Amazing Zoology

This article was originally posted at Amazing Zoology . View original article at http://amzoo.in/p15s2 The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow. It is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unusual method of finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood using its forward slanting incisors to create a small hole in which it inserts its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out. This foraging method is called percussive foraging, and takes up 5–41% of foraging time. The only other animal species known to find food in this way is the striped possum. From an ecological point of view the aye-aye fills the niche of a woodpecker, as it is capable of penetrating wood to extract the invertebrates within. The aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus Daubentonia and family Daubentoniidae. It is currently classified as Enda

This article was originally posted at Amazing Zoology . View original article at http://amzoo.in/bnkoi The Japanese spider crab has the greatest leg span of any arthropod, reaching up to 5.5 m from claw to claw. The body may grow to a size of 40 cm in carapace width and the whole crab can weigh up to 19 kilograms, second only to the American lobster among all living arthropod species. This crab was known to the Japanese for the serious injuries it can cause with its strong claws. The Japanese spider crab is occasionally collected for food, and even considered a delicacy in many parts of Japan and other areas in the region. Information Courtesy: Wikipedia

This article was originally posted at Amazing Zoology . View original article at http://amzoo.in/26x4i The pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) or pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo. This desert-adapted animal is endemic to central Argentina and can be found inhabiting sandy plains, dunes, and scrubby grasslands. Pink fairy armadillos have small eyes, silky yellowish white fur, and a flexible dorsal shell that is solely attached to its body by a thin dorsal membrane. In addition, its spatula-shaped tail protrudes from a vertical plate at the blunt rear of its shell. This creature exhibits nocturnal and solitary habits and has a diet that is mainly composed of insects, worms, snails, and various plant parts. Information Courtesy: Wikipedia

This article was originally posted at Amazing Zoology . View original article at http://amzoo.in/sksq7 © Brian Gratwicke | CC BY 2.0 Contents 1 Poison Dart Frog 2 How is the toxin produced? 3 Physiology of the toxin 4 Why doesn’t the toxin affect the frog itself? 5 References Poison Dart Frog Golden poison frog ( Phyllobates terribilis ) is one of the deadliest poisonous animals in the world. These animals are endemic to the Pacific coast of Colombia. An average one milligram of poison available in one frog is enough to kill 10-20 humans [1] . Indigenous people carefully expose the frog to the heat of a fire, and the frog exudes small amounts of poisonous fluid. The tips of arrows and darts are soaked in the fluid. Their deadly effect kept for over two years [2] . The interesting question is, what makes the frog itself resistant to this deadly poison! How is the toxin produced? These animals store Batrachotoxin, a steroidal alkaloid toxin in their skin glands. This toxin is not ac

This article was originally posted at Amazing Zoology . View original article at http://amzoo.in/ybe34 © Phillip Barden, Hollister W. Herhold & David A. Grimaldi Contents 1 Newly discovered extinct ant species 2 What is a trap jaw mechanism? 3 Taxonomic position of new species 4 Mouthparts make these ants unique 5 So how did they eat? 6 Bibliography Newly discovered extinct ant species A new species of trap jaw ant and has been described by a group of scientists from USA. This new species of ant described is already extinct and estimated to have lived almost 100 million years ago. The specimen was found preserved in amber dated 98 million years from Myanmar. What is a trap jaw mechanism? Ants with trap jaw mechanism can keep their mandible in open position. Then they can close it rapidly by striking it with clypeus above. (Clypeus is a broad plate at the front of an insect’s head.) Clypeus is usually reinforced in these ants. Most of the trap jaw ants have a trigger hairs ass