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Chulanur - peacock sanctuary in Kerala and India.

Chulanur is a small village in Palakkad district of Kerala state, south India.Chulanur is famous for peacocks and is declared as the peacock sanctuary, only peacock sanctuary perhaps in entire India.If you absolutely want to immerse yourself in the in numerous adventurous activities, visit to Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary in Kerala absolutely a blissful place to be. It is one of the most of advantaged wildlife affluence in Kerala. The Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary is amid 30 km from Palakkad town. Sprawling over 500 hectares of blubbery forest, this altar is a home to about 200 peacocks. There are also Many other Such Birds Location in Kerala for Your Trip. The Major One is Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary Trip. Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary in Kerala offers apartment to assorted and affluent breed of birds. There are over 100 assorted breed of avifauna in the Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary. Avid bird watchers and attributes lovers can analyze the forested regions of the sanctuary. If you are on your Choolanur Peacock altar bout appropriate after the monsoon season, you can atom abundant butterflies. On your Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary tour, don’t overlook to yield camera forth with your to yield aback home a bagful of candied memories of Kerala wildlife altar tours. The Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary is advanced over 485 hectares of forests land from the villages of Peringottukurissi, Chulannur and Thenur in Palakkad district and the Thiruvilwamala-1 viallge in Thrissur district. This sanctuary is amid within the Alathur Forests Range. This sanctuary is home to numerous other birds as well as an herbal garden. Kunchan Smritivanam is a 200 hectare forests area called afterwards the acclaimed artist Kunjan Nambiyar. The 200-hectare of forested area in the sanctuary has been called as Kunchan Samritivanam after Kunchan Nambiar, the abundant Malayalam poet. His birthplace, Killikkurissimangalam, is few km abroad from Choolanur.

Which is a female dromedary camel, credited with being the world's first cloned camel ?

Injaz ( born April 8, 2009) is a female dromedary camel, credited with being the world's first cloned camel. Dr. Nisar Ahmad Wani, a reproductive biologist and head of the research team at the Camel Reproduction Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, announced on April 14, 2009, that the cloned camel was born after an "uncomplicated" gestation of 378 days. The cloning project had the personal endorsement and financial support of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, and the emir of Dubai.Prior to this, there had been several unsuccessful attempts in the Emirate to clone a camel.

Injaz was created from ovarian cells of an adult camel slaughtered for its meat in 2005.The cells were grown in tissue culture and then frozen in liquid nitrogen. Afterwards, one of the cells was injected into a nucleus-removed oocyte of the surrogate camel, which were fused with an electric current and chemically induced to initiate cell division. The resulting embryo was cultured for a week and implanted back into the surrogate camel's uterus. Twenty days later, its pregnancy was confirmed using ultrasound and monitored throughout the gestation period. After Injaz's birth, its DNA was tested at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Laboratory in Dubai and confirmed to be identical copies of the DNA of the original ovarian cells, proving that Injaz is a clone of the original camel.

Camel racing is a lucrative industry in the UAE. Dr. Ulrich Wernery and Dr. Lulu Skidmore, commented that the camel cloning "gives a means of preserving the valuable genetics of our elite racing and milk-producing camels in the future."

WHICH IS THE FIRST CLONED CAT IN THE WORLD ?

CC, for "CopyCat" or "Carbon Copy" (born December 22, 2001), is a brown tabby and white domestic shorthair and the first cloned pet. CC's surrogate mother was a tabby, but her genetic donor, Rainbow, was a calico domestic shorthair. The difference in hair coloration between CC and Rainbow is due to epigenetic re-programming, which normally occurs in a fertilised embryo before implantation.

In September 2006, CC gave birth to four kittens. The litter included two males named Tim and Zip and one female named Tess who were fathered naturally. The remaining kitten, a female, was stillborn. This incident was the first time a cloned pet gave birth. CC appears to be free of the cloning-related health problems that have arisen in some other animal clones. "CC has always been a perfectly normal cat and her kittens are just that way, too," says Kraemer. "We’ve been monitoring their health and all of them are fine, just like CC has been for the past five years."

WHAT IS 'FOOD ENERGY' ?

Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food and molecular oxygen through the process of cellular respiration. (Cellular respiration involves either the process of joining oxygen from air with the molecules of food (aerobic respiration) or the process of reorganizing the atoms within the molecules (anaerobic respiration).)

Humans and other animals need a minimum intake of food energy to sustain their metabolism and to drive their muscles. Foods are composed chiefly of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water represent virtually all the weight of food, with vitamins and minerals making up only a small percentage of the weight. (Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins comprise ninety percent of the dry weight of foods.) Organisms derive food energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins as well as from organic acids, polyols, and ethanol present in the diet.Some diet components that provide little or no food energy, such as water, minerals, vitamins, cholesterol, and fibre, may still be necessary to health and survival for other reasons. Water, minerals, vitamins, and cholesterol are not broken down (they are used by the body in the form in which they are absorbed) and so cannot be used for energy. Fiber, a type of carbohydrate, cannot be completely digested by the human body. Ruminants can extract food energy from the respiration of cellulose because of bacteria in their rumens.

Using the International System of Units, researchers measure energy in joules (J) or in its multiples; the kilojoule (kJ) is most often used for food-related quantities. An older metric system unit of energy, still widely used in food-related contexts, is the calorie; more precisely, the "food calorie", "large calorie" or kilocalorie (kcal or Cal), equal to 4.184 kilojoules. (Contrast the "small calorie" (cal), equal to 1/1000 of a food calorie, that is often used in chemistry and in physics.) Within the European Union, both the kilocalorie ("kcal") and kilojoule ("kJ") appear on nutrition labels. In many countries, only one of the units is displayed; in the US and Canada labels spell out the unit as "calorie" or as "Calorie".

Fats and ethanol have the greatest amount of food energy per mass, 37 and 29 kJ/g (8.8 and 6.9 kcal/g), respectively. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 17 kJ/g (4.1 kcal/g). The differing energy density of foods (fat, alcohols, carbohydrates and proteins) lies mainly in their varying proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms: For food of elemental composition CcHhOoNn, the heat of combustion underlying the food energy is 100 kcal/g (c + 0.3 h – 0.5 o)/(12 c + h + 16 o +14 n) to a good approximation (±3%). Carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber, or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols (including sugar alcohols) and organic acids contribute 10 kJ/g (2.4 kcal/g) and 13 kJ/g (3.1 kcal/g) respectively.The amount of water, fat, and fiber in foods determines those foods' energy density.

Theoretically, one could measure food energy in different ways, using (say) the Gibbs free energy of combustion, or the amount of ATP generated by metabolizing the food. However, the convention is to use the heat of the oxidation reaction, with the water substance produced being in the liquid phase. Conventional food energy is based on heats of combustion in a bomb calorimeter and corrections that take into consideration the efficiency of digestion and absorption and the production of urea and other substances in the urine. The American chemist Wilbur Atwater worked these corrections out in the late 19th century. 

Each food item has a specific metabolizable energy intake (MEI). This value can be approximated by multiplying the total amount of energy associated with a food item by 85%, which is the typical amount of energy actually obtained by a human after respiration has been completed.In animal nutrition, where energy is a critical element of the economics of meat production, researchers may determine a specific metabolizable energy for each component (protein, fat, etc.) of each ingredient of the feed.

Many governments require food manufacturers to label the energy content of their products, to help consumers control their energy intake. In the European Union, manufacturers of packaged food must label the nutritional energy of their products in both kilocalories and kilojoules, when required. In the United States, the equivalent mandatory labels display only "Calories", often as a substitute for the name of the quantity being measured, food energy; an additional kilojoules figure is optional and is rarely used. The energy available from the respiration of food is usually given on labels for 100 g, for a typical serving size (according to the manufacturer), and/or for the entire pack contents.

The amount of food energy associated with a particular food could be measured by completely burning the dried food in a bomb calorimeter, a method known as direct calorimetry. However, the values given on food labels are not determined in this way. The reason for this is that direct calorimetry also burns the dietary fiber, and so does not allow for fecal losses; thus direct calorimetry would give systematic overestimates of the amount of fuel that actually enters the blood through digestion. What are used instead are standardized chemical tests or an analysis of the recipe using reference tables for common ingredients[9] to estimate the product's digestible constituents (protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc.). These results are then converted into an equivalent energy value based on the following standardized table of energy densities. However "energy density" is a misleading term for it once again assumes that energy is IN the particular food, whereas it simply means that "high density" food needs more oxygen during respiration, leading to greater transfer of energy.

Is it Snake or Rat ?

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What is a pseudo medicine primarily focused on measurements of the human skull ?

Phrenology  is a pseudo medicine primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules. Although both of those ideas have a basis in reality, phrenology extrapolated beyond empirical knowledge in a way that departed from science. Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in 1796,the discipline was very popular in the 19th century, especially from about 1810 until 1840. The principal British centre for phrenology was Edinburgh, where the Edinburgh Phrenological Society was established in 1820.

Although now regarded as an obsolete amalgamation of primitive neuroanatomy with moral philosophy, phrenological thinking was influential in 19th-century psychiatry. Gall's assumption that character, thoughts, and emotions are located in specific parts of the brain is considered an important historical advance toward neuropsychology.

Explain about The scale of a map.

The scale of a map is the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. This simple concept is complicated by the curvature of the Earth's surface, which forces scale to vary across a map. Because of this variation, the concept of scale becomes meaningful in two distinct ways. The first way is the ratio of the size of the generating globe to the size of the Earth. The generating globe is a conceptual model to which the Earth is shrunk and from which the map is projected.

The ratio of the Earth's size to the generating globe's size is called the nominal scale (= principal scale = representative fraction). Many maps state the nominal scale and may even display a bar scale (sometimes merely called a 'scale') to represent it. The second distinct concept of scale applies to the variation in scale across a map. It is the ratio of the mapped point's scale to the nominal scale. In this case 'scale' means the scale factor (= point scale = particular scale).

If the region of the map is small enough to ignore Earth's curvature—a town plan, for example—then a single value can be used as the scale without causing measurement errors. In maps covering larger areas, or the whole Earth, the map's scale may be less useful or even useless in measuring distances. The map projection becomes critical in understanding how scale varies throughout the map.When scale varies noticeably, it can be accounted for as the scale factor. Tissot's indicatrix is often used to illustrate the variation of point scale across a map.

Representation of scale

Map scales may be expressed in words (a lexical scale), as a ratio, or as a fraction. Examples are:

'one centimetre to one hundred metres'    or    1:10,000   or    1/10,000

'one inch to one mile'    or    1:63,360    or    1/63,360

'one centimetre to one thousand kilometres'   or   1:100,000,000    or    1/100,000,000.  (The ratio would usually be abbreviated to 1:100M

Bar scale vs. lexical scale

In addition to the above many maps carry one or more (graphical) bar scales. For example, some modern British maps have three bar scales, one each for kilometres, miles and nautical miles.

A lexical scale on a recently published map, in a language known to the user, may be easier for a non-mathematician to visualise than a ratio: if the scale is an inch to two miles and he can see that two villages are about two inches apart on the map then it is easy to work out that they are about four miles apart on the ground.

On the other hand, a lexical scale may cause problems if it expressed in a language that the user does not understand or in obsolete or ill-defined units. On the other hand, ratios and fractions may be more acceptable to the numerate user since they are immediately accessible in any language. For example, a scale of one inch to a furlong (1:7920) will be understood by many older people in countries where Imperial units used to be taught in schools. But a scale of one pouce to one league may be about 1:144,000 but it depends on the cartographer's choice of the many possible definitions for a league, and only a minority of modern users will be familiar with the units used.

Large scale, medium scale, small scale

A map is classified as small scale or large scale or sometimes medium scale. Small scale refers to world maps or maps of large regions such as continents or large nations. In other words, they show large areas of land on a small space. They are called small scale because the representative fraction is relatively small.

Large scale maps show smaller areas in more detail, such as county maps or town plans might. Such maps are called large scale because the representative fraction is relatively large. For instance a town plan, which is a large scale map, might be on a scale of 1:10,000, whereas the world map, which is a small scale map, might be on a scale of 1:100,000,000.

Scale variation

Mapping large areas causes noticeable distortions due to flattening the significantly curved surface of the earth. How distortion gets distributed depends on the map projection. Scale varies across the map, and the stated map scale will only be an approximation. This is discussed in detail below.

Large-scale maps with curvature neglected

The region over which the earth can be regarded as flat depends on the accuracy of the survey measurements. If measured only to the nearest metre, then curvature of the earth is undetectable over a meridian distance of about 100 kilometres (62 mi) and over an east-west line of about 80 km (at a latitude of 45 degrees). If surveyed to the nearest 1 millimetre (0.039 in), then curvature is undetectable over a meridian distance of about 10 km and over an east-west line of about 8 km.[3] Thus a plan of New York City accurate to one metre or a building site plan accurate to one millimetre would both satisfy the above conditions for the neglect of curvature. They can be treated by plane surveying and mapped by scale drawings in which any two points at the same distance on the drawing are at the same distance on the ground. True ground distances are calculated by measuring the distance on the map and then multiplying by the inverse of the scale fraction or, equivalently, simply using dividers to transfer the separation between the points on the map to a bar scale on the map.

Fish pond artists

Who is known as the "father of microbiology"?

Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur ( December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases, and his discoveries have saved countless lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax. His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and is popularly known as the "father of microbiology".

Pasteur was responsible for disproving the doctrine of spontaneous generation. He performed experiments that showed that without contamination, microorganisms could not develop. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, he demonstrated that in sterilized and sealed flasks nothing ever developed, and in sterilized but open flasks microorganisms could grow. This experiment won him the Alhumbert Prize of the academy.

Although Pasteur was not the first to propose the germ theory, he developed it and conducted experiments that clearly indicated its correctness and managed to convince most of Europe that it was true. (He was preceded by Girolamo Fracastoro, Agostino Bassi and others, with the significant experimental demonstration by Francesco Redi in the 17th century.) Today, he is often regarded as (one of the) fathers of germ theory.

Pasteur also made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what we now call optical isomers. His work led the way to our current understanding of a fundamental principal in the structure of organic compounds.

He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, till his death, and his body lies beneath the institute in a vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics.

Although Pasteur made groundbreaking experiments, his reputation became associated with various controversies. Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals.

Who is known as "the father of immunology" ?

Edward Jenner, was an English physician and scientist who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine.He is often called "the father of immunology", and his work is said to have "saved more lives than the work of any other human". A member of the Royal Society, in the field of zoology he was the first person to describe the brood parasitism of the cuckoo. In 2002, Jenner was named in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons.

Hazaribagh National Park

Hazaribagh National Park, located 19 km (12 mi) from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, India and about 135 km (84 mi) from Ranchi is also a sanctuary adorned with scenic beauties. The park has also the same features as that of Betla National Park to some extent. The park has tigers, panthers, sambhars, spotted deer, bisons and a number of mammalian faunas. There are some towers which the tourists use to behold the beasts. A canteen is also there to cater. The park is approachable by all weather metalled road. The Cheetal, Kakar, Nilgai, Sambar and Wild Boar are among the most easily and often spotted animals particularly near the waterholes at the time of the dusk. The population of the tigers is very less. According to 1991 Census, there were 14 tigers in the park. The tigers are often considered extremely difficult to sight.

A 111-kilometre (69 mi) long stretch of the road in the sanctuary takes the tourists to the remotest corners and masonry towers of the park. The road, strategically laid down, offers excellent opportunities for the view of the wild animals. The tribal population also lives around the sanctuary. The ark has many watchtowers that act as the perfect hideouts to see the wildlife in its natural surroundings. Hazaribagh town is connected by road to Ranchi 91 km (57 mi), [Dhanbad] 128 km (80 mi), Gaya 130 km (81 mi), Patna 235 km (146 mi), Daltongunj 198 km (123 mi), and Calcutta (via Asansol-Govindapur-Barhi) 434 km (270 mi). Regular bus services connect the town with Koderma, Hazaribagh Road railway station, Patna, Gaya, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Daltongunj and other nearby places.

Unmetered Taxis, Auto Rickshaws, Cycle Rickshaws and Taxis are available for the park from the Hazaribagh town. The approximate charge for a taxi is Rs. 160 for a two-way journey. Sighting of wild boar, sambar, nilgai, cheetal, and kakar is assured especially near the waterholes at dusk. Tigers being less in number-14 according to the 1991 census-are difficult to sight. The sanctuary stretches over 186 square km of undulating country and steep hills with dense tropical forests and grass meadows.

Know about -The Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper located on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in the Turtle Bay neighborhood. At 1,046 feet (319 m),the structure was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is still the tallest brick building in the world, albeit with an internal steel skeleton. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 1,200-foot (365.8 m) Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position. In addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height. Both buildings were then pushed into 4th position, when the under construction One World Trade Center surpassed their height.

The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.

The Chrysler Building was designed by architect William Van Alen for a project of Walter P. Chrysler.When the ground breaking occurred on September 19, 1928, there was an intense competition in New York City to build the world's tallest skyscraper. Despite a frantic pace (the building was built at an average rate of four floors per week), no workers died during the construction of this skyscraper.

Van Alen's original design for the skyscraper called for a decorative jewel-like glass crown. It also featured a base in which the showroom windows were tripled in height and topped by 12 stories with glass-wrapped corners, creating an impression that the tower appeared physically and visually light as if floating in mid-air.The height of the skyscraper was also originally designed to be 246 meters (807 ft). However, the design proved to be too advanced and costly for building contractor William H. Reynolds, who disapproved of Van Alen's original plan.The design and lease were then sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who worked with Van Alen and redesigned the skyscraper for additional stories; it was eventually revised to be 282 m (925 ft) tall. As Walter Chrysler was the chairman of the Chrysler Corporation and intended to make the building into Chrysler's headquarters, various architectural details and especially the building's gargoyles were modeled after Chrysler automobile products like the hood ornaments of the Plymouth; they exemplify the machine age in the 1920s (see below).

Construction commenced on September 19, 1928. In total, 391,881 rivets were used and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid, to create the non-loadbearing walls of the skyscraper.Contractors, builders and engineers were joined by other building-services experts to coordinate construction.

Prior to its completion, the building stood about even with a rival project at 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building.(This distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower.) In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 38-meter (125 ft) long spire and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in four different sections. On October 23, 1929, the bottom section of the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first one in sequential order in just 90 minutes.

Upon completion on May 27, 1930, the added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet (305 m). Van Alen's satisfaction in these accomplishments was likely muted by Walter Chrysler's later refusal to pay the balance of his architectural fee.Less than a year after it opened to the public on May 27, 1930, the Chrysler Building was surpassed in height by the Empire State Building, but the Chrysler Building is still the world's tallest steel-supported brick building.As of November 2, 2011, the building's height was surpassed by the under construction One World Trade Center at the height of 1,106 feet.

The east building wall of the base out of which the tower rises runs at a slant to the Manhattan street grid, following a property line that predated the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. The land on which the Chrysler Building stands was donated to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1902. The land was originally leased to William H. Reynolds, but, when he was unable to raise money for the project, the building and the development rights to the land were acquired by Walter P. Chrysler in 1928.Contrary to popular belief, the Chrysler Corporation was never involved in the construction or ownership of the Chrysler Building, although it was built and designed for the corporation and served as its headquarters until the mid-1950s. It was a project of Walter P. Chrysler for his children.

The ownership of the building has changed several times. The Chrysler family sold the building in 1953 to William Zeckendorf, and in 1957 it was purchased by Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo, and owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. The lobby was refurbished and the facade renovated in 1978–1979.The building was bought by Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. The spire underwent a restoration that was completed in 1995. In 1998, Tishman Speyer Properties and the Travelers Insurance Group bought the Chrysler Building and the adjoining Kent Building in 1997 for about $220 million (equal to $320 million in 2015) from a consortium of banks and the estate of Jack Kent Cooke. Tishman Speyer Properties had negotiated a 150-year lease on the land from Cooper Union and the college continues to own both the land under the Chrysler Building and the building itself. Cooper Union's name is on the deed.

In 2001, a 75% stake in the building management contract was sold, for US$300 million (equal to $400 million in 2015), to TMW, the German arm of an Atlanta-based investment fund. On June 11, 2008 it was reported that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was in negotiations to buy TMW's 75% economic interest, and a 15% interest from Tishman Speyer Properties in the building, and a share of the Trylons retail structure next door for US$800 million. On July 9, 2008 it was announced that the transaction had been completed, and that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was now the 90% owner of the building.

The Arabian ostrich or Syrian ostrich

The Arabian ostrich or Syrian ostrich (Struthio camelus syriacus) is an extinct subspecies of the ostrich which lived on the Arabian Peninsula and in the Near East until the mid-20th century.Its range seems to have been continuous in prehistoric times, but with the drying-up of the Arabian Peninsula, it disappeared from the inhospitable areas of the Arabian Desert, such as the Rub'al-Khali. In historic times, the bird seems to have occurred in two discrete relict populations: a smaller one in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula (8.8 feet tall) and a larger one in the area where today the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Syria meet (10 feet tall).Towards the Sinai Peninsula, it probably intergraded with the North African subspecies camelus in earlier times. It looked exactly like that form; possibly, the females were of a slightly lighter coloration. The only certain way to distinguish camelus and syriacus was the smaller size of the latter, with only marginal overlap: the tarsus was 390–465 mm long in syriacus versus 450–530 mm in camelus.

The Arabian ostrich has long had a significant place in the culture of the region. An adult with 11 offspring is featured on the famous prehistoric "Graffiti Rock I" near Riyadh. In Mesopotamia, it was used as a sacrificial animal and featured in artwork, painted on cups and other objects made from ostrich eggs, traded as far as Etruria during the Neo-Assyrian period. In Tang China, an ostrich was a welcome exotic gift fit for an emperor: ostriches figure in the decoration of the Qianling Mausoleum, completed and closed in 706. The Jewish view of this bird was less favorable. The fact that the female ostrich may leave the nest unattended (because the eggs are too thick-shelled to be easily broken open by predators) is the reason why the bird is contrasted with the parental instinct of the stork in the Book of Job (Job 39:13-18.) This is also the reason why the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations 4:3) refers to the female ostrich as heartless.The Arabian ostrich is possibly among the birds forbidden to Jews as unclean under the kashrut in Leviticus (Leviticus 11:16), though the Israelites would just as likely have known the birds from the North African subspecies which was extant in the Nile Valley of Egypt at that time.

In Roman times, there was a demand for ostriches to use in venatio games or cooking. These birds usually would have come from the North African subspecies rather than from the Arabian one, as the latter was only found in the unruly frontier regions of the Roman Empire, although it is to be noted that much later, the plumes of the Arabian ostrich were considered superior material for millinery compared to those of the North African subspecies.

After the rise of Islam, the Arabian ostrich came to represent wealth and elegance; ostrich hunting became a popular pastime for the rich and noble (if slaughtered properly, ostrich meat is halaal to Muslims) and eggs, feathers and leather were extensively used in handicraft. Arabian ostrich products, as well as live birds, were exported as far as China. A Tang Dynasty source states that the "camel bird" inhabiting Arabia is

"four chi and more in height, its feet resembling those of a camel; its neck is very strong, and men are able to ride on its back...".

The Arabian ostrich was also discussed in Mesopotamian scholarly writings from the time of the Baghdad Caliphate, such as Zakariya al-Qazwini's cosmography 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat, the Kitab al-Hayawan ("Book of Animals") of Al-Jahiz, or Ibn al-Manzur's dictionary Lisan al-Arab.

The Arabian ostrich is mentioned by T.E. Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom when one Arabian tribe brings eggs to Faisal I of Iraq as a peace offering. It is mentioned that the ostrich is plentiful in that tribe's territory.

The widespread introduction of firearms and, later, motor vehicles marked the start of the decline towards extinction of this subspecies. Earlier hunting methods with bow, arrows and dogs had allowed most animals of a group to escape, but rifles enabled poaching and excessive game hunting to diminish the species into extinction. By the early 20th century, the Arabian ostrich had become rare. Its main stronghold was the northern Nefud northwards to the Syrian Desert, between latitudes 34°N and 25°N and longitude 38°E eastwards to the Euphrates Valley, and it was most plentiful in Al Jawf Province, where it associated with herds of the Saudi gazelle and the Arabian oryx, both also extinct or very rare, respectively, nowadays. Some of the last sightings include an individual east of the Tall al-Rasatin at the Jordanian-Iraqi border in 1928, a bird shot and eaten by pipeline workers in the area of Jubail in the early 1940s (some sources specifically state 1941), two apocryphal records of birds suffering the same fate in 1948, and a dying individual found in the upper Wadi el-Hasa north of Petra in 1966. Remains of old eggs are still found in the former range of the southern subpopulation, which disappeared between the 1900s and the 1920s, probably mainly because of increasing aridity. Some eggshell fragments were collected by St. John Philby from Mahadir Summan, Arabia, around 1931.

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Embrithopoda ("heavy-footed")- order of extinct mammals

Embrithopoda ("heavy-footed") is an order of extinct mammals known from Asia, Africa and eastern Europe. Most of the embrithopod genera are known exclusively from jaws and teeth dated from the late Paleocene to the late Eocene, but the order is best known from its terminal member, the elephantine Arsinoitherium.

While embrithopods bore a superficial resemblance to rhinoceroses, their horns had bony cores covered in keratinized skin and were not made of hair. Not all embrithopods possessed horns, either. Despite their appearance, they were related to elephants, not perissodactyls.

The Embrithopoda are tethytheres and are also believed to be part of the clade Afrotheria.

Fossils of embrithopods, such as Arsinoitherium, have been found in Egypt, Mongolia, Turkey, Romania, Namibia and Tunisia. Until the 1970s, only Arsinoitherium itself was known, appearing isolated in the fossil record.

McKenna & Manning 1977 and McKenna & Bell 1997 considered Phenacolophus from Mongolia a primitive embrithopod, but, though similarities certainly exist, this attribution has been challenged by several other authors.

Order Embrithopoda Andrews 1906 sensu Prothero & Schoch 1989 -Barypoda Andrews 1904

Family †Arsinoitheriidae Andrews 1904

Genus Namatherium blackcrowense Pickford et al., 2008

Genus †Arsinoitherium Beadnell 1902

†A. zitteli Beadnell 1902

†A. andrewsii Lankester 1903

†A. giganteus Sanders, Kappelman & Rasmussen 2004

Family †Palaeoamasiidae Şen & Heintz 1979

Genus †Hypsamasia seni Maas, Thewissen & Kappelman 1998

Genus †Palaeoamasia kansui Ozansoy 1966

Genus †Crivadiatherium Radulesco, Iliesco & Iliesco 1976

†C. iliescui Radulesco & Sudre 1985

†C. mackennai Radulesco, Iliesco & Iliesco 1976

WHAT IS THE TOTAL AREA IF ARABIAN SEA ?

The Arabian Sea is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by northeastern Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula, and on the east by India. Historically the sea has been known by other names including the Erythraean Sea and the Persian Sea. Its total area is 3,862,000 km2 (1,491,000 sq mi) and its maximum depth is 4,652 metres (15,262 ft). The Gulf of Aden is in the southwest, connecting the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Oman is in the northwest, connecting it to the Persian Gulf.

The Arabian Sea has been crossed by important marine trade routes since the third or second millennium BCE. Major seaports include Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, the Port of Karachi and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan and the Port of Salalah in Oman. Other important ports include in India, Kandla Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Kochi, Mumbai Port, and Mormugao in Goa. The largest islands in the Arabian Sea include Socotra (Yemen), Masirah Island (Oman), Astola Island (Pakistan) and Andrott (India).

Which is the first dinosaurs to be named ?

Megalosaurus.

Megalosauridae was a family of relatively primitive tetanuran theropod dinosaurs, order Saurischia. They were small-to-large carnivores with sharp teeth and three claws on each hand. Some members of this group were Megalosaurus, Eustreptospondylus, Streptospondylus and Torvosaurus. Megalosaurids first appeared in the mid Jurassic and seemed to have been displaced and replaced by other theropods by the end of that period; their fossils are known from Europe, North America, South America and Africa. They are considered by most researchers (Sereno 2005, Olshevsky 1995, Holtz 2004, etc.) to be close relatives of the spinosaurs.

Classification
Like Megalosaurus itself, the family Megalosauridae, coined by Huxley in 1869, had traditionally been used as a 'wastebasket' group, which included a wide variety of unrelated species (such as Dryptosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Indosaurus, and even Velociraptor). Because of this traditionally polyphyletic use, some scientists, such as Paul Sereno, reject the family name Megalosauridae in favor of Torvosauridae (coined by Jensen in 1985), despite the fact that Megalosauridae has priority under the ICZN rules governing family-level names in zoology.While a 2008 review of Megalosaurus by Benson and colleagues also found that the relationships of Megalosaurus to other theropods could not be determined, and that the assignment of basal spinosauroids to the family Megalosauridae should be discontinued, further work by Benson reversed this position, finding a well-supported Megalosauridae in phylogenetic analyses.

Phylogeny
The clade Megalosauridae was first given a phylogenetic definition by Allain in 2002. According to Allain's definition, a megalosaurid is any dinosaur that shares a common ancestor with Poekilopleuron valesdunensis (since reclassified as Dubreuillosaurus), Torvosaurus, and Afrovenator. In 2004, Holtz and colleagues proposed a new definition: all dinosaurs more closely related to Megalosaurus than to Spinosaurus, Allosaurus, or modern birds (represented by Passer domesticus). In 2005, Sereno rejected the use of Megalosauridae as a clade altogether, due to the fragmentary nature of Megalosaurus, and used the name Torvosauridae instead, using the same definition as Holtz but replacing Megalosaurus with Torvosaurus.

Gavi village in Kerala - India

Gavi is a village in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is located 28 km southwest of Vandiperiyar, a town in Idukki on N.H 220, the highway connecting Kollam and Madurai.

Gavi is 14 km south west of Vandiperiyar, 28 km from Kumily, near Thekkady. Gavi is inside the Ranni reserve forest. Gavi is a part of Seethathode Panchayath in Ranni Taluk. Gavi is part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, and the route can be covered by car from Vandiperiyar. The entrance fee is 25 rupees per person and 50 rupees per vehicle. Cameras are 25 rupees and video cameras are charged 100 rupees. Both day and night stays are available. Forest tent camping is available from November through March.[citation needed]. It has been said that most enjoyable route to Gavi is the way from Pathanamthitta. The rough journey to Gavi may better be made on a sturdy vehicle like a jeep which are available on hire either from Vandiperiyar or from Kumily. Entry passes must be obtained from the Forest Check Post en route at Vallakkadavu. Advance booking with the Kerala Forest Development Corporation Ltd. is highly appreciable wherein such formalities will be taken care of by the company itself.

Botanists have said that "gopher trees" can be seen in Gavi, Kerala. Gavi's forest area, there are two gopher trees and they are believed to be the only two gopher trees in India. The tree, which is identified as gopher, is known as nirampalli. Gopher wood or gopherwood is a term used once in the Bible. There is no consensus about what modern species is meant by "gopher wood".

The tree standing at Gavi forest is of robust stem and lush foliage. According to state Forest Department officials, though the fully-grown gopher in Gavi is the only such tree sighted in the periphery of the jungle, possibly there could be more such trees still surviving in the inner forests of Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Kerala.

Transport

Air
Trivandrum [TRV] (185 km) Cochin [COK] (190 km)and Madurai [IXM] (186 km) are the nearest airports.

Rail
The nearest railway stations is Chengannur Railway Station (115 km through keekozhoor- mannamaruthi-koottickal-azhutha-vandiperiyar-gavi) and Thiruvalla (120 km) and Theni(99 km) under BG conversion

Road
Gavi is situated around 180km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Popular route is through the Main Central Road(MC Road) till Valakom, and then to Pathanapuram, Konni, Seethathode, Angamoozhy to Gavi.

Other routes from Gavi are as below: - Chittar - Seethathodu - Angamoozhy - Moozhiyar - Kakki Reservoir - Anathode Dam - Pamba Reservoir - Kochu Pamba - Gavi - Pachakanam - Periyar National Park - Kozhikanam - Vandiperiyar

There is a demand for another road connecting Gavi with Pathanamthitta, Vadasserikara,Perunad, Laha Plappally, (near Sabarimala), Angamoozhy, Moozhiyar,Kochu Pamba - Gavi.

Regular buses are available to Vandiperiyar from Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram. A small bus rattles even up to Gavi from Vandiperiyar. KSRTC service is available both from Kumaly and Pathanamthitta (Pathanamthitta-Perunad-Muzhiyar-Kakki-Gavi-Kumily bus route from chengannur-pathanamthitta-Perunad-Muzhiyar-Kakki-Gavi) (direct buses not available) KSRTC is operating an Ordinary Bus from Pathanamthitta to Kumali via Gavi and vice versa. Click here for more details.

Useful words

Good morning

Read about the river frog.

The river frog (Rana heckscheri) is a species of aquatic frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to the southeastern United States. Its natural habitats are temperate rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy
The correct current name of this species is Rana (Aquarana) heckscheri. Aquarana is a subgenus and is optional in the species name (Hillis, 2007).

The river frog is a large species with adults commonly between 7 and 13 cm (3 and 5 in) in length. The skin is rough and wrinkled but there are no dorso-lateral ridges as there are in the green frog (Rana clamitans). The back is some shade of dark green or blackish-green and the belly is dark grey, or blackish with pale wavy lines and specks. A distinctive characteristic is white spots on the lips, particularly on the lower lip, and this helps to distinguish this species from bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and pig frogs (Rana grylio). Another distinguishing feature is a pale band outlining the groin. Males have a yellowish throat and their tympani (eardrums) are larger than their eyes while those of females are smaller.

Distribution and habitat

The river frog is endemic to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the southeastern United States. Its range extends southwards from the southern part of North Carolina to southeastern Mississippi and northern Florida. Its typical habitat is marshes and other wet locations with emergent vegetation near streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.

Biology
Adult river frogs have a home range of about 16 square metres (170 sq ft). They are largely nocturnal and feed on insects and other invertebrates, as well as small vertebrates, including frogs. They spend much of their time in water and are relatively bold. During hot weather they are normally found sitting in moist or wet places, presumably to avoid desiccation. When the temperature falls below about 17 °C (63 °F) they are no longer to be seen in their normal habitat and are likely to be seeking refuge from the cold under water.
Breeding takes place between April and August with males calling from the edge of ponds and swamps from April to July. The call has been described as "a deep, low-pitched, rolling snore".[2] The eggs are laid in a floating layer among emergent vegetation, a clutch numbering several thousand eggs which hatch after about three days. The tadpoles are at first a dark color but become much paler over time with a dark edge to the tail fin. They congregate in the shallows in the daytime, sometimes in dense swarms, but move into deep water at night. They feed on both animal and vegetable matter. They remain as tadpoles for a long period, overwintering once or twice, and reaching a snout-to-vent length of 97 millimetres (3.8 in) or more. After metamorphosis, the newly-emerged juveniles are 30 to 52 millimetres (1.2 to 2.0 in) long and move away from the margins of the water. The large number of juveniles compared to the relatively small number of adults indicates a high mortality rate for newly emerged young. Predators that feed on tadpoles and juveniles are thought to include the banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata), other water snakes (Nerodia sp.), the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and the grackle (Quiscalus sp.). However the skin may contain some noxious substances or malodorous secretions as some snakes, including the indigo snake (Drymarchon), have been observed gagging and retching after eating a river frog. Even after the frog has been regurgitated, the snake continued to wipe its mouth on the ground.

Snake attack

Good morning friends

Just read about The Cardiac cycle.

The cardiac cycle refers to a complete heartbeat from its generation to the beginning of the next beat, and so includes the diastole, the systole, and the intervening pause. The frequency of the cardiac cycle is described by the heart rate, which is typically expressed as beats per minute. Each beat of the heart involves five major stages. The first two stages, often considered together as the "ventricular filling" stage, involve the movement of blood from the atria into the ventricles. The next three stages involve the movement of blood from the ventricles to the pulmonary artery (in the case of the right ventricle) and the aorta (in the case of the left ventricle).

The first stage, " diastole," is when the semilunar valves (the pulmonary valve and the aortic valve) close, the atrioventricular (AV) valves (the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve) open, and the whole heart is relaxed. The second stage, "atrial systole," is when the atrium contracts, and blood flows from atrium to the ventricle. The third stage, "isovolumic contraction" is when the ventricles begin to contract, the AV and semilunar valves close, and there is no change in volume. The fourth stage, "ventricular ejection," is when the ventricles are contracting and emptying, and the semilunar valves are open. During the fifth stage, "isovolumic relaxation time", pressure decreases, no blood enters the ventricles, the ventricles stop contracting and begin to relax, and the semilunar valves close due to the pressure of blood in the aorta.

Throughout the cardiac cycle, blood pressure increases and decreases. The cardiac cycle is coordinated by a series of electrical impulses that are produced by specialised pacemaker cells found within the sinoatrial node and the atrioventricular node. The cardiac muscle is composed of myocytes which initiate their own contraction without the help of external nerves (with the exception of modifying the heart rate due to metabolic demand). Under normal circumstances, each cycle takes 0.8 seconds.

Which gas is known as 'Marsh gas' ?

Marsh gas, swamp gas and bog gas are common names for biogas which forms in wetlands, whose principal component is methane, produced naturally within some geographical marshes, swamps, and bogs.

The surface of marshes, swamps and bogs is initially porous vegetation that rots to form a crust that prevents oxygen from reaching the organic material trapped below. That is the condition that allows anaerobic digestion and fermentation of any plant or animal material which incidentally also produces methane.

In some cases there is sufficient heat, fuel and oxygen to allow spontaneous combustion and underground fires to smolder for some considerable time as occurred at a natural reserve in Spain.Such fires can cause surface subsidence presenting an unpredictable physical hazard and as well as environmental changes or damage to the local environment and the ecosystem it supports.

which Fish family is known as flying fish.?

The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes of class Actinopterygii. Fish of this family are known as flying fish. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. Flying fish can make powerful, self-propelled leaps out of water into air, where their long, wing-like fins enable gliding flight for considerable distances above the water's surface. This uncommon ability is a natural defense mechanism to evade predators.

The oldest known fossil of a flying or gliding fish, Potanichthys xingyiensis, dates back to the Middle Triassic, 235–242 million years ago. However, this fossil is not related to modern flying fish, which evolved independently about 66 million years ago.

Flying fish live in all of the oceans, particularly in tropical and warm subtropical waters. They are commonly found in the epipelagic zone. This area is the top layer of the ocean that extends 200 meters from the surface down. It is often known as the "sunlight zone" because it's where most of the visible light exists. Nearly all-primary production happens in this zone as there is enough light for photosynthesis to occur.Therefore, the vast majority of plants and animals inhabit this area and can vary from plankton to the sharks. Although the epipelagic zone is an exceptional area for variety in life, it too has its drawbacks. Due to the vast variety of organisms it holds, there is high number of prey and predation relationships. Small organisms such as the flying fish are targets for larger organisms. They especially have a hard time escaping predators and surviving until they can reproduce, resulting in them having a lower fitness. Along with relationship difficulties, abiotic factors also play a part. Harsh ocean currents make it extremely difficult for small fish to survive in this habitat. Research suggests that difficult environmental factors in the flying fish's habitat have led to the evolution of modified fins. As a result, flying fish have undergone natural selection in which species gain unique traits to better adapt to their environments. By becoming airborne, flying fish outsmart their predators and environment. This increase of speed and maneuverability is a direct advantage to flying fish, and has given them leverage when compared to other species in their environment.

Research has shown that the flying fish has undergone morphological changes throughout its history, the first of which is fully broadened neural arches. Neural arches act as insertion sites for muscles, connective tissues, and ligaments in a fish’s skeleton. Fully broadened neural arches act as more stable and sturdier sites for these connections, creating a strong link between the vertebral column and cranium. This ultimately allows a rigid and sturdy vertebral column (body) that is beneficial in flight. Having a rigid body during glided flight gives the flying fish aerodynamic advantages, increasing its speed and improving its aim.Furthermore, flying fish have developed vertebral columns and ossified caudal complexes. These features provide the majority of strength to the flying fish, allowing them to physically lift their body out of water and glide remarkable distances. These additions also reduce the flexibility of the flying fish, allowing them to perform powerful leaps without weakening midair.At the end of a glide, it folds its pectoral fins to re-enter the sea, or drops its tail into the water to push against the water to lift itself for another glide, possibly changing direction. The curved profile of the "wing" is comparable to the aerodynamic shape of a bird wing. The fish is able to increase its time in the air by flying straight into or at an angle to the direction of updrafts created by a combination of air and ocean currents

Genus Exocoetus has one pair of fins and a streamlined body to optimize for speed, while Cypselurus has a flattened body and two pairs of fins, which maximize its time in the air. From 1900 to the 1930s, flying fish were studied as possible models used to develop airplanes.Exocoetidae feed mainly on plankton. Predators include dolphins, tuna, marlin, birds, squids, and porpoises

Which fish can climb the tree ?

Anabas is a genus of climbing gouramies native to southern and eastern Asia. In the wild, Anabas species grow up to 30 cm long. They inhabit both brackish and fresh water. Anabas species possess a labyrinth organ, a structure in the fish's head which allows it to breathe atmospheric oxygen, so it can be out of water for an extended period of time (6–8 hr). They are carnivorous, living on a diet of water invertebrates and their larvae, and they guard their eggs. Species are found in South Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

which fish can make electric power ?

An eel is any fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes , which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and about 800 species. Most eels are predators. The term "eel" (originally referring to the European eel) is also used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels, but these are not members of the Anguilliformes order.

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 5 cm (2.0 in) in the one-jawed eel  to 4 m (13 ft) in the slender giant moray. Adults range in weight from 30 g (1.1 oz) to well over 25 kg (55 lb). They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal.Eels swim by generating body waves which travel the length of their bodies. They can swim backwards by reversing the direction of the wave.

Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal, thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels also live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Only members of the Anguilla regularly inhabit fresh water, but they, too, return to the sea to breed.

The heaviest true eel is the European conger. The maximum size of this species has been reported as reaching a length of 3 m (10 ft) and a weight of 110 kg (240 lb). Other eels are longer, but do not weigh as much, such as the slender giant moray which reaches 4 m (13 ft).

which fish is known as 'smiling fish'?

Dolphins are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the order Cetacea, excluding whales and porpoises, so to zoologists the grouping is paraphyletic. The dolphins comprise the extant families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the new world river dolphins), and Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins). There are 40 extant species of dolphins. Dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged about 40 million years ago.

Dolphins range in size from the 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) long and 50 kilograms (110 lb) Maui's dolphin to the 9.5 metres (31 ft) and 10 metric tons (11 short tons) killer whale. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the males are larger than females. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not quite as flexible as seals, some dolphins can travel at 55.5 kilometres per hour (34.5 mph). Dolphins use their conical shaped teeth to capture fast moving prey. They have well-developed hearing − their hearing, which is adapted for both air and water, is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin to keep warm in the cold water.

Although dolphins are widespread, most species prefer the warmer waters of the tropic zones, but some, like the right whale dolphin, prefer colder climates. Dolphins feed largely on fish and squid, but a few, like the killer whale, feed on large mammals, like seals. Male dolphins typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for a relatively long period of time. Dolphins produce a variety of vocalizations, usually in the form of clicks and whistles.

Dolphins are sometimes hunted in places like Japan, in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. Besides drive hunting, they also face threats from bycatch, habitat loss, and marine pollution. Dolphins have been depicted in various cultures worldwide. Dolphins occasionally feature in literature and film, as in the Warner Bros film Free Willy. Dolphins are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. The most common dolphins kept are the killer whales and bottlenose dolphins.