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Halla tree fruit
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This is the fruit of the Halla tree ( Pandanus tectorius). The tree grows to 4–14 m (13–46 ft) tall and is found from Port Macquarie in New South Wales to northern Queensland, Australia and Indonesia east through the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked and is a major source of food in Micronesia. ...
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7140 |
bio_man |
11 years ago |
Sunda pangolins
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Sunda pangolins have become the most frequently seized mammal in the illegal wildlife trade in Asia, as smugglers sell the creatures to meet culinary and medicinal demand. These gentle insectivores are now on the endangered species list.
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6536 |
bio_man |
11 years ago |
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6084 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A cat the size of a mouse
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Mr. Peebles from Pekin, Illinois, USA was claimed as the world's smallest cat. Mr. Peebles is two years old cat weighing just three pounds and measuring 6.1 inches in height. This anomaly is caused by a genetic disorder.
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9192 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
The kiwi bird
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The kiwi is a flightless bird found only in New Zealand. They're around the size of a chicken, and lay the largest eggs in relation to their body size of any bird in the world. Their eggs can be up to 20% of the females body weight - the equivalent of a 130 pound woman giving birth to a 26 pound baby. ...
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5527 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Anyone heard of a Hoopoe?
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A Hoopoe (pronounced who-poh, scientific name: Upupa epops) is a colourful African bird which has a distinctive ‘crown’ of feathers. The species is highly distinctive, with a long, thin tapering bill that is black with a fawn base. The strengthened musculature of the head allows the bill to be opened when probing inside the soil. The hoopoe has broad and rounded wings capable of strong flight; these are larger in the northern migratory subspecies. The Hoopoe has a characteristic undulating flight, which is like that of a giant butterfly, caused by the wings half closing at the end of each beat or short sequence of beats. Listen to it sing: ...
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3115 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Flowers that look like monkeys
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These are monkey orchids ( Orchis simia). This species can be found in Europe, the Mediterranean, Russia, Asia Minor, and Iran.
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3711 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A marine animal that looks like you know what
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This is Urechis unicinctus, a species of marine spoon worm. It is also know as the fat innkeeper worm or (I bet you'll never guess why) the penis fish. They live in burrows of sand and mud and are commonly eaten raw with salt and sesame oil in Korea and parts of Japan.
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7662 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A bird with a moustache
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Inca terns are unique and beautiful birds—slender with white-tipped gray feathers, a white curly moustache, yellow lips and a bright orange-red bill. They have a distinctive call that sounds like a high pitched laugh, which is often accompanied by bowing gestures. Inca terns are natives of the western shoreline of South America and the islands located offshore. They are especially abundant in northern Chile and Peru in the summer. They migrate in winter, venturing to Ecuador and central Chile. Inca terns swoop down and pluck fish from near the water’s surface. They also sometimes get scraps left behind by whales, or flock to where sea lions are eating on rocks, to steal stray bits of food. A male who is interested in a female will perform aer ...
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3080 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
A human confused as an alien
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This bizarre looking thing is "Ata the humanoid", a mummified corpse found in the Atacama Desert ten years ago. It's strange appearance led to many calling it an "alien", claiming it as proof that extraterrestrials have visited Earth. Well, it's finally been submitted to a battery of tests and the results show it to be fully human. DNA analysis has even managed to pinpoint the location and nationality of its mother. The results do suggest that it was once alive and human, not a hoax, and so asks more questions than they answer. The bone analysis suggests that this is not a fetus, but a child between the ages of 6-8. The specimen has just ten ribs (as opposed to 12), is just six inches long and has severe facial deformities. These symptoms do ...
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4587 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
White eyeless leeches
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This is Croatobranchus mestrovi, a leech that lives 1.3km below sea level and doesn't want to suck your blood. The leech's milky colour and lack of eyes comes from living exclusively in the freezing groundwater and darkness of one of the deepest caves in the world, located in Croatia. They were found in shallow water attached to rocks, with their extra-wide, tentacle-surrounded mouths facing the current.
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2508 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Dumbo Octopus
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The Dumbo Octopus belongs to the genus Grimpoteuthis, and is given its nickname based on its resemblance to the large-eared Disney elephant. They can live up to 7,000 meters below the surface, though many are found between 1,000 and 4,000 meters. It feeds unlike any other octopus, by skimming the surface of the sea floor looking for crustaceans to swallow whole. The largest specimen on record was 1.8 m (6ft) long, weighing 5.9 kg (13 pounds).
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4134 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Leafy Seadragon
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This is the spectacular Leafy Seadragon. Its dangling skin disguises the vulnerable species as floating seaweed. Like seahorses, the male Leafy Seadragon carries the eggs, which are bright pink when the female first deposits them, but turn purple or orange when they're ready to hatch after nine weeks.
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2269 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
If Squidward were real
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The Banded Piglet squid is proof that not all deep sea creatures are nightmare-inducing. They swim "upside down" compared to other squid, leaving him resembling a Muppet with his tentacles as the hair, the syphon as the nose, and his patterning appearing to be a smile. These guys live at least 100 m below the surface. Because of those incredible depths, it has to create its own light from the photophores underneath its eyes. Unfortunately, because it lives so far down, not much is known about its life cycle or eating habits. ...
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3276 |
duddy |
11 years ago |
Baby blue eyes
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Waardenburg Syndrome is a rare autosomal genetic disorder that has possible bright blue eyes as one of its qualifying criteria, along with possible deafness (common). Actually, the cause of the blue eyes is a form of albinism that may include patches of non-pigmented skin or forehead hair, regardless of ethnicity. There are four types of Waardenburg Syndrome, with a mix of possible characteristics as the determinant. Medical challenges increase with type. The boy in the picture is displaying two major symptoms of type 1; bright blue eyes and dystopia canthorum, a condition where the inner corners of the eyes are set more widely apart, but with normally distanced eyes. ...
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4018 |
savio |
11 years ago |