) This article was published originally at The Conversation.
The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Money may not buy happiness or grow on trees but when it comes to chocolate it seems you can have both.
which also happens to be the molecule that makes chocolate poisonous to dogs. Then there is serotonin a natural neurotransmitter
It s highly unlikely that they will ever evolve to cause diseases for humans or animals.
#Gorgeous Faces Keep Guenon monkeys from Sleeping around With bushy beards and funky blue yellow or brown faces guenon monkeys have some of the most colorful and quirky faces of all primates.
A close study of more than 20 guenon monkey species reveals these sociable animals may rely on their distinctive patterns to prevent interbreeding.
Animals use coloration and patterning for a whole host of different reasons and we think guenons are using their patterns to recognize different species said study lead author William Allen of the University of Hull in the United kingdom. Guenon monkeys live in the forests of Central
and West Africa eating mostly fruits insects and leaves. Sometimes called cheek pouch monkeys most guenons are the size of cats
and dogs and they forage in large groups of two or more different species. Each species has unique chirps sneezes
and whistles but the monkeys learn other species'warning calls like a foreign language providing protection for all groups.
Photos: Adorable Guenon monkey Faces There are as many as 35 guenon monkey species and spending so much time with other friendly monkeys means running the risk of interbreeding.
If guenons mate across species their offspring might be infertile or less healthy similar to when donkeys and horses breed Allen said.
Guenons can interbreed in zoos but rarely do so in the wild. For decades many researchers have thought that guenons'unusual fur
and facial features were meant to send I'm different signals to other monkeys. However while there are many examples of wild creatures signaling with skin patterns
and colors such as the bright red patch on the abdomens of black widow spiders scientists have had little success actually proving these patterns are a means of species-wide communication in the guenons Allen said.
To show that the these monkeys speak to each other with their stylish fur Allen relied on facial recognition software.
He photographed more than 150 guenons both wild monkeys living in Africa and individuals in zoos and preserves.
Then he analyzed how facial patterns differed among monkeys within a guenon species as well as how the patterns differed among species. Allen said he thinks the software algorithm recognizes facial features in a manner similar to how the guenon monkeys do it.
It turns out the facial patterns are remarkably similar within a guenon monkey species. That is all guenon monkeys are alike
if they are the same species . But each different species has developed its own dramatic flair
whether it's a furry white nose a ruffly black mohawk or pursed pink lips.
The new findings were published today (June 26) in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers suspect that the close living style of the guenon species combined with repeated expansion
and contraction of the monkeys'forest habitat drove the development of their incredible facial diversity.
For example isolated groups living in far-flung forests were squeezed together when their habitat shrunk forcing them to live with different species Allen said.
Where species came into contact with each other they developed visual signals so they didn't get confused with each other he said.
Researchers studying primates in South america have discovered a similar pattern with more-complex facial features among primates who need to quickly recognize members of their own species. Email Becky Oskin
what happens to the animals that supply us with meat you should care about ractopamine.
Three years later the FDA sent ractopamine's sponsor a 14-page letter accusing the company of withholding information about the drug's adverse animal drug experiences and safety and effectiveness.
and become downers that is animals too sick or injured to walk and then often dragged into the slaughterhouse.
So our animals can't turn around for the 2. 5 years that they are in the stalls producing piglets.
Pacelle's most recent Op-Ed was Yes You Can Get Your Cat to Behave.
#Feed the Birds? Not Popcorn and Crumbled Bread (Op-Ed) Deborah Robbins Millman is the director of Cape Wildlife Center one of New england's largest wildlife rehabilitation centers
For many feeding birds at ponds and parks is cherished a childhood memory; one they lovingly recreate for their children and grandchildren.
Yet tragically thousands of birds die annually due to a condition overwhelmingly caused by people who don't know this beloved activity can be deadly.
Angel wing is a deformity commonly found in ducks geese swans and other waterfowl. There has been little scientific study done on the condition yet most wildlife
and waterfowl experts agree the overwhelming cause of angel wing is an unhealthily high protein and/or carbohydrate-based diets.
or both wings to unnaturally twist outward rather than lie flat against a bird's body.
Birds with angel wing are stripped of their ability to fly and therefore their main method of defense.
Since the affected birds are unable to escape predators they are maimed often or killed by them.
The birds most likely to contract angel wing are those residing in parks on ponds
Because birds grow much more rapidly than humans each day's nutrition has a direct effect on development.
Research such as oft-referenced studies on Canada geese and nutrition for young birds suggest feeding waterfowl an unhealthy diet can accelerate growth causing the wing to develop too quickly for proper bone support.
Nutritious waterfowl feed or duck pellets are inexpensive easy to carry and can be purchased at most feed stores.
and oats are all healthy food sources that will appeal to most waterfowl. Make sure anything you feed is bite-sized to avoid choking hazards.
Wild Animals Suffer on'Junk Food'Diets Cape Wildlife Center our wildlife rehabilitation center based in Barnstable Mass
. and operated by The Fund for Animals (an affiliate of The Humane Society of the United states) treats about 2000 animals per year including a significant number of geese swans
and ducks suffering from angel wing. The highest incidence of admission is late fall or winter when affected birds have grown enough for the condition to be fully and painfully apparent.
If the patients treated are very young the condition can sometimes be minimized by splinting and repositioning the affected wing while feeding the birds a proper diet for optimal growth.
Even then a full recovery is guaranteed not. For rehabilitators it can be emotionally taxing to see birds denied the chance for a full and productive life
because people didn't know about the dangers of improperly feeding them. Angel wing can be reduced drastically by not feeding birds people food including white bread popcorn or crackers.
This simple rule will literally save lives. Angel wing chiefly affects waterfowl. Young songbirds are fed by their parents
and after they fledge have a lot of mobility and exposure to a varied diet.)The risk of birds developing this disease doesn't mean the enjoyable
and bonding activity of feeding birds must be eliminated you just have to identify areas where feeding waterfowl is supported.
Typically places that do not support feeding have posted signs or are located on private property and offer the birds the right food to sustain their health.
Feeding wild birds a proper diet preserves a treasured family tradition while teaching children the importance of making choices that strengthen rather than undercut the human-animal bond.
In this way we will rear generations of people recognizing the necessity for responsible stewardship and celebrate the value of compassionate co-existence with wildlife.
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