Polar bears are known to sustain in the most extreme weather conditions, having an inclination towards subzero temperature, without suffering from hypothermia. In these extreme conditions, if human race tries to survive without guarding their skin with thick layers of insulation, just like polar bears do, they would start showing symptoms of hypothermia in under an hour of exposing themselves. This variation in the survival of animals and humans in different conditions is the result of their type of skin and the working of other internal organs of their body, mostly due to the former reason.
Nature works in mysterious ways. It created life form in a perfect manner, giving it a chance to enhance themselves and adjust to the changing conditions, which are showing change at almost each instance of time. It created skin and exoskeleton in case of a few living beings, so that everyone could guard themselves from the climate or could hide themselves in the bushes or the nature by forming a camouflage effect. Some animals have fur on the surface of their skin, that is dense hair, which guards them from temperature or create a camouflage effect. Various life forms have different kinds of skin which amazes everyone each time they have a look at them. Some of the life forms having unusual kinds of skin are mentioned here.
- Crocodile/Alligators
Judging a book by its cover is typical human nature. We always create a judgement in this manner. Similarly, when we see at a crocodile’s skin, we observe that they are equipped with a thick skin, and might not sense small touches on their skin. On the contrary, crocodile’s skin is said to be the most sensitive skin in the animal kingdom. The skin covering their face is more sensitive than human finger tips. It is said that crocodiles have various chemical receptors on their skin, which help them to locate their prey and attack them accurately. The dark shade of their skin helps them in hiding in the mud and attack their prey without even letting them know that they are being attacked. The skin of a crocodile/alligator is also used to make leather belts, shoes and jackets, just like the skin of cow is used to form leather.
- Snakes
Snakes are mysterious reptiles. Their are thousands of species of snakes, each having different skin colour, but most of them have the same elastic skin, which stretches when they consume a prey. Snakes don’t have teeth for chewing their prey. They directly swallow everything. They can swallow a prey as small as a mice to as big as a full deer. Their skin gives them such an allowance. The patterns on their skin also helps them creating a camouflage effect. The most peculiar fact of snake is they shed their skin quite often. Not much animals have the tendency to do so, but snakes perform this action quite often. The reason behind it is that the old skin gets stretched with the passing time. As the new skin develops, the old skin fully gets detached from the snake, and then, the snake can get rid of it by shedding it. Snake’s skin is also used to form leather products, Snakes are cut from head to tail with the help of knife, and then is sent for processing after removing its organs.
- Polar Bear
When I read the word, “Polar Bear”, the first thing that comes to my mind is a white huge animal, resembling to the stuffed teddy bear in anyone’s house, having a thick skin, insulation, and beautiful fur. This fur refers to numerous hair on the surface of their skin, which protects them from the cold temperature of the poles. You might have heard about hibernation process undergone by polar bears. In the winter season of the polar regions, these animals go into their caves and sleep for more than a couple of months, which is known as hibernation. They have all their supplies in that cave, and to survive the extreme cold, they don’t go out for that duration. Their fur acts as a warm blanket for them and can survive in this excruciating chill.
Ever heard about Hide of the animal? Hide refers to the processed skin of an animal, used for satisfying human needs. This hide includes leather obtained from skin of cattle and alligators, decorative items obtained from skin of deers, tigers etc. Hunting some endangered species has been banned but still these animals are cut down and their skin is sold in black market, rendering these endangered species to be on the verge of getting extinct. Just for the purpose of satisfying human needs, we are creating an imbalance in the nature, causing more and more animal species to get extinct. Just like a few years back, only 1411 tigers were left on Earth due to this hunting and global warming. Various steps were taken by the government to create awareness among the people, which led to a tremendous increase in the population of these kings of jungle, which came as a positive news for everyone, as the extinction of even a single specie causes an imbalance in the food web of the nature.