The goldfish (Carassius auratus) belongs to the carp family to which the common carp or Koi fish belongs. It was originally domesticated as normal grey or silver fish by the ancient Chinese. In several cases, the grey fish produced mutated fish that was yellow, orange or red. The yellowish orange (golden) fish were chosen to be…
Jellyfish are free-swimming invertebrate animals found in the oceans. They are one of the oldest animals on earth dating from more than 500 million years ago. Most jellyfish are transparent and umbrella shaped. They are made of 98 per cent water. If a jellyfish washes up to the shore, it immediately evaporates and becomes almost…
It is known that all vertebrate animals yawn. The cause of yawning is not fully understood, but it is surely contagious. Ostriches are known to yawn as soon as they are hatched. Yawning happens mostly before sleep. At night, when ostriches are ready to settle down, they yawn in groups. First, the leader yawns, followed…
Whales are the world’s largest animals and are found in the oceans. Whales are mammals which feed milk to their young ones and breathe air. Since they do not have gills they cannot breathe under water but have to come up to the surface of water to breathe. The air is breathed in and out…
A dragonfly is a double winged insect with its forewings larger than the hind wings. When the dragonfly is at rest, the wings are held perpendicular to its body. These insects eat other small insects. Robert John Tillyard, while studying the genus Austrophlebia, found that the dragonfly could fly nearly at the rate of fifty…
The three wise monkeys were popularized in Japan and are believed to be part of the Chinese philosopher Confucius’ teachings on the human code of conduct. These three monkeys depict the three principles of see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Mizaru is depicted covering his eyes with his hands that symbolizes see…
