The Graham’s fishhook cactus (Mammillaria grahamii) is the most common fishhook cactus in Arizona. The red fruits shown follow bright pink flowers.
Grimpoteuthis, more commonly known as the Dumbo Octopus, is the deepest living of all octopus species, spending its time at depths of 3,000 to 7,000 meters below sea level.
The Long Net Stinkhorn (Phallus indusiatus) is a stinkhorn mushroom that grows a lacy skirt or indusium, which hangs down beneath the cap. It is edible and is considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac in Asia.
Source: giphy.com
Giant isopods are so cool but what’s with the sexy funk music
most sexual motherfucker in the ocean.
Indigo Milkcap (Lactarius indigo)
Compared to other colors found in nature, true blues are pretty rare—but the indigo milk cap has just that! This vibrant mushroom gets it color from a pigment that is a derivative of guaiazulene, a dark blue crystalline hydrocarbon. You would think that its blueness is a marker for toxicity, but the mushroom is actually edible—although its color fades to a grayish hue when it’s cooked.
photograph by Dan Molter
Spirogyra is a genus of filamentous green algae that is named for its helical arrangement of chloroplast.
Andean condor (Vultur gryphus)
The Andean condor is a South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m. Unlike most birds of prey, the male is larger than the female. The condor is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion. It prefers large carcasses, such as those of deer or cattle.t is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of over 70 years in some cases.
photo credits: Eric Kilby, Pedro Szekely, Michael Gäbler
If anyone is interested in my personal/day to day conservation work, follow my instagram! I’ll be posting more when I start my next position in Arizona. 🌲🍂🍁💪🏼
Time For My Daily Push Umps Hurghhhgghhh Aaaafhhhh
Long-tailed grass lizards can use their impressive tail as a counter balance, allowing them to stand on their hind legs while they look around. This little guy was such a good sport to demonstrate for me!
Hydnora africana, a native to southern Africa, is parasitic on the roots of members of the Euphorbiaceae family. The plant grows underground, except for a fleshy flower that emerges above ground and emits an odor of feces to attract its natural pollinators, dung beetles and carrion beetles. The flowers act as temporary traps, retaining the beetles that enter long enough for them to pick up pollen.
Our work location last month: Fossil Creek in Arizona.
Hopkin’s Rose nudibranch (Okenia rosacea)
The Hopkin’s Rose nudibranch, is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae. These pink sea slugs are characterized by numerous long papillae on their back, tapering into a round tip. This pink color is produced by the xanthophyllic pigment hopkinsiaxanthin, most likely obtained through feeding on the cheilostomatous bryozoan.
photo credits: Jerry Kirkhart , Robin Agarwal
Time-lapse of a rain storm. This is located in a lake in Carinthia, Austria called “Millstättersee”. Video taken by Peter Maier. More interesting posts here: sixpenceee.com/tagged/world
I never noticed before the way a rainstorm depletes the cloud it comes from.
Did someone turn on the shower?
Nature takes a piss anywhere. Nature dgaf.
Anonymous asked:
What is a typical day like for you? I would like to do into biology but im worried that it will be too much office work and not that much time in the field thank you :)
Hey! So 100% of my job is field work at the moment. I’m working at Petrified Forest National Park through Arizona Conservation Corps doing random conservation projects. It really depends on what specific field within biology you get into but with my job, I’m typically outside for the 10 hours a day I work and its GREAT.
Blocking blood vessels by creating embolisms is, under most circumstances, very bad. But researchers are exploring ways to fight cancer by intentionally and strategically creating these blockages. In gas embolotherapy, researchers inject fluid droplets, which can carry chemotherapy drugs, into the bloodstream. Once they circulate into a cancerous tumor, they use ultrasound to vaporize the droplet and create a gas bubble. Those bubbles lodge inside the capillaries of the tumor, starving it of fresh blood and trapping the chemotherapy drugs inside. It’s a one-two punch to the cancer. Without blood flow, the cancer cells die, and, since the cancer-killing drugs get mostly trapped inside the tumor, patients may require lower dosages and endure fewer side effects. The technique is currently in animal testing, but hopefully it will be a valuable therapy for human patients in the future. (Image credit: Chemical & Engineering News; research credit: Y. Feng et al.; via AIP)