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More weird animals and animan traits.

 
 
Eryemil
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Mar, 2006 06:17 am
JoanneDorel wrote:
Yikes coluber something that ugly deserves a difficult birthing. Hmm, does than make us ugly to them as they are to us, probably.


That's a very interesting thing to say, well, not really it's actually cruel and superfluous. *shrugs*
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Tue 28 Mar, 2006 02:13 pm
Eryemil wrote:
JoanneDorel wrote:
Yikes coluber something that ugly deserves a difficult birthing. Hmm, does than make us ugly to them as they are to us, probably.


That's a very interesting thing to say, well, not really it's actually cruel and superfluous. *shrugs*


The picture Dorel was reacting to was deleted on its former website; it show a hyena's head in a full yawn. It was hideous in a way but also beautiful. I related the hyena's difficult birth as a parallel to the human's difficult birth to gain some sympathy for the animal. Hyenas usually get no sympathy at all, but the African lion, which has the virtually identical life style, is though of as noble. This is why I recommended the National Geographic video, "Lions and Hyenas;" to understand these animals is to have sympathy for them.

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/jpeg/hyenas.jpg
0 Replies
 
Eryemil
 
  1  
Reply Tue 28 Mar, 2006 03:53 pm
coluber2001 wrote:
Eryemil wrote:
JoanneDorel wrote:
Yikes coluber something that ugly deserves a difficult birthing. Hmm, does than make us ugly to them as they are to us, probably.


That's a very interesting thing to say, well, not really it's actually cruel and superfluous. *shrugs*


The picture Dorel was reacting to was deleted on its former website; it show a hyena's head in a full yawn. It was hideous in a way but also beautiful. I related the hyena's difficult birth as a parallel to the human's difficult birth to gain some sympathy for the animal. Hyenas usually get no sympathy at all, but the African lion, which has the virtually identical life style, is though of as noble. This is why I recommended the National Geographic video, "Lions and Hyenas;" to understand these animals is to have sympathy for them.

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/jpeg/hyenas.jpg


It's all about aesthetics for us humans isn't it?
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Tue 4 Apr, 2006 11:58 am
http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/030402/images/predator1.jpg

They say they're nice once you get to know them. This one was hand-raised. I wouldn't try that with a wild one.
0 Replies
 
Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Tue 4 Apr, 2006 12:06 pm
Dude needs some serious dental work.
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rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Mon 24 Apr, 2006 07:44 am
Sea Spider.

http://aspire.mlml.calstate.edu/aspire03/Nov/novpics/pycnogonid.jpg
0 Replies
 
rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Tue 16 May, 2006 02:24 pm
Gratuitous ad for my other thread
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Fri 23 Jun, 2006 12:31 pm
http://bugguide.net/images/raw/LK2K7K2KLK6KHKEK0K2K8QB04QA05QJ0UQVK7KRS2QO0PQA00KEK2QD00KCKSKPKSK6KXK2K5QB0.jpghttp://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/invert04f/photos/Basilica-spider-Web--Mecyno.jpghttp://bugguide.net/images/cache/HHGRKH8RYZKZULLZ2LYL6LRZOZMRFZ2RCLGRCL7Z0HXRCZJLCZFLTZ3LNLLZOZFL2LLZOLQZPLQRCZXROZKREL.jpg
Balilica spider. Mecynogea lemniscata Orb web family Araneidae.

This is a spider I've just discovered in Dallas. It's very common and builds its webs several feet above the ground, and the whole web complex may be as big as two feet in diameter. The spider stays under the dome, an elaborate net structure. The egg cases are hung one below the other and are suspended from a very thick horizontal line made from numerous fibers, thus the specific name lemniscata (a bundle of fibers).
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Thu 19 Oct, 2006 12:17 pm
Spitting spider (scytoder sp.) and another spider prey.

http://www.americanarachnology.org/images/gallery/spitting%20spider%26prey_LRG.jpg

Spitting spiders spit out silk from the base of their fangs. The ensnared prey is trapped and returned to the spider due to the elasticity of the silk. This website shows video clips of the silk in action. The last video show the spider, which is very much out of focus, spitting the silk onto two vertical bars, the first of which is fixed, but the second moves toward the first drawn by the silk's elasticity. The next to last video shows the silk being spit out and retreating to the spider(unseen). http://faculty.vassar.edu/suter/1websites/spittingspider/
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Wed 13 Jun, 2007 12:27 pm
http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/cathu.jpg




The fiery searcher or Calosoma scrutator in the family Carabidae or ground beetles. Fittingly, Calosoma means beautiful body.

I recently discovered these in a state Park near Dallas. They're easy to catch and release a defensive odor, which is typical of all beetles of this family including the bombardier beetle, which sprays a caustic fluid at predators. Notice the strong jaws, which they use to eat caterpillars.
0 Replies
 
stuh505
 
  1  
Reply Wed 13 Jun, 2007 03:05 pm
Blister beetle:

these guys secrete a cantharadin from their joints when you bother them, which is a poison that causes blistering. it is used to remove warts as well. it comes out between their joints looking like little droplets of honey. I used to collect this stuff as a kid.

http://www.images.on.ca/Cossey/images/Beetle_Blister.jpg

Flying squirrel:

Used to have a pet of one of these that I found in the woods behind the house. They use the flap of skin between their limbs to glide from tree to tree somewhat.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Jill_Flying_1.jpg
0 Replies
 
rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Wed 13 Jun, 2007 09:03 pm
stuh505 wrote:
Blister beetle:

these guys secrete a cantharadin from their joints when you bother them, which is a poison that causes blistering. it is used to remove warts as well. it comes out between their joints looking like little droplets of honey. I used to collect this stuff as a kid.


So you collected Beetle Juice?

What did you do with it?
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Fri 15 Jun, 2007 11:18 am
Great picture of a blister beetle, stuh. I've never seen one, and I see that they're from a different family from the calosoma beetle, though they use a somewhat similar stragety in dealing with predators.

I was camping in Arkansas many years ago and saw flying squirrels at night gliding from tree to tree. That was the only time I've seen them, and the image stays with me vividly.
0 Replies
 
monachum
 
  1  
Reply Tue 16 Oct, 2007 11:00 pm
Alpheidae/snapping shrimp or sometimes even called pistol shrimp

http://www.liverockandmore.com/uploads/44f373da869ce.jpg

One of, if not, the loudest animals in the ocean, these shrimp can cock their claw much like the hammer on a gun. When within relatively close proximity (4cm to kill, perhaps slightly larger for a stun effect) these shrimp snap their claws shut creating a sonic shockwave. This sonic shockwave, curiously enough, momentarily reaches the temperature of the surface of the sun, creating light in a process known as sonoluminescence. It is the only animal known using this method to create light, although this light is not visible to the naked eye. Additionally, if the shrimp's dominant arm is compromised, its other arm will grow into a dominant as it regrows a smaller, secondary arm in the compromised arm's spot. Sometimes, though only one has been found as of yet, a temporarily compromised dominant arm will lead to the shrimp having two dominant arms.

A video, though a bit over-dramatic with added gun-cocking effects, is available on just about any video search engine you could look for. Just search pistol shrimp or click here.
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Tue 23 Oct, 2007 02:00 pm
I've just discovered the Argiope sp. egg case, though I've seen many of these orb-web spiders themselves. The abdomen of the female swells up like a blimp with eggs then lays them and builds the case around them suspending it within a framework of silk lines. The young hatch in the fall and overwinter in the case befoe emerging in the spring.

http://magickcanoe.com/argiope/argiope-with-eggcase-1-sm.jpg
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 May, 2008 11:25 am
Click on to this website for a video of an elephant painting a realistic picture of an elephant. This is the same video that I posted on the art forum. I think you'll be amazed at this video and it's implications of animal consciousness.



http://www.metro.co.uk/media/viral.html?in_page_id=55&in_mediaext_item_id=140063
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  2  
Reply Tue 15 Sep, 2009 01:26 pm
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FhFQa1in5Gs/Rqon5gtpviI/AAAAAAAAAPY/-wTXFr0RMFg/s400/dung_beetle_sign.jpg

http://img6.travelblog.org/Photos/59419/248034/t/1996978-Dung-beetle-sign-0.jpg

These are two signs appearing in national parks in Africa. Dung beetles are taken seriously as extremely important parts of the ecosystem there. Because of the huge numbers of large ungalates and subsequent abundant dung, without these beetles, the place would soon be covered in crap. Beetles can dissipate a pile of dung in a week or so, carrying it underground with their eggs. Without dung beetles, this same process could take months or years, and the land would soon be full of it.

When Australians started importing cattle to Australia they confronted that same problem. The native dung beetles could not adapt to using the cattle dung--so different than that dropped from native marsupials-- and the feces soon became an ecological problem, so African dung beetles were imported to solve the problem.
Reyn
 
  1  
Reply Tue 15 Sep, 2009 09:13 pm
@coluber2001,
I always thought genets were rather strange looking animals:

http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/image-files/genet_knp-0080-g.jpg

http://atamato.wildlifedirect.org/files/2007/11/s5000981.jpg

http://awesomekrugertours.co.za/html/images/stories/nightdrive/night%20drive%20genet.jpg


Genet, a small carnivorous mammal native to Africa. It is closely related to the civet and mongoose. The genet has a pointed snout and a slender body with short legs. It is gray or yellow with rows of dark spots. The tail is long and bushy, with black and white bands. The genet reaches a length of 31 to 37 inches (80 to 94 cm), including the tail. Genets hunt at night for small rodents and birds.

Genets belong to the subfamily Viverrinae of the family Viverridae. They make up the genera Genetta and Osbornictis.

coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Sep, 2009 12:41 pm
@Reyn,
I worked in a small zoo in Texas many years ago, which had genets and other viverids. The genets were in a nocturnal room that had red lights on during the day time to reverse the noctural cycle of the genets. However, I never once saw the animals after we put them in the exhibit.

We had other viverids, such as bintuongs and marsh mongooses.

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p386694-Myrtle_Beach-Binturong.jpg http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/ArchOLD-6/1187064713.jpg

I don't know if this is a marsh mongoose or not; it's been a long time since I've seen them. At any rate I would give them whole eggs, and they would grasp one with their forelegs, raise up on their hindlegs and smash the egg on the floor. This is probably a habit used for breaking open mollusks.
Reyn
 
  1  
Reply Wed 16 Sep, 2009 03:15 pm
@coluber2001,
coluber2001 wrote:
I worked in a small zoo in Texas many years ago [...]

Did you have to have special training to do this work, or did you have a "vet background"?
 

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