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Thread: Most Amazing Animals

  1. #1
    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    Most Amazing Animals

    Hairy Frogfish, could use some camera time

    Mantis Shrimp

    Then there is an octopus that mates once in her life, finds a home and lays over 100 thousand eggs, hanging down on strands. Then she stays watch over them, carressing the eggs to prevent algae and parasites from hurting them, and she also blows water over them to keep them oxygenated. During that time she doesn't eat anything, and then at last when they hatch, she blows water over them one last time, and expires at the moment the first ones swim away.

    Lately I've been totally fascinated by these animals.. Nothing is more beautiful to me than this infinite diversity and intricacy of life. I think the more you learn about it, the more you understand it, the more you feel the power and beauty of it.

    And flying fish.. they made me want to weep for the beauty of it.. it turns out they can fly 50 meters, and get up to 6 meters above the water..

    What are some of your favorite? I mean truly, since of course as we say, beauty is subjective, and all living beings have evolved to meet their environment, one could say they're all equally beautiful.

    Still, here's a thread dedicated to the most interesting/beautiful/amazing animals. Please, think of them and help save the ecosystem as much as we can.

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    Quote Originally Posted by NikolaiI View Post
    Nothing is more beautiful to me than this infinite diversity and intricacy of life.
    Well, let's not be hasty.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eHi9FvUPSdQ

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    That's so funny you should say that.. This morning, when I was posting this, I turned on the TV to nature channel, and truth - it was about mole rats.. I don't remember all the details, but they live in big communities... there's a queen I think, and only she mates.. Their teeth are on the outside of their mouth so they can tunnel without swallowing dirt. And, they have some rats who are soldiers, some who feed the young..

    I havent watched the youtube video, I am not doing much of that these days, to conserve bandwidth. But I was going to post a thing about mole rats.. and I'm going to study up on them a bit more too.

    I did a quick search, trying to find the name of this mouse that outruns lizards by running along these little road-ways it creates, all the turns well-memorized.. and because it can make turns quicker than the larger animal (a feat that seems to be in play among birds fleeing from birds as well), and I came up with this-

    A newly discovered mammal this year.

    I will post the name of that other mouse when I find it. Or if someone else beats me to it.
    Last edited by NikolaiI; 11-28-2014 at 07:31 PM.

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    Clinging to Douvres rocks Gilliatt Gurgle's Avatar
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    Interesting topic NikolaiI and fascinating finds with the Frogfish and shrimp, "biting off more than you can chew".
    Here's a couple of less complex, vernacular examples from the insect world, but still fascinating IMO:

    Walking Stick, (the beer bottle is for scale):
    (click on thumbnail)



    Large Click Beetle:





    If disturbed or placed on their back, the beetle will snap it's head causing it to flip upward a few centimeters until it lands up right.
    "Mongo only pawn in game of life" - Mongo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKRma7PDW10

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    The male Darwin beetle will climb very tall trees in search of its mate. Along the way it will encounter competitors, each time the two will engage in a battle for the priviledge of contuing. The male beetle with the larger jaws usually wins, they grasp the branch deftly and try to hook one on the underside or abdomen and toss him off.. Of course, the beetle isn't harmed by the fall. The successful winner of the battle will have to toss off several before he reaches the top, his goal - and meet his mate... Mating occurs but even though the courting beetle passed so many trials, there is still a bit of a dance before mating. Then, after they are done, true to his nature the male directly tosses his mate off the tree as well. I didn't see what he does after that.

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    We saw a TV programme recently which showed how baboons captured and trained feral dogs to guard them (in Arabia, and South Africa), and to guard their young while they went foraging for food. In return the baboons groomed the dogs for fleas, and shared stolen food with them. If you do an internet search you can see some u-tube shots on this.

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    That is awesome.

    I know there is a type of shrimp that maintains its living not by hunting or scavenging but by advertising. They stay in one place and get the attention of fish passing by, who stop to let them on, and they eat off the parasites while the fish swims around, then later the fish drops them back off near where they picked them up.

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    somewhere else Helga's Avatar
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    Maybe I'm the only one who is amazed by this animal, but the Platypus is my favourite animal. It's a mammal, furry, lays eggs, sweats its milk, is poisonous, has a ducks bill and feet, just a wonderful creature in every way.

    There is a novel I want to read (if I ever have the time to read it) called 'Pride and Platypus: mr. Darcy's secret'. I wonder if Darcy turns into a platypus at a full moon or something.
    I hope death is joyful, and I hope I'll never return -Frida Khalo

    If I seem insensitive to what you are going through, understand it's the way I am- Mr. Spock

    Personally, I think that the unique and supreme delight lies in the certainty of doing 'evil'–and men and women know from birth that all pleasure lies in evil. - Baudelaire

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    I don't think you're the only one, Helga. I never knew they sweat their milk, that's pretty incredible. I wonder if they're the only animal that does..

    I just learned an interesting fact about cuttlefish that makes me think they belong on the thread... (about Sepia cuttlefish)

    Like all cuttlefish they contain cuttlebones, which are not bones but lightweight structures that help regulate buoyancy. This internal shell is filled with tiny compartments into which the cuttlefish can pump air or fluid to make itself lighter or heavier.
    from http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Sepia_(genus)

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    And what about bats: mammals that can fly (not just glide) and that have radar.

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    Registered User NikolaiI's Avatar
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    Tubers. That's what naked mole rats eat. Tubers.

    I just learned some very interesting things about chimps, baboons and humans. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, page 399.

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    Procrastinator General *Classic*Charm*'s Avatar
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    Crows! Anyone familiar with learning theory should appreciate these beauties.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Z6Mvjd9w0
    I'm weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight,
    Waiting for a winter to be done.
    Why do I still see you in every mirrored window,
    In all that I could never overcome?

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    Procrastinator General *Classic*Charm*'s Avatar
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    The most spectacular animal of all, Alex the African Grey Parrot.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldYkFdu5FJk
    I'm weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight,
    Waiting for a winter to be done.
    Why do I still see you in every mirrored window,
    In all that I could never overcome?

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    Quote Originally Posted by NikolaiI View Post
    Tubers. That's what naked mole rats eat. Tubers.

    I just learned some very interesting things about chimps, baboons and humans. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, page 399.
    I don't suppose you have links to these?

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    Classic Charm: These two u-tubes are very interesting. Crows are indeed intelligent, as are magpies for problem-solving, I've noticed this just by watching how they operate, especially in co-operation with each other. Just loved the one on African Grey Parrot, especially when it expresses boredom with the exercises. Great stuff.

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