luvyourselfsomeesteem: biscuitsarenice: 1940s America I rarely get to see moving pictures of black ppl from this early of an era in just everyday life. It’s so wild because my mind is telling me to associate these images with now but they’re from over 70 yrs ago ..read more

bogleech: rotifers: animal-factbook: Parasites can be cute too! These Cyamus lice cluster on the bodies of right whales. The clusters of white lice contrast with the dark skin of the whale, and help researchers identify individual whales because of the lice clusters’ unique shapes. via tea_and_biology oh my goodness look at those beady little eyes These “lice” (louse-like crustaceans) cause so little harm that they likely don’t qualify as parasitic, mostly feeding on dead skin and detritus, like the harmless mites that live on our own bodies! It’s even been proposed that whales also use ..read more

speciesofleastconcern: hearthawk: Found my department’s screaming hairy armadillo, Jovi, passed out on his wheel. After I snapped the photo, he got right up and kept running on it! This little guy is headed off to another zoo to hopefully breed with one of their female ‘dillos. This species has, in zoo-speak, an SSP, or a Species Survival Plan, which coordinates breeding pairs based on favorable genetics and genetic diversity. Jovi will make some very genetically valuable babies! “screaming hairy armadillo” is a phrase I’d like to use more often ..read more

necromin: birdologist: this bird does not look real that is a turaco!  you are correct in saying turacos are very unreal.  do you know what is especially unreal about turacos?  they are the only bearers of not one, but two unique pigments known as turacin and turacoverdin, named from the bird itself.  both of these pigments are copper-based, unlike other pigments found in birds and just, really, vertebrates in general.  the vibrant greens in turacos are due to turacoverdin, which is the /only/ truly green pigment in birds (the rest are just tricks of the light, real ..read more

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These Lizards Are Full of Green Blood That Should Kill Them: myfrogcroaked: “Animal blood comes in a rainbow of hues because of the varying chemistry of the molecules it uses to carry oxygen. Humans use hemoglobin, whose iron content imparts a crimson color to our red blood cells. Octopuses, lobsters, and horseshoe crabs use hemocyanin, which has copper instead of iron, and is blue instead of red—that’s why these creatures bleed blue. Other related molecules are responsible for the violet blood of some marine worms, and the green blood of leeches. But the green-blooded lizards use good old hem ..read more

why-animals-do-the-thing: The day after I visited the Duke Lemur Center, the wonderful keeper who showed me around posted this great video of the Aye-ayes.  Aye-ayes are nocturnal animals, so they’re kept on a flipped light cycle at the Center (it lets staff clean while the lights are on early in the morning, but then observe / work with the animals during the day when it’s dark in their enclosures). The girls happened to be awake before the lights went off when this video was taken.  I wanted to share this video because it’s a great view of some of the adaptations that make Aye-ayes so spec ..read more

about92bleachedrainbows: resistancelesbian: resistancelesbian: my favourite artstyle is lesbians in old italy y’all know what im saying Quick reboob, the artist who made these (or most of these) is Eugen von Blaas ..read more

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chrysalisamidst: blackberryshawty: unfollowfriday: this is literally the most cat thing ever God I love cats me ..read more