Fun Animals Wiki, Videos, Pictures, Stories: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Leopard Seal Flaunts Nurturing Side

If you love animals, you might want to consider getting a job as a wildlife photographer. You get to go to different places to take pictures of exotic animals in their natural habitat, and you get to live your dream. Part of the job description? Being around exotic and dangerous animals, which explains why many wildlife photographers are...

520-Million-Year-Old Sea Creature Pulled Off A ‘Major’ Evolutionary Feat To Become ‘Top’ Predator [PHOTO]

An ancient sea creature that lived on Earth about 520 million years ago had bizarre facial appendages that it used to filter food from the ocean. Known as Tamisiocaris, the marine animals lived during a period known as the “Cambrian Explosion,” when major animal groups suddenly appeared. The new findings, published in Nature, cite evidence...

Cute Otter Eats Powerful Gator?

Recovering from the python eating crocodile sensation, here's another jaw-dropping photo encounter of an otter eating an alligator. These "otterly delicious" photos were shot back in 2011 by a visitor of Florida's Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, named Geoff Walsh. The refuge posted the photos less than a month ago on their...

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Wolves Play Important Role in Yellowstone Park Ecology

In nature, taking away one detail from the natural ecology of an area can shift the balance of the whole ecosystem. This is what happened when the wolves that naturally roam the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming United States, were taken out. However, when the wolves were re-introduced after 70 years of absence, the ecology in Yellowstone...

Crows solve Aesop's fable puzzles, offer clues to cognition

(Reuters) - A species of crow native to islands east of Australia has long wowed scientists with its intelligence, and now it has shown it can solve at least one puzzle as well as the average 7-year-old child, scientists reported on Wednesday. Like other research on the cognitive abilities of nonhuman animals, the study sheds light on the...

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Crows Reason Like Young Children

Crows and their relatives — ravens, jays, magpies, and rooks — are famous in folklore and myth for their intelligence as well as their enigmatic stare. Current science can explain and provide evidence that suggest crows can think and reason like a young child, a new study finds. Based on Aesop’s fable The Crow and the Pitcher, researchers...

Goats are apparently smarter than anyone thought

Researchers found that goats can learn to solve complicated tasks quickly and can remember the solutions they’ve learned for 10 months or more.The State Column, Justin Beach | March 26, 2014 Science is having to constantly reevaluate how we look at animal intelligence. Recent evidence has shown that crows, pigs and dogs, for example,...

First Oahu geese in centuries making new home

KAHUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A pair of endangered Hawaiian geese that have hatched goslings and settled on Oahu's north shore were likely on their way back to Kauai from the Big Island when they stopped in Kahuku, a federal biologist said Wednesday.The nene pair was taken from Kauai to the Big Island within the last two years as part of a program...

Friday, March 28, 2014

The last of the woolly mammoths may have suffered serious birth defects, say scientists

Fossils of mammoths found near the North Sea and dating to the late Pleistocene, about 12,000 years ago, frequently sported extra ribs along their neck vertebrae. Though harmless on their own, these cervical ribs are often signs of development gone awry. A 2006 study of extra cervical ribs in humans published in the journal Evolution found...

Wolves Changed Yellowstone Park Ecology

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Two fossils of pre-historic sea turtle limb brought together

In one of the first such success two fossils of pre-historic sea turtle limb brought together. While one part was found in mid-eighties, the other was found less than two years ago. This is one of the most amazing incidents reported by palaeontologist in a long time. Two parts of the broken arm of a sea turtle were found and joined with...

Tibetan Mastiff sold at $2 Million in China

AFP - The Tibetan Mastiff sold to a property developer at 12 million Yuan or $1.9 million is said to be the most expensive dog sale ever. The one-year old golden-haired mastiff was said to be found at the "luxury pet" fair in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Read here for more information, especially before buying a Tibetan...

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Climate Change Blamed for Smaller Salamanders

The global climate change has been blamed for yet another mishap, and that is salamanders in the Appalachian Mountains shrinking, researchers say. Research from the past few years has been showing more and more that our warmer planet may cause some species of plants and animals to grow to be a smaller size. The salamander, already a creature...

Leopard Seal Shows Soft Side

Vengeful Taxonomy: Your Chance to Name a New Species of Cockroach

We’ve recently discovered a new species of cockroach in the genus Xestoblatta. It’s dirty, it’s ugly, it’s smelly, and it needs a name. As part of our campaign to fund a project about how tropical landscapes drive evolution, we are offering the opportunity for anyone with enough cash to name this new species. Why would you want to name...

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Cat Furniture

How much do you love your cat as to buy him/her a furniture from Goldtatze? Goldtatze (Gold Paw) is a German company that creates ceiling-window-wall furniture for your felines. These are not just ordinary cat furniture mind you, these are made to give a heavenly home to your cat and give owners more free space. Check here for...

New praying mantis species discovered

Nineteen new species of a tree-living praying mantis family have been discovered, tripling the group’s diversity at a stroke.The bark mantises (Liturgusa Saussure) from Central and South America were found in tropical forests and among specimens kept in museums. Many of the newly described species are known only from a few specimens collected...

Monday, March 24, 2014

Island of Horses in Maryland

Getaways to exotic islands and beautiful beaches are dream vacations for most of us. We’d usually expect to see unusual animals and fishes in these islands, but would you visit one populated by wild horses? Assateague Island, found somewhere near Virginia and Maryland, is a 60-km long beach destination frequented by many tourists...

Giant pythons have 'homing instinct'

Giant Burmese pythons have map and compass senses which help them travel "home" over vast distances, scientists have been surprised to discover.Pythons captured and relocated in Florida's Everglades - where they are an invasive species - returned 23 miles (36km) to their original start point. It is the first evidence that snakes may share...

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Study shows some cuckoo birds may actually help their hosts

(Phys.org) —A team of researchers in Spain has found that at least one species of cuckoo bird may actually help its nest-mates survive. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes how in studying the great spotted cuckoo, they found that crow hatchlings were actually more successful due to the presence of an...

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Cute and Funny Pandas

Pandas are just adorable creatures. Here are some photos as evidence. ...

Researchers discover fish with a previously unknown type of eye

The University of Tübingen's Institute of Anatomy has discovered a fish with a previously unknown type of eye. The aptly-named glasshead barreleye lives at depths of 800 to 1000 meters. It has a cylindrical eye pointing upwards to see prey, predators or potential mates silhouetted against the gloomy light above. But the eye also has a mirror-like...

Owl Monkeys Rate Among the Animal World's Best Mates and Fathers

The wide-eyed, smiley-faced male Azara’s owl monkeys of Argentina are among the most faithful mates and best fathers in the world, according to a study that also found a strong link between fidelity and the quality of child care in 15 mammalian species. Researchers have known that the owl monkeys stick together, but they could not be certain...

Friday, March 21, 2014

Weird ‘chicken from hell’ dinosaur discovered

Scientists have discovered a weird sharp-clawed bird-like dinosaur that roamed the Earth with the dreaded T-rex 66 million years ago and is being described as a “chicken from hell”.The beaked dinosaur, Anzu wyliei, was almost 5 feet tall at the hip, measured 11.5 feet long and weighed up to 300 kg and had very sharp claws. “It was...

The Black Dragonfish

Idiacanthus atlanticus or commonly known as the black dragonfish, are long and slender fish with bodies that look like an eel. If you wonder what it looks like, just imagine the scary monster fish found in the animation, "Finding Nemo." Which one? The one located deep, deep down (2,000 meters) in the dark waters of the ocean,...

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Biologist spotted Troll-haired Bug

A mystery bug with hairs that stand like fiber optics or a lot prefer to call it, troll hairs, has been spotted and photographed by Trond Larsen. It is still unsure if this planthopper has already been part of the species classification in Biology. According to Larsen, this bug moves very quickly that it's almost impossible...

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Most beautiful of pigeons to be freed into the wild

MANILA, Philippines—Five Nicobar pigeons, considered among the most beautiful in the pigeon family but now in threatened numbers, will be released back into the wild this week after six years of rehabilitation at the environment department’s Wildlife Rescue Center in Quezon City, officials said on Tuesday. The birds—three females and two...