From Being Relaxed To Seeing Something Scary

I am loved.

gynandromorphism in spiders

a gynandromorph is an organism that exhibits male and female characteristics. bilateral asymmetry can occur wherein one “side” of the animal is female and the other is male, mosaicism can occur wherein the characteristics are distributed in patches. in spiders, this phenomenon can present itself through presence of both testes and overies and split colouration. cases can also occur where, although parts of the spider are clearly male or female, the divisions can be less definite; certain reproductive organs like the palps and epigyne may be very poorly developed or completely absent. these individuals are referred to as intersexes. gynandry and intersexuality can occur in the same individual.

pictured: lampropelma nigerrimum, pamphobeteus sp. mascara, poecilotheria ornata, thyene imperialis.

One of the best and most imaginative books ever written about science and science communication was “After Man: A Zoology of the Future” (1981), which guessed, based on what we know about the laws of evolution, what the future would look like millions of years from now when humans are extinct.

I would look at this one in the library, and just read it for hours. My favorite is the idea the humble rat would diversify into a thousand species, including huge predators, and that eventually, an island would be settled by flying bats, who then diversify into dozens of roles, including ground-walking echolocation predators. 

Extremely beautiful springtail, Lepidocyrtus paradoxus. Totally covered in iridescent scales - my photos do a poor job of capturing just how shiny this animal is.

hand over the cursed Sphenodon facts.

sure, but PUT THE GUN DOWN. 

the Tuatara is a medium-sized reptile native to New Zealand.

it looks like a lizard but it IS NOT- the Tuatara is actually a very basal reptile related to snakes and lizards but belonging to an entire different branch of the tree of life, of which it is the sole surviving member.

and it may look like a lizard on the outside, but the inside is what really counts! and on the inside, the Tuatara is basically a reskinned amphibian.

they only have a single lung, their heart is the most basic of all reptiles, and their nervous systems shares more in common with our friend the axolotl than with its lizard kin!

so if you happen to see one at the zoo, take a moment to stop and really appreciate the uninterrupted 240 million years of reptilian history you’re lucky enough to be looking at!

Reblog if you agree.

Little squeak 

(Source)

Living Decay

Curled in the heart of the forest lie an elk

still and quiet, he waits

in the shadows of nightfall, 

and lets the cold embrace his stationary form. 

When dawn comes

he remains, rooted to the ground

warming the earth where he lay,

nourishing the soil.

As weeks pass his soft exterior

gives way to a brittle and unforgiving interior

yet still

a family of small mammals find their way into his ribcage

and bring life back into his

hollow body.

Generations of forest creatures will come to know

his body as a beacon of being,

and a symbol of home. 

Do you have any cursed facts about deer? They are my favorite animal.

there’s an entire subset of deer that have sabre fangs instead of antlers!

this is because the very earliest deer on the planet had both antlers AND fangs, but over time deer diverged into two separate lineages that had either antlers OR fangs and they’re both still around today!