Showing posts with label tiny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tiny. Show all posts

Hedgehog Finds a Friend

Hedgehog seeks a partner
"Hey Tom, how are you?"
▶ Hedgehog thinks he has found new friend but he is wrong comical hedgehog friend brush butterfly tortoise albatross bird finch whale possum snake bass gecko comical on friend to brush octopus seahorse vulpes seagull wallaby pelican snail squid chimpanzee comical on hedgehog friend horse owl monkey perch budgie goat dolphin boar turtle hunting sheep weasel comical if hedgehog is friend an brush penguin magpie wildebeest at zebra dingo goldfish gold robin carp jackal comical as friend follows hedgehog at brush blackbird amusing puma squirrel tiger marlin ape lobster canary chimp brown comical go it brush shark Orangutan mouse wolf vulture fish baboon flea frog lizard swan cow funny hedgehog brush of rat prawn play rhinoceros emu elephant bug bat spider toad moose crocodile comical or follows hedgehog and finds wombat platypus eagle ostrich thrush tadpole elk crab deer beetle seal finds ◀

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▶ | finds | animals peculiar odd free sex playing | photo photos funny | smart Hey Tom, how are you? ◀

Anthropologists Puzzle Over the Hobbit of Flores Island

Anthropologists say the Hobbit of Flores did exist.
The naysayers have had to accept that the Hobbit discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia did exist. They survived until about 15,000 years ago. Anthropologists should have taken notice of local folklore. Stories were handed down to the present about tiny "people" raiding food crops at night.

Remains have been closely examined by scientists. It was a tiny version of Australopithecus a human predecessor which lived in Africa from 4.5 million to 2 million years ago. The creature grew to small stature because it was trapped on an island. Short legs made it hard for them to walk but they did nonetheless - large trees do not grow on Flores.
A Human compared to the Hobbit of Flores island in Indonesia
Despite having a small brain Homo floresiensis developed stone tools to a complexity equalled only by humans. Its teeth were closer to human teeth than any other ape-like pre-human. This accounts for its naming as homo rather than Australopithecus.

The real mystery about the Hobbit is how did it get so close to Australia?
There must have been an exodus out of Africa much like the one that occurred to humans. We obviously were not the first upright ape to spread out widely from its source. Anthropologists have recently accepted the hypothesis that Man lived alongside other bipedal apes. The chain-like evolution of the ape family is now in the waste paper bin.
 Anthropology by Ty Buchanan 
 Australian Blog
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THE HOBBIT LIVED!
anthropology, flores, island, indonesia, 15,0009, years, ago, real, exist, australialopithecus, hom, floresiensis, articles news politics economics society anthropology historiography history sociology people nations country asia europe africa u.s. south america central Mediterranean eastern western interesting funny technology adventure australia blog australian blog free news sex

Australia's Rare Mountain Pygmy-Possum

Humans can be such a problem for native wildlife. We build roads over wildlife trails so we can zoom down to the ski fields, not worrying about the native casualties that get squashed along the way.  But humans can also be the solution - as we have been with the endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus). There are possibly only a few thousand of these amazing animals left in the wild. They live in the snow-covered alpine and subalpine regions of New South Wales and Victoria, above 1400 metres. They are the only Australian mammals found here and nowhere else.
Mountain Pygmy-possum
For most of the year male and female possums live separate lives scurrying among rook crevices, boulder fields and alpine shrubs. Adult females live in the best locations on rocky slopes. Males live further down the hill. Come breeding time, these males make the hazardous trek across the roadways, attempting to avoid all the human-made obstacles in their way. Only when they have made it to the other side of the roadway can they consider scurrying up the hills to find the waiting females. It’s a wonder they have any energy to mate at all!

When the ski runs are covered in snow they are compacted by all the skiing. Luckily humans have realised the problem. They haven't diverted the roadways or ski runs but they have done the next best thing. They have constructed rocky tunnels under the roadway and under some of the ski runs, so love-struck male possums can migrate between residences with relative safety. Once breeding season is over and the young are weaned, it is back down the hill for the males, battling with mechanical contraptions again, to the safety of their home range.

The Mountain Pygmy-possum is often mistaken for a mouse. You don’t want to kill a native animal, so how do you tell the difference? The possum’s second and third toes are joined, unlike a mouse’s, but the most obvious difference is its curly tail. This tail has an essential task. It is prehensile, which means it can grasp things, like the thin-stemmed grasses that the possum uses for nest building. The possum’s sharp premolar teeth on the side of the mouth are large and grooved, just right for cutting these grasses. They are also great for eating hard-shelled seeds and insects.

More than half of the possum's diet is invertebrate such as beetles and caterpillars. It especially likes the energy-rich Bogong Moth (Agrotis infusa), which is the main part of its diet during spring and summer. 

The Bogong Moth is a sweet morsel for the possum. In spring, this small brown moth migrates annually from its breeding grounds on the western slopes and plains and spends summer dormant (or resting) among rocks and boulders of the alpine peaks. Most moths are found on the mountain peaks and this is where the possums must travel to get their food.

It also eats fruits and seeds, especially from the Mountain Plum Pine. This plant is very sensitive to fire and can take decades to recover from a bushfire. In 2011 a large bushfire in Kosciuszko National Park caused problems for the possum’s diet and also affected much of the plant cover that it uses to hide from predators.

During winter the possum hibernates, going into a state of inactivity or torpor. It slows down its breathing and heartbeat, and reduces its body temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. That’s how it saves energy: This requires a good cover of insulating snow, at least 1 metre. The possum is torpid for up to 20 days when it is very cold. Then it wakes for less than a day, maybe eating from its storage supplies, before once again resuming its ‘sleep’. This cycle goes on for up to seven months. The Mountain Pygmy-possum is the only marsupial that hibernates

Being a fat Mountain Pygmy-possum is very important. A fat possum has lots of stored energy which will sustain them through the winter food shortage. In springtime, after hibernation, the possum might weigh about 40 grams but by wintertime they might weigh more than 80 grams. This possum is also a great hoarder. During winter it uses not only the energy stored in its body, but it can also eat from its hidden store of seeds and nuts. It is the only known Australian marsupial to do this.
 Australiana by Ty Buchanan 
 Australian Blog
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Mountain Pygmy possum snow fileds rare hibernates fruits berries Bogong Moth articles news politics economics society anthropology historiography history sociology people nations country asia europe africa u.s. south america central Mediterranean eastern western interesting funny technology free news sex

Something New - An Australian Moth

Yes, we have something new for you! Aenigmatinea glatzella is a new moth that is very primitive indeed - a living dinosaur in fact. It is in a new family of its own. With its feathered wingtips and specs of purple and gold it is certainly unique.
Aenigmatinea glatzella enigma moth
A new primitive moth in over forty years, it is something to get excited about. This new moth was found on Kangaroo Island, a place that people regularly visit, yet it remained unknown until now. Be sure though that many more will be found by motivated naturalists.

The moth's ancestry goes back to Gondwanaland. It is extremely short-lived: leaving the cocoon, mating and dying in a day. This is why it was not observed by previous researchers.  It is only a centimeter long.

DNA analysis shows that moths and butterflies have a complex evolution. Enigma moth has no tongue. Moths and butterflies developed tongues later, probably more than once independently. More moths will be found because it is believed that over 10,000 moths and butterflies are not yet named.
Evolution by Ty Buchanan
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Video Animal

"Hi.  Welcome to our first VideoCast.  This could be a shock for you, but...."
Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan

Fossil Find Shines Light on an Ancient Whale

A fossil find in Victoria, Australia, throws light on the origin of baleen whales. The artifact is 25 million years old. It is the 45 cm long skull of Mammalodon colliveri. Information about it has remained open since its discovery in 1932.

Though it had teeth it spent its time sucking mud in the search for prey on the seafloor. A short, blunt snout made this possible. This type of feeding led to the filter method of modern whales. The baleen whale was only three meters long, a far cry from the monsters that followed. Its ancestors though were also very large.

Other fossils have been found in Torquay, Victoria, notably Janjucetus hunderi which was unique to the area. This region is believed to be the cradle of tiny whales. Some form of isolation must have occurred for this to happen.
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Paleontology
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Mosquitoes Fly on After Being Hit by Raindrops

Mosquitoes are extremely robust. They can survive being hit by raindrops 50 times their size. The insect is knocked down a little by the raindrop travelling at 300 times normal gravity, but it recovers and flies on.

This attribute was discovered by videoing insects actually being hit by raindrops from artificial rain. There was no improvement in stopping the spread of malaria. Better ways of designing tiny flying robots was enhanced, however, because rain tends to knock mechanical drones off course. Even aeroplanes are detrimentally affected by rain.

The raindrops on mosquitoes tests were exciting to watch. As the rain hit them they dropped, then recovered and sheltered on the wall of the test area. They fell an average of 13 body lengths. Nearly all hits were glancing blows which made mosquitoes roll, pitch and yaw. A direct hit led to a fall of 20 body lengths.

The theory is that mosquitoes are so small the speed of raindrops falling to earth is not affected, This means little energy is transferred to mosquitoes by collisions.
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Science

Fight Dog

"Do you want to give it a go? Go on then. Try it."
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Funny Animal Photos

Fossil Find Throws Light on an Ancient Whale

A fossil find in Victoria, Australia, throws light on the origin of baleen whales. The artifact is 25 million years old. It is the 45 cm long skull of Mammalodon colliveri. Information about it has remained open since its discovery in 1932.

Though it had teeth it spent its time sucking mud in the search for prey on the seafloor. A short, blunt snout made this possible. This type of feeding led to the filter method of modern whales. The baleen whale was only three meters long, a far cry from the monsters that followed. Its ancestors though were also very large.

Other fossils have been found in Torquay, Victoria, notably Janjucetus hunderi which was unique to the area. This region is believed to be the cradle of tiny whales. Some form of isolation must have occurred for this to happen.


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