Thursday 29 September 2005 Giant squid - Japanese scientists take the first images of a living specimen

Japanese scientists discovered the giant squid by following Sperm whales, which hunt for the giant squids. It is believed to reach lengths of 60 ft (18 meters) long and has two tentacles that can stretch up to two thirds of its length. Tracking the Sperm whales and dangling bait and their camera at 450 fathoms (800 meters) they managed to catch the attention of a 25 ft (7.62 m) long giant squid and some pictures.

A researcher from New Zealand has captured the first live images from a "giant" squid earlier, although you can leave "giant" out, they were only half an inch long larvae.

In 2003, a giant squid attacked a french boat, which was taking part in the round-the-world (talk about coincedence!) Jules Verne Trophy. (Jules Verne is the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in which is described how giant squid attacked Capt Nemo's submarine Nautilus).

Links
news.telegraph
news.yahoo
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (public domain version)

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Saturday 17 September 2005 Day geckos (genus Phelsuma) - Beauties from Madagascar

Most members of the family Geckonidae are nocturnal animals. But there are some exceptions too. Among these are the members of the genus Phelsuma, the so called Day geckos. They inhabit the island of Madagascar, which lies off South-East Africa. But Day geckos are also distributed on some "nearby" islands like the Comores, the Seychelles, Nossi B�, Aldabra, Assumption and Sainte Marie. Some species also can be found in some coastal regions of South-East Africa. (more)

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Friday 09 September 2005 Tiger - Largest cat killed by Chinese medicine?

The largest of all cats killed by traditional Chinese medicine? There are different opinions among scientists, whether to call the Tiger Panthera tigris (Panthera tigris) and leave it in the genus Panthera together with the Lion and the other so-called Great cats or to call it Neofelis tigris and have it in the genus Neofelis together with the much smaller Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa). But the following is not disputed: Tigers are the largest living cats. They reach a length up to 280 cm and a weight of almost 300 kg. Remarkable are the dark stripes on orange- or ochre- coloured ground. There are various subspecies, which partly differ widely in size. The largest subspecies is the Siberian tiger. (more)

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Sunday 04 September 2005 Puma - America's allrounder

Many animal species are adapted to quite narrow habitats providing certain living conditions. This is not different concerning cats: cheetahs, eg., are animals which are able to survive only in savannas and semi-deserts, while tigers are "forest creatures", which prefer habitats with a lot of trees and much water. But on the other hand there are also species, which are real allrounders, inhabiting all kinds of habitats in many subspecies. The most prominent examples are the Leopard in Africa and Asia and its American counterpart - the Puma (Puma concolor) . (more)

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Saturday 03 September 2005 Proboscis monkey - The swimming star with the giant nose

Everyone who has the opportunity to see a Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) is struck by its giant nose. But there is a second feature which is very typical for Proboscis monkeys and their relatives, the so called Leaf-monkeys - it's their large belly. Indicated by the name of that group of apes, they almost exclusively feed on leaves - and leaves are not easy to digest. Moreover leaves are not very rich in energy-content. So Proboscis monkeys have to eat a lot of leaves and spend most of their time on feeding. In order to obtain enough energy from their meagre nourishment, Proboscis monkeys have got a complicated stomach divided into several parts. Their stomach is quite similar to that of ruminants, which have to face the same problems. Adult Proboscis monkeys are large animals. Males reach a length of about 70 cm and a weight up to 24 kg. Females are significantly smaller, reaching lengths of 60 cm and weights of just 12 kg. The tails of Proboscis monkeys are about as long as their bodies. Their fur is brick-red, the front and the cheeks are of brighter colour and the arms and legs are more greyish. The most obvious feature of Proboscis monkeys is the male's extremely long nose, shaped like a cucumber. Noses of females and young are not small either but don't reach the sizes of the noses of males by far. (more)

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