Survival in deep ocean I

2012-04-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hermit Crab vs. Conch

The horse conch (pleuroploca gigantea, also known as the giant band shell. This shell is native to the marine waters around Florida and can grow to a length of twenty-four inches. Young horse conchs have orange-colored shells. The horse conch weight over 11 pounds and at least 535 million years ago, mollusks acquired the ability to secrete a carbonate of lime solution that formed a hard, protective shell around them.

Horse Conch

An amazing Giant Sea Snail makes a meal of a smaller Tuilp Snail and it is not long before a group of eager Hermit Crabs seize the opportunity to grab a new home.

Hermit Crabs

World's Deadliest Hermit Crab vs Conch

Monsters but for real!

2012-03-27T13:23:00.002-07:00

Like in science fiction film! Nude, slimy or shapeless!

These creatures are the TOP 10 ugliest animals the world.

10. Mata Mata

The mata mata is a freshwater turtle found predominantly in South America, notably in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. The animal’s peculiar physical aspect distinguishes it from other members of its order. It is an animal highly skilled in hunting techniques.

“large land turtle with spiky and ridged scales”. The mata mata is quite visually distinctive: its head is triangular, large, and extremely flattened, with many tubercles and flaps of skin, most notably a ‘horn’ on the nose. There are two barbels on the chin and two additional filamentous barbels at the jaw. The snout is long and tubular. The upper jaw is neither hooked nor notched.

9. Star Nosed Mole

You might have heard of moles, that are mamals belonging to the family Tapidae. They are small invertebrates with cylindrical, furry bodies. These mamals live underground, but some mole species are found to be semiaquatic. One such mole species is condylura cristata, which is commonly known as star-nosed mole. The Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) has a large habitable range that is found in eastern Canada, and the northeastern upper half of the United States. Their nose is the most unique thing. This specialized nose is unlike any other found on any mammal, and has been especially adapted to finding food in the ground. Their nose is covered in small, extremely sensitive tentacles that have touch receptors.

8. Naked Mole Rat

The Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber) also known as the sand puppy or desert mole rat, is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in the genus Heterocephalus.

Naked Mole Rats live in underground colonies that are led by a dominant queen, similar to the social structure of bees or wasps. Roughly three inches long, the naked mole rat spends its time in complete darkness, digging for food and working to sustain the colony and raise the young.

Regular lab mice live an average of two years but naked mole rats can live up to 30 years. In addition, the naked mole rat doesn’t get cancer, doesn’t feel pain and can withstand oxygen depravation for more than a half-hour. As a result, these tiny, almost hairless, nearly blind rodents are proving invaluable for research on longevity, pain, cancer and stroke.

7. Hagfish

Hagfish is the common name for the marine craniates (animals with skulls) of the class, characterized by a scaleless, that lacks both paired fins and vertebrae, but does have a cranium. Hagfishes are the only animals that have a skull but not a vetebral column. Despite their name as fish, there is still some debates about their categorizing. Hagfish are long, vermiform and ooze out profuse amount of a sticky slime or mucus.

6. Tarsier

The Philippine tarsier, (Tarsius syrichta) is very quircky little animal. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult men's hand. Mostly active at night, it lives on a diet of insects. Folk traditions sometimes has it that tarsiers eat charcoal, but actually they retrieve the insects from (sometimes burned) wood. It can be found in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao in the Philippines. If no action is taken, the tarsier might not survive. Although it is a protected species, and the practice of catching them and then selling them as stuffed tarsiers to tourists has stopped, the species is still threatened by the destruction of his natural forest habitat. Many years of both legal and illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have greatly reduced these forests, and reduced the tarsier population to a dangerously small size.

5. Horseshoe Bat

Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae) are a family of bats. They indwell temperate and tropical regions of southern Europe, Asia north to southern, Africa and Australia. Horseshoes live nearly exclusively on insects. They release echolocation calls through these structures, which may serve to focus the sound. Rhinolophidae can not walk on all four limbs, because of their underdeveloped hint limbs but on the other hand their wide wings make their flight particularly agile.

4. Dumbo-Octopus

The Dumbo octopuses are of the genus (Grimpoteuthis). They named after their ears like fins such as the disney film Dumbo where a little elephant is called after his huge ears, with which he could fly! They are bathyal creatures, which means they live at extreme depths of 3,000 to 4,000 meters (9,800 to 13,000 ft). Dumbo octopuses move by using his ear like fins and arms and laying eggs for their breeding. They apparantly a special breeding season and it feeds itself with little sea creatures like shrimps and worms.

3. Frill-necked Lizard

The Frill-Necked Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) is found mainly in southern New Guinea and nothern Australia. The Larg frill around its neck has been given this animal its name and this frill stays usually against the lizard'sbody. It is tree-dwelling and its diet consists mostly of insects and small vertebrates. This kind of lizard is a large lizard, reaching up to 91.4 cm in length. It may also be kept in captivity.

2. Aye-Aye

The Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. The Aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, and habits predominantly in forest canopies. The adult Aye-aye has black or dark brown fur covered by white guard hairs at the neck. The tail is bushy and shaped like that of a squirrel. The Aye-aye’s face is also rodent-like, the shape of a raccoon’s, and houses bright, beady, luminous eyes. Its incisors are very large, and grow continuously throughout its lifespan.

1. Blobfish

The blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) is a deep sea fish of the family Pycholutidae. Inhabiting the deep waters of the coasts o mainland Australia and Tasmania. It is rarely seen by humans. large, and grow continuously throughout its lifespan. Blobfish are found at dephts where the pressure is several dozens of times higher than at sea level. To remain afloat its flesh is primarily a gelatinous mass a density slightly less than water. This allows the blobfish to float above the see floor without expending energy on swimming. The almost lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows eatable matter that swims by in front it.

Creature Data courtesy of Wikipedia

Human & Nature