OSPREY RAPTOR:
Have you heard about this? If it is a no, then I'll tell you what it is. This belongs to the eagle family. It has got a very good technique of hunting its prey and no wonder it is called an "Osprey". It travels between air and water. Naturally, has got a good body for the technique that helps it survive in the food chain. It preys on the fishes in the sea or the ocean. Its wings are waterproof. This raptor is good at diving into the ocean or the sea and getting its prey. Sometimes it does hunting on the surface of the sea itself. It has got binocular eyes that are far more powerful than that of man. Spots its prey 100-150m above the sea itself. It focuses and adjusts its vision just like how it is done in a video game. It locks its target. Travels downward at a speed of 130kmph and dives in by taking a plunge into the sea. It catches its prey, through the use of its claws known for its grip. The most great feature is its flight out of the sea after catching its prey. It has got flight muscles below its face, which helps it get out of the sea in a flash. The V-shaped wings are designed in such a manner that it doesn't need a run-up for producing lift. The V-shaped wings provide as much air flow as possible making it very easy for taking flight within a split second. This hunting itself takes place in just 3-4 sec. What do you say?
Is it Engineered to Perfection or not?
Osprey raptor at work!!
KOMODO DRAGONS:
These are amazing and dangerous creatures. They almost prey on everything that contains bacteria. It has got such a sense of smell that it can sense it within a radar of 11-12kms. It has got a tongue that takes in chemicals at its tip, to its brain, each time it puts it out of its mouth, from the air. The brain analyzes the composition and finds out whether there are any unusual chemicals or not. Unusual chemical composition means that there is a prey near it. It has also got sharp eyes and a tail which is capable of killing a man with one blow. It has got sharp claws for ripping apart the prey and a rough skin suitable for the terrain. Its mouth is filled with bacteria always as it devours mostly the dead animals and even human dead bodies.
SNAKES:
I've been reading about these for quite a long time. There are nearly one lakh known species and a lot unknown. A lot of variety and with a unique defensive mechanism for each of the species. I'll tell you about some of these. Pythons are known for its muscle power. They've got no venom. But can eat more than the size of its mouth. Thanks to the elastic jaws that can nearly extend up to a 180 degrees. It coils as soon as it bites the prey. The coils exert hell a lot of pressure which constricts the blood flow of the victim. It also has got 100 teeth, razor sharp. There are various other snakes like the adders and vipers. Death adder is the most fastest striking snake in the whole world. It has got a nice technique of attracting its prey. It attracts its prey by a yellow shade at the end of its tail. So it stays at one place but prey comes near it and finds death. It camouflages in such a way that it disappears even if you are taking a close look at it. Pit vipers are known for the same kind of attack. Its deadly neurotoxic venom can kill the prey in seconds. It has got pits near its mouth. The pits are nothing but thermal sensors capable of recording the minute temperature difference. Once the prey comes close, the prey is fanged and left to move away. It knows that after it injects the venom the prey can't survive for long. The prey tries to run away. But can't go far. It leaves a thermal trace which is followed by the snake and finds it without difficulty, enjoys its meal. Patience is always rewarded. For the bite to be on target, the snake has got its tongue, which just like the komodos takes the chemicals each second from the air and transfers it to the brain. The brain then processes the chemical composition and according to that, the attack is launched. Amazing stuff, isn't it?
Flying snakes are also there. It jumps from tree to tree. These are also called as tree snakes. These have got a special mechanism for the flight. After quite a lot of research with the snake, specialists have come out with the reason behind the flight. The snake bends its body like a frisbee, creating a pressure difference which makes it stay in the air itself, by creating a lift. God knows Bernoulli's equation, I guess. He has designed it perfectly for it to have a flight for atleast a 100 to 120 meters.
Flying snake at the time of flight!!
CHAMELEON:
The chameleon has a unique power of changing its colour, as you all know very well, and it has got another feature. It has got double fingered legs, four of them, and it is supported by tail as well. When it sees a prey, it gently moves towards it. It is a very slow movement. It coils its tail to the branch for support. Then after calculating how much distance it has to move to catch hold of the prey, it moves until that point. It has got a tongue which can travel up to a quarter to half feet. The tongue has got a sticky substance that enables it to catch hold of the prey easily. It has got muscles that catapults the tongue at a speed of about 0-60m/s. That's huge right. Indeed it is. It all happens in a flash that the prey will have no idea of how it died. It can reach out to its prey with its tongue about one and a half times more than its own body length.
BLUE WHALE:
No wonder this is the world's mammoth animal. Its colossal structure astonishes the human kind. It is nearly 30m long. Huge size. It has got lungs that are 500times the size of ours. It has got a hydrodynamic body shape, making it capable of diving to the bottom of the sea. It has got a heart which beats only 5-6 times a minute but pumps 1 tonne of blood through its flesh in just one beat. It filters most of the sea water and has been designed to eat most of the sea animals.
The awesome predator of the world!!
SEA SNAKES:
Sea snakes have got a small head and a compressed tail, enabling its body to swim. But do not underestimate it with the size of its head cause it has got a strong composition of venom. It can kill a man in just hours. Venom experts consider this as the most powerful next to cobras and the viper. Appearances are always deceptive.
CUBAN CROC:
The Cuban crocodile has most of its mass at the tail. Nearly three-fourths of its own mass. It has got wide open eyes. It searches its prey in the trees. Rat like creatures, nearly five times the size of our local rats are found in the tree in Cuba. These crocs scan the trees above the water. Waits for the right moment after spotting the prey in the trees nearby. Goes towards it silently without even creating ripples in the water. Suddenly jumps out of the water and opens the mouth wide at the same time, catches hold of its prey, and enjoys a nice meal. It confidently jumps because the tail supports its body and it is almost vertical, when a shot is taken while jumping. Excellent biomechanics, isn't it?
SLOTHS:
Patience personified. These can hang from the trees for hours together without any movement. It is their nature and work. It eats leaves, insects and a lot of vegetation. No other work other than hanging and howling during the breeding season. They can hang upside down for hours and that is what they are made for. Strong legs and claws that holds to the slightest grip available in the trees.
There is so much left to tell, but I guess this post is not enough. But the real matter behind this is as follows.
I chose to post this because, there is a reason behind this. Man has developed so many machines only with nature as reference. I strongly feel that each of the feature that an animal possesses has got something that might be a very useful mechanism that man can try to emulate for his own comfort. God has given all the features only with some reason behind the animal's comfort. The same thing may make man even more comfortable. Only difference is that god has given man the power to think. But he has bestowed the same power in the animals physically through a variety of mechanisms, in the absence of the sixth sense. It is up to man to discover what is useful for him and take it that he sees in the animals around him.
-SATZ
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