Adorable obscure critters

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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:46 am

So I was watching Life on Earth and thinking I'd do one molluscs post and one echinoderm post, but I couldn't think of six for either. Then I remembered that I've been trying to do fewer than six animals a post, this is a good thing. Then when I started this post I came up with more than six animals I wanted to share anyways, so I'm gonna do at least two echidnoderm posts. This one is just for the starfish and their relatives.

I'm starting with echinoderms, mostly because I learned about the royal sea star (Astropecten articulatus) from a different source.
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Pictures of the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) are so varied that it seems like it should be multiple species, but here's one whose color I really like.
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Brittle stars are related to starfish but are faster moving and unlike the carnivorous starfish are generally scavengers.
Green brittle star (Ophiarachna incrassata)
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Feather-hitching brittle star (Ophiomaza cacaotica)
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The brittle-star clade also contains the basket stars. (Pictured: Astrocladus euryale)
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Gorgon-head brittle star (Astroba nuda)
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:46 pm

There are three major clades of echinoderms living today. The second clade is the sea urchins (including sand dollars and sea biscuits) and sea cucumbers.

The pencil sea urchins are the most taxonomically distinct group of sea urchins. The slate pencil urchin is fairly typical of how they look, which isn't like other sea urchins.
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However the flattened spines of Cidaris blakei are particularly distinctive, not shared even with any other member of the genus.
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The closest relatives of the sand dollars show how they're related to sea urchins, resembling an intermediate form between sand dollars and typical sea urchins. (Pictured: Echinoneus cyclostomus)
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Despite most sea cucumbers being rather ugly things, there are some genuinely beautiful ones. One family contains two known deep-sea species in two genera which resemble jellyfish, but aren't.

Enypniastes eximia
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Pelagothuria natatrix
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Also, if it's not apparent from what I said, I'll be making a third echinoderms post tomorrow.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:20 pm

So obviously I didn't post again the next day, but it's y'all's fault for not thumbing me. Not thumbing me won't make me stop posting here but it does reduce the frequency. Any rate, the third group of echinoderms and the most basal of echinoderms are crinoids or sea lilies.

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There are three orders of crioids. One contains almost all species, one I can't find any information on, and one contains the stalked crinoids such as Endoxocrinus here.
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Ptilometra australis
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Himerometra robustipinna
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Not sure what species this is but it's pretty
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And yes, they do come in purple, as with this Himerometra robustipinna
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I could easily do a whole nother crinoid post and may do so at some point.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:10 am

So my molluscs post is really a cephalopod post, but then, bivalves and snails are kind of boring except sea slugs and I don't feel like looking for the best sea slugs.

I'll start with the so-called "vampire squid," which is actually more closely related to octopodes. It's not in any Attenborough documentary I know of, but it's super-neat and I found it as I was looking up the next two entries on my list. It lives only in the deep sea, and I need two pictures to fully capture how weird this thing is.
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This is the argonaut, a single genus of octopodes where the females make nautilus-like egg cases.
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Reef squids are genus of squids that look like cuttlefish but aren't. They're really colorful, and were the animal that made me say "I need to post this." Here is the Caribbean reef squid.

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Bobtail squids are closely related to cuttlefish and mostly tiny. Here's a Hawai'ian bobtail squid (Heteroteuthis hawaiiensis which is not the Hawai'ian Bobtail squid, that one being in a different subfamily.
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Finally, here (closely related to the Hawai'ian Bobtail squid) is the hummingbird bobtail squid.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby CarrieVS » Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:26 am

cmsellers wrote:The so-called "vampire squid," which is ... not in any Attenborough documentary I know of


It is.

I thought that was from Blue Planet II, but the video is labelled as Planet Earth, so I'm not sure.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:11 am

Well I'll be damned. That sure looks like Planet Earth footage but I don't remember that segment at all.

Any rate, since I can now make another post, here are some jellyfish and other cnidarians while I have the energy.

Some of the weirdest jellyfish are the stalked jellyfish, which never outgrow their medusa stage. Technically they're not really jellyfish, being as closely related to jellyfish as siphonophores are. Here's Haliclystus_antarcticus.
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Haliclystus octoradiatus
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Can you find Sasakiella cruciformis?
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There's a group of hydrozoans which contains three colonial species, similar to siphonophore such as the Portuguese man-o-war but a lot smaller. (They're not siphonophores but more closely related than either one is to true jellyfish.) One of the species hasn't been seen in over a century and some authorities debate its existence. The other two are quite common. One is the by-the-wind sailor, which I saw at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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The other is the blue button.
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This is a Crossota sp. jellyfish.
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This is the bizarre fried-egg jellyfish.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby Anglerphobe » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:52 pm

I've long had a particular fondness for crabs. I would like to believe that it's because they resemble robots, with their little clockwork bodies and the way they are always mundanely busy, but in truth I've liked crabs longer than I've liked robots. I was an avid rockpooler, sea swimmer, and beachcomber as a child, with crabs being among the creatures most commonly found on the Cornish coast where I grew up. A bright, animated crab wandering around the edge of a tide pool gathering seaweed with his pincers is something quite miraculous to a small boy, and even as an adult I have retained a soft spot for them.

I've gathered a few crabs that I feel are suitable for this thread, but I will begin with my sentimental favourite. It isn't particularly cute to most, but the velvet crab was not only the most impressive thing I found in my first rock pool, but also the first creature I killed and ate myself. Thus, it is associated with fond memories of discovery, accomplishment and delicious seafood.

Spoiler: show
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Now, onto cuter things.

Ghost Crabs
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Atlantic Ghost Crab
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Horned Ghost Crab
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Painted Ghost Crab


Convex Crab
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Harlequin Crab
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Porcelain Crab
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Specifically (heh) the long clawed porcelain crab, another childhood staple. They tend to be brownish but some are red and white to differing degrees. I discovered one with a perfect replica of the national flag of Switzerland on its back once, when I was eight.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Fri May 11, 2018 8:03 am

I went to the Houston Zoo yesterday. In addition to the animals I expected to see, I saw some I hadn't expected. I'm going to do bird and not-bird posts on this. Birds first, of course.

I've posted about trogons before, but I didn't post the golden-headed quetzal because the resplendant quetzal is in the same genus and even more striking with its long ass-tail. However it's quite a bird to see up close: in person the colors look like something you'd see in Vegas and I wasn't sure I could believe my eyes.
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I had expected to see the white-bellied go-away-bird—a kind of turaco which I'm surprised I haven't posted here—but it was asleep and I thought I wouldn't get to see it do anything. Then it turned out there was another one in an outdoor exhibit, and I even got to here it make its call repeatedly at me, which to me doesn't sound much like "go away."
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In the same outdoor exhibit I got to see a pair of kagus including one really close and a shoebill. Then, the next exhibit over I saw a western gray plantain-eater, another kind of turaco which looks rather like a real-life muppet.
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Also saw some spotted thick-knees and heard them call. The San Antonio Zoo has Peruvian thick-knees, though spotted (from Africa) seem to be slightly more popular in zoos. Still the first time I've seen this species in person, or heard it call, which makes sense, because thick-knees are nocturnal. Which may explain the ridiculously large heads.
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And then the biggest, most exciting surprise was the maleo, a kid of megapode and one of the top EDGE species.
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I'm surprised I haven't posted megapodes before, so I'll do a whole post on them soon, but first the non-birds I was surprised to see...
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Fri May 11, 2018 8:16 pm

So now the non-birds I saw. I saw Allen's swamp monkeys, which I've posted, and a Coquerel's sifaka, which I haven't, because it's the star of Zoboomafoo, but have posted other sifakas (scroll to the ends of those two posts). Also saw a pygmy marmoset, and man they are tiny. They're smaller than a gray squirrel. Now on to actual pictures.

The first new animal I saw that was neat was the largescale foureyes, in Carruth Natural Encounters.
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As you all know, I'm not a fan of tree squirrels, but I think ground squirrels are totally adorable. Also in Carruth Natural Encounters, they had Harris's antelope squirrels, which are just too cute. They look like miniature chipmunks.
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Also, in the same enclosure as the swamp monkeys, were Schmidt's guenons or red-tailed monkeys. I've mentioned guenons before, but man are these guys fun to watch.
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Finally, I've also mentioned batfish before, but the zoo has a different kind, which the zoo only identifies by the genus as a "walking batfish." It is by far the coolest thing they have in the Kipp Aquarium.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Fri May 11, 2018 8:45 pm

As promised (or threatened, depending on how you view my bird obsession), I'm making a post devoted to megapodes. I learned about them as a kid, since they're the only birds that don't raise their own young, but I didn't realize there were multiple species, or species outside of Australia. I don't even recall if the books I read used malleefowl or Australian brush turkeys. Any rate, the maleos are the most genetically distinct of the megapodes, but coming in second are the colorful and nocturnal Moluccan megapodes.
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This is the malleefowl, which is the only species in its subfamily without a bald head and probably the third most distinct megapode species.
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And this is the Australian brushturkey, the largest megapode, and probably the prettiest of the bald-headed megapodes.
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Finally, for this post, the orange-footed scrubfowl.
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Most other megapodes look like less colorful versions of the Australian brushturkey or orange-footed megapodes, so I feel like these five (including the maleo) are sufficient to illustrate what the group as a whole looks like.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby Paradox » Thu May 17, 2018 10:12 pm

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IMG_6929.JPG (268.04 KiB) Viewed 11240 times


I don't know what kinda batsie is this, but this is and will always be one of my favorite pictures.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby Anglerphobe » Thu Aug 16, 2018 7:17 pm

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It's grouse season near my home so I will have to get used to not seeing so many of them until next year. They are both pretty and delicious.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:08 pm

OK, I'm gonna do something different.

Instead of species, I am going to present obscure livestock breeds for a few posts.

Sebastapol geese:
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Fawn and white runner ducks:
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Yokohama rooster:
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Mille fleur chickens:
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby cmsellers » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:35 am

This is the Arapawa Goat, an endangered landrace breed from New Zealand.
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There are only two breeds of alpaca, and over 90% of alpacas worldwide are Huacaya alpacas. Huacayas have crimped wool which is great for knitting, while the much rarer Suri alpaca produces long wool which is better for weaving. When not recently shorn, Huacayas look like stuffed animals, the iconic "alpaca" look, while Suri alpacas look like walking mops.
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Speaking of wool, did you know that cows and pigs can be woolly?

This is the Mangalitsa pig originally of Hungary. This is the swallow-bellied color pattern; there are also red and blonde Mangalitsas. Another woolly pig breed, the Lincolnshire Curly Coat, went extinct in the sixties when people switched to preferring lean meat.
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Here are some calves of the Scottish Highland Cattle. It is reportedly excellent in terms of both milk and meat quality, but has become endangered because it does not produce enough meat.
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Re: Adorable obscure critters

Postby CarrieVS » Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:08 am

cmsellers wrote:Scottish Highland Cattle... is reportedly excellent in terms of both milk and meat quality.


And more importantly, sooooo fuzzzy. And quite docile, in spite of the enormous horns.
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