South African Rain Frog - Fattest Round Ball of Frog

The South African (or Cape) Rain Frog lives in dry territories in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The frog is not very long only reaching about an inch and a half (or 3 cm) but it is one of the fattest frogs around. Not that it's really fat but just very round by design. And that is before it starts to huff and puff and fill up with air. It has a short nose and sturdy legs to support its big round body. Like many other slimy amphibians this species has warty bumps on its back. It has variable patterns and coloration all over its body. The tiny rotund creature may make a squealing vocalization.

The “rain frog” lives where rain comes very rarely. It may wait for months and months in a burrow without going out in the heat until it rains. That is its chance to go out and gorge on insects and small vertebrate. It is of course only this time when the frog is upout of its burrow feasting that pictures can be taken which may explain why it appears so rotund when seen.

When the male feels ready to mate he emits a croaking chirp to call the attention offemales within his range. Once a mate is found the two stick together (literally) while mixing secretions until a jelly mass with eggs is produced. The jelly mass then incubates in a burrow and the young mini frogs hatch straight out of the jelly sack onto the dry earth without going through a free-swimming, tadpole stage at all. This is a necessary adaption because ponds cannot be found in the dry landscape where they live.

Royal Flycatcher - Boldly-Colored Crest

The royal flycatcher is a name used for the birds in the genus Onychorhynchus within the family Tityridae. While there are roughly four separate species in the commonly named group “royal flycatcher”, the name is most commonly used in reference to the species Onychorhynchus coronatus (the Amazonian), though the common name does apply to all members of the aforementioned genus. The part of the name “royal” is in reference to the fantastic feather display on the crown of the animal's head, which is a brilliant array of red, yellow, white, blue and/or black. This spectacular display of plumage - like similar displays on male tropical birds - is generally only on display during courtship rituals and in competition with other males over breeding or territory. Normally the plumed crest is lying flat but it can open up like a fan.

These showy birds are typically found in the wilds of Central and South America, in the woodland and forest areas of the Amazon River basin, and as far as Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. The Amazonian species is populous, so much so that the IUCN considers them of least conservation concern. The northern royal flycatcher is found mostly in Mexico, but as far south as Colombia and Venezuela. Like the Amazonian bird, this flycatcher is around 7 inches long at largest (18 cm) and is similarly non-threatened as far as the IUCN is concerned. Not all of the members of this family are so populous though, the Atlantic and Pacific royal flycatcher species are both considered vulnerable by the IUCN due to habitat destruction. They live in the dry forests and woodlands near the coastal regions of the same territories that their inland cousins dwell in. These dry conditions lend themselves to forest fires which in addition to human impact have caused these species to become increasingly threatened. All the varieties of this group are specialists at catching insects in mid-flight with their broad bills.

Box Jellyfish - The Most Venomous Sea Creature

The box jellyfish are lethal creatures with poison tentacles. They get their name from their box-shaped, translucent bodies, and are in fact sometimes characterized as being the most venomous creatures on earth. They are the most advanced jellyfish, they can even see. They have 24 eyes and four different types of them. The eyes are in different locations, such as one on top and one on the bottom, like above and below cams. They are real swimmers not like other jellyfish who just drift around. They can travel pretty fast, faster than humans. Most of the swimming is probably done in search of food. They may eat up to a quarter of their weight in fish each day. At night they rest or perhaps "sleep". There are two known dangerous predators among the group, one large, and one small.

The larger one, the Chironex fleckeri (pictured above), is native to Australia’s north coast and Southeast Asian coastlines. They are approximately 1.25 ft (0.38 m) wide. They have sixty tentacles, up to 15 ft (4.6 m) long and 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) in diameter, hanging from the box of the creature. The box of course also contains the eyes and mouth but it doesn’t look like much. They prey on plankton, small fish, and shrimp which they catch in their tentacles and pull into their mouth. The tentacles hold huge numbers of sting cells called nematocysts. When something comes in contact with the tentacles, the nematocysts inject a poison which paralyzes and kills their prey, and can cause extreme pain and even death to large animals or humans. Severe stings may kill a human within four to six minutes after being stung.

The Irukandji is another killer. A tiny member of the box jellyfish family, it has extremely potent venom. It can be the size of a fingernail and almost invisible (you can see it in the right light, pictured above). Its sting may go unnoticed by a human prey until the effects start to manifest. It has only recent been confirmed as the killer of several recreational swimmers off the coast of Australia. Nobody knows how many people may have been killed by its sting without ever knowing what happened to them.

Although various species inhabit most of the world's tropics, they are not known to belethal in other waters outside of Australia. In Hawaii for example, they're not known to kill but their stings can still be extremely painful. Fortunately, their reproductive cycles determine their whereabouts so tracking these events can help us avoid their unpleasant stings.

Pink Fairy Armadillo - Little, Pink, Armored Fairies

This is the very smallest (only 5-6 inches (12-15 cm)) of all the armadillos and is the only one with such strange fashion sense. It has very light pink colored scales and fluffy looking white fur underneath. Sometimes the scales are less pink and a little more yellow or brownish.

They live only in Argentina on the sandy plains and in arid grasslands and brush land. Its preferred food is ant larvae and ants but they will eat worms and other creepy crawlers as well as a few plants and roots. Their sturdy claws help them unearth thefood they eat and also swim, claw, and drag themselves through the sandy environment they live in

           

Harpy Eagle

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), is a Neotropical species of eagle. It is sometimes known as the American Harpy Eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan Eagle which is sometimes known as the New Guinea Harpy Eagle or Papuan Harpy Eagle. It is the largest and most powerful^[quantify] raptor found in the Americas, and among the largest extant species of eagles in the world. It usually inhabits tropical lowland rainforests in the upper (emergent) canopy layer. Destruction of its natural habitat has seen it vanish from many parts of its former range, and it is nearly extirpated in Central America.

Popular culture

• The Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama and is depicted on the coat of arms of Panama.
• The Harpy Eagle is featured on the cover of the O'Reilly Media book, R in a Nutshell.
• The Harpy Eagle was the inspiration behind the design of Fawkes the Phoenix in the Harry Potter film series.
• A Harpy Eagle called Bubba features extensively in Garry Kilworth's novel "Frost Dancers" as the adversary of the hares that are the heroes of the book.
• The 15th Harpy Eagle, named "Hope" released in Belize, was dubbed, "Ambassador for Climate Change," in Belize, in light of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009

• Description

  
  

  The upper side of the Harpy Eagle is covered with slate black feathers, and the underside is mostly white, except for the feathered tarsi, which are striped black. There is a broad black band across the upper breast, separating the gray head from the white belly. The head is pale grey, and is crowned with a double crest. The upperside of the tail is black with three gray bands, while the underside of it is black with three white bands. The iris is gray or brown or red, the cere and bill are black or blackish and the tarsi and toes are yellow. Theplumage of male and female is identical. The tarsus is up to 13 cm (5.1 in) long.^[4][5]

  
  

  

  Upper body of an adult in captivity

  Female Harpy Eagles typically weigh 6 to 9 kg (13 to 20 lb).^[4][6] One source states that adult females can scale up to 10 kg (22 lb).^[7] An exceptionally large captive female, "Jezebel", weighed 12.3 kg (27 lb).^[8] Being captive, this large female may not be representative of the weight possible in wild Harpy Eagles due to differences in the food availability.^[9][10] The male, in comparison, is much smaller and weighs only about 4 to 4.8 kg (8.8 to 11 lb).^[4][6] Harpy Eagles are 86.5–107 cm (2 ft 10 in–3 ft 6 in) long^[5][6] and have a wingspan of 176 to 224 cm (5 ft 9 in to 7 ft 4 in).^[4][5] Among the standard measurements, the wing chord measures 54–63 cm (1 ft 9 in–2 ft 1 in), the tail measures 37–42 cm (1 ft 3 in–1 ft 5 in), the tarsus is 11.4–13 cm (4.5–5.1 in) long and the exposed culmen from the cere is 4.2 to 6.5 cm (1.7 to 2.6 in).^[4][11][12] It is sometimes cited as the largest eagle, however the Philippine Eagle is somewhat longer on average and theSteller's Sea Eagle is slightly heavier on average. The wingspan of the Harpy Eagle is relatively small, an adaptation that increases maneuverability in forested habitats and is shared by other raptors in similar habitats. The wingspan of the Harpy Eagle is surpassed by several large eagles who live in more open habitats, such as those in the Haliaeetus and Aquila genera.^[4] The extinct Haast's Eagle was significantly larger than all extant eagles, including the Harpy.^[13]

  This species is largely silent away from the nest. There, the adults give a penetrating, weak, melancholy scream, with the incubating male's call described as Wheeeeeeeeee-wheeeeeee-wheeeeeeeee. The females calls while incubating are similar but are lower pitched. While approaching the nest with food, the male calls out "rapid chirps, goose-like calls, and occasional sharp screams". Vocalization in both parents decreases as the nestlings age, while the nestlings become more vocal. The nestlings call Chi-chi-chi...chi-chi-chi-chi, seemingly in alarm in respond to rain or direct sunlight. When humans approach the nest, the nestling have been described as uttering croaks, quacks and whistles.^[14]

  Behavior

  The Harpy Eagle is an actively hunting carnivore and is an apex predator, meaning that adults are at the top of a food chain and have no natural predators. Its main prey are tree-dwelling mammals and a majority of the diet has been shown to focus on sloths and monkeys. Research conducted by Aguiar-Silva between 2003 and 2005 in a nesting site in Parintins, Amazonas, Brazil, collected remains from prey offered to the nestling and after sorting them, concluded that, in terms of individuals preyed upon, the harpy's prey basis was composed in 79% by sloths from two species: Bradypus variegatus amounting to 39% of the individual prey base, and Choloepus didactylus to 40%; various monkeys amounted to 11.6% of the same prey base. In a similar research venture in Panama, where a couple of captive-bred subadults was released, 52% of the male's captures and 54% of the female's were of two sloth species (Bradypus variegatus and Choloepus hoffmanni).^[17] At one Venezuelan nest, all remains found around the nest site were comprised by sloths. Monkeys regularly taken can include capuchin monkeys, saki monkeys, howler monkeys, titi monkeys, squirrel monkeys and spider monkeys. Smaller monkeys, such as tamarins and marmosets, are seemingly ignored as prey by this species.^[4] At several nest inGuyana, monkeys made up approximately 37% of the prey remains found at the nests.^[18] Similarly, cebid monkeys made up 35% of the remains found at 10 nest in Amazonian Ecuador.^[19] Other partially arboreal mammals are also predated given the opportunity, including porcupines, squirrels, opossums,anteaters, and even relatively large carnivores such as kinkajous, coatis and tayras.^[4] In the Pantanal, a pair of nesting eagles preyed largely on the porcupine Coendou prehensilisand on the agouti Dasyprocta azarae.^[20] The eagle may also attack bird species such as macaws: At the Parintins research site, the Red-and-green Macaw made up for 0.4% of the prey base, with other birds amounting to 4.6%.^[21] Other parrots, including the large Hyacinth Macaw, have also been predated, as well as cracids such as curassows andseriemas.^[4] Additional prey items reported include reptiles such as iguanas, tejus and snakes.^[4][22] Snakes of up to 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter have been observed to be cut in half, then the pieces are swallowed whole.^[4] On occasion, larger prey such as capybaras, peccaries and deer are taken and they are usually taken to a stump or low branch and partially eaten, since they are too heavy to be carried whole to the nest.^[4][23][24] Red brocket deer, a species commonly weighing over 30 kg (66 lb), have been reportedly predated and, in such cases, the eagle may have to tear it into pieces or feed on at the killing site rather than fly with as it would be too heavy.^[25][26] The Harpy have been recorded as taking domestic livestock, including chickens, lambs, goats and young pigs, but this is extremely rare under normal circumstances.^[4] They control population of mesopredators such as capuchin monkeys which prey extensively on bird's eggs and which (if not naturally controlled) may cause local extinctions of sensitive species.^[27]

  
  

  T  he Harpy Eagle routinely favors prey weighing over 7 kg (15 lb).^[4] The harpy eagle possess the largest talons of any living eagle, each exceeding the length of grizzly bear's claw at around 13 cm (5.1 in).^[23] The Harpy's feet are extremely powerful and assist with suppressing prey. A typical Harpy Eagle can exert a pressure of 42 kgf/cm² (4.1 MPa or 530lbf/in² or 400 N/cm²) with its talons.^[28] The Harpy Eagle has been recorded as lifting prey up to equal their own body weight.^[4] That allows the bird to snatch a live sloth from tree branches, as well as other huge prey items. Males have been shown to focus on relatively smaller prey, with a typical range of 0.5 to 2.5 kg (1.1 to 5.5 lb) or about half their own weight.^[4] The larger females almost invariably take larger prey, with a minimum recorded prey weight of around 2.7 kg (6.0 lb). Adult female Harpys regularly grab large male howleror spider monkeys or mature sloths weighing 6 to 9 kg (13 to 20 lb) in flight and fly off without landing, an enormous feat of strength.^[4][23][29] Prey items taken to the nest by the parents are normally medium-sized, having been recorded from 1 to 4 kg (2.2 to 8.8 lb).^[4] The prey brought to the nest by males averaged 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), while the prey brought to the nest by females averaged 3.2 kg (7.1 lb).^[14]

  Sometimes, Harpy Eagles will still-hunt, a common hunting strategy in other forest-dwelling raptors.^[4] In Harpys, this consists of looking and listening for long periods of time from a high perch near an opening, a river or salt-lick (where many mammals go to feed for nutrients).^[4] The more common hunting technique of the species is perch-hunting, which consists of scanning around for prey activity while briefly perched between short flights from tree to tree.^[4] When prey is spotted, a fast swoop or snatch occurs, after which the talons often kill the prey in seconds.^[4] On occasion, Harpy Eagles may also hunt by flying adjacent to or right over the canopy.^[4] They have also been observed tail-chasing, a predation style common to the bird-hunting Accipiter hawks.^[4] While tail-chasing, they pursue a bird closely in flight while twisting between trees, vines and branches, a skill that requires both considerable speed and great agility

  Breeding

  
  

  In ideal habitats, nests can be found fairly close to one another. In some parts of Panama and Guyana, active nests were located 3 km (1.9 mi) away from one another, while were within 5 km (3.1 mi) of each other in Venezuela. In Peru, the average distance between nests was 7.4 km (4.6 mi) and the average area occupied by each breeding pairs was estimated at 4,300 ha (11,000 acres). In less ideal areas, with fragemented forest, breeding territories were estimated at 25 km (16 mi).^[22] The female Harpy Eagle lays two white eggs in a large stick nest, which commonly measures 1.2 m (3.9 ft) deep and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) across and may be used over several years. Nests are located high up in a tree, usually in the main fork, at 16 to 43 m (52 to 141 ft), depending on the stature of the local trees. The harpy often builds its nest in the crown of the kapok tree, one of the tallest trees in South America. In many South American cultures it is considered bad luck to cut down the kapok tree, which may help safeguard the habitat of this stately eagle.^[30] The bird also uses other huge trees to build its nest on, such as the Brazil nut tree.^[31] A nesting site found in the Brazilian Pantanal was built on a Cambará tree (Vochysia divergens).^[32]

  There is no known display between pairs of eagles and they are believed to mate for life. A pair of Harpy Eagles usually only raise one chick every 2–3 years. After the first chick hatches, the second egg is ignored and normally fails to hatch unless the first egg perishes. The egg is incubated for around 56 days. When the chick is 36 days old, it can stand and walk awkwardly. The chick fledges at the age of 6 months, but the parents continue to feed it for another 6 to 10 months. The male captures much of the food for the incubating female and later the eaglet, but will also take an incubating shift while the female forages and also brings prey back to the nest. Breeding maturity is not reached until birds are 4 to 6 years of age.^[4][14][16] Adults can be aggressive toward humans who disturb the nesting site or appear to be a threat to its young.

  In ideal habitats, nests can be found fairly close to one another. In some parts of Panama and Guyana, active nests were located 3 km (1.9 mi) away from one another, while were within 5 km (3.1 mi) of each other in Venezuela. In Peru, the average distance between nests was 7.4 km (4.6 mi) and the average area occupied by each breeding pairs was estimated at 4,300 ha (11,000 acres). In less ideal areas, with fragemented forest, breeding territories were estimated at 25 km (16 mi).^[22] The female Harpy Eagle lays two white eggs in a large stick nest, which commonly measures 1.2 m (3.9 ft) deep and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) across and may be used over several years. Nests are located high up in a tree, usually in the main fork, at 16 to 43 m (52 to 141 ft), depending on the stature of the local trees. The harpy often builds its nest in the crown of the kapok tree, one of the tallest trees in South America. In many South American cultures it is considered bad luck to cut down the kapok tree, which may help safeguard the habitat of this stately eagle.^[30] The bird also uses other huge trees to build its nest on, such as the Brazil nut tree.^[31] A nesting site found in the Brazilian Pantanal was built on a Cambará tree (Vochysia divergens).^[32]

  There is no known display between pairs of eagles and they are believed to mate for life. A pair of Harpy Eagles usually only raise one chick every 2–3 years. After the first chick hatches, the second egg is ignored and normally fails to hatch unless the first egg perishes. The egg is incubated for around 56 days. When the chick is 36 days old, it can stand and walk awkwardly. The chick fledges at the age of 6 months, but the parents continue to feed it for another 6 to 10 months. The male captures much of the food for the incubating female and later the eaglet, but will also take an incubating shift while the female forages and also brings prey back to the nest. Breeding maturity is not reached until birds are 4 to 6 years of age.^[4][14][16] Adults can be aggressive toward humans who disturb the nesting site or appear to be a threat to its young.^[

World's Smallest Vertebrate Discovered

The tiniest frog and the tiniest vertebrate that currently exist on the planet Earth was discovered recently in a rainforest on the island of Papua New Guinea. Before the discovery of this frog, a tiny transparent fish from Indonesia was the world record holder for tiniest vertebrate at eight milimeters long. The frog however, is slightly smaller than that, measuring only 7.7 millimeters (average species size for adults). The tiny size of the the frog, its habits and its habitat all contribute to why it wasn't found before.

The frog, which currently has no common name except for "the tiniest frog from Papua New Guinea", has the scientific name of Paedophryne amauensis. It sounds like an insect with the high-pitched mating call it makes. It is dark brown with black patches and blue-white dots. It can jump 30 times the length of its body.