The AP Is Watching

I think the AP is watching this blog. I post on spider monkeys, then they feature spider monkeys. Or is it just synchronicity? I think I'll try posting on how I won a million dollars and see what they do with that. Though, their article might reference a California man who was killed by his relatives when he wouldn't share his bounty with them.

Regardless, enjoy that scabrous face. I'm off to go get a popsicle.

Photo source: Felipe Dana

Surfing Alpaca

Domingo Pianezzi has been training dogs to surf for years, but he's the first one to get an alpaca on a board. I wonder how he chose this alpaca. I wonder how he first introduced the alpaca to the ocean. I've always read that camelids are ill-tempered. I imagine being bedraggled doesn't help.

Photo source: Pilar Olivares via Yahoo! News

Time for More Mantids

I think it high time that we enjoyed another sampling of Igor Siwanowicz's amazing mantid photos. The world would be a different place if these aliens came in larger sizes.

Wha...what?

What in the world is this? It can't be a living thing. It's all got to be fabricated. Is it a toupee endowed with the breath of life? Is it something I need to check under my covers for every night? Are my children safe?

Reveal the hoax to me, people. I must know. Please.

Thanks, James. For nothing.

UPDATE: Anonymous and Neil have identified this as a sea mouse. They are marine worms that inhabit moderately deep waters. This worm has no doubt lost its breath of life. And, what's better, I have nothing to fear, so long as my personal nightmare of sinking to the bottom of the ocean in a leaky submarine doesn't come true.

A Bit about the Goblin Shark

Like so many deep sea fishes, not much is known about the goblin shark. But here's a bit of what we do know:

1) They are bottom feeders.

2) The smallest one on record was 3.51 feet. The largest one was 12.6 feet.

3) As far as reproduction goes, they are thought to be ovoviviparous, but a pregnant female has never been captured. And we've never seen goblin shark babies.

4) They are described as having a large mouth and a soft, flabby body. I have at least that in common with the goblin shark.

Thanks for the shark, Ellie.

Photo source: Discovery

Megabats

According to Mrs. Rutkowski, these three bats (Wahlberg's epauleted bat, the Honduran white, and the gray-headed flying fox) are good examples of megabats (UPDATE: it turns out that the Honduran white is NOT a megabat. But I'll leave it here to the comments make sense).

What's a megabat? The name itself can be a bit misleading, as the smallest of this group is only about 2.4 inches long. In general, they're fruit eaters and nectar lickers. They don't use echolocation (except for an Egyptian species). This is all in contrast to microbats, who tend to use echolocation and eat insects.

Of course, no where in the line up is the draculabat. I think we may have a certain Transylvanian editing Wikipedia for his own purposes.

The Marsupial Mole

Booge asked that I post on the marsupial mole, and I aim to please.

Behold this little-understood borrowing marsupial of Australia. These blind, earless creatures rarely come to the surface, so we don't know much about them. But when they do rear their endearing heads, we are given a treat. They don't dig permanent burrows, but actually collapse their tunnels behind them as they go. They've got a unique feature to them: their neck vertebrae are fused together to facilitate their burrowing.

I once had a neurosurgeon recommend that I have my c5 & c6 vertebrae fused to treat a ruptured disc. I refused him, and I'm all better. Ah, to think I would have had something in common with this little beast. I can't help but respect any animal that can eat a centipede head first.

Photo source: Ken Tucky

Sort Out The Theme

I'll let you sort out the theme of this post. The participants: a skink, a snake, a tapir, and an okapi.