Autobiography of an exinct animal

My name is  Thylacine.  Some people call me Tasmanian tiger because I have  striped back . Some people call me  Tasmanian wolf . May be I look like a wolf. Do I ?

I was a native of continental Australia. My relatives lived in Tasmania and New Guinea too . Tasmania and New Guinea are islands and are part of Australia.  
I was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Do you know what a Marsupial is? Marsupials are kind of mammals whose babies are born incompletely developed and are typically carried and suckled in a pouch on the mother's belly.

Our species , that is the  modern thylacine , first appeared on the earth about 4 million years ago.

Location and Habitat

We originally used to roam all over the mainland of Australia, but was confined to the island of Tasmania for the last 3,000 years. We used to live in forest and scrubland close to our grazing preys like wallabies.

Appearance

Let me tell you how I look. 

I resembled a large, short-haired dog with a stiff tail similar to that of a Kangaroo. My body colour was yellow-brown with  dark stripes half way down my back  which got me the nickname, "Tiger”. I had dense and soft hair in my body. My ears were erect and rounded and  about 8 cm long . My belly was cream-coloured. We typically had a length of 1 to 1.3 m and our tail was about half a metre. Our height was about 60 cm and we weighed about 20 to 30 kg.

We were one among the two marsupials to have a pouch in both male and female. The other is the water opossum. The female had a backward facing pouch. The male thylacine had a pouch that act as a protective sheath, covering the male's external reproductive organs while he runs through thick bush.

You know one interesting thing ? I could open my jaw upto 120 degrees and I had 46 teeth !!!!!

Diet

 Do you know what I used to eat?

I was a carnivorous animal. I was a nocturnal hunter hunting other marsupials like wallabies, smaller animals like rodent and also sheep. I hunted at night by smell using my pace and stamina to run down smaller animals until they became tired. I used to use my wide opening jaws to rip out its preys neck .I liked to feed only  from the fresh kill.

 Breeding

 We, the Thylacines typically used to breed once a year, with the young being carried in their mother’s backward facing pouch. After approximately 6-8 months the young ones too big for the pouch were left alone in a sheltered place while their mothers went for food.

Why did we become extinct?

We were living happily. That is when the most unfortunate things happened to us,

A wild dog called “dingo” arrived in mainland of Australia. We had to compete with him for food. The dingo hunted for the same food, but was a lot more efficient and adaptable. Slowly we became extinct about 2000 years ago.

Although we were extinct in the mainland of Australia, we survived in Tasmania till 1930.  European settlers were there in Tsmania. The introduction of sheep in 1824 led to conflict between the settlers and thylacines. We were blamed for killing their sheep. Government offered rewards to people for killing us. There were other reasons too for our extinction.

We had to compete with wild dogs introduced by European settlers; we lost most of our habitats due to grazing and farming. There was some disease  too that killed some of us.

We became extremely rare by late 1920’s.

The last known Thylacine to be killed in the wild was killed in 1930 by Wilf Batty, a farmer from Tasmania.

The last captive thylacine, later referred to as "Benjamin" was captured in 1933 sent to the Hobart Zoo where it lived for three years. This thylacine died on 7 September 1936. It is believed to have died as the result of neglect—locked out of its sheltered sleeping quarters, it was exposed to a rare occurrence of extreme Tasmanian weather: extreme heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night. To commemorate our loss 7th September is declared as 'Threatened Species Day'  in Tasmania . This is to raise awareness of all the threatened species in the world, and to encourage action.

We held the status of endangered species until the 1980s.But nobody could confirm our existence. So  Tasmanian government declared as extinct in 1986.

Today our pictures have been used extensively as a symbol of Tasmania. I am featured on the officialTasmanian coat of arms and also on the official logos of Tourism Tasmania.Since 1998, my picture has been prominently displayed on Tasmanian vehicle number plates.

We remain now only in pictures. That is my story friends. So , dear friends, I would like to conclude with this small piece of advice.

Every creature has as much right to  life as you do. So, protect and care for them.

PLEASE DON'T SHOOT animals WITH GUNS, DO WITH CAMERAS IF YOU WANT.

Symbiotic Relationships

Symbiotic relationship is defined as  a relationship between two organisms in which the organisms benefit from one another. This relationship could be between a plant and another plant , between a plant and an animal and between animals. Some of the examples are given below.

No Fungus, No Tree ( Symbiotic relationship between plants and Fungus)

 

 

Plants and fungi occupy completely different categories in taxonomy. Yet their lives are so utterly entwined that about 90 percent of all the plants in the world have their own fungal “partners” that allow them to survive. The fungus in question is “ mycorrhizal”. Many mycorrhizal varieties live in close association with trees and other plants, drawing in nutrients from deep underground and providing them to the tree in exchange for a share of the energy (in the form of sugars) produced by the tree’s photosynthesis. The mushrooms and toadstools (An inedible or poisonous fungus with an umbrella-shaped fruiting body) often seen around the bases of trees are actually the reproductive organs of vast subterranean fungal networks that plants tap into in order to gain nutrients more efficiently.

Plovers and Crocodiles ( Symbiotic relationship between animals)

It looks like something out of a storybook – and in fact it can be traced back to accounts told thousands of years ago – a crocodile opens its mouth, invites a bird in before … what?  ::Chomp:: it swallows the sap alive? Amazingly, the crocodile remains still while the plover picks meat from its mouth. This cleans the crocodile’s teeth and prevents infection while providing a somewhat scary meal for the hungry bird.

It looks like something out of a storybook – and in fact it can be traced back to accounts told thousands of years ago – a crocodile opens its mouth, invites a bird in before … what?  ::Chomp:: it swallows the sap alive? Amazingly, the crocodile remains still while the plover picks meat from its mouth. This cleans the crocodile’s teeth and prevents infection while providing a somewhat scary meal for the hungry bird.

Anglerfish And Bacteria ( Animal and Bacteria)

Animals which produce light directly are known as producing Bio luminescence. Angler fishes are different. They do not produce the light with their own bodies like fire flies, rather they have a unique relationship with bacteria called symbiosis, and the bacteria actually produce the light for the angler-fish. This symbiotic relationship is called bio-luminescence.

This is how it works: Bacteria produce light -> Prey for the Anglerfish are attracted to this light -> Anglerfish feed -> Bacteria receives nourishment and shelter -> Repeat 

Bugs, Bats, Birds and Flowers (Symbiotic relationship between plants and animals)

Many plants depend on animals to help them get pollen from the stamen of one plant to the ovum of another plant. These plants have evolved flowers that attract pollinators either by color or scent. In a symbiotic relationship, the flower contains nectar, a sweet, energy-rich material that gives the insect, bat or bird a nutritional benefit. When the animal moves on to the next flower for more nectar, it inadvertently carries pollen there, accomplishing the plant’s goal of pollination. Some animals have evolved very specialized features, such as shaped beaks or proboscises, to withdraw nectar efficiently. The flowers, in turn, may be specifically shaped to only allow a certain species of animal to get nectar from them. This allows the plant to monopolize that animal’s pollination efforts, since it won’t be flitting around to other species of plant.

Plant or Animal?

                          

  

One of the strangest cases of symbiosis is that of the acoel flatworm, Convoluta roscoffensis. These tiny worms live along shorelines and look like masses of seaweed. The worms themselves are transparent, but within them live Platymonas algae, which contain chlorophyll and are capable of photosynthesis. They give the worms a green color.



The algae absorb sunlight through the worms’ clear skin and photosynthesize food -- enough foodthat the worms have no functioning digestive tract or even working mouths. The algae even recycle the worms’ waste products, and go through entire life cycles inside the worms’ bodies.

More symbiotic relationships - Please refer to

1. http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/03/01/symbiotic-bird-animal-relationships/

2. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/evolution/symbiosis.htm

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games

The Ancient Olympics
The ancient Greeks dedicated the Olympic Games to the god Zeus. The original games were held on the plain of Olympia in  Greece.

The Greeks held the first Olympic games in the year 776 BC (over 2700 years ago), and had only one event, a sprint (a short run that was called the "stade"). The race was run by men who competed in the nude. A wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head (in Greek, this is called a kotinos). The olive tree was the sacred tree of Athens, Greece. 

Women were neither allowed to compete in the games nor to watch them, because the games were dedicated to Zeus and were therefore meant for men.

The four-year period between the Olympic games was called an olympiad. Every four years, for 1,170 years, the Greeks held an Olympics, which continued to grow and change. Many other sports were added, including other races, wrestling, boxing, pentathlon (five events, including the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wrestling), and equestrian events (events with horses and people, like chariot races and horse races) .

The Olympic Games were banned by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II in the year AD 394 for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus).

The Modern Olympic Games

 

Over 1500years later, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (1863-1937) (a French educator and sportsman) revived the Olympic Games. When he was young, Coubertin was a very keen sportsman. As he grew older he developed a passionate belief that sport could encourage peace throughout the world and bring people from all over the world together.

Coubertin was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games and travelled around the world, spending his own money, trying to persuade people to revive them. Eventually he managed to bring together representatives of many different countries in Paris, in 1894, and the Olympic Movement was begun.

An all-male Olympic games were held in 1896, in Athens, Greece. The first winter Olympics were held in 1924, in Chamonix, France.

Did women compete in this first modern Olympic Games?

Women began to compete in 1900. For many years there were problems for the women athletes about what to wear, because it was considered very rude to show any part of the body or even the shape of the body!

Who supervises the Olympic Games?

When Baron de Coubertin founded the Olympic Movement he established the International Olympic Committee (the IOC) to supervise it, in 1894. He himself served as its president for 29 years, and there have been 8 presidents since then. There were originally 14 members but the Committee has now grown to over 130 members, all of whom must speak either French or English. Existing members elect new members as required. The IOC is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Jacques, Count Rogge of Belgium origin is the current president of IOC.

Who selects each country's team of athletes?
Each country has their own National Olympic Committee (NOC). The NOCs represent their countries at the Olympic Games and select their own national teams.

What is the aim of the Olympic Movement?
"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

The Flag of the Olympic Games

The flag of the Olympic Games has five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) on a white ground. The rings represent the five parts of the world that were joined together in the Olympic movement: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. Baron de Coubertin designed the flag of the Olympics in 1913-1914.

The Olympic flag was first used in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic flag is paraded during the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games. At the end of an Olympics, the mayor of the host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host-city. The flag will remain in the town hall of the next host-city until the next Olympic Games, four years later. 

History of the Olympic Flame
The tradition of the Olympic flame began during the ancient Olympic Games, over 2700 years ago in Greece. A flame was lit for each Olympics, every four years, and it burned throughout the games. The flame symbolized the death and rebirth of Greek heroes. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympics. The first torch relay took place at the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany. 

The Torches of the Olympics

For each Olympics, a new flame is started in the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympia,  Greece, using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun. This flame begins its Olympic Torch Relay by touring Greece. The flame is normally taken to the country where the games will be held (usually by airplane). Following that, the flame is then carried around the country where the games are to be held, using a series of torches carried by people running, walking, riding horses and camels, scuba diving, and using other means of human conveyance. The last runner uses a torch to light the large Olympic torch which burns throughout the games. The flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. A new Olympic torch is designed for each of the games. In 2000, the torch traveled underwater for the first time, as a diver brought it past the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The Olympic Motto:
The Olympic motto is, "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which means "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

Olympic Events:
The events in the Summer Olympics include: archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football (soccer), gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kayaking, marathon, pentathlon, ping pong, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, taekwando, tennis, track and field (many running, jumping, and throwing events), triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman). Cricket is not part of Olympics.

The events in the Winter Olympics include: ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, snowboarding, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton (a type of sledding), curling, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, slalom, downhill (Alpine) skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined (skiing plus ski jumping), and biathlon (skiing and shooting). 

Olympic Medals

At the Ancient Olympics, a wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head (in Greek, this is called a kotinos).

At the modern Olympics, each first-place winner receives a gold medal, each second-place winner receives a silver medal, and each third-place winner receives a bronze medal (the bronze medal was introduced in 1904). Different medals are designed for each new Olympics. Certificates called victory diplomas are also given to many top winners in each sport.

The gold medals were solid gold until 1912, but are now silver covered with a thin layer of gold.

The Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the games usually is a dramatic celebration involving hundreds of people. The opening ceremony begins with the raising of the flag of the host country and the singing of its national anthem. There is then a performance involving music, dance and colorful costumes, along with a high-tech lighting and special effects show. After that, every athlete marches into the stadium under the banner of his country. At the end of the opening ceremony, the Olympic torch is passed to the last carrier, who lights a huge fire to open the games.

Other Olympic Games

The Paralympic Games are held just after both the summer and winter games and are for athletes with a physical disability. The Special Olympics is a competition held every two years and all athletes are intellectually disabled.

2012 London Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics were held in London, England, Great Britain from July 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012.                                                                                    

London, in the UK, hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The motto of the London Olympics is 'Inspire a generation'.

 

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 27 July and called "Isles of Wonder. Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle was its artistic director. The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Around 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) took part in London Olympics.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II listens as the President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge speaks at Buckingham Palace, in London.

 

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, meaning every country had sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games. With women's boxing included, the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors.

 


The Indian Olympic Association had sent a total of 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports making it the largest contingent India has ever sent to an Olympic Games.
The Indian effort to prepare for the games consisted of funds from the Indian Government to the tune of $48.1 million and an additional $11 million in private sponsorships.^[2] Sushil Kumar was the flag bearer in the opening ceremony and Mary Kom was the flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
India has won 6 medals including 2 silver and 4 bronze which is by far the best performance by India in terms of number of medals won at any single Olympic games.
Gagan Narang won the country's first medal at the Games, a bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event

Medalists

 

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
2Silver	Vijay Kumar	Shooting	Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol	3 August
Silver	Sushil Kumar	Wrestling	Men's 66kg Freestyle	12 August
Bronze	Gagan Narang	Shooting	Men's 10 m air rifle	30 July
Bronze	Saina Nehwal	Badminton	Women's singles	4 August
3Bronze	Mary Kom	Boxing	Women's flyweight	8 August
Bronze	Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling	Men's 60kg Freestyle	11 August

 

Next Olympic games will be conducted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil