Giant Rabbits Found in Spain

At one time, the rabbit is not thecute little animals , this carrots eater who is good at jumping to and fro.

Therefore, a research that has been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology recently, researchers have discovered fossils of a giant rabbit which the size is six times greater than modern rabbits which we meet today.

An paleontology expert (the study of animal fossil and plants) from Spain who named Josep Quintana, recently succed to get a giant rabbit fossil named Nuralgus rex, from a rock on the island of Minorca, Spain.

"I need four years to be able to get Nuralgus rex bone samples from the hard red stone," said Quintana, a researcher from the Institute of Paleontology Barcelona, Spain, quoted from the LiveScience website.

Quintana had to use hundreds of liters of acetic acid, vinegar of high concentration to be able to take the fossil skull of this giant rabbit. He estimates, these giant rabbits live about 3-5 million years ago.

Rabbit has a weight of 12 kg weighing, a pair of shorter legs, shorter spine, so it was hard to jump. "I think this animal like a rabbit who awkwardly able to walk. Imagine just like a beaver out of the water," said Quintana.

With a pair of small eyes, this rabbit has a vision that sharpless. This Rabbits also do not have the hallmark just like the other modern rabbit, like big ears. Therefore, he also has a not good hearing. 

However, this rabbit did not have to worry about predators who could eat them. Rabbits are just next door to bats, dormice (ancient rodent), and a giant tortoise.

Based on the claw-shaped curve, researchers believe that this animal is a wily diggers, and live rely on tubers plant.

"More than last 40 million years the rabbits families were known to have approximately the same with modern rabbit. Now the discovery of a giant rabbit adding the existing treasures," said Mary Dawson, rabbit scientists from Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh.

The discovery of this giant rabbit is in compliance with applicable laws on that island. The law says that the big animal, in a longer period will getting smaller, because of dwindling food supplies, while small animals would often be greater, in the absence of predators.

Looking ahead, Quintana will propose that the giant rabbit is being a mascot for Minorca's Island. "I want these giant rabbits attract students and travelers to visit to this island," he said.

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Posted in: Animal,Fauna,Giant Rabbit,Rabbit,Science

FAQ Knowledge: Why is Sausage In A Bread Roll Called A Hot Dog?

Q: Why is a sausage in a bread roll called a hot dog?
A: The name is a reference to dachshunds --- called "sausage dogs" because of their long bodies and short legs. Long sausages caught on in the United States in the nineteenth century. The term "hot dog" was popularised by cartoonist Tad Dorgan in the early 1900s when he sketched vendors selling the sausages from hot-water tanks.

Q: Mercury is a liquid metal. How is it mined?
A: As mercury --- the only metal that is liquid at room temperature -- is also highly posionous, mining it in its liquid state would be extremely hazardous. Fortunately, it's found in the earth's crust in the form of solid mineral ore --- most commonly cinnabar, a soft reddish-brown deposit.


To extract the metal, the ore is heated, realeasing mercury vapour that is passed through a series of tubes to condense it into the silvery-white liquid found in thermometers.


Q: Why don't sleeping birds fall off their perches?
A: Sleeping birds stay upright on their perches thanks to the flexor tendon that runs down the back of their legs and under their feet, explains Garry Cross, professor of animal health at University of Sydney's Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. When a bird lands on a perch, its legs bend, causing the tendon to automatically tighten and flex the toes, thus closing the claws firmly round the perch. The sleeping bird's weight forces knobby projections on the tendon to lock into a ridged sheath surrounding one section of it, preventing the tendon from sliding. As soon as the bird wakes and straightens its legs to leave the perch, the tendon relaxes and the grip is released.


Q: Is it true that you wouldn't feel the pain immediately if a shark bit off your leg?
A: Survivors of shark attacks talk of having felt a powerful tug of sharp blow, rather than the excruciating pain you'd expect. This is probably because under conditions of extreme stress, such as serious injury, brain signals tell the body to produce pain-killers and mood elevators called endorphins and enkephalins, similar in chemical structure to morphine. The speed and shock of an attack can trigger production of enough these chemicals to delay the pain.


Q: Why are politicians' advisers called 'spin doctors'?
A: The term was first used in The New York Times in 1984 during US President Ronald Reagan's campaign for re-election.


"Spin" is a sporting metaphor for the twist given to a ball by a baseball pitcher, which can be compared to the slant put on information presented by politicians or their advisers.


"Doctor" is used in the figurative sense to mean someone who mends or patches up --- or more sinisterly, tampers or falsifies.


Q: Why can't you tickle yourself?
A: The human brain can tell which sensation are caused by our own actions, and gives them low priority. That way, it can be more receptive to stimuli from outside sources that may be more urgent, such as the pain of burning your hand, or the sound of a crying child.


Being tickled by someone else can reduce you to a squirming jelly, but when you try to tickle yourself a message called the corollary discharge is sent round the brain, which anticipates your actions and dulls the sensation.


A recent study conducted at the Institute of Neurology in London, using a magnetic resonance imaging scanner to map brain activity, suggests that the cerebellum -- the part of the brain that controls movement -- is involved in processing the corollary discharge.

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Posted in: Birds,FAQ,Knowledge,Mercury,Politician Advisers,Sausage,Shark,Spin Doctors,Tickle