Aye Aye

Aye Aye (Pronounced Eye-Eye)

              This strange, grotesque looking creature is native to the island of Madagascar and is known as the world's largest nocturnal primate. Showing many similarities in it's eyes, ears and tail, the Aye-aye is actually a species of lemur. Equipped with a long, narrow middle finger, it uses its well-adapted extremity to pull grubs out of trees. It begins its hunt for the grub by tapping on the trunks of trees to locate the hidden creature by use of echolocation. Once it has discovered the grubs location, the Aye-aye continues by biting a hole above where the grub is. It then proceeds to reach its abnormal finger down into the tunnel where the grub lies hidden, pierces it with its long claw and begins to pull it out and eat it. This exceptionally intriguing creature has never ceased to amaze me and that is why I have chosen to share it with you :D

Glass Frog

Glass Frog

                 Primarily found from Southern Mexico to Panama to even to the Andes of Venezuela, the glass frog is truly a remarkable creature. As shown in the picture, the glass frog gets it name from the translucency of its skin, allowing one to see through to its organs. Glass frogs are generally of the smaller species of frogs, ranging from 1.2 to 3 inches in length. Similar in appearance to the tree and green frog, the glass frog is often mistaken for its close relatives. Unlike a large number of its cousins, the glass frog is equipped with eyes that face forward, rather than to the sides. I found great interest in this animal because...well it's translucent ;D

Red Panda

Red Panda

          Contrary to the black-and-white giant that shares its name, the Red Panda is quite small, growing to the size of a house cat. Additionally, their big, bushy tails grow to another 18 inches to wrap around them in the colder mountain heights. Red Pandas mainly live in the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar, as well as in central China. Spending most of their lives in trees, Red Pandas actively forage at night as well as in the early hours of dusk and dawn. Like the Giant Panda, Reds have a taste for bamboo, but unlike them, eat a wider variety of other foods ranging from fruits and acorns to roots and eggs. The average life span of a Red Panda is about 6-8 years with which it reaches about 12-20 Lbs depending on its gender. Unfortunately, the shy and solitary creature is an endangered species, victimized by the effects of deforestation. On an unrelated matter, i find these creatures and their playful tendencies rather adorable and amusing and would love to own one as a pet, given their petite size :)

The Honeypot Ant

Honeypot Ant

     The Honeypot is a very unusual and quite interesting insect at first sight. Living in areas ranging from extremely hot deserts to thick woodlands, Honeypot ants are mainly found deep underground away from a variety of hungry predators. This species of ants has specialized workers which are gorged with food by other worker ants, so much so that their abdomens become enlarged to the size f grapes. This method is used for the storage of honey as well as many other resources including body fat and water. When food is scarce, these ants are utilized as a primary food source for their fellow ants and no this is not by means of cannibalism. When the liquid stored inside of a honeypot ant is needed, the worker ants stroke the antennae of the ant, signaling the honeypot to then regurgitate the stored liquid. Another interesting fact about these creatures is that they are known to change colors, the most common being red, blue, yellow, green and orange.
       These ants are so valuable during times in which food is scarce that ants from other colonies will attempt to steal the fattened ants aware of their high nutritional value and water content. While these peculiar looking insects may be an essential food source for their fellow colony members, Honeypot ants are also seen as a delicacy in many regions including many Aboriginal tribes located in Australia which see them as delectable sweets or candy. I plan to, at some point in my life, try one of these tasty insects :)

Mantis Shrimp

Mantis Shrimp

   
         The Mantis shrimp is what is known as a Marine crustacean. Measuring in at about a foot long on average, this brightly colored creature is one of the most interesting species of shrimp I have ever seen. Nicknamed "thumb splitter", the mantis shrimp is equipped with powerful club-like claws which it uses to spear, stun, and even dismember its prey. These claws are used by rapidly unfolding and swinging out to bludgeon and kill their prey with a lightning quick speed of 335,000 ft/s2. The force created by the initial impact from the claw forms a shock wave which also aids in killing or stunning the prey.
   Aside from the claws, a mantis shrimp's eyes can be seen as pure works of art, being considered the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. They have one pair of eyes, both being cable of moving independently of each  other. Each eye consists of two flattened hemispheres seperated by six parallel rows allowing it to perceive both polarised light and multispectral images. These components help give the mantis shrimp incredible trinocular vision and remarkable depth perception as well.