water
31. Setae draw water from mud: marsh crab
"Some species, including Sesarma, have an additional means of gaining water from the soil by what are, in effect, roots. Tufts of hydrophilic setae at the bases of the legs are brought into contact with the moist surface of the mud and can actuall...
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32. Multiple organisms strip nutrients: forests
"Water supply authorities operate at the other extreme of the biodiversity scale preferring water catchments that are fully vegetated, whether by native forest, woodland or plantations. In such cases, the expectation is not that the catchment ecos...
33. Fine filaments filter water: peacock worm
"A feeding peacock worm…has a fan of radiating tentacles fringed with fine filaments to sieve food particles from the water currents." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:25)
34. Hairs prevent entry of water: rat-tailed maggot
"Some diptera (Syrphidae or red-tailed maggots [rat-tailed maggots]) and Ephydridae (shore flies) have a pair of posterior, telescopic breathing tubes that open in spiracles with hydrophobic hairs that prevent water from entering." (van der Valk 2...
35. Solar Water Still and Pump
Stephen Salter provides designs for a still and pump that works the way a tree transpires. Like a tree, it uses solar power to wick water up from underground, then captures the evaporated water. This water is purified--basically distilled--so can ...
36. Radiating filaments filter water: fanworms
"Increased surface area is extremely useful to many creatures…The radiating filaments of the fanworm filter the water for food particles: the more water is covered, the more food is found." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:24)
37. Foot aids underwater movement: water snail
"A UC San Diego engineer has revealed a new mode of propulsion based on how water snails create ripples of slime to crawl upside down beneath the surface."Eric Lauga, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the...
38. Leaves optimize photosynthesis: giant water-lily
"In still or slowly-moving waters there is one easy way to collect [light]: a plant can float its leaves upon the surface. No plant does this on a more spectacular scale or more aggressively than the giant Amazon water-lily. A leaf first appears o...
39. Underwater roots get oxygen: giant water-lily
"The Amazon water-lily is able to produce such large and strong structures because it can collect an abundance of food through its roots from the mud at the bottom of the lake. But roots need to breathe and the mud at the bottom of Amazonian swamp...
40. Guard hairs repel water: reindeer
"Naturally, animals that live in polar regions have the warmest coats of all. The reindeer's coat combines long, water-repelling guard hairs with an extremely dense underfur, deep-piled like a shag carpet." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:84)
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