#South American wildlife

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

have you done lake titicaca frogs? they’re such little freaks

Oh wow, I'd never heard of these! They are so silly looking :)

Photos thanks to Zoo Berlin & Joel Sartore from National Geographic!

[natureisthegreatestartist]

What are these creatures? They are pudu, the globe's littlest species of deer. The adults usually weigh only about 12 kg (26 lbs.).

[dougdimmadodo]

Rufous-Tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficauda)

Family: Jacamar Family (Galbulidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Though somewhere between hummingbirds and kingfishers in appearance, jacamars like the Rufous-Tailed Jacamar are believed to be cousins of woodpeckers and have historically been placed alongside them in the order Piciformes, although more recent genetic evidence suggests that alongside their close relatives the puffbirds they may actually be distinct enough to warrant being reclassified as part of entirely new order, the Galbuliformes. Found mainly in forests and well-vegetated shrublands across northern South America and southern Central America, Rufous-Tailed Jacamars, like most members of their family, are agile insect-eaters that use their extremely long, narrow bills to catch small insects such as butterflies and wasps straight out of the air.

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Image Source: Here

[midwestaesthetics]

Patagonia Region in Argentina and Chile...

[wildlifetracker]

Amazon milk frog, Trachycephalus recinifictrix

Native throughout northern South America, living in the canopies of the rainforest. They get their name from the milky white substance they secrete when threatened that can cause illness or death, similar to other species like poison dart frogs.

[octahedral-chaos]

Not too sure how fitting this would be for this post, but @paleodictyoptera have this I guess?

Talking about South America, I always thought it was so strange that... our animals are considered "exotic." Like we have ocelots, macaws, SO MANY bat species including Spectral bats, no native canine species BUT several species of otters and other Mustelidae members and a lot of frogs but no salamander nor newt species.

Like you guys don't have any native parrot species??? Nor see lightning bugs on a regular basis??? And you guys have animals that are actually bigger than humans besides crocodilians???? Like it's so bizarre that the continents are so close together yet have completely different ecosystems and wildlife????

Also the whole "Temperate Seasons" thing. What. What does snow feels like? /gen

[animalsandanimals]

Maned wolf and pup

The maned wolf is not actually a wolf. It is the only species in the genus Chrysocyon (meaning “golden dog) and is the largest canine in South America. Near threatened.

[vesper-tilionidae]

Lasiurus varius

Cinnamon Red Bat

[lil-tachyon]

Royal Flycatcher

[weirdcreaturefeed]

Weird Creature of the Day: Yrupe/Santa Cruz water lily

These are literally bigger than I am. Here's Victoria cruziana!

Clearly earning their status as one of the largest water lily species in the world, V. cruziana's individual pads grow up to 2 m (6.56 ft) in diameter.

They're native to South America, mainly Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia.

Their seeds must stay fully submerged in order to survive and eventually germinate.

This plant is thermogenetic, meaning it produces heat-- it is believed this is because while it prefers colder waters, it must release a lot of heat in order to attract pollinators to its blooms. Combined with its size, I wouldn't mind curling up in one for a nice heated blanket lake nap. I think it would fix me.

V. cruziana is a night blooming species. Their flowers only bloom for 2 nights at a time. The first night, the flower is a soft white, and on the second, it turns a lovely purple-pink. Its strong scent is reported by some to resemble fruit, such as pineapple (seriously, I want to see this in person so badly, that sounds wonderful!).

They rely primarily on various scarab beetles species for pollination.

Its English/Westernized common name, as well as its scientific name, come from the name of Andres de Santa Cruz, a Bolivian military official, politician, and frequent interim president of Peru (multiple times?) in the 1800s. It was named after him when the French naturalist sponsored by Santa Cruz, Alcide d'Orbigny, brought specimens back to France for display and study. To this day, the plant is popular in botanical gardens around the world.

Image credit: (c) Greg Lasley – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) via

[iambittythings]

Today's beasts, capybara! With an orange, a frog, and a butterfly. I'm glad the internet developed such a love affair with these guys, they're unique and such a delightfully odd creature. An absolutely massive rodent who just swims and chills, to the point a lot of smaller creatures are calm around them too. That said, remember they're not a pet, they're super destructive to your home and have exactly the kind of bite a giant rodent is capable of! Let the wild be wild.

The butterfly capybara is the last friend shaped boy I have right now, so if you'd like him or any other beast, please check out Bittythings and Beasts.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BittyThingsAndBeasts

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

how about an Andean Condor?

Photos thanks to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo & Eduardo Quintanilla respectively.

[natureisthegreatestartist]

What are these creatures? They are all Surinam horned frogs (Ceratophrys cornuta).

[dougdimmadodo]

Groove-Billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris)

Family: Cuckoo Family (Cuculidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concerned

While many species of cuckoos are brood parasites that trick other birds into incubating their eggs and raising their young, the 3 species of large-billed, black-feathered cuckoos in the genus Crotophaga, known collectively as Anis, are not, and the Groove-Billed Ani (notable for being possibly the most common Ani species) is no exception: every Groove-Billed Ani lives in a small social group consisting of 4-10 individuals, with the number of individuals in a group always being even. This even numbering is the result of the way the flock is organised, as each flock is made up of 2-5 pairs of mates, and while each individual will only breed with their mate all individuals in the group work to establish and defend a shared territory and to construct a large, cup-shaped shared nest into which every female in the flock will lay eggs. Found in grasslands, shrublands and other open habitats, the Grooved-Billed Ani is native to much of northern South America and southern North America (although on occasion it may be observed as far south as northern Argentina and as far north as Canada as a vagrant) and feeds on fruits, seeds, insects and small vertebrates, with its large and extremely powerful beak being well suited to breaking hard seed shells as well as the exoskeletons and bones of prey. Throughout the majority of its range this species is resident (non-migratory), but in the northernmost extremes of its North American range it may seasonally travel south to avoid cold weather and low resource availability during the winter. 

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1972-Crotophaga-sulcirostris

[thecreatureawaits]

Creature Awaits #211

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry. Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

(Another awesome photograph from the talented Cloudtail the Snow Leopard, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

The Bush Dog

Scientific Name: Speothos venaticus

Region: Primarily northern South America reaching up a bit into Central America

Size: About 22"-30" long (~57cm-75cm) with a roughly 5"-6" (~12.5cm-15cm) tail

Interesting Notes: These adorable wild dogs live and hunt in packs, feeding on various mammals and birds, even large ones such as rheas, capybaras, and peccaries. Their packs revolve around a primary pair surrounded by their closest relatives. The primary pair breed and the other members help take care of the pair's young.

[wildlifetracker]

Emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus)