Man and Mystery Vol 11 - Freaks of Nature [Rev06]

 A collection of intriguing intriguing topics and and fascinating stories stories about the rare, the paranormal, and the strange

Discover nature’s weirdest and longest -lived creatures.  Jump into the world of lost civilizati civilizations ons and extinct extinct animal animal kingdom.

 Pablo C. Agsalud Jr. Revision 6

Foreword In the past, things like television, and words and ideas like advertising , capitalism, microwave  and cancer   all seemed too strange for the ordinary man.  As man walks towards the future, overloaded with information, more mysteries have been solved through the wonders of science. Although some things remained too odd for science to reproduce or disprove, man had placed them in the gray areas between truth  and skepticism  and labeled them with terminologies fit for the modern age. But the truth is, as long as the strange and unexplainable cases keep piling up, the more likely it would seem normal or natural. Answers are always elusive and far too fewer than questions.  And yet, behind all the wonderful and frightening phenomena around us, it is possible that what we call mysterious today won’t be too strange tomorrow. This book might encourage you to believe or refute what lies beyond your own understanding. Nonetheless, I hope it will keep you entertained and astonished. The content of this book remains believable for as long as the sources and/or the references from the specified sources exist and that the validity of the information remains unchallenged.

Freaks of Nature These plants and animals are REAL. Unfortunately, most of them are either: UGLY, SCARY, or WEIRD.  And some have peculiarly UNIQUE abilities, too.

Angler Fish Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

Anglerfish is the common name for more than 200 species of marine fish families Lophiidae (anglerfish), Antennariidae (frogfish), and Ogcocephalidae (batfish) in the order Lophiiformes. Anglerfish are named for their method of fishing for prey, using a specialized spiny ray above the snout that serves as rod and lure. The ray is a modified portion of the dorsal fin and is tipped with a baitlike plug of flesh. The old name for anglerfish is Pediculati, or "small foot," which refers to the footlike pectoral fins. The frogfish are camouflaged for seabed life with a variety of bumps, knobs, and flaps of skin, so that the fish resemble surrounding seaweed. Anglerfish are found at all depths of tropical and temperate seas and are classified in two broad groups, anglerfish and deep-sea anglers. The frogfish has the habit of lying among rocks or seaweed or moving slowly across the bottom. When lying motionless on the bottom, the angler dangles and wiggles its lure until prey is attracted. When the lure is touched, the enormous mouth gapes, creating a vacuum that sucks the prey within range of its back-pointing teeth; these stoke the food into the belly. The goosefish, or fishing frog, Lophius piscatorius, is a bizarre, short-bodied fish with a large flattened head, an enormous mouth, dorsally situated jaws, and eyes on the top of its head. Its large mouth and expandable stomach allow it to swallow fish as big as itself. The goosefish is common in cold, shallow waters of Europe and North America. It is often 1 m (3 ft) long and can be as long as 1.5 m (5 ft) and weigh up to 23 kg (51 lb). The transparent eggs are laid in masses of jelly 60-90 cm (24-35 in) broad and up to 10 m (33 ft) long.

Deep-sea anglers, family Ceratiidae, are small inhabitants of the middle depths of the ocean (500-2,000 m/1,640-6,560 ft). The females rarely grow larger than a man's fist; the males are much smaller. Most of them are jet black or dark brown. These anglers cruise slowly in the dark, cold waters, glowing with lighted lures in front of them. The light in the lure is supplied by luminous bacteria shining through skin that has lost its pigment. In some species the lure is complexly branched and filamented. Shortly after hatching, the male seeks out a female anglerfish and clamps onto her body with his teeth. He retains this hold for the remainder of his life, his mouth becoming surrounded by the tissue of the female. His sustenance is supplied by his mate through vascular connections. The parasitic male is commonly one-tenth as long as the female.

Angora Rabbit Wikipedia.org The Angora rabbit (Turkish: Ankara tavşanı) is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long,

soft wool. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara (historically known as Angora), Turkey, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 18th century, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century. They are bred largely for their long Angora wool, which may be removed by shearing, combing, or plucking. There are many individual breeds of Angora rabbits, four of which are recognized by ARBA; English, French, Giant, and Satin. Other breeds include German, Chinese, Swiss, and Finnish.

Coat and appearance

Angoras are bred mainly for their wool because it is silky and soft. At only 11microns in diameter it is finer and softer than cashmere. They have a humorous appearance, as they oddly resemble a fur ball with a face. Most are calm and docile, but should be handled carefully. Grooming is necessary to prevent the fibre from matting and felting on the rabbit. A condition, wool block, is common in Angora rabbits, and should be treated quickly. These rabbits are shorn every three to four months throughout the year.

*Antelopus

Axolotl Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

Axolotls are salamanders that live in ponds and lakes on the Mexican plateau. They retain most of the characteristics of larvae, such as gills, throughout their lives (the name comes from an Aztec word meaning "water doll" or ―water monster‖ ). ). Their reproductive systems mature, however. The axolotl is known scientifically as Ambystoma mexicanum and is classified in the family Ambystomatidae, which inhabit much of North America. Axolotls occur at the lower end of the geographic range of the family, and it is suggested that the relatively harsh conditions of the Mexican plateau resulted in the evolution of these permanently larval forms. In less harsh environments some closely related species are known to occasionally metamorphose into an adult stage. Axolotls are easy to raise in the laboratory and have many genetic variations (including albinism); they are therefore used to test a variety of genetic principles.

Strange Stories, Amazing Facts 2 Reader‘s Digest

The axolotl is one of a number of creatures, including some other salamanders and several species of newts, that retain their juvenile form in later life-a characteristic known as neoteny. However, the axolotl advances one stage further than this: it develops sexual organs so that it can reproduce. Scientists have labeled this phenomenon paedogenesis.

Aye-aye Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

The aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis, is an odd primate native to Madagascar that somewhat resembles the lemur. About the size of a small fox, it has a long, bushy tail, moderately large eyes, thick fur, and a pair of enlarged front teeth resembling those of rodents. It uses its teeth to break into termite-infested wood, whereupon it swiftly probes through the termite galleries with its slender, elongated middle finger. The claw on the end of this unusual finger is used to spear insects. Despite these special features, the internal anatomy of the aye-aye closely resembles that of the more typical lemurs of Madagascar.

Basilisk Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Taxonomy and etymology

This

word

basilískos

derives

from

(βασιλίσκος)

the

meaning

Greek "little

king". The specific epithet was given in Carolus Linnaeus' 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Physiology

The basilisk has mackled blue spots and a yellow iris, on average measures 70 to 75 mm (2.8–3.0 in), and weighs about 80 grams (3.2 oz). Its growth is perpetual, fast when they are young and nonlinear for mature basilisks. Its long crest-like sails, reinforced in three distinct points (head, back, and tail), confer the impression of creatures such as Dimetrodon and Spinosaurus. Its skin is shed in pieces. Running on water

The basilisk sometimes runs as a biped. Basilisks have the unique ability to "walk" on water and, because of this; they have been dubbed as " The Jesus Christ lizard" in reference to the biblical passage of Matthew 14:22-34. On water, the basilisk can run at a velocity of 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) per second for approximately 4.5 meters (14.8 feet) before sinking on all fours and swimming. Flaps between their toes help support the basilisk, creating a larger surface and a pocket of air. They can also sustain themselves on all fours while "waterwalking" to increase time above the surface by about 1 .3 meters (4.3 feet). Other defense mechanisms

When the basilisk detects danger, it can swim at fast speeds, using its crests as rudders. It can also burrow into sand. A ring of muscles around both nostrils prevent sand from entering the basilisk's nose. Habitat

Abundant in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Ecuador and Venezuela. Recently introduced to Florida, it has adapted to the colder winters by burrowing into the leaf litter for warmth. Current reports sight the basilisk as far north as Fort Pierce, on the state's East Coast, where small groups have crept up the North Fork of the Saint Lucie River.

*Blobfish

*Cantor's Giant Soft Shelled Turtle

*Chinese Giant Salamander

*Coconut Crab

Duck-billed Platypus Monotremes are mammals of the order Monotremata and include the duck-billed platypus and the echidnas, or spiny anteater. The name of the order means "single opening" and refers refers to the fact that in these mammals, as in birds and reptiles, the intestinal tract, the urinary ducts, and the genital ducts all open into one chamber, the cloaca, which has a single opening to the outside. Monotremes are classified as mammals because they possess certain strictly mammalian characteristics, including milk glands (but not teats or nipples) to nourish their young, warmbloodedness, a muscular diaphragm separating the lungs from the abdominal cavity, a single bone making up each side of the lower jaw, three middle ear bones (auditory ossicles), and hair. They are unique among mammals, however, because they possess so many reptilian characteristics, perhaps the most notable being that they lay eggs rather than bear the young alive. The eggsÑsomewhat rounded and small, about 15 mm (0.6 in) in diameterÑare not brittle, as are birds' eggs, but are covered with a leathery shell, as are the eggs of most reptiles. Among other reptilian features are the presence in the shoulder girdle (front-limb support) of well-developed coracoid bones and an interclavicle bone. In other mammals the coracoids are reduced and fused to the shoulder blades (scapulas), and the interclavicle in terclavicle occurs at most as a tiny vestige. Monotremes are in the mammalian subclass Prototheria, which contains the families Ornithorhynchidae (duck-billed platypuses, found in Australia) and Tachyglossidae (echidnas, found in Australia and New Guinea). The earliest platypus fossil is about 62 million years old, from South America, possibly related to a 20-million-year-old fossil from South Australia. Little is known about the origins or evolution of this group.

*Dumbo Octopus Strange as the Dumbo Octopus may be, some people actually think it's pretty cute, hence the Disney-inspired name, given for its two fins which resemble ears. Dumbo's can be found in the dark depths of any ocean on Earth and grows up to 20cm in length. It swallows its prey, made up of mostly worms and crustaceans, whole.

*Fox Cat

Firefly Lampyridae is a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically-produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or palered, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers. About 2,000 species of firefly are found in temperate and tropical environments. Many are in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food. These larvae emit light and are often called "glowworms", in particular, in Eurasia. In the Americas, "glow worm" also refers to the related Phengodidae. In many species, both male and female fireflies have the ability to fly, but i n some species, females are flightless. Light and chemical production

Firefly (species unknown) captured in eastern Canada the top picture is taken with a flash, the bottom only with the self-emitted light. Fireflies in the woods near Nuremberg, Germany, exposure time 30 seconds Light production in fireflies is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence. This process occurs in specialised light-emitting organs, usually on a firefly's lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on the luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen to produce light. Genes coding for these substances have been inserted into many different organisms. Firefly luciferase is used in forensics, and the enzyme has medical uses —  in particular, for detecting the presence of ATP or magnesium. It has been speculated that Baroque painter Caravaggio may have prepared his canvases with a powder of dried fireflies to create a photosensitive surface on which he projected the image to be painted. All fireflies glow as larvae. Bioluminescence serves a different function in lampyrid larvae than it does in adults. It appears to be a warning signal to predators, since many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic. Light in adult beetles was originally thought to used for similar warning purposes, but its primary purpose is now thought to be used in mate selection. Fireflies are a classic example of an organism that uses bioluminescence for sexual selection. They have evolved a variety of ways to communicate with mates in courtships: steady glows, flashing, and the use of chemical signals unrelated to photic systems. Some species, especially lightning bugs of the genera Photinus, Photuris, and Pyractomena, are distinguished by the unique courtship flash patterns emitted by flying males in search of females. In general, females of the Photinus genus do not fly, but do give a flash response to males of their own species.

Tropical fireflies, in particular, in Southeast Asia, routinely synchronise their flashes among large groups. This phenomenon is explained as phase synchronization and spontaneous order. At night along river banks in the Malaysian jungles (the most notable ones found near Kuala Selangor), fireflies (kelip-kelip in the Malay language or Bahasa Malaysia) synchronise their light emissions precisely. Current hypotheses about the causes of this behavior involve diet, social interaction, and altitude. In the Philippines, thousands of fireflies can be seen all yearround in the town of Donsol (called aninipot or totonbalagon in Bicol). In the United States, one of the most famous sightings of fireflies blinking in unison occurs annually near Elkmont, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains during the first weeks of June. Congaree National Park in South Carolina is another host to this phenomenon. Female Photuris fireflies are known for mimicking the mating flashes of other "lightning bugs" for the sole purpose of predation. Target males are attracted to what appears to be a suitable mate, and are then eaten. For this reason the Photuris species are sometimes referred to as "femme fatale fireflies." Many fireflies do not produce light. Usually these species are diurnal, or day-flying, such as those in the genus Ellychnia. A few diurnal fireflies that i nhabit primarily shadowy places, such as beneath tall plants or trees, are luminescent. One such genus is Lucidota. These fireflies use pheromones to signal mates. This is supported by the fact that some basal groups do not show bioluminescence and, rather, use chemical signaling. Phosphaenus hemipterus has photic organs, yet is a diurnal firefly and displays large antennae and small eyes. These traits strongly suggests pheromones are used for sexual selection, while photic organs are used for warning signals. In controlled experiments, males coming from downwind arrived at females first, thus male arrival was correlated with wind direction, indicating males' chemotaxis into a pheromone plume. Males were also found to be able to find females without the use of visual cues, when the sides of test Petri dishes were covered with black tape. This and the facts that females do not light up at night and males are diurnal point to the conclusion that sexual communication in P. hemipterus is entirely enti rely based on pheromones.

Flatfish Moses sole (Pardachirus marmoratus) The flatfish are an order (Pleuronectiformes) of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development. Some species face their left side upward, some face their right side upward, and others face either side upward. Many important food fish are in this order, including the flounders, soles, turbot, plaice, and halibut. There are more than 400 species of this order. Some flatfish can camouflage themselves on the ocean floor.

Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Pleuronectiformes

Families Suborder Psettodoidei Psettodidae (spiny turbots) Suborder Pleuronectoidei Citharidae Scophthalmidae (turbots) Bothidae (lefteye flounders) Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders) Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders) Achiropsettidae (southern flounders) Samaridae Suborder Soleoidei Soleidae (true soles) Achiridae (American soles) Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes)

Characteristics Flatfish are asymmetrical, with both eyes lying on the same side of the head The turbot is a large left-eyed flatfish found in sandy shallow coastal waters around Europe The most obvious characteristic of the flatfish is their asymmetry, with both eyes lying on the same side of the head in the adult fish. In some families, the t he eyes are always on the right side of the body (dextral or right-eyed flatfish), and in others, they are always on the left (sinistral or left-eyed flatfish). The primitive spiny turbots include equal numbers of right and left sided individuals, and are generally less asymmetrical than the other families. Other distinguishing features of the order are the presence of protrusible eyes, another adaptation to living on the seabed (benthos), and the extension of the dorsal fin onto the head. The surface of the fish facing away from the sea floor is pigmented, often serving to camouflage the fish, but sometimes with striking coloured patterns. Some flatfish are also able to change their pigmentation to match the background, in a manner similar to a chameleon. The side of the body without the eyes, which faces the seabed, is usually colourless or very pale. The flounders and spiny turbots eat smaller fish, and have well-developed teeth. They sometimes seek prey in the mid-water, away from the bottom, and show fewer extreme adaptations than other families. The soles, by contrast, are almost exclusively bottom dwellers, and feed on invertebrates. They show a more extreme asymmetry, and may lack teeth on one side of the jaw. Flatfish range in size from Tarphops oligolepis, measuring about 4.5 centimetres (1.8 in) in length, and weighing 2 grams (0.071 oz), to the Atlantic halibut, at 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) and 316 kilograms (700 lb).

Reproduction Flatfish lay eggs that hatch into i nto larvae resembling typical, symmetrical, fish. These are initially elongated, but quickly develop into a more rounded form. The larvae typically have protective spines on the head, over the gills, and in the pelvic and pectoral fins. They also possess a swim bladder, and do not dwell on the bottom, instead dispersing from their hatching grounds as plankton. The length of the planktonic stage varies between different types of flatfish, but eventually they begin to metamorphose into the adult form. One of the eyes migrates across the top of the head and onto the other side of the body, leaving the fish blind on one side. The larva also loses its swim bladder and spines, and sinks to the bottom, laying its blind side on the underlying surface.

Origins Flatfish have been cited as dramatic examples of evolutionary adaptation. For example, Richard Dawkins in The Blind Watchmaker, explains the flatfish's evolutionary history thus: …bony fish as a rule have a marked tendency to be flattened in a vertical direction…. It was natural, therefore, that when the ancestors of [flatfish] took to the sea bottom, they should have lain on one side…. But this raised the problem that one

eye was always looking down into the sand and was effectively useless. In evolution this problem was solved by the lower eye ‗moving‘ round to the upper side.

In 2008, scientists discovered that "50-million-year-old fossils have revealed an intermediate species between primitive flatfishes (with eyes on both sides of their heads) and the modern, lopsided versions, which include sole, flounder, and halibut." The research concluded that "the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution via natural selection —not suddenly, as researchers once had little choice but to believe."

Flying Squirrel Wikipedia.org

Flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels (family Sciuridae).

Description Flying squirrels are not capable of powered flight like birds or bats; instead, they glide between trees. They are capable of obtaining lift within the course of these flights, with flights recorded to 90 meters (295 ft). The direction and speed of the animal in midair is varied by changing the positions of its two arms and legs, largely controlled by small cartilaginous wrist bones. This changes the tautness of the patagium, a furry parachute-like membrane that stretches from wrist to ankle. It has a fluffy tail that stabilizes in flight. The tail acts as an adjunct airfoil, working as an air brake before landing on a tree trunk. Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) The colugos, Petauridae, and Anomaluridae are gliding mammals, which are similar to flying squirrels, because of convergent evolution. A few mammals can glide through the trees, but they do not actually fly (li ke birds and bats). They have a membrane of skin on either side of their body.

Taxonomy The largest of the species is the woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus cinereus). The two species of the genus Glaucomys (Glaucomys sabrinus and Glaucomys volans) are native to North America, and the Siberian flying squirrel is native to parts of northern Europe (Pteromys volans). 

Pliopetaurista Pliopetaurista kollmanni Daxner-Höck, 2004 o

Thorington and Hoffman (2005) recognize 15 genera of flying squirrels in two subtribes. Tribe Pteromyini – flying

squirrels

Subtribe Glaucomyina 

Genus Eoglaucomys Kashmir Flying Squirrel, Eoglaucomys fimbriatus Genus Glaucomys –  New World flying squirrels (American flying squirrels), North America Southern Flying Squirrel, Glaucomys volans Northern Flying Squirrel, Glaucomys sabrinus Genus Hylopetes, southeast Asia Particolored Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes alboniger o

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Afghan Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes baberi Bartel's Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes bartelsi Gray-cheeked Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes lepidus Palawan Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes ni gripes Indochinese Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes phayrei Jentink‘s Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes platyurus Sipora Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes sipora Red-cheeked Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes spadiceus Sumatran Flying Squirrel, Hylopetes winstoni Genus Iomys, Malaysia and Indonesia Javanese Flying Squirrel (Horsfield's Flying Squirrel), Iomys horsfieldi Mentawi Flying Squirrel, Iomys sipora Genus Petaurillus – pygmy flying squirrels, Borneo and Malaya Lesser Pygmy Flying Squirrel, Petaurillus emiliae Hose's Pygmy Flying Squirrel, Petaurillus hosei Selangor Pygmy Flying Squirrel, Petaurillus kinlochii Genus Petinomys, southeast Asia Basilan Flying Squirrel, Petinomys crinitus Travancore Flying Squirrel, Petinomys fuscocapillus Whiskered Flying Squirrel, Petinomys genibarbis Hagen's Flying Squirrel, Petinomys hageni Siberut Flying Squirrel, Petinomys lugens Mindanao Flying Squirrel, Petinomys mindanensis Arrow Flying Squirrel, Petinomys sagitta Temminck's Flying Squirrel, Petinomys setosus Vordermann's Flying Squirrel, Petinomys vordermanni o o o o o o o o o

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Genus Aeretes, northeast China Groove-toothed Flying Squirrel (North Chinese Flying Squirrel), Aeretes melanopterus Genus Aeromys – large black flying squirrels, Thailand to Borneo Black Flying Squirrel, Aeromys tephromelas Thomas's Flying Squirrel, Aeromys thomasi Genus Belomys, southeast Asia Hairy-footed Flying Squirrel, Belomys pearsonii Genus Biswamoyopterus, India Namdapha Flying Squirrel, Biswamoyopterus Biswamoyopterus biswasi Genus Eupetaurus, Kashmir; rare Woolly Flying Squirrel, Eupetaurus cinereus Genus Petaurista, southeast Asia Red And White Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista alborufus Spotted Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista elegans Hodgson's Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista magnificus Bhutan Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista nobilis Indian Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista philippensis Chinese Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista xanthotis Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista leucogenys Red Giant Flying Squirrel, Petaurista petaurista Genus Pteromys – Old World flying squirrel, Finland to Japan Siberian Flying Squirrel, Pteromys volans Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrel, Pteromys momonga Genus Pteromyscus, southern Thailand to Borneo Smoky Flying Squirrel, Pteromyscus pulverulentus Genus Trogopterus, China Complex-toothed Flying Squirrel, Trogopterus xanthipes o

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Two new species have been recently added from northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. These are: Mechuka Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista mechukaensis) Mishmi Hills Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista mishmiensis)

Behavior A Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) gliding Though their life expectancy in the wild is six years, flying squirrels may live fifteen years in captivity. This is due to these creatures being important prey animals. Predation mortality rates in sub-adults are high. Predators include arboreal snakes, raccoons, nocturnal owls, martens, fishers, coyotes, and the domestic cat. In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) is a well-known predator. Flying squirrels are nocturnal, flying at night as they are not adept in escaping birds of prey that hunt during daylight. Flying Squirrels eat according to how hungry they are and what type of environment they are in. They eat whatever types of food they can find in their environment; if desperate they will eat anything. Southern Flying Squirrels eat seeds, insects, gastropods such as slugs and snails, spiders, tree shrubs, flowers, fungi and tree sap.

Reproduction The mating season is between February to March. When young are born, the female squirrels live with them in maternal nest sites; they nurture and protect them until they leave the nest. The males do not participate in nurturing their offspring. At birth, they are mostly hairless, apart from their whiskers, and most of their senses are not present. The internal organs are visible through the skin, and their sex can be signified. By week 5 of their life, they are almost fully furred and developed. At that point, they can respond to their environment and start to develop a mind of their own. Through the upcoming weeks of their lives, they practice leaping and gliding. After two and a half months, their gliding skills are perfected, they are ready to leave their nest and are capable of independent survival.

Diet Flying squirrels can easily forage for food in the night, given their highly developed sense of smell, where they harvest fruits, nuts, fungi, a nd bird eggs. Gliding conserves energy.

*Giant Isopod

If you're afraid of bugs, you're really not going to like the Giant Isopod. It resembles nothing so much as a cockroach the size of a guinea pig, but it's actually a crustacean related to shrimp and crabs. These scavengers roam the cold, dark sea floor from 560ft to 7,000ft below the surface of the ocean, eating mostly dead whales, fish, and squid.

*Golden Fish in Taiwan

*Grazing Holothurians

Gulper Eel Where the gulper eel lives way down at the bottom of the ocean there isn't exactly a buffet of meal choices. Luckily, this creepy creature has a gigantic jaw that allows it to eat pretty much anything it comes across, regardless of size. At the end of its very long, whip-like tail, there's a light-producing organ called a photophore that it uses as a fishing lure to attract prey.

The gulper eel, Saccopharynx harrisoni , a deep sea relative of the common eel, lives at depths of 3,000 m (10,000 ft). Its fragile, soft body grows up to 1.8 m (4 ft) long. Its jaws, capable of an enveloping, seesaw motion, allow it to swallow fish larger than itself.

Hagfish Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

The Pacific Ocean Hagfish has a disgusting way of defending itself. When under attack, it oozes a suffocating slime from its many pores that envelops its predator in a fatal mass of fibrous goo. The hagfish, unfortunately, sometimes falls prey to its own defense mechanism, but normally it twists itself into knots to escape the gelatinous goop.

The hagfish is a marine fish that belongs to the t he family Myxinidae, order Myxiniformes. It is the most primitive of living vertebrates. Eellike in appearance, the hagfish lacks jaws, paired fins, scales, and a bony skeleton, the body being supported by the notochord, which serves as a backbone, and by cartilage. Its eyes are degenerate and not visible externally, and there is a row of slime-producing pores on each side of the body. Hagfish, related to lampreys, are brown in color and may reach 60 cm (2 ft) in length. The species are found in colder, deeper waters, from 30 to 1,300 m (100 to 4,300 ft) in depth in temperate seas in many parts of the t he world. Hagfish are bottom feeders and scavengers, commonly feeding on dead and dying invertebrates and fish. This scavenging extends to attacking living fish caught in nets. The hagfish bores into the body cavity of the fish by using its suctorial mouth and strong, rasplike tongue.

*Horror Frog

It's called a "horror frog", but this amphibian isn't the star of a b-movie. It's so named because of its ability to actively break its own bones to produce claws. Hairy and bizarre, the horror frog also nicknamed the wolverine frog, after the comic book character can break its bones so that they puncture its toe pads, producing extendable claws on demand when threatened. This Cameroon native, which is often roasted and eaten, was discovered in 2008.

*Indian Gharia

Most of us have grown accustomed to the prehistoric appearance of alligators and crocodiles, but for those unused to looking at it, the Indian gharial seems like something transported straight from the age of dinosaurs. This severely threatened native of Indian rivers has a very long, thin snout fitted with a row of sharp teeth. Scientists suspect that heavy metal pollution in the rivers is causing debilitating debil itating gout and making gharials susceptible to infection.

Komondor Dog Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

Komondors are large, shaggy, working dogs native to Hungary and used as sheepdogs, as well as police and guard dogs. As a herder, the komondor usually protects the flocks and herds, while smaller dogs do much of the routine work. Komondors stand at least 59.7 cm (23.5 in) at the shoulder. Their thick, woolly coats are pure white and naturally form into tasslelike cords. Their ears hang down from the face, and their long tails are carried in a low curve.

*Lampreys

Livyatan melvillei Wikipedia.org

Livyatan melvillei is an extinct species of physeteroid whale, which lived during the Miocene epoch, approximately 12-13 million years ago. Reconstruction of Livyatan (left) and Cetotherium (right) Discovery

In November 2008, fossil remains of Livyatan melvillei were discovered in the sediments of Pisco formation at Cerro Colorado, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south-southwest of Ica, Peru. The remains include a partially preserved skull with teeth and mandible.[2] Rotterdam Natural History Museum researcher Klaas Post stumbled across them on the final day of a field trip there in November 2008. Post was part of an international team of researchers, led by Dr Christian de Muizon, director of the Natural History Museum in Paris, and included other palaeontologists from Utrecht University and the natural history museums of Rotterdam, Museo storia naturale di Pisa, the Museum of Natural History of the National University of San Marcos in Lima and Brussels. The fossils have been dated at 12 –13 million years old and were prepared in Lima, Peru, and are now part of the collection of the Natural History Museum there. Etymology and nomenclature

Researchers originally assigned the English name of the biblical monster (Leviathan) to this prehistoric whale as Leviathan melvillei, dedicating the discovery to Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick—the researchers behind the excavation of L. melvillei were all fans of this novel. However, the scientific name Leviathan was a junior homonym of Leviathan Koch, 1841 for a genus of mastodon (see Leviathan). Junior homonyms need to be replaced with new names, except under certain special circumstances (ICZN 1999 Article 60). In August 2010, the authors rectified this situation by coining a new genus name for the whale, Livyatan, from the original Hebrew spelling. Morphology and habitat

Livyatan melvillei had a body length of 13.5 to 17.5 metres (44 –57 ft), about the same as a modern adult male sperm whale. The skull of Livyatan melvillei is 3 metres (10 ft) long. Unlike the modern sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, L. melvillei had functional teeth in both its  jaws. The jaws of L. melvillei were robust and its temporal fossa was also considerably larger than in the modern-age sperm whale. L. melvillei is one of the largest raptorial predators yet known, with whale experts using the phrase "the biggest tetrapod bite ever found" to explain their find. The teeth of L. melvillei are up to 36 centimetres (1.18 ft) long and are claimed to be the largest of any animal yet known. Larger 'teeth' (tusks) are known, such as walrus and elephant tusks, but these are not used directly in eating. Skull structure The fossil skull of L. melvillei has a curved basin which suggests it might have had a large spermaceti organ, a series of oil and wax reservoirs separated by connective tissue. This organ is thought to help modern sperm whales to dive deeply to feed. However, L. melvillei is likely to have hunted large prey near the surface, so it appears that this organ would have had other functions. Possible suggestions include echolocation, acoustic displays (with the

spermaceti organ acting as a resonance chamber) or aggressive headbutting, possibly used against competing males in mating contests or to batter prey. Diet

Fossil remains of many other animals —including baleen whales, beaked whales, dolphins, porpoises, sharks, sea turtles, seals and sea birds —have been found at the same site where the remains of L. melvillei have been excavated. L. melvillei would have been a top predator of its time along with the giant shark, C. megalodon, which was contemporaneous with L. melvillei in the same region, and the whale probably had a profound impact on the structuring of Miocene marine communities. The appearance of gigantic raptorial sperm whales in the fossil record coincides with a phase of diversification and size-range increase of the baleen-bearing mysticetes in the Miocene. L. melvillei is likely to have preyed upon 7 –10 metres (23 –33 ft) baleen whales, seals and dolphins. Size estimation

Two physeterids have been chosen by whale experts for comparison to estimate the size of L. melvillei. The anatomy of Physeter macrocephalus yielded a total length (TL) of 13.5 m (= 44.3 feet) for L. melvillei, and that of Zygophyseter varolai yielded a TL of 17.5 m (= 57.5 feet) for L. melvillei.

Long-beaked Echidna

The long-nosed echidna, Zaglossus, is confined to New Guinea. it attains 66 cm (26 in) in length, plus tail, and 10 kg (22 lb) in weight. The long-beaked echidna is a rare egg-laying mammal found in Papua New Guinea. This nocturnal critter is a relative of the platypus, but lives underground where it uses its tube-like snout to search for invertebrate prey like insect larvae and worms. It has to eat soft foods, because it doesn't have any teeth. Hatchlings are known as puggles, and they reside in a sticky pouch to receive milk from mammary patches on the mother's body. or echidnas , are egg-laying mammals making up the family Tachyglossidae, in the order Monotremata. They have compact, muscular bodies and short legs with broad feet and large claws that they use for digging up food in the form of termites, ants, and worms. The echidna's body is covered with coarse hair and barbless spines, and it has small ears, a stubby tail, and a long, toothless snout. The female lays a single, leathery egg, which is placed in a temporary pouch formed on her abdomen. The egg hatches in 7 to 10 days, and the young feeds on thick, yellowish milk that flows from the mammary glands along several tufts of hair into the pouch. Young stay inside the pouch for 6 to 8 weeks until a spine develops. They become sexually mature after one year. Spiny

anteaters,

Long-eared Jerboa

Shaped somewhat like a tiny kangaroo, the nocturnal mouse-like Long-eared Jerboa uses its elongated tail and hind legs for jumping. The endangered rodent, found in the Gobi desert of Mongolia, has ears that are about a third larger than its head and eats mostly insects. It's so extraordinary that it's the only species of i ts genus.

Midshipman fish Wikipedia.org

The midshipman fishes are the genus Porichthys of toadfishes. They are distinguished by having photophores (which they use to attract prey and after which they are named, reminding some of a naval uniform's buttons) and four lateral lines. Typical midshipman fishes, such as the Plainfin Midshipman, are nocturnal and bury themselves in sand or mud of the intertidal zone during the day. At night they float just above the seabed. Some species are armed with venomous dorsal spines and are capable of inflicting serious injuries if handled. Mating in midshipman fishes depends on auditory communication; males during the breeding season broadcast a sound usually described as a hum, generated by rapid contractions of the muscles in the swim bladder. The sound can be kept up for up to an hour, and is loud enough to be heard by (and to puzzle) people on nearby land and houseboats; the hulls of the boats tend to amplify the sound to sleep-disrupting levels. Reproductive females develop a selective sensitivity to this sound, and respond by laying eggs in the rock nest of a singing male. Researchers from the University of Washington and Cornell University have recently demonstrated that the increase in sensitivity associated with female reproductive status can be duplicated in non-reproductive females of the Plainfin Midshipman (Porichthys notatus) by boosting hormone levels, and that this acts on the fish's inner-ear to produce the change in sensitivity. An increase in levels of the hormones testosterone and estradiol triggers changes that result in increased i ncreased sensitivity to higher sound frequencies. Strange Stories, Amazing Facts 2 Reader‘s Digest

In September 1985, houseboat residents in the exclusive Richardson Bay area across from San Francisco began to suffer from a mysterious complaint. Many could not sleep at night; others developed chronic headaches. All complained about a persistent humming, anoise that occurred only at night. What kept them awake was a singing toadfish, the plainfin midshipman. Why the toadfish makes this noise is not fully understood. But we do know that only the male ―sings‖. The call, which it makes only between September and April, is believed to be part of the courtship ritual and may serve to warn off other males as well. When threatened r frightened, the fish al so emits loud grunts or burping sounds. The plainfin midshipman is not alone in these abilities:     

The male oyster toadfish produces a characteristic whistle The electric catfish hisses The horse mackerel grunts like a pig The trunkfishes and puffers growl like dogs The family of fish known as drums creak, hum, pur and whistle

Mudskippers Wikipedia.org

Mudskippers are members of the subfamily Oxudercinae (tribe Periophthalmini), within the family Gobiidae (Gobies). They are completely amphibious fish, fish that can use their pectoral fins to walk on land. Being amphibious, they are uniquely adapted to intertidal habitats, unlike most fish in such habitats which survive the retreat of the tide by hiding under wet seaweed or in tidal pools. Mudskippers are quite active when out of water, feeding and interacting with one another, for example to defend their territories. They are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions, including the Indo-Pacific and the Atlanti c coast of Africa. Adaptations

Compared with fully aquatic gobies, these fish present a range of peculiar behavioural and physiological adaptations to an amphibious lifestyle. These include: 

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Anatomical and behavioural adaptations that allow them to move effectively on land as well as in the water. As their name implies, these fish use their fins to move around in a series of skips. They can also flip their muscular body to catapult themselves up to 2 feet (60 cm) into the air. The ability to breathe through their skin and the lining of their mouth (the mucosa) and throat (the pharynx). This is only possible when the mudskipper is wet, limiting mudskippers to humid habitats and requiring that they keep themselves moist. This mode of breathing, similar to that employed by amphibians, is known as cutaneous air breathing. Another important adaptation that aids breathing while out of water are their enlarged gill chambers, where they retain a bubble of air. These large gill chambers close tightly when the fish is above water, keeping the gills moist, and allowing them to function. They act like a scuba diver's cylinders, and supply oxygen for respiration also while on land. Digging deep burrows in soft sediments allow the fish to thermoregulate, avoid marine predators during the high tide when the fish and burrow are submerged, and for laying their eggs.

Even when their burrow is submerged, mudskippers maintain an air pocket inside it, which allows them to breathe in conditions of very low oxygen concentration.

Naked Mole Rat

Its wrinkled pink skin, piggish nose and protruding teeth don't exactly make the naked mole rat the cutest animal around. Colonies of these hairless rodents live in underground palaces led by one dominant rat the queen, which is the only female to breed and bear young. As with bees, naked mole rats have roles in the colony, including workers that dig the tunnels and gather food. Most naked mole rats are found in t he sandy deserts of sub-Saharan Africa.

*Pink Fairy Armadillo

*Proboscis Monkey

*Purple Bear

*Pygmy Marmoset

Rafflesia Rafflesias are about 12 species of parasitic plants constituting the genus Rafflesia in the family Rafflesiaceae. Native to the Malaysian archipelago, the plants are parasitic on the roots and stems of plants of the grape family, Vitaceae, particularly shrubs of the genus Cissus. Rafflesias produce huge, fleshy flowers but no stems or leaves; the plant body consists almost wholly of fine, funguslike filaments buried within the tissues of the host plant. The flowers are pollinated by flies attracted to their rotting-meat smell. Rafflesia arnoldii produces the largest flowers in the world, reputed to reach 1 m (3 ft) across and up to 11 kg (24 lb) in weight. Interesting Facts About the Rafflesia         

Rafflesia is the National Flower of Indonesia Rafflesia Arnoldii is the world's largest flower You can find this flower mostly in Thailand and Philippine in Indonesia This flower got its name as Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles has discovered in 1818. This plant has no stem or roots, it is a parasite depending on other plants Rafflesia can be as large as 100 cms in diameter Rafflesia can weigh upto 10 kgs Rafflesia has soothing fragrance while it is a bud It smells horrible like a rotten meat when it becomes flower

Origin of Name LEFT: Sir Thomas Thomas Stamford Stamford Raffles

Rafflesia is a large parasitic plant discovered in the lush tropical rain forest of Indonesia by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, and named it after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of the British colony of Singapore, and leader of the expedition. The discovery eventually eventually led to more discovery discovery of 27 species in southeastern Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and in the Philippines.

Rafflesia Arnoldii of Indonesia LEFT:

Rafflesia is the world's largest, the heaviest, the rarest and the one of the most stinkiest flowers in the world. It grows to 1 meter wide and weighs about 10 kgs. The plant has no stems, leaves or roots, and does not have chlorophyll. It has only nutrientabsorbing threads to absorb nutrients from the host on which it lives. It is an endoparasite of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (Vitaceae), spreading its root-like haustoria inside the tissue of the vine. The only part of the plant that can be seen outside the host vine is the five-petaled flower. After 9 months of maturation, Rafflesia plant opens into a cabbage-sized bud. The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk. The vile smell that the flower emits attracts insects such as flies and carrion beetles, which then pollinate the rare plant. Rafflesia is an official state flower of Indonesia, also Sabah state in Malaysia, as well as for the Surat Thani Province, Thailand.

Species in the Philippines Maragusan‘s Rafflesia Mira is

the fourth rafflesia species identified in the Philippines, along with Rafflesia Speciosa in Antique, and Rafflesia Manillana in Samar and Luzon. A Rafflesia Rafflesia Mira in bloom measures 45-60 cm in diameter, approximately the same size as Rafflesia Speciosa' s 45-56 cm, but larger than Luzon‘s Rafflesia cm 14-20 Manillana‘s

diameter.

One other species, Rafflesia Schadenbergiana  was last recorded in 1882 in Mount Apo in Davao and was widely believed to have been extinct until buds of the same species were rediscovered rediscovered in South Cotabato in 1994. In 2007, Dr. Julie Barcelona, an international Filipino botanist from the Philippine National Museum, confirmed the discovery of yet another population of Rafflesia Schadenbergiana in Bukidnon. Rafflesia Schadenbergiana, known as ―bó-o‖ to the Bagobo tribe and ―kolon busaw‖ to the Higaonon tribe of Bukidnon, has the largest flower among the Rafflesia species found in the Philippines with a diameter ranging from 52 to 80 centimeters. It has also the second largest flower in the genus after Rafflesia Arnoldii   of Indonesia which measures up to one meter and can weigh up to nine kilograms. Other recorded Rafflesia species in the Philippines are the Rafflesia lobata discovered in 2005 in Mount Igtuog and Mount Sakpaw in Central Panay mountain range; the Rafflesia Baletei  in  in the Mount Isarog and Mount Iriga range of Camarines Sur which was initially collected by botanist Danilo Balete in 1991; the Rafflesia Banahawensis of Mount Banahaw which Dr. Barcelona later renamed Rafflesia Philippensis Blanco  after her investigation found that the species was first named by a Spanish plant collector in 1845; the Rafflesia Panchoana of Mount Makiling, a new species discovered in 2007 by scientist D. A. Madulid and co -authors on the rafflesia known originally as Rafflesia Manillana yielded the description of the new species; Rafflesia Leonardi of Sitio Kinapawan in the coastal town of Lal-lo in Cagayan Valley discovered in 2008; and Rafflesia Aurantis  discovered in 2009 in the Quirino Protected Landscape, Quirino Province, Luzon.

Rafflesia Mira of Maragusan, Maragusan, Davao

Rafflesia Speciosa of Antique

Rafflesia Manillana of Samar and Luzon

Rafflesia Schadenbergiana of Davao

Rafflesia lobata

Rafflesia Baletei

Rafflesia Banahawensis of Mt Banahaw

Rafflesia Panchoana of Mt Makiling

Rafflesia Leonardi

Rafflesia Aurantis

Discovered in 2005 in Mount Igtuog and Mount Sakpaw in Central Panay

Later renamed Rafflesia Philippensis Blanco

Sitio of Kinapawan in the coastal town of Lal-lo in Cagayan Valley discovered in 2008

Discovered in 1991 in Mount Isarog and Mount Iriga range of Camarines Sur

Discovered in 2007 in Laguna

Discovered in 2009 in the Quirino Protected Landscape, Quirino Province, Luzon

Study

Dr. Julie Barcelona

Dr. Daniel Nickrent

Two international plant scientists are currently pressing for a massive information and education campaign to raise awareness about the Rafflesia Mira. Dr. Daniel Nickrent, professor from Southern Illinois, United States, and Dr. Julie Barcelona, believe that the population in all the 11 sites he has visited belonges to the same Rafflesia Mira species. Dr. Nickrent explained that the genus Rafflesia Mira, with known 15 species, is endemic to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and ranks among the rarest and most endangered flowers in South-East Asia. Ten of these species are found in the Philippines. Maragusan‘s Rafflesia Mira was discovered by Filipino scientists led by Dr. Edwino Fernando and Dr. Perry Ong in the foothill village of New Albay in Maragusan. Scientists say more than 1.3 acres of forest disappear from the Earth‘s surface every second

or 75 acres in one minute. This is equivalent to 108,000 acres daily, and more than 40 million acres a year. Tropical rainforests are home to more than 50% of the world‘s plant and animal species including the Rafflesia. Dr. Nickrent explained that the rare Rafflesia species is a barometer of the health of the ecosystem. Once gone, he said, it would mean man‘s source of food and other sustenanc e is either dead or dying.

Up Close

The diaphragm showing the floral opening

The perigone pattern

lobe

showing

The two anthers with pollen in a sticky fluid

View from inside the flower

the

Flower bud in a later stage of opening

Flower bud with scales still unexpanded

Side view of the disk from a dissected flower

Top view processes

of

the

disk

showing

the

Protection Section 27 of Republic Act 9147 prohibits the collection, possession, transport and trading of all Rafflesia species listed as a critically endangered species under Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order # 2007-01 on pain of 6 to 12 years imprisonment, or a fine of 100,000 to 1M pesos.

Sand bubbler crab Wikipedia.org

Sand bubbler crabs (or sand-bubblers) are crabs of the genera Scopimera and Dotilla in the family Dotillidae. They are small crabs that live on sandy beaches in the tropical Indo-Pacific; during the low tide, they form inflated sand pellets which are destroyed by the incoming high tide. Description

Sand bubbler crabs are small crabs, around 1 cm (0.4 in) across the carapace, and they are characterised by the presence of "gas windows" on the merus of the legs; in Dotilla, these windows are also present on the thoracic sternites. A similar system has evolved in parallel in the porcelain crab genus Petrolisthes. Distribution

Sand bubbler crabs are widespread across the Indo-Pacific region, where they occur abundantly on sandy beaches in the tropics t ropics and sub-tropics. Ecology and behaviour

Scopimera globosa and the sand pellets it has made Sand bubbler crabs live in burrows in the sand, where they remain during high tide. When the tide is out, they emerge on to the surface of the sand, and scour the sand for food, forming it into inflated pellets, which cover the sand. The crabs work radially from the entrance to their burrow, which they re-enter as the tide rises and destroys the pellets. The material consumed by sand bubbler crabs has a very low concentration of organic matter, which is concentrated by egestion of indigestible material.

Sea Pig

With its pallid pink flesh, the scotoplane known as a sea pig resembles some kind of tumorous growth that was just excised from somebody's abdomen. abdomen. But, this strange creature is actually a type of sea cucumber. Sea pigs look and act sort of like slugs, feeding on organic materials that settle on the ocean floor.

Sheep –goat chimera Wikipedia.org

A sheep–goat chimera (sometimes called a geep  in popular media) is a chimera produced by combining the embryos of a goat and a sheep; the resulting animal has cells of both sheep and goat origin. A sheep-goat chimera should not be confused with a sheep-goat hybrid, which can result when a goat mates with a sheep. History

The first sheep-goat chimeras were created by researchers at the Institute of Animal Physiology in Cambridge, England by combining sheep embryos with goat embryos. They reported their results in 1984. The successful chimeras were a mosaic of goat and sheep tissue. The parts that grew from the sheep embryo were woolly. Those that grew from the goat embryo were hairy. Characteristics

In a chimera, each set of cells (germ line) keeps its own species' identity instead of being intermediate in type between the parental species. Because the chimera contains cells from two different genetic individuals, and each of these arose by normal mating, it has four parents. In contrast, a hybrid has only two parents. A sheep-goat chimera may be fertile, but it passes on either sheep or goat genes, depending on whether its reproductive organs were formed from the goat embryo or from the sheep embryo (i.e., whichever germ-line formed the ovaries or testes). The term shoat  is sometimes used for sheep-goat hybrids and chimeras, but more conventionally means a young piglet).

*Sloth

*Snake with clawed-foot in China

*Snipe Eel

*Snake (largest)

*Spider Crab

*Star-nosed Mole

*Sucker-footed Bat

*Sun Bare

*Tapir

Tardigrade Wikipedia.org

Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or are small, water-dwelling, moss piglets ) segmented animals with eight legs. Hypsibius dujardini imaged with a scanning electron microscope Tardigrades are notable for being one of the most complex of all known polyextremophiles. (An extremophile is an organism that can thrive in a physically or geochemically extreme condition that would be detrimental to most life on Earth.) For example, tardigrades can withstand temperatures from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water, pressures about 6 times stronger than pressures found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than would kill a person, and the vacuum of outer space. They can go without food or water for nearly 120 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce. Usually, tardigrades are 1 millimetre (0.039 in) long when they are fully grown. They are short and plump with 4 pairs of legs, each with 4-8 claws also known as "disks." The animals are prevalent in moss and lichen and, when collected, may be viewed under a very low-power microscope, making them accessible to the student or amateur scientist as well as the professional. Tardigrades form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. It is an ancient group, with fossils dating from 530 million years ago, in the Cambrian period. The first tardigrades were discovered by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773. Since 1778, over 500 tardigrade species have been found.

Description Johann August Ephraim Goeze originally named the Tardigrade kleiner Wasserbär (Bärtierchen today), meaning 'little water bear' in German. The name Tardigrada means "slow walker" and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1773. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear's gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. Freshly hatched tardigrades may be smaller than 0.05 mm. About 1,150 species of tardigrades have been described. Tardigrades occur throughout the world, from the Himalayas (above 6,000 metres (20,000 ft)), to the deep sea (below 4,000 metres (13,000 ft)) and from the polar regions to the equator. The most convenient place to find tardigrades is on lichens and mosses. Other environments are dunes, beaches, soil, and marine or freshwater sediments, where they may occur quite frequently (up to 25,000 animals per liter). Tardigrades often can be found by soaking a piece of moss in spring water.

Reproduction Although some species are parthenogenetic, both males and females are usually present, each with a single gonad located above the intestine. Two ducts run from the testis in males, opening through a single pore in front of the anus. In contrast, females have a single duct opening either just above the anus or directly i nto the rectum, which thus th us forms a cloaca. Tardigrades are oviparous, and fertilization is usually external. Mating occurs during the molt with the eggs being laid inside the shed cuticle of the female and then covered with sperm. A few species have internal fertilization, with mating occurring before the female fully sheds her cuticle. In most cases, the eggs are left inside the shed cuticle to develop, but some attach them to nearby substrate. The eggs hatch after no more than fourteen days, with the young already possessing their full complement of adult cells. Growth to the adult size therefore occurs by enlargement of the individual cells (hypertrophy), rather than by cell division. Tardigrades may moult up to t welve times.

Ecology and life history Most tardigrades are phytophagous (plant eaters) or bacteriophagous (bacteria eaters), but some are predatory (e.g., Milnesium tardigradum).

Physiology Scientists have reported tardigrades in hot springs, on top of the Himalayas, under layers of solid ice and in ocean sediments. Many species can be found in a milder environment like lakes, ponds and meadows, while others can be found in stone walls and roofs. Tardigrades are most common in moist environments, but can stay active wherever they can retain at least some moisture. Tardigrades are one of the few groups of species that are capable of reversibly suspending their metabolism and going into a state of cryptobiosis. Several species regularly survive in a dehydrated state for nearly ten years. Depending on the environment they may enter this state via anhydrobiosis, cryobiosis, osmobiosis or anoxybiosis. While in this state their metabolism lowers to less than 0.01% of normal and their water content can drop to 1% of normal. Their ability to remain desiccated for such a long period is largely dependent on the high levels of the non-reducing sugar, trehalose, which protects their membranes. In this cryptobiotic state the tardigrade is known as a tu n.

Tardigrades are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. The following are extremes states Tradigrades can survive: 

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Temperature –  Tardigrades can survive being heated for a few minutes to 151 °C (424 K or 304 F), or being chilled for days at −200 °C (73 K or -328 F), or some can survive temperatures for a few minutes at −273 °C (~1 degree above absolute zero/0

Kelvin or -458 F). Pressure – they can withstand the extremely low pressure of a vacuum and also very high pressures, more than 1,200 times atmospheric pressure. Tardigrades can survive the vacuum of open space and solar radiation combined for at least 10 days. Some species can also withstand pressure of 6,000 atmospheres, which is nearly six times the pressure of water in the deepest ocean trench, the Mariana trench. Dehydration –  although there is one report of a leg movement in a 120-year-old specimen from dried moss, this is not generally considered "survival", and the longest tardigrades have been shown to survive in a dry state is nearly 10 years. When exposed to extremely low temperatures, their body composition goes from 85% water to only 3%. As water expands upon freezing, dehydration ensures the tardigrades do not get ripped apart by the freezing ice. Radiation –  tardigrades can withstand 1,000 times more radiation than other animals, median lethal doses of 5,000 Gy (of gamma-rays) and 6,200 Gy (of heavy ions) in hydrated animals (5 to 10 Gy could be fatal to a human). The only explanation found in earlier experiments for this ability was that their lowered water state provides fewer reactants for the ionizing radiation. However, subsequent research found that tardigrades, when hydrated, still remain highly resistant to shortwave UV radiation in comparison to other animals, and that one factor for this is their ability to efficiently repair damage to their DNA resulting from that exposure. Environmental toxins – 

tardigrades can undergo chemobiosis —a cryptobiotic response to high levels of environmental toxins. However, these laboratory results have yet to be verified. Outer space –  Tardigrades are the first known animal to survive in Space. Since September 2007, Tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission and for 10 days were exposed to the vacuum of space from which they returned alive. After being rehydrated back on Earth, over 68% of the subjects protected from high-energy UV radiation survived and many of these produced viable embryos, and a handful had survived full exposure to solar radiation. In May 2011, Italian scientists sent tardigrades into space along with other extremophiles on STS134, the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Their conclusion was that microgravity and cosmic radiation "did not significantly affect survival of tardigrades in flight, confirming that tardigrades represent a useful animal for space research." In November 2011, they were among the organisms to be sent by the US-based Planetary Society on the Russian Fobos-Grunt mission's Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment to Phobos; however, the launch failed.

*Tasmanian Tiger

Tetraodontidae Wikipedia.org

Blackspotted puffer, Arothron nigropunctatus Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the Tetraodontiformes order. The family includes many familiar species which are variously called pufferfish, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab. They are morphologically similar to the closely related porcupinefish, which have large external spines (unlike the thinner, hidden spines of Tetraodontidae, which are only visible when the fish has puffed up). The scientific name refers to the four large teeth, fused into an upper and lower plate, which are used for crushing the shells of crustaceans and mollusks, their natural prey. (Maple) Puffer fish are generally believed to be the second –most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the Golden Poison Frog. Certain internal organs, such as liver, and sometimes their skin are highly toxic to most animals when eaten, but nevertheless the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in Japan (as 河豚, pronounced as fugu), Korea (as bok), and China when prepared by chefs who who know which part is safe to eat and in what quantity. The tetraodontidae contains at least 189 species of puffers in 19 genera. They are most diverse in the tropics and relatively uncommon in the temperate zone and completely absent from cold waters. They are typically small to medium in size, although a few species can reach lengths of greater than 100 centimetres (39 in). Natural defenses

A puffer fish pressing its mouth against a camera lens at Big Island of Hawaii The puffer's unique and distinctive natural defenses help compensate for their slow locomotion. Puffers move by combining pectoral, dorsal, anal, and caudal fins. This makes them highly maneuverable but very slow, and therefore comparatively easy predation targets. Their tail fin is mainly used as a rudder, but it can be used for a sudden evasive burst of speed that shows none of the care and precision of their usual movements. The puffer's excellent eyesight combined with this speed burst is the first and most important defense against predators. Their back up defense mechanism, used if they are successfully pursued, is to fill their extremely elastic stomachs with water (or air when outside the water) until they are much larger and almost spherical in shape. Even if they are not visible when the puffer is not inflated, all puffers have pointed spines, so a hungry predator may suddenly find itself facing an unpalatable pointy ball rather than a slow, tasty fish. Predators which don't heed this warning (or who are "lucky" enough to catch the puffer suddenly, before or during inflation) may die from choking, and predators that do manage to swallow the puffer may find their stomachs full of tetrodotoxin, making puffers an unpleasant, possibly lethal, choice of prey. This neurotoxin is found primarily in the ovaries and liver, although smaller amounts exist in the intestines and skin, as well as trace amounts in muscle. It does not always have a lethal effect on large predators, such as sharks, but it can kill humans.

Not all puffers are necessarily poisonous; Takifugu oblongus, for example, is a fugu puffer that is not poisonous, and toxin level varies wildly even in fish that are. A puffer's neurotoxin is not necessarily as toxic to other animals as it is to humans, and puffers are eaten routinely by some species of fish, such as lizardfish and tiger sharks. Also, Japanese fish farmers have grown nonpoisonous puffers by controlling their diet. Puffers are able to move their eyes independently, and many species can change the color or intensity of their patterns in response to environmental changes. In these respects they are somewhat similar to the terrestrial chameleon. Although most puffers are drab, many have bright colors and distinctive markings and make no attempt to hide from predators. This is likely an example of aposematism.

*Tripod Fish

Underground Orchid Western Australia's Underground Orchid

Incredible

http://www.sciencedaily.com/ ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2011)

  is Rhizanthella gardneri  is

a cute, quirky and critically endangered orchid that lives all its life underground. It even blooms underground, making it virtually unique amongst plants. Last year, using radioactive tracers, scientists at The University of Western Australia showed that the orchid gets all its nutrients by parasitising fungi associated with the roots of broom bush, a woody shrub of the WA outback. Now, with less than 50 individuals left in the wild, scientists have made a timely and remarkable discovery about its genome. Despite the fact that this fully subterranean orchid cannot photosynthesise and has no green parts at all, it still retains chloroplasts -- the site of photosynthesis in plants. "We found that compared with normal plants, 70 percent of the genes in the chloroplast have been lost," said Dr Etienne Delannoy, of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, the lead researcher of a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution. "With only 37 genes, this makes it the smallest of all known plant chloroplast genomes." "The chloroplast genome was known to code for functions other than photosynthesis, but in normal plants, these functions are hard to study," said ARC Centre Director Professor Ian Small. "In Rhizanthella, everything that isn't essential for its parasitic lifestyle has gone. We discovered that it has retained a chloroplast genome to make only four crucial proteins. Our results are relevant to understanding gene loss in other parasites, for example, the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria." Associate Professor Mark Brundrett from the Wheatbelt Orchid Rescue Project describes one of the most beautiful, strange and iconic orchids in the world.

Rhizanthella as

"Combining on-the-ground conservation efforts with cutting edge laboratory technologies has led to a great discovery with impacts for both science and conservation. The genome sequence is a very valuable resource, as it makes it possible to estimate the genetic diversity of this Declared Rare plant." Professor Brundrett has been working with the Department of Environment and Conservation and volunteers from the West Australian Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group to locate these unique orchids. "We needed all the help we could get since it often took hours of searching under shrubs on hands and knees to find just one underground orchid!"

Venus Flytrap Wikipedia.org

The Venus Flytrap (also Venus's Flytrap or Venus' Flytrap), Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey —mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value. Dionaea is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant and sundews.

Description The Venus Flytrap is a small plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year; longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering. Flytraps that have more than 7 leaves are colonies formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground. Illustration of the Venus Flytrap from Curtis's Botanical Magazine by William Curtis (1746 –1799) The leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf. The upper surface of these lobes contains red anthocyanin pigments and its edges secrete mucilage. The lobes exhibit rapid plant movements, snapping shut when stimulated by prey. The trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like trichomes that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes. The trapping mechanism is so specialized t hat it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli such as falling raindrops; two trigger hairs must be touched in succession within 20 seconds of each other or one hair touched twice in rapid succession, whereupon the lobes of the trap will snap shut in about 0.1 seconds. The edges of the lobes are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions or cilia, which mesh together and prevent large prey from escaping. (These protrusions, and the trigger hairs, also known as sensitive hairs, are probably homologous with the te ntacles found in this plant‘s close relatives, the sundews.) Scientists are currently unsure about the evolutionary history of the Venus flytrap; however scientists have made hypotheses that the flytrap evolved from Drosera (sundews). The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them. If the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens and digestion begins more quickly.

Speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a plant's general health. Venus Flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other carnivorous plants, such as Nepenthes, Cephalotus, most Heliamphora, and some Drosera. The Venus Flytrap exhibits variations in petiole shape and length and whether the leaf lies flat on the ground or extends up at an angle of about 40 –60 degrees. The four major forms are: 'typica', the most common, with broad decumbent petioles; 'erecta', with leaves at a 45degree angle; 'linearis', with narrow petioles and leaves at 45 degrees; and 'filiformis', with extremely narrow or linear petioles. Except for 'filiformis', all of these can be stages in leaf production of any plant depending on season (decumbent in summer versus short versus semi-erect in spring), length of photoperiod (long petioles in spring versus short in summer), and intensity of light (wide petioles in low light intensity versus narrow in brighter light). When grown from seed, plants take around four to five years to reach maturity and will live for 20 to 30 years if cultivated in the right conditions.

Etymology The plant's common name refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The genus name, Dionaea ("daughter of Dione"), refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, while the species name, muscipula is Latin for "mousetrap". Historically, the plant was also known by the slang term "tipitiwitchet" or "tippity twitchet", possibly an oblique reference to the plant's resemblance to human female genitali a.

Carnivory Prey selectivity

Most carnivorous plants selectively feed on specific prey. This selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism. With the Venus Flytrap, prey is limited to beetles, spiders and arthropods. In fact, the Dionaea diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, and 10% grasshoppers, with fewer than 5% flying insects. Given that Dionaea evolved from an ancestral form of Drosera (carnivorous plants that use a sticky trap instead of a snap trap) the reason for this evolutionary branching becomes clear. Whilst Drosera consume smaller, aerial insects, Dionaea consume larger terrestrial bugs. From these larger bugs, Dionaea are able to extract more nutrients. This gives Dionaea an evolutionary advantage over their ancestral sticky trap form.

Mechanism of trapping

The Venus Flytrap is one of a very small group of plants capable of rapid movement, such as Mimosa, the Telegraph plant, sundews and bladderworts. The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between elasticity, turgor and growth. In the open, untripped state, the lobes are convex (bent outwards), but in the closed state, the lobes are concave (forming a cavity). It is the rapid flipping of this bistable state that closes the trap, but the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood. When the trigger hairs are stimulated, an action potential (mostly involving calcium ions —see calcium in biology) is generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates cells in the lobes and in the midrib between them. Exactly what this stimulation does is still debated. The acid growth theory states that individual cells in the outer layers of the lobes and midrib rapidly move 1H+ (hydrogen ions) into their cell walls, lowering the pH and loosening the extracellular components, which allows them to swell rapidly by osmosis, thus elongating and changing the shape of the trap lobe. Alternatively, cells in the inner layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete other ions, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Both of these mechanisms may play a role and have some experimental evidence to support them. Digestion If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes, and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a 'stomach' in which digestion occurs. Digestion is catalysed by enzymes secreted by glands in the lobes. Oxidative protein modification is likely to be a predigestive mechanism of the Dionaea muscipula. Aqueous leaf extracts have been found to contain quinones such as the naphthoquinone plumbagin that couples to different NADH-dependent diaphorases to produce superoxide and hydrogen peroxide upon autoxidation. Such oxidative modification could rupture animal cell membranes. Plumbagin is known to induce apoptosis, associated with the regulation of Bcl-2 family of proteins. When the Dionaea extracts were preincubated with diaphorases and NADH in the presence of serum albumin (SA), subsequent tryptic digestion of SA was facilitated. Since the secretory glands of Droseraceae contain proteases and possibly other degradative enzymes, it may be that the presence of oxygen-activating redox cofactors function as extracellular predigestive oxidants to render membrane-bound proteins of the prey (insects) more susceptible to proteolytic attacks. Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk of chitin. The trap then reopens, and is ready for reuse.

Habitat The Venus Flytrap is found in nitrogen and phosphorus-poor environments, such as bogs and wet savannahs. Small in stature and slow growing, the Venus flytrap tolerates fire well, and depends on periodic burning to suppress its competition. Fire suppression threatens its future in the wild. It survives in wet sandy and peaty soils. Although it has been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the world, it is found natively only in North and South Carolina in the United States, specifically within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. One such place is North Carolina's Green Swamp. There also appears to be a naturalized population of Venus Flytraps in northern Florida as well as populations in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason that the plant relies on such elaborate traps: insect prey provide the nitrogen for protein formation that the soil

cannot. The Venus Flytrap is not a tropical plant and can tolerate mild winters. In fact, Venus Flytraps that do not go through a period of winter dormancy will weaken and die after a period of time.

Cultivation The 'Dentate' cultivar of the venus fly trap in cultivation Venus flytraps are popular as cultivated plants, but have a reputation for being difficult to grow. Successfully growing these specialized plants requires recreating a close approximation to the plant's natural habitat. Healthy Venus flytraps will produce scapes of white flowers in spring, however, many growers remove the flowering stem early (2 –3 inches), as flowering consumes some of the plant's energy, and reduces the rate of trap production. If healthy plants are allowed to flower, successful pollination will result in the production of dozens of small, shiny black seeds. Plants can be propagated by seed, although seedlings take several years to mature. More commonly, they are propagated by division in spring or summer. Cultivars

Venus flytraps are, by far, the most commonly recognized and cultivated carnivorous plant. They are sold as houseplants and are often found at florists, hardware stores and supermarkets. During the past ten years or so large quantities of cultivars have come into t he market through tissue culture of select genetic mutations. It is through tissue culture that great quantities of plants are raised for commercial markets. The registered cultivars (cultivated varieties) include (name of originator in braces): Dionaea muscipula 'Akai Ryu'{Ron Gagliardo} Dionaea muscipula 'B52' {Henning Von Schmeling} Dionaea muscipula 'Big Mouth' {Tony Camilleri} Dionaea muscipula 'Bohemian Garnet' {Miroslav Srba} Dionaea muscipula 'Clayton's Red Sunset' {Colin Clayton} Dionaea muscipula 'Cupped Trap' {Staff at Agri-Starts III Inc, Eustis, FL.} Dionaea muscipula 'Clumping Cultivar' {Peter D'Amato} Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate' {Peter D'Amato} Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate Traps' {Barry { Barry Meyers-Rice} Dionaea muscipula 'Dente' {Peter D'Amato} Dionaea muscipula 'Fondue' {Guillaume Bily} Dionaea muscipula 'Fused Tooth' {Peter D'Amato} Dionaea muscipula 'Green Dragon' {Unknown} Dionaea muscipula 'Holland Red' {Commercial breeder in the Netherlands} Dionaea muscipula 'Jaws' {Leo Song Jr.} Dionaea muscipula 'Justina Davis' {Unknown} Dionaea muscipula 'Kinchyaku' {Katsuhiko Kondo} Dionaea muscipula 'Korean Melody Shark' {Jang Gi-Won & Wook Hyon ( Max) Yoon} Dionaea muscipula 'Korrigans' {Guillaume Bily} Dionaea muscipula 'Louchapates' {Romuald Anfraix} Dionaea muscipula 'Microdent' {Gayl Quenon} Dionaea muscipula 'Mirror' {Dieter Blancquaert} Dionaea muscipula 'Perlite Dragon' {Unknown} Dionaea muscipula 'Red Burgundy' {Unknown}

Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha' {Ed Read} Dionaea muscipula 'Red Rosetted' {Peter D'Amato} Dionaea muscipula 'Royal Red' {AUPBR 464} Dionaea muscipula 'Sawtooth' {Barry Meyers-Rice} Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' {Real Keehn Concepts} Dionaea muscipula 'Wacky Traps' {Cresco Nursery, Netherlands} An unofficial list includes many more names, with more added annually. None of these "variation names" are officially recognized unless the name is properly documented, registered and accepted by the International Registration Authority for carnivorous plant cultivars, the International Carnivorous Plant Society.

Conservation Currently, there are estimated to be more than 3 –6 million plants in cultivation compared to only 35,800 plants remaining in nature. Several prominent plant conservationists suggest the plant be labeled as Vulnerable. Precise data on the distribution of population sizes in 1992 from the Office of Plant Protection suggests a more dire state for the species. Every size class in red is slated for eventual extinction with the green ones persisting longer. Smaller populations may go extinct for stochastic reasons and, since small population are more numerous in nature now and contribute more to the total number of plants remaining in the species, most of this unique and remarkable carnivorous plant species may be going extinct soon. Note that the figure of 35,800 plants in 1992 is over 15 years old and may not accurately reflect the current situation.

*Viper Fish

The depths of the ocean are literally swimming with creatures straight out of your weirdest nightmares, and the Viper Fish is among the scariest. This grotesque-looking creature has teeth so large, they don't fit in its mouth. It swims at high speed toward its victims and impales them upon its sharp teeth.

*White-faced Saki Monkey

*Yeti Crab

*Bamboo A stalk can grow as much as nearly four feet in 24 hours. Most bamboos puts out flowers only at extremely long intervals –  between 20 to 120 years apart. But when a plant does burst into flower, every bamboo of that species, wherever it is in the world, flowers at the same time. How and why this happens is still one of nature‘s great

unsolved mysteries.

Takeshi Yamada’s Co llection

Takeshi Yamada Takeshi Yamada is a Japanese-American artist and rogue taxidermist. Yamada was born Osaka, Japan, in 1960. He began painting at the age of 12, and decided to become an artist at 16. He was an international exchange student at the Osaka University of Arts before moving to the United States in 1983. He studied art at the California College of the Arts and the t he Maryland Institute College of Art, obtaining his Bachelor of Fine Art degree in 1985. In 1987, he obtained his Master of Fine Art from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design. He had exhibitions at the Neville-Sargent Gallery in Chicago in 1988 and 1991. In 1990, a series of 48 paintings entitled "Divine Comedy: New Orleans Mardi Gras" by Yamada were displayed in the Louisiana State Museum, and later some of them were shown in the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo. In 1993, he had a solo exhibition at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. He moved to New York City in 2000. Yamada is a rogue taxidermist, creating fake creatures out of organic and inorganic materials. Some of his works have been displayed at t he Coney Island Library.

Skulls and Skeletal Samples

Three-eyed Skull

Alien Skull

Hand with six fingers

Alien Skull

 Alien Skull

Weird Babies

Potato-head Baby

Two-headed Baby

Penguin Baby

Two-faced baby

Weird Babies

Lizard Baby

Lobster Baby

Mermaid Baby

Octopus Baby

Sea Creatures

Carnivorous Snail

Chupacabra Snail

Pacific Ammonite

Human-faced Fish

Whip-tailed Tree Octopus

Four-armed Tree Starfish

Mermaids

Fiji Mermaid

Blue Merman

Sugar Dragon

Marsh Dragon

Human-faced Ant

St. Helena Giant Earwig

Dragons

Insects

Animals and Insects

Giant Horseshoe Crab

Giant Earwig

Vampire Monkey

Asian Long-horned Beetle

Fossils

Fossilized Giant Cockroach

Fossilized Fairy

Insects

Giant Tailed Stag Beetle

Giant Serpent Bug

Giant Stag Beetle

Tarantula Beetle

Giant Subway Bugs

Unknown Land Dwellers

Unknown

Unknown Sea Creatures Unknown fish

[Possibly a fake creature made by a taxidermist]

Unknown triggerfish with human-like teeth and lips.

Unknown fish

Unknown fish

Unknown ugly fish

Unknown fish

Unknown fish

Unknown fish

Unknown shark