Interesting Creatures.

Of all the things from my school days, the one very interesting activity for me was finding contrasting facts to the orthodox view of how things are. On leaving school and a good time later I started to notice how many creatures, at different times, did not quite fit a designated nomenclature. From the Archeopteryx to the Sea Slug, they have unique differences. Possibly the Immortal Jellyfish should head the list for an individual creature category due to the length of time of survival. I was quite surprised to discover that the humble spider, as a species, lived one hundred and fifty million years before the Dinosaurs. Human existence is not quite on the same scale as the earliest forms that appeared 2.4 million years ago and was named homo habilis and nicknamed Handy Man.

Sea creatures include a huge array of beings. If we leave the water for a moment and become acquainted with Pakicetus a goat sized creature with legs that walked on land yet was the forerunner to the family of marine animals that include dolphins and whales. While we are on dry land, it is a good time to notice the Lungfish, living fossils that leave the water for an excursion on dry land. The Mudskipper is an amphibious creature that thrives in air and water, and exhibits both legs and tail. To complete the journey of life from sea to land, three hundred and seventy million years ago lived a fish that had four legs for movement on dry land. It has a nearly unpronounceable name of Ichthyostega.

There are many sea creatures that share the name fish but belong to other classifications such as the Starfish, Silverfish, Cuttlefish, Hagfish, Devilfish and Jellyfish, to name just a few. The fact that some creatures developed the ability to move from sea to land and then some others took the route from land to sea should not be too surprising as life may have emerged initially from the sea.

I can not close without mentioning some fascinating creatures such as the Octopus that is highly intelligent and has three hearts. It also has a copper based blood system that is blue and a dual function of sustaining life and acting as a poison if discharged against a predator. It has eight arms with independent nervous centres as well as a central brain. It has an ability to camouflage itself with not only colour but texture of its skin is second to none.

The Duck Billed Platypus is placed in the order of Monotremata. One of its characteristics is that it is an egg laying mammal that provides milk for their young. It lives in the water as well as dry land. It does not have a stomach and it has a poisonous spur on its hind leg. It also has webbed feet and is covered in fur.

There is no end to the interesting facts and diversity of life. Apart from the sad fact that a significant number of creatures each day become extinct, there is an even larger number of new creatures that are being discovered. Nature for now seems to be a continuous process of propagating the world with varied life and long may it continue.