Why can mantis shrimp see so many colors? It turns out that they can’t see more colors than we can. They just process the way they see colors differently. Manis shrimp have twelve to sixteen different types of photoreceptors in their eyes, which lead people to believe that they could see many colors, or shades […]
#822 Why can mantis shrimp see so many colors? Read More »
Why do birds need to see ultraviolet light? It helps them with foraging, navigation, and signaling to each other. We can only see combinations of three colors: red, green, and blue. We have cones that detect these colors in our eyes. Most birds can also see ultraviolet light. They have four types of cones in
#818 Why do birds need to see ultraviolet light? Read More »
Why did prehistoric insects grow so big? Because there was a lot more oxygen in the atmosphere and there were no birds. The largest insect in the world today is the Phryganistria chinensis, which is a stick insect. It is 64 cm long. The insect with the largest wingspan is the White witch moth, which
#812 Why did prehistoric insects grow so big? Read More »
What do worms do? They break down organic matter in the soil and release the nutrients in their waste. Earthworms may all look the same to us, but there are 7,000 different species of them across the world. 150 of those species are the ones we commonly see. There are far more worms in the
#810 What do worms do? Read More »
Do cows only eat grass? Wild cows and cows that graze on pasture eat a lot of grass, but they also eat other plants as well. Cows that are kept in dairy farms are often fed a lot of grain and soy. There are not many wild cows in the world. In most developed countries,
#803 Do cows only eat grass? Read More »
Why do beavers build dams? To make a deep pond that they can live in. Beavers are rodents and they are the second largest rodents in the world. Only the capybara is bigger. However, unlike most other rodents, beavers are herbivores. They mainly eat tree bark, water plants, and grasses. Because they are mammals and
#793 Why do beavers build dams? Read More »
What is a black swan event? It is a completely surprising and unpredictable event that has major consequences. It is something that is as rare as a black swan. The phrase was first used in Rome in the 2nd century BC and its usage was to show that an event was as rare on Earth
#792 What is a black swan event? Read More »
Why do woodpeckers peck wood? They are trying to find food, mark their territory, find a mate, or make a nest. There are 240 different species of woodpecker, and they live in most countries except for Australasia, Madagascar, and Antarctica. Other than their pecking and the adaptations they have to enable it, they are normal
#787 Why do woodpeckers peck wood? Read More »
How did a pterodactyl fly? By jumping 2.5 meters into the air and then flapping. These days, we use pterodactyl to refer to any of the flying dinosaurs that looked similar, but pterodactyl is only one species. The family is called pterosaur. In Greek, “pteron” means winged and “sauros” means lizard. Pterodactyl comes from “pteron”
#785 How did a pterodactyl fly? Read More »
Why don’t more animals use two legs? Because they wouldn’t be able to balance, run as fast, and they can’t use their forelegs for anything other than standing. Walking on two legs has given us several evolutionary advantages which means the ability has been passed on. Most animals don’t get this advantage, so evolution has
#776 Why don’t more animals use two legs? Read More »
