Inspiring materials

As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain, I take a look at the fauna of Felarya and wonder how much of it is inspired by real animals. 'cause, as you know, Mama Natura does drugs. Which ones? Well, ALL OF THEM! So here's this new thread I devised- one where we can share whatever animal you last looked at and went lolwut about.

EDIT: As we don't need a lot of animals, let's share instead whatever information you'd like to show everyone to inspire them but didn't know where to drop.



One of my personal favourites is the Cape buffalo- this thing has a diadema of horns thick and strong enough to deflect rifle fire. And it kills more hunters every year than any other animal in Fela- in Africa. It's so damn mean it's never been domesticated, and it's as badass as they get! This animal, when hunted, is prone to doubling up on its blood trail after a successful shot to AMBUSH AND SAVAGE whoever hunts 'em.

Spoiler:

Such brutality, such ferocity... inspires me! Go, Cape Buffalo, go! In the name of life, claim your slayer's blood!


Another animal I found like a month ago and quickly became a favourite was the Giant Eland. Yeah, it's all charismatic megaphauna, sue me for being shallow. This thing is the biggest of all antelopes, weighing nearly one ton. And DAT HORNS... man, those are some nice horns. Unlike the Cape Buffalo, it doesn't fight back unless cornered- it prefers flight. Not as cool, I guess, but if it wants to live, I got no problem with leaving this gentle giant alone.

Spoiler:

Spiraled horns. I thought those only happened in weird cartoons trying to show how oddball their critters are- you learn something new every day.


Now for something completely different- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING!? you'll ask when you take a look at the Saiga Tatarica. That thing's extinct from China, but not Russia- and thankfully I don't live in Russia. I don't remember anything scarier than that thing... my god, it's... it's just... god. Look at it. I dare you. But I gotta warn you, it's not unnatural. It's just proof that nature is alien and...

Spoiler:

While critically endangered, that thing isn't extinct yet. I'll come out from under my bed when it is...


Another interesting animal I found recently is the leopard. Did you know that panthers aren't an animal, but a name given to many animals, including jaguars, pumas, and leopards? I kinda forget those things sometimes. Either way... the leopard seems to be as cunning as cats get in the wild. Anyone can attest that pet strains of cat can be fiendishly clever, right? Well, this one isn't specially big, but it's powerful and smart. Screw ligers, who cares about them being the biggest cat ever? Leopards can fuck up anything that has to be fucked up. And they solo it, at that!

Also, the melanistic variation is pretty scary. It's easier to spot... but when you do, you'll shit bricks.

Hey, did anyone see the remote?:

Now for something completely unrelated. We all know benthic organisms are out there, right? Marine animals get weirder the lower you go. Well, the Xenophyophore would agree. Marine biologists were at odds for a while about how to classify those things... do you know how were they classified in the end? I'll tell you how.

Spoiler:

Taken a good look at that thing? It measures approximately 20 cm across. Also, it's a single cell. Thought ovas were big? This is bigger than your heart, baby, and it's a lump o' cytoplasm with multiple nucleii in it, somehow managing to be a single cell. EWWW.


This thing is about as weird as the tribrachidium heraldicus, an extinct species that you can't blame on The Man. We weren't even a project when that thing roamed this here God fearing land. Speaking of God, by the way, the tribrachidium was homaged in SimEarth- where you could have lifeforms evolved from the Trichordates order. They were very special because... well, see for yourself.

On the count of three!:

Weird shit happened during the Ediacaran period. Amongst other things, whatever drugs nature was on made it think that triradially symmetric organisms were a good idea. Man, the saiga suddenly looks a lot more natural.


Okay, guys, your turn. Pick one, amaze us, and gush away.

While not terribly amazing, the geoduck (pronounce "gooey duck") is a big clam native to my region (the Pacific Northwest) and is always good for a "wtf" and/or a laugh.

Spoiler:

You can read more here, but in short they're big phallic clams stuffed into too small a shell, and are apparently rather tasty (I don't recall if I have eaten one myself).

Also not terribly amazing is the North Pacific Giant Octopus, which is just a very large octopus whose armspan can easily reach 14 feet or more. Just a baby by Felaryan standards, really.

Next thing you know we'll discover a whale with tentacles proportionate to its body size.

Unfortunately I don't think there's anything too weird up here. The most dangerous animal around me is a mountain lion. I've only ever seen two of them. (wild)

Hey guys, check this out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning

An atmospheric phenomenon that I couldn't have ever dreamed of. But man, I LOVE IT.

This little bastard is the Bombardier Beetle. It's a beetle that shoots out hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide from two separate chambers, mixing them together in another chamber to generate a 100 °C (212 °F) noxious liquid/gas as a defense mechanism.

Spoiler:

That smoke? It's steam from the flash-evaporation of some of that liquid. Plenty of creatures utilize chemical warfare, but this is a step beyond just making bad smells: this is making a bad smell that also burns like a mother.

Totally.
And people say dragons are far-fetched. Not that much...

Anyone ever thought it was possible to have volcanoes in the ice? I mean, obviously they are possible, otherwise Greenland wouldn't exist. However... for an extreme example, be sure to check out Mount Erebus in Anctartica.

Spoiler:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_erebus

Yes. That's a volcano. In the middle of the snow. In the -80ºC frigid air of Anctartica. At the temperatures volcanoes work, you can get colder- it ain't gonna make a difference. But I'm sure it was the last thing you'd ever expect.



Now for something completely different... does anyone like hot springs? I'm sure you don't. These places are full of bacteria, and acid, and more bacteria, and salinity... some of them are healthy, like in Japan, where they're so healthy you can even see schoolgirls hanging around- WHOA, those are in school?

But if you wanna be in for something you sure weren't expecting, check out Wyoming in the good ol' USA. This is where you taste the rainbow.

Spoiler:

The Grand Prismatic Spring (no, you can't bathe on it), in Yellowstone National Park, is as photogenic as hot springs get.