Cannibal snails, hairy snails and even neon slugs all make Mount Kaputar in Australia their home. This unique and fragile mountain habitat has saved these odd gastropods from extinction. Once upon a time New South Wales was covered by rain forests comparable to Papua New Guinea, but today climate shift even just two degrees could destroy the entire habitat.
Chimpanzees share 98% of our DNA, they have complex relationships, raise their young, wage wars, have friendships, alliances and enemies. They have extensive tool use and even have intricate means of communication. As far as I knew, they were endangered species. I mean, this is what IUCN’s website and even WWF will tell you. But today I learned that that was only applicable to free-living chimpanzees. This means that chimpanzees in captivity are listed as threatened. Maybe this doesn’t seem so bad, until you realize that that is the loophole that allows them to be test subjects and live in labs, in often, sub-par conditions.
I guess we all need a theme song, and I’m sad to say I think this one may be mine… that or the aardvark song…
I don’t know who the artist is, but I found it on I F*cking Love Science’s Facebook page
Yippee! I had time, and actually remembered, to make a hump day post this week! Even though I am still on vacation in France with my family I am finally getting enough internet to blog. Lets discuss virgin birth, or, parthenogenesis. Most people have heard of the legend of the Virgin Mary, and if you’re not familiar with Christianity at all, most religions have virgin birth myths. Well, it doesn’t tend to occur very often(if at all) in mammals, but is quite common among other types of animals!
I am obsessed. These animals look so cool and prehistoric. The Sichuan takin is a sub-species of takin, and for those of you(like, until recently, me) who don’t know what a takin is, a takin is a goat-antelope. These large lumbering creatures live in large herds and can even stand on their back legs to reach high leaves.
Recently the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University chose 10 species that it named the top 10. The species are chosen based on being unique, unusual or even ones that live in treacherous terrain. These new species are not just animals, but include plants and fungus as well!
In the far reaches of Russia the worlds most endangered cat now struggles for survival. A unique leopard set apart by its lanky legs and long fur, it has long been hunted for its beautiful spotted coat. Where the Amur leopard was once known to live along the Korean Peninsula, the last 50 Amur leopards are now found only in the Russia Far East and northeastern China.
Yippee! My favorite cetacean! When I was in high school I went on a dolphin studies program in Belize, and for the final project we had to chose any cetacean and give a presentation on them. I chose the narwhal and have been smitten ever since.
Once again, the middle of the week has rolled around and I find my self having an abysmally low level of motivation as my finals inch ever closer. So what better way to distract myself than with dolphin sex! Dolphins are known for getting frisky quite often, because everyone knows that darlin’ it’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from me!
Endangered Living 