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One very massive, shell-less turtle
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The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest turtle in the world, weighing approximately 900 kg. Contrary to appearance, the leatherback doesn't actually have a shell. What looks like a shell is in fact a leathery skin supported by small bones. This gives it a flexibility that a solid shell would not provide, allowing it to dive to astonishing depths.
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8556 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Fulmars -- not your average seagul
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Babies are typically among the most vulnerable creatures in nature, but the fulmar has evolved a top notch defense system. Chicks also spit at their parents, who are immune to the effects of the oil.
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3437 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
What word comes to mind when looking at this frog?
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For me, the word that comes to mind is blurt or blob Not sure why. Anyway, here's a little background on what this odd looking frog is all about. Purple frogs are found in India in the Western Ghats. Purple frogs burrow and one was found as far as 8 meters below the surface. It spends most of its life underground, but emerges for a two-week-long mating stint during the monsoon season. Females will lay approximately 3000 eggs at this time. Their lineage reaches back 130 million years, though their elusive behavior caused scientists to not have a scientific description of them until 2003. They are currently labeled as endangered by the IUCN. ...
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3193 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A scary looking bat
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The wrinkle-faced bat is found in some regions of Central and South America. If you’re worried about this coming after you in the night, don’t be. It feeds only on fruit, preferring juicier, overripe mangos and bananas. Actually, it’s quite helpful to humans because it pollinates crops.
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2094 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Chicken-like bird
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The greater sage grouse is found in the western parts of the United States and Canada. When mating season is upon the birds, males and females meet at breeding locations known as leks. The males strut around, inflating and deflating the air sacs in their chests to impress the females.
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2164 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Silence leads to madness
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The anechoic chamber is located at Orfield Laboratory in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was designed for testing out hearing aid equipment. To make sure no outside noises are present, the chamber is hidden behind two vault doors and has sound-deadening wedges covering all of the flat surfaces. Rather than sound bouncing off the walls, ceiling, and floor like a traditional room, the sound is absorbed.
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2049 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Lions and tigers, a bear's best friend
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As cubs a lion, a tiger, and a bear had been owned by a drug dealer who did not properly care for them. The bear’s harness grew into his skin because the owner did not alter it as the animal grew. They had been abused and neglected early in life, but were finally rescued. The bear's harness was surgically removed. After they had been taken in by an animal sanctuary in Georgia, the staff tried to separate them due to obvious concerns that the three large predators would fight. During the trial of separation, the animals were uncooperative and behaved poorly. Once reunited, the three calmed down and were well behaved. Twelve years later, the three friends spend their days playing, cuddling, and eating together. There are no plans to separate th ...
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2189 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A woodpecker's incredibly long tongue
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Some species of woodpecker have amazing tongues. It is covered in small hooks that allow it to ensnare insect larvae from a piece of wood. The tongue is approximately three times the length of the beak, allowing it to capture evasive prey. It is so long, it has to fork at the back of the throat and wrap around the woodpecker’s skull when retracted.
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3058 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Blue lobsters are more common than you think
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It's estimated that one in every two million American lobsters are blue. The genetic mutation causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein, which combines with a red carotenoid molecule already present to form a blue complex. This gives the lobster its coloration. Only six blue lobsters have ever been recorded as caught alive. They're all in aquariums today.
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3442 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A strange surrogate mother
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After the tsunami in 2004, an orphaned baby hippo was found stranded on a coral reef off the coast of Kenya. He was brought to a wildlife sanctuary, but couldn’t be put with the other hippos because the oldest male may have viewed him as a threat and killed him. The hippo, named Owen, was put in with a 130-year-old tortoise named Mzee. Owen was desperate for a mother figure and immediately took to Mzee. In the coming months, the two became inseparable. They snuggled together and even tried to communicate. While hippos are known for being social, the same is not true for tortoises. Workers at the sanctuary feared for Mzee’s safety as Owen continued to grow. They were separated in 2007 and a young female hippo named Cleo provided companions ...
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4912 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A visionary solution for the hearing impaired
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For the hearing impaired, a trip to the movies involves a special screening time for captioned movies or a large, bulky viewer that can be distracting to others. New glasses have been developed to minimize this inconvenience. Captions are projected on the bottom of the glass. It even works with 3-D movies, without adding another pair of glasses. This device doesn’t only work for deaf patrons. Visually impaired moviegoers can boost audio and have descriptions of the action played directly into a headset. This technology will be available in thousands of theaters across the United States by the end of the month. ...
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3927 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Overhunting leads to behavioural changes in monkeys
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Overhunting is one reason for wildlife population decline, but do these animals even know what we’re doing to them? New research suggests that they do. Woolly monkeys in the Amazon were observed to react differently to people in their territory, depending on the behavior of the human. In areas where hunting is heavy, humans gathering food or performing research do not elicit much of a response from the monkeys. Hunters, however, result in the monkeys becoming very quiet and motionless. In quieter areas where human contact is less frequent, the monkeys are more wary of the researchers and gatherers. This indicates that the monkeys are behaving based on experience. The long term advantage of this behavior is uncertain. Woolly monkeys are highl ...
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4055 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
So good at camouflaging!
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The arctic fox population on Mednyi Island in the Bering Sea has declined to just 100 individuals over the past 40 years, and a new study has found out why. It's likely due to mercury pollution in seabirds and fish, not infectious disease, as previously thought. This is important, say the researchers, because we eat marine food too, so we should stop and think about how much pollution is going into our Arctic waters.
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4267 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Plastic bags are such a waste
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At our home, we use the plastic bags we get from grocery shopping to store garbage. Technically, we are putting them to good use, but they are still a wasteful invention, and something needs to be done to prevent problems like this .
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4309 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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4148 |
bio_man |
10 years ago |