Tag camouflage

Hundreds of new animal species found in Asia’s remote Mekong region 

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Hundreds of new animal species have been found in Asia’s remote Mekong region, say scientists, due to the inaccessibility of humans and other animals in the mountainous area. Not only new animal species, but also new plant species have been found, reported the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in May 2023. 

The greater Mekong region is a forested mountain area around the Mekong River that separates the countries Laos and Thailand, and also covers areas in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. It has no roads, making it remote and inaccessible to humans. 

Scientists from universities, research institutes, and conservation organizations have, to date, found 290 new plants, 19 new fish, 24 amphibians (such as frogs), 46 reptiles (such as snakes), and one mammal (a bat). 

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Why do female lions hunt instead of male lions?

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Why do female lions hunt instead of male lions?

The African Lion (Panthera leo) is a carnivorous – meat eating – mammal. It kills and eats ungulate mammals (animals with hooves), such as zebra, buffalo, giraffe, wildebeest, warthog, gazelle, and impala. 

Lions live in a pride, which is a group of family members consisting of 10-12 females and their male and female children, called cubs, with one to three dominant males. When male cubs grow up, they become solitary until they form their own pride.

 

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Decorator Crab

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The Decorator Crab, or Collector Crab, is a marine saltwater crustacean in the Majoidea super-family with several different species. 

The Decorator Crab is difficult to see in its natural habitat in tropical reefs and lagoons because it covers itself with aquatic plants and materials from its environment.

About 75% of crabs in the Majoidea super-family decorate themselves for camouflage. Some cover themselves completely and some cover themselves a little bit.

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Syrian Rock-Grayling Butterfly

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The Syrian Rock-Grayling Butterfly (Hipparchia syriaca) is an insect in the Nympalidae family of brush-footed butterflies. 

The Syrian Rock-Grayling is tan, brown, and white, and is well camouflaged on tree bark and rocks. Its upperside is tan with copper, and edged in white, with a few eyespots. Its underside is dark-brown with eyespots. Its body is brown. It is similar to other Graylings, but with a narrower band on its forewing.

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Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect Baby

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The Paris Zoo is nurturing baby Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insects born in March 2022. They are in a separate terrarium to keep them safe. The baby Stick Insect is called a nymph.

The female Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect breeds parthenogenically, meaning that she lays eggs that hatch without being fertilized. The female lays 100-1,200 eggs on the ground or on a plant. The eggs hatch after about 4 months into nymphs, which look like ants. The nymphs eat plants and grow into an adult stick insect. 

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Stick Grasshopper

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The Stick Grasshopper (Paraproscopia riedei) is an insect in the Proscopiidae family. It is also known as the Locust Phasmid, the Horsehead Grasshopper, and the Jumping Stick. It is not a stick insect phasmid – it is a stick locust, a proscopiid.

The Stick Grasshopper has a green to brown, cylindrical, and elongated body. It has a conical head with large eyes. It has short antennae. The wings are extremely short or absent. It cannot fly and protects itself by camouflaging itself like a stick. It has six long thin legs. It has strong hind (back) legs and it can jump large distances.

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Fallacy: a chameleon changes colour to camouflage itself

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Is it true that a chameleon changes colour to camouflage itself? This might be a fallacy – a fallacy means that it is not true.

The Chameleon is a reptile in the Chamaeleonidae family of lizards. It is arboreal because it lives in trees. The Chameleon is native to Africa, Madagascar, southern Europe, and southern Asia. It prefers to live in warm regions, such as rain forests and deserts. 

I have written in this website that the Chameleon can be a variety of colours, and “it can change colour to match its environment – this is called camouflage.” But it might be incorrect to say this.

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Panther Chameleon

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The Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a reptile in the Chamaeleonidae family. 

The male Panther Chameleon can vary in colour from blue to red, green, orange. The female is usually tan and brown with a bit of pink or orange. It has distinctive eyes, with a pin-hole where the pupil is located. Its eyes, with good eyesight, can rotate independently, giving the Panther Chameleon 360 degrees of vision (all around it). It has a very long tongue with a suction-capped tip to catch insects.

It has five toes on each foot, but some are fused together so it looks like it only has two toes on each foot: two together and three together. Its feet act like tongs and can grip branches. Each toe has a sharp claw. 

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Similarities and Differences in Tiger Stripes: Amur, Bengal, and Sumatran Tigers

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What is the difference in tiger stripes between tiger sub-species: Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), and the Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)? They all belong to the Felidae family and Panthera genus.

As a form of camouflage, tigers have stripes – not to confuse their predators but to hide from their prey. Tigers like to sneak up close to their prey, hide in tall grass and trees, then pounce on their prey.

Their form of camouflage is called disruptive camouflage because the stripes are broken – short, irregular stripes. 

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European Plaice

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The European Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Pleuronectiformes family of flatfish.

The European Plaice is oval-shaped with a thin, laterally compresed body and a small head. It has a small mouth with a single series of small incisor-like teeth. It has dark-green to dark-brown skin, which is blotched with irregular orange spots. It can camouflage its skin to match its environment. Its underside is pearly white. Its skin is smooth with small scales. Both eyes are on the right side of its body (it is called a right-eyed flatfish). 

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Common Octopus

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The Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate (soft-bodied) mollusc in the Octopodidae family. Octopod means eight limbs. It is a cephalopod, related to the squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus. 

The Common Octopus has a soft hollow body called a mantle. Its body can change shape and squeeze into small gaps. The mantle has gills (to breath), a brain, and a parrot-beaked mouth. Surrounding the mouth is eight limbs with suckers. It has two large eyes with excellent sight. It has three hearts.

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Why does the Jungle Nymph have spiky legs?

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Why does the Jungle Nymph have spiky legs? 

The Jungle Nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata) is a large insect in the Heteropterygidae family of stick insects.

The female is bright green, much larger than the male, but with very small wings and she cannot fly. She looks life a green leaf. She arches her body backwards. The male is mottled brown, much smaller than the female, with large pinks wings and can fly. 

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