Interesting Facts About Elephants

Did you know: The African elephant and the Asian elephant are the only two surviving species of what was in prehistoric times a diverse and populous group of large mammals.

Did you know: The African elephant is the largest living land mammal.

Did you know: Both male and female African elephants have tusks, although only males in the Asiatic species have them.

Did you know: The African elephant's ears are over twice as large as the Asian elephant's and have a different shape, often described as similar to a map of Africa.

Did you know: The sole of the elephant's foot is covered with a thick, cushion-like padding that helps sustain weight, prevents slipping and deadens sound.

Did you know: Elephants are very social, frequently touching and caressing one another and entwining their trunks.

Did you know: Elephants demonstrate concern for members of their families they take care of weak or injured members and appear to grieve over a dead companion.

Did you know: Females mature at about 11 years and stay in the group, while the males, which mature between 12 and 15, are usually expelled from the maternal herd.

Did you know: Sometimes it is difficult for the layman to distinguish between male and female elephants as the male has no scrotum (the testes are internal), and both the male and the female have loose folds of skin between the hind legs. Unlike other herbivores, the female has her two teats on her chest between her front legs.

Did you know: Of all its specialized features, the muscular trunk is the most remarkable it serves as a nose, a hand, an extra foot, a signaling device and a tool for gathering food, siphoning water, dusting, digging and a variety of other functions. Not only does the long trunk permit the elephant to reach as high as 23 feet, but it can also perform movements as delicate as picking berries or caressing a companion. It is capable, too, of powerful twisting and coiling movements used for tearing down trees or fighting. The trunk of the African elephant has two finger-like structures at its tip, as opposed to just one on the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

Source: Out Of Africa

Rare White Animals

Animals are beautiful, but there’s something extra special about the creatures shown below.

Fore more images go to www.reshareworthy.com 

Snowflake The Gorilla

Claude The Alligator

Lion

Moose

Vulture

Centipede EATS Its Way Out Viper's Stomach ....

Freedom was so close, yet so far for this centipede.

After being swallowed whole by a snake, it made one last desperate attempt to escape by eating its way out of her stomach. Researchers found the dead nose-horned female viper with its prey (see images) exploding from its side during a field study in Macedonia on May 14 last year. Both creatures were dead.

Read more...

What Is A Water Scorpion?

image credit  - joebartok.blogspot.com

Despite their name, water scorpions (family Nepidae–order Hemipetra) are not a type of scorpion at all. They are in fact, a type of bug. Scorpions have powerful pincers, and water scorpions are named after their large pincer-like forelegs that they use to catch prey in the water. Water scorpions also have long tails that stick out behind the body and look a bit like a scorpion's tail. Unlike a scorpion, the insect does not use its tail as a stinger. Instead, this “tail” made up of two attached respiratory tubes is extended above the surface of water, allowing the animal to take in air. A water scorpion hangs upside down with its “tail” poking out through the surface.

Found world-wide, water scorpions live mainly among the bottom edges of ditches and muddy ponds, where they hide among dead, water-logged leaves and other plant remains in order to catch prey.

The Bird That Is Known As One Of Nature's True Polyglots

image credit - wikipedia

As its scientific name (Mimus polyglottos) suggests, the Northern Mockingbird is one of nature’s true polyglots (polyglottos means “many-tongued”). It imitates not only birds but, it can also imitate dog barks, frog calls, sounds of machinery, whistles, and bells. It is capable of learning sounds quickly, integrating them onto its own song. So diverse is its repertoire, that no two songs are the same. Mimicry is crucial for sexual selection – the larger the male’s repertoire, the greater is its attractiveness to females.

The Northern Mockingbird has pale grey upperparts, dull whitish grey underparts, and a long tail. Its dark wings have two white wing-bars and large white patches which, together with the white tail sides, are clearly visible in flight. Males and females look alike, though only males sing. The Northern Mockingbird is an omnivore, its diet consists of arthropods, earthworms, fruits, seeds, berries, and seldom, lizards.

The Northern Mockingbird is known for its intelligence, in a paper published in 2009, researchers found that mockingbirds were able to recall an individual human who, earlier in the study, had approached and threatened the mockingbirds' nest. Researchers had one participant stand near a mockingbird nest and touch it, while others avoided the nest. Later, the mockingbirds recognized the intruder and exhibited defensive behavior, while ignoring the other individuals. (wikipedia)

The Northern Mockingbird is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe.

The Amazing Animal Shadow Art - Try It Yourself

Learn how to do "Amazing Animal Shadow Art" with your hands, so that yo can entertain yourself and others around you, the next time the power goes out! Have Fun...

Pink Geckos Noted For Their Webbed Toes

image credit wikipedia 

Pink Geckos (Pachydactylus-rangei) are noted for their webbed toes, which enable them to run across desert dunes without sinking into the loose sand of their native habitat. These incredibly cute creatures spend their days in deep burrows that they dig in the sand, and venture out to the surface to forage only when the desert’s temperature has dropped at night. 

They are recognized as incompetent hunters because their prey can effortlessly avoid them. However by hunting at night they take advantage of the lack of competition from other lizards during the hours when insects and spiders are off their guard. Their large, bulb-like eyes and vertical pupils help them see very well at night. Like most Geckos, they lack eyelids - instead, the eyes are covered with a transparent scale, called a spectacle, which is cleaned by periodic licking in order to keep them moist. 

Human activities threaten the Geckos survival. People hunt them for food, and in many areas, their habitats have been destroyed. Some laws have been passed that help to protect the lizards.

The Valais Blacknose Sheep

photo: www.zermatt.ch

When I first saw images of these docile creatures I thought to myself that they were not real-life sheep! The black patches on their nose (the reason for their name), eyes, ears, knees hock and feet and otherwise light wooly coat make them rather out of the ordinary. So you can imagine my overwhelming joy when I discovered that theses creatures were actually real mountain sheep! 

The Valais Blacknose Sheep (also known as the Wallis Blacknose, Walliser Schwarznaseschaf) is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Valais region. These sheep have also adapted particularly well to life in high mountains where they are capable of gazing on extremely steep, rocky slopes. They are so cute, don’t you agree?

How Do Dragonflies See?

image credit

Let me remind you not to sneak up on the Dragonfly because it escapes so fast that you would think the insect has eyes in the back of its head! 

Dragonflies are ferocious hunters that catch other insects in mid-air. To do this they need to be skillful flyers and to have excellent vision. A Dragonfly’s eyes allow it to see all around. An insects eye works in a different way to our own. Dragonflies have compound eyes – each an array of up to 28.500 smaller units. Each unit has its own lens and forms an image. The Dragonfly’s brain merges the many images into one composite picture of its surroundings. Compound eyes are especially good at picking up something that is moving. 

Did you know? 

Dragonflies are the closest thing the natural world has got to a helicopter. The insects do not simply flap their wings, but twist them back and forth to create a little vortex, or whirlwind, that lifts the insect.

Meet Venus, The Two-Faced Chimera Cat...

image credit 

Yesterday I came across an extraordinarily beautiful cat which has apparently become an internet sensation. I have no doubt that you are going to agree with this statement after you meet Venus, the two faced cat! As you can see by the image, Venus’s face is perfectly divided between black and calico, and besides that she also has heterochromia, which means that her eyes are different colors. Venus’s left eye is blue and her right eye is green. So tell me, which side do you like the most? If you want to see a video footage and more images of Venus click on the following link.

Snake With A False Head

image credit wikifaunia.com

Did you know that the Calabar Ground Boa (Charina reinhardtii) is pretty famous for its defensive behavior because of its extraordinary blunt head and equally blunt tail that are hard to tell apart? When threatened, it rolls into a tight ball with its head safely protected in the center of the coils and raises its tail as a false head in order to protect its real head (as shown on above image).

The Calabar Ground Boa can reach a maximum length of approximately 80 – 100 cm. Its scales are black or dark brown, scattered with red or orange. The tail may be ringed or have a partial ring of bright white scales. The Boas small mouth is not suited to large prey, thus it hunts on small mammals, often invading their tunnels and nests. It may wait for the adults to leave the nest, after which it will enter to eat whole litters at a time. 

Calabar Boas are a burrowing species, and hardly ever come above ground during daylight hours. On the other hand, they can be extremely active at night, and under a red night lamp can be a very fascinating species to observe….

A Flying Lizard

While I was sifting through the internet I came across this extraordinary flying lizard that has a pair of wings consisting of skin stretched between elongated ribs (If you have a closer look at the photo you will notice that what looks like veins running through the wings is actually its ribs). These wings help it glide from one tree trunk to another to avoid predators such as birds and snakes. To take off, the lizard moves its ribs outwards and opens the flaps of skin, closing them again on landing. 

The flying lizard is generally tan or pale brown to bright yellow, with a throat flap for display that is large and bright yellow in the male, but small and pale yellow in the female. Highly agile, this lizard lives on tree trunks and actively hunts for ants. The only time a flying lizard leaves the safety of trees is when a female is ready to lay her eggs, which she buries in sand or soil. She then guards the eggs for about 24 hours, but then leaves and has nothing more to do with the offspring. 

Didn’t James Cameron say that the creatures in Avatar came from real-life inspiration? So I guess that this little flying lizard (Draco Spilonotus) has got to be it (hihihi)…

Cute Frog With White Lips!

image credit jj harrison via wikipedia 

Wow… what an incredibly cute frog! With a distinctive white stripe that runs along its lower lip, this tropical species which is known as the White-lipped tree frog is one of the biggest “tree frogs" in the world. Found in forests and gardens, it feeds after dark on insects and other arthropods. As shown on the image, the White-lipped tree frog has large adhesive discs on its toes which assist it while climbing. It spends much of its life in trees, thus being agile when moving among vegetation, but on the other hand, it does not move as well on the ground. During the breeding season, adults descend and females lay about 400 or more eggs in the water. The tadpoles feed on aquatic plants and algae and when they have metamorphosed into frogs they leave the water and make their way up into the trees. 

The White-lipped tree frog (Litoria infrafrenata) is on the IUCN Red List for Endangered Species as Least Concern (LC). It has a wide distribution and is adapted to many different habitats.

How Did The Deathwatch Beetle Get Its Name?

image credit wikimedia 

I must admit that very few insects have a name as interesting as the "deathwatch beetle". These little beetles are dangerous pest given that their larvae (young) eat wood. The larvae leave a network of tunnels inside that makes the wood very fragile. It is said that if the insects get into the timbers holding up a house, the beetles can actually make it fall down. 

The deathwatch beetles name comes from the way the beetles tap or tick out messages while feeding on wood. The noises are very quiet, and according to tradition they are heard when people wait in silence around the bed of a dying person. The beetle’s taps were thought to be the ticks of a clock counting down to the end of the person’s life …

The Extremely Cute Squirrel Gliders

image credit wikipedia 

Squirrel gliders can glide as far as 50m (165ft) from tree to tree due to their furry gliding membrane which extends from each fifth front toe to the back foot on both sides. The long, bushy, soft-furred, squirrel-like tale can act as a rudder, allowing them to steer which direction they want to go. This extremely cute animal is endemic to Australia, and usually lives in small groups of one adult male, 1-3 females, and their offspring of the season. It feeds mostly on fruit and insects, as well as tree sap, gum, leaves, bark, pollen and seeds. The 1-2 young remain in the pouch for about 3 months and are weaned off by the mother around 4 months.

Unfortunately, the species is threatened due to humans clearing and breaking up their habitation. It also has predators of cats, dogs, owls, and foxes. This causes the species to be put on the Near Threatened list, meaning it is close to being a threatened species.

Is This A Sea Monster?

image source 

The Giant oarfish, also known as the King of herrings may well be the longest bony fish alive, reaching an amazing length of up to 17 meters (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records). This astonishing creature is thought to be the inspiration of many myths of sea serpents and sea monsters – even the Loch-Ness monster. To many people, the oarfish may look frightening, but it is in fact harmless - it has no visible teeth and its diet consists of small crustaceans and zooplankton. 

Oarfish are actually remarkable creatures. They have long, laterally flattened, silvery blue bodies, and brilliant crimson fins. The first few rays of the long fringing dorsal fin that runs the entire length of the body form a spectacular crest on the head. According to recent accounts, the oarfish maintains a vertical position in the water, propelling itself slowly with rippling movements of the dorsal fin. The long ribbon-like pelvic fins, meanwhile, are held out to the sides as stabilizers. 

Sightings of live oartfish are extremely rare - this is because it lives in depths of 300 to 1000 meters and hardly ever appears near surface. Oarfish are most often encountered washed up on land either dead or dying in shallow waters. However, when an oarfish is sighted, it usually stirs considerable public attention, but the species has no commercial value, and its gelatinous flesh is not considered edible.

Amazing Furniture For Cats

Have a look at what some cat lovers do in order to make their pets live in comfort (for more amazing pet furniture images go to damncoolpictures). 

Interesting And Funny Animal Facts (Part IV)

image credit izismile.com

I´d like to share with you more interesting and fun facts about animals. If you know of any other facts, please feel free to share it with us by using comments. Thanks!

• Camel´s have 3 eyelids.
• A Crocodile can´t stick its tongue out.
• Tigers have striped skin, and not just striped fur.
• The Bullfrog is the only animal that never sleeps, it only rests.
• The world’s slowest moving fish is the Dwarf seahorse, with a top speed of about 152 cm per hour.
• The Sailfish is practically the fastest animal in the sea, with a top speed of about 110 kilometers per hour.
• Pea crabs (about the size of a pea or dime) are the smallest crabs in the world.
• An annoyed Camel will spit at a person, however they do not really spit - it’s more like throwing up. Instead of saliva camels let out some partially digested food.
• The Chameleon can focus its eyes separately to observe 2 objects at once.
• Almost 3% of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is Penguin urine.
• The giant cricket of Africa likes to eat human hair.
• The Basenji is the only dog that does not bark (it makes a low, liquid ululation instead).
• During World War II, Americans tried to train Bats to drop bombs. 
• The last animal in the dictionary is the Zyzzyva, a tropical weevil.
• Hummingbirds are not only the smallest birds but also the only birds that can fly backwards.
• A group of Kangaroos is generally called a mob, but can also be a troop or court.
• The largest known spider is the Goliath bird eater which is about the size of a dinner plate.
• The first cloned cat was called copycat.

Small Jumping Rodent

photo credit: cashmarie81 via flickr

Habitat: Northwest China & Southern Mongolia deserts

Population: Unknown

Status: Endangered

Have you ever come across such a cute and comic creature like this on the planet? Well the Long-eared Jerboa is certainly a unique creature due to its massive ears, crazy long tail and extremely long hind legs for jumping. In fact, it is distinct enough that scientists consider it as the only member of both its genus, Euchoreutes, and subfamily, Euchoreutinae.

Very little is known about this small jumping rodent thanks to is minuscule size, nocturnal nature and harsh desert environment that it inhabits. The first ever footage of the Long-eared Jeboa in its natural habitat was taken in 2007 by the Zoological Society of London´s EDGE program. With this footage they made remarkable discoveries (view it below). Unfortunately, the species is thought to be declining as a result of human disturbance of its deserts, livestock intrusion and in addition, the animal’s water sources are drying up.

Lizard That Squirts Blood Out Of Its Eyes...

 image credit Dave Beaudette, via Flickr

There are at least 4 species of horned lizards that are capable of spitting blood from their eyes as a message for predators to back off!

When threatened, their first defense is to remain still and hope to avoid detection, and if approached too closely they run in short bursts and stop abruptly, trying to confuse the predator. If that doesn’t work, they puff up their bodies to cause their spiny scales to protrude, making them appear larger. As a last resort, some species are able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of their eyes. They do this by increasing the blood pressure in their head until small vessels around their eyelids rupture. The blood confuses the predator and tastes pretty foul making the lizard seem incredibly unappetizing – or at least canines and felines seem to think so. On the other hand, it appears to have no effect against predatory birds… Well readers, I definitely have no intentions of finding out which one of them is right!