Cool Animals

[Ganoderma]

We thought a lot of things when we were younger...:)

[Racoon]

Bats are cool. :cup:

 

 

 

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. Their most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammal in the world naturally capable of flight; other mammals, such as flying squirrels and gliding phalangers, can glide for limited distances but are not capable of true sustainable flight. The word Chiroptera can be translated from the Greek words for "hand wing," as the structure of the open wing is very similar to an outspread human hand, with a membrane (patagium) between the fingers that also stretches between hand and body.

 

There are estimated to be about 1,100 species of bats worldwide, accounting for about 20% of all mammal species.

 

About 70 percent of bats are insectivorous. Most of the remainder feed on fruits and their juices; three bat species eat blood and some prey on vertebrates. These bats include the leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) of central America and South America, and the related bulldog bats (Noctilionidae) that feed on fish. There are at least two known species of bat that feed on other bats: the Spectral Bat or American False Vampire bat and the Ghost Bat of Australia.

 

Some of the smaller bat species are important pollinators of some tropical flowers. Indeed, many tropical plants are now found to be totally dependent on them, not just for pollination, but for spreading their seeds by eating the resulting fruits.

 

Find more info and pictures here :cup:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat

[Mercedes Benzene]

accounting for about 20% of all mammal species.

 

That seems incredibly hard to believe.

[Boerseun]

...and don't forget about sponges!

 

Okay, so they're not really animals, but then they're not really plants, either. But the cool thing is if you take a living sponge and squeeze the whole thing through a sieve, it will reassemble itself on the other side!

 

Talk about weird!

[somebody]

Nothing can come close to hippopotamus, always makes me wonder how do those 4 tiny skinny legs hold tons of weight? And thier wonderful vegetarian diet.

[LJP07]

Really Interesting Co-Operation in the Ecosystem

 

One species that co-work together to help the ecosystem are the Wolves and Salmon believe it or not. Firstly, when salmon lay their eggs and eventually die off in the sea, the wolves gather the carcases and bring them into the woods to eat, however, they don't eat all of it.

 

As a result, the rest of the Salmon decomposes and it's nutrients, like Nitrogen gather down into the soil below. Here's the fascinating part: As those nutrients combine with others, trees are formed over very long-period of time. Research was done on the very top leaf of the trees that exist today in the Black-Bear Rainforest, and it is found that part of it was formed from salmon that existed in the nearby River, therefore Salmon form trees. Quite Fascinating.

 

For further information on Salmon and Wolves, visit the following links:

 

Wolves:

Heres a test as to what you think about Dogs and Wolves:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wolves/wolfdog.html

 

Interesting Site:

http://www.boomerwolf.com/wolfwrld.htm

 

Great Pictures:

http://users.ap.net/~chenae/wolfhome.html

 

Salmon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon

 

Life-Cycle:

http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/salmon/report.html

 

 

 

 

[Michaelangelica]

Really Interesting Co-Operation in the Ecosystem

 

One species that co-work together to help the ecosystem are the Wolves and Salmon believe it or not. Firstly, when salmon lay their eggs and eventually die off in the sea, the wolves gather the carcases and bring them into the woods to eat, however, they don't eat all of it.

 

As a result, the rest of the Salmon decomposes and it's nutrients, like Nitrogen gather down into the soil below. Here's the fascinating part: As those nutrients combine with others, trees are formed over very long-period of time.

Research was done on the very top leaf of the trees that exist today in the Black-Bear Rainforest, and it is found that part of it was formed from salmon that existed in the nearby River, therefore Salmon form trees. Quite Fascinating.

]

Thanks

for that post

Ecology is awe-inspiring sometimes /most-times?

 

The "Terra preta" soils (see thread) also had lots of fish waste in the soil.

 

Here introduced Carp are taking over our waterways from Native Fish.

Some enterprising entrepreneur started selling them as a soil conditioner called "Charlie Carp" - a bit expensive for my budget unfortunately

The Carp eat into the banks of the rivers and cause soil erosion.

A pest a bit like rabbits.

[LJP07]

Cape Buffalo

 

Weight= 1500 Pounds.

Just shy of 2 metres high and 3 metres long. They can outrun lions and it takes two lions to take 1 Cape Buffalo down.

 

www.nature-wildlife.com/buftxt.htm

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Buffalo

[Oriana]

Tasmanian Devils

 

If anything, these animals have a cool name. :D

Tasmanian Devils are the worlds largest carnivorous Marsupials.

They are the size of a small dog, but are built stocky and solid. Devils have a big head and short stubby tail.

 

These are really cool animals! Too bad we may loose them in the near future. I'm not sure how many people have heard of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

 

They develop these horrible growths on their faces. No one knows for sure where it came from, or how to cure it. And they spread it by biting each other. :( Worst is, it has a 100 percent mortality rate. (somethingwild.com.au/new_page_11.htm[/url] ) So you could see Tasmania losing two magnificant marsupials in less than 100 years

[Michaelangelica]

These are really cool animals! Too bad we may loose them in the near future. I'm not sure how many people have heard of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

 

They develop these horrible growths on their faces. No one knows for sure where it came from, or how to cure it. And they spread it by biting each other. :) Worst is, it has a 100 percent mortality rate. (somethingwild.com.au/new_page_11.htm[/url] ) So you could see Tasmania losing two magnificant marsupials in less than 100 years

The cancer comes from one original animal and is spread by contact.Probably some of the first evidence of cancer being tranasmitted by a virus.

As they are such aggressive animals, biting each other the cancer is spread easily.

They are terrible animals nasty, argumentative, aggressive and spiteful.

[Oriana]

You've obviously never seen them in real life. The only time they are truely aggressive is when they are feeding. Which is when its most common for that sort of contact. and Mating... *lol*

 

http://experts.about.com/e/t/ta/Tasmanian_Devil.htm

 

for anyone interested in tassie devils.

[GreekTTC]

I'm learning more and more about piranhas lately. I just started a freshwater Amazon tank with ten juvenile red bellied piranhas (Pygocentrus nattereri). They're super cool. Unlike many piranha species, they're a schooling, or shoaling breed. Right now they're the size of a quarter, but they'll grow to 3, maybe 4 inches in about 3 months. They'll max out over 12" long.

 

They're ravenous from babies. They're fun to watch. They like swimming in currents and flying around the tank. And boy are they fast. I'm feeding them brine shrimp, blackworms and blood worms. Soon, I'll start some red meat (beef heart) and fish fillets. When they become sub-adult, I'll start with guppies and goldfish...then eventually the occasional mouse, frog, cricket and who knows what else.

 

I suppose this thread calls for cool facts, rather than colorful descriptions. Well they call red bellies "wolves of the water." It's because they hunt in packs, surrounding their prey which leaves less chance of escape. They're pretty damn vicious predators. I'll try to get some pics of my setup soon.

 

 

 

 

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amanimals/amfishes/rbpiranha.shtml

[Boerseun]

Sheesh! Lookat the teeth on that sucker!

 

Yes! Send pics of yours! Feeding!

[GreekTTC]

Sheesh! Lookat the teeth on that sucker!

 

Yes! Send pics of yours! Feeding!

 

I won't have any cool feeding photos for a couple months. They're small now, and they just suck up tiny brine shrimp, which doesn't make for *great* feeding action shots.

 

Wait till they're big enough to feed frogs and mice to. THEN you'll see some nice action shots.

 

Like wolves, one fish (usually the largest/most powerful/alpha) will speed up to the top where the mouse is swimming, grab it and pull it down to the rest of the pack. Feeding frenzy ensues.

 

Here, look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trxn76UNT2c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trxn76UNT2c

[Boerseun]

Feeding frenzy ensues.

Sweet...

 

How finicky are these fish? Do they pick up diseases and stuff easily?

[InfiniteNow]

How finicky are these fish? Do they pick up diseases and stuff easily?

Wouldn't NOT being finicky be cause for picking up diseases and stuff? I know that's how it works in human reproduction anyway. :smart:

[GreekTTC]

Sweet...

 

How finicky are these fish? Do they pick up diseases and stuff easily?

 

In my limited experience, they seem to be easy to please, food-wise. I hear piranhas are very hardy fish in general.

 

They've been eating well, two times a day. I went fishing this weekend and cut up some fresh bluefish for them. They haven't touched it. Maybe because this is the first time they've been introduced to foodstuffs other than tiny worms and brine shrimp. I'll leave the slices of blue in there for a day and a half or so and let it marinate. They might start munching on it in the evening. Piranhas are mostly scavengers in the wild. Live food is a bonus.