Caribbean Corals.
Giant anemone, star coral, and sea fans.
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Photographer: Noel Lopez Fernandez. See more photos from this shoot.
Phyllodes Imperialis Caterpillar
Also known as Oruga Cabeza Grande (Big Headed Caterpillar)
Image Credits: © Lui Weber/ Rex Features / plant.nerd
Looking like a cross between a skull and Squidward from Spongebob is the caterpillar of the Pink Underwing Moth (Phyllodes imperialis).
This bizarre creature is found below the altitude of 600m in undisturbed, subtropical rain forest, and survives entirely on the vine Carronia multisepalea, a collapsed shrub that provides the food and habitat the moth requires in order to breed. Due to habitat destruction and tourist disturbance, the moth is listed as nationally endangered in Australia. — (via thefeaturedcreature)
Its face looks as if it was adorned by the ‘Dia De Los Muertos’ theme, how very cool :)
Rhino Beetles by Tiffany Bozic
Frost Flowers Blooming in the Arctic Ocean are Found to be Teeming with Life
These snowflake-like crystals grow from tiny imperfections in floating sea ice, the super-frigid air causing water vapor to crystallize right out of the air into the stunning ordered shapes you see.
These “frost flowers” have been found to harbor microbial life, far more than the sea around them, creating tiny ecosystems like forzen coral. Life does find a way, huh?
Read more about the research of these “frost flower” microbial communities here.
(via Colossal)
There are more than 3,000 described species of nudibranchs. The club shaped structures on their heads (called rhinophores) are used to sense and taste.
via fuckyeahbranchs. Dorid on red carpet by EunJae Underwater Photography on Flickr.
Meet Etheostoma obama, a new species of fish named after the president
The researchers named the five newly discovered species of the darter – the smallest member of the perch family – after four presidents and one vice-president. All but one are Democrats, like Obama.
The darter, which packs a lot of colour into its fairly diminutive dimensions – males are mostly under 50mm in length – spends its life in the fast-moving freshwater rivers and creeks that are the veins of America.
It gets it name from its ability to get around rocks and other obstacles on the bottom of waterways. Most darters live in the creeks of northern Alabama and eastern Tennessee, not typically hospitable terrain for Democrats.
I love this illustration, especially the little diver in the corner.
Diatoms
There are more than 200 genera of living diatoms, and it is estimated that there are approximately 100,000 extant species. Diatoms are a widespread group and can be found in the oceans, in freshwater, in soils and on damp surfaces. Most live pelagically in open water, although some live as surface films at the water-sediment interface (benthic), or even under damp atmospheric conditions. They are especially important in oceans, where they are estimated to contribute up to 45% of the total oceanic primary production.
- Wikipedia
(photo via Phytoplankton key - Phycokey - Microscopic Art images)
Parrotfish Scales
Photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic
Snapped off the coast of Borneo, these iridescent green scales armor a parrotfish (Scarus sp.). The evolutionary link between feathers and scales is evident on developing bird embryos, which are scattered with disks of cells called placodes. Some of these cells grow into scales, such as the ones that cover a chicken’s legs, while others turn into feathers.
Extinction is forever
nrdc:
“An analysis by the U.S. Geological Service reveals that, between 1989 and 2006, 57 fish species went extinct in North America – a pace that is 877 times the previous, background rate of extinction.”—
- Barry Nelson, NRDC senior policy analyst. Read more: Water Woes - A New Report about Endangered Species and Water
Orchids are some of my favorite of all flowers. They are so incredibly adapted to their pollinators.
Catasetum and Cypripedium from ‘News of spring and other nature studies’ 1917 by Edward Julius Detmold (1883 — 1957).
http://poulwebb.blogspot.com/2012/03/edward-detmold-illustrator-part-2.html
Wikimedia.
Siberia’s Lena Delta. The Lena River, some 2,800 miles long, is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean and is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve, a protected wilderness area, provides an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife, and is also an important fish spawning site.
Image Credit: NASA (source)
