isyulli: bird

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Senin, 13 Desember 2010

Small Island Throws Up Large Bird

An Indonesian island is home to fossils of a giant stork. This is the little island where the tiny humanoid hobbit was found. It is a wonderful place for exploration and scientific discovery. Animals who lived there range from dwarf elephants to giant lizards and rats.

The giant stork lived on the island at about the same time Aboriginals populated Australia. A leg bone shows the 6 feet tall bird was a marabou stork weighing about 16 kilograms. It couldn't fly. Bones were found in the Liang Bua cave where skeletons of the hobbit were found.

These creature got to the island then became cut off from mainstream evolution. The island has never been joined to the primary landmass. Findings prove that the "island rule" is valid. This theory holds that animals trapped on a small island will change size in order to survive in particular niches. Large mammals become smaller and small warm blooded animals grow larger. The stork was originally quite small but with less competition it increased in size.

http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/
http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/
http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia
http://www.technorati.com/blogs/http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com

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Kamis, 01 Juli 2010

Chicks Not Lost

"We are not lost!"

http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/

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Ostriches Use Wings to Run

The mystery of why dinosaurs evolved feathers has been solved. Observation of ostriches shows that wings are used to retain balance while running. Far from being evolutionary leftovers, they are used constantly.

This finding was made by breeding ostriches that were "human-friendly". Then they were then able to be tested, which took place when they were three years old. The ostriches were made to run down a 300 meter "track", indoors. They were seen to zigzag, brake and turn, guiding their bodies using wings as rudders.

Tests showed that feathers provided lift which improved stability. All living flightless birds are able to evade capture by quickly turning one way then the other. Without wings they would not be able to do this.

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Selasa, 25 Mei 2010

Emu Says

"In my opinion, the Government is out of touch with animals."

http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/

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Jumat, 07 Mei 2010

Chicks

"We are not lost!"

http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/

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Rabu, 05 Mei 2010

Orange-bellied Parrot About to Become Extinct

It's a tough time for the orange-bellie. This species of parrot is about to become extinct. It is estimated to have five years left to live. A few years ago there were 70 pairs. Now only 50 birds remain. The last species of bird to go extinct in Australia ceased its existence 70 years ago.

For the most part, people don't seem to care. However, there are more close to extinction. There has been a fight to keep the orange-bellie alive. In 1984 the OBP Recovery Team was created to monitor and protect the bird. A protected breeding program was established in south-west Tasmania. Fifteen years of drought has seen the birds' supply of seeds dwindle to almost nothing. Water has been allocated for irrigation and piped away from the region.

A last throw of the dice involves catching 10 pairs then breeding them in a caged area. This kind of action is unusual. It would be expected that eggs would be taken from nests of wild birds, with hatching done in an incubator then hand feeding. This way more eggs would be laid when the initial eggs are taken away.

Once wild birds are taken from the wild they will always be "domesticated". There is no way knowledge of feeding grounds can be passed on.

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Jumat, 26 Maret 2010

Dinosaurs Found in Australia - What is Fact?

Australia is a very old continent. It seems the ancestors of Tyrannosaurus rex lived here. A hip bone has been found here that dates to 110 million years ago which is 40 million years before T.rex roamed elsewhere on earth. Until now it was believed that T.rex only lived on Northern continents.

Many of the things stated as fact by scientists are indeed just matters of faith until they are proven otherwise. Scientists argue about when dinosaurs developed feathers and why. They claim that birds today are direct descendants from dinosaurs. This is like saying humans are descended from dinosaurs. Much evidence points to birds having a line of descent completely separate from dinosaurs.

The same rings true with the Hobbit people of Flores Island. Some scientists will not accept that people different from humans survived until 18,000 years ago alongside humans. Neanderthals lived until 50,000 years ago, so why not another type of human? Science is much like religion. What is just theory is put forth as fact. Ah, the dangers of religion - and science!

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Selasa, 09 Maret 2010

Fossilised Eggshells Are Ideal for Extracting DNA

Jurassic Park is getting closer to reality. Australian scientists have managed to get DNA from fossilised eggshells of extinct birds. The Team warns though that bringing ancient creatures back to life is a long way off. Particles of fossilised eggshells from Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar were used in the research.

A target species was the Moa bird which lived in New Zealand into the 18th century. Another was the Elephant Bird extinct in Madascar during the 17th century. Older bird were also worked on: the New Zealand Duck, Australian Owl and an Emu which was 19,000 years old. In work on older fossils, results did not come up with usable DNA.

Techniques used were the usual reduction of sample and polymeras amplification. These were very short pieces of DNA obtained from minute samples. Eggshells were found to be even better than bones and hair for storing DNA.

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