Scientists have come across this adorable little leucistic Adelie penguin. He’s not quite albino, because he still has some pigment, but his beige color doesn’t help him much. Apparently the other penguins pick on him, and he hasn’t been able to find a mate yet. This is the first light-colored Adelie penguin recorded, since predators usually easily pick them off from the huge crowd.
Source: TheAge.com.au
Amazon mollies do not live in the Amazon, instead living in the rivers of Texas and Mexico. They are instead named after the Amazon warriors of old. The most interesting aspect of these small fish is that for about 100,000 years (Source), they have survived without males. Through a combination of asexual reproduction, and possible gene-stealing from sister species of fish (such as sailfin mollies), these feminist fishies have managed to keep their species alive without the usual neccessities of genetic mixing. The girls, do, however, have their fun by copulating with males of other species. No conclusions have been reached as to if the matings pass on any genes to offspring, though.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Poeciliidae
Genus: Poecilia
Species: P. formosa
Not exactly an animal, but still in the spirit of my blog. Isabella Rossellini has created a small series of short films about the strange mating practices of various insects, but in a completely engaging and hilarious manner. Green Porno.
Picture from Cindy Shuttleworth
Armadillo lizards are so named because of their defensive maneuvers. When threatened, they roll up like so, pointing out all their spikes, much like armadillos do.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Cordylidae
Genus: Cordylus
Species: C. cataphractus
I promised cuteness, and here it is.
Picture copyright Peter Loh
Colugos live in Southeast Asia, and are also called ‘flying lemurs’, despite not being lemurs. They are placed in a group that is very broad, and includes everything from lemurs to humans. Colugos reproduce in a manner similar to marsupials. Their babies are born mostly undeveloped, and it crawls into a pouch-like area created by the mother’s big flappy skin. The babies aren’t full grown until 2-3 years later.
Picture from America Zoo
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Euarchontoglires
Order: Dermoptera
Family: Cynocephalidae
Agh! Sorry it’s been forever. I just moved back home from my dorm, and so I’ve been busy with finals, and packing, and school in general. I’m home now, and once I’ve got my summer schedule figured out, I’ll be all dandy again. For now, though:
Image courtesy of BBC News
These creatures look like worms, or maybe some sort of underground snake, but really, they’re not. They’re caecilians, which is actually a kind of amphibian. They are blind, though. Scientists have recently discovered that baby caecilian worms actually are nourished by eating the flesh from the tail of their mother. This practice is gross and incredibly creepy, much like the Surinam toad giving birth that I posted earlier. To prove my point, a video. (I promise some sort of cute chaser after this post to make up for all the grossness (especially for involving babies in the grossness)).
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Gymnophiona
