This is the beginning of a series of articles on the animal world, the world where animals live. Billions of wonderful and diverse creatures live in the animal world, and we'll be looking at some of the most uninteresting of them - or, the least interesting, if that's your angle - in this weekly report, if I can remember, and if I can be bothered.
Let's begin, then, and, because it's the month of May, we're going to start with the Mayfly, one of the most uninteresting creatures there is.
How could it be interesting? It hasn't got time!
The mayfly lives for just 24 hours! Imagine that! Human beings typically live for 70 years, or 25,550 days, and experience many experiences in that time, such as love, friendship, happiness, wealth, and foreign holidays. The mayfly knows nothing of these pleasures, flying around like a man possessed, trying to make sure it gets its lifecycle sorted out so that it doesn't leave any loose ends, before it bows out of the world, its purpose completed, usually around midnight.
With such a short lifespan, the question has to be asked:
What's the point?
It's not as if the mayfly makes any significant contribution; no cornerstone in Nature can it claim to be; not exactly a critical factor in the future development of the Earth; and little to offer in the line of ideas and innovation.
It hardly seems worth the effort, does it?
Still, it takes all kinds, and who are we to question the way evolution works?
That's if it does work...
That concludes this week's edition of The Wonderful World Of Uninteresting Animals', and I hope you enjoyed it, or, at least, learnt something from it. I'll be back next week, at around the same time, with an in-depth look at the Duck-billed Platypus, weather permitting.
