Animals Evolution Avoided

Julian Worker

Description

A humorous book about animals that ought to exist, but never quite made it due to circumstances beyond their control. In this book, you will find the Green Fox, the Straight Snake of Assam, and the Garlic Rat of Alabama. Read about the penguin that provides a back-scratching service to other penguins, the skua that only builds vertical nests, and the snake that hangs from trees pretending to be a vine.

Sujets

• Humour

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 03 août 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785385568
• Langue: English

Extrait

Animals Evolution Avoided
From Gannets to Squids
Julian Worker




Animals Evolution Avoided
Published in 2016 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2016 AG Books under exclusive licence from Julian Worker
The right of Julian Worker to be identified as the author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK.



The United Kingdom
Scargill’s Gannet
Scargill’s Gannet has been extinct for about three hundred years. Whereas the seabird called the gannet has numerous colonies around the British coast, the numbers of Scargill’s Gannets gradually dwindled away until none were left. Scientists discovered skeletons of this bird embedded in logs and branches - their beaks stuck fast in the wood. It’s assumed that a degenerative eye disorder caused the birds to become short-sighted over thousands of years. Their original diet was thought to consist entirely of moles. The gannet would spot a molehill forming in a field and dive into the middle of the newly dug earth to pluck the mole out of the ground before flying off. Over the centuries, as their eyesight deteriorated, Scargill’s gannets mistook holes in logs for molehills and were unable to extricate themselves from the wood.
An adult Scargill’s Gannet would be roughly two feet high with a sharp beak and light-brown plumage. It’s thought they built their nests in tall trees overlooking grasslands, allowing them to sit on their nests and look for their prey at the same time. Scientists speculate that this apparent lack of exercise might have led to the gannets suffering from various illnesses including the eye disease that caused their demise. They may have suffered from an early form of avian diabetes.
Scientists can only speculate why the gannet species should have two distinct branches, one hunting over the sea and the other over the land. The best explanation is that some gannets mistook windswept grass on the tops of cliffs as the frothing waters of the sea and started diving on the moles that were appearing there, mistaking them for furry fish.
The Leicestershire Waterboarding Duck
Evolution has been kind to the duck family. Ducks are viewed as benign creatures, who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. However, don’t be fooled by the ducks that have survived through to the modern day. A few centuries ago a particular branch of the duck family, called the waterboarding ducks, were found in parts of Leicestershire and Rutland where they terrorised the local wildfowl populations.
Ducks such as the teal and the mallard are called dabbling ducks, which means they tip up in shallow water, putting their beaks and heads under the water to look for things to eat. The waterboarding ducks were dabbling ducks of a different kind and behaved in two different ways. If another duck was already in the dabbling position, the waterboarding duck would ambush the dabbling duck and try and drown it by forcing its backside under the water. The dabbling duck would come to the surface, but would be disoriented and the waterboarding duck would then steal whatever food was in its beak.
The other tactic used by the waterboarding duck was to force other ducks to dabble by grabbing their throat and forcing their head under water. The duck would by nature try and feed and then once it had caught something, again the waterboarding duck would steal its food.
The behaviour of the waterboarding ducks alienated them from other waterfowl, who would always fly away, perhaps not surprisingly, when the waterboarding ducks came near. This behaviour led to many waterboarding ducks starving to death as they had lost their innate ability to find food for themselves.
The Green Fox
The Green Fox lived in the lowlands of Scotland before the last ice age where its green coat allowed it to hunt freely in the fields and grasslands of the region. This natural camouflage meant the fox was able to pick off its prey with ease and the numbers of green foxes proliferated to such an extent that many foxes had to move further and further away to catch prey.
The longer journey time spent on hunts meant an increase in pressure on the leg joints of the foxes and soon the species began to suffer from arthritic hips and ankle joints. Scientists have found evidence of this condition in skeletons of green foxes discovered in the Melrose and Selkirk areas of the Scottish Borders.
With their ability to walk and sprint after prey severely depleted the number of green foxes began to fall. As a result, the numbers of the prey typically caught by foxes, such as rabbits, songbirds, and rats began to rebound. The increase in prey would have led to the green fox’s regeneration, if the last Ice Age hadn’t come along and spoiled everything.
With the increased amounts of ice and snow and with glaciers cutting through the countryside, the Scottish lowlands became predominately white. The green foxes natural colouring now worked against them. Prey could see them coming for miles and kept out of their way. The foxes tried to move south towards greener pastures, but their arthritic joints counted against them and it’s believed the Green Fox species died out about 12,000 years ago.
However, it is entirely possible that a strain of the Green Fox species did make it through to the southern part of England, where the glaciers didn’t reach, and where prey was plentiful. Over time their coats may have changed to fit in with their surroundings and some of the foxes seen today in most of the UK could be descended from Green Foxes who made that epic migration 12,000 years ago.
The More-Spotted Sooty Owl of Brecon
The More-Spotted Sooty Owl lives in South Wales and is pitch black with a prevalence of white spots covering the feathers. The winter plumage contains more spots than the summer plumage. The owl is chiefly found in the western part of the Brecon Beacons National Park in the area from Crai towards Myddfai and Llandeilo. This area comprises farmland with woods, ideal for the owl and its unusual hunting methods.
The owl hunts on foot at night in the woods. The plumage provides camouflage because as moonlight bathes the woods, shadows are cast on the ground, and the owl’s feathers look like dappled moonlight against the darkness. The owl will often stand completely still and watch the mice and rats without being seen by them.
The owl uses its claws to walk up the trunks of trees, so as not to cause any noise by flapping its wings. This cunning creature will also keep its presence unknown by walking up the trunk on the side of the tree furthest away from potential prey, thus maintaining the element of surprise. It will then edge around the trunk and fall on the prey from a height of ten feet or so.
Once the sun begins to rise, the owl will return to its nest high in the trees and sleep. Before sleeping, the More-Spotted Sooty Owl will fly around its habitat for 30 minutes. Ornithologists originally thought the owl did this to find new hunting areas, but it now seems the owl is simply exercising its wings. The 30-minute flight keeps the wings healthy and the muscles toned. If the owl didn’t fly, the muscles would atrophy and the bird would not be able to fly properly within two years.
The Banxie - Orkney Islands
In the Orkney Islands, off the North-East coast of Scotland, there are found many well-known types of Skua, such as the Great Skua and the Arctic Skua. The Great Skua is known as the Bonxie and is a murderous bird that mugs other birds for their food. There is another type of Skua, less well-known, called The Lesser Great Skua, which is now affectionately known as The Banxie. The Banxie is a pleasant bird that eats seeds and seasonal fruits, almost apologetically, and is the polar opposite of The Bonxie
The Banxie is a bird that uses other bird’s nests after they have vacated them. It will also nest in gutters, on rooves, and in depressions in the ground on cliff tops. The main reason for this behaviour is that The Banxie can’t build a nest to hold eggs. The Banxie is a very artistic bird, building triangular nests, square nests, and hexagonal nests. The only problem is these nests are almost always built vertically, rather than horizontally. The bird does occasionally build horizontal nests, but they tend to have no bottom in them so that any eggs laid would immediately land on the ground.
Nests built by Lesser Great Skuas use sticks from many different trees and the bird creates wonderfully colourful nests as a result. The bird uses its strong beak to weave sticks together and the resulting creations look like wreaths.