ANIMAL EXTINCTION

My blog is about animal conservation. Every day animals disappear due to habitat loss. A bit more than 21% mammals, about 12% birds, 28% reptiles, and 30% amphibians, grow closer and closer to total extinction. There are CCSS (Conservation Centers for Species Survival.). They're trying to reduce the problem of extinction. This topic relates to our science class because of animal behavior. The reason is because animals all over the world are trying to survive and reproduce even with OUR scourge of habitat loss that we've plagued upon them. But you can help. I wrote this because I really don't want all animals to go extinct and I wanted to make this problem realized. What about you? (by Ben S)
Click here to read the article I found about this topic.

Creatures of the Deep Ocean

Just recently I watched a documentary about the animals that live in the deep ocean, and I thought it was really interesting that the animals had evolved to live in a place with little or no light. One example is the hatchetfish. It has sides that shimmer and break up its outline in the gloom so predators can't see them. Predators of the deep ocean also have helpful adaptations. That is, to themselves, not their prey! Anyway, one of those predators is the angler fish. It has a lure attached in front of the mouth to attract smaller fish in front of it, when it comes out of the shadows and eats them. Other common adaptations include but is not limited to: creating their own light, casting lures, being able to rotate their eyes so they can be at the top and sides of your head, and being literally transparent. This relates to our class because we have been studying animals and their behavior. If you want to lean more, click here to see the documentary I watched. (by Pearl)

Meerkats

My animal for the book project is the meerkat and I will be telling you a little bit about it. The meerkat is an omnivore and eats anything from fruit to various types of insects, and the things that eat it are jackals, hawks, eagles, and snakes. The meerkat lives up to 10 years in the wild.  The female meerkat has 2-5 pups after a gestation period of 2 months. Meerkats live in groups and have a system of underground tunnels to move in and out of, this is called a burrow. Every day the meerkat community assigns some meerkats on sentry duty which means that if a hawk or eagle is coming they make a sharp shrill call so that all of the meerkats in their group will take cover. Meerkats have babysitters to look after their pups while they're doing other things around the burrow. The babysitters teach the pups basic skills such hunting, scaring off predators, and jobs. Click here to see a meerkat on sentry duty. I really liked this project because it taught me to put research into a project. (by Raines)

The Komodo Dragon Exploration

I chose to do my blog post on the Komodo dragon because they are very interesting animals. They also have some very cool animal behaviors that anybody can explore. After reading this, I hope that you like the Komodo dragon as much as I do.

The Komodo dragon lives on the island of Komodo in Indonesia where it hunts wild boars and smaller mammals. It is said that they have a poisonous bite, but nobody knows for sure if the "poison" is really poison or just bacteria in their saliva. The Komodo dragon can grow up to 150 pounds and be as long as three meters. The Komodo dragons tail is as long as its body and its skin is sort of like chain mail. The Komodo dragon uses its tongue to smell instead of using nostrils. Komodo dragons prefer dry places and are mostly a diurnal (active during the day) animal. The Komodo dragon has no natural predators except humans and is now an endangered species. When the Komodo dragon is hunting, its powerfully built legs allow it to run up to 20 miles per hour. It also has sharp claws that help it climb trees to get to birds. The Komodo dragon is a very interesting animal that is only in Indonesia. So if you can, try to help save the Komodo dragon. (by Levi)

phanimaladaptations.weebly.com/komodo-dragons.html

The Short Horned Lizard (or The Horny Toad)

The short horned lizard is an interesting animal. It lives in dry, rocky, desert areas from Arkansas to the Pacific coast. They are carnivores and eat only bugs and mostly harvester ants. Though the harvester ant is a prey of the toad, the ant has little pincers that contain venom which can harm the toad, and if one is swarmed with ants they can kill it. Luckily the toad has an antibody in it that stops the venom from harming it very much. Some predators of the horny toad are roadrunners, coyotes, wild dogs, hawks and large snakes. The horny toad can kill small snakes when defending their eggs and territory, but won’t eat them. The Short Horned Lizard gets its name from the small horns on its back which help when defending itself from predators. Another cool prey adaptation is when threatened the toad can squirt blood from its eye for up to a meter in any direction. It does this to confuse and distract predators so the predator will either run away or it can make a quick getaway. If you want to see the horny toad click HERE. (by Keller)

The African Elephant

In science class we are working on an animal behavior project for two weeks. We each got assigned an animal to study the behaviors of. My animal is the African elephant. The African elephant has some very interesting behaviors. One of them is, when a loved one of theirs dies they grieve a lot. They will cover the body with leaves, dirt and grass. Then they will stand over the body rocking back and forth while other elephants stoke them with their trunks. Another one of their behaviors is when they sense danger they with circle around their young, flaring out their ears to make them look more frightening. This project has been a lot of fun so far and I can't wait to learn more about the African elephant! Click here to watch a video of the African elephant protecting their young. (by Haven)

American Bison

When I was in Nebraska I thought that it was weird that there were so many wild bison and now you won't see any. This relates to ecology and animal behavior. Before westward expansion 20-30 million bison lived in the American Midwest. Then settlers came and shot many of the bison. Populations declined so much that in 1889 only 1,091 of these fascinating creatures were left. Despite all their troubles, bison are very strong. They are 5 to 6 and a half feet tall and can weigh over a ton. They can run as fast as 40 miles per hour and their curved horns can be up to two feet long. Bison have thick and shaggy coats to withstand cold Midwestern winters. They eat grasses and shrubs and the males and females live in separate groups, that only come together for mating. These groups have become more plentiful, due to conservation efforts. Several hundred thousand bison live in America today. (Claire R)

Sources: 
http://www.defenders.org/bison/basic-facts
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/american-bison/