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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Extinct Animal

           While there are over a million animal-species in existence today, the fact is that hundreds have gone into extinction. We will only know them through creative creations, but would never be able to see them. In spite of their extinction one is always interested in learning about them. No wonder books and movies are made on dinosaurs, or then some extinct species become characters of comic books.

Here are some extinct animal facts, followed by an exhaustive list of animals that have gone into extinction over the eras of earth’s evolution…





The Tyrannosaurus Rex went extinct 65 million years ago. It was one of the largest animals. It measured up to 43.3 feet in length and 16.6 feet in height. It weighed approximately 7 tons.


 The Quagga
 

The Quagga, which was half-zebra-half-horse animal species went into extinction in the year 1883. This is was one of the most famous animals of Africa. This animal had the zebra stripes only on the front part of the body, which would fade and become wider in the middle of the body, and the hindquarter was brown (no stripes). It was the cruel animal activities that led this animal to extinction. It was on 12th August 12, 1883, that the last of the Quaggas died at the Artis Magistra Zoo (Amsterdam).




The Tasmanian Tiger


The Tasmanian Tiger went into extinct in the year 1936. This animal is regarded to be the largest carnivorous marsupial in modern day and age. It was a native wildlife animal of Australia and New Guinea. Man and his evil ways led this animal to extinction.



Steller's Sea Cow


Steller's Sea Cow was also known as the defenseless beast. It went into extinction in 1768. This creature’s natural habitat was on the Asiatic coast of the Bering Sea. It got its name because it was discovered by a naturalist, Georg Stellar, in 1741. He was traveling with Vitus Bering, a renowned explorer. The animal was large weighing up to three tons. Though it looked almost like a seal, it had two forelimbs that were stout, as well as tail that was whale-like.
 
Irish Deer


Irish Deer is the largest deer to have ever existed. It went into extinction approximately 7,700 years ago. It was a native animal of Eurasia, grazing the land stretching from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal. It was large sized, with extra large antlers measuring up to 3.65 meters (12 feet from tip-to-tip). The antlers weighed about 90 pounds.




The Caspian Tiger


The Caspian Tiger was the third largest tiger species. The last of this tiger was seen in 1970, after which it has been declared amongst the extinct animal species. This tiger was found on the lands of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Caucasus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.



Aurochs


Aurochs was a large-sized cattle-species. It is recorded to have gone into extinction in 1627. It is said that this cattle evolved from India, migrating to the Middle-East, reaching Europe.

The World's Ugliest Animals

The World's Ugliest Animals



I resisted creating this one for a while because I was thinking it was a bit shallow and that all of God's creatures are beautiful, aren't they? Not really. Anyway, animals don't mind being called ugly, what matters to them is food, sleep and mating, in that order. And when it comes to mating strength and skills usually count for more than beauty.



hairless newborn aardvark
A newborn hairless aardvark is not so handsome






Newborn aye-ayes are not handsome either so much for the all babies are cute theory





baird tapir
Baird tapir






blobfish
One blobfish I am not interested in eating
 


 
deap sea anglerfish
Anglerfish






elephant seal
Elephant seal






scavenger bird
The marabou stork with its nearly hairless head, wrinkly skin, ugly throat sack and spindly legs wins the ugliest bird award
 Ugliest Bird - Marabou Stork





frill shark
Frill shark






naked mole rat
Naked mole rat
Rodents are not favored for their good looks but this is an extreme case.






solenodon

Solenodon






ugly bat
Not pretty and the high-pitch screeching doesn't help either





mexican mole lizard
Mexican mole lizard







starnosed mole
Star-nosed mole - anything headless with claws is not going to make friends easily






warthog
Warthog





And now for a few that are not necessarily from ugly species but are only some of the ugliest representatives from within their species.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Top 10 Pygmy Animals

Top 10 Pygmy Animals



Why is it that Pygmy creatures are more attractive than full-sized animals? Do they retain some of the tiny new-born charm into adulthood? By nature of being a pygmy they all have that special small but powerful, little-big-guy demeanor. They are all fascinating. Of course, it can be advantageous in the wild to be tiny. Big fat animals must eat a lot to maintain their bodies but the little guy can survive on some smaller dishes. Here is a top 10 list of some of them (more than 10 now).

Pygmy Owl

pygmy
Within the species of owls there is no shortage of pygmys. There are around 34 species/subspecies although this is not completely agreed upon. About half of those are spread about the Americas. There is also an elf owl.

Pygmy Seahorse

pink seahorse
seahorse palm
seahorse reef
Masters of blending into the reef
The pygmy seahorse is found in the western central Pacific coastal areas, in the south of Japan, Indonesia and northern Australia. It is only about 2.5cm or 1 inch tall. This is a species where the male takes care of the offspring. The male has a pouch and the female comes to deposit her eggs there. Then, the eggs stay in the male’s pouch until hatched.

Pygmy Tarsier

tarsier
Believed to be extinct for about the last 100 years, the pygmy tarsier was found by accident by scientists in Indonesia in 2000. They don't like baths and don't feed them after midnight. See also Pygmy Tarsier Rediscovered in Indonesia and Tarsiers

Pygmy Elephant

pygmy elephant
Still a big elephant!, but not quite so big as some of the others.


 

Pygmy Marmoset



pygmy marmoset


Pygmy Tapir

tapir

Pygmy Goat

goat
Never trust a goat. Much less a feisty pygmy goat.

 

Pygmy Horse

dwarf horse
miniature horse
small horse
Miniature, Dwarf or Pygmy? This site about Guide Horses for the Blind has some interesting facts about them.

 

 

Pygmy Hog

hog
hogs
Red River Hogs
The pygmy hog is a wild pig from India that is about 10 inches tall and weighs a little more than 10 lbs. None of the hogs pictured above is a pygmy hog, they were just the ones who showed up on the day of the photo shoot.

Pygmy Possum

possum
possums

Pygmy Hippo

hippo

Pygmy Mouse Lemur

mouse lemurs

Pygmy Chameleon

chameleon


Bee Hummingbird

hummingbird
hummingbird
Ok, the bee hummingbird isn’t officially labeled a pygmy but it is the world’s smallest bird.
More Hummingbirds

African Pygmy Hedgehog

hedgehog



Pygmy Three-toed Sloth

three-toed sloth
Sloths

Pygmy Jerboa

jerboa
This little hopping long-eared pygmy jerboa is from Bluchistan, Pakistan and may be the world's smallest rodent.

Unlikely Animal Friends

Unlikely Animal Friends



This is a look at some unlikely interspecies relationships. How do they meet? Not through the internet. Sometimes zoos and rescue centers need an extra mother for an orphaned young animal. Sometimes well-fed zoo animals are looking for some more playtime pals. And sometimes in the wild, strange things happen.

dog orangutan

boar with jack russell

tiger chimp

dog and pony show

dog with deer

dog lion cubs

dog and owl

dog parrot

dog pelican
wiener dog and pelican

dog pig

dog red pandas
dog with red panda cubs

the fox and the hound
the fox and the hound

giraffe ostrich
giraffe and ostrich

lemur and bird

lion circus horse

I wouldn't call these two friends, I am sure the horse would rather be somewhere else but circus trainers worldwide manage to pull this one off for certain short lengths of time.

mabel with her pups
Mabel the hen and her rottweilers

pelican tortoise
pelican and tortoise

serval and dog
serval and dog



sheep and elephant

Who knew that tigers and pigs could be such friends?

tiger and pig

tiger and the pig

pigs and tiger

little pigs and tigers

little pigs

tigers and pigs



This is one of a very nice video about two different species animals.