Tag nocturnal

New and rare species of spider found in Australia: Giant Trapdoor Spider

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A new and rare species of spider has been found in Australia. It is called the Giant Trapdoor Spider (Euoplos dignitas), an arachnid in the Idiopidae family of armoured trapdoor spiders. 

The Giant Trapdoor Spider has a small head, a shiny, smooth, armoured (plated carapace) thorax with 8 long hairy legs, and a large furry abdomen. The male is honey-red and the female is dark-brown. The male and female have two white bands on each leg, and a white band at the top of its carapace, near its head. 

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Rôti the Zebra Shark joins the Paris Aquarium

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A new Zebra Shark has joined the large pool in the Paris Aquarium in the capital of France. The Zebra Shark has been named Rôti, which is French for Roast. It joins other Zebra Sharks but Rôti is easily recognized because it is the smallest of the Zebra Sharks.

Rôti comes from the Skegness Aquarium in England, as part of an exchange for the preservation of species. Skegness is a seaside town in Lincolnshire on the east coast of England. The Skegness Aquarium opened in 2015.

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Pygmy hippo born at Metro Richmond Zoo in December 2022

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The Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia, America, is celebrating the birth of a baby Pygmy Hippo. 

Born on 6 December 2022, the Pygmy Hippopotamus does not yet have a name. Its parents are Iris and Corwin. Iris was pregnant for 7 months before giving birth to her daughter. 

She weighed 7 kilograms (16 pounds) and is growing rapidly. After a week, she was already 11 kilograms (24 pounds). When she is an adult, she will weigh up to 272 kilograms (600 pounds).

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Mottled Bichir

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The Mottled Bichir (Polypterus weeksii) is a freshwater fish in the Polypteridae family of ray-finned fish and reedfish. It is also known as the Fat-Headed Bichir.

The Mottled Bichir is an elongated fish with a series of 7-18 dorsal (back) finlets instead of a single dorsal fin. The finlets (small fins) can be raised and flattened. Its light-grey body has thick scales in patterns of dark-grey bands, and a white underbelly. It breathes through spiracles on the top of its head, four pairs of gills, and ventral lungs – the left lung is shorter than the right lung. 

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RESEARCH: Three factors why big-eyed frogs have big eyes

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In September 2020, the New Scientist magazine reported on research to determine why frogs have evolved big eyes. 

Some frogs have the biggest eyes of all vertebrates (animals with backbones), in relation to their body size, and zoologists did not know why. Now researchers have found that the size of the eyes of these vertebrates seems to depend upon their environment.

Eyesight requires a lot of energy to function – focusing, adjusting peripheral vision, calculating distance, determing what the object is, and so on. There is a lot of things the eye must do quickly to ‘see’ what is in front and around it. Scientists think this is why animals living in dark environments, such as caves, often evolve to have smaller eyes.

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Western European Ringlet Butterfly

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The Western European Ringlet Butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus hyperantus) is an insect in the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.

The Western European Ringet Butterfly has chocolate brown to black wings and a dark-brown hairy body. The upper and lower sides of its wings are solid brown with small, yellow-ringed eyespots. The number of eyespots is variable. The juvenile butterfly has a velvety appearance and is almost black with a white fringe (margin) on each wing. It lightens in colour as it ages.

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Ghost Cardinalfish

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The Ghost Cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus or Zoramia leptacantha) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Apogonidae family.

The Ghost Cardinalfish has a compressed body with a large head, large mouth, and large round eyes. Its lower jaw protrudes over its upper jaw. It is silver with a light-black bar on the caudal fin. Underneath its eyes is a thin, black line extending backwards. It has two dorsal (back) fins.

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Silverfish

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The Silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum) is a small insect in the Lepismatidae family. It is silver, but it is not a fish. It moves a bit like a fish.

The Silverfish is a wingless insect with a metallic silvery-grey body covered in scales. Its body is a squashed oval-shape that tapers (narrows) towards its tail. It has six legs and long thin antennae. It has two long appendages at the end of its tail, called cerci (one is called a cercus). It has two small compound eyes. It can regenerate its cerci and its antennae in 2-4 weeks if they are damaged or drop off.

It moves in a wriggling motion, like a fish. It can run quite fast.

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Tadpole of the Caucasian Parsley Frog

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The Caucasian Parsley Frog (Pelodytes caucasicus) is a freshwater amphibian in the Pelodytidae family of frogs. 

The Caucasian Parsley Frog begins its life as an egg. The adult female frog is oviparous, laying eggs. The female lays 40-300 eggs near reeds in a still body of water. The eggs hatch after about 14 days. 

The eggs hatch into tadpoles. 

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Bubble Coral

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The Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa) is a marine (saltwater) zooxanthellate coral in the Caryophylliidae family of stony corals, although this is not definitive according to some zoologists – they refer to its classification as Incertae sedis or Problematica (which means ‘uncertain placement’ or ‘problematic’). It is in the Cnidaria phylum. It is also known as Grape Coral, Pearl Coral, and Bladder Coral. 

The Bubble Coral ‘bubble’ is grape-sized and roundish. It is cream to yellowish to light beige. Bunched together, like grapes, they form a colony that looks like an inverted cone. 

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Common Raccoon

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The Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a mammal in the Procyonidae family of raccoons. It is a procyonid. It is also known as the Northern Raccoon.

The Common Raccoon has peppery-grey fur with long hair. It also has underfur, which acts as an insulator to keep it warm in winter. It has a black face mask, a ringed tail, short rounded ears, black rounded eyes, and a dog-like nose. Its front claws are sharp.

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Pitch Ant

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The Pitch Ant (Camponotus piceus) is an insect in the Formicidae family of Carpenter Ants. Pitch means black.

The Pitch Ant is black with smoky-brown wings. It has a head, rounded thorax, and abdomen. It has six legs. It has a pinched-in waist. Its antennae are mid-length and bent. It has wings during the mating season – only the fertile female and adult male have wings.

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How does a Red-Necked Wallaby Drink?

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How does a Red-Necked Wallaby drink?

The Red-Necked Wallaby, also known as the Bennett’s Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus), is a medium-sized macropod marsupial mammal. Macropod means big feet, and a marsupial mammal has a pouch for its baby. 

A group of wallabies is called a mob. It is generally solitary, but it will gather with a mob to feed. It is mainly nocturnal, feeding at night. It is an herbivore, feeding on grass, roots, leaves, and weeds.

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Pacific Double Saddle Butterflyfish

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The Pacific Double Saddle Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ulietensis) is a tropical marine (saltwater) fish in the Chaetodontidae family of butterflyfish. It is also known as the False Falcula Butterflyfish. 

The Pacific Double Saddle Butterflyfish has a flat, compressed, oval-shaped body. It is white with vertical, thin, black lines down its body and two dark saddles on its back. The fins and tail are bright yellow with a black spot on the tail. It has a black eye band, like a mask over its eyes. Its protruding snout (nose) is usually white.

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European Conger Eel

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The European Conger Eel (Conger conger) is a medium-sized marine (saltwater) fish in the Congridae family of conger eels. It is an anguilliform.

The European Conger Eel has a cylindrical, long, thin, grey to black body with a white underbelly. It has a row of small, white spots along the lateral line. It has a smooth body – it does not have scales (it is scaleless). There are gill openings on its side. Its head is conical, with a down-turned mouth and sharp, conical teeth. Its snout (nose) is rounded and prominent. It has nostrils. 

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Pool Frog

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The Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae) is a freshwater wetlands amphibian in the Ranidae family of water frogs.

The Pool Frog is green, olive or brown. On its back is a green line that runs from head to tail. There are small warts on its back. Its underbelly is creamy-white. It has a plump body with long hind (back) legs, and no tail. It has large, round, protruding eyes. It has webbed feet.

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Majorcan Midwife Toad

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The Majorcan Midwife Toad (Alytes muletensis) is a small freshwater amphibian in the Alytidae family of toads. It is a vulnerable species. 

The Majorcan Midwife Toad can be a variety of colours, but it is generally brownish to yellowish or greenish, with several irregular dark spots along its body. It has big, bulging dark eyes, suited to living in the dark. It has long legs with webbed feet that enable it to climb over rocks.

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Giant Click Beetle

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The Giant Click Beetle (Oxynopterus annamensis) is an insect in the Elateridae family of click beetles.

The Giant Click Beetle is black to reddish-brown. The male has distinctive feather-like antennae. The female has thin, toothed antennae. It has a prothorax (front thorax) that is shield-shaped with sharply pointed posteriolateral tips. The elytra (wing cases) are long and smooth, tapering to a point at the tail end. It has wings, but it is not a strong flyer. It has simple, hairless claws on the tarsal segments of its six legs.

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What is the difference between the European Hare and the Patagonian Mara?

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What is the difference between the European Hare (Lepus europaeus) and the Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)?

The European Hare is a lagomorph, specifically a leporid mammal, related to rabbits. It is also known as the Brown Hare. The Patagonian Mara is a large rodent. It is also known as the Patagonian Hare or the Patagonian Cavy, but it is not a hare and it is not related to hares or rabbits. The Patagonian Mara is a cavid, related to the guinea pig. 

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