Malayan urn vine (Dischidia major)

Malayan urn vine (Dischidia major) is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae, grows vines, twines around tree branches and trunks, roots penetrate rotting wood and humus, circular succulent leaves up to 3 cm wide.

The hollow pouch is elongated and up to 12 cm long. The sac is filled with many stomata on the inner surface and has an opening at the upper end near the stalk.

Organic debris and rainwater may be supplemented with secreted fluids to accumulate in the cavity of the bag and over time provide a source of nutrients that the plant uses by growing roots indoors.

The main flower is yellow and striped with green. The fruit consists of a pair of horn-shaped follicles. The seeds have fine hairs at one end.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Tribe: Marsdenieae
Genus: Dischidia
Species: Dischidia major

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Asian palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer)

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Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

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