Clipmarks | Animal kingdom Clips

The Cutest and Deadliest Frogs on Earth

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:29:59 GMT

clipped by: xpersianx

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

For most animals, their colouring is not an aesthetic choice, but a matter of life and death. The ability to evade the wary eyes of a predator by blending into the surrounding environment has arisen again and again within the animal kingdom – and with some necessity. But there are some critters that blatantly waive this rule, and though they look good enough to eat, some of them can kill you with a single touch. These are the famous poison arrow frogs of South and Central America.

Frogs of the Dendrobatidae (meaning ‘tree walker’) family walk a different path than most: they use bright colours to advertise their presence to the world. They rely on the fact that most predators recognize such colouring as a signal that the animal contains a deadly poison, and thus is not at all palatable. Many species contain alkaloids in their skin – a group of plant chemicals.

bizarre result of this is that frogs raised in captivity and deprived of their normal diet grow up to be completely harmless

Tags: frog

The Art of Shopping

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:09:36 GMT

clipped by: gita_angon_ordergiftsonline
clipper's remarks: Stores-Outlet : - Sale Deduction Sale New Price Divine Inspiration Jewelry Tools & More Home Decor Toys and Games Glass Creations Business, Bags, Travel Bath and Body Holidays Clocks Watches Old West Garden Works of Art Nautical Kitchen Picture Frames Animal Kingdom Water Fountains Incense & Oil Burners Angels & Cherubs Candleholders Mythical & Medieval Celebrate America Dolls Swords & Knives African American Sports Novelties Candles New Arrivals Apparel Household Items Electronics Automobile Gift Items Sports and Outdoors shop, online shopping

Clip Source: stores-outlet.com

Stores-Outlet : - Sale Deduction Sale New Price Divine Inspiration Jewelry Tools & More Home Decor Toys and Games Glass Creations Business, Bags, Travel Bath and Body Holidays Clocks Watches Old West Garden Works of Art Nautical Kitchen Picture Frames Animal Kingdom Water Fountains Incense & Oil Burners Angels & Cherubs Candleholders Mythical & Medieval Celebrate America Dolls Swords & Knives African American Sports Novelties Candles New Arrivals Apparel Household Items Electronics Automobile Gift Items Sports and Outdoors shop, online shopping

Cutest and Deadliest Frogs on Earth

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:27:02 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

A bizarre result of this is that frogs raised in captivity and deprived of their normal diet grow up to be completely harmless. The insect eaten by the most poisonous frog, the golden poison dart frog (Phylobates terribilis), is still a mystery, though is thought to be a type of beetle.

Living only in undisturbed rainforests and cloud-forests, poison arrow frogs are facing habitat loss at an alarming rate.

Human vs Kangaroo

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:23:43 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

Don’t mess with the kangaroo. Perhaps better known for their Olympian jumping capabilities, these marsupial bruisers – which can reach almost 7 feet tall and weigh 200 lbs – are also the boxing champs of the animal kingdom. The kangaroo’s fighting skills include forepaw jabs, grappling, and their own unique style of kickboxing. Yet punches to the face are the least of their opponents’ worries; the real threat lies in a powerful kick of their hind legs, which can cause serious damage.

Luckily for kangaroos, their bellies are protected by a thick layer of skin, but other foes of these formidable animals are not so fortunate. Dogs have been known to get on the receiving end of this belligerent beast’s special treatment, caught by the roo’s forepaws and raked with its hind legs. So too have men – notably in 1936 when a hunter was killed as he tried to free his dogs from a skirmish – and yet on some occasions you can’t say we haven’t been asking for it.

Animal Kingdom's Greatest Survivors

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:24:54 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: webecoist.com

Camels: Ultimate Desert Dwellers

Tardigrades: Microscopic Survivors

Water Bears, they can survive in boiling water and freezing arctic conditions. They are also able to withstand 1,000 times more radiation that humans.

Cockroaches, Mosquitoes, and Earthworms

Cassowary: Deceptively Deadly Birds

These normally shy creatures have also been known to run after victims and attack even after the victim is no longer a threat to the bird.

Crows and Sparrows: Urban Survivors

Siamese Fighting Fish, Lungfish, and Remoras

Coyotes: Able City Dwellers

Hyenas: Menacing Omnivores

Camel Spider: World-Class Sprinter

sprint at speeds of 16 km per hour, outrunning most predators easily.

Black Mamba: Fast, Big and Deadly

world’s fastest snakes, despite also being one of the world’s largest snakes, averaging 8 feet in lenght. Add to the speed and size the mamba’s venom, which is strong enough to kill 50% of the humans that it bites.

and is there truth in advertising?

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:21:06 GMT

clipped by: vivesur

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Mate Selection: Honesty In Advertising Pays Off

Throughout the animal kingdom brilliant colors or elaborate behavioral displays serve as "advertisements" for attracting mates. But, what do the ads promise, and is there truth in advertising? Researchers theorize ... > full story

Roll over headlines to view top news summaries:

Same-sex relationships may play an important role in evolution

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:35:09 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Almost a third of Laysan albatross couples are female-female pairs that build nests and rear young together. They are more reproductively successful than unpaired females. Photograph: Eric VanderWerf/Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Birds do it. Bees probably do it. No one's sure whether educated fleas do it. What they do is have same-sex relationships and, in a new review of published research on the subject, biologists have started to consider what it might mean for the evolution of the animals in question.

same-sex relationships were a universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, seen in everything from worms

bonobos, dolphins, penguins and fruit flies

male bottlenose dolphins

engage in same-sex interactions to facilitate group bonding, or female Laysan albatross that can remain pair-bonded for life and cooperatively rear young

the relationships shape the course of evolution

same-sex behaviors might act as selective forces in and of themselves

Bisexual Animals

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:03:44 GMT

clipped by: fayazs

Clip Source: www.scientificamerican.com

Like most animal species, penguins tend to pair with the opposite sex, for the obvious reason. But researchers are finding that same-sex couplings are surprisingly widespread in the animal kingdom. Roy and Silo belong to one of as many as 1,500 species of wild and captive animals that have been observed engaging in homosexual activity. Researchers have seen such same-sex goings-on in both male and female, old and young, and social and solitary creatures and on branches of the evolutionary tree ranging from insects to mammals.

Same-sex Behavior Seen In Nearly All Animals, Review Finds

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:31:26 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (June 17, 2009) — Same-sex behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, common across species, from worms to frogs to birds, concludes a new review of existing research.

"It's clear that same-sex sexual behavior extends far beyond the well-known examples that dominate both the scientific and popular literature: for example, bonobos, dolphins, penguins and fruit flies," said Nathan Bailey, the first author of the review paper and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology at UC Riverside.

There is a caveat, however. The review also reports that same-sex behaviors are not the same across species, and that researchers may be calling qualitatively different phenomena by the same name.

For example, male fruit flies may court other males because they are lacking a gene that enables them to discriminate between the sexes,"

"But that is very different from male bottlenose dolphins, who engage in same-sex interactions to facilitate group bonding

Tags: nature

Lesbian albatrosses and bisexual bonobos have last laugh on Darwin

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:18:24 GMT

clipped by: gppixelworks

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Lesbian albatrosses and bisexual bonobos have last laugh on Darwin

Charles Darwin argued that sexual preferences can shape the progress of evolution, creating displays, such as the peacock’s tail, that are inexplicable by natural selection alone.

It’s safe to say, however, that he did not anticipate the lesbian albatrosses of Hawaii. Nor bisexual bonobos. Let alone sadomasochistic bat bugs or the gay penguins of New York.

Homosexuality is so widespread among some animal species that it can reshape their social dynamics and even change their DNA, according to the first peer-reviewed survey of research on the subject.

From mammals to snails, and even nematode worms, homosexual behaviour is almost universal across the animal kingdom, and Californian scientists argue that it should be considered a selective force in its own right.

male bottlenose dolphins, who engage in same-sex interactions to facilitate group bonding

Tags: darwin, animals, homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, mating

1,500 animal species practice homosexuality

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:33:24 GMT

clipped by: moonspirit4ever

Clip Source: www.news-medical.net

Homosexuality is quite common in the animal kingdom, especially among herding animals. Many animals solve conflicts by practicing same gender sex.

"One fundamental premise in social debates has been that homosexuality is unnatural. This premise is wrong. Homosexuality is both common and highly essential in the lives of a number of species," explains Petter Boeckman, who is the academic advisor for the "Against Nature's Order?" exhibition.

Homosexuality is a social phenomenon and is most widespread among animals with a complex herd life

Animals that live a completely homosexual life can also be found. This occurs especially among birds that will pair with one partner for life, which is the case with geese and ducks. Four to five percent of the couples are homosexual. Single females will lay eggs in a homosexual pair's nest. It has been observced that the homosexual couple are often better at raising the young than heterosexual couples.

Gay penguin couple adopts abandoned egg in German zoo

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:40:05 GMT

clipped by: moonspirit4ever
clipper's remarks: Penguins rock

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

Two male Humboldt penguins cautiously guard the entrance to their cave in the zoological park in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, where they are foster dads to a six-week-old penguin chick. (Focke Strangmann/Associated Press)Keepers at Germany's Bremerhaven zoo couldn't get two penguin parents to take care of their egg, so they're trying an experiment — they gave the egg to a gay male penguin couple.

So far, the experiment has been a success. The two foster dads incubated the egg for 30 days until it hatched and have continued to care for the newborn chick.

The behaviour is not considered unusual because homosexuality has been well documented in the animal kingdom.

A similar experiment was performed at New York City's Central Park Zoo in 2004. Two male chinstrap penguins named Roy and Silo incubated an egg together and raised the chick, called Tango, when she hatched.

Tags: politics, penguin, adoption

Morgellons...affects house pets badly

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:37:50 GMT

clipped by: leevardi

Clip Source: www.rumormillnews.com

Morgellons and Its Affects on Dogs, Horses, Cats, Reptiles and Insects

Today I bring forth my concern for those in the animal kingdom (nonhuman) whom also bare the brunt of this affliction known as Morgellons. I came across this writing by Cliff Michelson and found it worthy of noting.

Please keep in mind that often the animals will become unable to produce a bowel movement; this can be aided by glycerin suppositories. One of the first signs that this is becoming an issue in your pet is difficulty in the back extremities.

note: The post below is an excerpt from a communication with another Morgellons victim. The subject was the apparently now discredited theory that Morgellons was caused by the insect known as "Collembolla")

You are correct. The collembolla theory does NOT explain this disease.

In fact, it does not even come close. IMO We are dealing with a unique and highly engineered creation. It is the work of genius, albeit dark or, (at best) "hijacked" genius.

Where to Sleep in Orlando?

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:26:26 GMT

clipped by: FincaFantastica
clipper's remarks: Don`t miss City Walk, part of Universal Studios, where you will find a wide variety of clubs to suit an enormous range of musical tastes e.g. Motown, Bob Marley, dance music, rock’n’roll, duelling pianos and Latin rhythms to name a few.

Venues include Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, City Jazz. Pat O’Brian’s Irish Bar, NASCAR Café, the Groove, and Bob Marley-A Tribute to Freedom...

Clip Source: fincafantastica.biz

Hotels in Orlando

DISNEY'S PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

This hotel is located at the heart of the Disney resort.
Here guests are transported back to the elegant and
enchanting times of Mark Twain and the historical
Mississippi steamer.

DISNEY'S ALL STAR SPORTS RESORT

This charming themed hotel is centrally located, in
Disney's Animal Kingdom area. A free shuttle service
operates between the hotel and all parts of Walt
Disney World.

HOWARD JOHNSON HOTEL & SUITES

This attractive hotel is located at the quiet end of
International Drive, with a profusion of
restaurants and shopping facilities in the
surrounding area.

UNIVERSAL'S PORTOFINO BAY RESORT

This fantastic re-creation of the Mediterranean
seaside village of Portofino is located on-site at
Universal Orlando within a short distance of all of
International Drive's top attractions.

Tags: where to sleep in orlando

Chimp-made toolkit most complex ever found

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:23:12 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Study compares sophisticated set with Stone Age human technologies

Central African chimpanzees crave honey so much that they've invented the animal kingdom's most complex known set of tools to get it, according to researchers who found many of the tools still slathered with the syrupy liquid.

A new study on the findings, accepted for publication in the Journal of Human Evolution, is believed to be the first to compare such a sophisticated chimp tool set with Stone Age human technologies. Hunger for honey appears to have motivated both species.

"Tools are used to solve ecological challenges," lead author Christophe Boesch explained to Discovery News. "The more complex and rewarding a challenge is, the more complex the solutions are going to be."

The chimp discoveries come on the heels of a recent study on captive rooks, a member of the crow family. These birds make and modify tools, such as bended hooks and stone catapults, using at least two such tools in a sequence.

Tags: animals, nature, evolution