Strange animal pics

[Thunderbird]

I thought Mooman's avatar was a Mimic octopus...you can see why..

YouTube - The Indonesian Mimic Octopus

[Galapagos]

T-bird's dodos on the previous page reminded me of these weird dudes:
blue footed booby

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

Mantis shrimp vs. Blue ring octopus

bluering

Mighty big mantis shrimp and a very small octopus. I used to keep live coral and sometimes I would get mantis shrimp in the live rock. I always used an octopus to hunt down and eat the mantis shrimp. Of course the octopus was a little larger than the shrimp most of the time.

[Thunderbird]

Flying Lemurs Are The Closest Relatives Of Primates
ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2007) — While the human species is unquestionably a member of the Primate group, the identity of the next closest group to primates within the entire class of living mammals has been hotly debated. Now, new molecular and genomic data gathered by a team including Webb Miller, a professor of biology and computer science and engineering at the Penn State University, has shown that the colugos -- nicknamed the flying lemurs -- is the closest group to the primates.

Flying Lemurs Are The Closest Relatives Of Primates

Colugos glide from tree to tree in Malaysia forests using their special skin fold, or patagium, for support. This mother and baby (Cynocephalus variegatus) looks like a living kite but is closely related to primates, the order of mammals that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans. (Credit: Norman Lim, National University of Singapore)

[Thunderbird]

Tuatara's relatives were the beak headed reptiles (Rhinocephalia). These spread all around the world 200 million years ago, but died out 100 million years ago. Only Tuatara survived to become a "living fossil".

Tuatara (Sphenodon) is often used by zoologists as an example of about as basic a reptile as they can find. "The diapsid reptile Sphenodon is the most unspecialised living amniote." The evolution of both reptiles and birds can be described starting from tuatara anatomy. This does NOT mean tuatara is the common precursor, just that comparative anatomical diagrams of reptiles and birds can start conveniently with this animal.

The tuatara is only found in New Zealand and is in danger of becoming extinct!

It is a reptile but not a lizard.

It is the last remaining member of the ancient group of reptiles, Sphenodontia.

Tuatara is a Maori word meaning "peaks on the back". It is easy to see why.



The tuatara is famous because it is a very ancient – it is the only survivor of a large group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as dinosaurs. It hasn't changed its form much in over 225 million years! The relatives of tuatara died out about 60 million years ago which is why the tuatara is sometimes called a ‘living fossil’.

Tuatara Fact Sheet

[Mercedes Benzene]

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

Mantis shrimp vs. Blue ring octopus

bluering

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby.

[Thunderbird]

The Kakapo one of my favorite birds.

Saving The Remarkable Kakapo Bird From Extinction
ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2007) — One of the strangest and most endangered birds in the world, the kakapo, is being brought back from the brink of extinction with the help of scientists from the University of Glasgow.

Saving The Remarkable Kakapo Bird From Extinction

[Thunderbird]

Originally Posted by Mercedes Benzene

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby.

That's about as big as they get,.. and they pack one of the most toxic venoms in nature.

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Mercedes Benzene

That's so not fair. It looks like a baby.

Blue rings don't get any bigger than that but put an Octopus vulgarious at about 18" and that mantis shrimp would be dinner. Sometimes size does matter

[Thunderbird]

DINOFISH.com - COELACANTH: THE FISH OUT OF TIME