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Amazing Fact About SEA OTTER

Mitali k

There are many types of otters in the world. Some live on land, some in freshwater, others in the sea. Some live in the Americas, others in Asia. However, only one species of otter is fully aquatic – Enhydra lutris. This is the species known as the sea otter. They have webbed feet and powerful tails, which act as rudders, making them strong swimmers. Otters belong to the weasel family, which also includes weasels, honey badgers, and skunks among others.

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Scientific Classification Of Sea Otters:

Sea otters belong to the kingdom Animalia, the phylum Chordata, and the class Mammalia. They are part of the Mustelidae family, which includes other carnivorous mammals like weasels, honey badgers, and skunks. Furthermore, sea otters fall under the order Carnivora, which encompasses a wide range of carnivorous species.

marinemammalcenter.org

Sea Otters Habitat – Coastlines and Oceans:

Sea otters are primarily found along the coastlines of the North Pacific Ocean. Their habitat ranges from Russia to Alaska, and they also inhabit the western coast of North America, down to California. They prefer environments with rocky shorelines, kelp forests, and coastal estuaries where they can find their favorite food sources.

Average Lifespan:

In the wild, sea otters have an average lifespan of around 9 years. However, in captivity, they can live up to an impressive 21 years.

Diet – Carnivores of the Ocean:

As carnivores, sea otters have a diverse diet, allowing them to maintain their energetic lifestyle. Their menu typically includes sea urchins, crabs, mussels, clams, and various other invertebrates found in their coastal habitats.

IUCN Red List Status – Endangered:

Sadly, despite their charm and significance in the ecosystem, sea otters are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. They face numerous threats, including historical overhunting for their fur, habitat loss, pollution, and oil spills, which have severely impacted their population.

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are marine mammals belonging to the Mustelidae family. There are two main types or species of sea otters:

Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni): This species is found along the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean, including Alaska, Canada, Russia, and Japan.

Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis): This species inhabits the coastal waters of California, USA.

sciencenews.org

Sea Otters: A Fascinating Journey through Their Taxonomy

The classification of living organisms provides us with a systematic way to understand their evolutionary relationships and biological characteristics. Sea otters, like all living beings, are categorised within the taxonomic hierarchy, starting from the broadest category down to the most specific. Let’s take a closer look at the taxonomic classification of sea otters:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Mustelidae

theguardian

Here are some interesting facts about sea otters:

1. Sea otters have the highest density of fur of all animals. They average 1 million hairs every square inch. The hair keeps them warm!

2. Sea otters use their armpits as a carry bag. They have loose and saggy skin in their armpits that create space for them to store things like rocks. They use rocks as a tool to help them crack hard-shelled clams for food.

3. They can hold their breath for 5 minutes. They can search for food underwater for extended periods of time thanks to their enormous lung capacity.

4. Sea otters love deep dives. Most of their dives are within 60 feet of the surface, although they can dive as deep as 300 feet for food.

5. Otters sleep on their backs while floating and they hold hands when they sleep, so they do not drift apart. A group of sea otters floating together is called a raft.

6. Sea otters can eat 25% of their body weight in food each day. Their diet is varied but you can commonly find them munching on sea urchins, crabs, mussels and clams.

7. Approximately 90 percent of the world’s sea otters live in coastal Alaska.

8. Sea Otters are considered a keystone species.

9. Keystone species are those plants or animals that play a vital role in the working of the ecosystem.

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Taylor Swift Creates History 

Mitali k

American superstar Taylor Swift now has more number-one albums than any other woman in history, after the recent release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”. The record has become the pop queen’s 12th number-one album on the US  music charts, beating Barbra Streisand, who previously held the record with 11 number-one albums. Barbra Streisand is a 1970s singer. The album is a re-recorded version of one she released in 2010.

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Word Check: Billboard Advertising founded in 1894, hosts an annual and popular music awards. Billboard also comes out with weekly charts, including the Billboard 200 albums and the Hot 100 singles chart. 

Some interesting facts about Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift’s full name is Taylor Alison Swift. She was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States on December 13, 1989.

She grew up on a Christmas tree farm from the age of 5 to 10

Taylor Swift fans call themselves “Swifties”. The nickname is based on Taylor’s surname.

The Clive Davis Institute in New York has a course that focuses on the career and cultural impact of Taylor!

Some of her songs are texts she wanted to send to people in her life. 

She wrote a young-adult fiction novel when she was just 14 years old.

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Did Human Ancestors Live Alongside Dinosaurs?

Mitali k

Researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of Fribourg in Switzerland say they have found evidence that human ancestors briefly lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Scientists have often debated whether placental mammals – a group of animals that includes humans, dogs, and bats – existed at the same time as dinosaurs.

scitechdaily.com

Also Read, Earth Records Hottest Day Ever

OLD THEORY

Scientists have been able to understand a lot about the history of Earth thanks to fossils. However, until now the fossils of placental mammals that have been discovered are younger than 66 million years old. It was then that an asteroid hit Earth, which led to the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. This is why some scientists believe that placental mammals did not exist alongside the dinosaurs.

creationmuseum.org

NEW THEORY

A recent analysis of the molecular clock data looked at the evolution of DNA and protein sequences over time. Lead author Emily Carlisle of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences said: “We pulled together thousands of fossils of placental mammals and were able to see the patterns of origination and extinction of the different groups. Based on this, we could estimate when placental mammals evolved”. Using statistics, researchers have shown how the earliest forms of placental mammals emerged during the Cretaceous period and therefore co-existed with the dinosaurs for a short period of time.

independent.co.uk

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Earth Records Hottest Day Ever

Mitali k

Earth recorded the hottest day ever on July 6. According to data from US experts, the Earth’s daily average temperature surged to 17.23°C on July 6, breaking two previous heat records of 17.01°C and 17.18°C set on July 3 and 4 respectively. The temperatures were recorded by the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, an unauthorised system that studies global air temperatures at 2m above the surface.

nbcdfw.com

Climate scientists are deeply concerned about the rising average temperature, with unprecedented sea surface temperatures and record low Antarctic sea ice. They have observed that the combination of ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the return of El Niño is likely cause for this. The World Meteorological Organization (“WMO”) has declared that the weather conditions known as El Niño have started in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in seven years. WMO Secretary-General Professor Petter Taalas has said that “The onset of El Niño will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean”. Before this, August 2016 was recorded as the warmest year ever, when the global average temperature reached 16.92°C.

indianexpress.com

Also read, Everything You Need to Know About The Historic Wimbledon 2023

What is El Niño?

El Niño is part of the natural climate phenomenon called the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

It has two opposite states – El Niño and La Niña – both of which significantly alter global weather.

An El Niño event is typically declared when sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise to at least 0.5°C above the long-term average.

El Niño events typically bring increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa, and central Asia. El Niño can also cause severe droughts over Australia, Indonesia, parts of southern Asia, Central America and northern South America.


Did you know that El Niño means “the boy” in Spanish?

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Everything You Need to Know About The Historic Wimbledon 2023

Mitali k

Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slams, the world’s top tennis competitions. The US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open are the other three. Although Wimbledon is the name of the venue where the competition is held in south-west London, its official name is The Championships. The All England Club in London, where the Championships are still held today, hosted the inaugural event in 1877.

With the exception of Wimbledon, all other major tournaments are played on clay or acrylic courts.

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Find Out All the Winners of the Wimbledon 2023

There are five main events at Wimbledon, with prizes for the overall winners:

  • Women’s singles
  • Men’s singles
  • Women’s doubles
  • Men’s doubles
  • Mixed doubles

Players have the option of participating in singles games, where they compete one against one, or doubles games, where they compete two against two. With the exception of mixed doubles, when a man and a woman can team up against another man and a woman, players typically can only play against individuals of their own gender.

Wimbledon Women’s Single Title

Czech player Markéta Vondroušová created history by defeating sixth seed Ons Jabeur to become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win Wimbledon Women’s Single Title. She is ranked 42nd in the world.  Before playing at Wimbledon this year, Markéta Vondroušová had won only four grass court matches in her career. She is known to play her best on clay courts. 

Wimbledon Men’s Single Title

20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz defeated legendary Novak Djokovic in an epic final to win the Wimbledon Men’s Single Title for the first time ever. Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open last year.

Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Winners

Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic won their second Wimbledon doubles title as a pairing by defeating Elise Mertens of Belgium and Storm Hunter of Australia.

Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Winners

Britain’s Neal Skupski and Dutch Wesley Koolhof, won the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles. Neal Skupski has become the first Briton to win the mixed and men’s doubles titles at Wimbledon since 1926. This was his third doubles title in a row at Wimbledon, having won the mixed doubles in 2021 and 2022.

Wheelchair Doubles

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won their fifth Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles title together, beating Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda.

Understanding the Difference Between a Seeded and Unseeded Player

The top players in the tournament are known as seeded players. The concept is that the best players shouldn’t have to face each other until the later stages of the competition in order to guarantee that the victor is the best player overall. Players 1 and 2 are placed in separate parts of the draw to avoid meeting before the final, while the top 8 seeds can reach the quarterfinals and the top 4 can play in the semi-finals (if they make it that far). However, an unseeded player could face any other player at any time of the competition, thus they may have to play some of the greatest players right away. This makes it more difficult for them to get to the competition’s final stages.

Interesting Facts About Wimbledon:

  • Players can only wear white to participate in the Wimbledon. When tennis was played at social gatherings in the 1800s, that is when people first started wearing white to the tournament. In order to avoid sweat stains on coloured clothing, which were at the time seen as “improper” and “unattractive,” players wore white. As a result, it was included in the tournament’s official dress code as of that point.
  • Did you know that Wimbledon is also popularly called SW19? The location of Wimbledon Championships is in the Battersea district and the postcode for Wimbledon is 19. Hence the Wimbledon Championships are also known as SW19. 
  • The longest Wimbledon match was between American John Isner and French Nicolas Mahut. Over the course of three days, it lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. 
  • A staggering 54,250 tennis balls are utilised during Wimbledon! To make sure they are in top condition, they are changed every seven to nine games. They are stored in a refrigerator to keep them fresh!
  • Every morning during the tournament, a Harris hawk called Rufus is set free and circles the sky above Wimbledon grounds to scare away the local pigeons.
  • Strawberries and Cream is a popular tradition at Wimbledon. It is estimated that 191,930 portions are served during the tournament. 

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