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The Prehensile Tailed Pokemon Porcupine (Coendou prehensilis) is an arboreal species of porcupine endemic to South America. They tend to stick to small groups or remain completely solitary, but if food and mates are abundant will tolerate larger amounts of each other. Males have a tendency to spray females and their offspring as a way of marking them as ‘territory.’  Most of their life (up to 85%) is spent in trees. Since they are nocturnal, foraging occurs at night. Anything from tree bark to fruits and even unripened seeds are an acceptable meal. They especially love the seeds of coco palms! Unfortunately, some bugs find them to be a good food source. Assassin beetles.. Yes, that’s their name.. Love to feast on the blood of these porcupines- in turn, the porcupines become a reservoir for a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi.  Perhaps the cutest thing about this animal is the various forms of communication. A gain in popularity was because of it’s little grunts in this episode of Scishow. Aside from vocal communication, they also have a very distinct chemical smell to get messages across. They produce a waxy substance with a pungent smell along their lower backs, and in areas frequented by porcupines, you can often smell them once they’ve already passed. 
If anybody is in the South FL region- PLEASE HELP! This dog is in desperate need of a home and has such a sweet temperment! Perfect, loving family dog- please share and help spread word if possible. This poor sweetie shouldn’t have to loose her life because of irresponsible owners.
Found this spider in my backyard- any ideas as to what it is? I’m thinking catfaced spider, but I really don’t know.. Input?
These strange and quirky birds don’t look like cows- but they sure eat and supposedly smell like ‘em. As a folivore, the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) can strip trees in their native land, northern South America, bare and, as a byproduct, reek of manure or sweet smelling hay. This has given them the title of ‘stink bird.’  But their diet of solely leaves, fruit and flowers has led to a digestive system unique to this species. They have a very large crop, or gizzard, which contains anaerobic bacteria to secret enzymes, grinding up all the cellulose that comes from this highly fibrous diet. The gizzard can account for up to a third of the hoatzin’s body weight! This foregut fermentation system manages to get all the nutrients possible from leaves, a low nutrient food source.. But they need to consume huge amounts of foliage to receive substantial energy! The only way to describe these birds is awkward.. With a labored flight, crash landing, and flouncing gait, scientists have been puzzled by them. Well- it’s not exactly THAT that puzzles them.. It’s the claws which makes them living fossils. No, not talons like regular raptors.. Claws on the wings. The naked chicks use them to climb around branches and the nest. If they fall into water below, they can swim and climb up the nearest tree. Some say they’re the extant relatives of Archaeopteryx- although the claws aren’t unique to just Hoatzins. Geese have wing spurs they can retain to adult hood, and european coots have a single claw on each wing to get around their nests.. Photo by webgoers.
The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is native to Northern/Eastern Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia extending north to the Caucasus and southern Siberia.  The males are heavier than females, and both can erect the hair on their manes to appear up to 38% bigger, often induced by a threat. Although solitary animals, they will form small family groups at the den. Older, immature offspring will assist in caring for and feeding younger siblings.  Striped hyenas are not too strict about territory, however during social encounters there is a display of dominance. Hyenas will sniff each others noses, and then genitals. Submission is shown with displays of the anal gland, often shown from immature young to adults, or even one adult to another. Fighting is a ritual of wrestling where one hyena attempts to grab the other’s cheek, while attempting to avoid the other’s grasp.  They mainly depend on scavenging food, mostly the carrion of medium to large mammals, including zebras, wildebeests, impalas and gazelles. Smaller animals like rabbits may also enter the diet- as well as fruits! If the carcass has been stripped of the meat, they may even go so far as to consume the bones! Foraging for these foods occurs at night, often with no pattern of travel except following the wind’s scent of nearby food. Water is drank every night if possible, although they can live for extensive amounts of time without it. Striped hyenas are a near threatened species that easily coexist with humans. They even have some benefit to the tribes and civilizations they live with- they’ll consume unwanted human refuse. They’re also fairly well tempered- never attempting to attack humans or livestock. They’ll even permit dogs to follow them around without defending themselves or showing aggression!  Photo by Eyal Bartov.
Although shark pups are born with all the equipment they’ll ever need to defend themselves and hunt down food, developing embryos still stuck in their egg cases are vulnerable to predators. But a new study finds that even these baby sharks can detect a potential predator, and play possum to avoid being eaten. Read how they do it here.
Cute little thing right? With a name like the Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi), you wouldn’t think so. It’s really only because, at up to 2 feet long, they’re super-sized.. They’re really ever even seen by humans, let alone a danger to us! Living in the rivers and streams of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, they’re completely aquatic salamanders. Despite having lungs, they’ve found a cool way to breathe.. Absorbing oxygen through the capillaries in their skin! These hellbenders are nocturnal, hiding under rocks by day and emerging at night to feed mostly on crayfish, but also on inverts, smaller fish and other salamanders!  It takes 5-8 years for an Ozark Salamander to become sexually mature. Living up to 30 years, this would potentially leave a lot of room for reproduction.. Especially since they can lay up to 450 eggs! Unfortunately, only a fraction hatch, even with the male ozark guarding them. They’re an endangered species with fewer than 600 individuals expected to be remaining in the wild. Habitat loss and other disturbances due to human recreation are at blame.. But strange enough, there’s also a fatal disease causing the decline of these salamanders. Chytrid fungus may be a large role in the population drop, especially since it is highly infectious and found in and around Missouri’s hellbender population.
rhamphotheca: Are these animals too ‘ugly’ to be saved? by Victoria Gill People are used to being asked to help save photogenic pandas, but are there animals whose strange appearance hinders conservation? Creatures that achieve world fame for being under threat - the panda, the mountain gorilla, the tiger - tend to be conventionally aesthetically pleasing, even cute. But the scientists who study the planet’s rarest beasts say that many of the most precious and threatened creatures have physical characteristics that, although perhaps not adorable in the most orthodox sense, make them truly unique. A project run by the Zoological Society for London (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) is trying to raise awareness of these less appreciated creatures. “I love all the species on the Edge list,” says Carly Waterman, director of Edge. “But I think some do need a little extra help to get them a place in hearts of the general public.” Here are a few of the less doe-eyed and fluffy and more spiky, scaly, big-nosed and slimy animals that might be conservation icons… (read more: BBC Nature)   
Often found in extremely large schools of up to 100, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) may even accompany other species, including northern right-whale dolphins and sea lions. Thought to do most of their feeding at night, squids and small schooling fish make the meal. When they’re not eating, chances are they’re playing! These dolphins are famous for their acrobatics- typically seen while bow riding. Leaps, bellyflops, somersaults; they do it all! Monterey Bay in California considers lags (yes- that’s a nickname based off their scientific name) to be residents due to their year-round presence.
Resembling a gigantic shrew, the Cuban solenodon (Solenodon cubanus) has tiny eyes , poor vision, and a great sense of both smell and hearing.. Did I mention they live the night life? At night, they come out and search for food, using their long snouts to find invertebrates- and those long claws aren’t for show! They’re used to dig up prey and then they’ll inject them with venom. Yep, there’s venom hidden in those incisors of theirs. Those special venom-filled groves in the teeth are unique to this mammal only!   Despite living in  groups of up to eight individuals in one burrow- they’re thought to be a very rare species. Listed as endangered by the IUCN, only 37 have been caught to date.
Media Coverage on Sharks Focuses More on Attacks Than Conservation The treatment of sharks in the media and popular culture has been historically rather harsh. A new study from Michigan State University reveals that this negative image is affecting their survival. The findings of this study, published in the current issue of Conservation Biology, reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks and found that the majority isn’t good. Read the sad truth here.
Snakes shed their skin. Well known fact, but most people don’t know more than that.. Called ecdysis, it’s actually just a layer of skin that comes off, and it’s not strictly snakes that do this! Insects, arthropods and lizards also ‘slough’ their skin, or molt it.. Like birds molt feathers! The biggest give away when a snake is ready to shed is it’s cloudy, milky eyes. The coolest thing is that snakes never stop shedding their skin, as long as they’re growing.. Which is all their lives! So if they don’t like the skin they’re in, they’ll leave it behind.. Literally. Younger snakes do this much more frequently than adults, but both can have trouble shedding! One of the worst scenarios is the skin can’t come off the eye, leading to multiple ‘eye caps’ which, in turn, blinds the snake..  Which can lead to a dead snake.. There can be a multitude of reasons for these problems, including lack of moisture and dehydration.. But snakes are smart, and use rocks and other things to rub against and assist in removing the skin. 
While not the most urbane bear, he’s certainly still adorable. The sloth bear (Ursus ursinus) wander the forests of South Asia alone, grunting and snorting while searching for insects and fresh fruit. They’re built with claws like anteaters, perfectly curved for slicing through termite mounds. Unlike anteaters, they do it quite… unappealingly. By closing off their nostrils and opening their mouths, they vacuum in any unlucky termites through a gap in their teeth! Another cool thing about their diet? They’re the original Winnie the Pooh!  Well, I mean I don’t know that but.. They do scale trees to knock down honeycombs. Unfortunately, they are often caught for their ability to perform (circuses anybody?) or killed for their aggression and tendency to destroy crops.. And if they’re lucky enough to survive, the land they live in is constantly shrinking. These factors have left them vulnerable according to the IUCN.
Closely related to pigs, these pygmy hippos resemble their nile cousins! Although smaller and cuter, they’re equally aggressive and just as dangerous. Hexaprotodon liberiensis has wider spread digits and little webbing, making them much better suited for terrestrial living, although their strong muscular valves that close their ears and nostrils allow them to submerge into water as well! Living near swampy forests, creeks and streams in West Africa, they’ll consume anything from roots and grasses to aquatic plants! Once digested, you don’t want to be around them.. They’ll spread their dung to mark paths by wagging their tails during defecation. Then again, with the few thousand hippos left in the world, you’re lucky to see them at all! The IUCN marks them as vulnerable, except in Nigeria where they are critically endangered. 
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