Biology Department

The Department is full of life. The Department has got a very good lab facility. Attached with it is a small museum. The preserved specimens, collections are the main contributions of the old students. Collection includes the bones, horns of different animals, skulls of human, ostrich, cat etc. The preserved specimens represent the various Phyla. In addition to all these, all the essential biological tools are in sufficient numbers, for the students to develop skill in biological studies. The lab can accommodate at a time 35 students.

As a new venture the department website is launched to have a free access to the students, to have a better and wider outlook of life science.

	Lalitha Justin (Head)
Jayalakshmy S	Raji M S	Deepa K

Yummy???

These are 15 Exotic Tropical Fruits …

So Start identifying…

ANSWERS

1. Rambuttan
2. Lychee
3. Star fruit
4. Mangosteen
5. Kumquat
6. Durian
7. Dragon Fruit
8. African Cucumber
9. Soursop (Guanaana)
10. Langsat
11. Santol
12. Lamut (Sapodilla)
13. Salak (Snake Fruit)
14. Sugar apple (Noi-na)
15. Ugli

Rambutan
Native to Malay Archipelago, Southeast Asia

Coming from an evergreen tree, the Rambutan fruit resembles the Lychees, have a leathery red skin and are covered with spines. Rambutan is a popular garden fruit tree and one of the most famous in Southeast Asia. The fruit is sweet and juicy, being commonly found in jams or available canned.

Lychee

Native to southern China, found in India, Taiwan
Coming from an evergreen tree, the lychee or litchi are small white flesh fruits, covered in a red rind, rich in vitamin C and with a grape-like texture. The fruit has started making its appearance in markets worldwide, refrigerated or canned with its taste intact.

Star fruit
Native to Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka
The star fruit comes from the carambola, a species of tree with pink flowers grown even in the US. The golden-yellow fruit is crunchy, sweet, with a taste of pineapples, apples and kiwis combined. There are two kinds of star fruits – acidulate and sweet, both rich in vitamin C. The fruit is particularly juice, some even making wine out of it.

Mangosteen

Native to the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas.
The mangosteen is another evergreen tree that produces oddly shaped fruits. The fruits are purple, creamy, described as citrus with a hint of peach. It is rich in antioxidants, some scientists even suggesting it can lower risk against certain human diseases, such as cancer. There are even legends about Queen Victoria offering a reward to the one that brings her the fruit.

Kumquat

Native to China
The kumquats or cumquats are small edible fruits resembling oranges that grow in a tree related to the Citrus. As with most of the fruits in the Citrus family, the kumquats are eaten raw. They are often used in marmalade and jelly but also in alcoholic drinks such as liquor. The Taiwanese add it to their teas, while others boil it and use it as a remedy for sore throats.

Durian
Native to Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia
Also known as the “King of Fruits,” Durian has a very particular odor, a unique taste and is covered by a hard husk. Having a disagreeable smell, compared to skunk spray or sewage, the fruit is forbidden in hotels and public transportations in Southeast Asia. Still, the whole experience is worth it, considering the absolutely divine taste of the Durian.

Dragon Fruit

Native to Mexico and Central and South America
Dragon fruit, strawberry pear or pitaya is a fruit of several cactus species with a sweet delicate taste and creamy pulp. The most common dragon fruit is the red pitaya, but other varieties include the Costa Rica pataya and the yellow pataya. Juice or wine can be obtained from the fruit, while the flowers can be eaten or used for tea.

African cucumber

Native to Kalahari Desert, Africa
The African cucumber, horned melon or melano is a fruit that can be best described as melon with horns. It originated in the Kalahari Desert and is now present in California and New Zealand. The dark green pulp reminds one of bananas, limes, passion fruit and cucumber. It is often used for decorating food but also in smoothies and sundaes.

Ugli

Ugli is a citrus hybrid between grapefruit and tangerine that grows in Jamaica. Its weird name may be spelled wrong but it really comes from “ugly” in reference to its unappealing, wrinkled skin. But the looks of the Ugli have nothing to do with the taste, it is incredibly delicious and juicy, it takes more from the sweet tangerine and less from the sour grapefruit.

As a curiosity, you should know Ugli is the only fruit in the world that starts with the letter U.

Langsat

Langsat is an egg-shaped fruit, about 5 centimeters in diameter, usually found in clusters of two to thirty fruits. The firm, translucent flesh is covered by a brown, leathery skin and has an acidic taste, resembling a grapefruit, but riper ones are quite sweet. It originated in Malaysia, but over time it has spread in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and India. It was also successfully introduced in Hawaii in the early 1900s.

Sugar apple

One of Thailand’s most popular fruits the Sugar Apple has a white, creamy flesh covered by a lumpy green crust that makes it look like a giant, green raspberry. The incredibly sweet pulp is eaten with a spoon after the fruit is easily broken into two halves. Sugar Apples are usually blended with coconut milk, chilled and served as a delicious, light ice-cream. This is one fruit you have to try if you’re ever in Thailand.

Salak ( Snake Fruit)

Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, Salak is called Snake-fruit because of its brown, scaly skin resembling that of a serpent. It grows in clusters at the bottom of a palm tree and it has the size and appearance of a fig. The skin can be peeled after pinching the tip of the fruit, exposing three garlic-looking lobes, each containing a large seed. Salak tastes sweet and acidic at the same time and its consistency can vary from dry and crumbly to moist and crunchy.

Soursop (Guanabana)

Soursop is native to Mexico, Central America, the Carribean and northern South America but these days it’s also being cultivated in countries in South Asia. Guanabana has a white, creamy pulp, very difficult to eat because of the large number of inedible seeds, but if you have the patience, you can enjoy a flavor that has been compared to strawberry and pineapple mixed together.

Very rich in vitamins C, B1 and B2, Soursop is a very popular desert ingredient in Mexico and countries around Central America, usually processed into ice-creams, fruit-bars, sherbets or soft-drinks.

Lamut (Sapodilla)

Sapodilla originates from Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula but it was also introduced in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. Lamuts look like potatoes, reaching 4-8 centimeters in diameter and are incredibly tasty when ripe. Many have compared the sweet flavor of the Lamut with cotton candy or caramel. The seeds resemble black overgrown beans with a hook at one end that can get caught in the throat if swallowed. Lamut fruit only become ripe after being picked.

Santol

Santol look like overgrown apples but don’t share their flavor. They are some of the most popular fruits in the Philippines, the kids especially love them, but the fruit is native to Malaysia and former Indochina. Santol is often referred to as the “lolly fruit” due to the fact that you have to suck the flesh of the seed because it’s very strongly attached to it. It has a very sweet flavor and it is used to make delicious marmalade, very popular in markets around Europe and the US

Resurrection of the dead???

“There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the of the just and unjust.”—Acts 24:15.

Rediscovered species

LAZARUS SPECIES : 13 EXTINCT ANIMALS FOUND ALIVE

They’re called “Lazarus species” — creatures that have disappeared, sometimes for millions of years, only to miraculously be rediscovered again in modern times. Just as Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus in the Gospel of John, so these species manage to survive. Their rediscoveries are a bewildering reminder that when given a chance, life finds a way to survive. Here’s a short list of 13 animals long-feared extinct that, in fact, have been rediscovered.

Just try to identify them…

ANSWERS

1. Laotian Rock Rat
2. La Palma Giant Lizard
3. Giant Paulose Earthworm
4. Bermuda Petrel
5. Ceolacanth
6. Cuban Solenodon
7. New Caledonian crested gecko
8. Takahe
9. Large Billied Reed Warbler
10. Chacoan Peccary
11. New Holland mouse
12. Monito Del Monte
13. Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Laotian rock rat

This species was first discovered for sale as meat at a market in Thakhek, Khammouan, in Laos in 1996, and was considered so unusual and distinct from any other living rodent that it was given its own family. Then in 2006, after a systematic reanalysis, the Laotian rock rat was reclassified — incredibly — to belong to an ancient fossil family that was thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago. Return trips to Laos by the Wildlife Conservation Society have uncovered several other specimens, raising hopes that the animal may not be as rare as once thought.

La Palma giant lizard

Until its recent rediscovery in 2007, the La Palma giant lizard was believed to have been extinct for around 500 years. It was found again so recently that the IUCN Red List still lists the animal as extinct. Found in the La Palma region of the Canary Islands, the lone discovered individual had an estimated age of 4 years and was a foot long. New expeditions to the area are planned in hopes of finding a breeding population.

Giant Palouse earthworm

Originally discovered in 1897, these giant worms were declared extinct in the 1980s until three specimens were unearthed, the most recent in 2005. Found in Eastern Washington state and parts of Idaho, these ghostly burrowers can dig down as deep as 15 feet, grow to as long as 3.3 feet in length, and are albino in appearance.

Bermuda Petrel

The dramatic rediscovery of the Bermuda Petrel has become one of the most inspiring stories in the history of nature conservation. Believed extinct for 330 years, the birds had not been seen since the 1620s. Then, in 1951, 18 nesting pairs were found on remote rocky islets in Castle Harbor. Even so, they are still battling extinction today with a global population just over 250 individuals.

Coelacanth

Coelacanth are an ancient order of fish believed to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period some 65-plus million years ago. That was until 1938, when one was miraculously discovered off the east coast of South Africa near the mouth of the Chalumna River. Closely related to lungfishes and tetrapods, coelacanths are among the oldest living jawed fishes known to exist. They can live as long as 100 years and swim at depths of 90 to 100 meters.

Cuban solenodon

This strange-looking creature is so rare that only 37 specimens have ever been caught. It was originally discovered in 1861, but no individuals were found from 1890 to 1974. Unusual among mammals in that its saliva is venomous, the Cuban solenodon was most recent sighted in 2003, an event so celebrated that the individual was given a name: Alejandrito.

New Caledonian crested gecko

Originally described in 1866 and long feared extinct, this unusual gecko was rediscovered in 1994 in the aftermath of a tropical storm. Its oddest features are the hair-like projections found above the eyes and a crest which runs from each eye to the tail. The species is currently being assessed for CITES protection and endangered status.

Takahe

The Takahe is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898. However, after a carefully planned search effort, the bird was rediscovered in 1948 near Lake Anau. This rare, odd-looking bird remains endangered today, with only 225 individuals remaining.

Large-billed reed-warbler

This species has been hailed as the world’s least-known bird. It is known only from a single specimen collected in 1867, and was long believed extinct. Then in Thailand in 2006, a wild population was discovered and confirmed to be large-billed reed-warblers via DNA matching to the original specimen. Today the birds largely remain a mystery, and unfortunately DNA sequence variation points to a stable or shrinking population structure.

Chacoan peccary

The Chacoan is the largest (by size) species of peccary, a beast that resembles a pig but hails from a different continent and cannot be domesticated. The Chacoan peccary was first described in 1930 based only on fossil records, and was believed to be extinct. Then in 1975, surprised researchers discovered one alive in the Chaco region of Paraguay. Today there are around 3,000 known individuals.

New Holland mouse

The New Holland mouse was first discovered in 1843. It vanished from view for over a century before its rediscovery in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park north of Sydney in 1967. The cute creatures are still fighting for their existence despite valiant conservation efforts. One of its remote Victorian populations was wiped out in the Australian wildfires of 1983, although healthier populations still exist in New South Wales and Tasmania.

Monito del Monte

The Monito del Monte is a remarkable, diminutive marsupial believed to have been extinct for 11 million years until one was discovered in a thicket of Chilean bamboo in the southern Andes. The creature is more closely related to Australian marsupials than to other South American ones, and it is likely related to the earliest known Australian marsupial which lived 55 million years ago.

Lord Howe Island stick insect

Sometimes referred to as “land lobsters” or “walking sausages,” the Lord Howe stick insect is considered the rarest insect in the world. Believed extinct since 1930 after being wiped off its only known native habitat on Lord Howe Island, the enormous insect was rediscovered in 2001 when fewer than 30 individuals were found living underneath a single shrub on the small islet of Ball’s Pyramid, the world’s tallest and most isolated sea stack.

Can you identify atleast one???

ARE THESE NATURE’S GIFT YA OUTCOME OF A CRAZY MIND ???

These are top 10 hybrid animals. Hybrid animals are cross-breed between animals of similar genetics. They mostly exist in captivity and are the result of human intervention.

Try to identify them…

ANSWERS

1. Liger or Tigon
2. Wolfdog
3. Iron age pig
4. Zorse
5. Zonkey
6. Zony
7. Rama, The Cama
8. Grolar/Pizzly
9. Leopon
10. Hybrid Pheasant
11. Kekaimalu, The Wolphin
12. Ti- Liger/Ti- Tigon/Li- Tigon/Li-Liger
13. Beefalo
14. Savannah cat

Liger/Tigon

Though they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list because they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a male tiger and a female lion. Ligers are the world’s largest cats. Tigons on the other hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually smaller than either of their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile while the females are often fertile. The picture above shows a liger and its trainer Dr. Bhagavan Antle at a Renaissance Festival in Massachusetts, USA, October 2005.

Wolf Dog

Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the animal.

Iron Age Pig

Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create ‘Iron Age Pigs’. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of them are bred for the specialist meat trade.

Zebroid

A Zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse and a zebra. A Zonkey is the result of crossbreeding a donkey with a zebra. The Zony is the result of crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All these three are called zebroids – defined as a cross between a zebra and any other equid. Zebroids are preferred over zebra for practical uses such as riding because of its body shape. However it is more inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be difficult to handle.

Cama

A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via artificial insemination due to the huge difference in sizes of the animals which disallow natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short ears and long tails of a camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also most noticeably is the absence of the hump.

Grolar, Pizzly

A Grolar/Pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to avoid each other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was shot dead by Jim Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It was the first time a hybrid was found in the wild where previous records of gaolers or pizzlies have only been found in zoos.

Leopon

A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion. The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of the bodies carries similarities to leopards. The most successful breeding programme was at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Leopons are larger than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy water.

Hybrid Pheasant

The Golden pheasant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady Amherst’s Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors from its parents.

Wolphin

A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in captivity at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin’s size, colour and shape are intermediate between the parent species. The first captive wolphin was Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth: bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu has 66!

Ti-Liger, Ti-Tigon, Li-Tigon, Li-Liger

The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it is a hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross-breed between a male tiger and a female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female tigon/liger. Do note that female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are extremely rare and are in mostly private ownership within a behavioural studies programme. In the case of ti-ligers, they have unusual striping where it breaks up and display a blotchy appearance. Since they are 3/4 tiger, their characteristics inhibit more of those of a tiger than a lion.

Beefalo

Beefalo are the fertile offspring of domestic cattle and American bison. Crosses also exist between domestic cattle and European bison (zubrons) and yaks (yakows). The name given to beefalo might be the most suggestive, since the breed was purposely created to combine the best characteristics of both animals with an eye towards beef production.

A USDA study showed that beefalo meat, like bison meat, tends to be lower in fat and cholesterol. They are also thought to produce less damage to range-land than cattle.

Savannah cats

Savannah cats are the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval — a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat. The unusual cross became popular among breeders at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed.

Interestingly, savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.

What are these???

These are images of structures inside the human body, taken through SEM (Scanning electron microscope).

Have a look and try to identify each.

Let’s see how keen you are…

ANSWERS

1. 6 day old human embryo
2. B cell
3. Blood clot
4. Blood vessels arising from the optic nerve of eye
5. Bone tissue
6. Cardiac muscle
7. Collagen
8. Eye lens cell
9. Gall stone
10. Hair cells inside the ear
11. Human hair
12. Human egg with coronal cells
13. Human embryo and sperm
14. Human sweat gland
15. Hyaline cartilage
16. Inside view of Fallopian tube
17. Kidney glomerulus
18. Leukaemia blood cells
19. Lung alveoli
20. Lung cancer
21. Nerve support cell
22. Neurons
23. Osteoporotic bone
24. Plague on tooth
25. Red blood cells
26. Inner view of small intestine
27. Sperm on the surface of human egg
28. Split end of human hair
29. Tongue taste bud
30. Trachea mucous membrane

Funny

Is it real?

Has just emerged into the world

Find out the personalities

Helping hand

Jurong Bird Park Singapore

Pleasing to the eyes

having a chit - chat

Posing for a photo

An owl waiting for the command

Ready for the show

Pelicans showing their skills

Penguins getting ready for the march

Watch its pouch in the neck

My experience with exotic species of insects- Malaysia

Not scared of humans.

Live stick insect