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The crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small seabird of the family Alcidae, distributed throughout the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. The species feeds by diving in deep waters, eating krill and a variety of small marine animals. It nests in dense colonies of up to 1 million individuals in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. The species is known for its sexual ornaments, found in both males and females. These include colorful plumage with a forehead crest, a striking scent recalling citrus fruit, and a loud trumpet call, all of which appear to have evolved through sexual selection.

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so it turns out great tits can and do kill and eat both other birds and small mice when food is scarce, particularly during winter, and i just cannot get over this picture. it looks like the kind of photo hunters take with their kills. i’m losing it

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The Twisted Trees of Slope Point, New Zealand

Slope Point is at the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand. The air streams loop the ocean, unobstructed for 2000 miles, until they reach Slope Point causing incredibly strong winds. In fact, the winds are so strong and persistent here that they perpetually warp and twist the trees into these crooked, wind-swept shapes. 

Slope Point is generally uninhabited, except for the herds of sheep that graze the land. There are no roads leading here, however backpackers regularly make the short 20-minute walk to see the fascinating tree formations that only Mother Nature could create. However there is no public access during the lambing season from September to November.

sources 1, 2, 3, 4

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A burned tree with unusually patterned wood

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Cats are not sapient creatures. Mr.Fuzzybottom does not have the thought process to weigh the consequences of his actions or to assess potential risks. 

He does not care that the lizard is of an endangered species; he’s hungry and wants to eat. 

Cars matter little to him, he’s grown used to the sound of them and no instinct of his is going to tell him that a thousand pound metal thing going at 20mph is not gonna stop just because he wandered out in front of it. 

Cats have no concept of money either. Oh, he got taken to the vet again because he got in yet another fight? Meh; he chased the other cat off and that’s all that matters in his fuzzy little brain. 

He also knows that people mean food and shelter. He doesn’t know that food could be poisoned, or that the person would sooner shoot him than let him in their home. 

Maybe he does know how to avoid predators. That doesn’t stop them from being bigger, stronger, faster then him. He is not an animal built by nature, he’s a pet. 

But hey, despite all that he went home and didn’t die at a depressingly young age, so you’re gonna go around telling every indoor cat advocate that their wrong despite all statistics and evidence, just because Fuzzybottom avoided so many near deaths that you had no clue about. 

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What's your favorite weird and/or little-known animal?

him

a golden mole

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“I make no apologies for the apparent subject matter. These two dear little creatures are my friends. They are intelligent, loving, comical and often bored. They watch me work; I notice the warm shapes they make together, their sadness and their delights. And, being Hollywood dogs, they somehow seem to know that a picture is being made.” 

- artist David Hockney, on his 1990s paintings of his two dachshunds 

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Damascus was a bad man at the vet and was very bitey so he got put in the lizard straight jacket for his x-rays.

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Toronto had some controversy this weekend over this super xenophobic billboard and right in the middle of this whole controversy someone just vandalized it and now its so good

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ANTI-BARFING SPIKES.

This is why they have such a problem with plastic bags. It’s because the unique structure of their esophagus makes it so that they can’t get rid of them.

Other places to see my posts: INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / ETSY / KICKSTARTER

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VIDEO SOURCE

(Turn on the sound!!)

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we would be living in in the correct timeline if megamind had been more successful than despicable me

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Colourised footage of Benjamin, the last know Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine).

Benjamin died on September 7th, 1936 in Hobart zoo. It is believed that he died out of neglect, as he was locked out of his shelter and was exposed to the searing hot sun and freezing cold night of Tasmania.

The Thylacine was one of the last large marsupials left on Australia (the other being the Kangaroo) after a great extinction event occurred around 40 thousand years ago. This extinction event, caused mainly by the arrival of humans, wiped out 90% of Australia’s terrestrial vertebrates, including the famous Megafauna.

The Thylacine was around 15-30kg (33-66lbs), were carnivorous, and had numerous similarities to other species like dogs, despite not being related and purely by chance, in a phenomenon known as convergent evolution (just like the ability to fly of bats and birds, despite following different evolutionary paths). Not only that, they could open their jaws up to 120 degrees, could hop around on two legs like a kangaroo, and both males and females had pouches.

Lastly in a cruel twist, the Tasmanian government decided to protect the Thylacine - just 59 days before the last one died, in a very notable case case of “Too little too late”. To date, many biologists believe that there are still Thylacine roaming the wild plains of Australia. 

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Red morning by shamarra_alpacas