[dduane]

[explosionsoflife]

[rhamphotheca]

Once Thought Extinct, The Pinocchio Lizard Sticks His Nose Out

by Douglas Main

Pinocchio anoles (Anolis proboscis) were thought to be extinct for 50 years, but have been rediscovered in the cloud forests of Ecuador.

After searching for the long-nosed animal for three years, a team of photographers and researchers found the lizard recently in a stretch of pristine cloud forest in the northwest part of the country, said Alejandro Arteaga, a co-founder of the educational and ecotourism company Tropical Herping, which conducted the search for the lizard.

The animal was first discovered in 1953, Arteaga said. But wasn’t seen between the 1960s and 2005, when an ornithologist saw one crossing a road in the same remote area in northwest Ecuador. This is only the third time scientists have spotted it since 2005, Arteaga added…

(read more: Live Science)

photos by Lucas Bustamante and Alejandro Arteaga

[unimpressedcats]

[muiromem]

[hula-chili-soup]

is your heart supposed to pound for ten minutes straight after you answer one question in class

[love-for-my-captain]

[nostranna]

• Episode 65: Plato’s Stepchildren. The first interracial kiss on U.S. network television between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura takes center stage in this print. “This one, of course, was inspired by the Gone with the Wind poster. It’s very iconic and captures the moment. It’s Star Trek at its boldest,” comments Ortiz. In this episode, members of the away team fight to overcome the Platonians, who have psychokinetic powers and treat their captives like playthings. The worn look of the art print is intentional. Says the artist, “Originally, the scratches were supposed to imply an old paperback cover, but I feel that the end result is more of an old Roman fresco wall painting. That works for me, too.”

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Croatobranchus mestrovi

…a highly unusual species of troglobitic leech that is endemic to caves in Northern Velebit, Croatia. Little is known about C.mestorvi’s biology but it is know that is is highly adapted to its troglobitic lifestyle. Its body is very flat and has ten pairs of finger-like projections, which are probably gills. Its diet is unknown but individuals are known to cling to walls facing water streams, while twisting its body as if it was trying to capture something.

Classification

Animalia-Annelida-Clitellata-Hirudinea-Arhynchobdellida-Erpobdelliformes-Erpobdellidae-Croatobranchus-C. mestrovi

Images: Northern Velebit National Park and Croation biospeleological society

[koryos]

[stuckinabucket]

Pacas (Cuniculus paca) are a yard long and weigh 20-30 pounds.  So basically split the difference between a guinea pig and a capybara, and you’ve got a paca. 

Who is, incidentally, above this shit, sir.

Much like the capybara, they’re excellent swimmers and will go for water when threatened.  They can actually stay submerged for a full fifteen minutes, which is very impressive for a terrestrial rodent.  They prefer forest environments to open territory, though, since they’re not exactly built for distance running with those stubby little legs of theirs. 

Since pretty much every cat on the continent tries to eat them, they live in burrows they dig and then camouflage with brush.  And I’m not really exaggerating, there.  Pretty much literally every cat on the continent, even the ones that aren’t any bigger than housecats, try to eat these guys.  It’s to the point where their babies are actually rocking scale mail and the mothers dig nursery burrows that even mom can’t fit in. She has to call the baby out to nurse and run around. 

Pacas are surprisingly vocal for their size.  They’ve basically got drums instead of expanding pouches in their cheeks (suck on that, hamsters), and they can make a sort of growling, grunty noise that’s a) really loud and b) used to communicate with other pacas.  They’re not really terribly social, but the babies stick with their mothers until they’re about a year old, which is some next-level parental effort for most rodents, especially for rodents whose babies are born fully-furred and mobile. 

Females can give birth multiple times per year under favorable conditions, so you can get sort of roving bands of steadily miniaturizing pacas all getting into fruit and gnawing buds off understory shrubs.  If you needed more evidence that these little bastards are completely ridiculous, they bang in the water, and females communicate receptiveness to the male’s advances by jumping up and down in place.

[theydjarin]

So, Imagine that the company you work for held a poll, and asked everyone if they thought it would be a good idea to put a soda machine in the break room. The poll came back, and the majority of your colleagues said “Yes”, indicating that they would like a soda machine. Some said no, but the majority said yes. So, a week later, there’s a soda machine. Now imagine that Bill in accounting voted against the soda machine. He has a strong hatred for caffeinated soft drinks, thinks they are bad you you, whatever. He campaigns throughout the office to get the machine removed. Well, management decides “OK, we’ll ask again” and again, the majority of people say “Yes, lets keep the soda machine.” Bill continues to campaign, and management continues to ask the employees, and every time, the answer is in favor of the soda machine. This happens, lets say… 35 times. Eventually, Bill says “OK, I’M NOT PROCESSING PAYROLL ANYMORE UNTIL THE SODA MACHINE IS REMOVED”, so nobody will get paid unless management removes the machine. What should we do???

Answer: Fire Bill and get someone who will do the fucking job.

Bonus: Bill tells everyone that he was willing to “Negotiate”, to come to a solution where everyone got their payroll checks, but only so long as that negotiation capitulated to his demand to remove the soda machine.

Bill is a fucking jackass.

Brian Krewson (via themetricruler)

[shiny-good-rock]

[niccageinabearcostume]

Nobody won this day