Reptiles: 8 of the Scaliest Endangered Species

8 fascinating endangered reptile and amphibian species from around the world that capture the imagination with their colors, habits, and beauty.
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That Sinking Feeling: The Top 10 Drained Lakes

[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]

I like lakes, you like lakes, Luke Luck likes lakes, you get the picture but when lakes leak with little or lack of warning, there’s a lot less to like. This look at 10 drained lakes of the past and present shows the gravity of the situation when Mother Nature – or, on occasion, the errant hand of Man – suddenly decides to pull the plug.

Tempe Town Lake, Arizona, USA

(images via: DesertUSA, ASU and GWilmore)

Tempe Town Lake is a 2-mile long artificial lake that runs through the center of Tempe, Arizona, USA. The lake sits within the bed of the Salt River, which is almost always dry due to diversion of the river’s water for agricultural use at various points upstream.

(image via: KAM-AZ)

The lake is only about 13 feet deep on average and is held in place by innovative inflatable dams at either end. The Dams allow the Salt River to flow along its natural course at times when storms and flooding create an unusually high level of water in the river bed.

On July 20, 2010, the west side of Tempe Town Lake’s outflow dam suffered (for want of a better term) a blowout that allowed most of the lake’s water to quickly drain into the Salt River. Most of the approximately 10,000 fish living in the lake were swept downstream and an alligator named Tuesday was released into the remaining pools of water to eat what fish remained.

Lake Delhi, Iowa, USA

(images via: CBS News and Vacation Rentals)

The Delhi Dam, on the Maquoketa River south of Delhi, Iowa, was built over a 7-year period from 1922 to 1929. Lake Delhi was created behind the dam and over the succeeding decades proved to be a much-desired location for recreational boating, fishing, and lakeside summer housing.

(images via: Washington Times, Des Moines Register and FOX News)

Call it a dammed shame, but many say the failure of the Delhi Dam was an accident waiting to happen. Flooding in 2008 had caused a half-million dollars worth of damage to the dam and exceptionally heavy rains (approximately 10 inches in 12 hours) caused the swollen lake to overtop its southern embankment on July 24, 2010.

(image via: Des Moines Register)

Rapid erosion of the embankment sped up the outflow and by the next day, Lake Delhi was no more. As the lake and the Delhi Dam were owned by the Lake Delhi Recreation Association, it’s uncertain whether state or federal funds will be used to help rebuild the dam and restore the lake. If not, those who invested in former lakefront property will be out of luck AND lake.

Lake Delton, Wisconsin, USA

(images via: FlyHighWi, RV.net and Wunderground)

If residents of Lake Delhi are searching for some hope, they may find it in Wisconsin’s Lake Delton. Like Lake Delhi, Lake Delton is a man-made lake created in the 1920s as a way to attract visitors to the Wisconsin Dells tourist and vacation area. The lake – more of a reservoir, actually – is only about 10 feet deep and has a surface area of around 260 acres… at least it did, until June 9th of 2008.

(images via: Howder Family)

Heavy rains had raised the level of Lake Delton and put tremendous pressure on the dikes that separated the lake from the Wisconsin River 800 feet away. The sudden collapse of a 400-ft section of County Highway A that ran on top of the containment dike caused a deluge that completely drained Lake Delton in a matter of hours. Several lakefront homes also collapsed though there was no loss of life. Here’s a short video showing the state of the former Lake Delton 2 weeks after the water drained out:

Empty Lake Delton, via TFHowder

(image via: Wikimedia)

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle quickly announced the state would be repairing the lake and indeed, by Memorial Day of 2009 Lake Delton was re-opened with great fanfair.

Iceberg Lake, Alaska, USA

(images via: Far North Science and Stelia’s Guides)

Iceberg Lake, a glacial lake in the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains area of Alaska, leads a precarious existence by regularly filing and draining, sometimes catastrophically as it did in 1999. The lake is also remarkably responsive to weather conditions as it is pinned between two glaciers whose level of annual advancement and melting decide the fate of the lake.

(image via: National Park Photo Tour)

Scientists exploring the exposed bottom of Iceberg Lake discovered that distinct layers of sediment deposited on after another provided them with a detailed record of the area’s climate that could be traced back to the year 442 AD. Among other findings, the researchers were able to discern the Iceberg Lake did not drain at all during the Medieval Warm Period, a several centuries long warm interlude that existed up until the advent of the Little Ice Age, which lasted from approximately 1600 to 1850 AD.

Lake Haramaya, Ethiopia

(images via: Road To Ethiopia and Adis Ababa University)

Lake Haramaya was a freshwater lake in Ethiopia that was around 30 feet deep and whose shoreline stretched for about 10 miles – not an especially large lake but one that provided residents of the city of Harar with drinking water and farmers & fisherman with livelihoods. The keyword is “was”… overuse by residents, farmers and commercial enterprises caused the lake to drain completely in roughly a decade.

(images via: Gadaa.com, Road To Ethiopia and The CLP)

Lake Haramaya is not the only lake in Africa’s volcanic Rift Valley to run dry, and human use (and abuse) is not the only factor involved. Climatologists have noted an increased frequency of droughts over the past several decades and it’s thought that increasing human exploitation of the lake in recent years was enough to tip the balance.

Scott Lake, Florida, USA

(image via: The Ledger and Democratic Underground)

Scott Lake is a 291-acre natural lake in Lakeland, Florida, 30 miles east of Tampa. Like Lake Delhi, Scott Lake is owned by the surrounding homeowners who are once again asking state authorities to refill the lake and preserve their property values. Yes, “once again” – Scott Lake has drained before, in the early 1970s, caused by sinkholes opening up in the porous limestone bedrock that lies beneath the lake.

(images via: Democratic Underground, Thomas.net and Death By 1000 Papercuts)

In June of 2006, as many as 4 sinkholes suddenly opened in the lakebed and before you could say “Great Scott!”, Scott Lake was drained. Since then a heated controversy has arisen over demands from wealthy owners of lakeside property that water from Florida’s freshwater aquifer be used to refill the lake. This wasn’t a problem in 1974 but today, water is in short supply as Florida’s population puts increasing strain on the state’s fresh water supplies.

White Lake, Russia

(images via: Above Top Secret, Free Republic and BBC)

In May of 2005, residents of the village of Bolotnikovo near Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, were shocked to find that most of the water in White Lake had mysteriously vanished. No explanation could be offered for the sudden and silent loss of roughly a million cubic meters of water. “It looks like somebody has pulled the plug out of a gigantic bath,” said a correspondent fr Russia’s NTV. Though an official from a nearby village speculated that the lake’s water flowed into an underground river, others had their own suspicions, believing that “outside forces” were responsible. One man was quoted as stating “I think that America got us here.” It seems that in rural Russia at least, the Cold War never really ended.

Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, USA

(images via: Troy McClure, Damn Interesting and WayMarking)

Lake located above a salt mine? Scary. Oil drilling in and around said lake? Crazy! But then, we all know that the right hands at big oil companies (we’re looking at you, BP) sometimes don’t know what their left hands are up to… or down to, and in the case of Texaco’s drilling rig in Louisiana’s Lake Peigneur, that would be down to 1,300-odd feet below the bottom of a 10-ft deep lake. When the 14-inch wide drill bit broke through the roof of the mine, the results were predictable yet still spectacular.

(images via: Circa71 and Ticklebooth)

Thirty years before the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, carelessness on an oil rig created a chain reaction of events that saw the 1,125 square acre lake (plus several barges, trees and 65 acres of shoreline land) quickly drain into the underlying Jefferson Island salt mine.

This video from The History Channel shows some of the events connected with the catastrophic drainage of Lake Peigneur, filmed by eye-witnesses at the time:

Lake Peigneur – Disappearing Lake, via The History Channel

So, what have we learned from the Lake Peigneur disaster? Considering the salt dome beneath the now saline lake is being used as a storage for pressurized natural gas while oil drilling continues in the area, the answer is “not much”.

Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

(images via: Elgadfly and New Eurasia)

Once the 4th largest inland body of water in the world, the Aral Sea now ranks at just 10th – and falling. A victim of misguided agricultural policies enacted by a nation (the USSR) that is no more, the Aral Sea itself may soon be no more since its main inlet rivers have been dammed to provide water for cotton farms. As the lake shrinks, its waters become more and more saturated with salt , fertilizer and pesticides to the point that an estimated 75 million tons of toxic dust and salts are blown across Central Asia each year. Images of the Aral Sea’s shocking retreat taken from orbiting satellites and spacecraft are, in a word, tragic.

(image via: Econuz)

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the successor states to the USSR in which the toxic Aral Sea now lies, and although no longer bound by decrees from the Kremlin, the 2 states cannot agree on how to preserve or even restore the Aral Sea. In the meantime, the loss of over 90 percent of the sea has caused the entire region’s climate to become more extreme, and exposure to poisonous, windblown dust from the exposed lake bed has created a health crisis of immense scope. The shocking image above dates from the summer of 2009.

(image via: Telegraph UK)

There is, however, new hope for the Aral Sea as the Kazakh government and the World Bank are working to restore the lake to at least a semblance of its former size. As the images above show (2004 on the left, 2010 on the right), the Aral Sea’s surface area has rebounded 30 percent and depths in some areas have grown from 98 feet to over 130 feet.

Lake Missoula, Northwestern USA

(images via: The Resilient Earth and Glacial Lake Missoula)

Picture a lake with a surface area of 3,000 square miles containing 500 square miles of water, blocked by an ice dam that is actually an arm of a retreating glacier. This precarious image once existed, in western Montana, about 13,000 years ago and is known today as Lake Missoula. When the ice dam was breached and the lake began to drain westward towards the Pacific Ocean, a flood of biblical proportions ensued.

(images via: NPS and Summit Realty)

Not only is it estimated that it took only about 48 hours for the lake to drain completely, this nightmarish scenario is thought to have taken place as many as 40 times over a 2,000 year period. The repeated series of cataclysmic floods scoured vast stretches of eastern Oregon and Washington states into the Channeled Scablands. The remains of an enormous waterfall three times the height and width of Niagara Falls can be seen above top.

(images via: Huge Floods and Pics Digger)

Gigantic potholes, gargantuan ripple marks, dry waterfalls and other large-scale geologic features state unequivocally the incalculable power of rushing water – and lots of it. These features show some similarities to features found on the planet Mars and it’s now thought that our neighboring planet was subject to massive flooding events in its younger, wetter days.

(image via: Wikimedia)

Lakes, especially larger lakes, seem to be permanent fixtures of the landscape they occupy. In the geological big picture, however, this isn’t necessarily so and when change comes, it often comes suddenly and strikingly. Water tends to seek its own level under the influence of gravity, that’s just the way nature is… and nature knows no timetable and acts without regard to the works or wishes of Mankind.

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Inland Seas Worth Seeing: The 10 Most Amazing Lakes

Big lakes, tiny lakes, freshwater lakes, briny lakes… and more than a few that are one-of-a-kind. These 10 amazing lakes “shore” are special!
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Filed Under: Green Things
Tagged: ethiopia, events, florida, history, history & trivia, kazakhstan, nature, river, russia, sinkholes, travel, trivia, usa, video, water

Jimmy’s Place

July 13, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

At 79, Jean Lichorat of Kissimmee has outlived her family and friends. But she’s doesn’t feel alone.

“My dog is the best companion,” she says of her cocker spaniel, Joanne. “That’s my baby. I love her so much.”

Because Lichorat doesn’t have anyone to care for her dog and can’t afford a kennel, she puts off any medical test or procedure that requires an overnight stay at the hospital. She would rather risk her health than endanger, or possibly lose, her only companion.

That’s why Jimmy’s Place, the council’s soon-to-open pet hotel, means so much to Lichorat and others like her. Depending on the size of the guests staying there, the facility has room for up to 10 pets for short periods while the elderly owners are at the hospital or getting care.

“This kind of situation is very common among our elderly clients with pets,” said Robert Dent, a spokesman for the Osceola County Council on Aging. “Some will even refuse to go to the hospital after a 911 call.”

Advocates for seniors and animals said they haven’t heard of a program like Jimmy’s Place anywhere else in the state but applauded the idea.

“Kudos to them,” said Jake White, executive vice president of the SPCA of Central Florida. “It is great that an agency that supports seniors steps forward to help animals. They [animals] really make a difference in their lives and help them in many ways.”

Many studies have shown that seniors with pets have better physical health and mental well-being than those who don’t.

“A program that provides good care for a beloved animal is also providing an important support for the human who cares for that animal,” AARP Florida State Director Lori Parham said.

Jimmy’s Place has been in the works for more than a decade. It’s the brainchild of the council’s Meals on Wheels volunteers Jimmy Scarborough and his wife, Pat.

Jimmy Scarborough, a retired deputy sheriff who died in 1998, noticed that some of the program’s elderly clients couldn’t afford pet food and would split their Wheels meals with their cats or dogs. Scarborough began to buy food for the animals out of his own pocket and had the drivers — he was the program’s Kissimmee coordinator — deliver it along with the clients’ meals.

Soon the Council on Aging was on board.

“We began to collect pet food in our food drives and have been delivering it to clients with pets for years now,” Dent said.

After Jimmy Scarborough died at 89, his wife made it a point to keep the program alive and expand it to offer other services.

“We began raising money for it at Jimmy’s funeral,” Pat Scarborough, 75, said. “I told people not to spend money on flowers and give me or the council the money instead. I knew that would make Jimmy very happy.

“I spent $150 on rented plants and raised much more than that for a good cause,” she said.

Over time, the council had been looking for ways to make the pet hotel happen. It came together this year after the organization secured a couple of grants to refurbish a small space in a building it already owned.

Jimmy’s Place will officially open Friday, but it is already in operation.

Lichorat hasn’t had to use it yet, but she’s ecstatic to know it will be available for Joanne if an emergency arises.

“That’s good,” she said laughing. “Oh, wow. That’s good.”

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Cloveice DeMaintenon, 85, lives with Teleka, her Chinese crested, in an assisted-living apartment at Oak Leaf Landing in Kissimmee. If she should need to leave home to receive medical care, she won’t have to worry about Teleka, thanks to Jimmy’s Place, the free pet hotel sponsored by the Osceola Council on Aging

Beth

Filed Under: Positive News
Tagged: cats, chinese, clients, council, florida, food, green, hospital, osceola, program, scarborough, white, wife

Perpetually Petrified Bodies : 60+ Invasive Plastination Creations

April 21, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

[ By Elizah in Animals & Habitats, Art & Design, Nature & Ecosystems. ]

(Images Via: Rochester City Newspaper, The Children’s Museum, About.com, Julia Jem, Taringa!, Speaking of Art, Artgazine, Beyond Bones, CCTV, Birdhouse.org, Speaking of Art, Taxi Lady Joann)

Possessing a natural curiosity regarding what lies beneath our bodies is one thing. Being so intrigued that you pioneer a patented cadaver preservation technique called plastination and take your literally stripped, sliced and diced specimens on the road in a global museum tour called Body Worlds? Some may think that it’s just a wee bit creepy, but German anatomist Gunther von Hagens has been doing precisely that for the past 15 years, much to the intrigue, shock and discomfort of more than 26 million fidgeting international visitors.

Like a messy traffic accident, it’s almost impossible to take our eyes off of his “whole body plastinates” because they offer a window inside the mortal form, fulfilling our innate desire to explore what is traditionally off-limits (particularly when we are not personally involved in the medical profession). With each new year, the founder of Heidelberg, Germany’s Institute of Plastination offers new bodies, themes and poses for his willing audiences to gaze at, and – along with his 11 competitors’ copycat exhibits – there seem to be more human anatomy exhibits than you can shake a stick at. Here are some of the most notable of the bunch – be prepared to get your squirm on!

Body Worlds – Displaying Permanently Plasticized Humans Since 1995

(Images Via: Zimbio Pictures, Guardian, BBC, Daylife)

Creating a process in which human and animal tissue can be permanently preserved, all specimens in Gunther von Hagens’ displays undergo a four step process which yields a fully positional and manipulated final product. After embalming a corpse with formaldehyde, it is then submerged in an acetone bath and permeated with synthetic resins such as epoxy, polyester copolymer and silicone. The body is ultimately hardened in a final curing step which is achieved via ultraviolet light, gas or intense heat. From start to finish, each cadaver requires approximately 1,500 hours of labor to plastinate. Of the 10,000 willing donors that von Hagens signed since he launched his German-based Body Worlds donation program in the 90s (841 of which are Americans), his organization has accepted 531 corpses and currently processes an average of one new body daily.

Body Worlds – Rolling Out the Red Carpet For Plastinated Animals, Too

(Images Via: Johanna Basford, The Telegraph, Daylife, Life, Wildbird on the Fly, KölnTourismus, Squid!, The Local, This Is London, BBC) />

Featured in the traveling show “Body Worlds 3 & The Story of the Heart“, a 16-foot-tall plastinated giraffe, which took 22,583 man hours to prepare, is presented in translucent body slices that graduate from head to toe. Following their deaths, various other animals have been donated by zoos to von Hagens’ Body Worlds exhibit, including cats, bears, camels, ostriches, bulls, gorillas, chickens and the elephants Samba and Chiana, the latter of which required 64,000 hours, 40,000 liters of acetone and 4 tons of silicone each to transform into their finalized plastinated form.

Bodies, the Exhibition – Demonstrating That Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

(Images Via: China Daily, AK World, New York Cool, Post Gazette, Cincinnati.com, Feed My Curiosity, Art Forum, MSNBC, Jayson Potter, Trusted Tours)

Launched around the same time as Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds exhibit, Bodies, the Exhibition is a similar global presentation of plastinated cadavers produced by one of many competitors, Premier Exhibitions. As with Body Worlds, critics argue that it’s not morally acceptable to convert human bodies into permanent museum displays while millions of morbidly curious spectators continue to pay roughly $30 admission to see what all of the hullaballoo is about. Rumors surrounding how the cadavers for this particular exhibit are actually sourced have been an ongoing source of controversy. Despite claims that they use legitimately obtained bodies from the Chinese Bureau of Police as well as Chinese residents and citizens – processing them via Dalian Medical University — the news media accuses the company of obtaining black market bodies at a price of $300 each.

Jintai Plastomic — Step In Line, Copy Cat Number Two

(Images Via: Hatena Diary, Sluggo, Jintai)

Created in the Nanjing Living Creature Preservation Experimental Factory, all of the body specimens touring within Jintai Plastomic exhibitions are considered to be semi-permanent thanks to a Chinese-created plastination process called “plastomic”, which was initially developed to pay homage to Doctor Gunther von Hagens’ ground-breaking and purportedly more enduring preservation technique. With countless spectators enamored and willing to pay whatever it takes to see the tour with their own two eyes, what began as a medical and scientific teaching tool has helped the show’s creators laugh all the way to the bank.

Bodies Revealed — Yet Another von Hagens Copy Cat

(Images Via: TJ Crawford, Cubicle Gangsta, Karen Strunks, About.com, Shake Gently)

Sued by Gunther von Hagens for emulating some of the positions that his Body Worlds figures were posed in, the Bodies Revealed exhibit is still going strong because Premier Exhibitions (the operator of 19 different plastination human anatomy exhibitions touring 33 global venues) asserts that nothing about the human body can be copyrighted, and authorities are apparently in agreement. Operating under the premise that “without the body, the wisdom of the larger self cannot be known,” Bodies Revealed offers a three-dimensional tour of the human body that helps us to comprehend the intricacies of our anatomical systems along with “what makes us tick—how we function, what we need to survive, what destroys us and what revives us.” Continuing to ride high on the Nasdaq, the company is also behind similar cadaver exhibits in Seattle, Nevada, Florida, New York City, Atlanta as well as international tours in Great Britain and Seoul.

Could There Possibly Be Any Further Controversy? Um…You Betcha!

(Images Via: Telegraph, Sonog.com, Zichie’s Artosphere, Aftermath News)

Dead human bodies posed like little plastic action figures are certainly a sight to behold, triggering even the most unemotional spectators to experience a weird off-kilter factor that remains long after they’ve returned to the solace of their comfortable home and tucked into a pint of this should melt all my troubles away Ben & Jerry’s.  We can’t help but ask ourselves if the once living, breathing people on display really knew what they were signing themselves up for and if so, would they have been as enthusiastic about donating their bodies in the first place? Then that haunting question surfaces…is it possible that any of these fellow humans were indeed caught up in some sort of subversive body trade simply to fuel our entertainment?

To add insult upon injury, all of the body-themed exhibits mentioned above are filled with people just like you and me…stripped of their modesty-providing garments and actual protective skin, and in some cases, sliced into thin wafers of deli-like meat or dissected in a most unnerving manner.  The latest controversial twist comes courtesy of the original exhibit Body Worlds and its decision to delve into the normally behind closed doors world of cadaver sex, which is also referred to as necrophilia. While the liberal minded von Hagens acknowledges that intimacy and death are long considered to be taboo topics, he asserts that “death belongs to life” and “without sex, no life would exist.” Whether you agree with his statement or not, the German anatomist has managed to hop over the boundary from risky business to red alert without skipping a beat by engaging our inner peeping Toms. How can he ever top this ka-ching ensuring strategy? He’ll surely find a way…

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Butter Living: 10 Amazing Yellow Animals

April 20, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series, Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]

/> Yellow: the color of sunshine, lemons, bananas, and a surprising variety of animals. Though you may call them Mellow Yellow (quite rightly), these warmly tinted creatures don’t take their hues lightly – and neither should you. />

Yellow Bug

Bugs – and that includes beetles, butterflies, bees and more, are yellow for a number of reasons. In the case of the latter its to warn away potential predators by adopting nature’s version of road racing’s Caution flag. For others, matching the color of the plants you live on is a good way to avoid predators and/or deceive prey.

(image via: PBase/Calvin_Y)

All is not green and purple at the Mandai Orchid Garden, as this small but noticeable bug makes abundantly clear. Yellow pigment suffuses this insect’s chitinous carapace and much of its exoskeleton, save for the lower legs and compound eyes.

Yellow Crab Spider

(images via: UCI, Alana & Armin and Biosurvey/OU)

The Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) is commonly found on North American flowers such as daisies and – you guessed it – goldenrod. Close-up photos of Crab Spiders (not just the Goldenrod variety) are of interest chiefly due to the skull-like markings on the spiders’ abdomens.

(image via: What’s That Bug?)

There’s another reason as well: these voracious predators often ambush prey larger than themselves, a feat only possible due to their precise camouflage enabling a sense of surprise.

(image via: Red Orbit)

Goldenrod Crab Spiders are usually yellow but that’s not always the case, even among individual spiders. If one of these spiders should find itself on a white flower, it can change its color to match the new background. This is accomplished through the movement of liquid pigment the spiders produce and shuttle from lower to upper “skin” layers as needed. It takes one of these spiders about 6 days to change from yellow to white but as long as 30 days to accomplish the reverse color shift.

Yellow Butterfly

(image via: Richard Seaman)

The roots of the butterfly’s name are shrouded in history but it’s not unreasonable to guess that many common European butterflies flitted about on buttery yellow wings. Today, butterflies around the world have evolved to be yellow, most likely to match the nectar-laden flowers upon which they must land to feed. At these times, butterflies are most vulnerable to bird and insect predators.

(image via: Best Books Review)

Caterpillars are often yellow as well, regardless of the color of the butterfly it will someday become. The snake-like larva above combines enlarged eyespots with bright yellow coloration in an effort to dissuade predators from considering it for their next meal.

(image via: Mentalfloss)

The Clouded Sulphur is one of the most common butterflies and can often be seen in suburban settings from early spring through late fall. Though easy to see as it flies from flower to flower, the presence of small, contrasting eyespots on its wings may help this small butterfly escape becoming dinner when a “diner” gets too close.

Yellow Sea Anemone

(images via: Zoniedude1 and PBase/Wicicala)

Sea Anemones have very few, if any, natural predators and perhaps this is why they display an incredibly wide variety of colors, often quite intense in hue.

(image via: Photographers Direct)

The stinging tentacles of Sea Anemones are avoided by most fish though famously, the Clownfish (think “Finding Nemo”) is immune to the nerve-paralyzing venom and often uses anemones for hiding places when bigger fish are in the area.

(image via: Wild At Hull)

Sea anemones are not social creatures but are found in abundance in, on and around coral reefs, adding pleasant splashes of color to delight the eyes of admiring scuba divers.

Yellow Crab

(images via: Picasa/Dan, Jupiter Images and 123RF)

Crabs are one of the most successful species of crustacean, filling a number of ecological niches in varied locations on land and in the sea. Unlike their cousins the Lobsters, for whom a yellow carapace is a 30 million to 1 occurrence, yellow crabs are common within their species and their shells add a bright tone to undersea vistas.

(image via: Art Classes in Virginia)

This Fiddler Crab is delicately tinged in mild yellow with only its creamy white claws and deep black stalked eyes differing from its overall lemony hue. Fiddler Crabs conduct elaborate courtship rituals in which they flex and wave their larger claw to impress the local females – and intimidate any rival males.

Yellow Fish

(images via: Le Caribbean Islands and SwittersB)

Yellow Tang, Yellowtail, Yellow-fin, the list of fish with “Yellow” in their name is a long one. Why is yellow so frequently seen among our finned friends? It may be that filtered through seawater, sunlight doesn’t “light up” an animal who appears brilliantly tinted when viewed in the open air.

(image via: Fish-Wallpapers)

Whatever the reason, yellow fish add depth and beauty to nature’s spectrum of the sea and also to countless home tropical fish aquariums.

(image via: Howard Ho)

The above photograph by Howard Ho captures the exquisite beauty of a bright yellow fish against a rich vermillion background. Brightly pigmented fish such as this one are typically found in shallow surface waters; deep sea fish are much more blandly colored but often use bioluminescence to draw attention (and prey) to themselves.

Yellow Frog

(images via: Revinder Chahal, Deviantart/Papatheo, Douglas Barnett and Jonas Witt)

Not all bright yellow frogs are poisonous but a significant number are. Soft-bodied and small, these tropical frogs are preyed upon by a huge number of reptiles, birds and mammals. Being bright yellow warns potential predators to beware of the possibility of poisoning – a threat that works whether the yellow frog is poisonous or not.

(image via: Stephen Desroches)

In the amazing nature photo above, Stephen Desroches has managed to capture a tropical poison dart frog in a zoo’s carefully constructed approximation of its much more inaccessible natural setting.

(image via: Jose E Hernandez World)

While many so-called “bad zoos” get the lion’s share of publicity, the vast majority of zoos take great pains to ensure their “guests” enjoy a quality of life as good as, or sometimes even better, than one they’d experience in the dog-eat-dog wild world.

Yellow Snake

(images via: Discovery, Ski.org and South Florida Daily)

Yellow is not a common color for snakes, who rely heavily on ambush predation as a hunting technique. Most of the yellow snakes people are familiar with are actually albinos bred to satisfy demand from pet owners who appreciate the beauty of a yellow snake, patterned or otherwise.

(image via: Fantom-XP)

Though referred to at the source page as a “Yellow Python”, the serpentine specimen above is more likely a Caramel Burmese Python. This albino variation of the normal Burmese Python bears yellow and orange patterning on a pale base and is distinguished by its eyes, said to resemble the color of milk chocolate.

Yellow Bird

(images via: JLV Photoblog, Usefilm and Baby Animal Photos)

From baby ducks and chicks to domestic canaries to the sweetly singing Yellow Warbler who visits America’s backyards during its long migrations, yellow birds seem to be everywhere – check your bathtub for a rubber ducky.

(image via: Talbot Carvings)

The only place yellow birds seem to be rare is on the pro baseball field: we’ve got Cardinals, Blue Jays and Orioles, so why no love for the noble Goldfinch?

(image via: Punjabi Lok Virsa)

The wide variety of wholly or partially yellow birds, combined with their naturally beautiful range of movement, makes them popular subjects for amateur and professional photographers alike. The above bird, a type of woodpecker known as the Yellow-Shafted Flicker, is caught here just as it leaves its nest somewhere deep in an American forest.

Yellow Mongoose

(images via: Nigel Dennis, Zool UZH, Giau Ngo and Panoramio/Edgar181944)

Relatively common and not considered threatened throughout its home range in southern Africa; in fact 12 subspecies of the raccoon-like burrowing mammal have been identified. The Yellow Mongoose has golden fur shading to a paler yellow tint on its underside, topped off with a white-tipped tail.

(image via: Barrowfordian)

Judging from its fierce scowl and bared teeth, it’s hard to imagine this Yellow Mongoose being a close relative of the shy, cute Meerkats from the popular TV show Meerkat Manor. In fact, another name for the Yellow Mongoose is the Red Meerkat. The angry-looking fella above makes his (or her) home at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria, UK.

/> (image via: UNP)

Yellow in color though not in temperament, these “Sunny Jims” of the animal kingdom add a dash of bright gold to an often earthy Earthly environment. Speaking of Jim, we’ll close with one particular human animal who has adopted brilliant yellow coloration as his way to stand out in a crowd. We think he’s very successful… who’d argue otherwise, especially to his bright yellow face?

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Signs of Life: 7 New Animals to Emerge This Spring

April 18, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

[ By Chris in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]

(Images via: Of Interest, Reptilix, Webspinners, Fried Mush, BBC, Neat-O-Rama, Flickr)

As the weather changes from cold to pleasantly warm, familiar animals reemerge from their winter retreats while new species are uncovered worldwide. From color-changing frogs and amphibious insects to big-toothed leeches and strangely endowed lizards, a week’s worth of new animals has been discovered in recent months, leading to much intrigue.

“Leeches!” of the Big-Toothed Variety

(Images via: Wired, Tree Hugger, National Geographic, PLos One)

Thank goodness the “Stand By Me” kids weren’t searching for a dead body in the Peruvian Amazon, where a new species of big-toothed leeches was recently discovered, specifically in the nose of a young girl. While only reaching 3 inches in length, Tyrannobdella rex (i.e. the “tyrant leech king”) is referred to as the T-rex of leeches because of its surprisingly large teeth, which are used to suck blood from the noses, eyes, urethras, rectums and other orifices of mammals. As detailed in a new study in the April 14th version of PLos One, researchers were surprised by not only Tyrannobdella rex’s teeth but the leech’s genitalia, which are relatively small when compared to other leech species that rapidly reproduce. In good news, the T. Rex leeches and their big teeth may be used for future medical purposes, specifically to develop anticoagulants that stop blood clotting.

Giant Monitor Lizards: Like and Unlike Komodo Dragons

(Image via: Joseph Brown on National Geographic)

Speaking of a recently discovered species with strange genitalia, there’s the Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard or Varanus bitatawa. As detailed in the journal Biology Letters, this giant, secretive lizard was captured in the Philippines, where it’s been hiding high up in the trees for years. Weighing as much as 22 pounds and matching many humans in length at 6 feet, the monitor lizard is also a vegetarian – but that’s not the biggest surprise at all. Apparently Varanus bitatawa has a split, doubled-edged penis, which is certainly unique to this form of lizard species. According to researchers, this giant lizard is closely related to the Komodo dragon, that is besides its genitalia and eating habits.

Blind Worm Snakes: Rich History, New Family

(Images via: Reptile Forums UK, Flickr, Field Photography, Utah Herps)

The giant monitor lizard is not the only new reptile to be recently discovered and examined in Biology Letters; scientists have recognized a new family of wormlike, blind snakes that have likely been around since the formation of the island of Madagascar, which occurred roughly 94 million years ago. Through analysis of different blind snake genes, scientists were able to determine that the “new” family of blind snakes arose shortly after Madagascar broke from what is now India. Amazingly, blind snakes exist on every continent except Antarctica, thanks to continental drifting. Reaching up to one foot in length, blind snakes look and act like worms. While both burrow under the surface, blind snakes are different from worms in that they have backbones and scales, and send more chills down the spine.

Giant Isopod: A Rarely Seen Deep-Sea Monster

(Images via: Driftline, Zoology FNS Uniba)

(Images via: Calle, Flickr, Flickr)

Speaking of terrifying, a rarely seen giant isopod called Bathynomus giganteus was recently pulled to shore during a deep-sea submarine expedition. Related to shrimps and crabs, this freakish-looking crustacean looks like it could have been cast as the oversized villain in a low-budget, horror movie from the fifties. Actually found in the deep, cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Bathynomus giganteus is known for scavenging the carcasses of dead whales, fish and squid. According to some researchers, these strange isopods may get their massive figures from colder water temperatures that promote larger cell sizes. Whatever the cause, keep this creature out of sight, that is unless it is on a dinner plate.

Oxygen-Free Animals: Similar to the Jellyfish

(Images via: Roberto Danovero on National Geographic)

What Bathynomus giganteus is to the deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, complex organisms that resemble tiny jellyfish and live without oxygen are to the Mediterranean Sea. Researchers recently discovered three new species of multicellular organisms that are less than a millimeter wide, microscopic and capable of surviving long-term without oxygen. As detailed in the journal BMC Biology, these animals apparently have modified mitochondria that allow it to convert nutrients into energy without the need of oxygen. Prior to this discovery, scientists previously thought that only viruses and single-cell microbes could live without oxygen. They now stand corrected.

Amphibious Caterpillars: Versatile on Land and Underwater

(Images via: Jet Lib, Science Mag, LA Times)

Just as the aforementioned multicellular organisms amaze with their abilities to live underwater without oxygen, so do 14 new caterpillar species. Distinct to the fast-moving streams of Hawaii, these caterpillars from the Hyposmocoma species are truly the first amphibious insects. Capable of living on both land and underwater, these amphibious caterpillars spend most of their time in cocoon-like, hardened silk cases that were originally believed to act like underwater oxygen tanks but actually do not serve in this manner. Some researchers propose that these amphibious caterpillars are able to breathe through their skin, which could explain why they are only found in fast-moving streams. Anyways, these caterpillars will seal themselves in their cases prior to becoming moths, and emerge as their new beings when their homes float to the top of the water.

Color-Changing Frogs: From Dangerous to Delicious?

(Images via: Maxi Sciences, Mongabay)

Speaking of amphibians, a new frog species called Oreophryne ezra has stunned researchers with its ability to change from a black and yellow polka-dotted youngster to a bright orange adult. Found in southeastern Papua New Guinea, this color-changing frog has researchers wondering why it would look like a poison-dart frog in its youth but lose this potential advantage against predators in adulthood. Apparently, there is much more to learn about frogs besides these compounding color changes. Researchers have recorded Argentine horned frog tadpoles screaming when in distress, marking what is believed to be the first instance of vertebrate larvae using sound to communicate underwater. It turns out that not all frogs are as simple as Kermit.

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Critical Condition: 12 Very Rare and Endangered Animals

April 11, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

[ By Chris in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]

(Images via: Lists O Plenty, ESA Blawg, Davo Trip, Fat Birder, Say I Am Green, Current, Flickr, The Age, The Website of Everything, Green Packs, Flickr, It’s Nature)

Last week the Wildlife Conservation Society released a report called The Rarest of the Rare, which detailed 12 animals that are “critically endangered” (i.e. “at an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild”). See what made the list of critically endangered animals, some of which have seen their populations decline by approximately 80 percent in the last 10 years.

Cuban Crocodile: Say Goodbye to My Hardly Little Friend?

(Images via: NGS, Flickr, Independent)

Reaching lengths of up to 11 feet, the Cuban crocodile has dwindled to an estimated population of 4,000, with some of these crocodiles likely hybrids of Cuban and American crocodiles. Illegal hunting that targets Cuban crocodile meat has been a large culprit in the decline of this species.

Florida Bonneted Bat: Not Extinct, But Close

(Images via: Tree Hugger, Bat Con, Animal Diversity, Bat Conservation)

The largest bat in the Sunshine State, the Florida bonneted bat was thought to be extinct until 2002, when a small colony was discovered in a suburb. Only 100 Florida bonneted bats are thought to exist today, with pesticide spraying and deforestation that has destroyed roosting sites believed to have clipped these bats known for their 21-inch wingspans.

Fungus Makes Green-Eyed Frogs Feel Green

(Image via: Davo Trip)

Once common in Costa Rica and Panama, the diminutive green-eyed frog is not only small in size (roughly 2.5 inches long) but population, with only a few hundred of these frogs still living today. Chytrid fungus and exposure to agricultural chemicals have killed and deformed these frogs.

Grenada Dove: A National Bird for How Long?

(Images via: OAS, Wildlife Extra, Life Afloat, Flickr)

Featured on postage stamps in this Caribbean island, the Grenada dove has been reduced to an estimated population of 150, with this pink-breasted, national bird severely impacted by habitat loss and the predatory introduction of mongooses, cats and rats. A 10-year recovery plan has been implemented to boost populations of the Grenada dove, which hopefully won’t become a thing of the past.

Hirola: Concern for the Spectacled Antelope

(Images via: Rufford Small Grants, Discovery, Wangui)

With white markings around the head, the African antelope known as the hirola or Hunter’s hartebeest looks like it is wearing glasses. Forgive the hirola if it appears more than a little concerned: only an estimated 600 of these antelopes exist today as a result of disease, predators, habitat loss, severe droughts and poaching. Sadly, the hirola has been legally protected in places like Kenya and Somalia since the 1970s; however, enforcement has been more than ineffective during this time period.

Ploughshare Tortoise: Carrying a Large Burden

(Images via: Lists O Plenty, The Conservation Report, Wildlife Extra)

With only 200 mature and 400 individual members remaining in northwestern Madagascar, the ploughshare tortoise is expected to go extinct within the next 30 years if current threats such as hunting, poaching and smuggling for the international pet trade continue to go undeterred.

Island Gray Fox: Small in Size and Population

(Images via: Wildlife North America, Britannica, Wildlife Mysteries)

Weighing 3 to 4 pounds, the island gray fox is not only the smallest fox in the United States but a rapidly declining species. Less than 1,000 island gray foxes are left today on 6 of the California Channel Islands as a result of canine diseases, golden eagle threats, and previous programs that killed these foxes to protect another endangered species, the endemic loggerhead shrikes. Thankfully, these killing efforts were stopped in 2003.

Sumatran Orangutans: Hardly Worth Laughing About

(Images via: Bio Web, Orangutan Foundation, Durrell)

Mostly living in Indonesia, the Sumatran orangutan population is down to roughly 6,600 individuals, according to a 2008 survey. Logging and deforestation have had adverse effects on these orangutans, which have been orphaned, captured for trade or killed for various reasons.

Vaquita: A Porpoise That Needs A Purpose

(Images via: CSI Whales Alive, Save the Vaquita, Save Bio Gems, INE)

A porpoise that looks a bit like a plump dolphin, the vaquita is respectively recognized by dark rings around its eyes and patches on its beak. Nowadays the vaquita is hardly recognized due to its small numbers: only 150 individuals are left as the result of fishing gillnets, reduced water flows and water pollution.

White-Headed Langur: Finding It Hard to Reproduce

(Images via: New York Times, Flickr, New York Times)

As few as 59 white-headed langurs are left on the once isolated but more recently populated Cat Ba Island near Vietnam, with many of these species split into all female groups. In addition to deforestation, a major threat to these langurs has been hunting, specifically for a traditional Chinese medicine preparation called monkey balm.

Romer’s Tree Frog: Easy to Get Lost

(Images via: Yearbook, Compunicate, Yearbook, Electronic Gallery of HKU)

Less than 0.8 inches long, the Romer’s tree frog of Hong Kong was once thought to be extinct following airport construction that wiped out its habitat. In good news, this tree frog is still alive, with active breeding programs contributing to a couple thousand Romer’s being released in the wild in the 1990s.

Przewalski’s Horse: Back Kicking in the Wild

(Images via: ZSL, Shoarns, National Zoo)

Did you know that the Przewalski’s horse, with its stocky body and short neck, is the only true living species of wild horse? Or that this horse once became extinct in the wild and could only be found in zoos? In recent years the Przewalski’s horse has been reintroduced into native habitats in Mongolia following dedicated conservation efforts. Today there are more than 300 Przewalski’s horses in the wild, not only serving as an important reminder to protect endangered animals but offering proof that there is hope for other threatened species if saved in time. For more information on these critically endangered animals, check out the WCS report: The Rarest of the Rare.

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