#creature post

one of THREE species of nudibranchs that do that and they all evolved separately

the species is Bathydevius caudactylus (midnight zone nudibranch) the ONLY nudibranch to have been documented in the bathypelagic zone 1000-4000m under the sea

it uses a gigantic .. hood…?? thingy..?? to capture prey and it’s morphologically a lot like shrimp but they’re not related

it has fingerlike projections on its mantle and tail that DETACHES as a decoy to escape predators (a lot of nudibranchs do that, i.e. phyllodesmium magnum)

Ponderosa pine 

Native to Western North America, the ponderosa pine (also known as the bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine) is one of the most widely distributed pine species in North America. 

   The tree is/has been used as food by the Sanpoil and Nespelem People of Eastern Washington, and as a building material for the Klamath tribes. 

    The ponderosa pine is intolerant of shade, and grows in open stands that require semi-frequent fires to stay open, or else shade thriving trees will take over and drive the ponderosa out. The natural fire cycle of the ponderosa is 5-10 years, and these mild, once a decade, fires are known to help extend the trees life for half a millennium or more. The ponderosa make good old growth trees.

Little factoids:

The ponderosa pine is an invasive species in New Zealand, and considered a weed in Australia. 

The tree was first modernly documented in 1826 in Eastern Washington. 

The tallest specimen measured to date is 83.45 meters tall.

They were used as part of a nuclear test in 1953, Area 5 - Nevada.

Sources:

U.S. fish and wildlife service 

Portland .gov

Wikipedia 

Minnesota wildflowers

Coelacanth

Coelacanth fossils are commonly found in both ocean and freshwater. Now they live in the West Indian Ocean and Indonesia. They were thought to have gone extinct in the late Cretaceous period, but were found still alive off the coast of South Africa in 1938. The name coelacanth comes from the latin Cœlacanthus meaning hollow spine.

Keesingia gigas

These funky jellyfish live off the coast of western Australia. They have dangerous stings that can cause severe pain and in some cases heart failure. Keesingia gigas are strange in that supposedly they should have tentacles, however all specimens found so far haven’t had any.

fact sources: wikipedia and smithsonian magazine

Black Rhino 

Black rhinos are native to Eastern and Southern Africa. Although it has black in the name, these rhinos aren’t actually black, rather, they vary in color from brown to grey. 

The difference between a black rhino and a white rhino (the other main rhino species) is that the black rhino has a hooked upper lip, whereas the white rhinos lip is more square.

The longest rhino horn ever recorded was nearly 5 feet long. 

Their ears can rotate all directions for better hearing. 

They are herbivores, and can live to be around 35-40 years old in the wild.

The creature is listed as critically endangered mainly due to illegal poaching. 

Sources:

World wildlife fund

Britanica