Prickly fanpetals (Sida spinosa)

Prickly fanpetals (Sida spinosa) is plant species in the Malvaceae, annual or perennial shrubs, erect, up to 1 meter tall, woody stems, cylindrical, branched, rootstock light brown and leathery, scion green or reddish.

S. spinosa has leaves with stalks 2-20 mm long and 1-3 spiny tubercles on the stem at the base of the petiole. The blade is 0.5-4 cm long, 0.3-2.5 cm wide, elongated, oval or slightly rounded at the base, the margins are serrated and tapered at the tip.

The flowers grow in the axils of the leaves, fan-shaped, 5 lobes, white or yellow, the pistil and the middle are yellow.

The fruit is globose, pubescent on top, cracked at the apex but the seeds are detached from the crushed base. Seeds are 1.5 mm long, glabrous and brown to black.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Tribe: Malveae
Genus: Sida
Species: Sida spinosa

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 ...

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