Toad eggs adhere in and out of wate
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Email92. Branches survive intense wind: live oak
"The resistance of live oak has been related to the low deliquescent canopy and high wood strength and resilience (Touliatos & Roth 1971). The crowns of the larger live oaks were level with or below crowns of associated laurel and water oaks."...
93. Wing scales aid thermoregulation: green birdwing butterfly
"At the other extreme are butterflies like Ornithoptera priamus--'ultrablack,' [Peter] Vukusic calls it. Again, structure is key. Its honeycombed wing scales absorb more light than would a smooth surface, so the black pigment looks blacker still. ...
94. "Biological batteries" heal wounds: cells
"Our daily routines would be impossible without the wonders of electricity. This also applies to the cells in our bodies, each of which generates internal mini-currents to carry out its functions. It is less well known that cells in tissues (for e...
95. Elevated rings increase diversity: seaside arrowgrass
"Many organisms modulate the availability of resources to other species by causing state changes in biotic or abiotic materials (ecosystem engineering), in the process frequently changing the selection to which the ecosystem engineers and other or...
96. Portable cases protect from predators: caddisflies
"There are a number of invertebrates (animals without backbones) that construct cases for themselves from materials abundant in their environments, like sand, pebbles, shells, and plant materials. These bits and pieces are cemented together with s...
97. "V" formation saves energy: Pacific golden plover
"Let us examine this energy problem as it relates to the Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis dominica fulva): this bird migrates from Alaska to Hawaii to spend its winters there. There are no islands on its route. Therefore, it has no possibility for...
98. Groups move efficiently: army ants
"By forming three lanes of traffic during hunting expeditions, army ants in Panama come close to achieving the maximum possible rate of traffic flow. Given that army ants are blind, and that a hunting party might consist of 200,000 ants marching i...
99. Flexible stalk adjusts to flow forces: Styela sea squirt
"An equivalent scheme serves the same function in at least one tunicate or ascidian (fig. 7.3b), a sessile marine animal about as distantly related to a caddisfly as are we. These 'sea squirts' have the relevant plumbing inside themselves rather t...
100. Selective strategies aid competitive success: mangrove forests
"Succession is part of the normal dynamics of many forest types: the chance appearance of gaps, rapidly colonised by opportunistic 'weeds' which are progressively ousted by slower-growing but more competitive species until a mature forest reappear...
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