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Nectar-guzzling bats have a curious adaption…
When a bat is about to feed, its tongue engorges with blood, growing in size and causing its papillae to stand tall.
The bats get what is essentially a tongue erection.
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Genetically modified animals that glow in the dark
Scientists inserted a gene into cats that helps them resist Feline immunodeficiency virus—a close relative of HIV and tracked it with a green fluorescent protein. These cats appeared normal during the day, but can glow at night if prompted.
Thanks science.
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This 19th century shark-tooth sword reveals extinct biodiversity in the Gilbert Islands. These “badass” weapons feature dagger-like teeth from eight different shark species, one of which oddly isn’t found in the area. While trading with other far-away cultures could explain how the teeth got there, it’s more likely the spottail sharks were fished out.
Photo from Drew J, Philipp C, Westneat MW (2013)
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Dogs love us. (Thanks Brooke Wiseman for sending this!)
If you want to send us photos of your pets (or babies, or yourself) drooling on the magazine, we’re @TheWeek on Twitter!
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Drones aren’t always the rights-infringing death machines conjured up by news stories. Sometimes they do the world quite a bit of good. Take the above nature footage by Thomas Renck, a hobbyist whose camera-equipped tricopter captured a pack of wild coyotes sweeping across a hillside in Riverside, Calif. The vantage point makes the video look like something straight out of a Discovery Channel documentary.
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According to the yearly roundup of popular pet names in the database of Veterinary Pet Insurance, the 10 most popular dog names for 2012 were Bella, Bailey, Max, Lucy, Molly, Buddy, Daisy, Maggie, Charlie, and Sophie. It was the third straight year Bella came in at number 1, after unseating Max in 2009. A company spokesman thought the ascendancy of Bella might have had to do with “the name of the heroine in a certain vampire book/film series that’s pretty popular these days.”
In medieval times, dogs had names like Blawnche, Nosewise, Smylfeste, Bragge, Holdfast, Zaphyro, Zalbot, Mopsus and Mopsulus.
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A piglet known as Chris P. Bacon examines his new wheelchair on the office floor of veterinarian and owner Len Lucero in Clermont, Fla. The little animal’s hind legs are deformed and Lucero had fashioned a wheelchair out of K’nex toys to help it walk. Chris outgrew the wheelchair, and will soon grow into his new, sturdier model. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Scott Audette)
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12 behind-the-scenes photos from the 137th annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show
Photos: REUTERS/Mike Segar and Keith Bedford
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- A miner covered in soot takes a short break inside an unregulated coal mine in Sabinas, Mexico. Every day, some 30,000 men go to work in these legal, yet ill-equipped and unsafe mines in the north part of the country.
PHOTO: REUTERS/Daniel Becerril - Children admire an albino python named Cheesecake behind glass at Malabon Zoo in Malabon, Philippines. Feb. 10 begins the lunar Year of the Snake, a decidedly less auspicious symbol than its predecessor, the dragon.
PHOTO: REUTERS/Erik De Castro - A dog rests on a buffalo near Ravi River in Lahore, Pakistan.
PHOTO: REUTERS/Mohsin Raza
- A miner covered in soot takes a short break inside an unregulated coal mine in Sabinas, Mexico. Every day, some 30,000 men go to work in these legal, yet ill-equipped and unsafe mines in the north part of the country.
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“Come on, internet! A cat? As if we weren’t inundated with enough cats already? What’s next? Replacing the thimble with a tiny, alloyed Justin Bieber?
while the iron has always been a tad inexplicable (Were you a housewife from the 50s? Steaming the competition?), it at least had the virtue of being a classic. In fact, it was a member of the original six metal tokens introduced in 1937, surviving purges in later years that killed the cannon.
According to Neil Steinberg at The Chicago Sun Times, the iron is actually a remnant of metal-working in Chicago, which was “a center of the laundering profession” in the 1930s.
So there you go. A small, metallic bit of American history. Tossed out for a cat.”
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Your cat is a killer. According to biologists, when they’re not curling up in your lap, cats are off killing other animals — billions of ‘em. Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that each year, apparently bloodthirsty felines are preying on billions of birds and small mammals like indigenous chipmunks, shrews, and meadow voles. “When we ran the model, we didn’t know what to expect,” researcher Dr. Peter Marra told theNew York Times. “We were absolutely stunned by the results.”
4 to 18 — Birds killed by a typical house cat every year
8 to 21 — Small mammals killed by a typical house cat every year
1.4 billion to 3.7 billion — Total birds killed by America’s cats every year -
- A pug competes in a race during the third international pug dog meeting in Berlin on July 14, 2012. (REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz)
- Pigs race at the Los Angeles County Fair, the largest in the country, in Pomona, Calif., on Sept. 5, 2012. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)
Just because: 11 exhilarating images of animals in mid-race
- A pug competes in a race during the third international pug dog meeting in Berlin on July 14, 2012. (REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz)
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Huskies look pretty pumped to be taking part in a training session at Feshiebridge, in Aviemore, Scotland. The Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain will hold its annual sled dog rally this weekend. PHOTO: REUTERS/David Moir
