自然英语

Youmight think the first bird species that humans raised in captivity would be arelatively small one, like a chicken.

Butevidence suggests that people in New Guinea reared the cassowary, often calledthe world’s deadliest bird, as much as 18,000 years ago, long before thedomestication of chickens.

Theremains of cassowary eggs and bones at archaeological sites in New Guineaindicate that people gathered the eggs, possibly allowing the more mature eggsto hatch into chicks.

Allcassowaries possess fearsome sharp toes that have been known to kill orseriously injure humans. While Northern and Southern Cassowaries can reachheights of five feet or more, the Dwarf Cassowary stands just three and a halffeet tall.

Researcherssuspect that by collecting nearly-hatched cassowary eggs, probably from theDwarf Cassowary, people could have easily reared their chicks. Today in NewGuinea, captive cassowary chicks become imprinted on their human carers,allowing people to raise them to adulthood.

Cassowariesmay not be the cuddliest of birds. But people found a clever way to live besidethem long ago.

It’sspring, and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet’s loud, rollicking song echoes from theforest edge in northern and western lowlands. Listen carefully, and you canhear three distinct parts of its song.

Thistiny powerhouse of a singer is one of the smallest songbirds on the continents,weighing in at just a little more than half a chickadee. Mostly green and hardto spot, flitting from twig to twig, it hovers in mid-air as it catches tinyinsects. The green crown-feathers on the male kinglet conceal a swatch of redones. When in the mood to sing, he raises this narrow, crimson crest. Thekinglet’s Latin name suits it well: Regulus calendula- the “glowing littleking,” a regal luster that points to his ruby crown, but could also describehis song.

TheRuby-crowned Kinglet turns up his spring song only in the lowlands. Later thismonth, he’ll depart to sing- and nest- at mile-high altitudes in our mountainforests.

Arobin tugging an earthworm from the ground is a symbol of spring. But that wormit’s eating hasn’t always been here.

Whenglaciers pushed south into what is now the U.S. around 20,000 years ago, theyscraped off the soil layer and spelled the end of native earthworms except inthe southern states. So that earthworm plucked by the robin is probably arelatively new arrival, most likely a species Europeans conveyed to theAmericas in plant soil or in the ballast of ships.

Soif not earthworms, what were robins feeding their chicks before Europeansarrived? Well. Probably some of the more than a hundred kinds of insects andother invertebrates, as well as berries, that robins are known to eat.

Robinsprefer to forage in short grass to avoid potential predators. But after thelast ice sheets melted back, where was the short grass they liked? Onespeculation is that prehistoric bison, horses and mammoths grazed heavily inplaces, creating robin-friendly landscapes.

Justas robins now share pastures with cows, perhaps 15,000 years ago they hoppedamong giant bison or woolly mammoths.

Hello, this isWild Suzhou.

Today, we will betalking about invasive species. What are they, and what are some of the mostdestructive ones?

First, what is aninvasive species? An invasive species is any organism, such as a plant, aninsect, or a bird, that has been introduced to an ecosystem that it doesn’tbelong in, and is now causing harm. An invasive species can cause harm byhurting the environment or human health. They usually are spreadunintentionally by humans, such as rats getting onto a ship from Europe thenspreading to the Americas.

Now, what are someexamples of particularly destructive invasive species?

The first would bemosquitoes, specifically, the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fevermosquito. They cause lots of damage through the diseases they spread, such asZika, Chikungunya, yellow fever, and dengue, which cause significant threats topublic health.

A second fairlydestructive invasive species would be rats. This is due to a few things. First,they are very strong and resistant and have driven many native species toextinction. The Pacific Rat, native to southeast Asia, has wiped out 1000 ormore species of island birds. Additionally, rats are pests that destroy cropsand also spread disease.

Third, cats arealso very dangerous invasive species. Being skilled predators, feral cats haveno problem hunting birds and small mammals for food, but this can often driveanimals to extinction.

For Wild Suzhou,I’m Ciana, thanks for listening, and see you next time.

The Tasmanian devil liveson the Island of tasmania in Australia, in forests and rainforests.
It has adapted to its environment with its Blackfur, since its nocturnal, it helps it go undetected when it’s hunting andhiding from predators. It’s good sense of smell helps it find food in the dark.The Tasmanian devil eats all kinds of meat it can find, so it is a carnivore.It scavenges and hunts to find food. This animal is mostly nocturnal, so mostof its activity happens during the day. They used to live on mainland Australia,but its habitat and population has been reduced to around 20,000.
 A disease called devil facial tumordisease, causes tumors to grow on their face which makes it hard to eat, theyeventually starve. It gets hit by cars, its habitat gets destroyed, anddomesticated animals threaten them. The Tasmanian devils predators include Dogsand foxes. Their good sense of smell can also be used to protect itself fromencountering predators. They live in Solitary. The tasmanian devil is relatedto the quoll and native cats. They are both around 2 feet long, but the male isslightly larger. Its lifespan is around 6 years, and They can start mating at 2years of age. The Tasmanian devil's scientific name is Sarcophilus harrisii.

Hello, this isWild Suzhou.

Today, we willtalk about fairy wrasses, which are a genus of very vibrant tropical fish. Whathappened to create the multiple different species of fairy wrasse?

The fairy wrasseis a type of small, reef fish. The males are known for their vibrant colors,which they like to show off during courtship. There are many different speciesof fairy wrasse, and their genetic diversity has been a topic of interest forsome scientists. There are around 45 species of fairy wrasses, and new ones arefound every year.

However, a newstudy shows that changes in sea level over the last few millions year may havesomething to do with the genetic diversity and evolution of fairy wrasses. Buthow does this work?

Fairy wrasses arenaturally found in the Indo-Pacific ocean, and are believed to have first evolvedin an area called the Coral Triangle, which is named after the abundance ofcoral found there. Then, fairy wrasse spread throughout the oceans and evolvedinto many different colors. Scientists think this is because of the history ofthe area they are found in.

TheIndo-Australian Archipelago is a raised area of rock found between Asia andAustralia. Many islands are found here, such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.This Archipelago is known as a “soft barrier” and this is because sometimeswhen the sea level is low, the raised land creates a wall that is too difficultfor fish to cross. But when sea levels are higher, fish are able to swim overthe archipelago.

Because of this,fish have split apart from each other on either side of the archipelago, and sothey could only interact and breed with fish on their side of the ocean. Thisisolates species and makes new species evolve faster. Additionally, the sealevel raised and lowered multiple times, meaning that new species were alsocreated multiple times.

For Wild Suzhou,I’m Ciana, thanks for listening and see you next time.

The glasswing butterflylives Around central america.  Like most other species of butterflies,this species migrates because it needs a new food source or it can’t survive inthe current climate.  It eats Flowers, plants, and  nectar, whichmakes This species an Herbivore. Butterflies have long tongues, which help itsuck up  nectar from flowers. The main predator for this species and mostother species of butterflies is Birds. The glasswing butterfly protects itselfwith its diet, it eats a specific plant that has a toxin in it, which makes ittaste bad so less predators will want to eat it. The clear wings also make itharder to detect.
During mating season, they live in big groups.It is around 1 or 2 inches long, and has clear wings with red and brown scalesbordering the wings. After undergoing metamorphosis, it only lives for up to 12weeks.  The reason this species has “clear wings” is because the tissuespanning between the wings has no scales, making it look clear. They are alsoimportant for the environment because they are pollinators, when they eat fromflowers they get some pollen on their legs, and as they go around theypollinate other flowers.  The scientific name for The Glasswing butterflyis Greta oto.
For wild suzhou im palmtree and thanks forlistening

Hello, this isWild Suzhou.

Today, we willtalk about coffee pulp, which is a waste product made from producing coffeebeans, and how coffee pulp could potentially help restore rainforests.

Coffee pulp is thebyproduct of producing coffee beans. Coffee beans are the seeds of a fruitcalled the Coffee Cherry. Though the coffee cherry isn’t actually a cherry, itcertainly looks like one, as the fruit is usually bright red or yellow. To makeroasted coffee beans, coffee producers remove the flesh and skin of the“cherry” and keep the seeds inside. However, in this process, about half of theCoffee Cherry is not used and this creates a lot of waste.

However,researchers at the University of Hawaii ran an experiment using the coffee pulpto see if it would make good compost and possibly restore Costa Ricanrainforests. They used two areas of land. Both of these areas were worn outfrom agriculture and therefore abandoned by their original owners. The areaswere covered in an invasive species of grass from Africa that was used to feedcows. In the experiment, the researchers left one of the areas of landundisturbed, and in the other, they covered the ground with a 20-inch thicklayer of coffee pulp. Researchers then waited two years and saw some amazingresults.

In the area thatwas left undisturbed, only 20 percent of the area had started to regrow, andthe trees that had regrown were not that tall. However, in the area covered bycoffee pulp, 80 percent of the area had started to regrow, and the trees were,on average, 4 times taller than the trees in the first area. The soil was alsomuch more healthy and nutrient-rich, and the invasive grass from Africa hadbeen killed off.

This shows thatcoffee producers have a way to dispose of their waste, and also help damagedrainforests to regrow. Usually, tropical forests take centuries to regrow, butthis dramatic growth in only 2 years could be very promising. However, moreresearch needs to be done to make sure coffee pulp won’t pollute rivers andother bodies of water. The process is also very smelly and can attract insectslike flies that are pests to humans.

Now, how does thisprocess work? It works because the coffee pulp smothers the area underneath it,making it suffocate and die. When it dies, it decomposes and nutrients arereleased from the plant. The nutrients from the decomposed grass mixes with thecoffee pulp, creating a layer of rich, fertile soil. Then, insects will startto come, birds will come to eat the insects, who will also drop seeds into thearea. The nutrient-rich soil will then boost the growth of the seeds in thearea, helping to regrow the rainforest.

The vulturineguinea fowl  lives in the continent of Africa, specifically Ethiopia,Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. Its habitat is deserts and grasslands, with talltrees for it to nest in. they make their nests out of grass and twigs. Sinceit  lives in deserts, it has adapted to be  able to go a long timewithout water. These birds eat  Small mammals, insects, lizards, seeds androots. Its diet makes it an Omnivore. Most of their activity is during the dayso it is Diurnal. It's quite a populous animal, and is not close toendangerment. Their predators are Birds of prey, monkeys, and small mammals whosteal their eggs.

The vulturineguinea fowl is related to  Pheasants, partridges and turkeys. It is closeto 70 cm long, around the size of a small turkey. The difference between themale and female of this species is the Male is bigger and has a larger crest.

It has Bluefeathers, with spiky white feathers protruding from it. Their lifespan is 15years, and they can start mating at 2. Each time they lay eggs they have up to8 eggs.  Its scientific name is Acryllium vulturinum, another name it hasis the royal guineafowl. When these birds travel, they will be with a group ofbirds, around 20-50.

For wild SuzhouI'm palmtree and thanks for listening.

Hello, this isWild Suzhou.

Today, we willtalk about side-blotched lizards, a group of lizards that are unique because oftheir mating habits.

The side-blotchedlizard looks like an ordinary lizard. They are mainly dull browns and greys,with some white spots or stripes running down their backs. They don’t look veryinteresting, but as I said earlier, it’s their mating habits that have madethem famous. The males come in three types. Some have orange throats, some haveyellow throats, and some have blue throats. This might sound odd, but think ofhow humans can have different skin and hair colors.

Furthermore, thecolor of the side-blotched lizard’s throat also tells us how they mate. Orangemeans they are more aggressive and have larger territories with more females.Yellow lizards are not as aggressive and don’t have territories. Instead, theywill sneak into the orange lizard’s territory to mate with the females. Bluelizards have smaller territories and usually only one female, but they willteam up with other blue lizards.

This specialmating habit has given the side-blotched lizard the name of “rock paper scissorlizard” since each strategy for mating success has its positives and negatives.Orange males have larger territories with more females, which makes it moredifficult for blue males to succeed since they breed with only one female.However, yellow lizards will sneak into the territories of orange lizards andmate with females. Yellow lizards, however, can’t compete with blue lizardssince they are better at defending their territories, and other blue lizardshelp each other defend females in their territory. This creates a cycle oforange, yellow, and blue, or rock paper scissors.

In some places,scientists have noticed that some varieties of males have disappeared. Usually,the yellow lizards are the first to disappear, since they are no longer able tocompete with the orange and blue lizards. Sometimes, more than one color willdisappear. Because of this, the offspring of the side-blotched lizards in thatarea will start to change, meaning that new species of lizards might start toemerge after millions of years.

For Wild Suzhou,I’m Ciana, thanks for listening, and see you next time.