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CREATURE FEATURE: Binturong

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The Binturong (Arctictis binturong) is an arboreal mammal. It is also known as a Bearcat. It is not related to bears and it is not related to cats. It is closely related to the Palm Civet. It is a viverrid.

The Binturong has a grey-black, thick, furry body with short legs. Its tail is long, bushy, curls inwards at the end, and is prehensile, which means that it can wrap around branches. It has a short, turned-up, black rounded nose covered with bristly hairs. It has long whiskers.

Its eyes are large and black, with a vertical pupil. It has short, rounded ears, edged with white, with tufts of black hair. It has six short rounded incisor teeth in each jaw, two long sharp canine teeth, and six molar teeth on each side of its jaw. Its five toes have long claws. It has musk glands that emit a scent.

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Flame Angelfish

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The Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loriculus) is a marine (saltwater) tropical fish in the Pomacanthidae family. It is also known as the Flaming Angelfish or the Japanese Pygmy Angelfish.

The Flame Angelfish is bright orange-red with a vertical elongated black spot and four or five black bars on its sides. Its dorsal (back) fins have purple-blue and black bands. It has a flat rectangular-shaped body. 

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RESEARCH: Fish can sing, researchers say

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Marine biologists have found that fish can sing.

Some marine biologists have recorded fish singing. The sound recordings were captured by two sea-noise loggers (marine biologists) near the Port Hedland shore in Western Australia and also 21 kilometres (13 miles) away from shore. The sounds were recorded for 24 hours a day for seven days a week for 18 months. 

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Australian Green Tree Frog

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The Australian Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) is a large, arboreal amphibian in the Hylidae family. It is also known as the White’s Tree Frog or the Dumpy Tree Frog.

The Australian Green Tree Froghas a plump body with a ridge over its eyes.  It is emerald or bright green with yellow or white blotches on its back. It has a cream underbelly, and the undersides of its feet and legs are bright yellow. Its eyes have horizontal golden pupils. 

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What is the difference between the Large White Butterfly and the Small White Butterfly?

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What is the difference between the Large White Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) and the Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)? 

Both the Large White Butterfly and the Small White Butterfly are white insects in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies.

The Large White Butterfly is about 5-7 centimetres (2-3 inches) across its wings, whereas the Small White Butterfly is about 3-5 centimetres (1-2 inches) across its wings. 

The Large White Butterfly has a black band at the tip of its forewings (front wings), whereas the Small White Butterfly has no black bands.

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Large White Butterfly

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The Large White Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) is a small insect in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies. It is also known as the Large Cabbage White. It is a close relative of the Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae). 

The Large White Butterfly is white with black tips on its forewings (front wings). The female has two black spots in the middle of its forewings. The male has no black dots. Its upperside is creamy-white, and its underside is pale-greenish. Its body is black.

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Small White Butterfly

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The Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae rapae) is a small insect in the Pieridae family of white and yellow butterflies. It is also known as the Small Cabbage White. 

The Small White Butterfly has a white upperside—the male is creamy-white and the female is brighter white. Both the male and the female have two black spots in the middle of its forewings (front wings). Its underside is yellowish with black speckles. 

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Rhinoceros Ratsnake

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The Rhinoceros Ratsnake (Gonyosoma boulengeri) is a non-venomous colubrid reptile in the Colubridae family. It is also known as the Vietnamese Longnose Snake.

The Rhinoceros Ratsnake is green with a prominent, distinctive protrusion of the front of its nose. The pointy protrusion—which looks like a rhinoceros horn—has scales like the rest of its body. It has 19 rows of dorsal (back) scales to its mid-body.

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African Black Swift

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The African Black Swift (Apus barbatus) is a small passerine bird in the Apodidae family of swifts. It is highly aerial, spending most of its life in the air. It is not related to swallows; it is in the same Order as hummingbirds.

The African Black Swift is black-brown except for a small, white or pale-grey patch on its chin. It has a short, forked tail. It has long, swept-back wings, which can rotate at the base (like hummingbird wings). It has short legs.

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African Clawed Frog

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The African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis) is an aquatic, freshwater amphibian in the Pipidae family of tongueless frogs. It is also known as the African Clawed Toad, or the African Claw-Toed Frog. 

The African Clawed Frog is greenish-grey with olive-green markings, but albino (white) frogs are common. It has smooth, slippery skin. Its underbelly is creamy-white. It has three short claws on each hind (back) foot. It has webbed feet only on its back feet. Its back legs are very powerful. It front legs have long fingers. It has eyes, with red pupils, on the top of its head. It has a curved, flat nose.

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Yellowjacket Hoverfly

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The Yellowjacket Hoverfly (Milesia virginieusis) is an insect in the Syrphidae family of hoverflies. It is also known as the Virginia Flower Fly or the Syrphid Fly. It is a syrphid. It is also a pollinator. It is related to the Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax).

The Yellowjacket Hoverfly looks like a hornet, bee, or wasp, but it does not have a stinger on its tail. It is harmless. It is bright, glossy yellow with dark bands on its abdomen. It has six short yellowish legs. It has very large, black compound eyes. It has one pair of translucent (clear, see-through) wings with dark veins. 

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