chilirasbora

[chilirasbora]

Reminder that the only reason "hermaphrodite" is even used in biology is because some zoologists a couple hundred years ago were were too lazy to come up with a new term to talk about how snails reproduce, and instead opted to compare them to intersex people. (Which were, at the time, ONLY called hermaphrodites. The word intersex didn't exist yet.)

Hermaphrodite has referred to intersex people since before we knew what a gamete was.

It wouldn't fucking kill you to use cosexed/cosexual, dichogamous, monoecious, gonosimulite, or whatever else to talk about animal species that have dual reproductive function. You don't need to contribute to a slur for us staying normalized.

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Native fish tank. (Creek Chub)

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Slooow down and meet today’s reptilian feature: the radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiata)! It gets its name from the bright-yellow "radiating" (star) pattern on its domed shell. This herbivore munches on a variety of grasses, fruits, and succulents. For relief during extreme heat, it will burrow itself underground to try and keep cool. Once abundant throughout the dry regions of southern Madagascar, this species is now critically endangered due to habitat destruction and exploitation in the illegal pet trade.

Photo: andrewdressel, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

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We are hitting peak bird migration season in the United States with hundreds of millions of birds making their way north this weekend. Artificial light can be extremely confusing and disorienting for these birds as they migrate! Please make sure to “go dark” and turn off any unnecessary lights around your home. Your avian neighbors are counting on you to help them on this perilous journey. Lights out this weekend!

Bird migration forecast map is from BirdCast, where you can find more information and live updates.

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I feel like "trump wants to throw away literal dinosaur fossils" would really turn heads if we actually had a functional opposition party in this country to get messages out, but I guess I'll just have to get a paint pen and write it on my car. fine, I'll do it.

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To my fellow Inaturalist fans this is your reminder that annotations exist. Ooh you want to make the fun data better ooohh

Both stats above are from red winged blackbird observations!

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🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨

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this image came to me in a dream

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Favorite bird genre has got to be 'that's literally just a dinosaur'

Groove-Billed Ani

Hoatzin

Pheasant Coucal

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Oh. My. Gawd. Honey, is that the Whitefeathers nesting next to us again? I really don't think I can stand them for another season.

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)

North America & Caribbean, winters in South America

Status: Endangered (USA interior and California populations)

Threats: human disturbance, predators, extreme weather

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Pearl-banded or Sichuan Rat Snake (Euprepiophis perlaceus), family Colubridae, Sichuan, China

ENDANGERED.

photograph by Spark Chou

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Big day for a special boy!! 🦭

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Malayan Blue Coral Snake (Calliophis bivirgatus), family Elapidae, Fraser's Hill, Fraser's Hill, Malaysia

Venomous.

photograph by Prashanta Kumar Mohanty

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PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE OPEN FOR GENDER IDENTIFIERS ON US PASSPORTS

Right now, you can submit a comment for consideration on the proposed changes to US Passport law that will include requiring a change from "Gender" to "Sex" on all passports and require that people identify with their sex assigned at birth.

THIS IS THE LAW THAT WOULD BAN TRANS PEOPLE FROM UPDATING THEIR IDENTIFICATION

Please take a moment to click through and submit a comment. This kind of thing is fast, easy, and is one of the many ways to show your support of the trans community to the people that need to know how many of us there are.

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Take the memory, leave the shell! Watch what happens when we return seashells to the beach & marine hermit crabs!

Seashells are so important to beaches for a whole host of reasons.

🐚Over-shelling can affect hermit crabs because it reduces the availability of suitable shells for them to inhabit. Hermit crabs rely on empty shells of other creatures for protection and shelter. When there are too few shells available, hermit crabs may be forced to inhabit inadequate shells & pollution as homes, which can hinder their growth and make them more vulnerable to predators and environmental stressors. This can ultimately impact their survival and reproductive success.

🐚Shells provide homes or attachment surfaces for algae, sea grass, sponges, coral and a host of other microorganisms.

🐚Animals such as decorator crabs and octopus use shells as camouflage and many fish use shells as hiding places to avoid predators.

🐚Shells help to stabilize beaches and anchor seagrass.

🐚Shells are used by shorebirds to build nests.

🐚When shells break down, they provide nutrients for the organisms living in the sand or for those that build their own shells. (Shells are a major source of calcium.) I’m a firm believer in when we know better, we do better. I once shelled, and then when I learned all of this, I returned all shells that were not sprayed with a clear varnish to the beach & watched the marine hermit crabs go wild changing shells that were so needed!

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HEY GUYS!!

GUYS!!!

FRANCE HAS REACHED THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON THE CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE AGAINST CONVERSION THERAPY IN THE EU!!

ONE COUNTRY DOWN, SIX TO GO!!

We also need still quite a few signatures in order to reach the one million required.

As to date, the six other countries with the most signatures are:

Spain - 38.72%

Finland - 30.31%

Ireland - 24.86%

Netherlands - 24.15%

Germany - 23.54%

Belgium - 23.09%

So yeah, still a long way to go, but we ARE slowly getting closer. Don't stop now! Don't let this stay within the community, either, if you have any friends or family who are open to queer rights, get them to sign, too!

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look at this wonderful gif of scallops getting scared and scattering like a flock pigeons