The Pacu Fish: The terrifying Pacu Fish, a species native to South America, seem to have a full set of almost humanlike teeth. They are closely related to the piranha and are nicknamed the “ball cutter.”
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The Shoebill: This species is also referred to using the names Whalehead or Shoe-billed Stork. The bird has a large shoe-shaped bill, hence its unusual name. The Shoebill lives in tropical east Africa in large swamps from Sudan to Zambia, and it is also known for its unique, blue feathers. These birds are quite large, and they can range in height from 110cm - 152cm.
The Bush Viper: The Bush Viper lives in the trees of the tropical forests in Africa and it does most of its hunting at night. This snake may look fierce, but it’s actually one of the smallest species of snake, with a maximum length of only 78cm.
The Indian Purple Frog: This rare species of frog commonly found in India is much more bloated and round than its other frog counterparts. The Indian Purple Frog also has a small head and an unusual snout. It is so rare because it only spends TWO WEEKS above ground every year.
Stunning Bond Between Cheetah and DogSanurra, a cheetah cub at Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR, has no siblings to keep her company in captivity—so from the age of 5 months she has been paired with Ellie, an Anatolian Shepherd. The two have formed an unlikely friendship. In Africa, the Anatolian Shepherd has been used to keep cheetahs away from cattle herds—and thus farmers have no need to kill the predators. But in captivity the two have created a mutual support system.
Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/news/photos/Amazing-Photos-Unlikely-Animal-Friends#ixzz2dW8d6yFk Lab Mom to Orphaned RabbitsKoa, a 6-year-old Lab, was chasing lizards in the backyard of her San Francisco home when she discovered three orphaned baby rabbits in a nest in the dirt. Ever since, owner Tina Case says, Koa has taken on the role of mom to the two survivors. “They hop all over her and always find their way to the crook of her legs, where it is warm and sheltered. Koa has never been a mother, and these are like her puppies.” As soon as they’re big enough, Tina says, she plans to release the rabbits back into the wild.
Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/news/photos/Amazing-Photos-Unlikely-Animal-Friends#ixzz2dW7Y8Qsi This old timer has been around and probably has a few tales to tell. He is sporting a major battle scare where his right arm once was.
Any one want to guess how long this beast is? I say 16 feet. That the Ragdoll cat got its name because when you pick them up the go limp like a "Ragdoll" I know this for a fact as I own one. They also have fur that is very simular to rabbit fur as well as a extra long tail. These cats are very loving and the "fight" instinct has been bred out of them so it can be dangerous for them if confronted by another cat as they won't defen Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic News Published August 29, 2012 Do black bears count in the woods? Possibly, according to a recent study that shows the mammals are as smart as primates. In experiments, captive bears showed that they could perform numerical tasks, including distinguishing the number of dots on an image. Even though bears have the largest relative brain size of any carnivore (still not as big as primates), surprisingly little research has been done on their cognitive abilities, according to the study. (Read "Animal Minds" in National Geographic magazine.) The new research shows for the first time that "bears and other animals that have been neglected by cognitive scientists ... may show abilities similar to species more like humans," study co-author Jennifer Vonk, a comparative psychologist at the University of Oakland in Rochester, Michigan, said by email. Will Work for Food For the experiment, three black bears in their enclosure in Alabama's Mobile Zoo were given the opportunity to approach a touch-screen computer on a rolling cart. The large carnivores, which are generally "motivated to work for food," proved willing participants, Vonk said. When a bear walked up to the computer, the screen flashed two images—for instance, a set of large dots and a set of small dots, which were both randomly colored black or red. Each bear was already trained to touch the computer with its nose or paw, and would do this to choose an image, according to the study, published in June in the journal Animal Behaviour. If the bear touched the "correct" category—randomly determined by the scientists—the computer beeped melodically and the animal got a food reward. If the bear touched the incorrect category, the computer buzzed and the next pair of images was shown. To show if the bear had learned what image was correct (say, a high or low number of dots), the scientists showed them a new set of images that were of the same type as the previous ones. The results showed all the bears were able to choose the correct image that got them food. It set the stage to look closer at their ability to "count." (See National Geographic's bear videos.) "Counting" Bear A further experiment discovered that one bear, named Brutus, could also discriminate numbers. Brutus was shown two images—one with a set of large dots and another with a set of small dots. This was followed by another two images, in each of which the dots were moving and placed on a background of a different size than the previous images. The bear still chose the correct image despite these "conflicting cues," suggesting he can "count" the dots to distinguish the one to get him a treat, Vonk said. (Watch video: "Smart Animals.") Even so, "it's too early to call it counting per se," she noted. Because the task was voluntary, Vonk struggled with the bears all trying to participate at once—knowing a treat was imminent. "The hardest part was giving only one access to the screen," she said. (See bear pictures.) Dave Garshelis, who was not involved in the study but serves as bear project leader at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said that the bears may have found it relatively easy to respond to the color of the dots because they resemble berries, one of the black bear's main food sources. For instance, black bears are able to discern the preferred ripe blackberries—which are black—from unripe blackberries, which are red. He also added that the experiment was geared toward visual acuity—the most comfortable sense for humans, but not so much for bears, whose sense of smell is a thousand times greater than a person's. In the experiment, "you've actually stripped them of their main sense that they make decisions by, which is their sense of smell," he said. Garshelis suspects the bears would have performed even better on the tests if there'd been smells emanating from the screen. Bears Evolved Smarts to Find Food? It makes sense that bears would be smart—as loner omnivores, the animals must problem solve to root out a variety of food sources, the authors noted. Garshelis agreed that bears' cognitive abilities may result from them having to respond to rapidly changing food sources. "Imagine if you were on a buffet line and you're moving through and making the choice of what to put on your plate, and the people who set the food up are constantly changing it in front of you and you never know what's coming," he said. That's what bears face when finding fruit each summer, which can be abundant one year but scarce the next, he said. Roger Powell, a bear expert at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, agreed, adding via email, "All I can say is that from over 20 years of doing research on bears, I was constantly impressed with their intelligence. "They are highly adapted to find new foods that become available and to take advantage of foods that are very different and that must be acquired in new ways the bears have never used before," said Powell, who was not involved in the research. Overall, the finding may open up possibilities for comparing the cognitive abilities of bears and primates, Vonk said. Primates have been performing computerized tasks for decades. "It is exciting to consider," the study said, "that such divergent species can be tested in the same way to promote a fuller picture" of animal smarts. Katia Andreassi
National Geographic News Published August 31, 2012 Venus the two-faced cat is currently the most famous feline on the planet. The three-year-old tortoiseshell has her own Facebook page and a YouTube video that's been viewed over a million times, and appeared on the Today Show last week. (Watch National Geographic cat videos.) One look at this cat and you can understand why: One half is solid black with a green eye—the other half has typical orange tabby stripes and a blue eye. How does a cat end up looking like that? Leslie Lyons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies the genetics of domestic cats said she's never seen a cat exactly like Venus. "She is extremely, extremely rare," Lyons said. "But you can explain it and you can understand it." Is Venus a Chimera? Many reports about Venus refer to the cat as a "chimera." In mythology, a chimera is a mishmash monster made up of parts of different animals. A feline chimera is a cat whose cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together. Among cats, "chimeras are really not all that rare," Lyons said. In fact, most male tortoiseshell cats are chimeras. The distinctively mottled orange and black coat is a sign that the cat has an extra X chromosome. But female cats, said Lyons, already have two X chromosomes so they can sport that coat without the extra X. That means Venus is not necessarily a chimera. To find out would require genetic testing, said Lyons. With samples of skin from each side of the cat, "we can do a DNA fingerprint—just like on CSI--and the DNA from one side of the body should be different than the other." Cat's Blue Eye Another Mystery If Venus isn't actually a chimera, then what would explain her amazing face? "Absolute luck," Lyons said. One theory: perhaps the black coloration was randomly activated in all the cells on one side of her face, while the orange coloration was activated on the other, and the two patches met at the midline of her body as she developed. Cat fanciers who are transfixed by Venus's split face may be missing the real story: her single blue eye. Cat eyes are typically green or yellow, not blue. (Take a cat quiz.) A blue-eyed cat is typically a Siamese or else a cat with "a lot of white on them," she explained. Venus appears to have only a white patch on her chest, which to Lyons is not enough to explain the blue eye. "She is a bit of a mystery." |