Humans : The most dangerous animal !!!

Humans are the most dangerous animal existing on this planet. These lines were impressed upon me by an old woman in a small temple city called Uluvi located in the dense forest region of western ghats. The temple town is also famous for caves which is sparsely explored and by remaining in the midst of the dense forests has escaped the prying eyes of many tourists.
Uluvi Pics
A visit to cave in the wee hours
The first time I visited the caves, I had accompanied by a guide to explore the caves. But this time one of the shopkeeper advised us that we can see it by our own because of better direction boards put up now. So, we started out early and went downhill to the place near the caves. The caves and the absence of other people made us feel a bit insecure. We were afraid of entering into the caves for the fear of animals taking shelter there as it was drizzling all the way. We sat in front of the caves for sometime and got back.
The query of the animals
An old lady who is an inhabitant in that city brought us the tea when we returned back to our accommodation. I started inquiring to her about the caves and the presence of animals around there and how to deal with them in case of an attack. She replied that it was very rare that animals came into the way of humans near that caves and remarked that it is rather "humans are more dangerous animals". On being asked about how to deal with them, she resorted that unlike humans, other animals usually won't interfere in the way of humans and they try to be away from the human beings most of the time. It is; we as humans try to poke them and invite the trouble most of the times. These words made me to think about the older generations which lived in close proximity with these wildlife and concluded that there is lot of truth in the words of that old lady. The humans are indeed "the most dangerous animal" as he has interfered the most in the living of other animals and in many instances completely endangering the ecosystem of the wildlife.

Chameleons & Changing colors

Chameleons are lizards belonging to family called Chamaeleonidae. When we think of Chameleons, the first thing that strikes to mind is their ability to change colors.

Change of colour to camouflage!!! Not really!!!

It’s a popular belief that Chameleons change the color to blend with nature and to hide from predators. But camouflage is not the primary reason for change in skin color. Changing skin color in Chameleons is associated with various factors such as their reactions to temperature, light, mood, aggression, health, mating behavior.

Each chameleon species has its own color range. In general calm chameleons show green color. They exhibit darker colors like bright yellow to show their anger. It also serves the purpose of threatening others. Male chameleons when want to mate, show lighter, multicolored patterns.  Female chameleons show black with orange strips or dark brown color when they are carrying eggs. Chameleons become darker to absorb the heat effectively and show lighter grey color to reflect the light. A sick chameleon appears pale due to lack of sufficient energy to change color.

Chameleon’s skin is transparent and below which there are three layers of chromatophores - the specialized cells containing coloring pigments. First layer has xanthophores(yellow pigments) and erythrophores(red pigments). Second layer contains iridophores or guanophores with guanine, exhibiting blue or white color. Third layer has melanophores, (melanin pigment), and is responsible for the intensity of color.

Changing color phenomenon explained...

Coloring pigments are stored in vesicles inside chromatophores. Signals from nervous system or the chemical release in the blood stream initiates release of pigments from chromatophores. Vesicles containing pigments will release the pigment that alters the skin color of chameleon.  When these pigments distribute equally in the chromatophore, intensity of the color will be higher. But if the pigments are located at centre of chromatophores cells, then it looks almost transparent. So these specialized cells will direct sun light to specific pigments which in turn reflected back in different colors.

Only chameleons? We humans too!!!

Chameleons are not the only species to show this color changing phenomena. Cuttlefish is one more example for changing skin color. And we, human beings also change color though not prominently as chameleons. We turn red during anger or embarrassment and pale during shock and ill health.

Largest Carnivores

Largest Carnivores is the southern elephant seal -Mirounga leonina
Weighing around 3000 to 4000 kgs (males) with a length around 7 metres

The walrus

The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies:the Atlantic Walrus (O. rosmarus rosmarus) found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Walrus (O. rosmarus divergens) found in the Pacific Ocean, and O. rosmarus laptevi, found in the Laptev Sea.

The walrus is immediately recognized by its prominent tusks, whiskers and great bulk. Adult Pacific males can weigh up to 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg) and, among pinnipeds, are exceeded in size only by the two species of elephant seals. It resides primarily in shallow oceanic shelf habitat, spending a significant proportion of its life on sea ice in pursuit of its preferred diet of benthic bivalve mollusks. It is a relatively long-lived, social animal and is considered a keystone species in Arctic marine ecosystems.

The walrus has played a prominent role in the cultures of many indigenous Arctic peoples, who have hunted the walrus for its meat, fat, skin, tusks and bone. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the walrus was the object of heavy commercial exploitation for blubber and ivory and its numbers declined rapidly. Its global population has since rebounded, though the Atlantic and Laptev populations remain fragmented and at historically depressed levels.

Koala