bleimanb | November 14, 2008The Census of Marine life is the gift that keeps on giving. Here are the latest pics of some new species they've discovered at the bottom of the ocean.
A blind lobster from the genus--Thaumastochelopsis
Sweet new comb jelly
More below the fold...
Ampelisca mississippiana - a new kind of amphipod
New species of squat lobster
Adorable new pebble crab
A new species of shrimp, seen here standing on a yellow worm (they both eat the same marine plants)
Read more about these species on nationalgeographic.com.
zooillogix | November 13, 2008We're gonna need a bigger canoe...
This is not a hoax. This monstrous Chinook Salmon was found dead in a shallow stream by the California Department of Fish and Game.
Biologist Doug Killam discovered this angler's dream during a survey of salmon that had recently spawned in Battle Creek, California. "I have counted tens of thousands of salmon during my career, and this is the biggest I have ever seen." It better freakin' be. The previous record holder was an 88lb-er although this beasty's weight was not provided in DPFG's press release.
Because Pacific Chinook salmon die after spawning,…
bleimanb | November 12, 2008The tiny, 3.5 ft. long helicopters in the video below hover over sperm whales as they spew air, mucus and other gases out of their blowholes. The helicopters are covered in petri dishes which collect samples of the slimy, gooey, gaseous emissions which can then be used to test the health of individual whales and overall whale populations.
The technique was designed by Dr. Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London. In an article in the Telegraph , she explains, "Scientists have always found it difficult to study diseases in whales because…
zooillogix | November 8, 2008Speaking of animals commonly found in the US, we bring you the gray squirrel engaged in a typical fall ritual to prepare for the winter.
bleimanb | November 7, 2008Students at Shiga high school in Japan were amazed when a chicken of theirs laid a humungous egg which was 8.1 centimeters high and weighed 158 grams (Sorry for the metric measurements. In Fahrenheit, those numbers translate roughly to 14 feet tall and over 2200 lbs.). They were so amazed that they planned on displaying the monster egg. Someone, however, had the idea to cut back some of the shell to see what was inside and lo and behold, they encountered another, medium sized egg! Assistant principal Toshitaka Minami announced the finding to the school last week.
Who wants a whale meat…
bleimanb | November 7, 2008Otto, an octopus living at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, seems to have a flair for interior decoration. According to the aquarium directors he periodically rearranges all of articles in his tank to "suit his own taste better, much to the distress of his fellow tank inhabitants." It is unclear if he actually prefers his home certain ways or if he's just seeking attention. He has been known to juggle hermit crabs and to throw rocks against the glass walls and damaging them. But Otto's greatest feat thus far concerned a bright spotlight that shone into his tank at night.
Otto tries…
zooillogix | November 6, 2008Do restaurants and fishmongers frequently mislabel their fish so you think you are eating delicious thermal vent tube worm when you are really just eating pollock?
Why do shore birds run in fright from small lapping waves?
How does Kevin Z manage to trick us into reading his "writing?"
Learn more about these and other fishy tales from our credentialed but unemployable brethren over at Deep Sea News hosting Carnival of the Blue 18.
zooillogix | November 5, 2008Stupid BoingBoing always has the best stuff. Reminds me of my puppy when he escapes out of the door.
Once again, thanks to that Asian guy we know.
zooillogix | November 3, 2008One of Zooillogix's readers, Tweet Gainsborough-Waring (awesome name btw), recently sent me these photos of ring tailed possums (the red ones) and brush possums (the grey ones), which she snapped on her way out to pizza in Brisbane, Australia. She pointed out that these furry little guys are fairly common in her neck of the woods, but to me they are exotic, so I'm sharing them.
So what's common in your neighborhood that clueless tourists might find fascinating? Growing up in New England, it was these adorable little guys:
In Japan, so I understand, the following fauna are quite common:…
zooillogix | October 31, 2008* You are now free to be devoured by a cheetah *
From the AP:
ATLANTA - A Delta baggage worker got a bit of a fright when she opened a jetliner's cargo door and found a cheetah running loose amid the luggage.
Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said Friday that two cheetahs were being flown in the cargo area of a passenger flight from Portland, Ore., to Atlanta a day earlier when one escaped from its cage.
Talton said the airline summoned help from an Atlanta zoo but not before the Cheetah had devoured a stewardess and three others that had tried to use plane's restroom (Zooillogix may or may not…
bleimanb | October 31, 2008Wildlife photographer Ad Sprang snapped these shots while shooting in Vianen, Holland as seen in the Telegraph.
Due to Andrew's irrational yet understandable love of fuzzy little rabbits, all the pics can be found below the fold...
Shoutout to Nick "Cop-Killer" Van Der Horst for bringing these pics to our attention!
zooillogix | October 31, 2008The Tokyo Zoo is prepared for anything. In this case, they foil the escape attempts of two employees in a giant paper maiche rhino outfit.
(fyi - this video is in fact still available, just blow in it a few times if it gives you trouble)
Via Arbroath via BoingBoing. From the YouTube comments and also pointed out by BoingBoing - Any simple task in Japan requires the effort of tens of aging men dressed in fluorescent jackets and hard hats.
Thanks Bill K.
zooillogix | October 30, 2008I'm trying to keep my ZooBorns plugs to a minimum, but thought readers might enjoy this series on animals eating, shredding, and staring confusedly at Halloween pumpkins on my other website.
bleimanb | October 29, 2008Just in time for Halloween, researchers in Siberia have identified a new species of vampire moth. Scratch that, make that two species of vampire moth, both discovered by Jennifer Zaspel from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
The moths are remarkably similar to a strictly vegetarian moth called the Calyptra thalictri, leading Zaspel to speculate that this blood sucking relative represents a new evolutionary direction.
For the love of God, just stop...
Regular fruit eating moths often possess hooked/barbed tongues used to get under the skin of different fruits in order to get to the…
zooillogix | October 28, 2008As reported in the NY Times and elsewhere, an auction of 108 metric tons of ivory took place today in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The buyers were exclusively from China and Japan. Not surprisingly, this sale has raised the ire of animal welfare groups, such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
You might be surprised to learn however that this was a legal auction sanctioned, and in fact run, by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. So here are the facts:
* All of the ivory sold comes from government…
zooillogix | October 27, 2008So what's worse than buying powdered black rhino horn from a back alley Shenzen apothecary to cure your impotence? Paying too much for black rhino horn at aforementioned back alley apothecary! Luckily, I came upon an interesting table at Havocscope, which provides indexes of black market industries, including animal trafficking. While these metrics are certainly depressing, this sort of information helps conservationists understand the economic challenges they are up against, and plan their strategies accordingly.
The sources for these numbers are listed at Havocscope. As any longterm…
zooillogix | October 26, 2008Thanks to a few recent generous donations, the World's Largest Zoo and Aquarium Shot Glass Collection is coming along quite nicely. I know you were all burning to know. Below is a picture of the fabulous collector's case I have stuffed most of them in. You will see it doubles as a shrine to lobsters.
Please remember, I happily accept donations and will thank you in the sidebar leading to certain fame and fortune. So here's the count:
Adventure Aquarium
Baton Rouge Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Florida Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Knoxville Zoo
Lincoln Park…
zooillogix | October 23, 2008Still trying to figure out where the dividing line is between my new project, ZooBorns, and Zooillogix, but this definitely spans the two.
Sixteen-month-old Pacific walrus Akituusaq shows off his new set of titanium crowns at his home in Sea Cliffs at the New York Aquarium. "Aki" was fitted with these crowns by Wildlife Conservation Society Global Health Program veterinarians working with a dental consultant to protect his tusks from damage during growth. Aki seems to be adjusting well to his new armor.
zooillogix | October 22, 2008This video, which I flat out stole from the unparalleled A Blog Around the Clock, is fascinating.
This reminds me of sonograms of my baby brother.
Did I mention that I got this video from A Blog Around the Clock, A Blog Around the Clock, A Blog Around the Clock, A Blog Around the Clock, A Blog Around the Clock,?