The Peacock Spider

The Peacock spider or Gliding spider (Maratus volans) is a species of jumping spider.
The species name means "flying" in Latin, because it was at first thought that the
flaps help the spider in gliding. The red, blue and black colored males have flap-like
extensions of the abdomen with white hairs that can be folded down. They are used
for display during mating: the male raises his abdomen, then expands and raises the
flaps so that the abdomen forms a white-fringed, circular field of color.

The Whole 2-Yards: Giraffe Neck Growth Patterns

The giraffe’s neck actually contains the same number of cervical (neck) vertebrae
found in nearly all other mammals. (For a discussion of the very few mammals
to deviate the magic number of seven cervicals, see this Endless Forms post).
The rate at which these vertebrae develop relative to other parts of the giraffe’s
body, including its head and overall body mass, however, has not been adequately
explored.

More at: www.scilogs.com/endless_forms

Nat Geo Amatuer Photo Contest Winner

Overall winner of the National Geographic Best Underwater Pictures 2013.
Check out the runner-ups here: Nationalgeographic.com/contest

Giant Squid First Time on Film

Giant squid, like all squid, have sharp beaks, not unlike those of a parrot. They use them for biting into the fish and invertebrates that they eat. In the stomach of a Sperm whale, those beaks can accumulate. In fact, Sperm whales are often found to have thousands of the beaks in their stomachs!

But the sharp beaks irritate the stomach lining. As a reaction to the irritation of all the squid beaks, the whale produces in its intestines a cholesterol derivative which has come to be called ambergris. First discovered in ancient times as a substance of unknown origin which would wash ashore, it wasn't until the whaling era that the true source of the material was found.

When it is first removed from a whale, ambergris is a thick, black, foul-smelling liquid. Later, it hardens into a waxy aromatic substance. When heated, it produces a pleasant earthy aroma. It was used as a fixative in perfumes because it causes the scent of perfume to last much longer. The Greeks, Chinese, Japanese and Arabs have all held ambergris in high regard. Today we have synthetic substances which accomplish the same thing, so there is no need to hunt whales for it, and trade in ambergris is now banned worldwide by treaty. Yet, every once in a while a rare piece will still wash ashore somewhere.

Phantom Limbs

Salamanders can grow back lost limbs, and scientists have now discovered
that immune cells are the key to this regeneration, taking us a step closer to being
able to heal human tissue in the same way. The researchers found that cells known
as macrophages are crucial to the salamanders' unique healing abilities, and could
one day help treat spinal cord and brain injuries in humans.

More here: www.sciencealert.com

Lygodium Spider Moth

This is the Lygodium Spider Moth (Siamusotima aranea). The species was
originally discovered in Thailand in 2005, but only recently described by
entomologists. It evolved with spider leg markings on its wings to fool
predators.

Miniature Paintings By Hasan Kale

Turkish painter Hasan Kale paints on every small object he finds. A needle,
a seed, a butterfly wing or a lump sugar turns into a canvas in his hands. He
paints Istanbul panoramas, the city which inspires him, on these small objects.
His art is inspired by Mohammed of the Black Pen’s brush technique and
Levni’s color harmony.

Macro photos by Israel-based Dmitriy Yoav Reinshtein

More at:
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/dmitriy-yoav-reinshtein-macro-bug-photos

Pink Fairy Armadillo

 
The pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) or pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo (mammals of the family Dasypodidae, mostly known for having a bony armor shell). It is found in central Argentina, where it inhabits dry grasslands and sandy plains with thorn bushes and cacti.

It is a nocturnal animal. It burrows small holes near ant colonies in dry soil, and feeds mainly on ants and ant larvae near its burrow. Occasionally, it feeds on worms, snails, insects and larvae, or various plant and root material.

The pink fairy armadillo spends much of its time under the ground, as it is a "sand swimmer" similar to the golden mole or the marsupial mole. It uses large front claws to agitate the sand, allowing it to almost swim through the ground like it is water. It is torpedo-shaped, and has a shielded head and back.

Source: wikipedia.com

Cordyceps Parasitic Fungus

This unfortunate arachnid is infected with Cordyceps, a parasitic fungus that
replaces its host's tissue with its own.

Cordyceps fungi invades its hosts (mainly arthropods), and its mycelium
eventually replaces the host's tissue. Once the arthropod is dead, cylindrical
or branching growths emerge from the creature's dead body. Some species
also have mind-control capabilities, convincing the host to travel to a place
where the fungus will find optimal growth conditions before the host dies.

Surface Tension

Worlds Shiniest Living Thing

These Pollia condensata berries are so colorful that they might have been picked
minutes ago. In fact, they were gathered in 1974. Found deep in the Ghana forest,
this tropical metre-tall herb sprouts its shiny berry-like fruits in clusters up to
40-strong. These little orbs are iridescent – they use special layers of cells, arranged
just so, to reflect colours with extraordinary intensity. This trick relies on the micro-
scopic physical structures of the cells, rather than on any chemical pigments. Indeed,
the fruits have no blue pigment at all. Like beetles and butterflies the color does not
degrade over time. Researchers say that P. condensata's blue is the most intense color
in the natural world.

Source: www.wired.com/best-science-imges-2012

Carnivorous Grasshopper Mouse

 It's the southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus), the only carnivorous
mouse in North America. Its unique biology and resistance to scorpion venom
may one day help researchers treat human pain disorders. But for now, it's just after blood.
Its behavior is rather distinct from other mice. It is a carnivorous rodent, dining
on insects (such as grasshoppers), worms, scorpions, snakes, and even other mice.
It also stalks its prey in the manner of a cat sneaking up quietly, and defends its
territory by "howling" like a small wolf.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Methane Trapped in Ice

Bubbles of methane trapped in frozen Abrams lake, Canada.

Photographer Fikret Onal explains, "The plants on the lake bed release methane
gas and methane gets frozen once coming close enough to much colder lake surface
and they keep stacking up below once the weather gets colder and colder during
the winter season."

Colugos

Colugos are arboreal gliding mammals found in South-east Asia. There are just
two extant species, which make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order
Dermoptera. They are the most capable of all gliding mammals, using flaps of
extra skin between their legs to glide from higher to lower locations.
They are also known as cobegos or flying lemurs, though they are not true lemurs.

Colugos were traditionally considered being close to the ancestors of bats, but
are now seen by some as the closest living relatives to primates. 

Pen-tailed Tree Shrew Likes the Sauce

Malaysia's pen-tailed tree shrew (above) regularly drinks fermented palm "beer,"
which in turn helps pollinate the palms' flowers, scientists reported in July 2008.

The pen-tailed tree shrew is the first non-human mammal known to display
alcoholic behavior. What's more, the rat-size animal never gets drunk during
its nonstop jungle jamborees.

Since the tiny mammal is related to primate ancestors, the find also suggests humans'
taste for alcohol may have begun well before the believed advent of brewing about
9,000 years ago.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/30498685.html

Ogre-Faced Spider

The spider family Deinopidae consists of stick-like elongate spiders that build
unusual webs that they suspend between the front legs. When prey approaches,
the spider will stretch the net to two or three times its relaxed size and propel
itself onto the prey, entangling it in the web. Because of this, they are also called
net-casting spiders.

A Star-Nosed Mole’s Nose

The star-nosed mole is easily identified by the 11 pairs of pink fleshy
appendages ringing its snout, which is used as a touch organ with more
than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, known as Eimer's organs, with
which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around. With the help of
its Eimer's organs, it may be perfectly poised to detect seismic wave
vibrations. Because the star-nosed mole is functionally blind, the snout
was long suspected to be used to detect electrical activity in prey
animals, though little, if any, empirical support has been found for
this hypothesis.

These moles also possess the ability to smell underwater, accomplished
by exhaling air bubbles onto objects or scent trails and then inhaling the
bubbles to carry scents back through the nose.

Photo by Kenneth Catania, National Geographic, October 2009