When Darwin visited, the animals were tame, either because they'd not evolved a flight response to humans, or they'd lost that instict. I suppose that they're still tame - evolution hasn't yet had time to cause them to become frightened of humans, & recent protection for the tourist trade isn't having a dire evolutionary effect. This little feller seems tame enough, & mom didn't seem to be harrassing the tourists. Wonderful.
Too bad we can't see evolution in action, though. I guess there was about two centuries of predation of the Galapagos fauna by whalers & buccaneers, so not enough generations for evolution to cut in. And maybe these sea lions don't taste too good anyway?
Baby mammals of all flavours are cute and endearing. Mostly so they survive childhood, I'd imagine. Or to be more accurate, the lovable ones are the most likely to survive til breeding age.
Next time you get a creationist whining that you couldn't get a land creature evolving into a sea creature,as they've tended to do re whales, this would be a good one to repost. It's visibly a doglike tetrapod whose limbs has become flippers but which gets around fine on land when it needs to; a visibly transitional form.*
*Everything which breeds is a transitional form...
//evolution hasn't yet had time to cause them to become frightened of humans//
Now theres an interesting topic ! Acquired treats are not inherited,does that still hold true? Id be curious to hear from the smart guys here about that,because I always wondered about this one in particular.
Clearly members of a species that get clubbed over the head anytime they show up at some place at some time will learn to not show up,and pass that on to their offspring by word of mouth or whatever goes for that in the animal kingdom,but thats got nothing to do with inheritance.
clinteas: I'm not an expert, but I assume it's because many of those individuals that went near humans got clubbed on the head, so a mutant which avoided humans would be more likely to survive.
Thus why it takes a long time for it to work: see dodos. Communication and perhaps even learning are not necessarily required, though they would certainly speed it up.
While (older) sea lions in my (limited) experience generally just lob out, unless its mating season when the males are more aggressive, fur seals can be very curious and can come up to check you out. Trust me, if you think this little one is cute, you really want to hang out with fur seals! I used to sit on a some rocks in the harbour and watch some local fur seals spin around, jump in the water and generally play around. Great entertainment.
Even manatees are cute. I hugged one and she took me for a mini underwater ride. It was all cool though, when they tire of us the swim a bit up river. We wouldn't want to overstay our welcome.
Awwww... isn't s/he cute!
AAAAWWWW!
So many cute critters; so little time (or opportunity) to pet them all.
Does it taste better than veal?
Just kidding...
Glad to see you edited out the last 30 seconds of video PZ, where you jumped out and clubbed it to death.
When Darwin visited, the animals were tame, either because they'd not evolved a flight response to humans, or they'd lost that instict. I suppose that they're still tame - evolution hasn't yet had time to cause them to become frightened of humans, & recent protection for the tourist trade isn't having a dire evolutionary effect. This little feller seems tame enough, & mom didn't seem to be harrassing the tourists. Wonderful.
Too bad we can't see evolution in action, though. I guess there was about two centuries of predation of the Galapagos fauna by whalers & buccaneers, so not enough generations for evolution to cut in. And maybe these sea lions don't taste too good anyway?
New poll by CBS!
Its political, not scientific, but pharynguloids may be interested in clicking on it.
Its from PBS and the poll question is, "Is Sarah Palin qualified to be Vice President?"
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html
Why are baby sea mammals so cute?? So adorable.
Baby mammals of all flavours are cute and endearing. Mostly so they survive childhood, I'd imagine. Or to be more accurate, the lovable ones are the most likely to survive til breeding age.
Baby mammals are cute because they grow up to be tasty food.
Next time you get a creationist whining that you couldn't get a land creature evolving into a sea creature,as they've tended to do re whales, this would be a good one to repost. It's visibly a doglike tetrapod whose limbs has become flippers but which gets around fine on land when it needs to; a visibly transitional form.*
*Everything which breeds is a transitional form...
Pony stated:
You mean like a baby naked mole rat?
http://www.babyanimalz.com/images/molerat.jpg
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess ;-)
FWIW, seal tastes a lot like liver, but has a different texture. Maybe sea-lion tastes similar.
//evolution hasn't yet had time to cause them to become frightened of humans//
Now theres an interesting topic ! Acquired treats are not inherited,does that still hold true? Id be curious to hear from the smart guys here about that,because I always wondered about this one in particular.
Clearly members of a species that get clubbed over the head anytime they show up at some place at some time will learn to not show up,and pass that on to their offspring by word of mouth or whatever goes for that in the animal kingdom,but thats got nothing to do with inheritance.
Not true. If my dad acquired a bar of chocolate and suddenly died, my mother would eat it.
;)
clinteas: I'm not an expert, but I assume it's because many of those individuals that went near humans got clubbed on the head, so a mutant which avoided humans would be more likely to survive.
Thus why it takes a long time for it to work: see dodos. Communication and perhaps even learning are not necessarily required, though they would certainly speed it up.
Thanks a lot, ASSHOLE. You just gave me diabetes because that seal pup was WAY TOO SWEET! *ba-da-CHA!*
You know, I bet the animals on the island probably can all relate to Britney Spears and her paparazzi crowds. :)
Nice video! Do you have one where you see an pantiless upskirt shot of the seal?
j/k -- I'm sure the animals probably love all the attention. :)
Well, there's the thing. Teaching is exceedingly rare in the animal kingdom. See here.
awwwwwwwwwww
I wanna gives it hugs
Awwww, cute litle baby. Again.... JEALOUS!!
While (older) sea lions in my (limited) experience generally just lob out, unless its mating season when the males are more aggressive, fur seals can be very curious and can come up to check you out. Trust me, if you think this little one is cute, you really want to hang out with fur seals! I used to sit on a some rocks in the harbour and watch some local fur seals spin around, jump in the water and generally play around. Great entertainment.
@19: Interesting point.
@20: If you could smell them, you might not!
Erm, that's blob out, not lob out. Sorry.
Even manatees are cute. I hugged one and she took me for a mini underwater ride. It was all cool though, when they tire of us the swim a bit up river. We wouldn't want to overstay our welcome.
Awww. Cute Cute Cute!
The still begs for an LOL. For Seattle residents:
Oh Hai. Wich way is teh Ballurd Lox?
Just keep Sarah Palin away from it... she'd beat it with a bat in a heartbeat.
I'm a horrible, horrible man ...
@Claire #8
"Why are baby sea mammals so cute?? So adorable."
For the same reason as human babies....so that their parents don't eat them.
Trish @#24: Oh, the huge manatee!
(hat tip: Skatje)
Nyawwwwwwwww, too kyooooooot..........
There are lots more cute baby animal pics here (like the baby otter, for example). :)