Live Wilderness Adventure

Chapter 673 The Integrity of Evolution

The musk ox is an endemic species that lives in the Arctic tundra.

In summer, it tends to take refuge in moist lowlands, such as river valleys and lakesides; in winter, it moves to higher slopes, plateaus and places with deep snow accumulation for easy foraging.

Under normal circumstances, the musk ox seemed very docile. It stopped to eat a little food, then lay flat on the ground, chewed slowly, and dozed off after a while.

When I am a little awake, I then walk forward for a while, and then repeat the same tricks, eating food, ruminating, and dozing off.

It looks lazy, but it contains the survival wisdom of polar creatures.

Doing so reduces energy expenditure and reduces food requirements.

Because the musk ox retains energy so efficiently, it needs only one-sixth the food of a cow of the same size.

It is also because of this that Bi Fang can rest assured to wait for a day to follow up.

In the case of natural walking, even on foot, he is confident that he can catch up with the musk ox.

Coupled with the strong smell on the grass, it proved that the musk oxen had not been away for a long time, definitely not more than five days.

Of course, walking slowly does not mean that musk ox really cannot run fast. During the breeding period, these super beasts weighing more than 350 kilograms can run at a speed approaching 50 kilometers per hour.

Under the terrifying mass and speed, it brought extremely huge momentum. These furry giants in the Arctic Circle collided head-on and stabbed their opponents with huge sharp horns. The moment they collided, the ground trembled.

What's more, a male musk ox may receive more than 2,100 blows to the head during their 10- to 12-year lifespan.

Audience members nearly jumped out of their seats upon hearing this horror.

[2100 times? ? ? 】

【The Momentum of Five Thousand】

[Is there a big one to calculate how many joules the kinetic energy is? 】

[After doing the math, the momentum of 5,000 is about 35,000 joules of kinetic energy. . . 】

[The muzzle kinetic energy of an AK47 is about 2,000 joules (cover your face)]

[Is being hit by this thing the same as being hit by an anti-aircraft gun? 】

How do musk oxen survive these attacks without getting their brains smashed to pieces?

This is the lingering question that lingers in everyone's mind.

It seems to see the giant bull in the creation of the mountain in the myths and legends.

It's always been thought that animals that attack with their heads, like musk oxen and bighorn sheep, are somehow immune to head damage. It's like they have magical horns.

But in fact, this kind of impact is indeed damaging. Not only can it not be immune, but it can also cause chronic damage to the brain of the musk ox, just like our human Alzheimer's disease.

Bi Fang's statement has a scientific basis, and the behavior of the musk ox is also the first time humans have detected whether such collisions of animals will cause damage.

In the brains of living things, there is a protein called TAU. Whether it's due to aging, genetic problems or mechanical influences, whenever neurons are damaged, they are torn apart, and the tau protein breaks down and forms clumps.

And when probed with fluorescent labeling, the tau protein in the brain of the musk ox glowed like a lighted Christmas tree.

Evolution can send individuals of a species on an astonishing path to self-destruction.

Bi Fang revealed a shocking fact.

All evolution is essentially for the better reproduction of species.

The survival of the individual is actually irrelevant.

This is also the cruelest scene in evolution.

As for whether the musk ox really suffered from dementia or something, who would know?

Musk oxen don't have behavioral scales, and humans don't know if they perceive themselves to be forgetful.

There is only one thing that is beyond doubt that their brains have been damaged.

Musk ox fights many times every year, but if they want to successfully reproduce even once, they have to hit and catalyze the slow death of the brain. From an evolutionary point of view, as long as the musk ox 'don't die'.

audience:???

For example, the dark bag shrew is a small carnivore native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania, and they have a characteristic, that is, 'one litter for life'.

Referring to breeding once and then dying. Female pouch shrews can live for two to three years or more. Males rarely live beyond 11 months.

They have a really crazy mating season where the male's breeding mating can last 12 to 14 hours, after which each male will try to mate with as many other females as he can - leading to his death .”

It's a bit like a hive, where worker bees succeed in acquiring genes not by reproducing themselves, but by helping their mother, the queen of the colony, to reproduce.

A colony or hive is more like a large animal, with the queen or queen representing the reproductive organs. These baby worker bees are numerous and require only a small amount of resources to raise, so they are somewhat similar to human cells.

So, the musk ox is actually the same. As long as it can promote reproduction, the survival of that individual is actually irrelevant compared to the entire population.

This also results in male musk oxen living less than 15 years, while females live between 15 and 23 years.

Their lives aren't that complicated. So, they probably only live as long as they need to get done.

The brand-new snowshoes are made of wooden boards. Compared with the original version of simple branches, the effect is at least several times better. When stepping on the snow, they only sink a few centimeters before stopping, reducing the resistance to a minimum.

Bi is moving towards the distance, but the audience is still caught in the cruel truth just now and cannot extricate themselves.

[Do humans have such individual reproductive defects? 】

There are questions from the audience.

It's not clear yet. Bi Fang shook his head. This is a blind spot in his knowledge, or no one has studied this area, but there is no doubt that there are actually some.

But I can't go into details, Bi Fang is afraid that the live broadcast room will be blocked, ahem.

Although the probability is not high, it is better to say less.

[I was hurt by wine and sex, so haggard! Give up alcohol today! 】

【Shibu, you didn't mention a single word】

【Can't be astringent】

[By God, I am sworn to death with gambling and drugs! 】

After chasing for the whole day, Bi Fang got nothing. Looking at the sun that was about to set again, Bi Fang sat on the ground.

Compared with the time when I first came here, I could still keep more than six hours during the day, but now I don't even have six hours, and the time is horribly tight.

But it was really too early, Bi Fang only thought for a moment before making the decision to drive overnight.

It was sunny for two consecutive days, and the night was not unacceptably cold, so it would be a pity not to use it.

After chasing for a day, the best news is that there are finally traces of musk ox that can be seen on the snow layer, which means that the distance between Bi Fang and the musk ox is only two days after the end of the blizzard.

Bi Fang is sure to catch up with them tomorrow morning.

Some legless amphibians known as caecilians eat the top layer of their mother's skin as their first meal. African social spiders go even further in this regard, and some females will have their young eat their mother alive.