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Life at the Poles

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:26:03 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

The world's first inventory of sea and land animals around a group of freezing Antarctic islands has uncovered some 1,224 species, it was revealed today.

A team from the British Antarctic Survey and University of Hamburg spent seven weeks on board the research vessel RRS James Clark Ross studying life on the South Orkney Islands, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The survey - which saw experts combing the land, using scuba divers in the shallows and employing a special sledge with nets up to 1,500 metres long in waters around the island - revealed an area with more life than the Galapagos Islands, an area renowned for its unique species.

Five species were also found to be completely new to science, including marine 'woodlice' and moss-like animals.

Studies of animal life around Antarctica often uncover new species as little is known about the area.

'This abundance of life was completely unexpected for a location in the polar regions, previously perceived to be poor in biodiversity.'

Tags: animals, science, ocean

Is Mischief the world's oldest cat?

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:21:05 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: ..."He sleeps for at least 16 hours a day and no longer ventures outside of the family's home in St Austell, Cornwall.

Mrs Thorne, a housekeeper, said Mischief was still a 'huge part' of their family and is adored by their 20-month-old daughter, Skye.

Her husband Chris, 51, has owned Mischief since he was 24. "

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Maybe he's not very curious. Or perhaps he had more than nine lives.

Whatever the reason, at the age of 27, Mischief is one old cat.

A whisker away from officially entering the record books as the UK's longest living domestic feline, he is still purring along nicely.

Mischief - with an age of 127 in cat years - is almost certainly the oldest living cat in Britain, and quite possibly the oldest in the world.

His owners put his longevity down to pure laziness.

'People ask what we're feeding him to keep him going so long - they think it must be a diet of vitamins or something,' Donna Thorne, 33, said.

'But we don't do anything special, he is just a greedy and lazy boy who will eat anything that he can get his paws on.

'When he was younger he was fairly active, but now he doesn't move much unless food is involved. I suppose his laziness has ultimately preserved him.'

Mischief is fed dry cat food every day and pouches of meat every other day.

Tags: animals, cats

Jonathan the 176-year-old tortoise

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:16:28 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

At 176, Jonathan the tortoise is knocking on a bit. In fact, he's said to be one of the world's oldest living animals.

A photograph from about 1900 has been found which apparently backs up this claim.

It shows Jonathan, aged around 70, munching on grass with a Boer War prisoner beside him.

It was taken on the British colony of St Helena where Jonathan still lives today and is treated like a celebrity due to his legendary status.

Despite his old age, locals say he still has the energy to regularly mate with the three younger females.

A spokesman for the island's tourist board said Jonathan is owned by the St Helena government and lives in the specially built plantation on the governor's land.

He said: 'Jonathan is the sole survivor of three tortoises that arrived on St Helena Island in 1882.

'He was already mature when he arrived and was at least 50 years old.

'Therefore his minimum age is 176. He is the oldest inhabitant on St Helena and is claimed to be the oldest living tortoise in the world

Tags: animals

What pets do when we're at work.....

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:39:56 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.jibjab.com

Tags: animals, humor, pets