Fearful Owl

Nesasio solomonensis

Say hello to the Fearful Owl, a very large owl that sports a dark face and very distinctive white eyebrows. They are very similar in appearance to the Whekau, or Laughing Owl. And if nothing is done about the downward trend they are on, they might just be extinct like the Whekau as well!

The Fearful Owl is a tropical owl found in lowland forests of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. They are very rarely seen, but they do have their own Solomon Islands postage stamp! These Raptors are a top predator in their range, most commonly feeding on the Northern Common Cuscus, along with other Cuscus species. Cuscus hunting is one of the reasons that the Fearful Owls are now Vulnerable-- their main prey is being over-hunting by man, giving them fewer things to eat.

Another reason for their decline is the growth of the logging industry. Fearful Owls need the forests in order to survive, and without them they have no where to go. It is estimated that only 6,000 of these birds remain, and there are currently no major conservation efforts in place to keep them around.

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Size : Length up to 15in (38cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Strigiformes
Family : Strigidae -- Genus : Nesasio-- Species : N. solomonensis

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Greater Long-tailed Hamster

Tscherskia triton

Did you know that there are literally dozens of species of Hamsters, not just the ones that we keep as pets? Today's animal is one of the wild ones. It is considered to be a "Rat-like Hamster" and is actually considered to be quite the nuisance!

Meet the Greater Long-tailed Hamster, a rodent species that is found in China, North and South Korea, and parts of eastern Russia. They live in open areas near water, including grasslands, marshlands, and agricultural fields. The Hamsters that live near crops and rice fields are considered to be pests, as they will eagerly go after the grains and seeds. All members of the species, regardless of what they eat, stockpile food for the winter, sometimes up to 20lbs of it!

Greater Long-tailed Hamsters have a very short lifespan-- only about a year. But during that year they do their very best to carry on their genetic line. They can produce three litters of up to 10 offspring in only a few months time!

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : East Asia
Size : Weight up to 185g

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Rodentia
Family : Cricetidae -- Genus : Tscherskia -- Species : T. triton

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Milky Stork

Mycteria cinerea

Today's animal is the Milky Stork, a tall bird with a milky-white body and black flight feathers. They can be found in the marshes, mudflats, and mangroves in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Malaysia. They breed in large, multi-species colonies during the dry season, building nests that can be several feet in diameter.

Milky Storks were historically found throughout Southeast Asia, but they are now locally extinct in several countries and are on the sharp decline in their remaining range. It is estimated that there are only 5,000 of them left in the wild. What are the threats behind this population plummet? Hunting and habitat loss. Land development for agriculture has destroyed many of the mangrove nesting sites that the birds rely on, and they continue to be hunted for food and feathers (eggs are also taken).


It has been illegal to trade Milky Storks internationally since 1987, but domestic exchanges still occur. The birds do appear in some protected areas, and are legally protected in Malaysia and Indonesia, but only time will tell with this species. Captive populations have been breeding successfully, but reintroduction has been slow and less successful than hoped for (though two chicks did hatch in Malaysia in 2010).

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IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Southeast Asia
Size : Length up to 3.3ft (1m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Ciconiiformes
Family : Ciconiidae -- Genus : Mycteria -- Species : M. cinerea

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Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Protoreaster nodosus

It's no wonder how the Chocolate Chip Sea Star got its name. These tropical echinoderms have creamy, brownish bodies topped with dark brown tubercles all over the top, making them resemble the popular cookie!

You can find Chocolate Chip Sea Stars in the shallow waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, hanging out in sandy beds and near coral reefs.

Sea Stars have no eyes, so they must find they prey using their sense of smell. Chocolate Chips aren't picky about what they eat, so their meals can range from live sea aponges, to coral, to the waste of other animals. When they find some food, they actually push their stomach outside of their mouth, engulf the meal, and then bring it back inside their body!

The species has the ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction is done externally-- the eggs and sperm are released into the water at the same time, where they mix and fertilize. The Sea Stars can also reproduce asexually, making exact copies of themselves through regeneration. If they lose an arm, they can grow it back. But that chunk of lost arm can also grow a whole new Sea Star! Baby Chocolate Chip Sea Stars go through five growth phases over 2 years, when they finally reach adult size and become sexually mature.

Chocolate Chip Sea Stars are sometimes kept in aquariums, due to their appearance and non-aggressive behavior. Keeping them with coral is probably a bad idea though, since they will eat it!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Pacific and Indian Oceans
Size : Length up to 16in (40cm)

Classification : Phylum : Echinodermata -- Class : Asteroidea -- Order : Valvatida
Family : Oreasteridae -- Genus : Protoreaster -- Species : P. nodosus

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Western Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

Meet the Western Jackdaw. These mostly-black birds are the second smallest members of their genus, and are one of the littlest species in the entire Corvid family. Western Jackdaws can be found across Europe, as well as in North Africa and Central Asia. Most of the populations are residents, though some in the north and east migrate. They are a very adaptable species, and can be found in habitats that range from sea cliffs, to meadows, to urban building ledges!

There are actually four different subspecies of Western Jackdaw. All of them differ by location and by their head and neck coloration. All four have dark grey/black bodies, but the size and lightness of the crown varies.

Western Jackdaws

Western Jackdaws are incredibly social, and can be found in large flocks that number into the hundreds. These flocks function with a strict hierarchy, and birds will fight and create threat displays to assert dominance. The birds are also very social when it comes to feeding. Not only do the flocks forage together, but they also share their food with one another. They are opportunistic with their feeding, taking grains, insects, eggs, and just about anything else they can find.

During the breeding season the birds pair up, and most of these couples will stay together throughout their lifetimes. Pairs will preen and groom each other to strengthen their bond. They build nests in crevasses, dropping sticks in order to make a platform (which can be problematic for chimneys). They lay 4-6 greenish-blue eggs at a time, and both parents incubate, defend, and care for their offspring.

Western Jackdaws are under no real conservation threat whatsoever. In fact, it is estimated that their global population is somewhere around 90,000,000 birds and rising. They are able to be hunted in several different countries throughout their range.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Europe, Asia, North Africa
Size : Length up to 15in (39cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Passeriformes
Family : Corvidae -- Genus : Corvus-- Species : C. monedula

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Cookiecutter Shark

Isistius brasiliensis

Today's animal is no joke! Though they only grow to be about a foot and a half long, they can do some really amazing looking damage to much larger sea creatures! Cookiecutter Sharks get their name from their relatively unique jaws and what they do with them. They have large, powerful sucking lips, a row of narrow teeth on the top, and a row of much larger, knife-like teeth on the bottom. Like other sharks, they regularly replace their teeth. However, instead of losing a single bottom tooth at a time, they replace the entire row at once! Old teeth are swallowed, giving the Cookiecutters a good source of Calcium.

Cookiecutter Sharks attract their much larger prey using bioluminescent photophores (which grow bright green). The bigger sea creatures will go after the shark, but in a twist they will become the actual prey. The Cookiecutter will latch on with its mouth, spin its body around, and remove a perfectly circular chunk of flesh (just like a cookie cutter does to dough). Seals, Marlins, Tuna, Whales, and larger Sharks have all been found with these circular chunks taken out of them. Cookiecutters have even taken bites out of rubber domes in submarines!

Cookiecutter Sharks are found in tropical and temperate oceans all over the world, and they undergo daily migrations between shallow and deep water. During the day they can be found as far as 2-3 miles down, but during the day they move toward the surface in order to feed.

The question that I'm sure many of you are asking is "what about people? Do they bite people?" The answer to this (99.9%) no. There has only been one documented case ever of a Cookiecutter Shark biting a human, and that occurred in Hawaii in 2009. Before that only two other instances of bites were recorded, but both were incidents where a person died in the water and bitten post-mortem.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Temperate and Tropical Oceans Worldwide
Size : Length up to 22in (56cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Chondrichthyes -- Order : Squaliformes
Family : Dalatiidae -- Genus : Isistius -- Species : I. brasiliensis

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Proailurus

Proailurus lemanensis

Meet Proailurus, a cat-like creature from the early Miocene that is shrouded in taxonomic mystery. Its fossils have been found in Europe and Asia, dating back 25-20million years.

Proailurus looked quite a bit like modern Fossas-- they had long bodies and short arms. They also possessed the same binocular vision as modern cats, and a similar dental structure. These prehistoric cats most likely climbed trees and stalked their from their as present-day leopards do.

But is Proailurus a true feline? Or is it even more than that? Many believe that Proailurus is the common ancestor for all cats, but it may also be a common ancestor for other creatures as well. A recent genetic study has placed Proailurus into the Feloidea superfamily, which also encompasses the Hyenas and Viverrids (like the aforementioned Fossa). Additional fossils and genetic studies may shed more light on this in the future.

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Status : Extinct for 20 million years
Location : Fossils founds in Europe and Asia
Size : Length around 2ft (60cm),Weight around 20lbs (9kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Carnivora
Family : Felidae S -- Genus : †Proailurus -- Species : †P. lemanensis

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