For this weeks voice I am going to write about an article I read about a fish that is native to North Africa and its eating habits. The African Tiger fish has recently been recorded leaping out of a body of water and snatching low flying birds out of the air. Out of the 14,000 species of fish out there, there is only about five that have adapted to this behavior. Most of the time that birds are eaten by fish it is usually just by chance for instance, if a bird falls into the water.
This article relates to my biology class I took last year, it is related because it shows how organisms can adapt their eating habits based on their environments. My position on this article is that I believe it is very interesting that fish are able to do this. Whenever you think of birds being eaten by fish you normally would imagine a great white attacking a bird that is floating in the water, but few would think that a freshwater fish would be able to jump out of the water and attack a bird that is in the air. This event affects me because I will think of this whenever I am at a lake or river and see a bird fly over, I will always imagine a Tiger fish jumping out and grabbing it.
-What is the central idea of the passage and how is it developed and refined throughout the selection? Use evidence from the selection to support your answer.
The central idea of the passage is about how a species of fish in Africa are able to leap out of the water and feed on flying birds. The African Tiger fish is one of only “five species are known to prey on birds” out of the 14,000 other species of freshwater fish (Smit). Over the course of the survey the scientists recorded “as many as 300 [barn swallows] were preyed upon” this proves that the barn swallows are a part of the fishes’ everyday diet (Smit).
Lee, Jane. Fish catching bird in flight. Article. National Geographic. 13 Jan 2014. Web. 23 Jan 2014.
Tiger Fish. Photo. Wikipedia. 10 Jan 2014. Web. 26 Jan 2014.
