Increase in hydrostatic pressure forces blood from pores
61. Swimbladder retains gases: ray-finned fish
"But the swimbladder must be filled from dissolved gases in the blood, and it must not lose gas through redissolution into the blood. So secretion of gas from blood into swimbladder faces a big barrier, and swimbladder gas will all too readily go ...
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Email62. Eyes see in the dark: oilbird
"An extreme example of a low light-level lifestyle among flying birds is provided by the oilbird, Steatornis caripensis (Steatornithidae, Caprimulgiformes). Oilbirds breed and roost in caves, often at sufficient depth that no daylight can penetrat...
63. Swimming efficiently: sharks
"It came as more of a surprise than it should have when Wainwright, Vosburgh, and Hebrank (1978) showed that sharks utilized a hydroskeleton. Sharks, after all, have conventional skeletons, albeit somewhat less calcified ones than that of most oth...
64. Larvae produce deadly toxin: leaf beetle
"In Namibia the Commiphora tree is the host plant of the leaf beetle. When its larvae feed on the leaves, they produce a toxin not found in adults, which a Kalahari Desert bushman squeezes onto an arrow tip. The poison on a single arrow can fell a...
65. Saliva regulates digestion: Gila monster
"The recent identification in Heloderma horridum venom of exendin-3, a new member of the glucagon superfamily that acts as a pancreatic secretagogue, prompted a search for a similar peptide in Heloderma suspectum venom…An amino ac...
66. Slime and fibers protect: hagfish
"Hagfishes are known for producing large volumes of slime when stressed. Their slime is believed to act as a defence mechanism against gill-breathing predators, as it has been shown to reduce water flow over the gills of fish. Hagfish slime is ...
67. Organism tolerates heat and desiccation: lichen
"Lichens can also tolerate heat which would desiccate and kill most plants. They shrivel but remain alive and, when the opportunity comes, they take up moisture at extraordinary speed and in great quantities, absorbing as much as half their dried ...
68. Trees comb water from clouds: cloud forests
"Cloud forests, which are dense tracts of evergreens rising thousands of meters above sea level, contribute to yield, but in a novel manner: they literally comb water from the clouds. In the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and other coastal slopes or ...
69. Blood vessels regulate temperature: vertebrates
"Blood vessels bring nourishment to the skin, and help to control body temperature. When the body is warm the blood flows more copiously towards the skin, giving off heat to the cooler air outside; it flows even more strongly when the body is bein...
70. Nest openings protect from floods: ants
"In Australia, Polyrachis sokolova is found only on the lower shore, in the Ceriops and Rhizophora zones. Uniquely, it nests actually in the mangrove mud. Because of the position of the nests, they are inundated in up to 61 per cent of high tides,...
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