bleimanb | February 16, 2009The Census of Marine Life has just released a study of the ocean creatures living in the Arctic and the Antarctic with a startling revelation: 235 identical species thrive in the waters around the North and South Poles, despite the distance 11,000 kilometers between them.
The nemertean pelogonemertes rollestoni and its oddly shaped see-through stomach
While some of the animals migrate to the different areas from warmer seas (whales, birds, etc.) there are some creatures that are too small to migrate and thus are evidently identical species who are born and die in their separate poles.…
zooillogix | February 13, 2009Concerned that their male red bird of paradise, Paprika, might turn off female companions by repeating human words he learned from visitors, animal keeper Patti Cooper took matters into her own hands. First she crafted a sexy female red bird of paradise puppet, dubbed "Spice Girl." Then she convinced Paprika to call Spice Girl on a 900 number. Now Paprika is engaged in the right behaviors and the Bronx Zoo is making $2.99 for the first minute and $16.99 for each additional minute.
No but for real, the bird got it on with a puppet... and is now displaying the proper courtship behaviors.…
zooillogix | February 9, 2009A small floating sea slug, clionidae or "sea angels" are ferocious little predators that hunt the "sea butterfly," Limacina helicina.
When tasty sea butterflies get close, sea angels shoot out tentacles, grasp the prey with hooks and extract the body completely out of the shell to swallow it whole. Incidentally, this is also how my brother Benny feeds.
A clione shows a limacina what's what.
Two clionidae try to pretend that they are not mucus hungry snail murderers.
bleimanb | February 4, 2009Researchers in a remote Colombian jungle have identified 10 new species of amphibian. Keeping with Zooillogix's official policy, because the creatures are finally known to Western science, now and only now can we all consider them to exist. Scientists from Conservation International and the Ecotropico Foundation explored the mountains in the Tacarcuna area of the Darien near Panama to discover the new species.
Oranged-legged rain frog
Many more below the fold...
Another kind of rain frog
Salamander Bolitoglossa taylori
Poisonous frog of the Dendrobatidae famlily
Glass frog of the…
zooillogix | January 30, 2009A couple of weeks ago we brought you the classic interweb hit from circa 2000 - Lobster Magnet.
Well now we bring you what might be our greatest interview ever. Forget about Jane Goodall and eminent biologists, today we have the sacred words of Ben Apgar, co-creator of Lobster Magnet. When we caught up with Ben, he was unemployed and apparently Canadian. And now without further ado, we bring you the briny stylings of Ben Apgar and the secret history behind Lobster Magnet:
Name: Ben Apgar
Sex: M
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Blood type: Unknown
Song: Lobster Magnet
By: Ben Apgar &…
bleimanb | January 22, 2009Though scientists have actually known about a strange climbing catfish from the jungles of Venezuela for 20 years, it took them until last month to capture live specimens and officially name the creatures. The catfish, dubbed the Lithogenes wahari were found clinging to rocks in the Venezuelan state of Amazonas. Interesting side note, the Venzuelan government named this province after Cirque Du Soleil's latest Vegas production.
Nice legs...
The Lithogenes wahari has some incredible adaptations for living in the fast moving water. It possesses a set of highly developed pelvic fins that…
zooillogix | January 22, 2009We have no idea! Maybe from the British? But that hasn't stopped well over 100 people from asking us to sell them a tiny piglet in the comments section of this months old post. Now we have video. Anyone want to take over/under bets on how many people ask us to sell them a porker in the comments of this post?
Zooillogix - for all of your smallish rat-pig needs.
bleimanb | January 14, 2009First ever footage of the Hispaniolan solenodon has emerged from a conversation group working in the Dominican Republic. The Hispaniolan solenodon was thought to be extinct due to habitat loss, but this video proves otherwise. The shrew-like creature is nocturnal and is believed to eat insects. Like certain shrews and the duck-billed platypus, it can administer poison, in this case via specialized teeth. The solenodon is believed to be the last living species in an evolutionary line of mammals that dates back 65 million years.
National Geographic has a more exclusive video on their website…
bleimanb | January 14, 2009We're not going to go to in depth into this story, but it's worth a read.
Click for the Channel 9 News On Your Side report!
NVDH...the man!
zooillogix | January 13, 2009I took this pic of my dog Mathman in the vet's office last week just minutes before his neutering. He clearly knew what was in store...
zooillogix | January 10, 2009We are on a new Movable Type platform. You know what that means for you? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! .... maybe other than this. In celebration of the new, we offer the epically awesome old - Lobster Magnet
I'm gonna classify this as "medicine and health" just for kicks.
zooillogix | January 5, 2009
A little background here: Japanese squid monster moisturizer tentacle woman video. Yup.
bleimanb | January 5, 2009In the 1980's female dolphins were first seen using sponges as a foraging tool to protect their noses while digging at the ocean floor for prey. New research, however, conducted by a team from Georgetown University (go Hoyas, biotches!) has taken a much more comprehensive look at this use of tools by dolphins.
So they can use tools. But this dolphin has clearly not yet mastered the use of female contraception.
Professor Janet Mann of Georgetown looked at a population of bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia to observe the sponging behavior. Only female dolphins were…
zooillogix | January 2, 2009Once again Zooillogix reader-in-the-field extraordinaire Tweet Gainsborough-Waring (yes, that is her real awesome name), delivers the steamy shots you all have been unwittingly waiting for:
Peppermint Stick Insects getting down in Queensland, Australia!
LonelyPeppermintStick23 - Looking for a male who knows his way around an ovipositor and isn't afraid to get kinky with your Malpighian tubules? Call tonight as I only live for another 3 days.
Tweet was kind enough to share the following info on these stunning critters:
The spikey -leaved pandanus palms bordering the beach provide the perfect…
zooillogix | December 28, 2008We (I) here at Zooillogix have a thing for lobsters. It involves Belgium, pasta tongs, and a Dutch boy named Lourens. I'll leave it at that.
Anyway, this mutant lobster was pulled out of the briny depths near Newport, RI earlier this month. Lobsterman Patrick Marks sometimes releases lobster "when they look at him funny" and so this almost-Pokemon-character was returned to the sea after a day-long publicity tour.
bleimanb | December 22, 2008
Worm larva
Dr Richard Kirkby, a Royal Society Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth in the UK, took these stunning up-close photos of plankton. He will be revealing the photos of at an exhibition at Blue Reef, Blue Planet and Deep Sea World aquariums in England throughout 2009.
Spider crab larva
Metroid villain
Many more below the fold...
Doliolid - Has the makings of a primitive backbone.
Swimming crab larva
Sardine eggs
Thumbnail crab larva
Spongebob villain
Copepod on the eye of a needle
Algal blooms
Echinoderm Ludia sarsii