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Jey's Natural Oddities

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Jeydis, Feb 9, 2021.

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  1. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    If there is one thing I love it is learning about interesting natural phenomenon or creatures...and annoying everyone by getting it in their brains too. So I will use this thread to spread the knowledge and spare my boyfriend the daily:
    [​IMG]
    "You know XYZ creature can do blablabla."

    So welcome to my cabinet of curios, my barn of beasties, my wild wonders.
    Enjoy!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Day 1:
    Today I found out that there is a species of spider that is actually mostly herbivorous. The Bagheera kiplingi has taken up a pretty unique niche in its Central American home, it stays on a specific kind of tree and eats the little buds at the end of the leaves called Beltian Bodies which contain a surprisingly high amount of protein and fat for a plant. They do occasionally snack on neighboring ants that they catch but for the most part its salad day every day for these little guys!

    Picture for the curious (spoilered to not spook arachnophobes)
    [​IMG]

    More information here:
    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi
    - http://www98.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.curry/Documents/RLCpubs/Meehan.2009.pdf


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I will keep these short, sweet and fun. I might not post daily but whenever I find out about some cool little nature fact ill pop on and add it to the thread.

    Let me know what you think! Are there any creatures or natural phenomenon you would like to know more about?

    PS: Yes I watch a lot of Scishow and will probably refer to their videos/materials frequently.​
     
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    #1 Feb 9, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2021
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  2. SAF

    SAF Team of Conflict

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    ...why is the picture not working? :/
     
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  3. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    Rehosted! Does it show now?
     
  4. ChocoChicken

    Krysmus Azelv (lol)
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    Nope, it's still down for me.
     
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  5. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    took a screenshot and made a new file lol
    Let me know if you can see it @SAF and @ChocoChicken
     
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  6. SAF

    SAF Team of Conflict

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    Yep, it works now. Thanks. ^_^
     
  7. Kecleon

    Kecleon Mod Crew

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    Here's an interesting bird I learned about a little bit ago; the Arctic Skua, also known as the Parasitic Jaeger.

    [​IMG]

    It's a fascinating bird that tends to live in the Arctic regions of the world, it is much like a lot of other seabirds you may come to expect. However, it has an interesting personality trait that makes it quite a nuisance to both people and other animals called kleptoparasitism. What does this mean, exactly?

    Well, to put it simply, the parasitic jaeger likes to wait for other animals to catch food such as fish, and then proceeds to harass them and steal their food for itself. It's kinda like having a sibling or roommate who waltzes in and steals a bite of the food you just made for yourself without even asking. In other words, they're an absolute menace to everyone, which is why they are called "parasitic."
     
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  8. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    @Kecleon
    I have heard of parasitic birds but usually its a nesting thing. These birbs are just jerks lol.

    Day 2:
    My favorite lizard of all time and in my top reptiles, the Marine Iguana!
    [​IMG]
    These lizards look like godzilla but are honestly quite sweet. They are herbivores and the closest thing to beach bum surfer bros lizards get. Down to the very chill attitudes.
    [​IMG]
    Their fun "hairdoos" are due to the salt that they end up ingesting when they grab their algae salad. They found a fun and simple way of ditching it, they sneeze it out using a special gland. Now they don't really aim this salt spray so it often ends up landing back on their head or on each others, giving them that craggy white appearance.
    [​IMG]
    Their overall chill attitudes also leads to some fun friendships between species. Crabs and smaller lizards like hanging out with these guys to help pick off parasites, dead skin etc.


    More info can be found in these lovely videos:

     
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  9. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    Onto the mammals! I tend to go on and on about reptiles but some mammals catch my attention as well. Like the adorable Kangaroo Rat.
    [​IMG]
    These little rodents have both the hops and the bad assery of their name sake's. One of their main predators out in the deserts of the Americas, is the Sidewinder Rattlesnake. These small but fierce snake pack fast bites with deadly venom as well as thermosensing to find their prey in the pitch blackness of night out in the desert. These traits have been used by snakes for ages to find rodents like our little friend above, but the Kangaroo Rat won't go without a fight, quite literally: These rodents are know to leap very quickly away from danger, including the deadly strike from a sidewinder. This fast footwork has also been seen to be used offensivly as the rats would kick the snakes in the face as the leapt, stunning the reptile for a moment while they escaped.

    Check this out:
    [​IMG]

    They have also found a way to lower their heat in their ears and tails to mess up their outline to make the snake second guess itself.

    Bad ass little guys and gals.
     
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  10. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    Ah poisons, so insidious, so terrifyingly over the top. When I say poison whats the first natural thing that comes to mind?


    The colorfully lethal poison dart frog?
    [​IMG]

    Funky mushrooms that have you see the walls melts before messing with your organs?

    [​IMG]




    Birb?
    [​IMG]

    Say hello to the Hooded pitohui
    That's right this little birdy found a way to be poisonous! Not just a bit either, these cuties are covered in batrachotoxin compounds. This is the same poison found on certain species of the aforementioned dart frogs, it is also known to be one of the most toxic compounds by weight in nature, being 250 times more toxic than strychnine. The poison is not just a little dab of perfume for them either, its strongest in their feathers and skin (especially the belly) but it can also be found in their liver and their heart.

    Researchers first found out about this rare trait when treating the skins of these birds for a museum expo. They found that their skin would get itchy and have a burning sensation just from contact.

    [​IMG]
    They get these dangerous toxins from the insects they eat. It seems they take their food extra spicy and are pretty much immune to the toxins themselves, instead their body uses it as a means of defense against both predators and dangerous parasites.

    Talk about over the top bug spray X_X

    More info found here:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_pitohui

    https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/w...i_front.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130908024410 (hilarious artwork of one)



     
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  11. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    Moving to some of the truely, classically odd today: The Pangolin.
    [​IMG]

    In my top 5 favorite mammals, these walking tanks are both bizarre and adorable at the same time. Replacing most of their potential fur are these thick protective scales made out of keratin, like a more bad ass version of your finger nails. Sometimes hairs poke out from the scales too like this shy friend.
    [​IMG]
    These scales make them unique among mammals, they are the only ones with body coverings set up like this. Their closest relatives are the anteaters who share the rough body shape and insectivorous diet with them. Pangolins are the thing of nightmares for ants and termites. Their very solid claws let them bulldoze through the insects home with ease and their long sticky tongue picks up hundreds of individuals to eat during a meal.

    [​IMG]
    Their big tails are not just to ball up into perfect tanky canonballs but in certain individuals its used as a counterweight for climbing.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    That lets these smaller species get to the ants no matter where they are, even high up in the canopy:
    [​IMG]

    I know what you are thinking: "Jey these are cute and all but I want to see a baby pangolin."
    Fear not, they are as cute as you would expect:
    [​IMG]
    Here is a pretty fresh one, still very pink in color. They hang out on mom pretty much all the time, as seen here:
    [​IMG]
    Sometimes until they are surprisingly big like this one:
    [​IMG]

    Pangolins are really amazingly unique and interesting, sadly their unique flair has been their downfall for conservation efforts. Pangolins of all species are the most trafficked mammal ever. Their scales are used for a bunch of ancient "medicine" and similar rituals that honestly don't do anything and probably taste and work about as well as a tea made of hot toenails since they are made of the same stuff.

    Leave the scales on the pangolins and leave the pangolins to their wild dens, to find and eat all of the ants and termites that they can find! We may not have Pokémon in real life but this is about as close as we will ever get to having real Sandslashes around! Let's make sure they survive and thrive for years to come.

    Resources and fundraisers:
    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin
    - https://www.savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin/
    -
    -
    -

    And a fun one to end on a good note:
    -
    NOTE: They dont have tail maces but honestly I could see a sandslash evo rocking that.
     
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  12. Jeydis

    Jeydis Midnight Gourmand

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    You know what my favorite order of mammals is? Chiroptera. Know what those are?

    Bats!

    Today I want to show you guys one of my favorite species of all, the Honduran White Bat. Look at these little fluffballs!
    [​IMG]

    These little cuties are not just charming but dang clever! They are tiny, like real tiny:
    [​IMG]
    And what is a tiny fluffball to do in the big scary jungle to stay save during the day? Make a little tent of course! These little guys are group sleepers and every night they find a nice big leaf, plenty big to hide everyone. They find that leaf and use their sharp little teeth to cut up the main support just enough so the leave folds like so:
    [​IMG]
    So now our little bat friends are safe from both predators and the crazy rainstorms that happen often down in the jungle. They stay bundled up safe all day and at night they come out to feed! Now bats get a bad rep as blood suckers but that's not all bats, in fact that is not most bats. A lot of bats eat fruits including these little cuties. In fact they are quite specialized in figs, to the point where it is problematic for their conservation since its hard to keep the trees protected.
    [​IMG]

    So please enjoy these little puffballs for as long as we have them and join me in donating to their conservation: https://www.batcon.org/

    Enjoy these cute videos while you are at it :D




    And of course the wiki:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduran_white_bat
     

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