Category: Mammals
These large ungulates have been domesticated for more than 10,000 years. All the 1.3 billion cattle in the world are thought to have originated from 80 progenitors in Turkey. Humans raise and use them for a variety of uses and products including meat, dairy products, leather, and as draft animals. Cattle are ruminants, which means they have a digestive system that allows them to eat poorly digestible plants as food. In addition to having a stomach with four specialized compartments, cattle regurgitate and chew their food, or “cud,”as an extra stage of digestion.
The age-defying Brandt’s bat
In most mammals, larger size correlates with longer lifespan, but that is not the case with the Brandt’s bat, who can live up to 41 years and weigh less than 0.28 ounces! These bats resemble larger, longer-lived mammals in that they mature slowly and have fewer offspring – but the size difference is dramatic: a female Bonobo lives for approximately 40 years as well, but she outweighs the Brandt’s bat by a factor of 3,771! Oddly enough, it is suspected that the mutated gene that causes the bat’s dwarfish size is the same one that leads to its long lifespan. Studying animals with unusual longevity like the Brandt’s bat does more than just satisfy our curiosity, it could lead to longer, healthier lifespans for humans and other animals!
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Discover Animals is a web-based educational resource offered by the NAIA
