Fun Facts

[Dark.Green.Feathers]

I suspect that it’s just the word being used differently. Because like leucism in snake breeding is the all white with dark eyes—no matter what species shows it. But leucism in general just means “whitish” (according to Wikipedia) so like a “splash” chicken (white with randoms spots of color) might be called a piebald pigeon (same color pattern) and on the Wikipedia article a piebald was a form of leucism.

Oh i think you misunderstood what i was saying, i understand piebaldism i just wonder how chemically it differs in snakes to budgies, since one species seems to retain yellow pigments (if present) under its influence and the other doesn’t. there are other mutations that dilute down the yellow in budgies but piebaldism doesn’t touch it like it seemingly does in snakes. (you can get pied albino pythons but that isn’t a phenotype in budgies)

Omg what they’ve done to domestic pigeons goes WAY beyond what has been done to dogs and cats in terms of cruelty, in my opinion. Parlor rollers?? (Bred to tumble on the ground when they try to fly and are tossed like bocce balls). Owl pigeons with beaks so tiny they can’t feed their babies? The fan tails whose necks are crooked so far over their backs that they look straight up? I could go on. I showed my students a picture of a Bokhara trumpeter and asked them to guess what it was. It’s almost difficult to recognize as a bird. The head isn’t even visible in many individuals. Ah, humans… strange lot!

i get so mad about it! especially parlor rollers but all of them really. we seem to have a habit of making the worst animals of whatever species we can domesticate.. sigh. happens in the fish world too.

If you like genetics check out the website “Messy Beast”. It’s older but it’s chock full of rare photos and interesting content.

big messybeast fan already! i remember their stuff from when i first started getting into genetics stuff, really cool resource.

 

[Rose White]

What I’m saying is that the term pied might mean something in budgie land that is different or more specific than it means to other animal breeders?

In reading about animal pigments I found a new fun fact . There are only three species of animals that can synthesize their own carotenoids: an aphid, a spider mite, and a midge (tiny fly). In each case it is believed they acquired the ability from a lateral dna transfer with a fungus.

I think I read once that placental mammals likely evolved the ability accept the retention of the fetus (not eject it like a foreign body trying to invade) through a lateral rna transfer with a virus. Which is kind of interesting if you think about it—that a virus would have chemical ways of not being rejected by the body and those chemical codes could be co-opted by the fetus.

Incidentally there are some species of live-bearing lizards that have something very close to a placenta—they are a kind of skink in the genus Mabuya. Just like how those three bugs independently evolved the ability to synthesize carotenoids, the ability to retain and nurture a fetus internally has evolved a number of times—it’s just that eutherians (placental mammals) kind of took it and ran with it.

Live birth in reptiles, like in sharks, does not typically involve something like a placenta, where there is blood exchange with the mother.

 

[Rose White]

The melody of the Star-Spangled Banner came from a bawdy drinking song about women and partying — the anthem of a middle class gentleman’s club for musicians in 18th century London called “The Anacreontic Society.” Their club was dedicated to an Ancient Greek poet Anacreon—known for his drinking songs and erotic poetry. It wasn’t uncommon in those days to take popular drinking songs and overlay new lyrics—which is what Francis Scott Key did. There were multiple patriotic songs that used the melody of “To Anacreon in Heaven”, and Key even had multiple versions before Star Spangled Banner became canonized.

 

[parrotthepolly]

When CPR is done right, it sounds and feels like you're breaking every rib they have.

Very fun right ¿¿¿

 

[Rose White]

The words “ego” and “id” were chosen by Freud’s translator as Latinized replacements of what Freud called “das Ich” (the I) and “das Es” (the It). Some have argued that by doing so it needlessly obscured simple psychological concepts.

 

[Dark.Green.Feathers]

All plants contain protein; herbivorous animals eat so much/often compared to carnivores to get enough of it.

 

[Rose White]

Dogs have lateralization of the brain: the left side deals with pleasure seeking and comfort and the right side deals with defense and aggression. So when a dog wags its tail toward the right (controlled by left side) it is feeling happy and relaxed.

 

[Shaylee]

A woodpecker's tongue wraps around its brain, protecting it from damage when it pecks at trees.

 

[gorgonzola]

If you drained Lake Superior, it would take 4 months for rivers to refill it.

But not just its own tributaries: all the rivers on the entire planet would need to be redirected to do the job this fast.

 

[Rose White]

Freud studied comparative anatomy in college, dissecting brains of humans and other animals such as frogs, lampreys, and crayfish. His work was a critical part of the eventual discovery of the neuron.

 

[Freddyt]

Actress Heddy Lamar, owned a patent for an early version of the transistor.

 

[Shaylee]

All clown fish are born male and can become female later in life. But it only happens if they’re next in line to dominate the community they are in.