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hi friends! this is a thread for weird critters and beasties of all kinds so feel free to add your own! gonna start off with a truly inspiring creature, a type of marine worm Ramisyllis multicaudata - a creature that can have more than one hundred butts! these branch off a single head and body but wait! it gets more interesting still - each of these butt segments, known as stolons, eventually goes on to play an important role in the reproduction of these abundantly assed creatures! when it comes time to reproduce, these stolons will not only grow a set of genitals but also their own eyes and even a simple brain! then these butts detach and freely swim to mate with other marine worms before dying! there's a bunch of other fascinating unknowns about these creatures - their branching body plan is unusual to say the least and we're still working out the details of its circulatory system (it has no central heart for one), its nervous system and its digestive system (it seems to have a working intestinal tract but bizarrely this seems to be constantly empty - why? we don't know!) |
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Apr 7, 2023 15:21
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 18:02 |
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reindeers are pretty interesting - they have hollow hairs that trap air and heat, can swim faster than michael phelps and live largely on lichen that is indigestible and often toxic to most things in a world that has three months of constant daylight and then three months of perpetual twilight! their eyes have evolved some unique adaptations in order to cope! firstly they're perhaps the only mammal that can see into the ultraviolet spectrum but weirder than that is that their eye colour changes with the season - in summer their eyes are gold but in winter their eyes turn a deep, rich blue colour and it seems that this allows them to see far more easily in the constant dusk!! the full details of how they do this are still being worked out! another interesting fact is that there's considerable debate as to whether reindeers and caribou are separate species, subspecies or what exactly is going on - one way of looking at it i've heard is that reindeers are essentially domesticated caribou but there is still debate among experts! |
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Apr 7, 2023 15:29
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I don't know poo poo about animals but I love them and I learned things about both animals you posted. voted  you are doing Yobs work, my orb
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Apr 9, 2023 15:08
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Ain't a giraffe's tongue two foot long and blue? |
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Apr 9, 2023 23:56
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Quadramind posted:Ain't a giraffe's tongue two foot long and blue? a little under two feet (45-50 cm) and described variously as blue, purple or black although the base of the tongue is pink. interestingly they have a bunch of adaptations to help them eat the leaves of various species of spiky plants. firstly they have thickened papillae on the tongue - essentially tongue armor! they also have thick saliva as an additional protection so the thorns slide off without cutting. as for the tongues colour? we don't know definitively why it's a dark shade - there's a theory that it helps prevent their tongues from getting sunburnt but no one really knows for sure! |
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Apr 10, 2023 03:45
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And, as I've mentioned to several boyfriends, it is prehensile.
Fifteen years taking prescriptions |
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Apr 10, 2023 18:02
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still waiting for my butt to grow eyes, fall off, walk away, and get a job to start contributing around here
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Apr 12, 2023 20:52
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Sherbert Hoover posted:still waiting for my butt to grow eyes, fall off, walk away, and get a job to start contributing around here All right, Kovalyov Fifteen years taking prescriptions |
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Apr 12, 2023 23:00
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xcheopis posted:And, as I've mentioned to several boyfriends, it is prehensile. lol |
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Apr 13, 2023 22:07
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flatworms - they're freaking weird lil guys!! many species of them are hermaphroditic and reproduce by the charming practice of penis fencing - their male junk is basically a sharpened stylet that they attempt to stab into their partner. in some cases this is competitive and the one that loses becomes impregnated, in other species though it's mutual... usually, some individuals will try and cheat though by not uh exchanging genetic material. counter strategies against this lead to premature abandoning of mating or witholding their own sperm in response. additionally many species of flatworms have a simple gut and no anus, excreting from the same hole they ingest food with! flatworms of the genus Paracatenula take this a step further though - having no gut or mouth as well as no bum. how do they feed? well they've formed a type of intracellular symbiosis with tiny carbon dioxide and sulphur fixing bacteria, housing them within their cells and in exchange receiving their energy and nutrition from them - a powerful friendship indeed! |
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Apr 13, 2023 22:20
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Stoner Sloth posted:... well they've formed a type of intracellular symbiosis with tiny carbon dioxide and sulphur fixing bacteria, housing them within their cells and in exchange receiving their energy and nutrition from them - a powerful friendship indeed! 
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Apr 13, 2023 23:17
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Why would some worms not want to exchange genetic material, and what does it mean for a roundworm to want anything?
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Apr 14, 2023 03:02
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my cat hasnt pooped in a few days...gonna have to bring him 2 the vet :[
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Apr 14, 2023 07:03
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 18:02 |
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teemolover42069 posted:my cat hasnt pooped in a few days...gonna have to bring him 2 the vet :[ sending your catte good vibes 
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Apr 14, 2023 19:14
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