šš The massive mola mola, also known as a sunfish, holds the title of the world's largest bony fish! The heaviest recorded mola mola tipped the scales at an incredible 5,070 lbs (2,300 kg). š² These ocean giants can produce up to 300 million eggs at onceāmore than any other vertebrateāand they spawn multiple times throughout their lives. šš
From Dan Europe Hungary
Photo Credits: Daniel Botelho
#CrittersOfMastodon
YIIKES!
When male & female anglerfish mate, their reproductive process is highly unusual and adapted to the unique conditions of the deep sea. In this vast and dark environment, where encounters between potential mates are rare, the mating strategy of anglerfish involves a dramatic physiological transformation. The male anglerfish, upon finding a female, latches onto her with his teeth and becomes permanently attached.
Once the male anglerfish has attached to the female, a process of fusion begins. Over time, the male's body physically melds with the femaleās. His eyes and internal organs degenerate and vanish, leaving him with only the essential reproductive tissues. The male's circulatory system also merges with that of the female, creating a shared bloodstream. This fusion allows the male to rely entirely on the female for nourishment and oxygen, while he provides sperm for fertilization.
For the first time ever in history, the 'clear photograph' of an ant is released and that's how it looks - the very same insect roaming inside your house, garden and everywhere!
The close-up portrait of an ant was clicked by photographer Eugenijus Kavaliauskas and he won a prize for the capture at 2022 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition that was magnified five times under a microscope!
David Attenborough
#Alien
@scaryboots
Alien? NO but certainly could have been the inspiration for what we commonly think of as an alien face!
Frrom all accounts this is commonly known as a PANTHER Chameleon.
In general: They inhabit warm climates mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Over half of them live on the island of Madagascar - around 60 species ONLY live there.
They evolved 65 million years ago shortly after dinosaurs went extinct.
The smallest one is the size of a match stick head!
For all FIFTY "COOL CHAMELEON FACTS" check this out:
https://www.chameleonschool.com/facts/
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Gulper eels, aka Pelican eels, have one of the tiniest skulls of any animal in comparison to the size of their jaw - a result of their adaptation to the deep-sea environment where food is scarce.
Enormous jaws allow them to swallow whatever prey they happen upon in the vast space of the deep sea1. The upper and lower jaw are so big that when its mouth is closed and folded up, itās almost half the length of its body.
Some of the usual jaw bones are missing & others are loosely attached to the skull. This reduction in skeletal structure, along with reduced musculature, helps the eel better match the density of the water. So Gulper Eels donāt need to use any energy to stay in place, and can save it up for lunging at prey.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/gulper-eel-video-deep-sea-fish-nautilus-news
These animals can never be politicians.
A: they're animals
B: they're just too transparent!
MONKEYS - CUTE!
SLUGS - NOT CUTE!
ENTER THE MONKEY SLUG..not cute. but worthy of living? Perhaps.
The Monkey Slug, also known as the Hag Moth caterpillar, is a fascinating creature with a peculiar appearance. Known scientifically as Phobetron pithecium, this caterpillar resembles a hairy, disheveled mess rather than its namesake primate.
Primarily found in the eastern United States, the Monkey Slug has a unique, even bizarre, set of features that set it apart from other caterpillars. Some distinctive characteristics include:
Six fleshy, hairy projections called āarmsā
Brown coloration that can help it blend into its surroundings
Resemblance to a dead leaf as a form of camouflage
Here are two visuals that will help you decide.
David Attenborough
Dubbed "The most interesting moth in the world," the incredible Picasso moth (Baorisa hieroglyphica) is a rare beauty found in India and Asia.
#CrittersOfMastodon
Warning: Don't watch the video on a full stomach or if you're prone to nightmares!
"Botflies are in the middle region of the list of the 30 deadliest insects list. They deposit eggs on a host, or sometimes use an intermediate vector such as the housefly, mosquitoes, ticks. After mating, the female botfly captures an insect by holding onto its wings with her legs attaching 15 to 30 eggs onto the insect or arachnid's abdomen, where they incubate. The fertilized female does this over and over again to distribute the 100 to 400 eggs she produces in her short adult life.
Larvae can also drop off the skin of those insects and infect larger mammals like HUMAN BEINGS! (see the accompanying video- IF you're not squeamish - to see extraction methods!!)
Eggs are deposited on larger animals directly, or the larvae hatch and drop from the eggs attached to an intermediate vector.
#Journal, Day 1306
Monday, 16 October 2023
(Day 95 of #SAGAFTRAstrike - AMPTP has suspended negotiations. No word on when they will reconvene)
#UkraineWar: Day 601
#HamasIsraelwar: Day 9
#CrittersOfMastodon
The #Flesh-EatingBeetles of Chicago's Field Museum
Some of the hardest-working employees at the Field Museum in Chicago are flesh-eating beetles. These scavenger beetles, or dermestid beetles, efficiently clean the animal carcasses that the museum prepares to be specimens for its collection. To date, the beetles have helped researchers add about 80,000 migratory birds to the Field Museum's growing database.
Read the article here:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/videos/flesh-eating-beetles-field-museum-chicago
SEE THEM IN ACTION HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFo-9meGN48&list=TLGG3m_7Pzknq3UxMTEwMjAyMw&index=1
AND HERE:
#CrittersOfMastodon
#Potoos (aka GHOST BIRDS) are neotropical birds of the family Nyctibiidae.
- 7 species of potoos.
- famous for incredible camouflage skills.
-popular in memes due to goofy/creepy looks: enormous #googlyYellowEyes, & amusing name .
-Great potoo is medium-sized bird w/stout body & large head.
- several different colors: white, gray, brown, burgundy, reddish-orange.
-Nearly all have white bands on their tails.
short video:
#CrittersOfMastodon
The #SecretaryBird (#Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large terrestrial bird of prey. It is usually found in African savannas and open grasslands.
Adults hunt in pairs and sometimes as family flocks. They stalk through the grass with long strides.
The bird is famous for hunting snakes. It even hunts venomous cobras and other reptiles. Its claws are weak and blunt, so to make a kill, it stomps on its victim, breaking its back.
#CrittersOfMastodon
#GhostShark
#Chimaeras (ghost sharks) are soft-bodied, shark-like fish with bulky heads and long, tapered tails; measured from the tail, they can grow up to 150 cm (4.9 ft) in length.
Ghost sharks are not actual sharks, but a species of fish closely related to sharks and rays.
They 're cartilaginous, meaning their skeletons are primarily composed of cartilage, which gives them an eerie, ethereal quality.
They're known for their winged fins, protruding forehead and "dead eye gaze".
The ghost shark's retractable sex organ resembles a spiky club that sits at the end of a stalk.
The first dorsal fin, which is the fin present on its back, is uniquely shorter than its curved spine.
Most species of ghost shark inhabit the deep sea, although a handful of species prefer to live in shallow coastal waters.
They're thought to originate around 420 million years ago/
This video is thought to be the first time one has been caught on camera.
The World's Deadliest Animals are #Mosquitoes; It looks basic and yet it's built like a perfect #machine.Using an electron #microscope: HEAD: exactly 100 eyes. MOUTH: 48 teeth.
In the chest, one for the center & two for the wings, there are 3 hearts & in each heart 2 auricles & 2 ventricles.
This little mosquito has a heat receptor to find living things with heat. The heat sensitivity of this device is one thousandth of a degree Celsius. A very advanced #blood analyzer, and also an anesthetic device to easily absorb the blood, so that its victim does not react to the sting. And also an #anticoagulant device to be able to absorb the blood.
There are six tiny blades on its suction pipe; with four of them he makes a square incision and with the other two he forms a tube to absorb the blood.
They also have #claws and hooks on their feet to hold on to their food source.
Pencils with teeth: meet the tiny #CookieCutterShark that attacked a catamaran off Cairns.
ParasiticSharks glow in the dark and known to have a go at anything they come across, despite their small size.
Also known as #CigarSharks, - they damaged a catamaran off the coast of Cairns have been described as āpencils with teethā and they have a history of trying to eat inanimate objects, including submarines.
These parasitic small sharks often described as āpencils with teethā have a history of trying to eat inanimate objects, including submarines.
āTheyāre called the cookiecutter shark because they donāt actually swallow their prey,ā Rummer said. āThey just take little bite-size morsels out of the side of them.
They can cause larger animals problems by leaving them with open wounds - leaving entry points for infection so the #whale is also immune compromised which requires a lot of energy for the whale to fight off the #infection.
#PROMACHOTEUTHIS SULCUS: A #SQUID WITH HUMAN-LIKE TEETH
Promachoteuthis sulcus is a rare, strange-looking squid, best known for its human-like teeth. Discovered in 2007 when a single, small distinctive individual was caught in the south Atlantic Ocean.
Only the 1 single specimen has ever been examined.
Surely, the picture is disturbing and may haunt the dreams of many. So, does this creature exist? And Does it have teeth?
Yes it does exist. But, WHAT ABOUT THE TEETH?
The #teeth arenāt teeth but an #illusion. What appears to be human dental structures are circular, folded lips, with only the upper and lower portions visible.
P. Sulcus does have a small beak, lurking deep inside the mouth, although it is not visible in the photos.
As for the creepy teeth, they are circular, folded lips, with only the upper and lower portions visible.
"#Aliens? #Vegetables? Nope, vegetable and #animal bridge #mushrooms. They're the myxomycetes, and they can move and hunt for prey or look for the best environment for them. They are born from spores, like mushrooms.
#Myxomycetes move like huge #amoebas, like pulsating masses; their movements seem to be dependent on microfibrils that remember the fibers of the muscles. These "blobsā²ā² crawl (at a speed of 1 cm per hour) #phagocusing #bacteria, #algae, #yeasts, #protozoa and other #organic material as they go; they digest them and expel the remains outside. Not randomly, mixomycetes proliferate where there are plenty of prey - on decomposing logs or on carpets of dead, wet leaves. And so they're often found in the #woods, #yellow, #purple, #blue, #red, thanks to the #pigments they contain.
#CrittersOfMastodon
Gavial Crockodile
A huge #crocodile that stands out not only for its size but also for its strange appearance lives on the river banks of northern #India and #Nepal.
Freshwater Gavial, š An #endangered crocodile was captured with hundreds of its young.
The spectacular image of this crocodile, with its cubs posing on top of it, has been captured by wildlife photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, who has been awarded the āWildlife #endangered of the Yearā by the National Museum of History in London.
This species of crocodile is critically endangered. Where once upon a time lived more than 20,000 of them in South Asia, the species has now been reduced to less than 1,000 adult animals, and three quarters of those are concentrated in the Uttar Pradesh sanctuary.
Though most crocodiles carry their young in their mouths, the unusual shape of the gavial's snout makes it impossible. "So cubs must grab onto the head and back to have that close connection and protection,"
This funny looking guy is a Port Jackson #shark . They're a #nocturnal, #egglaying type of #bullhead shark found in the coastal region of southern #Australia, including the waters off Port Jackson. It has a large, blunt head with prominent forehead ridges and dark brown harness-like markings on a lighter grey-brown body and can grow to 5 1/2 feet long!
It feeds on hard-shelled mollusks, crustaceans, sea urchins, and fish using a #CRUSHING PLATE in it's mouth to break shells and bones.
The teeth of the Port Jackson shark are one of its most distinguishable features. Unlike other sharks, its teeth are different in the front and back. The front teeth are small, sharp and pointed, while the back teeth are flat and blunt. These teeth function to hold, break then crush against the crushing plate.
The shark has no major importance to humans. It is not an endangered species and is not used as a common food supply. It also does not pose any danger to humans.
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