I Love These Wacky Guys

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Humans have been consuming alcohol for thousands of years, but we're not the only ones with a taste for it! The pen-tailed treeshrew's diet consists almost entirely of naturally fermented nectar, which can have an alcohol content as high as 3.8%. Given their small size, that's the human equivalent of consuming 10-12 glasses of wine. However, this species is able to fully metabolize the alcohol and avoid the intoxicating side-effects.

(Image: A pen-tailed treeshrew (Ptilocercus lowii) by Annette Zitzmann)

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Evil biology facts that fill me with Fear :)

hey, I heard y’all like evil biology facts like knowledge about horse blood types.

well! today I was researching alternative biochemistries extraterrestrial life could use and. man. I think Earth life is fucked up enough for me thanks

biological dark matter. WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY BLOOD HAS DNA IN IT FROM NO KNOWN SOURCE. YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT COME BACK HERE

One specific cave that has been sealed for 5.5 million years and has developed an ecosystem completely dependent on chemosynthetic bacteria.

Was anybody going to tell me that bacteria have decided iron is yummy and are eating the Titanic, or was I supposed to just read that myself

Terrible Berry (yes, that’s what the genus name means). This whole thing is so fucked up. These scientists were testing whether radiation could be used to kill pathogens in food, so they dosed a tin of meat with enough radiation to kill any known living organism (as one does) but guess what, it still fucking spoiled because of THIS BASTARD FUCKER.

(seriously, why is it like this? WHY has a bacterium evolved to chill in radioactive waste like it’s a soothing Jacuzzi tub? What does it know that we don’t know?)

(ANSWERS. I WANT ANSWERS, YOU CHERNOBYL ASS BITCH.)

Cursed worm, which has no mouth or digestive system and depends entirely on five (5) different species of bacteria, which consume hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen monoxide, and carbon monoxide, for food. How do you, a worm, even...figure out how to do...all that?

Bone worms. At least they like their bones already dead. I still could have gone without knowing this was a thing.

“Oh, parasitic plant, that sounds c—WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING”

I am like half convinced this is made up. Seriously, bacteria grow their own electrical wires and we just let them?

Deep Sea Brotula

During a dive to the Galapagos Rift Zone in 1988, scientists in Alvin saw this strange purple fish hanging out in the super-hot water gushing from hydrothermal vents at about 8,200 feet (2500 meters) depth. Pilot Ralph Hollis quickly netted the fish and brought it back to the surface for further examination. Scientists determined that it was in the genus Bythites, of which there are three Atlantic species, and promptly named it after Hollis: Bythites hollisi. They also found that it produces live young (as opposed to eggs) and is a relative of the better-known cusk eel. By 2002, more of these fish had been caught, and scientists decided that this Equatorial Eastern Pacific specimen was so different from the three Atlantic species that it warranted a new genus, Gerhardia. But a few years later, scientists wishing to avoid confusion with a beetle with the same moniker proposed another name, Thermichthys hollisi, referring to the fish’s preferred hangout, the hydrothermal vents of the Galapagos Rift Zone. So far, no other fish of this genus have been found.

via: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

DRAG CRAB DRAG CRAB DRAG CRAB

look at the shape range of crabs. yeti crab vs atlantic mole crab vs japanese spider crab

i am in awe!!!!

"which reptile is the most catholic?" obviously Komodo Dragons because they have virgin birth

many other reptile lineages also have virgin birth (parthenogenesis), there's even MULTIPLE species of whiptail lizards that reproduce entirely this way!

there are no males in these species. only females.

however! they still court each other and do some copulating.

that's right. MULTIPLE SPECIES OF LIZARD LESBIANS.

LIZBEANS.

ScienceAlert

Ancient Genes of Zombie Viruses Revealed as Hidden Drivers of Cancer

When viruses pay us a visit, they sometimes leave parts of themselves behind.

When viruses pay us a visit, they sometimes leave parts of themselves behind. Silently tucked away in our genomes, some of these bits of foreign DNA can get passed down through the generations. They were long thought inactive, but we've since learned these stowaway sequences can be turned back on to wreak all sorts of havoc. Now researchers led by University of Colorado bioinformatician Atma Ivancevic, have found cancers can make use of some of these zombie virus parts for their own benefit.

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ITS THIS THING TUESDAY

phys.org

Remarkable new plant species steals nutrients from underground fungi

A distinctive plant that steals nutrients from underground fungi has been discovered as a new species by botanists from the Forest Research

A distinctive plant that steals nutrients from underground fungi has been discovered as a new species by botanists from the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in collaboration with local naturalists and stakeholders. The research is published in the journal PhytoKeys. Discovered in the tropical rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, Thismia malayana belongs to a group of plants known as mycoheterotrophs. Unlike most plants, mycoheterotrophs do not perform photosynthesis. Instead, they act as a parasite, stealing carbon resources from the fungi on their roots. This adaptation takes advantage of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, which is usually a mutually beneficial relationship between colonizing fungi and a plant's root system.

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