LA Zoo Extra Credit

     Being the first time I went to the LA Zoo, I didn't know where most of the animals were. But when the entered through the gates, the first aquatic organisms we were able to see was the alligator. But when we entered deeper into the Zoo, we saw the aviary, we saw many birds, and these birds have various wing and beak sizes meaning that they evolved due to their needs of needing a big beak or needing more lift from their wings.

     Then we moved onto to look at all the other amazing animals that the Zoo had to offer, we saw all the animals in their cages. The cages they were in had plants and other things that represent what the ecosystem is like from the place these animals came from. Some of them represented the Jungles of South America, and others represented the deserts of Western North America.

     As I made my way to Australia area, I saw Kangaroos. I was told that kangaroos are one of the few land mammals on earth that can drink sea water. They have developed a strong enough liver to be able to digest and break down the salty bacteria filled sea water. This is a proof of evolution due to surroundings since these kangaroos lived in seashores where clean water was rare. They were forced to drink sea water and eventually they grew and got used to the sea water and was strong enough to digest it.

     We then learned that most Kangaroos and Wallabies are not endangered. We then started to wonder how can Kangaroos be only in Australia but still be able to thrive their population. As we thought about it, we came to a conclusion that it could be the way some kangaroos breed. We saw something that told us that Kangaroos can start to breed few hours after giving birth, which is something that really allows the population to thrive and keep going. Since Australia is so big, these kangaroos will hardly reach the population limit.

   I have learned a lot from seeing these animals, it sure is different from seeing it in the text book, so this was an interesting and fun experience.