Fun Facts about Animals

1. THE IMMORTAL JELLYFISH

Can an organism actually be ‘immortal’?

Only one animal is known to have such a remarkable ability and that is a jellyfish named Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the ‘immortal jellyfish’.  It was first discovered in the 1880s in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Turritopsis dohrnii can switch between life stages. Whenever, it faces any kind of environmental stress (like starvation), it changes itself to a blob of tissue, pretty much like a frog changing to a tadpole.

Now of course, it isn’t completely ‘immortal’ and can be killed by other means.

2. TRIBOCUS CAMELUS

 

What is the maximum number of humps a camel can have?

Generally, camels have a single hump (in case of Dromedary camels) or two humps (in case of Bactrian camels).

But, a three humped camel colony was found in Oman in the Rub al-Khali desert. This new species has been given the name ‘tribocus camelus’. 

3. THE LIVING DEAD

How does a starfish survive without any brain and blood?

A starfish neither has a brain nor any blood. How does it survive then?

Although it lacks a brain, starfishes have a simple nervous system. Its mouth is surrounded by a nerve ring which is connected to each of its arms, via a radial nerve. Neurons stimulate the muscles on each of the tube feet. Besides this, a starfish also has eyespots at the tip of each arm. These eyespots have light-sensitive pigments that help it to sense light and darkness in the surroundings.

Instead of blood, they have a water vascular system i.e. seawater is pumped throughout the body which transports all the nutrients and stuff. As sea water is abundant, they never run out of it. Isn’t that clever?