Friday, December 28, 2012


The Australian sundew plant uses its sticky “dewdrops” to attract and trap the
insects that are its food.

Photo by Helene Schmitz, March 2010 National Geographic

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Tasmanian Tiger


 Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one", was the largest
 known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the
Tasmanian tiger (because of its striped back) or the Tasmanian wolf. Native to
continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it is thought to have become
extinct in the 20th century. It was the last extant member of its family, Thylacinidae;
specimens of other members of the family have been found in the fossil record
dating back to the early Miocene.

Despite its official classification as extinct, sightings are still reported, though none
has been conclusively proven. The thylacine was one of only two marsupials to have
a pouch in both sexes (the other being the water opossum). The male thylacine had
a pouch that acted as a protective sheath, covering the male's external reproductive
organs while he ran through thick brush. It has been described as a formidable predator
because of its ability to survive and hunt prey in extremely sparsely populated areas.
 
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine

Plant Systematics Wall Chart Circa 1878


Polysiphonia Subulata (red algae genus)

This shows the freshwater green alga Volvox globator. Many individual cells
 live together forming a beautiful spherical colony. Some of them are specialized
for reproduction.

"Living nature is the best teacher and pedagogue; an artistic medium of
representation tries to replace nature and this can be possible in practice only
 if the images are true to natural objects."

Source: http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/

Thursday, December 13, 2012


Perth Zoo has managed to breed two baby echidnas (known as puggles). Only
24 puggles have been successfully born in captivity, and these new-borns
represent the first successful breeding of zoo born echidnas. Breeding echnidnas
is notoriously difficult so the information gathered from these infants as they
grow will be vital in learning more about the reproduction of this species.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Sunday, December 2, 2012


Artwork by Ben Giles.