Kookaburras have a very famous laughing call which is usually joined by several other birds in chorus and together they can make a deafening noise, especially at dawn and dusk. For this reason they are sometimes called the "Bushman's Alarm Clock", as they wake everybody up early in the morning, and sound their riotous alarm again at sunset when it's time to go to bed. Kookaburras live for 20 years or more in the same family group. They pair for life and build their nest in a hole in their favourite tree. (http://www.kipandco.com.au/Main/Wildlife/kookaburra.html)
Bumblebees (Bombidae) leave their nest in the autumn, and the fertilized queens hibernate in some protected place during the winter. In the spring each queen builds a nest of moss or grass, preferably in a deserted rodent nest. From scales secreted by abdominal glands, she makes a honeypot of wax and then makes a cell and half fills it with pollen before depositing her eggs in it. The queen covers the eggs with a layer of wax and sits on them like a brooding hen, sipping honey from her pot. After the larvae hatch, they eat the pollen and grow, then spin cocoons in which to pupate. When the workers emerge, they cut away the upper half of the cells, and the remainder is used as a receptacle for nectar.Bumblebee populations vary from year to year, depending on environmental factors; but one typical nest collected in Wisconsin contained one queen, 515 adult workers, 117 worker and 119 queen pupae, 101 larvae, 308 eggs contained in 18 cells on cylinders of pollen, and 709 empty worker cells filled with honey.
The larger workers maintain the covering over the nest and collect food, and the smaller ones care for the young larvae and do the inside work. Only males are produced late in the summer, and female larvae literally may be thrown out to control the population. When workers lay eggs, the queen may chase the workers away and eat the eggs; but if the queen dies or is removed, one of the larger workers will take her place within four hours or less. The difference in size of workers depends upon the amount of food they have available to eat when they are larvae.
Bumblebees are superior to other bees in pollinating red clover, since they have a tongue that is 2.5 mm (0.1 in) longer than that of honeybees. Artificial methods of rearing bumblebees have been successful, but a better technique may be to encourage natural populations by providing forage plants that bloom eight to nine weeks prior to red clover, so that the colonies have abundant food on which to raise their young.
(http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1INSECTS/bumblebeefax.html)
A manatee can move each side of its lip pads independently. This flexibility allows the manatee to "grab" aquatic plants and draw them into its mouth. Manatees do not have eyelashes, their eye muscles close in a circular motion, much like an aperture on a camera. They have a lid-like membrane (called a nictitating membrane) that closes over their eyes for protection when they are under water. Manatees can hear very well despite the absence of external ear lobes. A manatee's heart beats at a rate of 50 to 60 beats a minute. The heart rate slows down to 30 beats a minute during a long dive. Manatees have no "biting" teeth, only "grinding" teeth. A manatee's teeth (all molars) are constantly being replaced. New teeth come in at the back of the jaw and move forward about a centimeter a month. The front molars eventually fall out and are replaced by the teeth behind them. This tooth replacement is an adaptation to the manatee's diet, as it consumes plants that may hold a lot of sand. Manatees have only six cervical (neck) vertebrae. Most all other mammals, including giraffes, have seven. As a result, manatees cannot turn their heads sideways, they must turn their whole body around to look behind them. The manatee's rib bones are solid, there is no marrow. They make red blood cells in their sternum where marrow is found. The manatee has pelvic bones, but they are not attached to its skeletal frame, they are remnants of the time manatees lived on land. The bones are found in a cartilage tissue area of the body in the vicinity of the reproductive organs and the urinary bladder. The bones are soft when the manatee is young and later harden as they mature. Other remnant bones found in the manatee are the hyoid bones located near the neck region. These bones are similar to the Adam's apple in humans. Today, there is no known use of these bones in the manatee. The manatee's lungs lie along its backbone instead of along its rib cage as is found in most mammals. The lungs are long (1 meter or more in adults), wide (20 cm), and thin (5 cm or less). Besides breathing, the lungs help the manatee with buoyancy control. The bones in a manatee's flipper are similar to a human hand. The jointed "finger bones" of the flipper help the manatee move through the water, bring food to its mouth, and hold objects. Three or four nails are found at the end of each flipper. The adult manatee averages about 10 feet long and weighs about 1000 pounds.(http://www.swimwithamanatee.biz/general/fun_facts.htm)
SWIM WITH A MANATEE.
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