Giraffe.

Giraffes are divided into several subspecies because of their variety in geographic locations; Somali giraffs, Maasai Giraffes, Rothchild's etc. all live in distinct locations and rarely interact. You can easily tell them apart by spot color (some are darker than others) and the shape of their spots (some are large and round, others are small and jagged).

They stand as the world's tallest land animal and can grow to about 17 or 18 ft. tall.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of giraffes is their personality (realize the base 'person' so please don't equate this to how they actually feel or act) is similar to that represented in the movie Madagascar -- terrified and jumpy. When hiking, I would sometimes spot a giraffe in the distance, easily at least a mile away, sticking out above the trees. When spotted, the giraffe would stand still and wait, having a look as if it hadn't been spotted. If you then move, even a little bit, though you are a mile away, it'll sprint away. It's pretty amusing.

Wasp-Mimicking Tiger Moth.

So I don't really know much about these moths, but I'm always a sucker for mimicry. These Panamanian moth obviously takes the form of a wasp, which tricks other species that has the power to sting (though it doesn't). Since moths are a just a stage of life lasting no more than a couple weeks, and its only purpose is to mate, it is important that those couple weeks are well-spent. They do not have mouths, so this doesn't help them get food (moths do not eat), they just use this to not get instantly eaten by birds and can last long enough to mate.

Superb Lyre Bird.

This bird is one of the largest known passerine birds (songbirds) on the planet. And these native Australian birds are easily the champions of this avian category. While all birds have unique calls, this one goes above and beyond. Like a mockingbird, it can perform calls of other birds it might hear over the course of its lifetime. What's so unique about the lyre bird is that they mimic almost any sound it hears, not just birds. The larger the repertoire, the more impressive it is to a female. It's also telling of its lifetime experience, which is interesting from a research perspective. From its calls, you can tell how much interaction they've had with humans -- for example, they'll pick up sounds of bulldozers, chainsaws, cameras, car horns, you name it.

They are called "Lyre" birds because of their tail feather structure -- the ends curl out and form the shape of a musical lyre.

It also has awesome tailfeathers to shake around to impress the ladies.

Here's a video, featuring the one and only, David Attenborough.

taking a break.

With my brother's wedding this weekend, I'll be taking a break on this blog for the rest of the week. In the meantime, enjoy this pod of California seals!

See you monday!

Asiatic Lion.

Yes, there are lions in Asia. In India, in fact. People seemed shocked by this, but anyone who has studied India's history recognizes the Lion emblem and the famous Ashoka pillars from 250 BCE with lions standing tall on them. They are also the same lions found in Western Europe during the time of empires and held a range to China. The reason you may not hear about them now is because they are now extremely rare. In fact, in 1907, somewhere between 13 and 100 lions remained (the range is large because people reported lower numbers to discourage hunting). Point is, it is low.

They used to be all over India, but as populations grew, their grasslands turned to farmlands and they were slowly pushed to Sasun Gir, a small area in the state of Gujarat. The last count done in 2006 came up with 359 lions; an improvement, but still incredibly low. They run the risk of inbreeding, so if one catches an illness, that could wipe out almost the entire population as they will all be suseptible without genetic variation (Cheetah's currently face the same problem). Numbers were also low because the British would hunt them when they colonized India.

They are in fact the same species as African Lions, but are a different subspecies. In this case, that was classified because while they can technically mate and produce viable offspring, they do not regularly do so because of geographic boundaries, and are different enough to be considered its own category. The differences: They are smaller, less aggressive, with mains generally too small to cover its ears. This is supposedly because the prey they seek is smaller and weaker than the prey its African counterpart might attack. For this, they also form prides only for hunting and mating and otherwise live independently (although this, too, might be a population issue).

In any case, people surrounding the protected park now love the lions, and they are not seen as a threat. Occasionally they will venture into neighboring villages, but since they are not in a busy tourist area of India, there is little fear or bother to their lifestyle, which is one thing that the lion has in its favor. Occasionally you hear about people poisoning lions if they eat their livestock, which can devestate the population -- but it is now socially unacceptable so it is less popular -- moving it in the direction of being illegal.

Draco Lizards.

This SE Asian genus of lizards are also known as 'gliding lizards'. They stay on trees almost 24/7. The females venture down to lay eggs, guards for 24 hours, then runs away and never sees its offspring (knowingly). On trees is where they are safe. Each one is colored to match a tree species for camouflage (image #4... trust me, there's one there.) and with these 'wings' they can glide relatively large distances to avoid predation. Reptiles have an uncanny ability to use coloration for defense and signalling (see: Panther Chameleon and Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko) They also have rounded heads and a little flesh of skin that descends from their chin. Plenty of reptiles apparently also make good use of its flesh (see Jesus Christ Lizard). This is used for aerodynamics and steering -- there's no point in gliding if you can't stick a landing in a place that's safe. Similar to a rudder.

Linnaeus actually named these lizards 'draco' because of how they reminded him of dragons.

There's a video demonstrating this behavior -- it won't let me embed the video, so click here to watch it.

Giant Clam.

GIANT CLAMS! I know, a lot of pictures, but I really wanted to show you the variety of designs and colors these animals have. There are plenty more, too. They are many varieties of this genus. And they all live in the Pacific and Indian oceans. They can weigh in at 400 pounds and measure about 4 feet across when fully grown. And they live to about 100 years!

The coloration attracts all sorts of animals -- many animals confuse it with corals and think it is a good place to rest. Unlike most clams, this one keeps its shell open regularly, instead of closed. This is because it has a symbiotic relationship with algae -- their contribution is to keep the shell open during the day so that the algae living on the mantle's flesh get sunlight for photosynthesis.

It was thought that they could eat people (so much so that they originally named it killer clam). And while it could potentially hold someone underwater, it does not close its shells unless threatened, and even then they can't always shut their shells. And even if it can, it closes very slowly -- not the 'snap' you associate with clams. So you have to be really, really dumb to get caught by one. The US Navy Diving manual used to have instructions on how to escape them at one time, if caught. Strange.

They are listed by the IUCN as "vulnerable" -- though they are still in decent numbers, they live in fragile habitats, easily effected by pollution and human traffic. And their shells are sold on the black market for decoration. Their meat is sold as a delicacy in Japan and France.