Nature’s Schedules: How Animals Really Spend Their Time
April 24, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Animals in the wild lead busy, busy lives. They have so much to do that it is frankly amazing that we see them without little day planners or digital organizers. As a public service, these are the facts that animals can’t tell you themselves: how they really spend their days.
Elephants, as we all know, find it almost impossible to forget anything. But surprisingly, they do not devote much time each day to retaining memories. Most of their days, as it turns out, are spent eating. It takes a lot of time to find enough peanuts to fill up those big tummies.
Contrary to popular belief, jellyfish do not spend all day plotting to ruin your trip to the beach. In fact, the vast majority of their days are spent just lazily floating in the water and waiting for food to come to them.
Spiders aren’t the conniving monsters some people think they are – but nor are they unpaid advertisers of the virtues of farm pigs. Their days are spent mostly resting, though the chart does not differentiate between innocent rest time and rest time used to lure unsuspecting flies into traps.
Of course, not every animal’s schedule hides a surprise. Pandas, quite predictably, spend every moment of every day being adorable. Now that is sound scientific information. (Totally accurate pie charts via Jeff Wysaski and Pleated Jeans)
Fictional Species: Tribute to the Surreal ‘Land Shark’
April 6, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & History & Trivia & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Although our world is full of all kinds of amazing creatures, unbelievable animals and wonderful wildlife, we sometimes find ourselves enamored of fictional creatures. Such was the case with the Land Shark: that lovable but tricky shark that lied his way into homes and offices to devour the residents within. Thirty-six years after the Land Shark’s debut on Saturday Night Live, the weird animal still inspires giggles.
Land Shark
Tags: Land Shark
Above is one of the first SNL appearances of the terrifying Land Shark. Unlike sea sharks, the truly scary part of this animal is his ability to fool his quarry into letting him into their homes. Little did these poor souls realize that opening the door to the friendly-sounding telegram delivery man or plumber would be the last thing they ever did.
The video game Armed and Dangerous paid homage to the legendary land shark with its fantastic “Land Shark Gun.” In the game, you can shoot at enemies with a gun that sends the iconic Land Shark out for a quick bite of lunch consisting of your unfortunate foe. Upon reaching the unlucky enemy, the land shark bursts out of the ground to chomp down on the tasty human flesh.
University of Applied Science at Augsburg student Frank Robnik made this video to illustrate the qualities of the land shark’s famous cousin the Graboid. Graboids starred as the villains in all of the Tremors movies. Despite looking more like worms, the Graboids have the ferocity and insatiable hunger of sharks. Despite being fictional just like the land sharks, Graboids have enjoyed similar cult hero status – but clearly their fans are people who have never lost a loved one to either vicious creature.
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Deadly Hide and Seek: 17 Examples of Nature’s Best Camouflage
December 23, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Marc in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Like something seen out of the corner of your eye, or a trick of the shadows, it can be startling when something doesn’t appear as you thought it did. There’s an entire subset of wonderful creatures who utilize camouflage to evade predators. These niche practitioners of the art of stealth and camouflage have evolved with fantastic results.
(Images via jimmccormac, monstrous, simbania, richard-seaman)
Phasmatodea, otherwise known as stick insects, are masters of the art of blending into their surroundings. Evolved to the point that they almost identically mimic the plants on which they reside, these walking bundles of sticks even move with a rocking motion that helps fool predators. There are over 3,000 varieties and are apparently great to keep as pets.
(Images via travelpod, mi9, pixdaus, wikimedia)
Not all frogs are as conspicuous as Kermit and his celebrity seeking friends. The frogs that like to blend into their environment do it incredibly well. As can be seen in the photos above, if one didn’t realize there was a frog in some of them, it would be nearly impossible to see.
(Images via howstuffworks, pixdaus, ncmls)
Walking leaves are some of the greatest mimics in the animal kingdom. These insects have bodies that are incredibly detailed, with wavy bodies and faux leaf veins. Their realistic coloration makes these insects nearly impossible to distinguish from their surrounding leaf cover.
(Images via necroford, conservationreport, bukisa)
Oceans are full of dangerous wide open spaces with little to no cover for possible prey. Many creatures have evolved to hide expertly among the clutter on the ocean floor. Sea horses are able to emulate gently swaying kelp, and some fish look almost identical to surrounding rocks. Some flounder have evolved incredibly, with entirely flat bodies and perfect coloration.
(Images via bakati, snipercountry, warnewsupdates)
Humans have spent a lot of research and effort into emulating the camouflage skills of our natural counterparts, through use of computer generated color schemes, and good old fashioned ingenuity. There are few skills as valuable for survival as the ability to blend into one’s environment.
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Art from Decay: 11 Masters of Trash, Rust & Rot
August 23, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Food & Health, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
The inescapable cycle of life, death and decay will have its way with us all, and virtually everything else on earth… and while most people find this reality of nature less than pleasant, others seek to magnify and exploit it. Because while decay can certainly be disgusting – as some artists have portrayed with rotting animals – it can also be beautiful, like allowing the sea to etch a pattern into metal.
Dieter Roth
(images via: MOMA)
No collection of decay-themed art would be complete without the inclusion of Dieter Roth, whose entire oeuvre challenged the notion that art is immortal. Bananas, sausage and dung are just a few of the items Roth used to create pieces that blossomed with maggots and mold, falling victim to the relentless cycle of life and death even under the harsh lights of exclusive art galleries. Certainly the bust of chocolate that he made of himself, covered in birdseed and threw into a courtyard as a feast for birds looks very different than it did when he created it.
Dan Dempster
(image via: wikimedia commons)
The sea is a great and mysterious artist, carving rocks and scouring patterns into sunken man-made objects with its relentless tides and currents. Bermuda artist Dan Dempster submerged pieces of steel into the ocean and let it etch patterns into the surface with a rusty, dreamy and utterly aquatic result.
Nathan Slate Joseph
(images via: sundaram tagore gallery)
Many artists whose work is displayed outdoors dread the process of weathering; they lacquer and protect their work as much as possible to defend it against fading, rust, and other hazards of wind and rain. But Nathan Slate Joseph intentionally leaves squares of steel outdoors to “empower nature by allowing it to have a hand in the making of his art.” He even applies acids to facilitate the breakdown of the pigments he applies to each square, letting them age and change naturally before soldering them together into one cohesive piece.
Damien Hirst
(images via: my modern met)
Renowned British artist Damien Hirst is known for making death a central theme in nearly all of his works, the most notable – and controversial – of which being a series made from animal corpses. One work featuring a rotting cow and bull was banned from gallery exhibition by New York public health officials for fear of “vomiting among the visitors”. Another, “A Thousand Years”, consisted of a rotting cow’s head in a glass case, covered in maggots and flies. But not all of Hirst’s dead animals are left to the ravages of nature – some are preserved in formaldehyde, like his iconic (and somehow simultaneously iconoclastic) shark.
Tony Reason
(images via: tonyreason.com)
Rust is a powerful pigment, with its vivid hues of red and orange that it lends to all sorts of metals, whether desired or not. British artist Tony Reason must see a great beauty in rust, because he has made it the center of much of his work: giant metal panels with rust designs and even rust mixed with wax and painted on canvas.
Kathy Kelley
(image via: artslant)
Few artists enjoy being told that their work looks like a bunch of trash – but Kathy Kelley knows that that’s exactly what her sculptures are. Kelley, who holds an MFA in graphic design, turned to “revaluing objects of refuse” with her large-scale found-object sculptures, saying “I am drawn to the symbolic and formal elements of decay, the way in which an object has been altered by its mere existence. The worn, broken, torn nature of the aged object seems to make it more real, more honest. So I collect decayed urban refuse. I hold onto it for awhile. Cogitate. Eventually the formal and symbolic elements of the materials and my current research meld. Then I make.”
Matthew Barney & Elizabeth Peyton
(images via: c-monster)
Take one dead shark a la Damien Hirst, throw in some drawings that have been embellished by the sea over a period of a few months a la Dan Dempster, and you’ve got the strange collaborative project “The Blood of Two” by artists Matthew Barney and Elizabeth Peyton. Some of Peyton’s nautical-themed drawings were placed in a glass casket which was submerged in the ocean for months; the casket was ceremoniously lifted from the sea and taken on a funeral-like procession to a slaughterhouse where the drawings were removed and replaced with a dead shark. The shark was later served to onlookers. Barney is also known for his performance art videos featuring sculptures made from uncooked tapioca, which were left to decay as they would.
Rosamond Purcell
(images via: zymmogyphic)
Did you ever imagine that a dead fish could be so beautiful? Rosamond Purcell collects such natural and man-made curiosities for her assemblage art, which pays tribute to decay in all forms, from the remains of dead creatures to worm-eaten books and rusted metal. Purcell sources most of her materials at a junkyard in Maine and turns them into art installations, sculptures, collages and other collections as documented in her book Bookworm: The Art of Rosamond Purcell.
Joseph Beuys
(images via: 2thewalls)
Artist Joseph Beuys worked with all sorts of unconventional materials, but they were never randomly chosen. Beuys used edible items like butter, sausage and chocolate in some works, knowing that they would transform and decay over time, changing the way that people reacted to each piece. Fat in particular played a large role, used to signify “chaos and the potential for spiritual transcendence”. The images above show how the work ‘Fat Chair’, which featured a triangular slab of butter on a wooden chair, evolved as it decayed.
Zhang Xiaotao
(images via: saatchi gallery)
Perhaps hang Xiaotao’s art isn’t made directly from putrefying objects, but nearly as unusual is the desire to produce art that holds up decay as a subject worth portraying again and again. Xiaotao depicts moldy strawberries, rotting birthday cake, heaps of trash in the subway and ants feasting on forgotten food as lovingly as if they were stunning landscapes and beautiful models. “I am creating something that is disappointing and yet has great hopes – a cycle of positive and negative energy that is in a constant state of renewal,” he told China Daily.
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Selection Sunday: A Sweet 16 of Cool Animal Discoveries
March 14, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Chris in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
(Images via: Caught Offside, Hollow Hill, Its Nature, Wildshores, Above the Buzz, Lists O Plenty, Game Winning Graphics, Ehow, Organic Garden Info)
As any college basketball fan knows, today is Selection Sunday, when 65 teams will be slotted in the NCAA Tournament (also known as March Madness). In celebration of this annual holiday, WebEcoist has selected some of the coolest, strangest and most interesting animal discoveries from recent months. From bottlenose dolphins turning diabetes off and on to extremely drunken bats flying straight to gorillas possibly eating monkeys, this Sweet Sixteen of recent animal stories and findings certainly fits the bill of downright weird, exciting and intriguing.
Must See TV: What’s Been Brewing Under the Sea?
(Images via: Hi Tech Dolphin, Babble, Dive Discovery, Flickr, Big Island Divers)
Dolphins have been previously included among the world’s smartest mammals, and now according to new research, our bottlenose friends may be able to induce type II diabetes to sustain their large brains. Suggested by new findings, bottlenose dolphins are able to turn on diabetes (when sugar builds up in the blood rather than the cells as a result of insufficient or ignored insulin) when food is scarce and then turn off the condition after eating a meal. Commonly viewed as enemies to dolphins, sharks apparently are not bloodthirsty hunters 24/7. According to a new study, sharks and manta rays commonly visit fish cleaning stations – where smaller fish suck off algae, mucus, dead tissue, etc. – peacefully letting the cleaner fish pick them clean for hours at a time. Who new that sharks were capable of embracing their softer sides?
Unexpected Game Plans: Underwater Deception and Drama
(Images via: Bukisa, Ocean Explorer, Take Action, Twisted Physics)
Speaking of some more underwater surprises, normally big and bad Atlantic octopuses were recently documented mimicking the swimming style and appearance of smaller flounders to avoid predators. Rather than swimming with their arms trailing their heads, the Atlantic octopuses have been recorded folding and then athletically moving their arms like flounders, which allegedly would cause larger predators to pause before taking a bite at them as compared to when their arms are dangling about. In a similar light, startled vampire squid have been recently documented completely turning themselves inside out – allowing their arms to retract within their bodies – to throw off predators. As for the Hawaiian bobtail squid, it has been known to utilize a luminescent bacteria to light up its underside, thus providing a sense of invisibility and protection from sharks and other predators that may be lurking below. Just as in the NCAA Tournament, it’s apparently all about surviving and advancing in the marine world.
Sharp Shooters: Chameleons and Tentacled Snakes
(Images via: Yahoo! Video, Curious Animals, Flickr)
In the animal kingdom, the ability to sprint, swim, jump and perform other advantageous activities usually is slowed by drops in temperature; however, this is not the case for chameleons. According to recent research, chameleons feature a unique, weatherproof accelerator muscle in their tongues that allows them to snag prey at alarming speeds in all types of weather conditions. As for the curious tentacled snake, it uses two tentacles at the top of its head to hunt for and see fish in murky water conditions. Researchers recently learned that the tentacled snake adeptly forms its body into a “J” shape when hunting for food, which causes fish to dart towards rather than away from its mouth. It seems that some reptile athletes aren’t competing on a level playing field.
High Above the Rim: Drunken Bats and Shrewd Bees
(Images via: U.S. Forest Service, Divaboo, West County Gazette, Vee Three)
Up in the sky, there have been a variety of recent surprises, including that of the inebriated bat. According to recent research, bats can get drunk eating nectar and fermenting fruits; however, the intoxication hardly affects them thanks to sonar that allows even the most drunken bats to fly normal. Just as bats can suck up their fair share of alcohol without too many worries, the sucker-footed bat is rare in that it roosts upright as opposed to the normal upside down position. While researchers previously thought that the sucker-footed bat was able to roost this way as a result of using its pads like suction cups, it turns out these bats are more like tree frogs and certain other insects that use sweat and water adhesion to stay perched on leaves.
In terms of landing on leaves and other objects, bees recently amazed researchers with their abilities to use their eyesight when adjusting to different landing platforms. When coming to a surface, bees steadily slow down as the object gets larger, which helps them determine specific landing strategies, such as touching down their back legs first when approaching flat surfaces or making initial contact on vertical and upside-down platforms with their antennae and then using their front legs to help flip their hind legs onto the surface. Apparently masters at stopping, honey bees will alter their normal waggle dance, which typically signals good sources of food for other bees, by butting their heads into recipients, which apparently details sites that are dangerous and warns the other bees to avoid those areas. As for other unique insect communication and travel, a new finding detailed how migrating moths and butterflies are hardly slaves to the wind but rather active surfers of breeze, which allow them to travel to where they want to go at much higher speeds and in shorter time periods.
Freakish Plays: Microscopic Worms and Parasites
(Images via: Top News, Nature, Sunny Sweet Farms)
In the category of miscellaneous, intriguing and bizarre recent discoveries, scientists have found that microscopic worms can be paralyzed by ingestion of a light-sensitive chemical called dithienylethene. Once exposed to light, the microscopic worms regained normal wiggling movement; though it should be known that the paralyzing chemical eventually killed the worms. Now if it was only so easy for a parasite known as Wolbachia bacteria, which has been found to shut down the immune systems of wasps and other insects. Especially morbid, these parasites have been shown to turn male spiders, mites and nematode worms into females and cause virgin females to give birth. Even worse, these parasites can reproduce at rapid rates. Talk about a freak show.
Big Upsets: Monkey-Eating Gorillas & Autism-Treating Mice?
(Images via: Gorilla Doctors, Plus Maths, Anatom, Master New Media)
While wild gorillas have historically feasted on plants, fruit and the occasional insect, they may actually eat meat after all, according to new findings discovered nowhere else but in gorilla poop. A recent analysis found monkey and antelope DNA in gorilla feces, possibly suggesting that gorillas prefer a meaty meal every so often. If the thought of gorilla poop is a bit too filthy for your tastes, perhaps these recent findings on house mice will suffice. Hardly known to make a peep, male mice were recently observed singing ultrasonic love songs to court females, which responded with their own vocalization. According to the study’s researchers, learning more about mice vocalization may help us understand autism, a developmental disability marked by communication differences. Essentially, researchers note that some mice are better than others at vocalizing their love songs; if more can be understood about what makes certain mice better communicators, researchers propose that this may provide more insight on human communication gaps. Sounds promising.
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Naturally Social: Cool Ways Animals Communicate
September 17, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Images via: (Bitter N Sweet, Liting Yu, Ian Salang, Journey Forth)
If you’ve ever owned a pet that was sick, you likely know the feeling of wishing you could communicate with the animal to know just what was bothering him or her. Unfortunately for humans, we are not always able to communicate with animals in ways that they are capable of doing with members of their own species. From the impressive language and dialect of prairie dogs to the “beyond-human-hearing” rumbles of elephants to the numerous distinctive cries of chickens, animal communication truly is a testament to the intelligence of these creatures. While animal communication may be used to evoke many emotions — love, anger, worry, etc. — here’s hoping this list will leave you feeling amazed and even a little bit appreciative of the unique and intricate ways animals share information.
Loud and Profound Barking: Prairie Dog Language
(Images via: Squidoo, TCS, Jeff Blaylock)
What may sound like loud barking to humans actually has much more meaning to prairie dogs, who maintain a complex communication system that resembles nouns and verbs. Acoustic analysis of prairie dog barking has revealed that this intricate communication is marked by different tones that maintain different meanings. Specifically, most prairie dog barking communicates information about imminent threats like hawks, dogs and even humans, and gets as detailed as the size and shape of the potential predators. Even more interesting, prairie dogs from different areas have their own dialects. So the next time you hear a prairie dog barking — perhaps in the wild or at the zoo — know that something much deeper is being communicated.
Soft but Meaningful Elephant Rumbles
(Images via: SMH, Wild Tracks, Trip Advisor)
With their loud screams and trumpets, elephants wouldn’t seem to have a silent “ivory bone” in them. Well, apparently, they do. Through rumbles that are below human hearing, elephants are able to communicate with distant elephants for various purposes, including coordinating group behaviors, luring mates, reproducing and establishing dominance. Amazingly, the lower the elephant infrasound, the farther it travels. Say what? I almost couldn’t hear you for a moment.
Chick Power: Clucking in the Womb and for Food
(Images via: Red Jar)
It’s safe to say that it’s very hard to get chickens to shut up. Twenty-four hours before birth, baby chicks make peeping noises in the egg, with the mother chicken responding in soothing tones to provide assurance that everything is alright. In life, chickens learn and communicate more than 20 distinctive calls, including alarm calls when danger is near. Just a few years ago, researchers confirmed that the “tck, tck, tck” sound chickens make while pecking actually signifies the presence of food to other chicken and spurs them on to search for more food. Makes sense, I guess, that an animal that tastes so good maintains its owns exquisite “chicken language” for food.
The Universal Language of Animal Love
(Images via: Sci Online, Desert USA, Weird Sceince)
Many animals display affection to each other through unique forms of physical communication. The aforementioned elephants entwine their trunks, while swans do the same, only with their necks. Like a lovestruck couple in the stages of puppy love, horses rub their noses together while giraffes put their necks next to each other as displays of affection. A precursor to the handshake, chimps greet each other by touching hands. In similar lights, male fiddler wave their hands — make that, their giant claws — to attract females. While certainly not the cleanliest form of affection, amoeba leave a chemical discharge to attract potential mates. Oh, what some will do for love.
Avoiding Harm through Communication that Alarms
(Images via: The Sports Globe, Flickr, My Funny Pics)
Of course, an essential role of animal communication is to alarm other members of the species of any dangers, as seen above in the examples with prairie dogs and chickens. By thumping their hind legs, kangaroos inform their mates of danger. Like a nervous twitch, white tail deers flick their tails to warn others of imminent danger. As a means to express anger, gorillas stick out their tongues, a sign that play time is over.
Other Interesting Forms of Animal Communication
(Images via: Photo Bucket, Flickr)
Why are dogs considered man’s best friend? Because they care considerably about their masters. Specifically, dogs will study the expressions of their owners to differentiate when humans mean business or are ready to engage in some fun. And then there’s those prairie dogs, which continue to amaze. To determine friends from enemies, prairie dogs will show their teeth and press the mouths together. I’ve heard of secret handshakes and things of that nature, but the prairie dogs certainly know how to take things to a whole new level, as already seen by their extensive vocabulary.
Chris
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