Maine Coon

Maine Coon Cats

My new kitty

     

      A Maine Coon also known as the American longhair is one of the oldest breeds of cat in north America. This cat is mainly native to Maine. Males can weigh up to 25 pounds while girls can weigh up to 15 pounds. They are solid and muscular and is adapted to cold weather by having long hair. 

     There are only therories and folktale on there origins. One says it all started by Marie Antoinette the queen of France executed in 1793. It says before she died she had a plan to escape France. She had help from Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded all her prize possessions on Clough's ship including four of her cats. Although she didn't make it to the USA, her cats did. 

     

 

Abu Simbel Temples

Abu Simbel Temples

 

 

     These ancient temples are located in southern Egypt. It is believed that they were built between the years of 1264BC and finished in the year of 1244BC. 

     They were created to impress Egypt's southern neighbor's and to reinforce the statues of Egyptian religion.

     Later when they were abandoned by the 6th century they were already barried in sand. They wernt discovered until 1813 when Swiss orientologists Jean-Louis Burckhardt found the top od the building. He told an Italian explorer who managed to dig out the entrance after two attempts in 1817. When he got in he stole anything he thought would be worth something. 

 

 

 

 

 

 statues and stories of religion

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Great pyramid of Giza

 

The Great Pyramid of Giza

 

     The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest pyramid in Egypt. It is also the oldest and best built of the seven wonders of the world. It is 481ft tall and was the tallest man made statue for at least 3,800 years. It was constructed in the years of 2560-2540 BC and took twenty years to complete. It consists of an estimated guess of 2.3 million lime stones, 8,000 tons of granite, and 500,000 tons of mortar. Many people can only have theories on how and why it was built. One says it took at least 20,000 men in two groups to complete it. It was supposedly built as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desert

 

Deserts

 

     Deserts are landscapes or a region that recieve an extremely low amount of rain fall, barely enough to support plant life. There are two main kinds of deserts. The first one is hot deserts. This kind of desert has sand and is very hot. The other one is a cold desert. This kind is covered with ice and snow and is below freezing year round.  Sand covers 20% of earths deserts.
     Animals in hot deserts stay hidden durring the day until the cooler tempeture of the night. For humans this can be a fatal enviroment if your not prepared. Sand storms is only one problem. Sand storms can last hours or even days at a time.
                 

    

The ten largest deserts

Rank	Desert	Area (km²)	Area (mi²)
1	Antarctic Desert (Antarctica)	13,829,430	5,339,573
2	Arctic Desert (Arctic)	13,726,937	5,300,000
3	Sahara Desert (Africa)	9,100,000+	3,320,000+
4	Arabian Desert (Middle East)	2,330,000	900,000
5	Gobi Desert (Asia)	1,300,000	500,000
6	Kalahari Desert (Africa)	900,000	360,000
7	Patagonian Desert (South America)	670,000	260,000
8	Great Victoria Desert (Australia)	647,000	250,000
9	Syrian Desert (Middle East)	520,000	200,000
10	Great Basin Desert (North America)	492,000	190,000

 

Taiga

Taiga

     The Taiga is the worlds largest biome. It covers most of Canada and Alaska, the continental u.s.a., Sweden, Finland, much of Norway, coastal parts of Iceland, much of Russia, Mongolia, and northern Japan.

     Taiga's have what most people don't like. Long winter's and short summer's. The lowest temperature during winter is at least -65 degrees F and the highest temperatures can be 30 degrees F. In summer the lowest temperature is at least 30 degrees F. The highest temperature can be 70 degrees F. 

       

 

      Many plants have adapted to the harsh winter months. Plants have special forms that help them survive like having needle shaped leaves and thick bark. It helps them by reducing water and stopping from being weighed down from the snow. Some of the trees in Taigas are Spruce, Pine, Maple, ect. Plants tend to grow close together so that the wind and snow wont affect them badly.

     Like plants, animals had to adapt to be able to survive. They grew thick fur, and some adapted to be able to use camouflage. Some of the animals you can find here are bald eagles, lynx, fox, wolverine, otter, bobcat, grizzly bear, geese, woodpecker, black bear, wolves, rabbit, owls, and many more.

     

Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

     The Tropical Rainforest is a type of biome that is a very humid. Its temperatures can be higher than 80 degrees but rarely passes 93 degrees. You can find these rainforests in south America, Africa, and southeast Asia. It has a wide variety of plants and animals. The highest trees can be 240 ft high and the smallest can be 60 ft high.  (this is not including saplings) When a tree falls the saplings grow quickly to reach the top. The plants produce 40% of the worlds oxygen. 1/4 of the worlds medicine come from the plants that live here. It is believed that many plants hold cures for big diseases such as cancer. It is estimated that the remaining rainforests will be consumed in the next 40 years. GO HERE to learn more.

                                                                       

Megalodon

Megalodon

      Megalodon is a prehistoric shark that lived 28 to 1.5 million years ago. In Greek it means big tooth. It is one of the most largest and powerful predators in vertebrate history. Fossils left behind show that they got up to 67 ft long. It looks like a much bigger version of a great white shark. 
      The most common fossils are its teeth. Like most sharks the Megalodon's skeleton was mainly made up of cartilage. teeth of this creature can be as big as 7''. Their fossils can be found in both Americas, Africa, Europe, and New Zealand. 
      Some scientist believe that its a relative of the great white. Its bite force shows that it probably hunted whales.
      The Megalodon's extinction remains a mystery and is still under investigation.Their theories are... Around that time the ocean was cooling and the sea level was dropping. The decline in food supply, and new competition. 
                                                                                 

Irish Elk

Irish Elk

human vs giant elk

     The Megaloceros family was a genus of deer that lived through out Europe. This family was important to their environment during the ice age. The largest of this species was the Irish Elk or Giant Elk. They first appeared about 400,000 years ago. They stood about 7 ft at their shoulders and their antlers were about 12 ft from point to point. They weighed about 1,200 to 1,300 pounds. Their are different theories on how they became extinct. First, male elk is said to have had a problem similar to osteoporosis. Second, soon after the ice age their habitat changed and so didn't the vegetation. Their land was decreasing little by little and humans hunted and interfeared in their life more. It is not certain but for what ever reason these giant deer became extinct about 7,700 years ago.

 

American Lion

     The American Lion  was one of the largest cats to ever exist. It is 25% bigger than a modern lion. It stood at 4 ft at the shoulders and weighed about 560 pounds. The bones that have been found closely resemble a modern lion just bigger.

     Most big predators of this time became extinct during the Pleistocene. So didn't the American Lion. Most animals of this time became extinct because of the La Brea tar pits. Fewer specimen have been found of the American lion then other species of that time like the saber tooth cat. This suggest that the American Lion were smarter to stay away from it. The American lion hunted deer, American horses, American camels, American tapirs, American bison, mammoth and other herbivores. The American Lion can live in cold conditions. They probably took shelter in caves and put grass and leaves on the bottom like the Siberian tiger. Their fossils can be found as far as Alaska.

                                                          

New Mexico Whiptail

New Mexico Whiptail

 

 

     Found in New Mexico, Arizona, Chicuahua Mexico is a little lizard called a New Mexico Whiptail lizard. It grows to be at least 8 inches. It comes in a couple different colors which are brown and black. It has stripes that are pale yellow that start from its head and end all the way at the tail. Also, it sometimes has pale yellow spots between the stripes. It has a long tail which helped it get its name. It can live in grasslands, rocky areas, shrub lands and forest.

 



Dingo

 Dingo

       

       A dingo is a wolf that mainly lives in Australia. It can survive in deserts, grasslands, and forests as long as there near water. They communicate by howling and whimpering. Barking is usually a warning signal. In warm climates they are nocturnal and in cooler climates they stay awake during the daytime. Dingos have a broad head and a pointed muzzle.There canines are long and sharp and there eyes tend to be yellow, orange, or brown. There fur's length and thickness depends on where the dingo lives. It could be sandy, reddish-brown, tan, black, light brown,and sometimes white.

A dingos diet is made up of 170 species. They eat red kangaroo, swamp wallaby, cattle, rats, geese, possum, rabbit, pig, lizards, wombat, fish, crab, beetles, seal, and even penguin. 

Dingos usually travel alone but some actually have packs made up of three to twelve.

 The causes of death for these animals are humans, crocodiles, dogs, other dingos, starvation, dehydration, snakebite, and injures during hunting. Sickness is another way. Dingos can get the same diseases as domestic dogs. 38 different kinds of parasites can be found on a dingo. this can cause canine distemper, heart worms, hook worms, lung worms, whip worms, hepatitis, ticks and lice.

  Usually dingos are very shy towards humans. But sometimes awful thing happen. Dingos were fed by humans so they got used to them. In past reports it show attacks on small children. It is now illegal to feed them. 

Blue Poison Dart Frog

    Blue Poison Dart Frog

      The Blue Poison Dart Frog was discovered in 1968. It weighs about 8 grams and live up to 4 to 6 years in the wild and 10 years in captivity. Its skin color is a warning to predators around it. It has alkaloid poison covering its entire body. This poison can paralyze  and even kill its predators. The insects it eats allows it to have the poison to protect itself. Its only predator is the snake leimadphis epinephdus. This snake developed a kind of resistance to the frogs toxin. Indigenous people of Brazil use the poison to coat there arrows which can last up to two years.

                                                                      

Golden Poison Frog

GOLDEN DART FROG

     The golden dart frog is one of the most poisonous animals on earth. It has Alkaloid poison covering its body. This poison causes nerves to stop transmitting impulses, it puts muscles in an inactive state of contraction. Which can lead to heart failure. To set one thing clear, animals like the golden dart frog are not venomous. For an animal to be venomous it has to have something to inject the venom like fangs or spikes. Poisonous animals and plants don't have those things so it relys on transference of the toxin. Unlike some animals that are poisonous it only uses its poison for self defense. The average golden dart frog contains one milligram of poison. This is enough to kill 10,000 mice, 10 to 20 humans, or 2 African bull elephants. The Embera people expose this frog to fire and collect its poison and soak there arrows in it. This can be good and deadly for up to 2 years.

Saltwater Crocodile

SALTWATER CROCODILE

     

     The saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile still living. There ranges are from Australia to Africa to even the Americas. This animal is in the least concern column. When this animal is born is can only eat little things like birds and insects and sometimes small fish. When its older it has a better variety. It can eat monkeys, kangaroos, wild boar, dingos, snakes, turtles, birds, livestock, pets, humans, water buffalo, bats, and even sharks. In 2011 a very big saltwater crocodile killed a Bengal tiger. This is the only record of this kind of attack. The only species that cross there territory that cannot be consumed or killed, at least there are no records of it, is Asian elephants and Asian rhino species. The biggest capture of a saltwater crocodile to be living was in September 2011. This crocodile was 21ft long. It was captured in the Philippines and has a possible man killer past.
It is rare for a saltwater crocodile to attack humans in Australia. There are at least 1 or 2 a year. When this happens it will most likely be on the news. Durring the Japanese retreat in the battle of Ramree Island on February 19, 1945, saltwater crocodiles may be responsible for over 400 deaths. The British soldiers had them surrounded and they had to spend the night in saltwater crocodile territory. Gustave is a saltwater crocodile that was estimated to be 60 years old in 2004. He has consumed over 300 people from the banks of Ruzizi river and Lake Tanganyika. The people in this area show much fear over him. Many attempt to find him have happened over the years. The last time he was spotted was in 2008 by National Geographic. This crocodile is known for the bullet scars that mark his body. There is one on his head and three on his right side.