a—ka-l-t—yn: revretch: revretch: Surpri
Jun. 27th, 2020 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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a—ka-l-t—yn:
revretch:
revretch:
Surprised to find I have looped around to thinking mammals and birds are more interesting than amphibians and non-avian reptiles. Just, after all this research into other animals, I can truly appreciate how fucked up mammals and birds are for vertebrates. The first one went deep in the ground and altered its biology at a fundamental level to get by on as little oxygen as it could, the second went high into the sky and altered its biology at a fundamental level to make as much use of oxygen as it could, and they are entirely unlike any other animals with bones as a result.
Still love herps, though, obviously. They just feel like the inoffensive normal animals now.
Mammals have red blood cells with no nuclei. This is not normal. As a result, our red blood cells can’t divide, and we have to make our blood in our bones. This is to keep our blood cells’ demands for oxygen at a minimum, so they can devote themselves entirely to just transporting oxygen.
Birds, on the other hand, make such excessive use of oxygen that they have various sacs throughout their bodies to work as accessory lungs, and entirely hollowed out their bones to use those as lungs, too.
Mammals are moist. They are very, VERY moist. You cut one, and it gushes. And, as you may have noticed, we are also warm. This creates a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and other microbes. We are absolutely full of them. Llamas aim for the eyes when they spit, because that can cause an infection that goes straight to the brain. Cat claws and teeth cause an infection that kills a bird swiftly. Mammals are rarely poisonous because they don’t need to be.
Birds have gone the other route. Their bodies are much hotter than mammals, but as we mentioned with how much of them is empty air, they are also much drier. Their beaks barely retain any saliva at all.
“Fish,” amphibians, and non-avian reptiles represent a neat line going up to land from water, and mammals and birds represent the forking point to go to the ground and sky from there, respectively. (Generally speaking, of course–every group will have its exceptions.)
I just think that’s really cool!
I’ve never considered how moist mammals are and now I can’t stop
a—ka-l-t—yn:
revretch:
revretch:
Surprised to find I have looped around to thinking mammals and birds are more interesting than amphibians and non-avian reptiles. Just, after all this research into other animals, I can truly appreciate how fucked up mammals and birds are for vertebrates. The first one went deep in the ground and altered its biology at a fundamental level to get by on as little oxygen as it could, the second went high into the sky and altered its biology at a fundamental level to make as much use of oxygen as it could, and they are entirely unlike any other animals with bones as a result.
Still love herps, though, obviously. They just feel like the inoffensive normal animals now.
Mammals have red blood cells with no nuclei. This is not normal. As a result, our red blood cells can’t divide, and we have to make our blood in our bones. This is to keep our blood cells’ demands for oxygen at a minimum, so they can devote themselves entirely to just transporting oxygen.
Birds, on the other hand, make such excessive use of oxygen that they have various sacs throughout their bodies to work as accessory lungs, and entirely hollowed out their bones to use those as lungs, too.
Mammals are moist. They are very, VERY moist. You cut one, and it gushes. And, as you may have noticed, we are also warm. This creates a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and other microbes. We are absolutely full of them. Llamas aim for the eyes when they spit, because that can cause an infection that goes straight to the brain. Cat claws and teeth cause an infection that kills a bird swiftly. Mammals are rarely poisonous because they don’t need to be.
Birds have gone the other route. Their bodies are much hotter than mammals, but as we mentioned with how much of them is empty air, they are also much drier. Their beaks barely retain any saliva at all.
“Fish,” amphibians, and non-avian reptiles represent a neat line going up to land from water, and mammals and birds represent the forking point to go to the ground and sky from there, respectively. (Generally speaking, of course–every group will have its exceptions.)
I just think that’s really cool!
I’ve never considered how moist mammals are and now I can’t stop
