image credit: news.xinhuanet.com Habitat: northern Vietnam, northern Laos, and southern China Status: Vulnerable
Owston's Palm Civet looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book to me. It has a long snout which makes some people believe it resembles a large shrew. They grow to be around 23 inches in length with a tail adding on an additional 17 inches.
Much like the Helmet Vanga I just posted about, next to nothing is known about the Owston's Palm Civet's life history in the wild. Almost all the information we have on it has been garnered through captive breeding programs.
This very distinctive creature is the Helmet Vanga which is easily identifiable by its large, hunched deep or pale blue bill. Very little is known about this bird's life history.
Adult Helmet Vangas mostly eat large insects but they will bring back to the nest a variety of goodies. Lizards, snakes, snails, spiders, and crabs can all be found on the menu.
Alexis was in Sanibel, Fl looking for some pretty shells when she found this one. She picked it up only to find there was something else that had thought that shell was pretty! She said that the little animal tried to nick her with its sharp digging "claw" while she held him up for the camera! His googly eyes are SO cute!
Trek, the Bearded Dragon
Sarah Kendall is the proud owner of a Bearded Dragon named Tek and she decided to share his pretty face with the rest of us!
Green Tree Ants On the Move
Loren Swenson from Minnesota captured this cool shot of some Green Tree Ants while in Queensland, Australia. She took this photo on a bicycle trip from Cairns to Byron Bay on the north-east coast of Australia. Being on bicycle and staying in state and national parks, she had the chance to see and photograph many interesting species. Luckily, she never received a bite from this notoriously painful ant.
Katydid Beauty Shot
Here's Mark Yokoyama's great shot of a Katydid with striking green eyes. He says it's probably the species Nesonotus sp., and that the photo was taken on the hat was taken on Pic Paradis, the tallest mountain on the island of St. Martin in the French West Indies.
Just a Jelly
This is Katja Rockstroh's jellyfish that is happily swimming along for your votes! :)
Majestic Bucks
Allison from Ohio was fortunate to get this shot of some large bucks. She had been driving through the highlands of Scotland near Ben Hope and was "lucky to get so close before they turned tail and ran"
Warrior the Courageous Napper
Jess Ransdell-Smith has a mighty cute pup here for you all to vote on. His name is Warrior and he's a greyhound - asleep in one of his favorite positions. He looks pretty happy :)
Instant Wake-up
Niobi Williams from Lakeland, Fl stumbled upon this Black Racer Snake when trying to capture another snake's photo that had been hiding under a van. She rose up to find this guy only a foot from her face and as she puts it, "I definitely didn't need coffee that morning."
A Supposed Alligator Smile
Tammy List is a volunteer at the Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar , CA where she gets to take care of many cool creatures like this North American Alligator. She said he was giving her a big smile (or hiss!!) for the camera.
That's it! Cast your Votes NOW! (on the side of the page) Voting will run until Monday, Jan 3rd. Good luck everyone!
image credit: unidentified Habitat: Southeast Asian tropical rainforests Status: Near Threatened
One ordinary day a hog met a badger and after a few extraordinary dates, the two fell in love and got married. Two years later they were the proud parents of a bouncing baby Hog Badger.
Okay, so maybe that's not exactly the story of how the Hog Badger came to be but I like to think it is. How else could such a bizarre creature have come about?
The Hog Badger grows to up to 28 inches in length and has a stocky body with an elongated snout and a pig-like nose. The creature is becoming exceedingly rare in its natural habitat and overhunting is a major concern.
Habitat: northern Australia and southern New Guinea Status: Least Concern
I remember reading about the Frilled Lizard when I was really young. It was one of those creatures that once you took a look at in a book you really never forgot about them. And for good reason! This guy is pretty incredible.
It gets its name obviously from the large frill around its neck which is connected to its jawbone by long spines of cartilage. When it gets scared (or during courtship or competition between males) it will open its mouth to expose a bright pink or yellow lining and flare its frill out in an attempt to freak the other creature out (or charm it I guess, depending on the situation).
Here's some really cool footage of the Frilled Lizard defending its territory... but then wimping out and running away as a bird gets too close. Understandable.
(*spoiler alert*) It's really crazy how they run on two legs isn't it? You're definitely not expecting that, let alone the humongous frill that just pops out of nowhere. Typically the Frilled Lizard just keeps its frill neatly tucked next to its face (check out the 2nd pic from the bottom) because, you know, you don't want to come off as too flamboyant these days. Less is more.
Oh and if you're thinking to yourself, "Hmm... this freaky lizard looks kind of familiar... ::pondering face::" Well then you might be thinking of the movie Jurassic Park where that evil fat guy gets eaten by the dinosaur (he so deserved it). The dinosaur, Dilophosaurus, was portrayed with a fictional neck frill, which it raised during the attack and scared the shiitake mushrooms out of the guy and definitely myself as well when I was 6 years old or whatever.
Don't remember the scene? Well then I present to you for your viewing pleasure... the Dinosaur-Eats-Evil-Fat-Man Jurassic Park clip.
Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll! Looks like we will still be having the photo contests since everyone voted yes :) So - start sending in your animal pictures now. Remember they can be of any animal, and I've decided to open it up to dogs & cats. Hey, they're animals too right?
So let's get this contest started! Get them in to me by Friday & then Voting will go until Monday when the winner will be revealed. Remember to send in the pic with your name, location, and a short description for the picture!
Okay and also, as you may have already noticed, The Featured Creature™ is now on Facebook! So Please, Please "like" us! I'll be posting content that you won't get to see on the site itself and I know you wouldn't want to miss out on any of that... now would you?
image credit: ejphoto.com Habitat: breeds from southern Siberia to northeast China, Korea, and northern Japan, wintering to southern Japan, east and south China, and Vietnam. Status: Near Threatened
This is the beautiful Falcated Duck. The creature is one of the members of the subfamily Anatinae, which includes dabbling ducks - those ducks which feed mainly at the surface rather than diving.
Sadly, due to overhunting this creature is now Near Threatened and is in risk of becoming endangered. It is recognized by its speckled gray feathers and dark green head with a bronzed crown (for males). The females are rather boring looking, with dark brown feathers. The long beak is also another identifiable characteristic.
One of the most beautiful ducks I've come across that's for sure! Anyone know of any others?
image credit: mymodernmet.com Habitat: Mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands of Bangladesh, Burma, India, southern China, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam Status: Vulnerable
The Oriental Small-clawed Otter is the smallest otter in the world, weighing in at less than 5 kg. They're distinguished from all other otters in that they have only partially webbed paws which give them an excellent sense of touch and are highly coordinated. They can break apart mollusks and crabs swiftly. In fact, they don't even use their mouths to catch prey - they use their paws!
The Oriental Small-clawed Otter has a variety of ways to communicate. It has over 12 different types of vocalizations that it uses to say things like "What's up dude?!" and "Cool bro!" Okay not really (or maybe?) but still - they're definitely saying something! Their main method of communication is by scent though. Glands are located in their tail which leave pretty scents about for other otters to encounter. Hm.. maybe pretty wasn't the best choice of words there. I bet it's pretty foul.
Many images on this site are not the property of The Featured Creature™. All reasonable efforts are made to give credit to the owners of the images. If your photograph was not given proper credit, please contact me and the correction will be made as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
image credit: carnivore-pangolin.org
image credit: zooborns.com
image credit: zooborns.com
image credit: zooborns.com
image credit: news.xinhuanet.com
