Animals have evolved some interesting defense mechanisms and metabolic pathways. From the claws of the platypus to the diet of a fly, add your contributions!
Here's one to start off:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_fly
About spiders' eyes:
"Jumping spiders' visual acuity exceeds by a factor of ten that of dragonflies, which have by far the best vision among insects; in fact the human eye is only about five times sharper than a jumping spider's. They achieve this by a telephoto-like series of lenses, a four-layer retina and the ability to swivel their eyes and integrate images from different stages in the scan. The downside is that the scanning and integrating processes are relatively slow.[17]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider#Sense_organs
Comments
~It can strike with a force of 1,500 Newtons, and the acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp
:eek: I own a .22 and know they are kinda strong. No real kick or anything, but a bullet is a bullet.
Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula
"Most jellyfish species have a relatively fixed life span, which varies by species from hours to many months (long-lived mature jellyfish spawn every day or night [the time is also rather fixed and species-specific][12]). The medusa of Turritopsis nutricula is the only form known to have developed the ability to return to a polyp state, by a specific transformation process that requires the presence of certain cell types (tissue from both the jellyfish bell surface and the circulatory canal system). Careful laboratory experiments have revealed that all stages of the medusae, from newly released to fully mature individuals, can transform back into polyps.[3] The transforming medusa is characterized first by deterioration of the bell and tentacles, with subsequent growth of a perisarc sheet (see hydroid) and stolons, and finally feeding polyps. Polyps further multiply by growing additional stolons, branches and then polyps, to form colonial hydroids. This ability to reverse the life cycle (in response to adverse conditions) is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering Turritopsis nutricula potentially biologically immortal."
Someone told me about this the other day. God just might exist.
There is one spider that actually plans different steps of it's attack and is smart enough to alter the plan should the situation change.
I think that this is what you're talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_%28genus%29#Hunting_techniques
Also, Temperature-Dependent-Sex Determination in Alligators.
Edit: Here it is. Bagheera kiplingi
http://pda.physorg.com/_news174568827.html
The picture of the female Bagheera kiplingi on the Acacia leaf Reminded me of the show on the Smithsonian channel, Amazing Plants
Pseudomyrmex ferruginea symbiosis with Acacia cornigera
A study on the wiki page states the venom of some species might be inefficient even in the insect world.
Harvestmen are arachnids, but not spiders. Jarkof is referring to the family of spiders Pholcidae. It seems by this link (wiki's source material) that the potency of the venom is a myth.
You're referring to the genus of Portia spiders. I saw a documentary on them once. They'll hunt spiders twice their size.
Anywho, lemurs in Madagascar actively seek out the native millipedes there which secrete a defensive toxin euphoric to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzaUA2-nHR4
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode13
Bam. Suck it. They are not poisonous. Stop spreading ignorance.
Holy fucking shit that is awesome.
Perhaps there could be a specimen with a venom comparable to the brown recluse unobserved by science. You never know ...
Sorry, not hating but rather than iterate from my own knowledge, I thought I'd let someone else do it for me (Mythbusters).
Your skin has 3 major layers... the other layers you refer to are only 1 cell thick.
And really, long legs don't have the chemical toxins in their body to hurt people.
I go to school for this stuff. In fact... I get my associates next month, fucking finally... now off to a bachelors.
:facepalm: to the spider.
This. Those spiders are pretty much harmless. After seeing that mythbusters episode a couple of friends and I collected a shitload of those spiders from some dilapidated house nearby and we all tried to get ourselves bitten by them. Harmless, and the bite is more of a nuisance than it is painful.
Lots of animals, like snakes and insects, get a lot of shit because people think they are poisonous or will go hunting people and bite or sting them just for the sake of it. I wish people would inform themselves a little better when it came to these kind of things. There's no need to kill, say, a random snake, just because you happen to see snakes bite people on TV.
LOL. I'll keep that mind mind the next time I walk into one of their webs. And people need to inform themselves about everything they encounter. It would make their worlds a better place. Hey, would you add an 'n' to "Known" and the word "The" at the beginning of the thread title?
Agreed. People need to know things before they prejudice everything they seem to come across.
Also, thread title fixed :thumbsup: