Skip to playerSkip to main content
EverBright
  • 1 day ago
the animal within s01e05

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00The human species has long admired strength and power.
00:04We think we have a lot of strength, but we're really not the strong men.
00:07While we search for new ways to push beyond our own physical capabilities,
00:11the animal kingdom has evolved their bodies to achieve incredible things that humans simply can't.
00:17That would be like picking up a couple of SUVs under each arm.
00:21It's an ancient set of tools and tricks from a biological perspective.
00:24A crushing bite or an impervious hide can give an animal a competitive edge.
00:29It's got to be quick. It's got to be ready to fight.
00:32It's all about breeding and eating. It's critical for their survival.
00:35What can we learn from these animals' engineering?
00:38We are trying to achieve what biology has perfected.
01:02What if a human could lift six double-decker buses or be born with a built-in suit of armor?
01:08These six amazing animals use their evolutionary advantages to carry, climb, squeeze, and fight their way to a full belly
01:17and reproductive success.
01:18These are the strong men.
01:23Leopards are well known for their sleek beauty and lightning speed.
01:28As a species, they're a real success story.
01:32Leopards are part of the big cats, which are cats that have the ability to roar.
01:38Leopards are found in sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, Central Asia, India, and China.
01:44A leopard is actually adaptable across a lot of different habitats.
01:48Open grass, dense forest.
01:50They are an ambush predator.
01:53They're built for camouflage.
01:54They can literally sit there for hours waiting on a prey, just camouflaging, whether it's a leopard in Africa or
02:02a snow leopard in the mountains.
02:03It could take you hours to even see that little tiny head or that big body in those spots because
02:09they're perfectly adaptable for each situation.
02:12And that's what makes them so successful in hunting.
02:15Leopards are generalist predators.
02:17They can prey on 90 different species of animals, birds, rodents, but also a lot of ungulates like gazelles, antelopes,
02:26even young giraffes.
02:30They're one of the smaller of the big cats, not as large as the lion.
02:34But when it comes to brute strength, leopards have an advantage over other big cats.
02:40They've got a huge power to weight ratio.
02:42And so that allows them to do things that other big cats can't.
02:47You don't see lions and tigers in the wild climbing trees.
02:51Leopards are roughly half the weight of their big cat cousins, the lion and tiger.
02:56When we look at the energy and the force required to move objects up and down, it's very much related
03:03to mass.
03:04So the energy associated with mass at height is mass times gravity times the height.
03:10So if your mass is lower, you're going to be able to use less energy to lift yourself up.
03:15So it's an evolutionary advantage to be strong and lightweight for the leopard to be able to climb.
03:21Not only do you see them climbing trees, but they do it with an animal or prey in its mouth.
03:27And not just a small animal.
03:29Sometimes they'll have antelopes.
03:31Tree climbing is part of the leopard's hunting strategy.
03:35They are able to carry a carcass three times their own weight up into the branches.
03:40When you add a completely dead weight, and not a smooth dead weight, a dead weight that can catch on
03:45limbs and branches and may need to be pulled and shoved in different directions,
03:49this becomes, like, an astonishingly difficult feat.
03:54The spots in their fur, called rosettes, help camouflage the leopard in the branches.
04:00But what advantage does tree climbing give the leopard?
04:03Leopards spend a ton of energy, like most predators do, to kind of make a kill in this opportunistic way.
04:08But also they've invested a ton of time into each kill.
04:11Unlike a lot of big predators that can plan multiple attacks all the time,
04:15there's longer stretches between advantageous moments for something like a leopard.
04:19That ability to climb allows them to protect their meal from hyenas, lions, or any other competition.
04:27That adaptation could also help them secure prey that are climbers as well, and expand their generalist diet.
04:36Evolutionary engineering has endowed the leopard with a physiology specific to this task.
04:41If you look at a leopard compared to a cheetah, a cheetah is built for speed.
04:46The frame is lightweight.
04:48You've got the paws that barely touch.
04:50It's got a long leap, and when it stretches out, it's actually quite long.
04:53When you look at a leopard, they're built literally to climb and hang and just move things going up instead
05:01of going horizontal.
05:03It's actually more compact.
05:04The front paws are a lot bigger.
05:07The shoulders are bigger.
05:08The chest is bigger.
05:09The bones are bigger.
05:10There's a lot more muscle.
05:12He needs that upper body strength, that strong neck, the powerful jaws, the powerful shoulders,
05:17so that it can carry its prey to the tree and climb up the tree.
05:22Leopards have strong muscular back legs that they use to push their bodies upward.
05:27Those powerful muscles also allow the leopard to excel in its unique hunting style.
05:32Leopards operate using a pounds technique.
05:35They come close to their prey about 5 to 10 meters, and then they attack by a bite to the
05:40neck, asphyxating them.
05:42When you have a predator that is built front-heavy, the sit-and-pounce sort of method of hunting really
05:49works well.
05:50It's sitting there, crouched down.
05:52Once it pounces, it's all about strike force, and as long as its bite is bigger than its bark, it
05:59could really crush anything.
06:01Once the prey is caught, the leopard has a few other ingenious strategies for getting its meal to safety.
06:08One of the interesting things that they'll do is after a leopard has killed a prey item is they will
06:13disembowel that prey item
06:15and leave a lot of the internal organs where the kill has occurred, and that works really well in two
06:20ways.
06:20First of all, leaving a bunch of organic matter, rotting matter, will attract things like scavengers and other predators to
06:26that site,
06:27as opposed to the site where they're actually keeping their tree, so it's a little bit of bait-and-switch.
06:31The second thing is it means that the prey item is now, like, lighter, and they have just a lighter
06:36load to carry and drag back up into the safe place, which is their personal tree.
06:41The leopard's claws are part of their design for climbing the tree.
06:45One of the great evolutionary advantages of cats, and specifically leopards, is the retractable claws.
06:51Having really long claws and really big paws gives you a very large area of purchase,
06:57so the leopard is going to grab onto the tree and have a very large base to work with when
07:01it pulls itself up.
07:03If you imagine that you were just grabbing in one spot, you have a much higher propensity to slip,
07:08whereas if you have your claws extended over a wide area, if one claw is as gripped into the tree
07:15as another one,
07:16you're still not going to lose that grasp of the tree, that purchase, that ability to hold on.
07:20And leopards can climb back down the tree headfirst.
07:24Headfirst climbing down allows you to see where you're going.
07:27Backing down a tree, you're always looking for your foothold, trying to figure out where you're going to put your
07:32next foot,
07:33and you're always going to have an obstructive view, which makes it particularly difficult.
07:37Being able to go down headfirst means you always see where your next footfall is.
07:41You can often do it at much higher speeds, so there's a lot of advantages to that for the leopard.
07:47Human engineering can only dream of achieving this level of strength and agility.
07:52As engineers and scientists, you know, we are really trying to achieve what biology has essentially perfected,
07:59and climbing is maybe the ultimate goal of robotics.
08:02You know, you'd think that flying would be more difficult than climbing, but flying's pretty easy.
08:06You know, you just avoid obstacles and you're fine.
08:08Whereas with climbing, you've got to look for a handhold, and it's not just going and grabbing it,
08:13it's reaching around and using a claw-like motion and digging into that surface and making sure you're holding on.
08:20All of that biological engineering is in the leopard.
08:23It's got this great set of physical attributes that, as engineers, we aspire to achieve.
08:29It really allows you to gain a big respect for these animals who can do it all on their own.
08:35I mean, I don't think I can lift my child up a tree.
08:38You know, I can barely lift myself up a tree.
08:40Even if it was for my survival, I don't think I could bring something up to eat,
08:44like a steak dinner or something.
08:46I just don't think that would happen.
08:48Using brute strength to carry prey is impressive enough,
08:52but another incredible creature uses its massive power for only one purpose.
08:59Constrictor snakes, like the boa constrictor and the python,
09:02are so named because they use their incredible musculature to constrict their prey,
09:07which leads to the biggest misconception about them,
09:10that they kill by crushing or suffocation.
09:13When they squeeze, they disrupt that blood flow of their prey.
09:17That could lead them to being deprived of oxygen to their brain, called ischemia,
09:22and that is eventually what kills them.
09:24The deadliest constricting pressure ever measured was 172 kilopascals,
09:30which is roughly the pressure needed to break a human neck.
09:33The average pressure a boa constrictor exerts is 41 to 83 kilopascals.
09:39It depends on size of the actual snake.
09:41Every time you double the diameter, you're adding 2.6 more times the pounds per square inch.
09:46Those pythons you see at shows that people are holding, they're like 10 feet long,
09:50and you just see these massive diameters, they're going to have quite the squeeze.
09:56Constrictor snakes are really amazing in that they're using their entire body,
10:00from the head all the way down, in order to catch their prey and kill it.
10:04Most other animals that have a strategy that relies on strength
10:07will kind of put a lot of energy towards a particular set of muscle groups
10:11that enable a behavior, but being strong throughout is a really amazing situation,
10:16and it's not very common.
10:18They look benign because they generally don't move fast.
10:21It's actually far from the truth.
10:23They're among the strongest animals in the animal kingdom.
10:25Boas and pythons are some of the largest snakes in the world.
10:29They have evolved to look remarkably similar,
10:31even though they're not related,
10:33due to a phenomena known as convergent evolution.
10:36Boas live in Central and South America,
10:38while pythons are found in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
10:42Both have evolved to do one thing really well.
10:45Every time that animal breathes out,
10:48the constrictor constricts a little bit more,
10:50and then they can't breathe in again,
10:52and constricts a little bit more,
10:53and finally it gets to the point where
10:55the animal runs out of oxygen.
10:58That deathly strong squeeze
11:00is designed for constrictor snakes
11:01to capture and keep more fast-moving prey.
11:05Hunting when you're a snake is very difficult,
11:07especially if you're a slow-moving snake, like a constrictor.
11:10The average is at one mile an hour,
11:12so you are vulnerable to any outside attack,
11:16not only from your prey,
11:17but any other predator that wants to eat you instead.
11:20When you constrict,
11:21you want to make sure that your prey is subdued
11:24so they can't get away.
11:26That slow, steady movement
11:28is the result of the constrictor snake's impressive musculature.
11:32This isn't just one muscle.
11:34It's many, many muscle groups working together
11:37and bones and cartilage to latch those muscles on
11:40to achieve what you need to do.
11:43Constrictors are boreal,
11:44so they're climbing trees and moving through the canopy
11:47to be able to coil around a tree
11:49and find limbs to grab onto
11:52and then move your body up from that point,
11:54and it takes a lot of muscles.
11:56Snakes are really amazing from a motion point of view,
11:59and as an engineer, we would love to replicate that.
12:01Trading speed for strength
12:03has led to other necessary adaptations.
12:06These snakes are ambush predators.
12:07They don't spend a lot of time hunting,
12:09and they only really exert that energy
12:11when they are squeezing their prey.
12:12They have a stealth mechanism
12:15by which they need to kind of sneak up on a prey item
12:18without it noticing,
12:19maneuver kind of slowly into place.
12:22Evolutionary engineering
12:23has given constrictor snakes another advantage,
12:27curved front teeth that act as grappling hooks.
12:32When a prey crosses the path of a snake,
12:34it'll strike, and it'll sink its teeth into the prey.
12:37That first strike, that first bite,
12:40is essentially, I would think, a scare tactic.
12:43If I'm a prey, one, it hurts,
12:45and where did this thing come from?
12:47You know, so you're a bit in shock.
12:49The other point is that anchor point,
12:51so the snake can actually wrap itself around
12:53and then start constricting.
12:56But the evolutionary advantage constrictor snakes gain
12:59from their massive strength has a cost.
13:02They have to consume their prey as fast as possible.
13:05Their most vulnerable moment is probably
13:07when they're eating and after they've eaten.
13:10Imagine you've just killed something enormous.
13:12It's taken a huge amount of your physical energy
13:14throughout your entire body.
13:15When the snake starts eating the prey,
13:17it doesn't have any limbs to push it in.
13:19So it has these pterygoid teeth
13:21that essentially act as a conveyor belt
13:23to bring the animal closer into its body.
13:26So basically, down the hatch, if you will.
13:28Pterygoid teeth are an inner row of curved teeth
13:30that move separately from the jaw
13:32and literally walk the prey whole
13:34into the constrictor snake.
13:36We have all heard those stories of, you know,
13:38people finding a cow or a goat or something
13:41inside these constricting snakes.
13:43The digestive capabilities that they have
13:45to just break down an entire animal
13:47without any mastication or taking it apart in any way
13:50before it enters their body
13:51and just kind of liquefy it down into its parts
13:54and use that energy takes, in some cases, weeks.
13:58And a lot of its energy is going towards
14:00this incredible work of breaking down
14:02this enormous prey item in its body
14:04so it doesn't have a lot of energy for other things.
14:07In the case where they are faced with a predator
14:11or competition or any threat in general,
14:13they actually regurgitate their prey
14:15because having that heavy body inside of you
14:18can impede your movements.
14:20This type of hunting behavior is quite efficient
14:23because they don't have to hunt all the time.
14:26Some snakes even just hunt about 12 times a year.
14:30While constrictor snakes squeeze with brute force,
14:34they also have remarkable tactile sensitivity
14:37that they use to monitor their prey's heartbeat.
14:40When you're a snake and you are constricting your prey,
14:44you're restricting their blood flow.
14:46You want to be able to tell how well you're doing
14:50and you can sense how fast the heart is beating.
14:53Then you know how much more you have to constrict
14:57or if you can let go or if you can start the feeding
15:00if the heart rate is nothing.
15:01And so that allows them to just become
15:04that much more of an efficient predator.
15:06This tactile sensitivity has interesting implications
15:09for human adaptation.
15:11What if we could use constrictor snakes
15:14to detect seizures by monitoring blood pressure?
15:17The ability that they have to sense kind of minute changes
15:20through their surfaces of their skin,
15:21there are so many different applications
15:23that we as people could apply that ability to.
15:26I can't even imagine what that would open up
15:29because currently when people want to get
15:31that kind of biofeedback
15:33and understand what's happening in a biological system,
15:36it's incredibly clunky.
15:37It requires like multiple machines,
15:39often delays as well.
15:41And so yeah, the utilizations would be almost endless.
15:43Constrictor snakes are one of nature's strongest
15:46and deadliest predators.
15:47But there's one species that has been bioengineered
15:50to use its superhuman strength for defense.
15:54Meet the thickest skinned member of the animal kingdom,
15:57the rhinoceros.
15:59They have a really thick layer of armor,
16:021.5 to 5 centimeters thick.
16:03So this is, you know, from this thick to about that thick.
16:06This isn't a small amount of skin.
16:08This animal is built to take a beating and keep on going.
16:12Rhinos can weigh close to 3,500 kilos
16:14and can be just under two meters in height.
16:18They are some of the largest and toughest mammals
16:21walking the earth.
16:22But it's their skin that makes them the armored tank
16:24of the animal kingdom.
16:26This type of skin is not something you normally see
16:30in large mammals.
16:32Hippos don't have it.
16:34Elephants will have thick skin, but not as thick as this.
16:37This is unique to the rhino species.
16:40Rhinos are little tanks, essentially.
16:43Squat, low to the ground,
16:45basically impervious to pretty much any disturbance.
16:49You know, they have a very rough life.
16:51The elements that they're in,
16:53the bugs that they encounter,
16:56the sun that they're in,
16:57they have to have a thick skin
16:59in order to survive that type of lifestyle.
17:02That tough armor-like skin
17:04is one of evolutionary engineering's great success stories.
17:09Rhinos have been roaming the earth
17:10for at least 50 million years.
17:13Both woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos
17:15were kind of created
17:16by this Ice Age steppe environment in Europe.
17:20The longer an animal's around,
17:21it usually indicates that there's something
17:23in their genetics
17:25that's giving them a huge advantage
17:26over the other animals that they're competing with.
17:28As engineers, we love to stick with tried-and-true designs.
17:32We know it works, it's proven, let's stick with it,
17:34and the animal kingdom's much like that as well.
17:37Rhinos are part of the group Parasodactyl,
17:39so odd-toed ungulate,
17:41so tapirs, horses, zebras, and the rhinos.
17:44Their skin is one of the toughest materials around,
17:47and unlike their armored cousins,
17:49the armadillo and the pangolin,
17:51rhinoceros skin is made up completely of layers of collagen.
17:55Collagen has fantastic tensile strength
17:58and elasticity,
17:59and rhinos take it to the next level.
18:02In a rhinoceros,
18:03collagen layers are criss-crossed along each other,
18:06almost like a 3D matrix,
18:08so it provides that toughness.
18:10We know that things with lattice structures
18:12tend to be stronger.
18:13They're kind of mutually reinforcing within the structure.
18:16Collagen is one of the essential building blocks
18:18for skin and cartilage in all mammals.
18:21It consists of amino acids,
18:23bound together to form a triple helix
18:26of elongated fibrils.
18:28And that collagen fiber is making that skin
18:30like carbon fiber reinforcement.
18:33It's kind of like an engineered armor.
18:35The fibers meshing with each other in bundles
18:37and overlapping each other
18:39creates kind of a network of high-strength material
18:42that's bonded together,
18:43that when it gets impacted,
18:45instead of it just impacting here,
18:47it's spreading that load
18:48over the entire area where the impact occurs.
18:51It's like a football player's shoulder pads.
18:54And just like a football player's shoulder pad,
18:57a rhino's skin is thickest in the shoulder area.
19:01It just looks like somebody has taken a coat
19:03and put it on a rhino.
19:05The skin thickness can range from 45 millimeters
19:08on the shoulders and back
19:09all the way down to 10 millimeters on the belly.
19:12It has these layers.
19:14It has folds in and around the limbs.
19:16It'll have folds along the back.
19:18It's so primitive-like
19:20that you almost wonder how it developed
19:23or how it kept such a thick skin.
19:25Their armor, while it keeps them safe,
19:27also has some constraints
19:28where it keeps in a lot of body heat.
19:30Evolutionary engineering came up
19:32with an ingenious cooling system for the rhino.
19:34They don't have this thick armor-like skin
19:37throughout their entire bodies.
19:39They just have it kind of where it counts.
19:41So in their movable folds and on their undersides,
19:44they have a lot thinner skin,
19:45and that allows them to kind of thermoregulate.
19:47This area of their skin
19:48actually has a lot of peripheral nerves
19:50and vasculature that allows a lot of blood flow into it,
19:54allows them to effectively thermoregulate.
19:57You'll see the folds of the rhinos
19:58have more of that surface area,
20:00and that's how they're able to release that heat.
20:02They don't have to be a tank everywhere.
20:04They can keep cool and be tough on the outside as well.
20:07The rhino's extreme vasculature
20:09results in a surprising amount of sensitivity in the skin.
20:13Which is why you see a lot of rhinos rolling in the mud,
20:16protecting themselves from insects,
20:18because they can get quite irritated with this
20:20because of the amount of nerves in that area.
20:23That sensitivity makes the rhinoceros' skin
20:26the ultimate strongman paradox
20:28when you consider how extraordinarily tough that armor is.
20:32A crocodile bite is 16,000 newtons.
20:34It's almost impossible to open up a jaw once it's closed
20:38because the force is so much.
20:39The armor of a rhinoceros
20:42can actually withstand a million newtons.
20:45Trying to penetrate the force of rhino's skin,
20:49it's virtually impossible.
20:51Rhino's skin is about half the strength of steel.
20:55So this armor is very, very strong.
20:58But not only is it strong, it's tough.
21:01One of the problems with steel is if we impacted it dents
21:04or fractures or breaks.
21:06With the rhino armor, not only is it strong,
21:09but it's flexible and durable.
21:10So it's really, really an amazing material.
21:13Rhinos are herbivores, so they don't hunt.
21:16And they are so massive that they have few predators.
21:19So why do they need such a tough skin?
21:22The answer is other rhinos.
21:26A group of rhino is actually called a crash,
21:28and it doesn't take a lot to grow as to why.
21:30Once these adults hit that sexual maturity,
21:33it's all about breeding for them,
21:35and males have certain territories that they guard.
21:38And females are free to roam around
21:39whichever area they want.
21:41And when they do see males confront each other
21:43at each border of their territories,
21:46females are able to assess their reproductive success.
21:49Does this male have good genetics?
21:51Is it going to be compatible to me?
21:53Do they have the strength?
21:55How well is their territory defended?
21:57They have basically a 50% chance of being successful
22:00and getting a mate,
22:01and the other 50% chance is potentially fatality.
22:05You're essentially having two substantial-sized pickups
22:09with a load in them hitting each other.
22:10If I take two pickup trucks going 20 kilometers an hour
22:14and then crash them into each other,
22:15that's going to be pretty catastrophic.
22:17If you had those kind of impacts being passed on
22:20to those internal organs,
22:22to the ribs, to the bones, et cetera,
22:24they would probably die or at least sustain injuries
22:26that would prevent them from procreating
22:28or being a successful member of their species.
22:31The rhino's horn is a deadly weapon
22:33made from keratin,
22:35the same material in human hair and fingernails.
22:38It's one of the few things sharp enough
22:40to gore rhino's skin.
22:42A rhino's horn,
22:43unlike the way that we have keratin in our own bodies,
22:46which is highly bendable,
22:47is in a much more kind of rigid, crystalline structure,
22:50which allows it to withstand more forces
22:52and allows it to be a threat
22:54and to be a weapon in this case.
22:55And that's kind of the rhino in a nutshell,
22:58taking things that other mammals have,
22:59nails, skin,
23:01and just taking all of those very familiar ingredients
23:04of your average mammal
23:06and really pushing the envelope
23:08on what that substance can be.
23:10As humans,
23:11we have developed ways to mimic
23:13the impressive strength of rhino's skin.
23:16You look at the armor of a rhinoceros
23:19and you see the very similar sort of materials
23:23that come about in a lot of different products.
23:27Hard products like vehicles
23:29and that type of structure
23:31to plastic and rubber type of materials
23:35that will provide protection,
23:37that will provide flexibility.
23:40You don't think of these just out of nowhere.
23:42We observe them in the wild
23:44and we say,
23:44how can we duplicate this to fit our needs?
23:47Blasting mass may be a very good analogy
23:49for the rhino armor.
23:51So if we want to make a new roadway,
23:53we don't want,
23:54when we blast,
23:55all the rocks to go into the neighborhood.
23:57So what we do is we take a series of mats
23:59that are essentially rope fibers
24:01that attach rubber blocks together
24:04and then we stake that to the ground
24:06and when the blast occurs,
24:07the rubber and the ropes all stretch
24:09and absorb the energy of the blast
24:11so that the rocks slow down
24:13and then essentially remain
24:15in the same area where the blast occurred.
24:17What the rhino's skin is doing
24:19is kind of the same thing.
24:20They're absorbing the impact
24:21from the fight they're having
24:23with their competitor
24:24and distributing that energy
24:26so it doesn't impact
24:27the inside of the rhino itself.
24:29But we still have a long way to go
24:32to match nature's incredible engineering.
24:34If there's a will,
24:35there's a way.
24:36With biology,
24:37it always kind of finds
24:38the best solution that it can,
24:41balancing energy constraints
24:42and the need for protection
24:44and longevity.
24:45Biology is really, really amazing
24:47at solving complex engineering problems.
24:53Lurking in the murky waters of the savannah,
24:56there's a creature with super strength
24:59that comes down from the age of the dinosaurs.
25:02Only this family of strong men survived
25:05even that extinction.
25:07Crocodiles are considered
25:08one of the strongest animals on the planet.
25:10Their bite can generate a force
25:12of 3,700 pounds per square inch.
25:16Crocodiles are kind of like
25:18an ancient set of technology
25:20from a biological perspective.
25:22And we've never really been able
25:23to design something
25:24that can do what a crocodile does.
25:26One of evolution's greatest survivors,
25:28the crocodile,
25:29has been around
25:30for over 80 million years.
25:32They have a wide geographical range
25:34and can be found
25:35in the tropical habitats
25:36of Africa, Asia,
25:38Australia,
25:39and the Americas.
25:41One of its species,
25:42the saltwater crocodile,
25:44is the biggest reptile on Earth,
25:46although their ancestors
25:47were much bigger.
25:49They've been around since dinosaurs.
25:51There were a lot of predators back then.
25:54You had to have very thick skins,
25:56which crocs definitely do.
25:58And you had to have
26:00a very big bite force.
26:02In fact,
26:03modern crocodiles
26:04have the strongest bite force
26:05ever recorded.
26:07About 1,600 kilograms
26:08of force
26:09or more than a ton
26:10of force
26:11that the crocodile
26:12can close its jaws with.
26:13So if you were clamped
26:14in those jaws,
26:15you would literally
26:16have to use the strength
26:18to lift an automobile
26:19off of you.
26:21There's nobody on Earth
26:22who has the strength
26:23to generate that kind of force.
26:24But that evolution
26:26is entirely designed
26:28for closing strength.
26:29It has no strength
26:30in the opening direction.
26:32An average man
26:33could pull the crocodile's
26:34jaws closed quite easily,
26:35but there's no way
26:36you're going to be able
26:37to pry that back open.
26:39There's no way
26:39you'll forget that sound either,
26:42which is like nothing else
26:43in the animal kingdom.
26:44It has been likened
26:46to hearing a gunshot.
26:47It really is a very loud snap
26:49and very distinctive.
26:51In the wild,
26:53the gunshot sound
26:54is even more striking
26:55because of the relative quiet
26:57that precedes it.
26:58Crocodiles have mastered
26:59the art of being
27:01stealth predators.
27:02You'll see them
27:03slowly inching towards
27:04their prey,
27:05just having their eyes,
27:07their nostrils
27:07just speaking at the top.
27:08It doesn't rush.
27:11Crocodiles are
27:12cold-blooded animals,
27:13and one of the things
27:14cold-blooded animals
27:15can't do is maintain
27:16energy output
27:17for long periods of time.
27:19Endotherms can store
27:20a little bit of energy
27:21in their muscles
27:22and expend it relatively quickly,
27:24but then it's very difficult
27:25for them to replenish it
27:27quickly and reuse it.
27:29Crocodiles are carnivores,
27:30and they are semi-aquatic.
27:32In the wild,
27:33they generally feast
27:34on fish, birds, frogs,
27:37and crustaceans.
27:38They can also attack
27:39large prey.
27:41They'll wait, you know,
27:42until terrestrial prey
27:43comes to the water's edge,
27:44and that's when they strike.
27:46That tail of the crocodile
27:48is immense.
27:49It's like a giant paddle
27:50that basically shoots
27:52the crocodile like a torpedo,
27:54and then the jaws clamp
27:55very quickly onto that prey.
27:58And then they'll bring it
27:59to the water to do
28:00what's called this death roll,
28:01whereby they are clamped into it.
28:03They're drowning this thing
28:05in the water really quickly.
28:06It's being rolled
28:07in three dimensions
28:08under the water.
28:09They don't even know
28:10which direction to fight anymore
28:11because they have no sense
28:13of directionality.
28:14Ironically,
28:14the strongest biter
28:15in the animal kingdom
28:16does not actually chew its food.
28:18And similar to how birds
28:20ingest grit,
28:21many crocodiles swallow stones
28:23to assist in the crushing of food.
28:25Essentially,
28:26the croc is a tear-and-swallow
28:28type of predator.
28:30They will literally rip apart,
28:31and they will just swallow
28:33large pieces
28:34to get them down.
28:35While its attacks
28:36on smaller or aquatic prey
28:38might not be as spectacular,
28:40the crocodile still brings
28:41a trove of evolutionary tweaks
28:43to get the job done,
28:44such as its special palatal valve.
28:46This can prevent water and smells
28:48from entering its throat
28:50and is why the crocodile
28:51can keep its mouth open
28:52at any time underwater.
28:54They can also track prey
28:56by vibration.
28:57Crocs have these nerves
28:59in the bottom part of the jaw
29:00where they can feel
29:01the vibrations of prey moving.
29:03They can also see that prey
29:05very well when it gets close.
29:07They have two sets of eyelids,
29:09one that allows them
29:09to see underwater
29:10and one that allows them
29:12to see on land.
29:13Perhaps the most incredible
29:14piece of biological engineering
29:16to do with this superbiter
29:17was only discovered in 2016.
29:20Using computer modeling,
29:21a team of researchers
29:22was able to show
29:23the intricate network
29:25of bone, muscle, and cartilage
29:27in the jaws of this creature.
29:28They also determined
29:29there was a secondary jaw joint.
29:31Their secondary joint
29:33in their jaw allows them
29:34to distribute the force
29:35that they generate
29:36throughout its skull
29:37and prevents the crocodile's jaw
29:39from twisting
29:39or moving around
29:41when it's feeding.
29:42The crocodile's secondary joint
29:43is similar to the temporomandibular joint
29:46in humans,
29:47the hinge that connects
29:48the lower jaw
29:49to the top of the skull.
29:51Amazingly,
29:52the crocodile's secondary joint
29:53does not suffer arthritis
29:55despite the force
29:56it is subjected to.
29:57Crocs have this
29:58amazingly strong cartilage.
30:01Not only does it
30:02have to be strong,
30:03it has to be tough.
30:04And toughness is the ability
30:05for a material
30:06to resist tear
30:07or fracture
30:08under sudden loads
30:09or high loads.
30:11That cartilage
30:12that's in the crocodile
30:13is very resistant
30:14to tearing
30:15under really high loads.
30:17And that has
30:17great applications
30:18not only designing
30:19better plastics
30:20and polymers
30:20and structures
30:21but also in bioengineering
30:23for replacing
30:24ligaments in knees
30:25or legs
30:26or elbows
30:26or shoulders
30:27or what have you
30:27because if we can
30:28design those ligaments
30:29to resist tearing better
30:31those people
30:32that are using
30:33those replacement ligaments
30:34will be much less likely
30:35to experience another injury.
30:38The crocodile
30:39may hold the title
30:40for the creature
30:41with the strongest bite
30:42pound for pound
30:43but the bone crushing bite
30:45of this small marsupial
30:47comes in
30:47for a very close second.
30:50The Tasmanian devil
30:51has the strongest bite
30:52of any mammal.
30:54It's also
30:55along with the hyena
30:56one of only two mammals
30:57whose jaws
30:58can cut through bones
30:59a natural bolt cutter.
31:02Currently
31:03this legendary creature's
31:04habitat
31:04is restricted
31:05related to the Australian
31:06state of Tasmania
31:07but not for much longer
31:09and to understand
31:10its future
31:11it's worth looking
31:12at its recent past.
31:15It got its name
31:16in the early 19th century.
31:18European settlers
31:19in that area
31:20discovered the animal
31:21by hearing the growls
31:22and vocalizations
31:23that it made.
31:25Not only did they have
31:27a devilish sound
31:28but they had
31:29devilish behavior.
31:31Livestock's
31:32a really easy target
31:33for them.
31:34So when the first settlers
31:35were going to Tasmania
31:36and you wanted
31:37to raise your chickens
31:38well I think
31:39the Tasmanian devils
31:40probably had something
31:41to say about that
31:42and decided that
31:43the chickens
31:43were pretty yummy.
31:44Tasmanian devils
31:45are about the size
31:46of a dog
31:46or a bear cub.
31:48They're considered
31:49the largest
31:49carnivorous marsupial
31:51which are animals
31:51that have that pouch
31:52similar to kangaroos,
31:54wallabies
31:54and koalas.
31:56The animal kingdom
31:56was once populated
31:57by a wide variety
31:59of carnivorous marsupials.
32:01Some of them huge
32:02but few species remain.
32:04The Tasmanian devil
32:05emerged 10 to 15 million
32:07years ago
32:08and once had
32:08a much larger habitat.
32:113,000 year old fossils
32:12in mainland Australia
32:13suggest they used
32:14to be common there too.
32:15One theory for their expulsion
32:17is the dingo
32:18which was introduced
32:19to Australia
32:20around that time.
32:21The competition
32:22from the dingo
32:23may have wiped
32:23the devil out.
32:25However,
32:25in Tasmania
32:26they are holding it down.
32:28There are apex predators
32:29in their area
32:29and have been known
32:31to regulate
32:31the populations
32:32of other animals.
32:35Part of what makes
32:36them apex
32:37is that their frightening
32:38and frenetic behavior
32:39intimidates others.
32:41There are a few predators
32:42eagles, quolls
32:44but I would not want
32:45to be in a one-on-one
32:46battle with
32:47a Tasmanian devil.
32:48They're extremely aggressive
32:49they go for head bites.
32:52You've got
32:53the combination
32:53of aggression
32:55and the odor
32:56that they emit
32:56which is very similar
32:57to a skunk
32:58that we all know
32:58and love.
32:59It's quite a powerful smell
33:00and so it's very off-putting
33:03for a predator
33:04to have to deal
33:05with smell
33:05and aggression.
33:08In terms of
33:09how it attacks
33:10it does so
33:11by pummeling
33:11its canines
33:12into its prey's skull
33:13and delivering
33:14a frenzy of bites
33:15effectively damaging
33:17the brain.
33:18Every part of the body
33:19is permeable to them.
33:20It makes sense
33:21to just go for
33:22the skull
33:23get into the brain
33:24with your teeth
33:25and then it's
33:26dead really quickly
33:26and your hunt
33:28is done.
33:29As for what
33:30the devils themselves
33:31go after
33:31pretty much anything.
33:34Metabolically speaking
33:35nothing uses up
33:37as much
33:38insane energy
33:39per unit of time
33:40as a Tasmanian devil.
33:42They literally
33:43are just energy
33:44powerhouses.
33:45They have this
33:45very explosive
33:46hunting style
33:47but that means
33:48that in order
33:48to maintain
33:49that explosive style
33:50they need to fuel it.
33:52These animals
33:53can eat
33:54about 15%
33:55of their body weight
33:56per day.
33:57That's equivalent
33:58of a 150 pound
33:59person eating
34:0022 pounds
34:02of food
34:03a day.
34:05When you look
34:06at Tasmanian devils
34:07you think
34:08wow
34:08that's a lot
34:09of teeth.
34:10Like a dog
34:11the devil
34:11has 42 teeth
34:13but the devils
34:14grow continuously
34:15throughout its life.
34:16The root
34:17of its tooth
34:17goes really high
34:18into the skull
34:19which makes it
34:19even tougher
34:20to break
34:21and so it allows
34:22it to have
34:23that extra pressure
34:24to break bone
34:25and crush bone.
34:25It also has
34:26the ability
34:27to open up
34:27its jaw
34:28about 80 degrees.
34:29So if you think
34:29about your own
34:30human mouth
34:30it can really
34:31open up
34:32maybe 45
34:3250 degrees.
34:3380 degrees
34:34is a huge
34:35jaw opening angle.
34:36It really means
34:37that you can
34:37get your head
34:38around very large
34:40prey
34:40not just grab
34:41its legs
34:41but really make
34:42one solid
34:44bite
34:45that's going
34:45to finish
34:45off that animal.
34:47So having a jaw
34:47that opens
34:48really wide
34:48is advantageous
34:49to take on
34:50prey that's
34:51your size
34:51or larger.
34:52Importantly
34:53as well as
34:54going after
34:54live animals
34:55Tasmanian devils
34:56also go after
34:57dead ones.
34:58They are scavengers
35:00the clean up
35:00crew of the island
35:01and this is
35:02where their
35:03bolt cutting jaws
35:04come in
35:04particularly handy.
35:05They're not
35:06just eating
35:07the muscle mass
35:07or a few
35:08of the internal
35:09organs
35:09they also eat
35:10the bones.
35:11There's a big
35:12evolutionary advantage
35:13to animals
35:13that do crush
35:14bones and eat
35:15the bones
35:15because the
35:16marrow inside
35:16the bones
35:17is among
35:18the most
35:18energy laden
35:20food sources
35:20that an animal
35:21can have
35:22access to.
35:23If you look
35:24to sub-Saharan
35:24Africa
35:25the hyenas
35:26crush the bones
35:27of their prey
35:28to make sure
35:28they're getting
35:28to the marrow
35:29and in Tasmania
35:30the Tasmanian
35:31devil's doing
35:32the same thing.
35:32Few animals
35:33eat bones
35:34because few
35:35need to
35:35and few animals
35:37have the jaw
35:37strength to easily
35:38crack them open
35:39to extract
35:39the marrow
35:40but for scavengers
35:42like the devil
35:42or hyena
35:43the marrow
35:44is dietary gold.
35:48If you look
35:48at the very
35:49strong square
35:50shape of the
35:52Tasmanian devil's
35:53head you can see
35:54that there's a lot
35:55of structure
35:55where the muscles
35:56attach to the jaw
35:57giving them
35:58a real mechanical
35:59advantage to being
36:00able to crush bone.
36:02Tasmanian devils
36:02they're not really
36:03going to be good pets
36:04they've actually
36:05been found their jaw
36:05is so strong
36:06that they can bite
36:07through a steel cage.
36:08If it does get
36:09caught or has
36:10to be relocated
36:11that's something
36:12that scientists
36:13and researchers
36:13have to be aware
36:14of.
36:15Knowing how
36:16aggressive this
36:16animal is
36:17you don't want
36:18that to happen.
36:19In fact
36:20scientists have
36:21recently been
36:22relocating these
36:23creatures and
36:24reintroducing them
36:25into the wild
36:25in Australia.
36:27Why?
36:27Because on the
36:28mainland
36:29invasive red foxes
36:30and feral cats
36:31have been devastating
36:32the small mammal
36:33populations
36:34and for years
36:35conservationists
36:36have zeroed in
36:37on the devil's
36:38crucial scavenger
36:39role in maintaining
36:40a balanced healthy
36:41ecosystem.
36:42Now after hundreds
36:44perhaps thousands
36:44of years
36:45they are returning
36:46to their ancestral
36:47homeland.
36:48The scientists
36:49are confident
36:50that they'll prevail.
36:51When you're a
36:52scavenger
36:52like the Tasmanian
36:53devil
36:54you're extremely
36:55adaptable.
36:56They've been
36:56through a lot.
36:57Climate change
36:58has really affected
36:59their distribution
37:00but the fact
37:01that they can
37:02literally eat
37:03anything
37:03whether it's alive
37:04or dead
37:05allows them
37:06to persist
37:07in where they
37:08are now.
37:09Some of these
37:09creatures are
37:10truly imposing
37:11in size
37:12and strength.
37:14But to find
37:16the strongest
37:16animal
37:17you might be
37:18surprised
37:18where to look.
37:20Big things
37:21sometimes do
37:22come in
37:22small packages
37:23and with the
37:25capability to
37:26pull over
37:26a thousand times
37:27its own body
37:28weight
37:28the dung beetle
37:29holds the title
37:30of the strongest
37:31insect.
37:32and pound
37:33for pound
37:34strongest animal.
37:36A dung beetle
37:37is moving
37:38over a thousand
37:39times its own
37:40body weight.
37:41That's like
37:41equivalent to
37:42a human
37:43pulling like
37:44six double
37:45decker buses.
37:46It's just not
37:46going to happen
37:47and the dung beetle
37:48does this every day.
37:49This beetle
37:50uses its
37:50titanic strength
37:52to create
37:52and move
37:53balls of dung.
37:54Waste,
37:55poop,
37:56scat,
37:57dung,
37:57yeah,
37:58we human beings
37:59tend to think
37:59of it as a waste
38:00product in a
38:01modern era
38:02but it is
38:02an incredibly
38:03important kind
38:04of resource
38:04both chemically
38:06and energetically
38:06and dung beetles
38:07have really
38:08kind of taken
38:08that resource
38:09and they've
38:10specialised
38:10in utilising it
38:11in a really
38:12efficient way.
38:12Dung beetles
38:14have been around
38:14for about
38:15130 million years.
38:17They're highly
38:18adaptable.
38:19Today there are
38:207,000 species
38:21of them on
38:21every continent
38:22on earth
38:23except Antarctica.
38:25They are one
38:25of evolution's
38:26most intriguing
38:27success stories.
38:28Dung beetles
38:29are in a way
38:30nature's garbage
38:31collectors.
38:32The wildebeest
38:34and zebra
38:34and elephants
38:35they put their
38:36waste on the
38:36plain.
38:37The dung beetles
38:38take that waste
38:39roll it up
38:40by tons
38:41and tons
38:41and tons
38:42stick it
38:42underground
38:43where it
38:43composts
38:44and adds
38:45to the nutrient
38:45value in the
38:46soil.
38:47That regrows
38:47the grass
38:48that then
38:49the wildebeest
38:50and zebra
38:50eat.
38:51They have
38:52evolved a
38:53digestive tract
38:54system that
38:54allows them
38:55to exploit this
38:56in a way
38:57that they get
38:57enough food
38:58for it.
38:59So even
38:59though it's
39:00been ejected
39:01by somebody
39:02else it's
39:03still good
39:04enough quality
39:04and has the
39:05nutrients in it
39:06for the
39:07offspring of
39:08the beetle.
39:08These beetles
39:09can move
39:09one metric ton
39:11of dung
39:11per year.
39:12If there was
39:12no recycling
39:13and management
39:14of waste
39:14in our
39:15ecosystems
39:15very quickly
39:17we would
39:18literally
39:18in the world
39:20be drowning
39:20in this stuff.
39:21Like all
39:22insects
39:23the dung beetle
39:24has an exoskeleton.
39:25You grab hold
39:26of it
39:27it's really
39:28hard
39:28it won't
39:29squash easily.
39:30This hard shell
39:31both protects
39:32the beetle
39:32and helps
39:33regulate temperature.
39:34One of the
39:35things is
39:35they're dark
39:36they may be
39:36reflecting heat
39:37but they also
39:38can open up
39:39their spiracles
39:40which are the
39:41little holes
39:41where the air
39:42goes in and out
39:43and they can
39:44lose heat
39:45by evaporative
39:46cooling
39:46but then they
39:47also lose
39:48water
39:48so at night
39:49what they do
39:50is they sit
39:50with their
39:51backsides up
39:52in the air
39:52on their
39:53wings
39:53they have
39:54these little
39:54gutters
39:55and when
39:56it gets
39:56cool
39:56you get
39:57condensation
39:58and it
39:58dribbles
39:59down
39:59towards
39:59their
40:00head
40:00so they
40:00can
40:00drink
40:01it.
40:01It's
40:02kind of
40:02outside
40:03our
40:04human
40:04reality
40:05I mean
40:05we are
40:06really
40:06designed
40:06to work
40:07in a
40:07really
40:07small
40:08envelope
40:08if the
40:09temperature
40:09drops
40:10below
40:1020
40:10degrees
40:11Celsius
40:11we
40:11need
40:12a shirt
40:12on
40:12or
40:12we're
40:13going
40:13to
40:13get
40:13cold
40:13if
40:14the
40:14temperature
40:14goes
40:15over
40:1540
40:15degrees
40:16Celsius
40:16we're
40:17not
40:17going
40:17to be
40:17standing
40:17outside
40:17in
40:18the
40:18sun
40:18and
40:18if
40:18it
40:19hits
40:1950
40:19degrees
40:20Celsius
40:20our
40:21lives
40:21are
40:22threatened
40:22by
40:22those
40:22kind
40:23of
40:23temperatures
40:23the
40:24dung
40:24beetle
40:24can
40:25operate
40:25in
40:25a
40:25much
40:26larger
40:26range
40:26and
40:26in
40:27some
40:27places
40:27up
40:27to
40:2760
40:28degrees
40:28Celsius
40:28really
40:29amazing
40:29evolutionary
40:30advantage
40:30dung beetles
40:31have evolved
40:32into four
40:33distinct
40:33classes
40:34and the
40:35first one
40:35are the
40:36dwellers
40:36these
40:36are the
40:37ones
40:37that
40:37live
40:37in
40:38the
40:38path
40:38themselves
40:39they
40:39lay
40:40their
40:40eggs
40:40there
40:40they
40:41live
40:41there
40:41it's
40:42quite
40:42efficient
40:43there's
40:43an
40:43abundance
40:44of
40:44food
40:45however
40:45it
40:46can
40:46get
40:46messy
40:47and
40:47their
40:47eggs
40:47might
40:47get
40:48destroyed
40:48in
40:48the
40:48process
40:49the
40:49second
40:49ones
40:50are
40:50the
40:50tunnelers
40:51these
40:51are
40:51the
40:51ones
40:52that
40:52excavate
40:52tunnels
40:53underneath
40:53and
40:54create
40:54their
40:54brood balls
40:55or
40:55the
40:55food
40:55balls
40:56and
40:56store
40:56them
40:56down
40:57there
40:57and
40:57third
40:58ones
40:58are
40:59the
40:59rollers
41:00these
41:00are
41:00the
41:00ones
41:01that
41:01are
41:01mainly
41:01found
41:02in
41:02Africa
41:03and
41:03Australia
41:03they
41:04roll
41:04the
41:05manure
41:05into
41:06big
41:06balls
41:07and
41:07they
41:07transport
41:07them
41:08to
41:08different
41:08place
41:08where
41:09they
41:09can
41:09feed
41:09on
41:09it
41:09later
41:10and
41:10interestingly
41:11enough
41:11the
41:11last
41:12one
41:12are
41:12the
41:12kleptomaniacs
41:13which
41:14are
41:14the
41:14ones
41:14that
41:14steal
41:15the
41:15already
41:15made
41:15balls
41:16by
41:16other
41:16dung
41:17beetles
41:19it's
41:19the
41:19rollers
41:20who
41:20are
41:20the
41:20strongmen
41:21of
41:21the
41:21dung
41:22beetle
41:22world
41:22and
41:23the
41:23bull
41:23headed
41:23dung
41:24beetle
41:24is
41:24their
41:24weight
41:25lifting
41:25champ
41:26built
41:26for
41:27power
41:27their
41:27small
41:28size
41:28is
41:28part
41:29of
41:29what
41:29allows
41:29them
41:29to
41:30be
41:30able
41:30to
41:30do
41:31these
41:31amazing
41:31feats
41:32of
41:32strength
41:32the
41:32ability
41:33to
41:33move
41:34and
41:34push
41:35items
41:35that
41:35are
41:35much
41:36larger
41:36and
41:36much
41:37heavier
41:37than
41:37yourself
41:37is
41:38easier
41:38if
41:39you're
41:39smaller
41:39larger
41:40animals
41:40need
41:40to
41:41use
41:41more
41:41of
41:41their
41:41strength
41:42to
41:42support
41:42their
41:43greater
41:43muscle
41:43mass
41:44the
41:44smaller
41:45lighter
41:45dung
41:46beetle
41:46can
41:46devote
41:46most
41:47of
41:47its
41:47strength
41:47to
41:48its
41:48task
41:48they're
41:49incredibly
41:50well
41:50designed
41:50to
41:51move
41:51something
41:52so
41:52large
41:53compared
41:53to
41:53their
41:53own
41:54mass
41:54in
41:54some
41:54ways
41:55the
41:55dung
41:55beetle
41:55is
41:56nature's
41:56bulldozer
41:57their
41:57heads
41:58have
41:58a
41:58sharp
41:59edge
41:59for
41:59digging
41:59and
42:00carving
42:00out
42:00dung
42:01and
42:01they
42:01use
42:01the
42:01serrations
42:02on
42:02their
42:02front
42:03legs
42:03for
42:03raking
42:04and
42:04scraping
42:04the
42:04dung
42:05together
42:05to
42:05form
42:06a
42:06ball
42:06they're
42:07short
42:07and
42:07stocky
42:08and
42:08they've
42:08got
42:08very
42:09big
42:09legs
42:09not
42:10spindly
42:10legs
42:11when
42:11you're
42:11on
42:11a
42:12tilt
42:12like
42:12that
42:12and
42:13you're
42:13pushing
42:13the
42:14force
42:14that
42:14you're
42:15getting
42:15behind
42:24but
42:24the
42:25main
42:25reason
42:25the
42:25roller
42:26beetle
42:26creates
42:26and
42:27moves
42:27these
42:27dung
42:28balls
42:28is
42:28to
42:28attract
42:29a
42:29female
42:30once
42:31a
42:31female
42:31dung
42:31beetle
42:32finds
42:32the
42:32ball
42:33she
42:33likes
42:33she
42:34hitches
42:34a
42:35ride
42:35what
42:36they
42:36do
42:36is
42:36they
42:36then
42:36bury
42:37it
42:37and
42:38the
42:38female
42:38will
42:39lay
42:39an
42:39egg
42:39in
42:39it
42:39males
42:40have
42:40quite
42:40a
42:40tough
42:41job
42:41because
42:42the
42:42female
42:43actually
42:43lays
42:43one
42:44egg
42:44per
42:45ball
42:45a
42:45female
42:45can
42:46lay
42:46up
42:46to
42:4660
42:47eggs
42:47in
42:5450
42:54to
42:5460
42:55but
42:55if
42:55you
42:56are
42:56constrained
42:56by
42:57using
42:57this
42:57dung
42:57resource
42:58and
42:58doing
42:58this
42:58incredible
42:59physical
43:00labor
43:00that's
43:01probably
43:01a
43:01large
43:01part
43:02of
43:02the
43:02reason
43:02that
43:02they
43:02have
43:02so
43:03few
43:03offspring
43:03for
43:04an
43:04insect
43:04species
43:05so
43:05the
43:06more
43:06balls
43:06that
43:06you
43:06can
43:06roll
43:07the
43:07higher
43:07chance
43:08you'll
43:08be
43:08able
43:08to
43:08fertilize
43:09the
43:09eggs
43:09and
43:10be
43:10able
43:10to
43:10then
43:10pass
43:11your
43:11genes
43:11that
43:12is
43:12an
43:12insane
43:12constraint
43:13but
43:13there
43:14is
43:14a
43:14payoff
43:15for
43:15it
43:15because
43:15when
43:16you're
43:16young
43:16and
43:17turn
43:17to
43:17their
43:17larval
43:17stage
43:18and
43:18the
43:18egg
43:18hatches
43:19they
43:19have
43:19access
43:19to
43:20just
43:20an
43:20incredibly
43:20rich
43:21resource
43:21the
43:22larvae actually
43:22consumes
43:2340 to
43:2355 percent
43:24of that
43:25dung ball
43:25that they
43:26are
43:26laid in
43:27so
43:27the
43:28parents
43:28spend
43:28a lot
43:29of
43:29time
43:29investing
43:30in
43:30creating
43:30an
43:31optimal
43:31environment
43:32for
43:32growth
43:32it
43:33is
43:33critical
43:34for
43:34their
43:34survival
43:35it
43:35takes
43:35massive
43:36strength
43:36to
43:37carve
43:37out
43:37roll
43:38and
43:38bury
43:39these
43:39balls
43:39and
43:40then
43:40to
43:41fend
43:41off
43:41competitors
43:42there
43:43are
43:43the
43:43kleptomaniacs
43:44which
43:44are
43:44probably
43:44my
43:44favorite
43:45so
43:45if
43:45another
43:46dung
43:46beetle
43:46like
43:46a
43:46roller
43:47is
43:47moving
43:47a
43:48pat
43:48from
43:48one
43:49place
43:49to
43:49another
43:49that
43:50kleptomaniac
43:51is going
43:51to come
43:51in
43:51and
43:51steal
43:52that
43:52so
43:52it's
43:52got
43:52to
43:52be
43:52quick
43:53it's
43:53got
43:53to
43:54be
43:54ready
43:54to
43:54fight
43:54they
43:55fight
43:55many
43:56dung
43:56beetles
43:57have
43:57horns
43:58on the
43:59front
43:59end
43:59of
43:59them
44:00part
44:00for
44:00shuffling
44:01the
44:01poop
44:01but
44:02also
44:02for
44:03interactions
44:03with
44:04others
44:04and
44:04I
44:04mean
44:05they
44:05will
44:05get
44:05quite
44:05aggressive
44:06I
44:06will
44:06get
44:07you
44:07out
44:07of
44:07here
44:07this
44:07is
44:08my
44:08turf
44:09these
44:09amazing
44:10feats
44:10of
44:10strength
44:11have
44:11earned
44:11these
44:12ecological
44:12engineers
44:13the
44:13title
44:13strongest
44:14animal
44:14in
44:15the
44:15world
44:15as
44:16humans
44:16we
44:17think
44:17we
44:17have
44:17a
44:18lot
44:18of
44:18strength
44:18but
44:18in
44:18the
44:19animal
44:19kingdom
44:19we're
44:20really
44:20not
44:20the
44:20strong
44:21men
44:21you
44:21know
44:21in
44:22engineering
44:22to
44:22get
44:23that
44:23kind
44:23of
44:23energy
44:24and
44:24power
44:24into
44:24such
44:25a
44:25small
44:25package
44:25on
44:26the
44:26scale
44:26of
44:26what
44:27the
44:27dung
44:27beetle
44:27does
44:28is
44:28very
44:28difficult
44:28the
44:29dung
44:29beetles
44:30are
44:30absolutely
44:30amazing
44:32whether
44:33the
44:33toughness
44:33of
44:34the
44:34Tasmanian
44:34devils
44:35bite
44:35or
44:36the
44:36strength
44:36of
44:36the
44:36leopard
44:37or
44:37the
44:37boa
44:37constrictor
44:38the
44:38animal
44:39kingdom
44:39continues
44:40to
44:40inspire
44:41us
44:41we
44:42look
44:42to
44:42a
44:43variety
44:43of
44:43different
44:44systems
44:45to
44:45try
44:45and
44:45figure
44:46out
44:46what
44:46their
44:47advantages
44:47is
44:53not only
44:53do
44:53we
44:53learn
44:53more
44:54about
44:54how
44:54they
44:54work
44:55and
44:55survive
44:55they
44:56give
44:56us
44:56clues
44:57on
44:57how
44:57we
44:58and
44:58our
44:58technologies
44:59can
44:59be
44:59stronger
45:00tougher
45:01better
45:23than
45:25have
45:28have
45:29than
45:31we
Comments