The Natural World is a Wondrous Place

.. Aussie | 22 | Mel | WA .. blog dedicated to all things conservation and zoology related

[herpsandbirds]

Southern Gastric Brooding Frog (Rheobatrachus silus), family Myobtrachidae, found in the Blackall Range and Conondale Ranges in southeast Queensland, north of Brisbane, Australia

EXTINCT.

First discovered by western science in 1972 (possibly 1914), the last wild specimen was encountered in 1981, and the last captive specimen died in 1983.

The cause(s) for decline and extinction are unclear, but may include introduced species, habitat degradation, and the Chyrtrid fungus.

There is a project currently working to clone this frog. They have only been successful, so far, in cloning an embryo.

Females would swallow fertilized eggs, and brood them and tadpoles in her stomach. The metamorphosed froglets would emerge from her mouth later on.

There is considerable disagreement as to which family they should be included in (with some herpetologists putting the 2 species of Rheobatrachus into their own family).

illustrations via: MAHN Museum of Natural History

photograph by Michael Tyler

[tsalala]

Baby pumas photographed by Christophe Hauschild

[lesbiskammerat]

[queenophydea]

[henstomper]

too many people see evolution as just animals becoming better animals when the truth is that theres a species of boar that evolved to die because its tusks grow into its skull because the males with long tusks fuck the most

[paleo-mammalia]

Yep.

And don’t forget the Irsih elk, which supposedly went extinct because its antlers were too bleeding huge for it to function, and the ladies wouldn’t bang a man if his antlers were not huge enough.

[smeasel]

[lesbianshepard]

the absolute fucking height of comedy is scientists and scholars getting into fights over incredibly niche subjects. the idea of nerds in labcoats and suits getting close to blows over something that only like 20 people care about is so funny. 

[lesbianshepard]

this is what real comedy looks like

[bunjywunjy]

why are cheetahs not technically big cats? is it just because they're weird as hell or do they not meet some big cat criteria?

so the thing about Big Cats is that they’re all closely related members of the genus Panthera! 

because they’re all part of the same lineage, they share a lot of traits like the ability to roar.

and cheetahs are actually members of a completely different cat lineage altogether, the genus Acinonyx!

they’re not very closely related to the big cats at all and are actually most closely related to Pumas, which you can totally see if you stack them up next to each other and squint really hard. 

it’s okay though, the cheetah can still be the biggest cat in our hearts :’)

[bunjywunjy]

also some of you may have picked up on this, but the reason that the cheetah’s closest modern relative is a family of cats on an entirely separate fucking continent is that… drumroll please… cheetahs actually evolved in North America!

B-DM TSCH!

about nine million years ago in North America, cheetahs and pumas split off from the rest of the small-cat lineage together and evolved into their separate groups! different species of now-extinct ancient cheetahs thrived in North America for millions of years, streaking across the prairies and clobbering the everloving shit out of any herbivore too slow to get out of the way.

<art src: Peter Schouten>

(this is why the North American pronghorn antelope is actually the second-fastest land animal alive today, despite not having any current predators even vaguely in their speed range! once upon a time, not that long ago, they had to dodge a prehistoric cheetah that could pull highway-level speeds.)

cheetahs were successful enough that they even made it out of North America and into Eurasia via the Bering Land Bridge, only making it to Africa after conquering their way across the steppes!

<art src: Velizar Simeonovski>

but things changed, as they always do, and global climate disruption led the the extinction of all cheetah species except the one in Africa, effectively terminating the entire cheetah dynasty.

do they remember? I hope so.

pumas are doing JUST FINE, though! guess there’s something to be said for being a mid-sized hypergeneralist predator in the face of global change.

[hawkeyetoo]

Also: All the big cats can roar, but they can’t purr. Cheetahs purr. Also also: Cheetahs can’t retract their claws, not all the way anyway, but that’s a trait specific to them.

[teathattast]

[teathattast]

Trombone squid

[therebloggerbird]

Old God Clippy

[lunelvathetwintail]

[bunjywunjy]

What animal looks like it would screm the loudest

the bare-throated bellbird is so loud that it can cause permanent damage to human hearing at close range!

and they absolutely look like it.

[peppermintquartz]

edit: i couldn’t resist

[peppermintquartz]

That felt too mild so may i present AAAAAA bird v2

[weirdoughnut]

saved as →

[intjacob]

[dollsahoy]

These are cute but misleading, because the call doesn’t go on–it’s more like one single, quick, rusty beep, only that  beep is one of the loudest sounds made by any land animal

[beetleboo]

oh i’m so glad you have a video of ‘em, I knew I had seen one before!

I have provided an updated funnypic to more accurately reflect the reality of the bird.

[mattefier-deactivated20221118]

That birb sounds RUSTY

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

i recommend keeping an eye on New Zealand news. not bc of politics or anything, but bc of the HILARIOUS DISCOURSE happening over the 2020 Bird Of The Year Contest. someone called the kiwi a Fat Flightless Fuck. the white-faced heron was accused of racism. voter fraud is rampant 

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

i wasn’t exaggerating. a black-billed gull instagram account has been badmouthing kiwis. people are getting emotional about kererus. special interest groups have gotten involved. an adult toy store just endorsed a small, polyamorous bird with unusually large testes. this is the only vote-rigging scandal you should care about

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

UPDATE: Thousands of fake votes were submitted, including 1,500 votes traced back to a single person voting for the kiwi. After a bitter campaign sullied by scandal, the Kakapo, aka the world’s fattest parrot, has been elected. Say hello to this fat, flightless frick FRIEND

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

this is the only good headline of November 2020

[petslifeworld]

Ferret shows the owner her babies.

[gaycism]

oh my god i’m losing it

[geographicwild]

. Photo by @thomasvijayan Amur leopard, Russia. #Wild #Nature #Wildlife #Animals #Russia #Wildeyesa #Earthcapture #AmurLeopard #Leopard https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ZS_vUgVVf/?igshid=iv28vhy3bjvp

[somecutething]

Volume on! 

(via CostaRicaAnimalRescueCenter_)

[geographicwild]

. Photo by @serhat_demiroglu_photography Snow leopard. They have the longest and thickest fur of any bigcat, and a long, thick tail they can wrap aroud themselves to stay warm. İts exteremly difficult to see them in the wild. This one is a trained one l photographed in Montana. #wild #nature #wildlife #animals #leopard #montana #bigcat #ghostcat #wildeyesa #snowleopard https://www.instagram.com/p/B6LDkPxAv6Z/?igshid=1t8zg34iro66d

[greenteacology]

Whenever I see a stingray skeleton I’m like oh that’s just one of those fake Target Halloween decorations like the skeleton spiders and shit but NO stingrays are actually Like That and it is concerning

[pineapple-jarritos]

weltawletjwpeltljwejwtwltew wig

[greenteacology]

Evolution was like oh you wanna be a vertebrate?? You want some fucken cartilage??? We can make that happen.......

[ndiecity-deactivated20241101]

What the fuck I thought they were invertebrates

[teapotsahoy]

I'm honestly upset to learn they appear to be tetrapods

[geographicwild]

. Photo by @naturebydanielrosengren spotted these cheetahs on open treeless Serengeti plain National Park, Tanzania. #Wild #Nature #Wildlife #Animals #Cheetah #Serengeti #Cheetahs #Tanzania #Igs_Africa #Wildeyesa https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TGmUDACWZ/?igshid=1l1juptkg5zw2

[jdibe22686]

Common Merganser, Sullivan Maine

[lonestray]

By Geert Drost