Original subtitles

Some animals live very long,

but as they reach old age helps skin?

Such strange question always fascinated me.

I was lucky to meet interesting creatures,

but some were quite unusual.

Some of them we know for centuries.

On others I have recently discovered.

In this series, some of them reveal story

And show why they are considered curiosities of nature.

David Attenborough curiosities OF NATURE

Elephant and call some creatures curious mole rat.

Both have very încreþitã skin,

tighten begin showing life and maintain their elders this to old age.

However exceed that age majotitatea animals of their size.

What are their secrets?

YOUNG BUT ZBÂRCIÞI

Elefanþii are strange creatures in appearance and behavior.

Aristotle described them as some "animals that outperforms all others in wit and mind."

The more we learn about the body and behavior,

We realize that we are completely deosebiþi.

The evolution of such strange creatures is no accident.

Their body fascinating is the key to long life of elephants.

For Elephants, even for young people

încreþitã skin is an advantage and not a sign of slowing.

Elefanþii evolved from 55 million years ago mamuþi.

Nowadays, vineyards are the heaviest land mammals

And one who lives far, around 70 years old.

Usually large creatures living longer,

Because they have a slower metabolism.

However, elefanþii have particular characteristics

which helps them attain old age.

One of the most important is the family structure

where females dominated old, pass on their experience of a lifetime.

Their bodies have developed some special features

enabling them to solve problems their size.

The trunk is one of them.

It was the most extraordinary nose of a living creature.

It can be very easy and with plenty move the dexterity to caress,

to fell trees to absorb whole liter of water.

The trunk is actually a connection between the nose and upper lip

And it is very sensitive, with over 100,000 mºchi.

End tube could move almost like a handbag.

The mobile edge allows elephant to feel and to grasp delicate,

as a single blade of grass.

Elongated nose is a masterpiece of developments

And the key to how the elephant with a body so big and awkward, can survive.

Had it not developed elephant trunk would not have gotten so big.

It allows, despite their large and stocky body,

to reach the ground to feed and drink water.

Let hrãneºti so large a body is a continuous activity,

And the elephant must eat food as its weight every 20 days.

We might think that heavy a burden on joints and teeth,

And would wear elefanþii prior to age,

but it is not so.

Eat vegetation is difficult for teeth,

And there are animals

who lose their teeth when starving.

However Elefanþii live up to 70 years,

Their secret is their extraordinary molars.

They have two pairs - two above and two below -

Here's one of them.

This is the grinding surface

able to break the crenguþe, bark and even wood,

And of course wears.

As you chop, another tooth in the jaw develops,

which eventually erupt and push

until it is completely removed.

The emergence of new teeth

allow elephants to feed and be healthy into old age.

In the company of older female elephants are invaluable

Because transmit experience gained throughout life

Younger members of the family.

Females mature after spending much time listening to sounds of danger

to raise the alarm.

This sensitivity to sound

It was the subject of one of the first experiments in animal behavior.

Someone in France in the early 18th century,

He noted that the menagerie seem to react elefanþii

sounds weak, distant, outside their þarcului.

They tested two elephants, and Hans Park,

And they have hired an orchestra from Paris to sing music they love.

One of elefaþi was very impressed by the musician from corn.

The following were noted. "The animal knelt in front of him,

"stroked the trunk,

"manifested toward him in all kinds

"I felt like he sang for pleasure."

Now we know that the instrument itself sounds very low

similar to those made by elephants,

using resonance chambers in their head.

They can perceive sounds very low that we can not hear.

Females are older experienced experts in their interpretation.

Such frequencies creates vibrations in the ground that reach large distances,

and elefanþii soles can detect using.

Their soles are actually not so compact as they seem

have inside some special bushes

Steps that reduce the impact of the heavy animal.

For such a large creaurã, which can weigh 40 times as new

sole seems very small.

Its surface is slightly more than double our sole,

but it has a surprising structure.

Elephant pãºeºte five fingers,

And the back heel, is spongy.

Heel raised at compress and expand it to absorb shock

And thus protects other bones, heavier in body pressure.

It is as if elefanþii would wear special încãlþãri.

When run, the elephant foam mattress on his heels,

And Beth leg bones acþionaezã as some pogo and push the animal up.

This system protects bones and internal tissues,

And rare wild elefanþii make arthritis.

Despite their size, they lead an active life

and without too much harm the body.

After mature males usually live alone and departing,

while females remain with family

And plays an important role in the education of offspring.

Elefanþii young people seem old, even at birth,

because încreþite skin.

For Elephants, however, no sign of slowing încreþiturile.

On the contrary, they are very important for their survival.

Încreþitã thick skin and elephant,

It was the subject of debate many years,

and the first anatomiºti had strange ideas about this.

Many believe that move the skin can tighten elefanþii

to crush flies between încreþituri.

So something but not actually seen.

It is believed that the skin is very thick and insensitive

but in reality varies along the elephant's body

And can reach 2-3 cm thickness

at the end of the tube and back,

and around the eyes is thin as a sheet of paper.

Although încreþitã appears thick and very sensitive.

Musculiþele elephant could feel his body,

even if it can crush the ribs.

Creases but have a significant function.

Încreþiturile that crosses throughout the body retain water.

The skin can retain încreþitã 5-10 times more water than a smooth,

So gather moisture from bathing

prevents skin dehydration and overheating long.

A significant thing is that the African elephant, who lives in dry, hot,

încreþiturile skin is much deeper than in Asia.

Încreþiturile elephants are ways to protect skin

not the result of aging.

Once the elephant was considered a curiosity of nature.

For centuries we have been fascinated by their large ears,

their tremendous trunk, stocky legs, skin încreþitã,

but while I understand their importance.

Unique biological elephant's survival is the key to long

And skills seem to avoid the rigors of aging.

Follows the story of another creature with skin încreþitã

Mole rat.

An animal is small though

He lives very much.

Elefanþii live long

Due to their slow metabolism.

But small mole rats live much longer

but any mammal of the same size.

What?

Could this strange creatures body

to hold the secret of eternal tinereþii?

When German naturalist, Wilhelm Ruppell,

He discovered in 1842 in Ethiopia, a mole rat

He was convinced he had stumbled across a copy Old, decrepit,

And she named the '' Heterocephalus Glaber ''

which in a free translation, means

an animal with smooth skin and oddly shaped head.

It noted that body shape due to lack loss,

leave an impression disappointing.

So it is.

Over the last 40 years,

This strange creature was ignored savanþi.

Then, in 1885,

an English zoologist at the Natural History Museum in London, Oldfield Thomas,

decided to examine in detail the museum specimens

which were kept in storage for decades.

Here we see some of his drawings.

Thomas said that the animal described Ruppell weird is normal.

Now we know that all ºobolanii mole looks like it, regardless of age.

What they did not knew those early naturaliºti

It was that they came across a mammal

which will fascinate and perplex savanþii the next 150 years,

A creature that could reveal secrets of aging and longevity.

His body seems to not change no matter how much lives.

ªobolanii elderly remain physically young mole whole life.

Not only that - the strangest discovery

was that sometimes live almost 30 years.

Battery life varies greatly animals.

Among mammals, such micuþ mouse lives only 2-3 years

while a whale can reach 100 years of age.

The way of life is an important factor in defining lifetime.

A mouse leads an intense life in speed,

supravieþuiesc producing many puppies that just a few.

Whales, on the other hand, reproduce slowly and have many predators.

Generally large animals live longer.

So it's strange how the mole rat lives ninefold

than any other rodent same size.

What?

In 1960, over 100 years after their discovery,

savanþii began to investigate in laboratory animals

To get some answers.

The results were confusing.

ªobolanii mole tãiesc colonies and a few females reproduce.

At that time, a biologist named Richard Alexander

studying insects that live in colonies, such as termites,

the way they organize tighten colonies.

They have one breeding female

producing a huge number of workers not reproduce,

a system called eusocialitate.

A speculative namely a conclusion that if there eusociale and mammals,

like termites, they lived underground.

He was right.

ªobolanul mole fits the description of Alexander

how an animal should be eusocial.

Behold.

Lives underground in large social groups

And dig tunnels in tubers after the toughest ground.

Physique has evolved to life underground.

It has a long body, thin, with short legs, according life in tunnels.

Large teeth, strong, are using digging.

The skull is strong, relatively large head,

and her lips close behind the teeth to prevent earth into their mouth.

It is almost bald, except for a few sensitive hairs.

These outstanding features

They have to do with the ability to live much?

They certainly are the key to his unusual life underground.

Regina lives in the heart of the colony.

Only mate with two or three males

And makes numerous chickens, sometimes over 20.

Workers feeding the queen, caring for chickens and they guard the tunnels.

Their role is essential.

The colony would not survive if its members did not collaborate.

Tubers that they eat are hard to find in the plains of Africa,

And workers must dig kilometers of tunnels in their search.

The fact that not replicate seems hard to believe,

but their mother the queen, she does, and her DNA is identical to theirs,

And, working together,

colony can live in places where a single individual could not.

That does not explain why these creatures live so long.

Recently, another adaptation to life underground brought a hint.

Fossils of mole rats show that started their life underground

24 million years ago.

So there's no surprise that there are very good tailor

life in dark and damp tunnels.

The conditions in a system of tunnels sealed, located two meters deep, do not fluctuate too much,

And perhaps because of it

ºobolanii mole lost their ability to regulate body temperature and.

To freeze not crowded.

In addition, like reptiles, absorb heat

sitting in tunnels more on the surface.

The lack of hair can be an advantage for a cold blooded animal

and that it must take heat from the environment,

And this explains why it is practically bald rat mole.

But why warm-blooded mammals that live underground and they are hairless?

Badgers, for example, have fur.

Because they come to the surface to feed

And when they need their fur to keep warm.

ªobolanii mole, on the other hand, never see the light of day.

However, you might think

To have smooth skin and be bald is a big disadvantage,

îngrãmãdiþi for ºobolanii mole living in unsanitary conditions.

Mole rats colonies may have several hundred individuals,

and the underground is dark, wet and often highly toxic.

Oxygen levels can be very low and the high carbon dioxide.

And yet, mysteriously, ºobolanii mole seem not disturb

And not illnesses.

Their high tolerance to harsh conditions

It may be linked to their skin and cells underneath încreþitã.

Apparently it is missing a key neurotransmiþãtor called substance P,

responsible for transmitting pain signals

the central nervous system.

This may explain their ability to survive in conditions of underground toxic

and without stress and body injuries.

It could be and one of the secrets

înfãþiºãrii their young, if we can say so, and even their longevity.

Most animals react strongly to pain, and this can cause damage to their body.

At ºobolanii mole, this effect is removed by canceling response to pain.

Incredibly, no mole rat with cancer not found.

If a normal animal disease survives, however îmbãtrâneºte.

That datoreºte of substances in the body called oxidising agents.

While gather quantitative and destroy body tissues.

This leads to the appearance of signs of aging.

ªobolanii not seem to react physically mole

a high level of oxidising agents.

They reach great age, but not age physically.

In the wild, the queen mole rat lives the most,

and the one here is 24 years old,

And her body looks two years.

No one knows how ºobolanii bypass mole aging symptoms

but their unique physiology has evolved in response to living underground

She created an animal that is almost supernatural.

We have a creature that seems immune to pain

And an iron constitution.

Basically it has cold blood, a slow metabolism,

And developed an unusual blend of strategy

enabling it to cope with life style or provocative.

In the future, this particular animal

may help us solve some of our problems,

such as controlling pain, degenerative diseases,

And how to prevent aging and skin încreþirea.

We have a curiosity of nature worth pursuing.

Both elephant as well as mole rats remain as they get older.

Surprisingly, mole rat small life

relatively speaking, it is even longer than elephant.