This bird's beak is so long that it looks like a hypodermic needle.

By portal-3

El pico de esta ave es tan largo que parece una aguja hipodérmica

A hypodermic needle is a medical instrument made up of a hollow needle normally used with a syringe to inject substances into the body. And that's exactly what this bird's beak looks like.

It is the longest beak in relation to the total length of the body and belongs to the sword-billed hummingbird.

Swordpecker Hummingbird

He sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) is a species of hummingbird that lives in the Andes (from Venezuela to Bolivia), presenting a beak and a long tongue as an adaptation to its diet based on the nectar of certain types of flowers.

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It has a beak of 10.2 centimeters, that is, it is longer than its body (if the tail is excluded).

More than 25 centimeters from the end of its tail to the tip of its prodigious beak, we are also facing the longest hummingbird.

Colibripicoespada1

It is tan-green on the head, more metallic on the rest of the body, with a somewhat long and forked tail. The female similarly unmistakable, with whiter ventral parts, with green spots towards the sides. It weighs 12 g.

When it perches to maintain its balance, its beak is raised, pointing towards the sky.


The news

This bird's beak is so long that it looks like a hypodermic needle.

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

Read More

This animal's hair is ten times finer than human hair.

By portal-3

El pelo de este animal es diez veces más fino que el cabello humano

There are animals with soft fur, and then there is the chirú, which has the finest hair in nature.

He chiru either tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) exhibits strands of hair 7 to 10 micrometers (one-thousandth of a millimeter) in diameter, one-tenth the thickness of a human hair.

Chiru

The chirú is a species of medium-sized artiodactyl mammal of the subfamily Antilopinae native to the Tibetan Plateau, northern India and certain regions of Nepal and central China.

However, the trade in the wool of this mountain animal, known as shahtoosh, has caused a drastic decrease in its population.

Shahtooshshawl UsfwsShahtoosh Shawl

Shahtoosh (also spelled Shatush), a Persian word meaning "Pleasure of Kings", is the name given to a particular type of shawl, woven using the strands of the fur of the Tibetan antelope or chirú, by the weavers of Kashmir. Several chiru must be sacrificed to obtain the amount of material needed to make a Shahtoosh shawl.


The news

This animal's hair is ten times finer than human hair.

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

Read More