ugly animals

Welcome to Mobiforumz.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

I love, love nudibranchs (this pair is Nembrotha kubaryana). They are the little gems I search for when perusing the tidal pools and sand bars of Northern California. Though their colors are quite striking, there’s no getting around the fact that they are, in essence, slugs. And, they’re toxic.

Thanks for the photo, Sherry.

Photo source: David Doubilet via National Geographic

Aurelialight reminded me that I’ve been remiss in not posting enough on one of North America’s most notable fish. Behold the alligator gar. I never thought that that a creature with the species name of spatula could be frightening, but I was wrong. The alligator gar comes with several distinctive characteristics:

1) It is the largest of all gars, growing to 8 - 12 feet, with a record weight of over 300 lbs (the largest was caught in the Rio Grande River).
2) It is also the largest exclusively freshwater fish in North Americ, where it stalks the waters of the South Eastern US and Mexico.
3) It is able to breath air, and can survive 2 hours outside of water.
4) It is an aggressive carnivore and has been known to attack humans.

Photo source: CoastalThings.com

I can’t call the Blue Ringed Octopus ugly, strictly speaking. But, it is a mollusk, and it is one of the most venomous creatures out there. To quote TutzTutz:

The painless bite from a Blue Ringed Octopus may seem innocuous, however the deadly neurotoxins in the animals saliva immediately begin working. Within a few minutes, a human will experience muscular weakness, numbness, followed by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.

I believe this critter was featured in Michael Crichton’s State of Fear.

Thanks for the link, Danielle.

Photo source: TutzTutz.com

I’ve posted a couple times on the blob sculpin, but they’ve always been shots of ones recently snagged on the fishing line. This time, however, I am pleased to bring you an image of one that is still living.

Surprisingly, the blob sculpin’s got something of an endearing spikey, thick-lipped charm to it. I see a plush toy in the future.

Thanks for the link, Ida.

Photo source: MBARI

I’ve stumbled across several caches of praying mantis macros. I must now share some of them, so enjoy.

Jade is feeling the Olympic spirit. He can’t wait for the summer games to begin (the wrestling especially). In light of this spirit, he wants to make sure that those of you traveling to the Orient to see the games up close and in person are prepared for some of the cuisine.

I picked these photos out of a larger selection (some of the menu items aren’t for our more delicate readers). Enjoy. The photos speak for themselves (literally).

Imagine yourself working your fields, doing back breaking work day after day in the hot sun, trying to coax your beets to grow. Just as the sun reaches its zenith, you stand upright to stretch your aching back. You cock your head at the sound of approaching rain.

Whaa..?

You look to the horizon and see what looks to be a fast approaching, swirling cloud of blackness that blots out the sky. But what you’re looking at is a locust swarm–and the utter ruination of your beets.

A locust swarm can be comprised of billions of individuals and can eat tens of thousands of tons of vegetation each day. But why in the world do these normally herbivorous locusts seem to spontaneously swarm? It’s because of their miscreant youths.

A new study posits that when times get tough, the tough become cannibals. This phenomenon seems to be isolated to the flightless youth, who turn on each other in a bid for locust flesh (oh, if only locusts could make zombie movies…). This cannibalism triggers fear and flight reflexes in the other youths, who then continue this pattern of fear-driven flight quite literally when they gain their wings (they earn their wings by doing a good deed). Thus is a swarm born. Thus we have the genesis of the swarm. Thus is the root of the swarm discovered. Thus…sorry.

It’s comforting to know that most species of animalia have trouble with their teenagers. Except for bugs that go through a pupal phase–that’s the way to do it.

Thanks for the link, Ida.

Photo source: AP via BBC News

You wouldn’t know it to look at a komodo dragon, but these monitor lizards pack a pretty wimpy bite–if you’re taking raw chomping power into consideration only. But have no fear. The world’s largest lizard (10 feet long) has come up with a few ingenious ways to counterbalance this deficiency.

A new study reveals that though they may have a ‘dainty bite’, their skulls are very cleverly engineered, their neck muscles are beefy (beef cake!) and they have razor teeth. They’ve also got toxic drool, laser vision, lightning breath, and they can disapparate at will. That makes for a lethal combo.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Photo source: LiveScience.com

I’ve posted on dressed up anteaters before, but I didn’t know that there was a whole theme going on.

Jonathan sent me this photo of an anteater pair, once again perched on a washer and dryer (is that five gallon bucket in the back filled with anteater feed? Shouldn’t it be filled with ants?). This picture has inspired conspiracy-laden nightmares in poor Jonathan. In his own words:

It’s as though the anteaters have evolved intelligence and formed a secret cabal bent on global domination, and this is a picture of their sincerest efforts to blend in with their human oppressors. I fully expect to wake up one night to see the one in blue stalking clumsily over to me, a length of piano wire stretched between its ungainly claws.

Your fears are well-founded, Jonathan. Be afraid. I am.