Sea It. Believe It.

  1. rhamphotheca:

    Northern Scops Owl (Ptilopsis leucotis), a species from Central Africa, makes crazy faces in response to different stimuli on a Japanese TV show.

    EatThemSwimmies: It’s intimidation. Central Africa is teeming with Africa’s Big Five. These owls need to look as intimidating as possible to defend themselves. The first defense posture it made was towards the barn owl’s stimuli. Many species of birds do this, including my pet parrot, when feeling intimidated. It was trying to look as large as possible. And the latter? I believe that was some form of imitation of another animal. The way it shaped its head was feline, but that slight movement of the wings indicates something else…if I only knew the stimuli for that posture I could work out this owl’s reasoning but until then I’m stumped.

  2. rhamphotheca: The White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) is a large Central American jay species. It ranges in Pacific-slope thornforest from Jalisco, Mexico to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers… (read more: Wikipedia) (photo: Steve Jurvetson)

    rhamphotheca:

    The White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) is a large Central American jay species. It ranges in Pacific-slope thornforest from Jalisco, Mexico to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers… (read more: Wikipedia)

    (photo: Steve Jurvetson)

  3. rhamphotheca: New “Ruby-eyed Pit Viper” Discovered in Viet Nam  A large frog proved to be more than a mouthful for a Ruby-eyed Green Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops rubeus), which abandoned its meal just after this undated picture was taken. Whether the newfound snake was disturbed by the camera flash or simply bit off more than it could chew isn’t known. In general, the new species’ eating preferences have been hard to uncover, scientists say. “It’s very difficult to get information on what these things eat,” study co-author Malhotra said. “Snakes are so good at digesting things, that what’s left in their feces—if you can even collect any—is only a few very hard-to-digest bits, like hair from mammals or scales and claws from reptiles… (read more: National Geo)   (photo: Jeremy Holden)

    rhamphotheca:

    New “Ruby-eyed Pit Viper” Discovered in Viet Nam 

    A large frog proved to be more than a mouthful for a Ruby-eyed Green Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops rubeus), which abandoned its meal just after this undated picture was taken. Whether the newfound snake was disturbed by the camera flash or simply bit off more than it could chew isn’t known. In general, the new species’ eating preferences have been hard to uncover, scientists say.

    “It’s very difficult to get information on what these things eat,” study co-author Malhotra said. “Snakes are so good at digesting things, that what’s left in their feces—if you can even collect any—is only a few very hard-to-digest bits, like hair from mammals or scales and claws from reptiles…

    (read more: National Geo)   (photo: Jeremy Holden)

  4. rhamphotheca:

    Life in Cold Blood (BBC):  Gharials

    Fish eating crocodilians of India, hatching from the nest and feeding.

  5. instillness: I always get questions on my workspace, and seeing as I just cleaned it and it looks all pretty, I thought I would take you all on a little tour of the essentials and necessities of what I need to be a happy worker in this little area. :) 1. Cutting board.  Protects my drawing table, and the built in ruling lines are SO so helpful. 2. Skull. I’m always looking at it for reference, and it opens up for storage of my jewellery and some bones/feathers, which I also use for reference.  3. Grooveshark. I always need music! Right now it’s playing the sweet sounds of Beirut, which always inspires me to make something beautiful. 4. Pens and Inks. I’ve used one level of my wooden shelf from THIS post for keeping my nibs organized and from being broken. They fit so perfectly in the little glass tubes. I also have my real feather quill on the end, which I hardly use unless I’m feeling like I need to be dapper and classy, ie, never. 5. Good Lighting. My room seems too dim a lot of the time, so I use two lamps for the best possible lighting and to keep the light balanced, because I’m ocd about balance.  6. Ideas. I’m always pulling up random sketches from old sketchbooks and seeing if I can rework them. I pin up the ones that I know I want to revisit and develop more. 7. Inspiration. My inspiration always changes, but at the moment it’s this magazine editorial cut outs of women in leather and lace looking all beautiful-like. 8. Middle Earth. My original art framed map of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, simply because it keeps me happy. I’m obsessed with LOTR if you didn’t know that already. ;) 9. Almond Milk. Nom nom nom. 10. Art Goodies. Knife, scissors, pencils, brush, eraser, charcoal, sharpies, rulers, whatever I need. I like to use old jam jars because once you fill a bunch of them up it looks all nice and cluttery when everything else is neat. I love seeing workspaces of artists, especially ones that are so unlike mine, ones that are covered in paint and messy and cluttered, I always find it fascinating. Anyone want to show me theirs!?  

    instillness:

    I always get questions on my workspace, and seeing as I just cleaned it and it looks all pretty, I thought I would take you all on a little tour of the essentials and necessities of what I need to be a happy worker in this little area. :) 

    1. Cutting board.  Protects my drawing table, and the built in ruling lines are SO so helpful. 

    2. Skull. I’m always looking at it for reference, and it opens up for storage of my jewellery and some bones/feathers, which I also use for reference.  

    3. Grooveshark. I always need music! Right now it’s playing the sweet sounds of Beirut, which always inspires me to make something beautiful. 

    4. Pens and Inks. I’ve used one level of my wooden shelf from THIS post for keeping my nibs organized and from being broken. They fit so perfectly in the little glass tubes. I also have my real feather quill on the end, which I hardly use unless I’m feeling like I need to be dapper and classy, ie, never. 

    5. Good Lighting. My room seems too dim a lot of the time, so I use two lamps for the best possible lighting and to keep the light balanced, because I’m ocd about balance.  

    6. Ideas. I’m always pulling up random sketches from old sketchbooks and seeing if I can rework them. I pin up the ones that I know I want to revisit and develop more. 

    7. Inspiration. My inspiration always changes, but at the moment it’s this magazine editorial cut outs of women in leather and lace looking all beautiful-like. 

    8. Middle Earth. My original art framed map of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, simply because it keeps me happy. I’m obsessed with LOTR if you didn’t know that already. ;) 

    9. Almond Milk. Nom nom nom. 

    10. Art Goodies. Knife, scissors, pencils, brush, eraser, charcoal, sharpies, rulers, whatever I need. I like to use old jam jars because once you fill a bunch of them up it looks all nice and cluttery when everything else is neat. 

    I love seeing workspaces of artists, especially ones that are so unlike mine, ones that are covered in paint and messy and cluttered, I always find it fascinating.
    Anyone want to show me theirs!?  

  6. zoo-logic: Looking at the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), you wouldn’t imagine that much could intimidate such an almighty and awe-inspiring creature. But a few years ago, researchers discovered that one of the best ways to get elephants to scarper was to play a recording of the intense buzzing of an angry swarm of bees - what would seem to be small bother for the elephants with their tough skin, but in fact can do damage with their nasty stings in soft areas such as around the eyes, behind the ears and inside the trunk. Nearly 50% of family herds tested left within 10 seconds; all but one of the rest deserted the area in less than a minute and a half. African elephants even have a distinctive rumbling alarm call for the presence of bees. Being notoriously destructive invaders of farm land, the elephants’ fear is now being used against them in order to encourage harmonious living alongside humans. 1700m of “beehive fences” (lines of hives spaced 10m apart) have been constructed around the perimeter of farms in northern Kenya. They have proved an undoubted success, with only one bull passing through a fence of this type in the past two years, compared with 31 elephants having broken through traditional thorn fences.Ref: Morell (2011) ScienceShot: ‘Beehive Fences’ Keep Elephants Out. Science online news [link] 

    zoo-logic:

    Looking at the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), you wouldn’t imagine that much could intimidate such an almighty and awe-inspiring creature. But a few years ago, researchers discovered that one of the best ways to get elephants to scarper was to play a recording of the intense buzzing of an angry swarm of bees - what would seem to be small bother for the elephants with their tough skin, but in fact can do damage with their nasty stings in soft areas such as around the eyes, behind the ears and inside the trunk. Nearly 50% of family herds tested left within 10 seconds; all but one of the rest deserted the area in less than a minute and a half. African elephants even have a distinctive rumbling alarm call for the presence of bees. Being notoriously destructive invaders of farm land, the elephants’ fear is now being used against them in order to encourage harmonious living alongside humans. 1700m of “beehive fences” (lines of hives spaced 10m apart) have been constructed around the perimeter of farms in northern Kenya. They have proved an undoubted success, with only one bull passing through a fence of this type in the past two years, compared with 31 elephants having broken through traditional thorn fences.

    Ref: Morell (2011) ScienceShot: ‘Beehive Fences’ Keep Elephants Out. Science online news [link] 

  7. rhamphotheca:

    LIFE:  Sarcastic Fringehead  (BBC)

  8. rhamphotheca: Recently Discovered, New Guinea:  New Guinea Crayfish  The New Guinea crayfish, Cherax holthuisi, was discovered in 2006 and is one of the smallest members of the Cherax genus (also known as ‘yabbies’ across Australasia), measuring 9-12cm long. Although new to science, wholesalers have already introduced the species to the European and Japanese pet market; however, the biology of the species in the wild, its distribution range, its conservation status and its value to local communities remain unknown. Although named the “New Guinea apricot crayfish”, fantastically-coloured variants of the species exist. (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: WWF)

    rhamphotheca:

    Recently Discovered, New Guinea:  New Guinea Crayfish

     The New Guinea crayfish, Cherax holthuisi, was discovered in 2006 and is one of the smallest members of the Cherax genus (also known as ‘yabbies’ across Australasia), measuring 9-12cm long. Although new to science, wholesalers have already introduced the species to the European and Japanese pet market; however, the biology of the species in the wild, its distribution range, its conservation status and its value to local communities remain unknown. Although named the “New Guinea apricot crayfish”, fantastically-coloured variants of the species exist.

    (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: WWF)

  9. rhamphotheca: Recently Discovered, Me Kong Region:  Cat Ba Leopard Gecko A species of leopard gecko (Goniurosaurus catbaensis), found exclusively in Cat Ba Island national park in northern Vietnam (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: Lee Grismer, WWF)

    rhamphotheca:

    Recently Discovered, Me Kong Region:  Cat Ba Leopard Gecko

    A species of leopard gecko (Goniurosaurus catbaensis), found exclusively in Cat Ba Island national park in northern Vietnam

    (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: Lee Grismer, WWF)

  10. rhamphotheca: Recently Discovered, Me Kong Region:  Fanged Frog A Khorat big-mouthed frog (Limnonectes megastomias), with fangs showing. The frog is found in three isolated and remote areas of Thailand. (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: Lee Grismer, WWF)

    rhamphotheca:

    Recently Discovered, Me Kong Region:  Fanged Frog

    A Khorat big-mouthed frog (Limnonectes megastomias), with fangs showing. The frog is found in three isolated and remote areas of Thailand.

    (via: Guardian UK)   (photo: Lee Grismer, WWF)
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