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Gecko Disguises

Earth Rangers

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January 28, 2011

Meet the Statonic leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus); well we’d introduce you if we could find him! This reptile is a master of disguise; they stay hidden even as they roam the rainforests of Madagascar looking for tasty insects to eat.

leaf gecko Madagascar — leaf tailed gecko. Flickr Credit: gripso_banana_prune

This reptile blends in by looking like a dried up leaf, if that wasn’t sneaky enough the leaf-tailed gecko can also flatten its body against the ground. If a determined predator is still able to snag this gecko they can always voluntarily shed their tail to escape.

If you were an animal how would you stay hidden from predators in the wild?

http://www.eol.org/pages/1055106

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Solar Power and Moth Eyes

Earth Rangers

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January 25, 2011

10

Moth eyes are pretty special; they are covered with a super coating that makes it one of the least reflective surfaces in nature. Because light isn’t bouncing off their eyes, like a beacon, it helps them hide from predators in the dark. Having a covering that can absorb light is also important for things like solar power. For us to create energy from the sun’s rays we have to be able to collect it using solar cells. Researchers in Japan have created a new film for solar cells based on the structure of a moth’s eye. These solar cells cut down on the amount of light reflected off of them, helping us to capture more of the sun’s power.

This isn’t the only example of nature inspired design, discover more by jumping into the amazing world of biomimicry.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/osoa-iei012011.php

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Ontario’s Incredible Dragonflies

Earth Rangers

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January 24, 2011

12

Did you know that there are more than 140 species, or unique types, of dragonflies in Ontario?

eastern pondhawk dragonfly — Eastern pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis simplicicollis) © Noah Cole

Each species of dragonfly requires a specific environment for it’s habitat. Some dragonflies prefer ponds, others prefer lakes, some dragonflies require slow-moving streams, others prefer fast-moving streams, and yet others prefer marshes. Ontario is also home to one of the world’s most rare dragonflies, Hine’s Emerald dragonfly. Dragonflies are also our friends because they eat small winged insects as a main staple of their diet, so there are fewer mosquitoes because of them. What kind of dragonflies live in your area?

http://www.natureconservancy.ca/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8017&news_iv_ctrl=0&abbr=on_ncc_

http://www.wincom.net/~prairie/odonata.html

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

A Fish Out of Water

Earth Rangers

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January 13, 2011

32

The African Lungfish (Protopterus annectens) lives in flood plains, which can be tricky in drought season, as the water dries up most aquatic species would be in trouble. Luckily this smart fish has developed a way to breathe even when it is out of the water by secreting a thin slimy film that it covers itself in. This slime dries into a fragile cocoon that the fish can live in for over a year.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/169408/0

http://www.eol.org/pages/213428

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Teethy Armadillo

Earth Rangers

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January 12, 2011

17

The Giant armadillo has more teeth then any other land mammal, between 80 and 100!

http://www.eol.org/pages/328497

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Catching up with a Kakapo

Earth Rangers

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January 11, 2011

31

The kakapo (Strigops habroptila) is a very unique bird, for one thing it is a nocturnal parrot, so just like cats they are active at night. But don’t think that means they are out flying around under the night sky because this bird is the only flightless parrot in the world!

Although the kakapo can’t soar in the sky it is a good tree climber, using its wings as a kind of parachute as it jumps from the trees to the ground. So where does this giant flightless night time loving bird live? The kakapo once lived all across New Zealand, but as this bird started to disappear the remaining survivors were moved to islands off the coast of New Zealand where they could be better protected. This species is listed as critically endangered because today there are only around 122 kakapos left in the world!

See the kakapo in action in this video, or learn more about this BIG parrot from The Encyclopedia of Life

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Taking BIG bites

Earth Rangers

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January 7, 2011

56

We all know that sharks are expert hunters but did you know they are also good biters? Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) have a group of muscles in their jaw that allows them to have strong bites no matter how wide open their mouth is. New research has shown that sharks may not be born with this expert biting ability and that it might actually develop over time. This study showed that teenage great white sharks are awkward biters because their jaw muscles haven’t developed to the point where they can hunt large prey.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/uons-tgw112610.php

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Biodiversity Loss is Bad for your Health

Earth Rangers

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January 3, 2011

11

Biodiversity Loss is Bad for your Health

When you get a tickle in your throat, the adults in your life might say that you got sick because you didn’t dress warm enough or eat all of your veggies. Have you ever thought that a lack of biodiversity might have also played a role?

You see, ecosystems that have lost much of their biodiversity become more vulnerable to invasive species and can run rampant with infectious diseases. For example, mosquitoes are kept in-check by insect-eating animals, like frogs. So, if frog populations were to decline because of human pressures, we have a lot more mosquitoes. And with more mosquitoes, there could be an increase in the spread of nasty bugs like the Bird Flu and malaria. Adding to this, the shrinking of habitats puts humans in closer contact with wild species that can transmit new types of diseases to us. Yikes!

Prescribing Biodiversity

Now that we know biodiversity keeps us healthy, it’s time to take action by prescribing a little biodiversity protection for everyone. You can help by protecting animals and their habitats with a Bring Back the Wild Campaign, spreading awareness about species at risk, and doing your part to live green

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/nsf-bld112910.php

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Diving Turtles

Earth Rangers

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December 17, 2010

18

Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are expert divers who plunge down into the ocean to catch food and cool-off from the hot tropical sun. But how do these reptiles move through the water: do they exhale all their air and sink to the bottom like a rock, or do they doggie-paddle their way to the bottom? To find out, water-proof trackers were attached to five female turtles in the wild. The information that was collected from them gave scientists a really good idea about how these turtles dive.

leatherback turtle swimming — Flickr credit: johnnymd314

It was revealed that the Leatherbacks, unlike many other diving animals, dive with their lungs full of air. As they go down into the ocean, the air inside their bodies gets compressed and they achieve something called neutral or negative buoyancy (which basically means there body density matches that of the water). At this stage, they can move through the water without having to fight the force of positive buoyancy; allowing them to easily glide deep underwater. When they’re ready to return to the surface, all they do is swim upward until the air in their bodies expands and carries them to the surface. You could say they’re like miniature submarines – so cool!

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/213/23/ii

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Ballooning Whale

Earth Rangers

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December 16, 2010

19

The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is able to stretch its mouth cavity along specially designed groves on its throat to take in its own weight in water, so a 90 ton whale could take in 90 tons of water! Once a Blue whale has filled up they will filter the water for krill (a small shrimp-like crustacean), then let the water out and mow down on some tasty krill, 6-7 tons a day to be exact!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9265000/9265623.stm

http://www.eol.org/pages/328574

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Earth Rangers

Earth Rangers

Gecko Disguises

If you were an animal how would you stay hidden from predators in the wild?

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Solar Power and Moth Eyes

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Ontario’s Incredible Dragonflies

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

A Fish Out of Water

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Teethy Armadillo

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Catching up with a Kakapo

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Taking BIG bites

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Biodiversity Loss is Bad for your Health

Prescribing Biodiversity

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Diving Turtles

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

Ballooning Whale

Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that works to inspire and educate children about the environment. At EarthRangers.com kids can play games, discover amazing facts, meet animal ambassadors and fundraise to protect biodiversity.

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