Save Ralph

Abaixo-assinado · Brasil: sem mais atrasos – proíba os testes cosméticos em animais já! · Change.org

Deer of Silence

When you are a bard and accidentally multiclass to a druid

Sound of Silence (harp cover) | Deer Blooper
 

720 sexes and no limbs: Mysterious ‘blob’ creature comes to Paris Zoo

Carcasses of Reindeer Felled by Lightning are Spawning New Plant Life

About two years ago, Norway’s Hardangervidda National Park—a sprawling nature haven located on Europe’s largest mountain plateau—was caught in the throes of a thunderstorm. In a remote corner of the park, 323 wild reindeer huddled together, seeking warmth and comfort as the storm raged around them. Suddenly, lightning struck, essentially electrifying the ground and triggering instantaneous cardiac arrest amongst the unsuspecting animals.

Today, the reindeer’s rotting carcasses still litter the landscape of Hardangervidda. Aside from removing the animals’ heads in order to screen for disease, local authorities left the scene largely untouched, allowing nature to run its course. Now, Steph Yin reports for The New York Times, scientists believe the ravaged patch of land may be witnessing the beginnings of a biological renaissance as tragedy yields the promise of new (plant) life.

The Norwegian team’s research, newly detailed in Biology Letters, revolves around the decomposing carcasses, which attracted scavengers that defecated all over the site, spreading seed-filled feces that may eventually sprout into plant seedlings.


Ingrid Spilde of Norwegian news outlet Forskning.no reports that the carcasses initially eliminated all plant life in the area, upping ground acidity and tinkering with soil nutrients. As scavenging foxes and birds deposited feces across the patch of land, however, they left crowberry seeds that may be capable of transforming into seedlings.

The crowberry plant serves as a keystone species in the alpine tundra, Yin writes. Its black or dark purple berries are an essential food source for many Arctic animals and have a strong influence on the region’s ecosystem.

In order to germinate, the crowberry plant requires bare, nutrient-dense soil—“exactly what the carcasses are creating,” Steyaert tells Yin.

According to Live Science’s Yasemin Saplakoglu, the carcass-ridden environment and its hordes of seed-dispersing scavengers provide ideal breeding grounds for new plant life. In fact, 21 out of 24 fecal samples described in the study contained viable crowberry seeds. During a recent visit to the site, researchers spotted a promising change in the landscape: crowberry seedlings and grasses popping up amongst the reindeer’s scattered remains, presenting a unique meditation on death—and, for the first time in two years, life.

Excerpts from the text of Meilan Solly, the complete article with links can be seen at SmithsonianMag

Old Friend Visits 59 yrs old Chimpanzee

Mama, 59 years old and the oldest chimpanzee and the matriarch of the famous chimpanzee colony of the Royal Burgers Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands, was gravely ill. Jan van Hooff (emeritus professor behavioural biology at Utrecht University and co-founder of the Burgers colony) who has known Mama since 1972, visited her in the week before she died of old age in april 2016. It took a while before she became aware of Jan's presence. Her reaction was extremely emotional and heart-breaking. Mama played an important social role in the colony. This has been described in "Chimpanzee Politics" by Frans de Waal, who studied the colony since 1974.

Kangaroo Hold a Dog Hostage and Got Punched in the Face by a Human

I can't even...

Gift

[Japan] Hatching an Egg Outside the Egg

Japanese High schoolers...

Guy Thought That Bear Died - For a Second

x'D

Confused Cat versus a Snake inside a Toad's mouth

Not an easy day for this snake.

The Rain Dance Parrot

Patagonian Penguin Finds Second Home in Brazil

[via metro]

Today in warChild Nature: ducks & bears

Lil duck feeding some fellow carps. Hungry fishes, damn!



Lil bears rescued with a ladder from dumpster

Dogs x Cats Teaching Their Pups To Go Down the Stairs

Cat Fails To Impress Turtle [Cat Attack]

Flowers in Space

Scott Kelly took some time to make his test works on his International Space Station's veggie lab. But now it is looking good. His first flower to pass through all stages. And it is orange beautiful. It is a specie called Zinnia.

In 1982, Russian cosmonauts managed to grow rock cress on the Salyut-7 satellite, according to the Guinness World Records.

Raccoon Tries to Wash Cotton Candy: Immediately Dissolves

Raccoons tend to wet their food as a way to get "a more vivid tactile experience and precise information about what they're about to eat". Well... not this time.

One Man and His Pet Tortoise

Honey Flow: From Hive to Jar