• Jump Little Tree-Frog //
  • pics of our favourite animals (: //
  • Archive
  • / Theme
rhamphotheca: Mountain Cottontail Rabbit aka Nuttall’s Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, OR, USA. (photo: Lois Miller)
80 ♥
rhamphotheca: Double-saddle Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ulietensis), Tahiti (photo: thundafunda)
460 ♥
rhamphotheca: Froglet of a Solomon Islands Eyelash Frog (Ceratobatrachus guntheri) that just hatched, in a forest in the Solomon Islands. Since they skip the larval phase they hatch out really tiny. They are also impressive jumpers, even at this size.   (photo: DJ Hinrich)
309 ♥
rhamphotheca: Do Dolphins Speak Whale in Their Sleep ? by Sara Reardon Péos, Mininos, Cécil, Teha, and Amtan are performing dolphins at the Planète Sauvage dolphinarium in Port-Saint-Père, France. Every day, as music and sounds of the sea play in the background, they show off their swimming, jumping, and ball-catching skills for an adoring audience and squawk and whistle just like dolphins should. But at night, they make strange noises that researchers believe are imitations of humpback whale songs included in the performance soundtrack. If so, the identification of this unexpected repertoire would mark the first time that dolphins have been heard to rehearse new sounds hours after hearing them rather than right away, providing insights into how they store and process memories. Researchers discovered the dolphins’ midnight melodies by accident. Ethologist Martine Hausberger of the University of Rennes 1 in France and her colleagues had hung underwater microphones in the tank because little is known about what dolphins sound like at night. One night, they suddenly heard 25 new sounds (see below) that the dolphins had never made before, although they weren’t sure which of the five animals was talking. Because dolphins are known for mimicry, the researchers examined their complex daytime environment to determine where the noises might be coming from. They finally zeroed in on the new soundtrack that Planète Sauvage was playing during performances, which included music, sea gulls’ calls, the dolphins’ own whistles, and humpback whale calls… (read more: Science NOW)     (image: Planete Sauvage)
151 ♥
rhamphotheca: Smithsonian National Zoo:  Cheetahs Cheetah mother Amani watches over her brood of sleepy cubs. Male cubs stay with their mothers until they’re about 18 months old, and female cubs stick around until they are two or even three years old. (Photo courtesy of Clint Kelly, NZP/SCBI supporter)
84 ♥
rhamphotheca: Adélie Penguins, Paulet Island, Antarctica  “As we motored around Paulet Island in a Zodiac boat, these two curious penguins waddled across an iceberg to get a closer look at us.” - Nature’s Best photographer, Phillip Colla. (via: Smithsonian Ocean Portal)
72 ♥
rhamphotheca: High Performance Pigeons Have a Dirty Little Secret? by Jane J. Lee The high-stakes world of domestic pigeon breeding is reflected in its finely tuned racers and the outrageous plumage of its show birds. Now, new research shows surprising connections between very different-looking breeds, as well as evidence of liaisons between racing pigeons and feral populations of the motley city pigeon. In a study published today in Current Biology, researchers propose a family tree for domestic pigeon breeds. Analyzing repeating sequences of DNA called microsatellites, the scientists were able to figure out that the 70 pigeon breeds they studied fell into two groups. Pigeons with fantails, manes, and exaggerated crops (outgrowths of the esophagus) were closely related, while the acrobatic breeds, homing pigeons, and breeds with the smallest and largest beaks filled out the second group. The scientists also found that wayward racing pigeons were breeding with feral populations. The researchers will use this web of relatedness to help them answer broader questions on how changes in an organism’s genetic blueprint give rise to physical traits like color or the size of limbs. Domestic pigeons are ideally suited for this kind of study, the scientists write, because they are incredibly diverse and are still able to interbreed. (via: Science NOW)     (image: Michael Shapiro, Univ. of Utah)
57 ♥
rhamphotheca: Sulawesi Green Imperial Pigeon (Ducula aenea) (photo: Nathan Rupert)
89 ♥
rhamphotheca: Orange-breasted Green Pigeon (Treron bicincta leggei) - Yala National Park, Sri Lanka I’m not really a fan of pigeons but I have to admit that this guy would certainly find a place in my pigeon dream team! The shot is a bit distant and there was quite a strong wind blowing (hence the ruffled head feathers) but he was nevertheless a very impressive bird. This is the Sri Lankan subspecies. (photo/text: Steve Garvie)
102 ♥
rhamphotheca: letslook4treasure: Colonial Coral, Acropora chesterfieldensis. Technique: Simultaneous brightfield and fluorescence by Mr. James Nicholson Coral Culture & Collaborative Research Facility, Fort Johnson Marine Lab Charleston  (via olympusbioscapes)
359 ♥
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Older →