Questions tagged [zoology]
The biological study of animals. Very broad use so be sure to add additional clarifying tags
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What is this animal looking like an Axolotl?
My friend caught a strange looking animal and he's saying it is an axolotl. I keep telling him it's almost impossible, since they are almost extinct in their natural environment and he caught it in St-...
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Why are turtles classified as reptiles and not amphibians?
I understand that turtles are reptiles because like all reptiles, they have scales on their body. But turtles (specifically sea turtles) live on both land and water, very much like amphibians. Also, ...
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How do birds deal with their eyes drying out at high speeds?
My eyes tear up when cycling at 15 mph, which is nothing compared to bird airspeeds.
Do birds continuously produce lots of tears and blink a lot, or do the eyes self-moisturize from the inside ...
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How do porcupines keep from pricking each other while mating?
How do porcupines keep from pricking each other while mating? It seems like they would constantly be scratching each other.
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What effect does a bat's echolocation have on other bats?
Bat echolocation is a perceptual system where ultrasonic sounds are emitted specifically to produce echoes. By comparing the outgoing pulse with the returning echoes, the brain and auditory nervous ...
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Was the recent "conservation hunt" of a black rhino supported by science?
CNN recently covered a sanctioned black rhino hunt in Namibia by Texan Corey Knowlton, who bid US$350,000 for the license. In the story, he claims that the hunt was actually supporting conservation of ...
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Public database of animal specifications
I'm a math teacher looking for data to help my students interested in biology complete a quantitatively flavored study of animals. (As a math person, I apologize if I'm not using discipline-...
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Help identify this worm-like thing
Many instances of this worm-like creature were found in a water system for a mountain cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the US, in late June / early July. The water system collects water from ...
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What kind of skull is this?
We found this skull on a beach in southwestern Sweden, and are curious as to what kind of animal it was.
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How do we explain the white feathers of an albino peacock?
Peacock feathers are supposed to produce colours by surface structures modulating the light (in addition to the usual absorption/reflection mechanism)... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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Fish "coming back to life" after being frozen
I've encountered a clip on Youtube showing a goldfish thrown in liquid nitrogen and immediately after to normal water and swimming normally. In the explanation to the clip it says:
For everyone ...
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What sea animal is this?
I am in a remote village and a young boy (second pic holding tail) says this thing is his friend. This creature is safe, we held it for pictures and released it after. None of us know what this is and ...
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Do the majority of fish lack scales on their heads?
Based on pictures, it seems to me that a vast majority of fish species that have scales do NOT have scales on their heads.
Is that fact true?
To make this properly answerable:
lets' define a "...
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Would a shark whip into a frenzy from smelling its own blood?
Sharks normally respond very quickly to the scent of blood in up to a mile radius, but what if the shark itself simply got injured? Would it respond to its own blood at all?
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Can any other animal choke on food?
I read somewhere (I think it was Bill Bryson's book on the origins of the English language) that of all animals, we are the only ones that can choke on food (having something to do with how our larynx ...
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Are there cats with black skin?
Some mammals can have a black, pink or spotted skin, depending on race - see for example humans or pigs. But I recently learned that this is not the case with mice. Even black furred mice have pink ...
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A weird-looking fish with a shield
I found this photo in a local news page. The page claims that this fish is a new species that was found by a Malaysian fisherman. Is this true or is it a known fish and already has a name?
user3130
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Why Crocodiles don't eat Hippos?
I have been following documentaries about crocodiles and amazingly, crocodiles and hippos apparently seem to live happily in the same pond together without attacking each other.
Why is it so? Like ...
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Why is there a difference in the rotation of the tail fin in fish compared to marine mammals?
I've been thinking about this one, but I can't seem to find what causes this difference.
All fishes that I've seen have their tail fin positioned vertical:
But all the marine mammals I know have ...
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Why do we have no enzyme to digest cellulose?
As we know, cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide in nature. Why don't we have an enzyme to digest cellulose?
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What is this little owl-like bird?
I was walking outside (location: Netherlands) and just saw this little bird:
Unfortunately I had to take a long range picture with my cell phone so the quality is quite bad, however I hope still ...
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Is there any relationship between heartbeat rate and life span of an animal?
Is there any relationship between heartbeat rate and life span of an animal?
Do they belong to a cause-and-effect relationship or are they both caused by some phenomenons or a common cause?
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Horned Mohawk looking insect. What is it?
Any ideas? I didn't know any other way to explain it.
I live in Indiana, USA if that helps.
Someone said it might be a "stink bug" but I'm not sure and not willing to find out!
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Why are the bodies of the Risso's dolphin covered in scratches?
Risso's dolphin in wild population seem to obtain scratches with aging. What is causing them and what do they mean?
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Help me identify this insect from Bangladesh
I have seen this insect flying literally everywhere in Dhaka city (Bangladesh) over the last two months. It's small -- around 1-1.5 inches long. It's not an agile flyer and can be easily grabbed by ...
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Help identifying what this is in Crayfish gills?
this is my first time posting here. I was in my Zoology lab doing a dissection on a Crayfish when I noticed these hairlike structures within the gills. They were very "snappy" and fine, and would ...
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Worm inside a millepede
I found a dead millipede lying on the ground in Wayand, Kerala (India). I put it in a bottle and brought it home. After around 5 hours a worm came out of it. It is about about 1.5 cm long and ...
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What species is this black, blue and white bird?
I think this species is native to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as I see it regularly, especially around the urban locality (Downtown Edmonton).
Season: Early Spring
Date: May 18, 2017
Basic ...
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Why do mosquitoes hover over our heads?
So I play soccer in evening at a nearby park. I noticed many times that after the game and even during it many mosquitoes hover over some of us. They sort of form a structure like a tornado.
The more ...
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How does a woodpecker not give itself concussions?
How does a woodpecker go about smacking it's head into a tree without killing itself?
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What made this black cluster on a leaf?
I found this black slug-shaped thing on a leaf by my pond in western Sweden. It's about 15 mm long, positioned on a vertical leaf (I bent it to take the picture).
And I don't even know where to ...
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What is this insect in North Carolina?
This insect is in my house in North Carolina, USA. I think it shares similar body features of that of a wasp, but it is far too narrow and has what appears to be a long stinger. What is it?
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Is there any documented evidence for suicide among vertebrates other than humans?
Is there any documented evidence for suicide among vertebrates other than humans? Lemmings not accepted !
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How many mice are on the Earth?
We are 7 billion human beings on the Earth. But how many mice are there? How would you estimate such a number?
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Are there animals that have evolved a resistance to human activity or encroachment?
There are countless sources, both peer-reviewed and popular, explaining how overuse and misuse of antibiotics is breeding a new generation of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" such as MRSA (Methicillin-...
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What kind of bird species is this?
Every now and then I got a glimpse of this bird which I'm pretty sure is not native to Northern Germany where I live. There are at least three of these birds around but I usually only see something ...
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Why do animals excrete excess nitrogen instead of recycling it?
I am aware of the different ways animals excrete excess nitrogen (mainly ammonium, urea, uric acid). My question is: why do we excrete excess nitrogen instead of recycling it? How can we explain that ...
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Is the appendix a vestigial structure in all vertebrates?
In humans the Appendix is a vestigial organ. Does it serve no apparent purpose in all the vertebrates that have one?
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Do insects with compound eyes have depth perception?
Do insects with compound eyes have depth perception? They fly as if they do, but their eyes are so close together it seems like the image would be 2 dimensional.
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What insect is this? (Central Africa)
I live in Africa (DR Congo). Here we have these insects that look like ants. They appear between May and June.
These insects give severe damage if crushed on the skin. They contain something like ...
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How do insects breathe?
Do ants even breathe? If they don't, how do they stay alive? On what resources do they depend upon to stay alive? How are they different form mammals?
user594
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How do members of cryptic species know who to mate with?
According to Wikipedia:
In biology, a cryptic species complex is a group of species which
satisfy the biological definition of species—that is, they are
reproductively isolated from each other—...
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Examples of animals that co-opt toxins?
It is known that there are animals that acquire toxins through their diet or through their surroundings. The examples I know of include butterflies stocking up on alkaloids/glycosides while in the ...
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Do animals suffer from "Human" mental disorders?
It is tragic, but apparently Killer whales and Dolphins can commit suicide too (e.g. here)...
This suggests they can become depressed. I wondered whether they were "clinically" depressed like many ...
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Why do snails come out after the rain?
Many times, when there is rain after a long time, snails come out afterwards, and you can see snails and slugs everywhere! I have two questions:
Why do they come out after the rain?
Where are they ...
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Do sharks fart?
My son is 5 and I'm encouraging him to be curious and ask questions of the world around him.
He asked if sharks fart and how does it smell? He feels that it would smell of fish and be disgusting.
He ...
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Why do crabs spit?
Last year I photographed this juvenile Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus) 'spitting' (click for larger view):
I thought I'd look up more information on this behavior, but couldn't find any ...
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Did animals evolve from plants?
Did animals evolve from plants? Did animals' ancestors have chloroplasts in their cells?
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How do we know that dinosaurs were related to lizards and/or birds?
Do we clearly know what the living closest relative of the dinosaurs are? And connected to the first question, in scientific manner how do we know these relationship between extinct species and living ...
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Are 'homeothermic' and 'endothermic' synonymous?
I got this question from the comments below this answer. So, do homeothermic and poikilothermic have the same meaning as endothermic and ectothermic, respectively?
A user also suggested that the ...
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