Animals

[MUFC]

 

[Carnivore Chris]

5 hours ago, MUFC said:

 

Deserves the cunt right to be honest.

[Coma]

On 14/04/2022 at 06:00, nudge said:

Have you lot seen any fireflies in recent years? They were so common when I was a kid, and then I haven't seen them for years until about a month ago. Such a magical sight still...

We still get quite a few in our yard at dusk, though not as many as I recall when i was young. The kids run around trying to get them to land in their hands.

[Coma]

 

[Bluewolf]

This rat is bigger than a cat - 9GAG

We are going to need a bigger Rat Trap!! 

[CaaC (John)+]

28 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

This rat is bigger than a cat - 9GAG

We are going to need a bigger Rat Trap!! 

Aye, someone mentioned in there it's an albino nutria, I think they call them river rats as they inhabit riverbanks, big bastards though and I bet my daughter would still like one as a pet, tried to show the wife and she did not want to look at it. 

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Sneaky submarine spiders

Tropical spider can hide underwater for 30 minutes

Jaws might have popularised the phrase “just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”, but in even more bad news for swimmers a new study has found a large tropical spider that can hide underwater for as long as 30 minutes to avoid getting squished by your shoe.

While some arachnids such as the diving bell spider live underwater, in general the class avoid submersion. Now biologists in Costa Rica seeking to capture the long-legged arachnid Trechalea extensa instead watched it sink into a water pool, using a “film” of air to remain submerged.

They reported their findings in the journal Ethology, noting that the fuzzy hairs that cover its body helped to maintain this film of air, helping to prevent heat loss and water from entering the spider’s respiratory organs while underwater.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/underwater-tropical-spider/

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by CaaC (John)
Spacing correction

[CaaC (John)+]

Been watching a video on Facebook of a German Shepherd pup meeting a mother cat with her newborn kittens, beautiful. 

Edited May 20, 2022 by CaaC (John)

[Bluewolf]

Fancy taking a dip in a lake somewhere and then suddenly hearing this noise behind you.... 

This is how a crocodile sounds like up close. - 9GAG

[Beelzebub]

Rhino easily move into one corner when it charges at you, dash away and repeat it.

[MUFC]

1 hour ago, Aladdin said:

Rhino easily move into one corner when it charges at you, dash away and repeat it.

The cat.

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Aladdin said:

Rhino easily move into one corner when it charges at you, dash away and repeat it.

The Gorilla. I'd befriend and it we'd just chill for 37 minutes. 

 

[CaaC (John)+]

11 hours ago, Tommy said:

The Gorilla. I'd befriend and it we'd just chill for 37 minutes. 

Rhino, stand completely still for 37 minutes as a Rhino is short-sighted and will only charge if it thinks it is being threatened with a sudden movement......

PS. Change your pants after though  

[nudge+]

Cuttlefish pretending to be a coral. Pretty neat... 

[MUFC]

https://iheartdogs.com/may22mansaveseaglestory/?fbclid=IwAR2X_FKpWrGDevL6AXYWvlYetCGlT_LfC5bjmpswuxUTtfsMg49Etzr4q9Q

[Tommy]

1 minute ago, MUFC said:

https://iheartdogs.com/may22mansaveseaglestory/?fbclid=IwAR2X_FKpWrGDevL6AXYWvlYetCGlT_LfC5bjmpswuxUTtfsMg49Etzr4q9Q

Is that real? Sounds like American propaganda. I mean, guns, eagles, freedom? 

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

What is a wobbegong?

The wobbegong shark takes camouflage to new heights.

Swimming in the warm, shallow waters surrounding Australia, Indonesia and Japan, this master of disguise comes in 12 different species.

With their intricate markings and pebbly hues, these animals do a knockout impression of the sea floor, where they spend most of their time, stock-still, waiting to ambush any hapless morsel that swims too close. Unlike some other shark species, wobbegongs do not need to constantly move in order to breathe. Instead, they actively pump water over their gills with their cheek muscles.

The word ‘wobbegong’ is thought to come from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning ‘shaggy beard’ and refers to the wispy tassels that frame their enormous chops. By blurring the lines between the shark and its surroundings, they enhance the camouflage effect, and can be wiggled suggestively to lure curious prey, such as bottom-dwelling fish and octopuses.

Wobbegongs also have strong lower fins which enable them to ‘walk’; a nifty trick if the fish find themselves landlocked in a rockpool when the tide has gone out.

• Weird animals: 17 of the most bizarre animals on Earth
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• What is an aye-aye?

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-is-a-wobbegong/

 

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by CaaC (John)
Spacing correction

[Tommy]

Wobbegong? Isn't that where @Devil-Dick Willie lives? 

[CaaC (John)+]

46 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Wobbegong? Isn't that where @Devil-Dick Willie lives? 

He loves it there.

 

[Devil-Dick Willie]

7 hours ago, Tommy said:

Wobbegong? Isn't that where @Devil-Dick Willie lives? 

It's funny because I have swam with a Wobbegong in Wollongong.

[CaaC (John)+]

11 hours ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

It's funny because I have swam with a Wobbegong in Wollongong.

Jabba the Hutt's brother  

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Fantastic giant tortoise, thought to be extinct in 1906, confirmed alive on a Galápagos island

DNA shows that the tortoise is really phantasticus.

In 2019, a female giant tortoise was found on Fernandina Island, in the Galápagos archipelago. Fernanda, as she is now called, was a miracle find, with researchers suspecting she might be a fantastic giant tortoise, or Chelonoidis phantasticus, a species believed to have gone extinct in 1906.

Now, peer-reviewed DNA evidence has finally confirmed it: Fernanda is a fantastic giant tortoise, and the species is not extinct.

The DNA evidence suggesting Fernanda was distinct was announced last year, but it has now been peer-reviewed (assessed by independent experts) and published in Communications Biology.

The researchers sequenced Fernanda’s genome, as well as the DNA from the last confirmed phantasticus specimen, collected in 1906.

The researchers then compared this DNA to that from 13 other species of Galápagos giant tortoises. They found that the DNA from Fernanda and the 1906 specimen were distinct from all the others, but related to each other.

“For many years it was thought that the original specimen collected in 1906 had been transplanted to the island, as it was the only one of its kind,” says Peter Grant, a professor of zoology and ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, US.

“It now seems to be one of a very few that were alive a century ago.”

__________________________________________________________________________

More on Galápagos giant tortoise genetics: The genome of Lonesome George

__________________________________________________________________________

Fernanda doesn’t look exactly like the male 1906 specimen, so ecologists weren’t initially sure they were the same species.

“Like many people, my initial suspicion was that this was not a native tortoise of Fernandina Island,” says paper co-author Dr Stephen Gaughran, a postdoctoral research fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology also at Princeton.

While tortoises can’t swim between islands, they do occasionally float across during storms, or get carried by sailors.

“We saw — honestly, to my surprise — that Fernanda was very similar to the one that they found on that island more than 100 years ago, and both of those were very different from all of the other islands’ tortoises,” says Gaughran.

“The finding of one alive specimen gives hope and also opens up new questions, as many mysteries still remain,” says senior author Dr Adalgisa Caccone, a researcher in ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, US.

 “Are there more tortoises on Fernandina that can be brought back into captivity to start a breeding program? How did tortoises colonise Fernandina, and what is their evolutionary relationship to the other giant Galápagos tortoises?

“This also shows the importance of using museum collections to understand the past.”

Fernanda is small, but estimated to be over 50 years of age. Researchers have found tracks and scat of at least two other tortoises on Fernandina, meaning there’s a small chance she may not be the last of her kind.

__________________________________________________________________________

More on the Galápagos Islands: More to learn about evolution from Galápagos finches
___________________________________________________________________________

The genetic relations between Fernanda and other tortoises described in the paper also bring new questions to the fore.

“The genetic work provides intriguing hints of a mixing of genes with members of another population,” says Grant.

“It would be fascinating if confirmed by future detective work on the genome. Another thought-provoking finding is the nearest relatives are not on the nearest very large island (Isabela) but on another (Española) far away on the other side of Isabela. The question of how the ancestors reached Fernandina is left hanging.”

https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/fantastic-giant-tortoise-galapagos/

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by CaaC (John)
Spacing correction

[Tommy]

On 14/04/2022 at 12:00, nudge said:

Have you lot seen any fireflies in recent years? 

First time we got temperatures to sit outside for a little bit longer. And sure enough I saw quite a few fireflies today.

Unfortunately though, they are impossible to take pictures or videos of. At least on the phone. 

[nudge+]

20 minutes ago, Tommy said:

First time we got temperatures to sit outside for a little bit longer. And sure enough I saw quite a few fireflies today.

Unfortunately though, they are impossible to take pictures or videos of. At least on the phone. 

Good to hear... I love them, such a majestic sight. Funnily enough, we were at a restaurant yesterday during a powercut, and they were everywhere, too. Even got one inside the tuktuk on the way back

[Tommy]

4 minutes ago, nudge said:

Even got one inside the tuktuk on the way back

He was just hitching a free ride.