what i learned and vid comment

Natasha Lebby
10th September 2011-17th September 2011
Blog Three: what I learned in class today

I learned a few interesting things today in class. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Chihuahuas were genetically made to be rat hunters. I was also surprised that cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli evolved from the mustard plant.
I also found interesting that Darwin and Wallace figured out why birds had different shapes of beaks. They figured out that the birds must have come from South America and ate whatever was the most abundant on the Galapagos Islands. The beaks were different shapes according to what they ate. For instance, the Kauai Akialoa bird has a long, slim beak, which is useful for eating insects and nectar from flowers. Another bird that the men spotted was the Grosbeak Finch. The bird has a short, stubby beak which is useful for eating nuts, and seeds.


After watching the first video; I felt that the people bringing in new the species to a different environment, do not look at what potential problems could occur. It seemed kind of silly that they did not realize that the vine dies off in the winter within China and would not in the southern part of America.
In the second video, I too was surprised that rabbits can carry the plague. I was also surprised that there was a massive pile of them (in one of the pictures) from RHD.
I thought that the third video was kind of funny. I like how the news lady had to state to the public that people should not take in skunks for pets, in order to get rid of their stink bugs.