#artiodactyla

[life-on-our-planet]

Melanistic fallow deer filmed by Jakub Wencek in the forests of Barycz Valley.

©

[tbalderdash-art-blog]

[snototter]

An orca (Orcinus orca) breaches off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, USA

by Guy Schmickle

[crabussy]

I need to talk about how orcas and giraffes are in the same order in regards to taxonomy. because WHAT. HOW. and also HUH???????

for reference. as humans our order is primates. e.g. chimpanzees. makes sense right? forward facing eyes. omnivores. hair covering our bodies. fingers for grasping. large brains. it MAKES SENSE.

and then you have the order of artiodactyla. this order includes deer, giraffes, bison, sheep, goats, cattle, etc. again, makes sense right? cloven hooves. primarily herbivorous. have horns or antlers. HAVE FOUR LEGS. but SOMEHOW. orcas (alongside whales, dolphins, etc) are ALSO PART OF THIS GROUP?!?!????? the carnivorous entirely aquatic smooth as hell extremely intelligent school bus sized legless marine predator?????????

????????????????? WHAT THE FUCK. I'm extremely upset. I love zoology. sorry one extra fun fact before you go. cows are more closely related to whales than they are to horses.

[mammalianmammals]

Alpine Ibex (Capra ibex), male., family Bovidae, found in Alps of Europe

photograph by Claude Gurzeler

[saritawolf]

American Bison (Bison bison) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[spiritofthemountainnaturephoto]

I've been hoping everytime I see this spot that an elk would walk out near it. The foliage is spectacular especially in Fall. I finally got lucky 🙌

Over 400 notes tumblr oh my goodness thank you so much ❤️🥰

This photo is available in both sticker and print form here :)

https://www.ebay.com/usr/mountainwomanwares

[birdblues]

Western Jackdaw & European Fallow Deer

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Most animals need to have sex to reproduce, but even among sexually active species there are some members who just don't want tk! For example, studies have shown that 2-3% of male domestic sheep show no interest in sex with other females or males, making them completely asexual.

(Image: A domestic sheep (Ovis aries) ram by John Guidi)

[alphynix]

Albireonids were an early branch of the delphinoid whales, with their closest living relatives being modern oceanic dolphins, narwhals and belugas, and porpoises. Known from temperate latitudes of the North Pacific Ocean between the late Miocene and the late Pliocene, about 9-2.5 million years ago, their fossil remains are very rare in coastal deposits and they seem to have primarily been offshore open ocean animals.

Albireo whistleri is the best known member of this family, represented by a near-complete skeleton from what is now Isla de Cedros in Baja California, Mexico, dating to the late Miocene between about 8 and 6 million years ago. It was a rather small dolphin, around 2.5m long (~8'2"), with a stocky body, fairly broad flippers, and skull anatomy with some convergent similarities with the modern Dall's porpoise.

Interestingly these dolphins also seem to have frequently had pathological neck vertebrae, with both Albireo whisteri and the younger species Albireo savagei from California, USA, showing unusually asymmetrical atlas bones – but on opposite sides to each other. This might be due to illness or injury earlier in life, or possibly be evidence of some sort of "handedness" with individuals preferring to perform some actions more with one side of their body than the other.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

References:

"Albireonidae." Paleobiology Database, https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42961

Barnes, Lawrence G. Fossil odontocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Almejas Formation, Isla Cedros, Mexico. University of California, Museum of Paleontology, 1984. https://books.google.com/books?id=rxyydMGWGqgC

Barnes, Lawrence G. "Miocene and Pliocene Albireonidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti), rare and unusual fossil dolphins from the eastern North Pacific Ocean." Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series 41 (2008): 99-152. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiaoming-Wang-43/publication/252086599_Geology_and_Vertebrate_Paleontology_of_Western_and_Southern_North_America/links/5625900908ae4d9e5c4bb863/Geology-and-Vertebrate-Paleontology-of-Western-and-Southern-North-America.pdf#page=105

Gillet, Amandine, Bruno Frédérich, and Eric Parmentier. "Divergent evolutionary morphology of the axial skeleton as a potential key innovation in modern cetaceans." Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286.1916 (2019): 20191771. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1771

Thomas, Howell W., et al. "Examples of paleopathologies in some fossil Cetacea from the North Pacific realm." Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series 41 (2008): 153-179. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiaoming-Wang-43/publication/252086599_Geology_and_Vertebrate_Paleontology_of_Western_and_Southern_North_America/links/5625900908ae4d9e5c4bb863/Geology-and-Vertebrate-Paleontology-of-Western-and-Southern-North-America.pdf#page=159

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Whitetail deer

[life-on-our-planet]

The European bison came very close to total extinction, but thanks to conservation and rewilding efforts they can again be found across central and western Europe. As far back as the 15th century they were protected from poaching and fed in winter, and as recently as 2022 a wild bison calf was born in the UK for the first time in millennia. ©Wildlife World

[herpsandbirds]

Green Jay (Cyanocorax luxuosus), family Corvidae, order Passeriformes, sitting on top of a Javelina (Dicotyles tajacu), family Tayassuidae, South, TX, USA

photograph by Steve Hillebrand U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[snototter]

An orca (Orcinus orca) breaches in Sommarøy, Norway

by Bo Eide

[rebeccathenaturalist]

(Originally posted in this FB group)

That's a heck of a leap; gotta be about, what twenty-five feet or so? Wonder what it would have been with a clean, unimpeded landing? Hope the deer was okay after the adrenaline wore off. Ironically, the person pulling up in the SUV was there to buy the (apparently flawless pre-crash-landing) pickup, and the original post is full of people asking "But did they end up buying the truck anyway?"

[mammalianmammals]

Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus), male, family Bovidae, Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Rep. of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)

photograph by Dylan Smith