Science and Technology Daily intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin
2020 has been a tough year for humanity. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our vulnerability in the changing natural world. In order to survive, many people have to look for hope in new flags and inspiration.
While humans may be forced to press the pause button due to self-isolation, birds, bugs, fish, and mammals have also shown their ingenuity and ingenuity.
Recently, the New York Times selected the craziest animal news of 2020: 2020 is the time when the "killing hornet" appeared in the United States; this year, scientists introduced us to an octopus as cute as an emoji; scientists also found that platypus could be! hair! light!
The next few animal-related news will surely surprise or delight you, and on the last day of 2020, let's take it easy
<h1>A long year, the longest creature</h1>
In many ways, 2020 has been an extraordinarily long year. Also in the same year, scientists discovered what may be the longest creature in the ocean in the deep ocean of Western Australia: a 150-foot-long tube jellyfish.
"It looks like an incredible UFO." Dr Nerida Wilson, senior research scientist at the Museum of Western Australia, said.
Each tube jellyfish is a community of individuals, they are a group of cells that form an extended linear body formed by thousands of self-clonings. When some of Wilson's colleagues jokingly compared tube jellyfish to spray mousse, Wilson said: "The tissue structure of this organism is much more complex than spray mousse!" ”
Each tube jellyfish is a "colony" of thousands of individuals. Image credit: Schmidt Institute of Oceanography, California, USA
<h1>Believe it or not, they are the same species</h1>
The left picture is the male leaf worm (Phyllium asekiense) and the right picture is the female. Image source: Insectarium in Montreal, Canada
It's a century-old mystery of leafworms: Scientists have long wondered how insects that appear to have no females, or even mothers, in nature. What happened to the female nanolobites?
In the spring of 2018, at the Entomological Museum in Montreal, Canada, Stephane Letilland received 13 eggs that he hoped would hatch into leaves. The eggs are not oval in shape, but prismatic, not much larger than chia seeds.
They were born from a wild-caught female leafworm (Phyllium asekiense), a leafy insect from Papua New Guinea that is multi-leafy and has only female specimens.
After hatching, two of the eggs grew thin and like branches, and even a pair of wings grew. They bear striking resemblance to the nanoleaf-shaped leaf insects, which belong to a completely different genus with only male specimens in the six species under them.
The conclusion is clear: the two species are actually the same species and are named Nanophyllium asekiense.
"We've only found male leafworms since 1906." Royce Cumming, a graduate student at the City University of New York, said, "Now we finally have conclusive evidence. ”
<h1>The world has come to a standstill, and the salamander can finally cross the street safely</h1>
Greg Leclerc coordinates the Maine Habitat Migration Monitoring Project to help a spotted salamander cross the street. Image source: The New York Times
This year, the migration of the amphibian salamander in the northeastern United States coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The order to maintain "social distancing" and take shelter in place led to a drop in traffic, which made an unexpected large-scale experiment possible this spring: Greg Leclerc, a graduate student in reptile at the University of Maine, and 87 "citizen scientists" led by him rescued 1,487 salamanders in Maine.
"We rarely have the opportunity to explore the real impact of human activity on amphibians crossing the road." "Roads make up about 0.000003 percent of salamanders' survival, and roads are destroying salamander populations throughout New England," Leclerc said, "and they have experienced meteorite impacts, changes in oxygen levels, dinosaur centuries, and ice ages." It would be a shame for them to have the road as the end of their lives. ”
According to the data, with the pause in human activity, more and more amphibians seem to be able to cross roads more safely.
This could also be a lesson for humans: what might happen when humans slow down, such as goats bouncing around the streets of Wales, England, dolphins wandering the tranquil seas of Istanbul, Turkey...
<h1>Real emoji – cute dumbo octopus</h1>
What mysteries are hidden in the coral sea near Australia's Great Barrier Reef?
The area was almost never explored until an expedition organized by the Schmidt Institute of Oceanography in California searched its dark waters, mapped the distant seabed with a beam of sound, and deployed tethered autonomous robots to capture close-up images of the pitch-black depths.
They captured videos of Dumbo octopus (strikingly similar to the octopus's emoji) and the area's thriving chamber-band nautilus. The team also found the deepest living hard corals in the waters of eastern Australia and identified as many as 10 new species of fish, snails and sponges.
<h1>It's time to hibernate like hummingbirds</h1>
In 2020, the energy needed to maintain the status quo may not be much different from the energy used by hummingbirds. It is well known that this flying creature has the fastest metabolism among vertebrates. In order to maintain their lively lifestyle, they sometimes drink nectar of the same weight as themselves every day.
To conserve energy, scientists have found that hummingbirds in the Andes in South America go into an unusually deep state of numbness, a physiological state similar to hibernation. In this state, their body temperature drops by as much as 10 degrees Celsius.
As the year comes to an end, it may be time for us to learn from these little birds about this slow-down, slow-down state.
Reddish-brown hummingbirds. Image source: Science magazine
<h1>A platypus that glows</h1>
When scientists last studied the platypus, its webbed feet, duck-like beak and spawning were very different from our understanding of mammals. Not only that, but it also secretes venom, which is rare in mammals.
Now, scientists have discovered that even its mediocre-looking fur hides a secret: when the platypus is illuminated with ultraviolet light, its fur will glow blue-green!
Platypus is one of the few mammals known to exhibit this trait. But we still don't know why they are like this.
Scientists have also found that the mysterious glowing mammals may be more than just platypus... It seems that the glowing platypus is not "fighting alone"!
Platypus in visible light, unfiltered UV light, yellow filter ultraviolet light. Image source: The Guardian
<h1>Kenya is the worst locust in 70 years</h1>
"It's like an umbrella covering the sky." Joseph Katone Liparoll said he spent most of his 68 years living in a small herdsman village in Kenya called Wamba.
In the Kenyan village of Katytica, a farmer looks behind as she walks past swarms of desert locusts that feed on her crops. Image source: The Guardian
In June, a swarm of fast-moving desert locusts carved out a devastating path in Kenya. The huge swarm of locusts stunned the villagers. At first they thought it was just a cloud full of cold rain.
This highly maneuverable creature can travel more than 80 miles a day. The swarm can accommodate up to 80 million adult locusts per square kilometre and eat the equivalent of about 35,000 people a day.
While spraying chemicals can be effective in controlling pests, locals are concerned that the chemicals can contaminate drinking water and washing water, as well as water sources that irrigate crops.
Climate change is expected to make locust plagues more frequent and severe.
<h1>Millions of mink were culled</h1>
Earlier this year, the Danish government culled millions of mink on more than 1,000 farms, citing concerns that mutations in the novel coronavirus infecting mink could interfere with the effectiveness of vaccines against humans.
In addition to this particular mutant virus, the scientists say, Denmark has taken action for other reasons.
Mink farms have proven to be hotbeds of the coronavirus, and mink are able to transmit the virus to humans. So far, they are the only animals known to do this.
This set of mutations may not be harmful to humans, but the virus will undoubtedly continue to mutate in mink as it does in humans, and crowded conditions in mink farms may put different evolutionary pressures on the virus than in humans. In addition, the virus may also be transmitted from mink to other animals.
The Danish government ordered the culling of millions of mink in November. Image source: Reuters
<h1>The "Killer Bumblebee" is coming! </h1>
This spring, the "murderous bumblebee" landed in the United States, which undoubtedly attracted the attention of the whole world.
This bumblebee from Asia can wipe out the bee hive within a few hours, "beheading" the bees and flying away with the "victim's" breastplate to feed their young bees. And it's sensational with such a powerful ability.
For larger targets, the wasp's powerful venom and stingers—enough to pierce a beekeeping suit—make up a painful set of equipment, like scalding metal piercing into a person's skin.
This fall, after witnessing several bumblebees in the Pacific Northwest, officials in washington state reported that they had discovered and eliminated the first known "killer bumble" hive in the United States.
The aggressive bumblebees were raided when they were about to enter the "slaughtering phase" of the "amplification move".
Officials in Washington state say they will continue to use traps to kill bumblebees for at least three years.
bumblebee. Image credit: Scientific American magazine
After reading these legendary, amazing, or interesting news this year, do you feel the diversity of nature and the strangeness of the animal kingdom?
Tomorrow is the new year, please like nature's endless life, continue to be lively, keep cute, stride into the future!
Editor: Zhang Shuang
Review: Wang Xiaolong