Deep-Sea Animal Species Look Like Mushrooms but Defy Classification
The new animal species Dendrogramma enigmaticaI, shown here, was pulled from the deep sea off Australia in 1986 but has only now been scientifically described. The opaque portion is its highly branched digestive canal. Two species are recognised and current evidence suggest that they represent an early branch on the tree of life, with similarities to the 600 million-year-old extinct Ediacara fauna.
Silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)
There is a wasting disease that causes sea stars’ arms to walk away from their bodies. The arms do not regenerate like normal, and the starfish’s body essentially disintegrates. The disease is affecting several species of starfish all along the West Coast (from Southern California up to Alaska) and a few places along the East Coast. Source and more.
Honduran white tent bats roosting under a heliconia leaf, which they sever down the length of its midrib to create a ‘tent’ that provides a waterproof shelter and protection from potential predators.
Chameleon lung.
The Honduran white bat has snow white fur and a yellow nose and ears. It is tiny, only 3.7-4.7 cm long. It modifies its immediate surroundings for its own benefit, by cutting the side veins extending out from the midrib of the large leave of the Heliconia plant causing them to fold down to form a ‘tent’. They cling to the roof of this tent in small colonies of up to half a dozen individuals, consisting of one male and a harem of females.
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