worldsbestfacts

Sea stars move with tube feet powered by a water vascular system.

Animals feed

Reef starfish (Stichaster australis) apparently lifting itself out from the rock, probably feeding on a mussel. This view is from above; water below the starfish is visible along the top of the frame. Found at low tide level on the north side of Lion Rock, Piha, near Auckland, New Zealand.
Animals

Tube feet

Sea stars move with tube feet powered by a water vascular system.

Sea stars travel on many small tube feet rather than swimming like fish. A water vascular system provides the hydraulic action that helps operate those feet.

Read full story

More like this

Octopus vulgaris (common octopus)
Animals

3

Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.

Octopuses have three hearts: two supply the gills and one supplies the rest of the body. Their oxygen-carrying protein contains copper and turns blue when oxygenated.

Read full story
Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis) on Maria Island, Tasmania, Australia. The entire island is a national park, Maria Island National Park. The adult is just under a metre in length on average.
Animals

Cubes

Wombats poop cubes.

Wombats produce distinctly cube-like droppings, shaped inside the intestine rather than by a square opening. Research links the shape to differences in the mechanical properties of the intestinal wall.

Read full story
Loading more facts...