Tag: animals

The African Klipspringer when fully grown stands only about two feet tall. The animal is amazing in design, with small horns that act like duel daggers in close combat, large ears, a keen sense of smell, and sharp eyes that aid in warning the animal of danger. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect about the Klipspringer is its ability to defy gravity. A cliff dweller, this little creature darts from rock to rock with a nimbleness that is almost unbelievable. To the Klipspringer it matters not if the path be horizontal or perpendicular, up or down, it fearlessly streaks over any treacherous terrain. The reason it can do this is because of its hoof design. Upon close examination the animal looks as if it is running on tiptoe. The hooves act like suction cups, keeping the Klipspringer from slipping.

Grimpoteuthis, also known as Dumbo octopuses from the ear-like fins protruding from the top of their head-like bodies, resembling the ears of Walt Disney’s flying elephant Dumbo. They are bathyal creatures, living at extreme depths of 3,000 to 4,000 metres, with some living up to 7,000 metres below sea level, which is the deepest of any known octopus. 

Saturday died in my arms last night. yesterday i had a feeling it would be that day. i just had a feeling. i have never watched something die before. he wouldn’t eat or drink and just wanted to snuggle, and as soon as he stopped breathing, his teeth clenched and his entire body went stiff. i was really confused and am really fucking sad. he had a nice last day, though. after i came home from the darkroom my dad and i gave him a warm bath in the backyard while he nibbled on apples. then i wrapped him up in a little towel burrito and we walked all around the neighborhood and it sounds stupid but i just showed him all these flowers, because i thought maybe he, in his lil rabbit brain, would think they were really pretty or something. i think he did. and i talked to him a lot yesterday, more than usual. told him about when i first met him, told him about a bunch of nice times we’d had together in case he’d forgotten in his old age. i sound retarded being this sentimental about a rabbit but honestly he was one of my best friends. and when someone or something is there almost your whole life, whether it’s a person, or an animal, or even something dumb like a table or a blanket, you feel it when it leaves. i suppose it was time. but it doesn’t make it easier. he has been there almost my whole life. (14 years! he was insane) it’s crazy. fuck. loved that little buddy. so fucking much.

Sloth and algae co-exist
It is very evident that sloths lives in a symbiosis with a green algae called Trichophilus welckeri. The assumption was reinforced by observations made by an algae systematics research team at the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki. The team analyses hair samples taken from sloths in Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil and the French Guyana. The goal was to find out whether sloths are so slow that any algae grows in its fur, or whether sloth cubs receive a specific algae from their mothers.

Both hypotheses turned out to be correct. A total of 426 eukaryotic organisms – from microbes to spiders – were found in the hair samples. The majority of the organisms were microscopic ciliates and algae.

“The fur of sloths absorbs water, whereas the fur of other mammals rejects it. Moreover, sloth fur has grooves which provides a good growth base for algae,” says Jaanika Blomster, the head of the research team. Algae gives the fur of sloths a greenish tint. The protective colour functions so well that it slows down the research on sloths. “Even though a sloth would have a transmitter on its collar, it may take an entire day to find it in the tree.” Algae obtain nutrients from sloth excretion. It is suspected that sloths get additional nutrition by licking their fur. (image source)