Organisms
pharyngula | December 10, 2011Game over, man. No cat video can ever be as awesome as this: two mimic octopuses mating.
It's like watching a nest of snakes break out into a barroom brawl. It's also the most erotic thing I've ever seen on the internet.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | December 7, 2011You think you're safe because you're terrestrial? Further evidence that the invasion is imminent:
Foolish humans, thinking it is "cute". It was merely looking for a major artery before biting down.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | December 5, 2011
It seems wasps can recognize wasp faces. I'll have to stop making my speciesist remark that they all look alike to me.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | December 3, 2011I used to keep these lovely little guys as pets — they're so pretty and active, and have such soulful eyes…and so many of them. Their courtship dance is also cool, and so easily evoked; these spiders are always looking for love.
Unfortunately, the species I've been able to find in Minnesota are much smaller than the ones I found in Oregon, and the weather greatly limits their availability. If you're living in warmer climes and haven't been watching these adorable beasties you've been missing out. Especially if you're keeping cats, instead.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | November 26, 2011Cats are so undignified, yowling and screeching and spraying urine all over the place. They should take a lesson from the noble sea cucumber, rising erect, proud and firm from the sea floor, and quietly, affirmatively ejaculating long voluminous streams of gametes that gaily wave from the tip, like a pennon in the breeze.
There's more at Echinoblog, if this sample of priapic holothurians is inadequate for you. Strangely, most of these videos come from Japan. I'm really beginning to wonder about what goes on in Japanese bedrooms.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | November 21, 2011Soon, we'll be able to reach you anywhere.
And no, your precious cats will not be able to save you.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | November 11, 2011Somebody thought they could stump the squid by giving it a background it could never imitate — but look! It wins the unwinnable scenario by going transparent!
There's more on cephalopod camouflage at the BBC.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | November 8, 2011I'm afraid it's mostly over: the trees around me are mostly skeletal, and we've just got boring piles of dead brown leaves on our lawn. But you can browse through photographic travelogue of Autumn in the US, at least, and pretend you got out to see the fall colors.
(Also on FtB)