Dolphins are marine mammals found in all the world's oceans, relatives to whales and porpoises. River dolphins live in freshwater rivers and lakes. They are intelligent and playful creatures and friendly to humans.

Dolphins have a sleek body shape, which helps them to be good swimmers. They have long snouts, a row of sharp teeth, and a blowhole for breathing on top of the head. They feed on fish, squid, and other small marine life.

Feeding dolphins at SeaWorld, OrlandoDolphins are social animals, and usually live and hunt in groups. They communicate with each other with sounds such as whistles, screeches, and clicks. Dolphins are often friendly to humans, riding on waves produced by boats, aiding lost swimmers, and adapting to life in captivity performing tricks and jumps.

There are at least 40 different species of dolphins. The one most commonly used in amusement parks and performances is bottlenose dolphin, which has a 'built-in' smile formed by the curvature of its mouth. The killer whale, or orca, is the largest member of dolphin family.
Physical features

Dolphins have a sleek body shape, so as to offer the least resistance for swimming. The two flippers located underside help the dolphin steer its course. The bones in these flippers resemble human hand! The tail with flukes provides the main swimming force.

As mammals, dolphins have to breathe air. They do so through a single blowhole on the top of the head. It has a muscular plug to keep water out of the lungs while diving. The head has a long snout. Dolphins have a long row of conical teeth that are used for catching and tearing prey - not for chewing.

Different dolphin species vary a lot in size. The smallest one, tucuxi dolphin, is about 4 feet (1.2m) long and weighs about 110 pounds (50kg), whereas the enormous killer whales is over 30 feet (9-10m) long and weighs 12,000 pounds (5 500 kg).

You've seen the gray ones, but dolphins can also be black or brown, and can have patterns of white or light colors.

In the middle of their back, many dolphins have what is called a dorsal fin. It helps them to keep their balance. Furthermore, each dolphin's dorsal fin is shaped differently from the others. It's like an identification mark. In some ocean dolphins, the dorsal fin is hooked-shape instead of like a triangle. The male killer whales have very tall dorsal fins whereas in river dolphins it scarcely forms a ridge on the back.

Besides using eyes, dolphins can find their way by making clicking sounds, and listening to the sounds that echo or bounce back to them from their surroundings. This is called echolocation.

Under their skin, dolphins have a layer of fat called blubber. It insulates the dolphin so it can keep warm even in cold water. The colder the water is where the dolphin lives, the thicker the layer of blubber.

Behavior

Dolphins are social animals that live in schools of varying size; some only have 2-5 dolphins while enormous schools of 1,000 or more have been found as well. A typical school of bottlenose dolphins might be 10-20 individuals.

For food, dolphins hunt fish, squid and other invertebrates; killer whales also feed on other marine mammals, sea turtles, and birds. Dolphins often hunt together, trying to catch schools of fish. They can use echolocation to find prey in deep, dark waters.

Dolphins make whistles, clicks, and screeching sounds to communicate with each other, and for echolocation. In many species each individual dolphin makes a unique 'signature whistle'. Human-made underwater sounds, such as used with sonar images, can interfere with dolphins' communication, and even injure tissues used for hearing and air intake.

Dolphins also help each other in various ways. If a dolphin is sick and can't raise to the surface to get air, another one supports it at the surface so it can breathe. Or, a dolphin may stay near an injured or sick one as a companion. Dolphins also defend an injured one against a threat such as a boat.

Male and female dolphin take part in courtship, which involves playing, caressing, and 'songs'. Gestation lasts about a year, and then a single calf is born. Calving usually occurs once every two years. Dolphin mother produces very high-fat milk for her young. The calf is weaned aroud 6 months to two years.

Certain dolphin species live quite long, 50 years or more, while the bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin typically live around 20-25 years.

Dolphin Classification:
Class Mammalia
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti

Names:
male: bull
female: cow
young: calf
group: pod

Sources:

Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005
Encyclopedia Britannica

SeaWorldAdventurePark.info is a website filled with photos from SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida, plus information, reviews, and a poll.

In trying to discover the proper iguana health care it is essential to understand that in large part, the iguanas health is completely dependent upon the environment that they are in as well as the nutrition that is available to them. This is the also true of the iguana that is kept in captivity, as it is highly imperative that it has a proper and adequate habitat and this fact alone can play a monumental role in the iguana health care. Lets take a look at the various factors that can play an important part of the health of this fantastic creature.

Compromising Iguana Health Care

There is a pivotal part of feeding the iguana because there are some foods that include toxic chemicals for an iguana and can cause serious harm. One of those foods is spinach because they do cause acids that can be potentially harmful to an iguana as well as brussel sprouts because they are infamous for carrying salmonella. Some other food things that are potentially dangerous to an iguana health care regime are things such as swiss chard, cauliflower and beets as these can also contain mild traces of acids and toxins that can harm the iguana.

Another pivotal part of keeping a good iguana health care regime is that iguanas that are held in captivity do not get the required amount of sunlight which is how they absorb vitamin C as well as other nutrients and in that manner, it is highly important that the pet iguana receives vitamin as well as calcium supplements at least two times a week as well as supplying the iguana with the essential UV lighting as this is one aspect that an iguana cannot thrive or survive without.

Iguanas In Captivity

For a final few statements regarding the iguana health care, it is equally as important that the habitat it lives in is clean and well kept. Often new iguana users will line the cage with substances such as wood chips or lizard litter and although one is made to believe that this is the appropriate kind of litter for an iguana, it is not! It is wise to use something that can be easily thrown out and that the iguana will not ingest as this can cause serious health problems. Some kind of butcher wrap that can be easily thrown out and replaced that the iguana will not ingest is ultimately the best kind of cage litter.

If you want to learn more about marine Iguana please visit our site which is free to the public. You'll find the best tips on everything to do with Iguana

Genealogy research has been one upcoming and popular thing when one of the most sought talk show celebrities, Oprah Winfrey announced on her show that DNA testing has managed to track her origin ethnic to a Kpelles tribe located in Liberia.

Then, with all the extensive studies and affordability of genealogical DNA tests like the Genographic Project, annual sales have been increasingly rising where an estimated $60 million was recorded in year 2006.

Then, why people are interested in finding their origin? Is it because they are looking to validate or invalidate their genealogical records? Do they have or suspected any surname change or adoption in the line?

Are they looking to verify the relationships with a family from a region where they believed their family has lived? Or do they believe that they have a common ancestor with another individual or group? Actually all the reasons mentioned are true.

However, the right reasons for the existence of DNA test kits seem rational but whether the $70 to $900 ranging DNA testing provided could pinpoint exactly your ancestor origin is another story.

The two most common tests in genealogy kits examine the paternally inherited Y chromosome (Y-DNA), which is passed down from father to son, and the mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) that is passed down from mother to child.

Another test links to autosomal DNA, which is inherited from both parents. However, it is most likely that one small part of your family tree can be concluded. Like the mtDNA test, the information only could track you back to only one of your 16 great grandparents.

Referring to the lack of approach in ancestry testing technology, Professor Easteal - a leading molecular geneticist has quickly slammed online and availability of direct-to-customer DNA ancestry testing in the markets now.

He claimed that they only helped to track down human variation that emerged in population over time and not individual ancestry information.

Your DNA information is just many of the tools that we can use to confirm what we know, or find out something new about your ancient heritage.

It's fascinating that our cells contain information about our history and that we hold on to the hidden treasure for eternity.

J.J. Yong, a DNA blogger with wide interest in DNA testing, genealogy, phylogenetics - as long they are related to DNA. He truly believes that amazement of DNA is like bringing us closer to humanity or humility of mankind.

Science for kids is sometimes a bit of a frustration, or in some cases an enigma! When I taught science to high school students the question that was often put to me was "Yea, but what relevance is this going to be to me later in life?" I suppose that is a fair question, as I asked the same of studying Shakespeare when I was at school.

Now, with some years of "real life" under the belt, I can look back and realize the lessons that even dear old Mr. Shakespeare taught me. Romance, what mistakes not to make and thinking with your head and not your heart (OK maybe a little bit of heart) being just some of the few that that great man taught even the most skeptic scholar, and this without me even knowing it!

But I digress...this is not about Romeo and Juliet, but science. How relevant is science to every day life? Is it good enough to learn it in the classroom in order to pass the exam and leave it at that? Realistically, if a student's aim is to become an accountant, what relevance does the process of photosynthesis have to his or her existence?

I would like to suggest that it is very relevant. To the boy who is to train to be a motor mechanic, understanding forces, viscosity of liquids at different temperatures and indeed combustion of volatile materials is very relevant. To the girl whose aim it is is to be a landscaper, an understanding of photosynthesis, nutrient uptake of plants and plant pathogens will surely assist her in her business.

Yes, and even the future accountant can make use of science knowledge, even if it is to brighten his office with pot plants, which will give off the life giving oxygen that keeps him alert during those long hours at the desk when the financial year end comes around!

I have given a glimpse of the futures of some imaginary kids, but what about the now? What about science for kids who are in school now? Without intending to insult the reader's intelligence, is it not obvious that what happens in their lives now affects the attitudes later in life? Applying this to the topic on hand, what happens with their science education now will affect their attitudes to science later in life. Will it be a relevant topic or something that will not even enter their minds once they are qualified in their respective fields of expertise?

Having shown that science is relevant in a person's career, never mind their day to day life, is it not important, even essential, that science for kids becomes an integral part of their lives? This means beyond the classroom and the science fair project. The kids of today need to be taught and made aware of science in their lives. How it affects them and how it can be utilized to improve their existence, starting now.

The classroom lessons and activities must activate the minds of the students. How is this done? - hands on activities. Let them feel, touch, smell, hear and see science - yes even if it may make a mess in the laboratory. Instead of reading about the ecosystem of a pond, let them experience it hands on. Let them get wet and dirty. Let them catch some of the organisms and keep them in specimen bottles, at the same time as being aware of not disturbing the fine balance of the natural ecosystem.

Yes, educators, science for kids takes effort. To those in management positions at schools, it will take planning and funds - but if your heart is for education you will heed my words.

Having said this, the responsibility of making science for kids relevant and exciting lies not solely with the schools. Parents need to play their part too. On more than one occasion has my family's supper table been cleared of dishes as impromptu experiments take place after our meal. Using objects found in the house - from glasses of water filled with food coloring and paper towels to demonstrate diffusion and water uptake in plants, to a magnet, a couple of sewing needles and a wine bottle cork to make a compass - my prodigy has learned, and not forgotten, the finer details of some aspects of biology, physics, chemistry and earth sciences.

These lessons have no prior planning but arise from the questions asked by the kids after an observation that day. The observations are either made while playing in the garden, or in the house, or while reading about something that the young mind needs something tangible to fully understand it. Training kids in the art of observation, relevant questioning and simple hypothesis formation is the first step in the scientific process and in making science a part of their lives.

Let me end this article with a call to teachers and parents of our generation to make science for kids more than some words and pictures in a textbook.

Science must be life because life itself is in fact science!

By Neil Madgwick - Passionate about science!Website: http://www.good-science-fair-projects.com