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5385 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
You won't believe what this viper does to lure hungry birds
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The rare Iranian spider-tailed viper ( Pseudocerastes urarachnoides) waggles a fake "spider" - actually a fleshy lure with leg-like scales at the tip of its tail - to tempt birds within striking distance. Until 2001, the viper was known only from a single misidentified specimen collected during a U.S. expedition to Iran in 1968. The weird structure on its tail was so unlike anything documented in other snakes that it was written off as a birth defect or an abnormal growth. While scientists had suspected its unique tail was used for luring prey, new observations of the dramatic bird captures now confirm this. The new study also revealed the viper starts growing its tail lure after birth, and that it isn’t complete until adulthood.
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2 |
2772 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Another beautiful bird
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This species of bird, known as the Plum-coloured Starling or Amethyst Starling, is the smallest of the Southern African starlings, reaching only about 18 cm in length. The sexes are strongly sexually dimorphic, meaning that there is a distinct difference in the appearance of the male and female. The breeding male is brilliantly coloured, with feathers an iridescent shining plum violet colour along the length of is back, wings, face and throat, contrasting with bright white on the rest of the body. Females (and juveniles) are a streaky brown and buff colour, and can easily be mistaken for a thrush. ...
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0 |
1911 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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1 |
13421 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This bird resembles a piece of candy!
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The stunning Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher from Southeast Asia has a special structure in its eyes that allows it to transition from the air to the water at 40km/h, while maintaining its super-sharp, prey-spotting vision. Frogs, beware.
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2597 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Sense of smell over eyesight
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The most impressive nose in the animal kingdom belongs to the star-nosed mole. The weird-looking animal has 22 fleshy pink tiny tentacles surrounding its nose. These containing a total of 100,000 nerve fibers, that's six times as many touch receptors as on a human hand.
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1 |
2326 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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1 |
3156 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
This fish looks like it can perform hypnosis
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Stargazer fish have their eyes situated on the tops of their heads and can bury themselves in the sediment with only their faces sticking out. Some species lure prey with a worm-shaped projection that comes out of their mouths. They are toxic and some can deliver a 50 volt shock!
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3974 |
savio |
11 years ago |