Everything About Animals!! (6 Questions Answered)

Everything About Animals!!

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Animals!! (6 Questions Answered)" is a video from the Colossal Questions series, which is known for answering curious, fun, and educational questions related to the natural world, animals, and other interesting topics.

In this video, the host addresses eight common or intriguing questions about animals. These questions often deal with topics that people are curious about but might not fully understand, such as animal behaviors, unique characteristics, or scientific facts that may surprise viewers.

Everything About Animals like Why do animals go extinct?

Of all the animals that have ever lived on Earth, 99.9% are now extinct. The first and most common way that animals go extinct is what we're going to call "extinction by natural causes." This is when a species dies out naturally because of forces like climate change, competition from other animals, a reduced food supply, or most likely, a combination of all three. Most natural extinctions happen very slowly, over hundreds or even thousands of years.

But every once in a while, a catastrophic event can lead to a quick mass extinction, like the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. Natural causes may have been the main reason animals went extinct throughout most of Earth's history, but over the last couple hundred years, humans have given nature a run for its money as the biggest cause of extinction. That's right. Over the last 500 years or so, humans have hunted lots of animals into extinction.

Take the passenger pigeon, for example. When European settlers first arrived in North America in the late 1400s, there were 3 to 5 billion passenger pigeons living there. By the 1800s, hunting and eating the poor pigeons was so widespread in the US that the very last passenger pigeon died in 1914. And that's just one example. Some species, like the American bison, are luckier. Millions of bison lived in North America until the Europeans arrived. Hunting was so intense that only 541 were left by 1889. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Sound familiar?

Well, unlike the passenger pigeon, this story has a happier ending. A handful of ranchers gathered the remaining bison together to save them from extinction. Since then, their numbers have flourished, and more than 300,000 bison live today on farms and national parks around the US and Canada. Animals are also hunted for body parts like fur, feathers, hides, or horns. And hunting isn't the only way humans cause animals to go extinct. Habitat loss is a huge problem, too.

When we build giant farms to grow food, the natural land that many animals rely on is destroyed, leading to their extinction. Pollution can poison the land, air, and especially water, and has at least 700 marine species on the brink of extinction right now. So just remember, like tigers, elephants, and rhinos, even the mightiest animals are at risk of extinction if we're not careful. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Everything About Animals like What's the smallest animal ever?

In order to answer this question, we first need to decide on an answer for a much more basic question-- what actually is an animal? Seems simple, right? Well, as it turns out, the answer actually gets a bit murky. Scientifically speaking, an animal is any living organism that's made up of multiple cells. Each organic material breathes oxygen, can move, and can reproduce. Humans fit the bill. We're made up of trillions of different cells, but there are lots of things out there so small that they're made up of just a few cells clumped together.

There are some living things out there that are made up of just one single cell, like bacteria. Well, that means they're not considered animals, but prokaryotes instead. That's just a fancy science way of saying they're a super basic single-celled organism.

In fact, their cell doesn't even have a nucleus, which is what controls a cell. More complex cells, like animal cells, have a nucleus. Inside that nucleus is all the DNA that helps make us into something much more complex than a single cell. These types of organisms are called eukaryotes. Almost all living organisms you can see on Earth are eukaryotes, including plants, and, yes, all animals. In 2011, the smallest known animal was discovered, a jellyfish called a myxobolus.

They can be really small, like less than 9 micrometers long. That's around 1/1000 of an inch. Really tiny. Of course, this is just the smallest animal we currently know about. New discoveries are made all the time, so who knows? Before long, there could be an even smaller critter crawling around somewhere. OK, so this little jellyfish might technically be the smallest animal we know about today, but it does beg the question, what's the smallest known animal you can actually see with the human eye?

The answer to that question is found on the second largest island in the world, New Guinea. That's where scientists back in 2009 discovered the smallest known vertebrate in the world, hopping around the jungle, a tiny little frog called Paedophryne amauensis.

Cute. The average adult only grows to be about 8 millimeters long from end to end, which is only slightly bigger than the eraser on the back of your pencil. And there you have it, a seemingly simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. So, for now, those microscopic little jellyfish will remain the smallest animal on earth, and our little frog friend will continue to be the world's smallest known vertebrate. That is, until we find something smaller, of course. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Everything About Animals like Why do tigers have stripes?

1. Orange Fur: Tigers might seem bright orange to us, but to the animals they hunt, their fur often appears green. This is because many prey species have limited color vision (similar to colorblindness in humans), and their ability to distinguish between colors is different from ours.

2. Stripes: The vertical black or brown stripes on a tiger's fur are crucial for breaking up the tiger's silhouette. These stripes help them blend into the environment, especially in jungles or grassy areas, where the contrast between light and shadow helps the tiger stay hidden from prey. It’s like a natural form of camouflage that makes it harder for animals to spot them.

3. Solitary Hunter: Unlike lions or wolves that hunt in groups, tigers are solitary hunters. Their camouflage is essential for sneaking up on their prey without the advantage of a team or speed. They rely on stealth and the ability to get as close as possible before making their move.

4. Unique Stripes: Each tiger’s stripe pattern is unique, much like a human fingerprint. This uniqueness helps conservationists track individual tigers in the wild, allowing for more accurate population monitoring and research.

It may seem strange, but that bright coat of fur with wavy black stripes that make tigers stand out to us is actually the ideal camouflage for a big jungle predator. You see, those beautiful cats might look orange to us, but to most of the animals they prefer to hunt, well, not so much. You see, most jungle prey can only see a limited range of colors, like a colorblind person. That means, to their eyes, the tiger's orange fur is actually green. As you might imagine, that changes everything. It means tigers can hunt while blending into the background.

And speaking of blending in, it's not just about the orange. That's where all those iconic stripes come in. The wavy black or brown vertical stripes help break up the cat's shape and size, so that it blends in with trees and tall grasses even better, like a natural camouflage that would make a Marine jealous. All of this camo is key for a hunting tiger. Unlike other predators, like lions or wolves, tigers hunt alone. Without blazing speed or friends to help, it's up to a tiger to sneak their way to survival. Each and every tiger has its own unique pattern of stripes, kind of like a fingerprint. No two are the same.

This helps experts track and record population numbers in the wild. OK, so now that we know that a tiger's orange and black look is actually all about blending in, what about white tigers? It feels like they'd stick out like a sore thumb. Well, the truth is, they kind of do. You see, white tigers are actually quite an unusual sight. It's caused by a rare genetic mutation in Bengal tigers that gives them white fur. Both tiger parents must have the rare mutated gene in order for their cub to be born with white fur.

Because of this, white tigers are intentionally bred in captivity for zoos, even though white tigers are often unhealthy. Because it's such a rare natural occurrence, there were never more than a few white tigers living in the wild at any one time. In fact, there are no known wild white tigers today.

The very last one was spotted in 1958. And if you think about it, that kind of makes sense. A black and white tiger would be much easier to spot sneaking through the jungle, making it harder for them to hunt and survive. So if you ever find yourself in the middle of a wild jungle and just happen to see a tiger, I guess just be happy you can even see him coming. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Everything About Animals like What is a bookworm?

Like a worm eating its way through an apple, bookworms devour books the same way. But where does the nickname actually come from? Well, you might be surprised to find out that bookworms are very much a real thing. And in the not too distant past, they were quite the pesky problem for bookkeepers everywhere. The earliest known written reference to bookworms dates back to 1580, but they almost certainly have existed for as long as books have been around.

Back in those days, buildings weren't nearly as clean inside as they are today. There were no heating or air conditioning systems to help regulate the rooms, and as a result, they would attract all kinds of pests. Libraries could get especially bad because the insects love chowing down on the natural paper, binding glue, and wooden leather of the book covers. Basically, old libraries were like all-you-can-eat buffets for all manner of invasive insects. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

These musty, old libraries attracted all kinds of pests-- insects, cockroaches, beetles, book lice, moths, silverfish, termites, and, of course, worms. Some of the more destructive pests, like termites, would set their sights on the books, the covers, even the shelves themselves, sending books smashing to the ground. Since all these pesky critters spent their lives devouring books, it probably seemed natural to start calling people bookworms if they spent their lives devouring books, too. Nowadays, being called a bookworm isn't considered a bad thing at all.

If anything, most people would say it's more of a compliment. After all, there's nothing wrong with loving to read so much that it seems like you always have your nose in a book. So, if you're the kind of person who loves to get lost inside of a great book and devour as many stories as you can, well, keep on eating. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Everything About Animals like How do bees make honey?

The process of making honey starts when adult worker bees fly out of their hive in search of flowers filled with nectar, the main ingredient they need to make honey. Depending on the time of year and the weather outside, worker bees may have to fly for miles before they find the right flowers. Once they finally find their target, the bees use their long straw-like tongue, called a proboscis, to slurp the droplets of nectar out like a slushie.

It's swallowed down and stored in a special extra stomach, called a crop, for safekeeping. As bees fly around slurping nectar from dozens, maybe hundreds, of flowers in one hunt, the crop slowly starts to fill up.

During the flight home, that belly full of nectar mixes with special proteins in the crop that help keep it from hardening and prep it to become honey. Once they finally make it back to the hive, the weary worker bees spit the nectar back up, right into the mouths of the younger, smaller bees, who stay in the hive. The nectar is broken down even more inside the younger bees' bellies. Then, once it's ready, the goop is stored away in those hexagon-shaped honeycomb cells you might recognize. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Bees then fan the fresh nectar with their wings, drying it out. Once the nectar's water content drops to somewhere between 14% and 18%, it'll finally look and taste like the thick, golden goo we know as honey.

Now that the honey's done, the bees put a lid over the hexagon made out of bees wax to keep it sealed, kind of like a little jar of honey. OK, so that's how bees make honey. And honestly, it's pretty cool. But it does beg the question, why? What's all of that flying and collecting and sealing away of all that honey even for? Well, for much the same reason you might seal and store away some food for later. Think about it.

In the winter months, most places around the world don't have nearly as many flowers in bloom. That means less nectar, which means less food for the bees. But with all that honey stored away for a rainy day, bees can just crack open one of their little hexagon jars of honey they've saved.

A single worker bee can only produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in a lifetime of collecting nectar from flowers. That's not much. But luckily, there can be as many 60,000 bees in a single colony. All those bees working together can visit tens of millions of flowers in a day and churn out hundreds of pounds of honey in a single year. That's a lot of honey and a lot of effort. So, if you see a bee buzzing around outside, just leave it be. It's probably hard at work. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Everything About Animals like How do fish breathe underwater?

Humans, like all mammals, use their lungs to breathe, two big organs in our chest that look like empty, inflated bags. Whenever we breathe in air, it all gets pulled into the lungs, filling them up. The oxygen molecules in the air pass through the lung walls into tiny blood vessels called capillaries. From there, the oxygen travels through the bloodstream on red blood cells all around the body, where it's needed to help replace old cells and provide us with energy. Mammal lungs wouldn't work very well for a fish.

Anyone who's ever accidentally tried to take a breath underwater can certainly attest to that. But even so, fish still need oxygen to breathe, just like us. So how do they do it? Using special organs on the side of their body called gills. Rather than breathing in and out through their mouth, fish have a one-way flow. They suck in water that's filtered as it passes through the gills on its way out. The little feather-like bristles on the gills each have thousands of tiny blood vessels on them, way more than the human lung. They take in oxygen from the water and move it into the bloodstream.

Just like humans and other air breathers can drown underwater, fish with gills can drown in air, too. If fish gills spend too long in the air, they'll collapse and suffocate them. OK, so that's how fish breathe underwater, but what about whales? And what about dolphins? What about all the different marine animals that swim to the surface for air?

Well, the answer is actually simpler than you might think. They're not fish at all-- they're mammals. They have lungs and breathe air just like us.That's right. These special species are called marine mammals-- whales, dolphins, seals, porpoises, manatees, sea otters, polar bears, and a few other aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean to survive, but also need to breathe air.

Some marine mammals spend lots of time on land, like sea otters and polar bears. Others, like seals and sea lions, are semiaquatic, spending most of their time in the water, but coming up every now and then. It's the fully aquatic marine mammals who need to swim to the surface for a breath, since almost all of their time is otherwise spent underwater. When a whale or dolphin reaches the surface, it breathes in a big gulp of air through its blowhole on the top of its head, which is basically their nostril hole. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

So the next time you come sputtering up out of the water at your friend's pool party, gasping for breath and spitting out chlorine, just remember, not everyone can have the grace of a dolphin. What if bees went extinct? There are more than 20,000 different species of bees buzzing around all over the world, and those bumbling insects are also maybe the most important pollinator. Pollinators are bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, or other insects that help move pollen from one plant to another. Without them, most flowers would have no way to reproduce and make new flowers every year.

All that pollinating keeps tons of plant species alive. From 1995 to 2007, the number of bees in the US dropped by about 30% each year. That's double the average. Since 2008, those numbers have leveled out some, but they haven't come back up much. That's not good.

And it might make you wonder, what's causing all those colonies to collapse? Most experts blame habitat loss and chemical sprays, like pesticides and insecticides. Habitat loss happens when an area where bees live is disrupted, making it a tough place for bees to survive. Chemicals like pesticides and insecticides are sprayed on lots of crops all over the world to help control weeds, insects, rodents, or bacteria, anything that could damage the plants. Problem is, oftentimes, the chemicals work too well.

They don't just take out the pests, but other plants, insects, or animals nearby, like, say, a colony of bees. But no matter the reason, the data is clear. Bee populations are dropping. So it begs the question, what would happen if all of the bees died off? Well, it would be a colossal problem! Why? Well, about one-third of all the food eaten by humans each year comes from plants pollinated by bees-- apples, avocados, watermelons, kiwi, cherries, pumpkins, almonds, and lots more. Everything About Animals is here. stay with us.

Without bees, these foods would be much harder to grow. And without all that fresh produce, our nutrition would take a nosedive. It would also mean much less food for a slew of other species of insects, animals, and other organisms all the way down the food chain, possibly leading to even more extinctions. Losing all the bees would take lots of our favorite fruits and vegetables off the table, but it probably wouldn't actually cause massive, widespread famine.

Why? Because the majority of human food still comes from grains, like wheat, barley, oats, quinoa, rye, and rice. And grains are pollinated by wind, rather than bees. So, would humanity survive if all the bees disappeared? Well, we would, but our planet would suffer terribly, and so would our diets.you can read more about Everything About Animals Here. and you can watch more about Everything About Animals: