Strange animal pics

[Galapagos]

T-bird's dodos on the previous page reminded me of these weird dudes:

blue footed booby

[Moontanman]

Mantis shrimp vs. Blue ring octopus

 

bluering

 

Mighty big mantis shrimp and a very small octopus. I used to keep live coral and sometimes I would get mantis shrimp in the live rock. I always used an octopus to hunt down and eat the mantis shrimp. Of course the octopus was a little larger than the shrimp most of the time.

[Thunderbird]

Flying Lemurs Are The Closest Relatives Of Primates

ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2007) — While the human species is unquestionably a member of the Primate group, the identity of the next closest group to primates within the entire class of living mammals has been hotly debated. Now, new molecular and genomic data gathered by a team including Webb Miller, a professor of biology and computer science and engineering at the Penn State University, has shown that the colugos -- nicknamed the flying lemurs -- is the closest group to the primates.

Flying Lemurs Are The Closest Relatives Of Primates

 

 

Colugos glide from tree to tree in Malaysia forests using their special skin fold, or patagium, for support. This mother and baby (Cynocephalus variegatus) looks like a living kite but is closely related to primates, the order of mammals that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans. (Credit: Norman Lim, National University of Singapore)

[Thunderbird]

Tuatara's relatives were the beak headed reptiles (Rhinocephalia). These spread all around the world 200 million years ago, but died out 100 million years ago. Only Tuatara survived to become a "living fossil".

 

Tuatara (Sphenodon) is often used by zoologists as an example of about as basic a reptile as they can find. "The diapsid reptile Sphenodon is the most unspecialised living amniote." The evolution of both reptiles and birds can be described starting from tuatara anatomy. This does NOT mean tuatara is the common precursor, just that comparative anatomical diagrams of reptiles and birds can start conveniently with this animal.

 

The tuatara is only found in New Zealand and is in danger of becoming extinct!

 

It is a reptile but not a lizard.

 

It is the last remaining member of the ancient group of reptiles, Sphenodontia.

 

Tuatara is a Maori word meaning "peaks on the back". It is easy to see why.

 

 

 

The tuatara is famous because it is a very ancient – it is the only survivor of a large group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as dinosaurs. It hasn't changed its form much in over 225 million years! The relatives of tuatara died out about 60 million years ago which is why the tuatara is sometimes called a ‘living fossil’.

Tuatara Fact Sheet

[Mercedes Benzene]

Mantis shrimp vs. Blue ring octopus

 

bluering

 

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby. :shrug:

[Thunderbird]

The Kakapo one of my favorite birds.

 

 

 

Saving The Remarkable Kakapo Bird From Extinction

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2007) — One of the strangest and most endangered birds in the world, the kakapo, is being brought back from the brink of extinction with the help of scientists from the University of Glasgow.

Saving The Remarkable Kakapo Bird From Extinction

[Thunderbird]

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby. :shrug:

 

That's about as big as they get,.. and they pack one of the most toxic venoms in nature.

[Moontanman]

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby. :shrug:

 

Blue rings don't get any bigger than that but put an Octopus vulgarious at about 18" and that mantis shrimp would be dinner. Sometimes size does matter:hihi:

[Thunderbird]

DINOFISH.com - COELACANTH: THE FISH OUT OF TIME

 

[Moontanman]

DINOFISH.com - COELACANTH: THE FISH OUT OF TIME

 

 

Cool T-Bird:hihi:

[Thunderbird]

And now for something completely disgusting. ;)

 

 

 

YouTube - snake swallowed a hippo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VryQDsx5Ad8&NR=1

 

Is this real ?

 

 

YouTube - Bolivia Bug http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeNggIGSKH8&feature=related

 

 

Bolivia bug, they are stinging caterpillars.

[Thunderbird]

YouTube - Holy Crab!

[Thunderbird]

Patagonian Cavy (Mara)

 

 

A large rodent that looks sort of like a rabbit, sort of like a donkey. The Patagonian Mara lives in Central and Southern Argentina. Maras inhabit arid grasslands and scrub desert

 

 

 

Elephant shrewThey are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest.

 

 

 

Pink Fairy Armadillo

It is found in central Argentina where it inhabits dry grasslands and sandy plains with thorn bushes and cacti. It has the ability to bury itself completely in a matter of seconds if frightened.

The Pink Fairy Armadillo burrows small holes near ant colonies in dry dirt. It feeds mainly on ants and ant larvae near its burrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Long-eared Jerboa

"The Mickey Mouse of the desert" - mouse-like rodent with a long tail, long hind legs for jumping, and exceptionally large ears. The jerboa, found in the deserts of Mongolia and China, is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

 

 

 

World's strangest looking animals - Sharenator.com

[Moontanman]

And now for something completely disgusting. :D

 

 

 

 

Is this real ?

 

In a word, No. there are no snakes big enough to swallow a hippo.:naughty:

[Thunderbird]

In a word, No. there are no snakes big enough to swallow a hippo.:naughty:

The, "Is this real" was meant for the bug video, it looked like some kind of toy at first, but turned out it is a real bug. As for as the snake swallowing a hippo I have been looking at it closely and believe that it is an Asian baby pygmy hippo. The snake is possibly a recalculated python. What do think? Look closely at its feet.

[Moontanman]

The, "Is this real" was meant for the bug video, it looked like some kind of toy at first, but turned out it is a real bug. As for as the snake swallowing a hippo I have been looking at it closely and believe that it is an Asian baby pygmy hippo. The snake is possibly a recalculated python. What do think? Look closely at its feet.

 

You might be right but i wonder why there is never a shot of the "hippo" Head? I also wonder why the snake was harassed into throwing up it's meal to begin with? I had forgotten about the Pygmy hippo, My bad for that. Even a baby african hippo would be too big.

[Thunderbird]

 

The video shows it has splad toes, It could possible be a ful grown pygmy hippo. :naughty: