The Unstartled Steppes of Dream
I am Ashley.
This is my personal blog. If you want just marine biology, go here.
I love the world; I really don't like people.
I balance all this animosity towards the human race with being an almost always kind and gentle being to all creatures.
I'm highly introverted and nature is my primary escape from people.
Creepy-crawly-slimy things are my favorites. Dinosaurs are fantastic.
Future marine biologist; presently an amateur entomologist, ichthyologist, artist, biologist, and writer.
Literature, video game, and music connoisseur.
I'm so full of passion for the world that it hurts.
I think a lot, I laugh a lot, I love a lot.
Almost none of the photos are mine and only some of the drawings are mine.
Listen in.
#spider
#arachnid
#arthropod
#cute
#adorable
#cute spider
#aquatic spider
#aquatic
#animals
#nature
#life
The California giant sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) is commonly found along the Pacific Coast of North America. It grows up to 50 cm in length and the tube feet along its dorsal side are reduced to papillae and warts.
It has recently been discovered that this species of sea cucumber feeds using its anus. Thanks to this new knowledge, it has been proposed that numerous species of sea cucumber feed using their butts. Scientists have coined the term “bipolar feeding” to describe this behavior.
This makes me so happy.
Probably the cutest thing you’ll watch all day.
This insect is a European water measurer (Hydrometra stagnorum), also known as a marsh-treader. They belong to the family Hydrometridae, which consists of all water measurers. These species live on the surface film of water—like pond skaters—but they move in a creeping, stealthy way that allows them to sneak up on their prey. Water measurers are predators at all stages of their lives, using their sharp mouth-parts to spear and suck the life juices out of their prey, which they prefer to be already dead or dying. They use vibrations along the surface of the water to locate their prey, such as the springtail (class Collembola) that the water measurer shown has caught.
(Source)
This cute little guy is an eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus), and it weighs just 15–43 grams. In winter when food is scarce, this Australian marsupial will fall into a state of torpor to conserve energy, curling itself into a ball and letting its body temperature fall to almost match the surrounding air temperature. This means it doesn’t need to eat or drink until the cold spell has passed.
Image thanks to Australian Conservation Foundation.
Gorongosa Pygmy Chameleon (Rhampholeaon gorongosae), photographed on Mount Gorongosa by Piotr Naskrecki (2013).
This species of chameleon has only been spotted by a few people since its discovery in the 1970s, making these photographs particularly spectacular.
(Article)
In honor of Valentine’s day, I bring you puppy love in the form of wild canid pups.
1. Coyote (Canis latrans)
2. Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda)
3. African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)
4. Swift fox (Vulpes velox)
5. Golden jackal (Canis aureus)
6. Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)
7. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
8. Gray wolf (Canis lupus)
9. Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus)
Painted reed frog (Hyperolius marmoratus)
(Source)
