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Streptococcus is a positive lancet shaped bacterium that is responsible for various infections, notably community acquired pneumonia. It often resides in noses and throats of healthy individuals especially children without causing illness. Most importantly when it spreads to other parts of the body it can lead to serious diseases. Such as Pneumonia which is infection of the lungs. Meningitis which is infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Bacteremia which is bacteria in the bloodstream. Lastly Otitis media which is the middle ear infection. Symptoms really vary depending on the site of the infection but includes fevers, coughs, difficulty breathing ear pain and stiff neck. Imparting occurs through respiratory droplets from sneezing or coughing. Preventive measures such as vaccination, are particularly crucial for young children, the elderly and individuals with weakened immune systems.

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This is image illustrates the 55-million-year evolutionary journey of horses, beginning with the small, multi-toed Eohippus and transitioning through stages like Mesohippus and Merychippus, ultimately leading to the modern horse Equus. The changes in horse anatomy such as reduction in the number of toes and development of bigger, one toed hooves, reflect adaptations to changing environments. Early horses like Eohippus lived in dense forests, where multiple toed feet helped them navigate soft ground. As grasslands spread later species evolved single-toed hooves running on hard open terrain. Natural selection prioritized traits that enhanced survival and reproduction. For example, horses with longer legs and sturdier hooves could run faster to evade predators, while those with larger, stronger teeth were better equipped to chew tough grasses, which became a primary food source in grassland environment. Genetic variation led to differences in traits such as tooth structure, leg length and body size. These differences served as the foundation for natural selection in which it allowed horses to adapt to changing habitats and available food sources. This image illustrates speciation showing how different populations of ancestral horses adapted to distinct environments, while some species flourished, others went extinct, ultimately leaving Equus as the only surviving genus. Overall, this image demonstrates how gradual changes over millions of years driven by genetic variations, adaptation and natural selection shaped the evolution of modern horses, providing a compelling example of descent with qualification

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The evolutionary lineage of the horse is among the best-documented in all paleontology. The history of the horse family, Equidae, began during the Eocene Epoch, which lasted from about 56 million to 33.9 million years ago. During the early Eocene there appeared the first ancestral horse, a hoofed, browsing mammal designated correctly as Hyracotherium but more commonly called , the "dawn horse." Fossils of Eohippus, which have been found in both North America and Europe, show an animal that stood 4.2 to 5 hands (about 42.7 to 50.8 cm, or 16.8 to 20 inches) high, diminutive by comparison with the modern horse, and had an arched back and raised hindquarters. The legs ended in padded feet with four functional hooves on each of the forefeet and three on each of the hind feet-quite unlike the unpadded, single-hoofed foot of modern equines. The skull lacked the large, flexible muzzle of the modern horse, and the size and shape of the cranium indicate that the brain was far smaller and less complex than that of today's horse. The teeth, too, differed significantly from those of the modern equines, being adapted to a fairly general browser's diet. Eohippus was, in fact, so unhorselike that its evolutionary relationship to the modern equines was at first unsuspected. It was not until paleontologists had unearthed fossils of later extinct horses that the link to Eohippus became clear.

The line leading from Eohippus to the modern horse exhibits the following evolutionary trends: increase in size, reduction in the number of hooves, loss of the footpads, lengthening of the legs, fusion of the independent bones of the lower legs, elongation of the muzzle, increase in the size and complexity of the brain, and development of crested, high-crowned teeth suited to grazing. This is not to imply that there was a steady, gradual progression in these characteristics leading inevitably from those of Eohippus to those of the modern horse. Some of these features, such as grazing dentition, appear abruptly in the fossil record, rather than as the culmination of numerous gradual changes. Eohippus, moreover, gave rise to many now-extinct branches of the horse family, some of which differed substantially from the line leading to the modern equines.

Although Eohippus fossils occur in both the Old and the New World, the subsequent evolution of the horse took place chiefly in North America. During the remainder of the Eocene, the prime evolutionary changes were in dentition. , a genus from the middle Eocene, and Epihippus, a genus from the late Eocene, resembled Eohippus in size and in the structure of the limbs. But the form of the cheek teeth-the four premolars and the three molars found in each half of both jaws-had changed somewhat. In Eohippus the premolars and molars were clearly distinct, the molars being larger. In Orohippus the fourth premolar had become similar to the molars, and in Epihippus both the third and fourth premolars had become molarlike. In addition, the individual cusps that characterized the cheek teeth of Eohippus had given way in Epihippus to a system of continuous crests or ridges running the length of the molars and molariform premolars. These changes, which represented adaptations to a more-specialized browsing diet, were retained by all subsequent ancestors of the modern horse.

Fossils of Mesohippus, the next important ancestor of the modern horse, are found in the early and middle Oligocene of North America (the Oligocene Epoch lasted from about 33.9 million to 23 million years ago). Mesohippus was far more horselike than its Eocene ancestors: it was larger (averaging about 6 hands [about 61 cm, or 24 inches] high); the snout was more muzzlelike; and the legs were longer and more slender. Mesohippus also had a larger brain. The fourth toe on the forefoot had been reduced to a vestige, so that both the forefeet and hind feet carried three functional toes and a footpad. The teeth remained adapted to browsing.

By the late Oligocene, Mesohippus had evolved into a somewhat larger form known as . The descendants of Miohippus split into various evolutionary branches during the early Miocene (the Miocene Epoch lasted from about 23 million to 5.3 million years ago). One of these branches, known as the anchitheres, included a variety of three-toed browsing horses comprising several genera. Anchitheres were successful, and some genera spread from North America across the Bering land bridge into Eurasia.

It was a different branch, however, that led from Miohippus to the modern horse. The first representative of this line, Parahippus, appeared in the early Miocene. Parahippus and its descendants marked a radical departure in that they had teeth adapted to eating grass. Grasses were at this time becoming widespread across the North American plains, providing Parahippus with a vast food supply. Grass is a much coarser food than succulent leaves and requires a different kind of tooth structure. The cheek teeth developed larger, stronger crests and became adapted to the side-to-side motion of the lower jaw necessary to grind grass blades. Each tooth also had an extremely long crown, most of which, in the young animal, was buried beneath the gumline. As grinding wore down the exposed surface, some of the buried crown grew out. This high-crowned tooth structure assured the animal of having an adequate grinding surface throughout its normal life span. Adaptations in the digestive tract must have occurred as well, but the organs of digestion are not preserved in the fossil record.

The change from browsing to grazing dentition was essentially completed in Merychippus, which evolved from Parahippus during the middle and late Miocene. Merychippus must have looked much like a modern pony. It was fairly large, standing about 10 hands (101.6 cm, or 40 inches) high, and its skull was similar to that of the modern horse. The long bones of the lower leg had become fused; this structure, which has been preserved in all modern equines, is an adaptation for swift running. The feet remained three-toed, but in many species the footpad was lost, and the two side toes became rather small. In these forms, the large central toe bore the animal's weight. Strong ligaments attached this hoofed central toe to the bones of the ankles and lower leg, providing a spring mechanism that pushed the flexed hoof forward after the impact of hitting the ground. Merychippus gave rise to numerous evolutionary lines during the late Miocene. Most of these, including Hipparion, Neohipparion, and Nannippus, retained the three-toed foot of their ancestors. One line, however, led to the one-toed Pliohippus, the direct predecessor of Equus. Pliohippus fossils occur in the early to middle Pliocene beds of North America (the Pliocene Epoch lasted from about 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago).

Equus-the genus to which all modern equines, including horses, asses, and zebras, belong-evolved from Pliohippus some 4 million to 4.5 million years ago during the Pliocene. Equus shows even greater development of the spring mechanism in the foot and exhibits straighter and longer cheek teeth. This new form was extremely successful and had spread from the plains of North America to South America and to all parts of the Old World by the early Pleistocene (the Pleistocene Epoch lasted from about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). Equus flourished in its North American homeland throughout the Pleistocene but then, about 10,000 to 8,000 years ago, disappeared from North and South America. Scholars have offered various explanations for this disappearance, including the emergence of devastating diseases or the arrival of human populations (which presumably hunted the horse for food). Despite these speculations, the reasons for the demise of Equus in the New World remain uncertain. The submergence of the Bering land bridge prevented any return migration of horses from Asia, and Equus was not reintroduced into its native continent until the Spanish explorers brought horses in the early 16th century.

During the Pleistocene the evolution of Equus in the Old World gave rise to all the modern members of the genus. The modern horse, Equus caballus, became widespread from central Asia to most of Europe. Local types of horses, all breeds of this single species, undoubtedly developed, and three of these- Przewalski's horse ( E. ferus przewalskii or E. caballus przewalskii) from central Asia, the tarpan from eastern Europe and the Ukrainian steppes, and the forest horse of northern Europe-are generally credited as being the ancestral stock of the domestic horse. (Przewalski's horse may be the last surviving distinct breed of wild horse when compared genetically with domesticated horses.) According to this line of thinking, Przewalski's horse and the tarpan formed the basic breeding stock from which the southerly "warm-blooded" horses developed, while the forest horse gave rise to the heavy, "cold-blooded" breeds.

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The history of the horse family, Equidae, began during the Eocene Epoch. Eohippus (Hyracotherium) was the first ancestral horse to appear. The line leading from Eohippus to Equus, the modern horse, includes Orohippus, Epihippus, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Parahippus, Merychippus, and Pliohippus.

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Monocots - One Cotyledon, Fibrous Roots, Parallel Veins, Multiples of 3 Flowers. Grains: Rice Wheat Corn Barley And oats.

Fruits-Bananas, Pineapples, Coconuts

Vegetables- Onions, garlic, asparagus

Flowers- Lilies, Orchids, tulips, daffodils

Other plants ex. Bamboo, palm trees, sugarcane, grasses

Dicots - Two Cotyledons, Taproots, Multiples of 4 or 5 flowers, Branched Veins.

Fruits - Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Strawberries, Cherries, Mangoes.

Vegetables - Potatoes, Tomatoes, Carrots, Beans, Peppers and peas

Flowers - Sunflower, Daises, Roses, Marigolds, Hibiscus

Trees - Maple, Oak, Avocado, Mango, Cotton

Other Plants - Coffee, Peanuts, Cacao, Soybeans

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The Differences between Monocots and Dicots If you’re a homeowner, you might be familiar with the terms monocots and dicots when it comes to plants. But what do these words mean? How are monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants different, and why is it important to know the difference? Read on to find out! Monocots

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Arthropods are the largest animal phylum, including insects, crustaceans, arachnids and myriapods. Their success comes from having segmented bodies, jointed appendages and exoskeletons. They shed to grow and have an open circulatory system. Major groups included are insects (six legs, some with wings. metamorphosis) Arachnids (spiders, scorpions, eight legs, no antenna) Myriapods (centipedes fast carnivores' millipedes: slow, herbivorous) They play important positions in ecosystems as pollinators, decomposers, and food sources, while some are pests or disease carriers. Their versatile makes them one of the most successful animal groups.

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Complex Animals: Annelids & Arthropods - CrashCourse Biology #23

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Baker's Asthma is a type of occupational asthma triggered by inhaling flour dust, enzymes and other airborne particles. It is common among bakers, pastry chefs, and food industry workers. symptoms can worsen with prolonged exposure. Some of the causes and risks can be flour dust such as wheat, soy flour and rye. Enzymes like amylase which is used to improve dough texture. Symptoms can be wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. Nasal congestion, eye irritation and sneezing. Diagnosis and treatments can include installing ventilation system in bakeries. Regular cleaning to minimize dust buildup. Wearing personal protective equipment like gloves and masks. Employee safety training and medical monitoring. Bakers Asthma explains the importance of workplace safety and protective health management for those in the baking industry.

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Homeostasis is the tendency of organisms to resist changes in their internal environment to maintain stability. This process makes sure that conditions such as temperature, pH, and hydration levels is kept within a range that supports life. The body uses feedback mechanisms, such as sweating to cool down or shivering to get warm, to maintain this balance. The pancreas releases insulin when blood sugar is high and glucagon when it is low keeping the glucose levels stable. (Blood sugar regulation). Homeostasis is important because it ensures that physiological process remain stable and efficient. Once Homeostasis is disrupted it can lead to health issues such as Diabetes (when blood regulation is impaired), Dehydration or overhydration (causes severe electrolyte imbalances). The Kidneys regulate water levels in the body by filtering excess water and waste from the bloodstream. The body temperature maintains a temperature of around 98.6 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius). If the body overheats, functions like sweating and vasodilation (blood vessels widening) help release heat. Our bodies continuously monitor internal conditions through the nerves and endocrine system. Homeostasis is a vital biological function that enables organisms to survive and adapt to their environment.

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Homeostasis (article) | Human body systems | Khan Academy

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Learn how organisms maintain homeostasis, or a stable internal environment.

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Biodiversity refers to the variety of all living organisms on Earth, such as animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It exists at three levels: species diversity, ecosystem diversity and genetic diversity. Genetic Diversity is the variation of genes within a species. Species Diversity is the variety of species within an ecosystem. Ecosystem Diversity is the variety of habitats example, forests oceans wetlands and grasslands. Biodiversity is important because it supports the ecosystem by providing medicine, food, clean air, and water. Biodiversity also helps keep balances in nature through pollination and nutrient cycles. There are many threats in biodiversity such as Human activities like deforestation, pollution, climate change, and overfishing reduce biodiversity. Pollution such as waste, chemicals, and pesticides harm marine and land ecosystems. Climate change such as rising global temperatures affects species survival in which it causes shifts in habitats and food availability. Ways that we can help biodiversity is by conservation efforts, sustainable resources and habitat restoration use. Reducing use of plastic, planting native species and supporting biodiversity focused organizations.

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Marshes are wetlands that is filled with reeds, grasses and other soft plants instead of trees. They can be found in freshwater and saltwater areas, near lakes, rivers, and coastlines. The water in marshes is pretty much shallow and moves slowly or stays still, creating a rich environment where many plants and animals flourish. A variety of wildlife lives in marshes, such as fish, turtles, frog's, insects and birds. Many animals such as alligators and herons, depends on marshes for shelter, food and a safe place to raise their young. Some marshes also serve as important resting spots for birds that migrate long distances. Marshes are important because they help to keep the environment healthy. Marshes naturally clean water by trapping pollutants and filtering out harmful substances. They help prevent floods by soaking up extra rainwater and slowing storm surges by the coast. Marshes are being destroyed by humans by draining land for farming, pollutions and climate changes. Protecting marshes is very important because they provide many benefits for people and nature.

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A marsh is a type of wetland, an area of land where water covers ground for long periods of time. Unlike swamps, which are dominated by trees, marshes are usually treeless and dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants.

Herbaceous plants have no woody stem above ground, and they grow and die back on a regular cycle. Herbaceous plants can be annuals (which grow anew every year), biennials (which take two years to complete their life cycle), or perennials (which take more than two years to complete their life cycle.)

Marsh grasses and other herbaceous plants grow in the waterlogged but rich soil deposited by rivers. The plants' roots bind to the muddy soil and slow the water flow, encouraging the spread of the marsh. These watery pastures are rich in biodiversity.

There are three types of marshes: tidal salt marshes, tidal freshwater marshes, and inland freshwater marshes. Marshes are also common in deltas, where rivers empty into a larger body of water. Although all are waterlogged and dominated by herbaceous plants, they each have a unique ecosystem.

Tidal Marshes

Both saltwater and freshwater tidal marshes serve many important functions: They buffer stormy seas, slow shoreline erosion, offer shelter and nesting sites for migratory waterbirds, and absorb excess nutrients that would lower oxygen levels in the sea and harm wildlife.

The marshes along the Gulf Coast in the U.S., for instance, help protect communities in the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Florida from hurricanes. Marshes cannot stop hurricanes, of course, but the wetland slows the progress of the storm and absorbs much of the surging water from the Gulf of Mexico.

As marshes are drained for industrial and agricultural development, this layer of protection is diminished. Storm surges have no marshy "sponge" to absorb the water and wind of the hurricane, and coastal communities are especially vulnerable.

The fisheries of the Gulf Coast are also reduced as marshes are drained for development. The reduced habitat for fish decreases their population as more animals compete for fewer resources.

Draining marshes also increases saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion is the process by which saltwater seeps into wetlands and even the water tables beneath them. This reduces the amount of freshwater for hygiene, drinking, industry, and irrigation. Saltwater intrusion also changes the chemistry of the tidal marsh, making it much more saline. Some species, such as cordgrass, can adapt to these changes. More delicate species are unable to adapt quickly and may become endangered.

Finally, draining marshes increases the direct runoff flowing to the ocean. Marshes are able to absorb toxic chemicals that leach into waterways from agricultural pesticides and industrial pollutants. Without the marshy sponge, runoff flows directly to the ocean, often creating coastal "dead zones" in which there is little life below the water's surface. The dead zones that regularly develop in and around the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico are not only the result of agricultural and industrial runoff but also a lack of marshland to process such runoff.

Tidal Salt Marshes
Tidal salt marshes form a grassy fringe near river mouths and bays and along coastlines protected from the open ocean. Ocean tides fill the marsh with salty water and cause the water level to rise and fall twice a day. The marsh is deeper at high tide and shallower at low tide.

Plants such as sawgrass and pickleweed can tolerate fluctuating tidal waters, which are too salty for most trees and bushes.

Like all marshes, tidal salt marshes are home to a wide variety of bird species. Small birds such as terns feed on fish, insects, and crustacean species found in the marsh. Ducks and cormorants are aquatic birds that rely on the grassy marsh for nesting sites as well as food such as fish, shrimp, and crabs. Even large raptors such as osprey are supported by tidal salt marshes.

Commercially valuable fish and shellfish find food and shelter in salt marshes. The extensive tidal salt marshes along the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, for instance, feature a large number of these species, including cordgrass (sometimes used as fodder for livestock), shrimp, and crab.

Tidal Freshwater Marshes
Tidal freshwater marshes lie farther inland than salt marshes, but are close enough to the coast to be affected by tidal fluctuations. Like in salt marshes, the water level rises and falls twice every day along with the tides.

Tidal freshwater marshes, however, are fed by freshwater streams and do not have a large salt content. They are common boundaries between forests and rivers.

Herbaceous plants called sedges dominate the tidal freshwater marsh ecosystem. Sedges include water chestnut and papyrus. Marshy papyrus is one of the most important plants in the development of civilization: Papyrus growing in the marshy delta of the Nile River was dried, treated, and used as an early form of paper by ancient Egyptians.

The abundant insects of freshwater tidal marshes provide food for birds such as wrens and blackbirds. Waterbirds, such as ducks and herons, are also common in freshwater tidal marshes.

Freshwater tidal marshes also provide spawning grounds for fish such as shad and herring. These fish are anadromous. Anadromous fish hatch in freshwater but migrate and live most of their lives in the ocean. They return to freshwater rivers, streams, and marshes to spawn.

Inland Marshes

Inland freshwater marshes are found along the fringes of lakes and rivers where the water table, the upper surface of underground water, is very high. They vary in size from bowl-shaped depressions called prairie potholes to the vast, watery grasslands of the Florida Everglades.

Vegetation in freshwater marshes depends on the presence of water. Wet meadows, for instance, do not have standing water for most of the year. They do not support aquatic plants. Plants establish seeds on a yearly basis and only bloom with annual or biannual flooding of the meadow.

Insects, especially butterflies, flourish in wet meadows. The ecosystem supported by these primary consumers includes frogs, snakes, and even apex predators such as bears.

Other freshwater marshes are much more aquatic. The Everglades, the largest freshwater marsh in the United States, is drowned in a shallow layer of water all year. In fact, the Everglades form a wide, slow-moving river draining out of Lake Okeechobee.

The Everglades are rich in biodiversity. This so-called "River of Grass" supports such plants as sawgrass, cypress, and mangrove forests. It is home to animals such as ducks, geese, raccoons, turtles, and frogs. Predators such as alligators and panthers are also indigenous to the Everglades.

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is probably the largest freshwater marsh in the world. The Okavango River empties into the Kalahari Desert, forming a delta in an arid region instead of near an ocean or lake. The Okavango Delta is a series of marshes totaling about 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles).

Okavango marshes are made up of dense beds of papyrus, water lilies, and underwater plants such as bladderworts. The Okavango Delta is a haven for diverse animal species. Some animals live directly in and around the marshes, such as hippopotamuses and crocodiles. Other animals, such as giraffes and elephants, use the marshes as a source of freshwater in the middle of the dry Kalahari Desert.

Marshes and People

A number of human activities pose a threat to marsh ecosystems. Development along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. has reduced the marsh habitats in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Massive development in South Florida has reduced the amount of water flowing through the Everglades. Wildlife such as the Florida panther are endangered because of the reduction of habitat.

The marshes of Doana National Park, in Andalusia, Spain, have been greatly affected by human activity along the Guadalquivir and Guadiamar Rivers. The rivers have been drained and diverted to expand agricultural production, salt extraction, and tourist facilities. With less water feeding into their ecosystems, the marshes at Doana have been reduced from 150,000 hectares (370,600 acres) to only 30,000 hectares (74,100 acres).

As a result, plant and animal species have diminished. The World Wildlife Fund and the Spanish government are now working to increase the water flow that enters the ecosystem. Their approach, as with most marsh restoration programs, requires the cooperation of government officials, environmental regulators, agricultural producers, and the public.

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A marsh is a type of wetland, an area of land where water covers ground for long periods of time. Unlike swamps, which are dominated by trees, marshes are usually treeless and dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants. Herbaceous plants have no woody stem above ground, and they grow and die back on a regular cycle.