Wen | the head of the science popularization class
There is a saying in the countryside, "It is better to meet the jackal than to touch the mountain fish." ”
This means that when people walk in the wilderness of the mountains and forests, they would rather meet jackals than see mountain fish.
1. What kind of creature is that mountain fish? Why are people so afraid of it?
Jackals Everyone knows that this animal is fierce and cunning, and often acts collectively, and its hands are particularly fierce, sometimes even the same kind of people are not spared.
Because of this, even tigers encounter jackals and wolves must avoid their sharp edges.
Once entangled with them, you have to shed your skin without dying.
And it became the last thing people wanted to encounter.
However, although the jackal is notoriously fierce, compared with the mountain fish, there are still some small witches.
For the mountain fish, some people think that it is an orangutan or baboon, but it is not.
The mountain fish has some of the characteristics of primates and is a type of monkey.
But it is much scarier than the average monkey.
The mountain fish is the world's largest monkey primate and is known as the most ferocious monkey.
Its appearance is very terrible, its head is large and long, there is a bulge on both sides of the nasal bone, the skin is green, but the shoulders are red, which looks very strange.
But the most frightening thing is its face, almost like a demon climbing up from hell.
Therefore, the folk also call it a ghost baboon.
Imagine that when you walk in the wild and suddenly come out with such a face, it is estimated that the soul will be frightened.
In addition, the two long fangs of the mountain fish are also very frightening, like two sharp knives, which make people's hearts hairy.
In the mountain fish world, these two fangs represent status, and the longer the fangs, the higher the status.
As the largest monkey family, the body length of the mountain fish is generally 60 to 70 centimeters, the male mountain fish has a body weight of 40 to 50 pounds, and the female is only about half of the male.
And they, like other primates, prefer to live in groups, and the number of groups is between 600 and 800, which can be said to be very large.
How can such a large group become the Monkey King?
2. The weight is only one-third of that of ordinary people, but the strength is three times that of people, why is the attack power of mountain fish so strong? How was the Monkey King chosen?
Due to the large number of members of the group, there is also a very strict hierarchy between the mountain fish.
The patriarch is generally the most respected and most capable of hunting in the group.
It can direct ethnic predation and the distribution of food.
And they are not matrilineal societies, but patrilineal societies, similar to polygamy.
The patriarch can choose 4 females as mates first, and then the others will choose after they are selected.
In general, the stronger the predatory ability, the easier it is to gain the favor of the opposite sex.
Like monkeys, mountain fish like to stay in trees for long periods of time to eat or sleep.
However, due to physical reasons, female mountain bass need to take care of their children, spend most of their time on the ground, and only climb trees at night.
But that doesn't mean male bass are irresponsible.
He will raise offspring with the female until the baby is capable of living alone.
Adult mountain fish are grumpy and often come back to life with their own kind.
Some stout mountain fish even duel medium-sized beasts.
Although the mountain fish weighs only one-third of that of an ordinary person, it can easily explode with more than three times the strength of humans.
And don't look at its stout body, but its movements are extremely agile, and it runs very fast, and its speed can reach 50 kilometers per hour.
Therefore, if you really encounter a mountain fish in the wild, it is difficult for humans to get any benefits from it.
And it's not just humans, like leopards that can climb trees, will retreat when they encounter flocks of mountain fish.
In addition, the mountain fish is not only powerful and courageous, but also very clever, and it can use tactics to achieve victory.
As a result, the mountain bass is also known as one of the most intelligent primates.
Does that mountain fish really love to eat children as rumored?
3. What exactly does the frightening-looking mountain fish eat? Is the legend of eating children true?
In folklore, the mountain fish is a terrible monster that can tear tigers and leopards by hand, is also very fond of eating children, and is very good at ambushing humans.
Surprisingly, the ferocious mountain fish turned out to be an omnivorous animal, and its eating habits could change with the environment.
However, the mountain fish prefers plants, as well as a variety of fruits.
Occasionally, the mountain fish would steal human things to eat, so they clashed with humans.
It is worth mentioning that mountain fish also eat meat, sometimes they will dig up small insects such as ants from the ground to eat, and they can also eat arthropods such as scorpion spiders.
Once hungry, the mountain fish will even attack the large vertebrates, even the ferocious wild boar.
In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", there have been several descriptions of the mountain fish, saying that it has a human face, and it will imitate people, and when it sees others laughing, it also laughs, and the mouth that laughs can cover the whole face, but it is very afraid of people.
However, the description of the mountain fish in this period is still relatively neutral.
But in many folktales and ancient texts, the mountain fish has become more and more terrifying, from a timid creature to a man-eating monster, and even a tiger and leopard.
Later, in order to keep the children from running around, people used terrifying mountain fish to scare them.
In fact, although the mountain fish is very fierce and has a more grumpy personality, it is not as powerful as rumored.
People are afraid of it because of what they look like, and it is afraid of people because of nature.
This intelligent creature knows that humans are far from what they can compete with.
On the contrary, humans have invaded their territories many times for their own benefit, and the mountain fish in many areas are on the verge of extinction due to human hunting.
You think the appearance of the mountain fish is terrible, perhaps in their eyes, we who seem to be gentle and elegant humans are the most terrifying creatures.
After all, are there fewer creatures that have been affected by humans and caused extinction?