"Where's my jet plane?"
Australian Birds Change Breeding Times to Suite the Harsh Climate
Human beings may be having problems with the drought in Australia, but animals are coping well. Zebra finches, pelicans and woodswallows seem to know when the weather changes. If the Spring comes early they nest early. If it is too dry to breed they hold off until times are better. They change their breeding point by months either way.
When glaciation was at its peak the woodswallow population actually boomed. In boom times there is a larger pool of gene carriers that can be selected against when times become harder. More of the bird die off. Yet, the survivors have traits that suite the changed environment.
Australia has the harshest of climates with long periods of drought. Consequently, birds such as pelicans live a longtime on a meagre diet so they can wait for good times to breed. Zebra finches seem to do well even when times are very hard.
When glaciation was at its peak the woodswallow population actually boomed. In boom times there is a larger pool of gene carriers that can be selected against when times become harder. More of the bird die off. Yet, the survivors have traits that suite the changed environment.
Australia has the harshest of climates with long periods of drought. Consequently, birds such as pelicans live a longtime on a meagre diet so they can wait for good times to breed. Zebra finches seem to do well even when times are very hard.
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Bigfoot, Yeti or Bunyip?
Bigfoot or yeti? Australia has its own "monster" living in the outback. It is called the bunyip. Most Australians live on the coast. But people continually travel this broad brown land all the time. With few dense areas to hide in why isn't the bunyip seen more often - if it exists.
Aboriginals firmly believe in the existence of the bunyip, and many white people do as well. Though Aboriginals describe the creature in physical terms saying that it has dark fur, horse-like tail, tusks and a dog-like face, they do say it is a spirit, which can disappear when it wants to.
Those who claim to have seen the animal invariably see it near water such as streams, rivers, lakes or wetlands. A mysterious booming sound does seem to have been a reality in the past. Many people went searching for the source of the sound in the mid 19th century. When wet areas where the sound came from were drained for human habitation a dull silence remained, very disappointing.
An explorer actually claimed to have found bones of the beast: it seems to be much like a hippopotamus. Since Australia does not have an existing animal of this type it makes one wonder what kind of animal the bones really belonged to - or was he making it up? They could have been the bones of an animal 10,000 years old from the large marsupial era. Scientists are generally united in believing that the bunyip was a Diprotodon that died out 10 millennia ago and its existence was kept alive by Aboriginal verbal history.
Aboriginals firmly believe in the existence of the bunyip, and many white people do as well. Though Aboriginals describe the creature in physical terms saying that it has dark fur, horse-like tail, tusks and a dog-like face, they do say it is a spirit, which can disappear when it wants to.
Those who claim to have seen the animal invariably see it near water such as streams, rivers, lakes or wetlands. A mysterious booming sound does seem to have been a reality in the past. Many people went searching for the source of the sound in the mid 19th century. When wet areas where the sound came from were drained for human habitation a dull silence remained, very disappointing.
An explorer actually claimed to have found bones of the beast: it seems to be much like a hippopotamus. Since Australia does not have an existing animal of this type it makes one wonder what kind of animal the bones really belonged to - or was he making it up? They could have been the bones of an animal 10,000 years old from the large marsupial era. Scientists are generally united in believing that the bunyip was a Diprotodon that died out 10 millennia ago and its existence was kept alive by Aboriginal verbal history.
http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/http://tysaustralia.blogspot.com/
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http://www.technorati.com/blogs/http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com
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