Strange animal pics

[Moontanman]

Oarfish..again. :doh:

 

 

 

 

Lumpy's Ocean Life Photography: Real Life Sea Monsters - 42 Bizarre Creatures of the Deep

 

That damn glob fish disturbs me in a very primal way, not sure why......

[Thunderbird]

 

Lumpy's Ocean Life Photography: Real Life Sea Monsters - 42 Bizarre Creatures of the Deep This ONE SHOULD GIVE YOU NIGHTMARS.

[Moontanman]

 

Lumpy's Ocean Life Photography: Real Life Sea Monsters - 42 Bizarre Creatures of the Deep This ONE SHOULD GIVE YOU NIGHTMARS.

 

Except for the fact it's not any bigger than your fist (maybe not even that big) I think the glob fish looks like someone I know :doh:

[Thunderbird]

The Tarsier.

[Galapagos]

Whoa I didn't see the squid, is that real? I haven't heard of a live giant squid being caught! Or colossal squid either for that matter!

 

Pharyngula: Capture of the giant squid

Pharyngula: Colossal Squid!

Zooillogix : Scientists Examine Newly Thawed Colossal Squid

 

!!!!

 

wrinkled-face bat

bleeding tooth fungus(not an animal, but strange)

pygmy albino marmoset

pygmy ferruginious owl

pygmy shrew

[REASON]

 

My son said, "What the heck! It's got shoes and a big head." :hyper::):evil:

 

He decided to call it the Walking Fish.

[Thunderbird]

It does have shoes>> its walking.:hyper::):)

[Mercedes Benzene]

Fangtooth Fish

[Thunderbird]

This is me before my morning coffee.

 

[REASON]

My son and I decided that Moontanman's and Galapagos' avatars are pictures of strange animals. We can't figure out what we're looking at.

 

You guys want to shed some light on what they are? :naughty:

[Moontanman]

My son and I decided that Moontanman's and Galapagos' avatars are pictures of strange animals. We can't figure out what we're looking at.

 

You guys want to shed some light on what they are? :naughty:

 

Mine is a mantis shrimp and the term Astounding vision has to do with the mantis shrimp being able to see in ways no other animal is known to do.

[Galapagos]

My son and I decided that Moontanman's and Galapagos' avatars are pictures of strange animals. We can't figure out what we're looking at.

 

You guys want to shed some light on what they are? :naughty:

 

Mine is an orchid mantis:

[Thunderbird]

Some animals we have lost forever. :(

 

 

The Irish Elk or Giant Deer, was the largest deer that ever lived. It lived in Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal, during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The latest known remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 5,700 BC, or about 7,700 years ago. The Giant Deer is famous for its formidable size (about 2.1 meters or 7 feet tall at the shoulders), and in particular for having the largest antlers of any known cervid (a maximum of 3.65 meters/12 feet from tip to tip and weighing up to 90 pounds).

 

Discussion of the cause of their extinction has still focused on the antlers (rather than on their overall body size), which may be due more to their impact on the observer than any actual property. Some have suggested hunting by man was a contributing factor in the demise of the Irish Elk as it

was with many prehistoric megafauna, even assuming that the large antler size restricted the movement of males through forested regions or that it was by some other means a "maladaptation". But evidence for overhunting is equivocal, and as a continental species, it would have co-evolved with humans throughout its existence and presumably have adapted to their presence.

 

 

 

Formerly found near the Asiatic coast of the Bering Sea, it was discovered in in 1741 by the naturalist Georg Steller, who was traveling with the explorer Vitus Bering. The sea cow grew up to 7.9 meters (25.9 ft) long and weighed up to three tons, much larger than the manatee or dugong. It looked somewhat like a large seal, but had two stout forelimbs and a whale-like tail. According to Steller, "The animal never comes out on shore, but always lives in the water. Its skin is black and thick, like the bark of an old oak..., its head in proportion to the body is small..., it has no teeth, but only two flat white bones—one above, the other below". It was completely tame, according to Steller. Fossils indicate that Steller's Sea Cow was formerly widespread along the North Pacific coast, reaching south to Japan and California. Given the rapidity with which its last population was eliminated, it is likely that the arrival of humans in the area was the cause of its extinction elsewhere as well. There are still sporadic reports of sea cow-like animals from the Bering area and Greenland, so it has been suggested that small populations of the animal may have survived to the present day. This remains so far unproven.

 

 

 

The Thylacine was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Native to Australia and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger (due to its striped back), and also known as the Tasmanian Wolf, and colloquially the Tassie (or Tazzy) Tiger or simply the Tiger. It was the last extant member of its genus, Thylacinus, although a number of related species have been found in the fossil record dating back to the early Miocene.

 

The Thylacine became extinct on the Australian mainland thousands of years before European settlement of the continent, but survived on the island of Tasmania along with a number of other endemic species such as the Tasmanian Devil. Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributory factors may have been disease, the introduction of dogs, and human encroachment into its habitat. Despite being officially classified as extinct, sightings are still reported.

 

 

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall (three feet), lived on fruit and nested on the ground. The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century. It is commonly used as the archetype of an extinct species because its extinction occurred during recorded human history, and was directly attributable to human activity. The adjective phrase "as dead as a dodo" means undoubtedly and unquestionably dead. The verb phrase "to go the way of the dodo" means to become extinct or obsolete, to fall out of common usage or practice, or to become a thing of the past.

 

 

 

The Elephant Bird (Aepyornis maximus) inhabited the island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. Madagascar was settled around 2000 years ago by African and Indonesian peoples. Legends of the giant roc (rukh) in Arab folklore were probably based on the elephant bird. During the 9th century, Saracen and Indian traders visited Madagascar and other parts of the African coast and would have encountered these birds. In 1298, while imprisoned in Genoa, Marco Polo wrote his memoirs, covering 26 years of travel. In chapter 33, "Concerning the Island of Madagascar" he wrote that the Great Khan had sent him to investigate curious reports of giant birds.

 

 

Female Haast's Eagles weighed 10 to 15 kg (22 to 33 lb), and males weighed 9 to 10 kg (20 to 22 lb). They had a wingspan of roughly 2.6 to 3 m (8 to 10 ft) at most, which was short for a bird of the eagle's weight (the largest Golden Eagles and Steller's Sea Eagles may have a wingspan of almost the same length), but aided them when hunting in the dense forests of New Zealand. Haast's Eagle is sometimes portrayed as evolving towards flightlessness, but this is not so; rather, it represents a departure from its ancestors' mode of soaring flight and towards higher wing loading and maneuverability. The strong legs and massive flight muscles would have enabled the birds to take off with a jumping start from the ground, despite their great weight. The tail was almost certainly long (up to 50 cm (20 inches), in female specimens) and very broad, further increasing maneuverability and providing additional lift.[2] Total length was perhaps up to 1.4 m (4.7 ft) in females, with a standing height of around 90 cm (about 3 ft) tall or even slightly more. Haast's Eagle preyed on large, flightless bird species, including the moa which was up to 15 times its weight.[2] It attacked at speeds up to 80 km per hour (50 mph), often seizing its prey's pelvis with the talons of one foot and killing with a blow to the head or neck with the other. Its size and weight indicate a bodily striking force equivalent to a cinder block landing on the target from a height of 80 feet. The eagle had power in its talons easily sufficient to snap a human's neck, or puncture the skull. Its large beak was used to rip into the internal organs and death was induced by blood loss. In the absence of other large predators or scavengers, a Haast's Eagle could have easily monopolised a single large kill over a number of days.

 

Early human settlers in New Zealand (the Māori arrived about 1,000 years ago) also preyed heavily on large flightless birds including all moa species, eventually hunting them to extinction. This caused the Haast's Eagle to become extinct around 1400[3] when the last of its food sources dwindled out. It may also itself have been hunted by humans: a large, fast bird of prey that specialised in hunting large bipeds may have been perceived as a threat by Māori — for a creature that could kill a moa weighing 180 kg (400 lb), an adult human may have been a viable prey alternative.

[REASON]

Mine is a mantis shrimp and the term Astounding vision has to do with the mantis shrimp being able to see in ways no other animal is known to do.

 

Very Cool!

 

Here's a video of the Mantis Shrimp in action.

 

YouTube - Has Mr Mantis met his match? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EEMeVSQWw0

[REASON]

Mine is an orchid mantis:

 

I think this may be the most noble creature of the insect world. Amazing camoflage.

 

Here's an Orchid Mantis video.

 

YouTube - Orchid mantis vs Fly - Mantis orquídea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtyy82L5bE4

[Thunderbird]

Mantis shrimp vs. Blue ring octopus

 

bluering

[Thunderbird]

I thought Mooman's avatar was a Mimic octopus...you can see why..

 

 

 

YouTube - The Indonesian Mimic Octopus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8oQBYw6xxc