#nature is weird

[2022dirt]

Capybara looks like It’s wearing clothes due to the reflection.

[sixteenseveredhands]

Shellback Crabs: these crabs create their own shields out of clamshells; their semi-membranous bodies can be pressed into the contours of the shell, producing a suction mechanism that holds the shell in place

The members of this genus (Hypoconcha) have a series of unique adaptations that facilitate this kind of camouflage behavior. Many of the Dromiidae crabs (e.g. hermit crabs, sponge crabs, shellback crabs, etc.) are equipped with a specialized pair of legs that enables the crab to hold a shell, sea sponge, and/or ascidian against their body, but shellback crabs also have a flexible, semi-membranous body that can be tucked more firmly into the contours of a bivalve shell, producing a suction mechanism that keeps the shell firmly locked in place.

The body of the shellback crab is also covered in a very fine layer of hair-like structures called setae, and when the crab presses itself against the shell, these membranous "hairs" can take on an almost translucent appearance, particularly around the margins of the crab's body.

I recently posted some photos/info about some of the crabs in the genus Lamarckdromia (which belongs to the same family) and as I was doing the background research for that post, I was just kind of mesmerized by all of these weirdly adorable crabs that seem to exist within the Dromiidae family tree. Each genus has its own unique adaptations that allow the crabs to use specific materials for camouflage -- some of them use living sponges, clamshells, ascidians, etc.

And I could not stop laughing at the little faces on these crabs. They've all got the same bemused/indignant expression...as if some random asshole has just walked up to them, shoved them over, and announced to the entire ocean that there's a crab hiding beneath that disguise; as if that actually happens to them quite a lot, and they're getting really sick of it.

Sources & More Info:

Crustaceana Monographs: Comparison of the Shell-Carrying Behaviors of Desmodromia, Conchoecetes, and Hypoconcha (the relevant info is on page 191)

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: Shellback Crabs and their Larval Stages (PDF)

South Carolina Public Radio: Shellback Crabs

Again, I don't normally feature crustaceans on my blog...but I really couldn't resist this one.

[witchcraftandgeekness]

Can we please adress the fact that snow leopards have questionable relationship with gravity? They can jump on the length of 50 feet (we are so bloody lucky that they are not agressive towards humans).

Where are you, dude, on a dance floor?

And they can stand?? Like people???

Why so cute and absurde?

[freedomofthemoon]

Have a pregnant male pipefish on this Wet Beast Wednesday. I'm not sure animals who live in water properly embody the pathetic spirit of the day, but I was soggy and frozen enough for both of us.

[ms-scarletwings]

So it’s like a huge thing in Dredge that sometimes you pull up these lovecraftian type of mutant fish… like, they’re rarer and more valuable, albeit fucked up variants of the normal ones you catch. Kind of like shiny Pokémon if the shinies had many eyes where they shouldn’t or clumps of parasitic, Gigeresque cysts covering their malformed bodies.

Anyway the least disturbing and MOST funny one to me that I’ve encountered so far has to be this aberrant version of blackmouth salmon

Like, I’m sorry, devs?… that’s not some unholy divergence from the course of the natural order that’s just a normal ass chinook in the spawning season. No joke, they just casually rot alive exactly like that every single generation of fish.

Heads up: under this cut gets gross

Photos of real salmon during the spawn season that turn my stomach in a way this video game can only aspire to

In case you ever wondered, this is also the reason people don’t eat post-spawn adults.

Remember kids, as much as any of us try, it’s very hard to top the worldbuilding of the greatest horror author of all- Mother Nature.

[carionto]

Aliens are floored by tardigrades

Life is pretty resilient. It has to be, especially if the rest of the Galaxy thinks we're from a Deathworld. In comparison then, if their planets are not as demanding, would life there ever be under enough pressure to survive to go to the extreme lengths that some Earth creatures do? I think one of the most profound things aliens might learn from Earth and Humanity is just how powerful life itself can be.

That itself could shake their understanding of themselves - a billion year old civilization could never even conceive of a thing we accept as simple fact, ushering a revolution in thinking not seen in eons.

___________________________

The Galactic Coalition scientists are busying themselves with obtaining, analyzing, categorizing, and integrating the libraries of information Humanity has brought with them as they incorporate into the greater space faring matrix of civilizations.

A good grasp of Physics, though lacking in certain fields for now; unmatched Engineering doctrines, they really do think of everything, although, perhaps, better to say - they really do attempt everything, then take notes and improve for the next attempt.

Chemistry is another fine addition to the collective knowledge base, a disproportionate part of the catalogue is comprised entirely of explosive reagents and combinations - always good to know more about what NOT to do.

And Biology. Oh boy. What a chaotic but beautiful but also disturbing mess. Life on most planets has a long period of just chugging along, surviving as best it can, until eventually something has the bright idea to evolve the ability to have bright ideas. Then in almost no time at all (on a cosmic scale) a dominant intelligence emerges and civilization alongside it, and in the blink of an eye it finds itself exploring the stars.

A similar pattern happened on Earth, but interrupted alarmingly often by utter catastrophes. Humans call them Mass Extinctions. It is exceedingly rare to find life that can talk about its own extinction events. Kind of deflates the term a bit. Life on planets as inhospitable (by Galactic norms) as Earth tends to be found only as fossils, and almost always on the microscopic level - very rarely do they get the chance to form more complex and advanced lifeforms before the planet with its harsh conditions and scarce resources kills it just as randomly as it spawned it.

We were incredibly saddened to learn from the Humans that the biodiversity of Earth had dwindled by roughly 85% since they accidentally created that giant hole on their planet, and that it had already been on a steady decline before then. Even so, when they revealed there were still 2.4 million species alive on Earth was a shockingly high number. Most are on the brink of extinction, yes, but the fact remains that Earth is easily one of the most biodiverse planets in the Galaxy.

Then we started looking at each individual species and learned about the Tardigrade.

what

It is literally the toughest creature ever discovered, and it's not even close. At least, so far, we haven't looked at absolutely everything Earth has or had yet.

It can just... basically turn itself off and then back on again when the outside becomes livable again - Cryptobiosis, or suspending their metabolism, something we considered only possible through artificial means. And the levels of various extreme they can endure and still be alive would just be utterly ridiculous if they didn't give us samples to confirm for ourselves.

Then we came across the term Extremophile and just decided to take a day off.

[jenfoundabug]

Mating pair of Physocephala tibialis, a species of parasitoid fly, found near a large patch of flowers in Pennsylvania. These insects have an interesting (and somewhat horrific) life cycle.

The adult female will hide under flowers and wait for an unfortunate hymenopteran (bee or wasp) to visit. She then attacks the host by piercing its abdomen and laying a single egg inside. Once hatched, the larva will consume the host from the inside over the course of 10-12 days.

Right before the host dies, the larva sometimes manipulates the bee/wasp to bury itself, which offers extra protection from weather and predators. The exact mechanism of this behavior is unknown, and interestingly, the probability of it happening depends on the host species.

After the host dies, the larva pupates and overwinters inside the corpse. The newly emerged adult has a structure on its head called a ptilinum that it can inflate and deflate to bust its way out of the host and the ground (if buried).

[scifimagpie]

crab.

Look. At his. Lil. Hat.

[lichenaday]

Peltigera elisabethae

I was gonna post this lichen a couple weeks ago, but uh, in light of recent events, I thought it best to hold off for a bit. But I have waited long enough to share this wonderful lichen with an unfortunate name association. This gorgeous foliose specimen has large lobes that grow in undulating patches up to 15 cm across. When dry, the upper surface of this lichen is pale gray, blue gray, or brown in color. When moist, the upper surface is a dark blackish green. The underside is white, smooth, and covered in long, pale rhizines. It produces flat, smooth apothecia with dark-brown discs. P. elisabethae grows on soil intermixed with mosses in moist temperate or boreal forests in the northern hemisphere. 

images: source 

info: source

[cl0wnwiththesickness]

opossum wet specimen

[railraptor]

I'm being very smart and NOT looking up anything about animals that can spit their stomach out of their mouth and it looks like capillaries or whatever the hell they're all talking about.

I like animals as much as the next person, but some things I'd rather not know about.

[2022dirt]

Tiny growing fungi on this pinecone.

[sixteenseveredhands]

The Camouflaged Looper: these caterpillars fashion their own camouflage by collecting flower petals/vegetation and using silk to "glue" the pieces onto their bodies

Though they're often referred to as "camouflaged loopers," these caterpillars are the larvae of the wavy-lined emerald moth (Synchlora aerata).

Camouflaged loopers deploy a unique form of self-defense -- they snip off tiny pieces of the flowers upon which they feed, then use bits of silk to attach the vegetation to their backs. This provides them with a kind of camouflage, enabling them to blend in with the plants that they eat.

Some of them create little tufts that run along their backs, while others fashion a thicker camouflage that covers their backs completely. In some cases, the camouflaged loopers will even build much larger bundles that surround their entire bodies.

Their range includes most of North America (from southern Canada down through Texas) and they can feed upon an enormous variety of plants -- so the disguises that these caterpillars build can come in countless colors, shapes, and sizes, incorporating many different flowers and other bits of vegetation.

And this is what the fully-developed moth looks like:

Sources & More Info:

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy: Wavy-Lined Emerald, Master of Disguise

Maryland Biodiversity Project: Wavy-Lined Emerald Moth (Synchlora aerata)

The Caterpillar Lab: Camouflaged Looper

University of Alberta Museums: Synchlora aerata

Missouri Department of Conservation: Wavy-Lined Emerald

Nebraskaland Magazine: The Amazing Camouflaged Looper

Lake County Forest Preserves: Camouflage Revealed

[lifeimitatesmeme]

p l a n e t a r r a k i s

Here we see the mother teaching her chicks a very specialized survival technique: to avoid making rhythmic noises, which attract the sandworms, the fremenbirds cross desert spaces using the sandwalk, a dance-like motion with irregular rhythm which emulates the natural sounds of the desert.

[whumped-by-glitter]

What inspired my world:

Oh, a species of slave taking ants I learned about in an animal behavior lecture last semester, apparently they will starve to death even if surrounded by food if a slave ant doesn't feed it....

Everyone I've told this to so far: WTF?!!!! is that even real? What? That's a thing?

I love nature, also my brain makes some weird connections, ant hills became kingdoms... 🤣

[mamamittens]

I've been considering Melody's toxin. Based on this base description on Wikipedia about venom

I'm going with a duel prong attack when fully developed as a neurotoxin and myotoxin. Paralyzing and causes muscle spasms, cramps, and in high doses, heart and lung failure.

For a bit I considered her having spines in her hair but ultimately passed as it would be hard to explain and style casually.

The only thing left to be considered is what color her venom will be. Snakes tend to have yellow/opaque or white but the world is our oyster and stonefish have vivid blue venom! It's really neat and incredibly painful 😃

So, here's some fun ideas, but remember! It's coming from her mouth! And will probably be more neon colored for contrast because I can lol