theanimalblog:

Red Fox (kit) Vulpes vulpes. Photo by PixelHawk

ghoastpatrol:

llbwwb:

Handsome Impala (by MAC-Kenya)

wwink

birdfeather:

reyairia:

mcdeedee:

Lip-Sync - Mouth reference by *DarkmaneTheWerewolf

YES I NEEDED THIS

REBLOGGING FOR THE BEAK ONE YES YES YES

─ I HIT THE ANIMAL ANATOMY JACKPOT ─

countdapula:

countdapula:

PAGES UPON PAGES OF ANATOMICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS

I AM SO FUCKING PUMPED JUST TO HAVE FOUND THIS

Some people were having trouble connecting to the page due to a session error, so I’ve just updated it so it should work all the time!

Please reblog this one so that the people who are having trouble seeing the site can get to it, thank you! uvu

(Source: adapadapa)

metazoa-etcetera:

Wolves display an extremely strict, complex social hierarchy within their packs - much of which is expressed through relatively advanced communication through body language. This strict social ranking is effective in promoting social unity and order, which, in turn, greatly increases their success and survival, and contrary to some perceptions, prevents conflict and aggression. In an established pack, rarely do problems escalate to a physical level.

[Photograph by spackman. Original body language chart source unknown via google images).]

(Source: ForGIFs.com)

zac-tac:

kazard:

residentfeline:

roxasdavemakara:

lepreas:

caturday:

New trick

c???ats?!?!???

cat that is a no

how do cats even work

Cats:

• A cat can jump up to five times its own height in a single bound.
• The little tufts of hair in a cat’s ear that help keep out dirt direct sounds into the ear, and insulate the ears are called “ear furnishings.”
• The ability of a cat to find its way home is called “psi-traveling.” Experts think cats either use the angle of the sunlight to find their way or that cats have magnetized cells in their brains that act as compasses.
• One reason that kittens sleep so much is because a growth hormone is released only during sleep.
• A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human has 206. A cat has no collarbone, so it can fit through any opening the size of its head.
• A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.
• If they have ample water, cats can tolerate temperatures up to 133 °F.
• A cat’s heart beats nearly twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats a minute.
•  Cats don’t have sweat glands over their bodies like humans do. Instead, they sweat only through their paws.
• The claws on the cat’s back paws aren’t as sharp as the claws on the front paws because the claws in the back don’t retract and, consequently, become worn.
• Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10.
• Researchers are unsure exactly how a cat purrs. Most veterinarians believe that a cat purrs by vibrating vocal folds deep in the throat. To do this, a muscle in the larynx opens and closes the air passage about 25 times per second.
• A cat almost never meows at another cat, mostly just humans. Cats typically will spit, purr, and hiss at other cats.
• A cat’s back is extremely flexible because it has up to 53 loosely fitting vertebrae. Humans only have 34.
• Some cats have survived falls of over 65 feet (20 meters), due largely to their “righting reflex.” The eyes and balance organs in the inner ear tell it where it is in space so the cat can land on its feet. Even cats without a tail have this ability.
• A cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph (49 km) over a short distance.
• A cat’s hearing is better than a dog’s. And a cat can hear high-frequency sounds up to two octaves higher than a human.
• A cat’s brain is biologically more similar to a human brain than it is to a dog’s. Both humans and cats have identical regions in their brains that are responsible for emotions.

And that’s how cat’s work.

Thanks science

artmender:

zoocanvas:

From The Art of Animal Drawing by Ken Hultgren

kitties

twinpersonalitys:

ironychan:

redcaplf:

thehipsterwhisperer:

 

… Clockodiles? Is that pun very bad?

CLOCKODILES.

somewhere captain hook is shitting himself

semianonymity:

stuckinabucket:

The bullhorn acacia is kind of sad as acacias go.  You know how most acacias produce alkaloids that taste nasty and keep things from eating them?  Well, bullhorn acacias don’t.  It’s like, get on the bus, bullhorn acacias.

Of course, bullhorn acacias are not hearing your noise, because they’re thinking outside the metabolically-expensive-poison box.

And what they’re thinking is that maybe if you like eating them, you’re really gonna like this face full of motherfucking ants they’ve got for you.

Yes, you read that right.  Instead of playing fair and making their own toxins to keep everything and their brothers off of their leaves, this plant outsourced that shit to ants.  Presumably this is because ants are easily bribed with food, generally looking for a fight, and, most importantly, can run really fast.  Acacias in general, while also easily bribed and kind of ornery, are not known for their speed and mobility.

You’re probably looking at that picture and going “Man, I am just not seeing a real place for those ants to live.  This plant is a terrible employer if it’s not even going to provide housing.  Also, those thorns are kind of nasty-looking, but they’re awful big.  I bet I could just avoid them and not step on the ant mound and be fine.”  And this is not an unreasonable thing to think!  Which is probably why the acacia already thought of it, and decided to keep its ant legions in its thorns.

Yup.  This plant has evolved a way to shoot stinging insects out of its thorns, just in case stabbing you didn’t get the point across.  This is because this plant is hardcore.

Now you may be sitting there going “I don’t know, ants are pretty metal, and that ant looks pretty metal even by ant standards.  Maybe they just really liked the idea of living in hollowed-out thorns and did this all on their own.”  And I can see why you’d say that, because it totally sounds like something ants would do, but you’d be tragically wrong.  You know how some ants will properly farm or half-assedly shepherd aphids because they suck out plant juices and process and concentrate the sugars in their waste, which the ants then treat like gatorade?  

The acacia tries to cut out the middle man there.  They produce little bundles of protein and fat called Beltian bodies and then stick them on their leaflet tips, which is basically just mocking herbivores at this point, and then on the leaf stalks they’ve got these fancypants glands that produce nectar, to further rub it in.  I mean, seriously.  This plant is just hanging out going “Oh, yeah, my leafy greens taste like cake, assholes.  You want this?  Hope you like ants, too, because that’s what else is there.”

So the ants are getting a super fucking sweet deal here, and it’s like, man, this plant is going way out of its way to keep these sons of bitches around.  Is it sure it wouldn’t be easier to just pony up with the alkaloids and taste gross?  Because it seems like it wouldn’t be nearly so cool, but it would be way simpler than growing these ant apartments and ant cafeterias and whatnot, and this plant probably isn’t vain enough to evolve based on sheer coolness.

Well, ants aren’t stupid, but they are pretty fucking territorial.  Remember how acacias are generally just not capable of getting up and wandering around?  The ants do that for them.  Any vines and shit trying to climb on the acacia get ant-murdered the same way herbivores trying to eat it get all face-stung, and the ants will go the extra distance of killing anything that tries to grow around the base of the tree.  They send out fucking ant doom-patrols looking for weeds.  And then they kill the shit out of them.

So, fucking bullhorn acacias, right?  They really hit on a cool scheme.  Surely they are the only plants that could pull this off.  Nope!  There’s a bunch of plants that have figured out how to make deals with ants, to the point where there’s a name for them: myrmecophytes. (“Myrmecophyte” is Greek for “Yo, dawg, there may have been a slight miscommunication after you said you liked plants.”).  Some of them don’t even do anything for ants except make a nice living space, because that way when the ants die and start their little ant graveyards in random unused spaces, the plant can use their little tenant corpses as fertilizer. (Note: Do not trust plants.  Ever.)

This is beautiful, in every way.

splattergut:

Undulations of the fins of a skate viewed from the side.

Étienne-Jules Marey, 1894

<><><>

captaincorbie:

desolationrow24:

thecrisisoflaw:

couerdedanse:

ADOPTED A NEW DOG

WANTED TO SEE IF MADELEINE PLAYS WELL WITH ROTHBART

THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START, NO???

I can’t hear myself think but that’s okay.

I fucking love Huskies

they’re not even howling they’re just screaming omg

BFFs apparently

if you’ve had a shit day, a shit week, a shit anything, you should watch this

loud but infinitely adorable

(Source: coeurdedanses)

dirkspantaloons:

rockazillyhoo:

40oz-to-boredom:

goatkult:

oaf-whisperer:

making my way downtown

I just snorted so violently I hurt my own throat.

what the fuck why

i guess you could say it’s a

deerstalker

DEER GOD

I literally laughed for 5 minutes.. i just..

(Source: creepicrawlies)

Horse Anatomy Post

xehhx:

Making this post for future reference

Horse Hair direction charts