Clipmarks | amgumen's 'animals' clips

Herds of grazing animals all face the same way

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:00:01 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?

Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.

scientists say the Earth's magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.

A few studies have shown that some mammals - including bats - also use a "magnetic compass" to help their sense of direction.

"We were wondering if larger animals also have this magnetic sense," she told BBC News.

The researchers surveyed Google Earth images of 8,510 grazing and resting cattle in 308 pasture plains across the globe.

Dr Begall said: "In Africa and South America, the cattle (were) shifted slightly to a more north-eastern-south-western direction.

"But it is known that the Earth's magnetic field is much weaker there," she explained.

Their fieldwork revealed that the majority of grazing and resting deer face northward. About one-third of the deer faced southward.

Five Mad Scientists Who Went Too Far in the Name of Science

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:39:29 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.purpleslinky.com

Vladimir Demikhov (1916-1998)

Demikhov was a pioneer in organ transplantation. Although he was unable to be the first to do heart transplants in humans, he did do many organ transplants in animals. He was most notoriously known for creating a cruel monstrosity in 1954. He surgically attached the head, shoulders, and front legs of a puppy onto a mature dog. People were astonished, if not repulsed, to see the animals lap up milk from bowls.

Giovanni Aldini (1762-1834)

Andrew Ure (1778-1857)

Sergei Bruyukhonenko

Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734)

Rare lemur find in Madagascar excites experts

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:25:40 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.canada.com

NAIROBI - Researchers in Madagascar have found critically endangered greater bamboo lemurs living far from the only other place they were known to exist, raising hopes for the survival of the species, experts said on Tuesday.

Clip Source: www.canada.com

The discovery was made in the Torotorofotsy wetlands of east central Madagascar, more than 400 kilometres north of the isolated pockets of bamboo forest where the rest of the known populations of the species live.

"Finding the extremely rare Prolemur simus in a place where nobody expected it was probably more exciting than discovering a new lemur species," said Edward Louis, a U.S. conservation geneticist who coordinated the joint research, in a statement.

Tags: animals, madagascar

Odd-Looking Marine Animals

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:04:44 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

1. Leafy Sea Dragon

A leafy sea dragon (phycodurus eques) has long leaf-like protrusions all over its body, serving as camouflage among different types of floating seaweeds or kelp beds. Neither prey nor predators recognize it as a fish.

2. Umbrella Mouth Gulper Eel

3. Firefly Squid

4. Viperfish

Are you ready for another nauseating shot? We warned you... Here is an angler fish - with its stomach in its mouth (decompression caused the stomach to invert).

5. Fangtooth, or Ogre Fish

6. Hatchetfish

7. Christmas-Tree Worm

8. Giant Basket Star

9. Furry Sea Cucumber

10. Flamingo Tongue Snail

Queen's Head

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:27:47 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: flickr.com

The Queen's Head is in Yeliu the north of Taiwan.Because wind erosion makes its coast has the most unique view in the world.When you visit Yeliu, don't forget to visit sea world and feel the marine animals.It is attract many visitors to visite north Taipei.

Clip Source: flickr.com

Weirdest and Ugliest-Looking Animals on Earth

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:09:36 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.scienceray.com

Their weird appearance is probably one of the ways they sustain their species on earth. Therefore, we should pay equal treatment to then while dealing with these weird animals just like we would treat other living organisms. They do have their rights to ensure their continuity of species on earth. Neither graceful nor beautiful, these animals are nonetheless very unique and remarkable animals.

Matamata Turtle

Dobsonfly

Monkfish

Russian Wheat Aphid

Almiqui

Weevil

Clip Source: www.scienceray.com

The Big Head Turkey Vulture

Hawaiian Hoary Bat

Warthog

Muscovy duck

Ayer-ayer

The Philippine Tarsier

New sucker-footed bat

Star-Nosed Mole

Frilled lizard

Clip Source: www.scienceray.com

Komondor

Yeti Crab

Axoloti

Angora rabbit

Dumbo octopus

The Blobfish

The Proboscis monkey

Hagfish

Purple frog

Oyster Toadfish

Unknown creature

This creature is unknown to date. It has all its body enveloped with a muscular flesh. It is not only weird at its appearance, but also has an ugly look that no one will wish to rear it as a pet. It likes to lay its body upon a bulk in a cool and moist place.

Mom dog nurses kittens in shelter

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:41:16 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: mfrost.typepad.com

[Video]

Tags: animals, dogs, cats, awww, cute

Geoglyphs

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:49:46 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Over 60,000 square yards of these hillsides are decorated by more than 400 figures of animals, humans, birds and shapes -- ancient aboriginal art nearly 1,000 years old. The ruins in the foreground are the remains of a community that once flourished here.
Nobody quite knows why the geoglyphs were placed here. There are various theories, ranging from extra terrestrials to a "signpost" for indigenous peoples. If you want to see the detail it's best viewed large.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Geoglyphs in the Lluta Valley, near Arica, Chile, depicting people

Again Funny Animals

Mon, 05 May 2008 03:15:56 GMT

clipped by: amgumen
clipper's remarks: ee also here http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/A50595A5-EED7-4C8F-87F9-367D07CB12ED/

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Animals can not act for camera, so capturing weird and funny animal expressions requires a lot of skill and patience - but when it happens, it becomes pure comedy gold. See for example this shot: I bet you did not know that polar bears love to swim and talk on a cell phone at the same time! -

Smallest kittens you've ever seen:

Newborn hedgehog:

White, fluffy, adorable:

The Magic Kitten:

The Magic Hamster:

Happy hamsters, dancing - just for you! -

Friendly pairs:

Monkeys emoting:

Some have more character than your average politicians:

Animals appearing in a weird context:

Probably the most impressive picture of a pig ever:

Revenge:

Dog's life is full of nuances:

Mondex, a 5-year-old Chihuahua, walks the aisle dressed as a scuba diver during a dog show in Manila:

Mafia has arrived -

I did not know that owls can look so ferocious:

Animal Interaction with Humans

Learning the true reach of a giraffe's tongue -

Bears decide to improve their toilet manners:

Animals vs. Cars -

Tags: animals, fun

World’s most dangerous bird

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:14:35 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.odditycentral.com

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Cassowaries are the world’s most dangerous birds, capable of dealing fatal blows. They are very unpredictable, aggressive creatures, especially if wounded or cornered. The Cassowary lives in the rain forests of Australia and New Guinea and are actually pretty shy animals if undisturbed, but if you get to close and it thinks you’re a threat you could receive a bone-breaking kick or get sliced by its dagger-like sharp claws. During WWII, soldiers stationed in New Guinea were warned to stay away from these birds, but some of them still became victims.

The Cassowary is also one of the most difficult animals to keep in the Zoo because of the frequent injuries suffered by Zoo keepers that look after them.

Tags: animals

Shock: First Animal on Earth Was Surprisingly Complex

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:08:20 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

The new study surprisingly found that the comb jelly was the first animal to diverge from the base of the tree, not the less complex sponge, which had previously been given the honor.

The finding was unexpected because evolutionary biologists had thought that less complex animals split off and evolved separately first. Dunn says that two evolutionary scenarios can explain why the comb jellies would actually have been first among animals. The first is that the comb jelly evolved its complexity independent of other animals after branching off to forge its own path.

The second is that the sponge evolved its simpler form from the more complex form. This second possibility underscores the fact that "evolution is not necessarily just a march towards increased complexity," Dunn said.

Though comb jellies are a common creature in the seas today, these modern specimens likely look very different from their early ancestors.

A comb jelly.

Tags: animals, geology

Stone Fish waits for you to step on it

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:00:17 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

There are two nasty things in the blue depths you should spend many a sleepless night frightened of. For the big one you’ll have to wait a bit, for the one right below it in terrifying lethality you just have to watch your step when you’re walking along the bottom of the ocean.

As you can see it's very hard to notice on the ocean floor:

Like all monsters it hides, camouflaging itself among the rocks on the bottom. It’s what’s called an ambush predator: a critter that waits until something juicy walks, or swims, by. But what it could do to you requires no motion at all. All the stone fish has to do is just sit there on the bottom and wait for you to innocently step on it.

That’s all it takes: the spines on the fish’s back are like a parade of loaded hypodermic needles, each one carrying enough bad stuff to kill even a buff diver in a matter of minutes. But death is not really the worst

The pain

to be so horrible that sufferers have begged to have the pricked limb amputate rather than

Tags: animals

Broken-Hearted Swan Looks for Love

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:30:54 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.abcnews.go.com

Black swan "Petra" welcomes her "partner", a swan-shaped pedal boat at a small lake at the Zoo in Muenster, western Germany, on Friday March 9, 2007. Petra left her wintering grounds on Friday where she spent the last months with her beloved paddle boat. The swan had "fallen in love" with the giant plastic swan when she met him on a lake in downtown Muenster

We thought she was all set, when she and her new mate, a white swan, were building a nest together," said Adler. "But then her mate decided to fly off seeking the company of other black swans. She's swimming around in an agitated state ever since he ditched her, and we got to calm her down.

She would not let the boat out of her sight, and over the following months became so attached to it that she refused to mingle with other swans.

Eventually, by the end of fall, the boat had to be removed from the lake, but the boat owner did not have the heart to separate the two.

Zoo director Adler decided to let Petra stay with it

Tags: animals

The Only Living Sea Lizard: Marine Iguana

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:17:04 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.softpedia.com

There is only one true living sea lizard: the marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), a native of the Galapagos Islands. Despite their terrific look, with short snout, black eyes, large mouth and the crest of spikes (which are in fact soft at touch), long, flattened and powerful tail, long, sharp claws that give them an aspect of Mesozoic monsters, these lizards are peaceful vegetarians. They dive and eat algae and weeds from the sea bottom, but also those plants exposed by the low tide. From time to time, they eject, through their nostrils, a brine liquid,

excreted by special salt glands, an adaptation that makes the iguanas cope with the salted sea water.

Adult marine iguanas do not overpass 1.3 m (4.3 ft) in length, but each island of the archipelago has its type of marine iguana, with different sizes and colors. Males can weigh up to 3.5 kg

The marine iguana uses its flattened tail to swim and dive, even in agitated waters, as the violent waves seem not to pose a problem for them.

Tags: animals

The weirdest lakes on Earth

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:30:45 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.softpedia.com

Asphalt is an organic rock usually found in geological deposits, mostly associated with oil.

When subterranean bitumen (from which asphalt is mostly done) leaks to the surface, it creates a large puddle or lake, improperly called tar pits. By now, only on five places on Earth asphalt lakes have been found, all in the Western Hemisphere.

The Trinidad Lake Asphalt Co exports $3 million worth of pitch annually.

In the asphalt, archaeologists found Amerindian pottery, along with the remains of prehistoric animals such as the mastodons and the giant sloth.

In Venezuela there’s the second asphalt lake in the world: Guanoco (Bermudez) Lake (close to Macaraibo Lake), in the Orinoco basin.

The third site where tar pits are found is

n Hancock Park, in the urban heart of Los Angeles

Methane gas also seeps up, causing bubbles which make the asphalt look like it’s always boiling.

Besides animals, in the pits was discovered a partial skeleton of a Native American woman, 9,000 years old.

Tags: geology