The Pursuit of Science & Education

Common or Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra), family Rallidae, order Gruiformes, found across much of Eurasia, northern Africa, and Oceania, Australia and New Zealand

The remarkable feet of coots are fissipalmate (lobed/partially webbed), which help them swim and walk across soft mud (without sinking).

Coots are not ducks, but are more closely related to rails and gallinules/swamphens (and more distantly, cranes).

Ornate Rain Frog (Pristimantis tribulosus), family Strabomantidae, only known from a site in the eastern slope of the Cordillera Central, Colombia.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Veined or Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), family Octopodidae, Philippines

Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate...

And potatoes gonna potate, tate, tate, tate, tate...

Stalked tunicates (Boltenia ovifera), commonly referred to as “sea potatoes,” are marine invertebrates that might be mistaken for plants due to their stationary appearance. Found in Arctic and North Atlantic waters, these animals belong to the Phylum Chordata, which makes them a primitive relative of vertebrates. Stalked tunicates, like other types of tunicates or “sea squirts” are filter feeders that pull water through their body (tunic) using a system of inhalant and exhalant siphons. This particular tunicate species is secured to the bottom of the sea by means of a long stalk.

Happy #RhinoFriday shout out from #wildographydudette @lisamay.pix * * Support organisations like @savingthesurvivors so that we can #SaveTheRhinos 🦏 https://www.savingthesurvivors.org/donate/

Here’s something to think about as you kick off 2022: we are all stardust. ✨ Every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of calcium in our bones, of iron in our blood—was created inside a star before Earth was born. Hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements, were produced in the Big Bang. Almost all of the other, heavier, elements were produced inside stars. Stars forge heavy elements by fusion in their cores. In a star of intermediate mass, these elements can mix into the star’s atmosphere and be spread into space through stellar winds.

Image: NASA on The Commons, flickr; the Hubble Space Telescope captures a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2

HSA Sunday Garden

TOP: Giant Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis)

MIDDLE: Clematis (Clematis patens)

BOTTOM: Catawba rosebay (Rhododendron catawbiense)

“Researchers say the egg belonged to a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur. Ma and colleagues found Baby Yingliang’s head below its body, with its feet on either side and back curled — a posture familiar in modern birds but not previously seen in dinosaurs.