Close X
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Where butterflies, bees feed on crocodile tears!

Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 May, 2014 10:38 AM
    Look at those crocodile tears in your kid's eyes more carefully. These are an abundant source of salt and other rare minerals and proteins for some!
     
    Yes. An enthusiastic aquatic ecologist Carlos de la Rosa has captured butterflies and bees feeding on the tears of a crocodile relaxing on the banks of the Rio Puerto Viejo in northeastern Costa Rica.
     
    He watched in barely suppressed excitement for a quarter of an hour while the crocodile basked placidly and the insects fluttered about the corners of its eyes.
     
    “It was one of those natural history moments that you long to see up close," said de la Rosa, director at the Organisation for Tropical Field Studies in San Pedro, Costa Rica. 
     
    Though bountiful in the ocean, salt is often a rare and valuable resource on land, especially for vegetarians. 
     
    It is not uncommon to see butterflies sipping mineral-laden water from mud puddles. 
     
    When minerals are rare in the soil, animals sometimes gather salt and other rare minerals and proteins from sweat, tears, urine, and even blood.
     
    “Those are the kinds of things that, you know, you do not plan for them, you cannot plan for them,” de la Rosa said in a peer-reviewed letter appeared in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Soon, trees to deliver high-power storage devices

    Soon, trees to deliver high-power storage devices
    In a major breakthrough, scientists have found a novel way to make high-tech energy storage devices from your neighbourhood tree.

    Soon, trees to deliver high-power storage devices

    Revealed: How Chinese have faster eye movement

    Revealed: How Chinese have faster eye movement
    Ever wondered how quickly Chinese people move their eyes? It has nothing to do with the neurological behaviour or culture in people of Chinese origin.

    Revealed: How Chinese have faster eye movement

    Decoded: How You Decide Who Is More Popular

    Decoded: How You Decide Who Is More Popular
    Your brain knows for sure who attracts more eyeballs in your own circle as a new research has found how our brains recognise popular people. People track popularity largely through the brain region involved in anticipating rewards.

    Decoded: How You Decide Who Is More Popular

    How watching movies synchronises viewers' brains

    How watching movies synchronises viewers' brains
    Do you know that while watching a movie, your brain reacts to it immediately in a way similar to other people's brains? Researchers have succeeded in developing a method fast enough to observe immediate changes in the function of the brain even when watching a movie. 

    How watching movies synchronises viewers' brains

    Twitter, Facebook driving couples to break relationships!

    Twitter, Facebook driving couples to break relationships!
    Arguments over social media platforms among romantic partners are damaging relationships, ending in negative outcomes like emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce, a significant research reveals.

    Twitter, Facebook driving couples to break relationships!

    Have green tea to boost working memory

    Have green tea to boost working memory
     Have another cup of green tea after reading this, especially if you are in office. Researchers at University of Basel in Switzerland have found that green tea extract enhances the cognitive functions - in particular the working memory.

    Have green tea to boost working memory