#amazon horned frog

[herpsandbirds]

Hello! Do you have any fun critters from Ecuador (especially birds, but really any interesting critters)?

Animales de Ecuador:

As you may know, I worked and lived in Ecuador for a year, and it was one of the best times of my life. Here are some animals that I got to know while I was there...

Many-banded Araçari (Pteroglossus pluricinctus), HE SCREMMM!!!, family Ramphastidae, order Piciformes

photograph by Jeff Dyck

Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta), family Anhimidae, order Anseriformes, found in central and northern South America

Mainly herbivorous waterfowl, in the same order as ducks and geese, but in a different family.

Screamers prefer to walk/wade through their habitats, instead of swimming. They can swim, but are not as proficient as ducks and geese.

Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) aka “Stink Turkey”, family Opisthocomidae, order Opisthocomiformes

The only living member of the bird order Opisthocomiformes.

This leaf-eating bird uses foregut fermentation, in its enlarged crop, to help break down its food. (The ferementation is where the smell comes from, which gives it the name “Pavo Apestoso”)

They live in vegetation at the edges of lakes, streams, and rivers.

The young have 2 small claws on the fronts of the wingsthat help them climb through vegetation.

photograph by Angus Pritchard & Brodie Hopkins Media

Northern Caiman Lizard (Dracaena guianensis), family Teiidae, found across NW and north central South America

Aquatic, feeds on large snails

photograph by Bill Hallier, Nathan Jordan, BryGuy Reptiles

Amazon Basin Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus batesii), family Boidae

This species was once considered to be a population of the Emerald Tree Boa, Corallus caninus, but was made a distinct species in 2009.

photograph by Elson Meneses-Pelayo

Variable Clown Tree Frog (Dendropsophus triangulum) “giraffe morph”, family Hylidae

photograph by Cristian Torica

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Okay, y'all, it's rant time again. Buckle up.

A new report just came out from Public Citizen highlighting the dangers of using apps and AI foraging guides for identifying mushrooms, particularly when mushroom foraging. It's the latest in a string of warnings that are fighting against a tide of purported convenience ("just take a picture and get your answer instantly!")

I've ranted about this since last August, and I also wrote up a detailed post on how to identify an AI-generated foraging guide. I'm also including info on the limitations of apps and AI in The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go. I'm not just saying this to toot my own horn--it's because nature identification, and teaching it to others, is literally what I do for a living. So this is a topic near and dear to my heart.

I teach a very, very specific sort of identification class; whether we're focusing on animals, plants, fungi, or all of the above, I walk people through a detailed process of how to observe a given organism, make note of its various physical traits and habitat, and use that information to try to determine what it is. I emphasize the need to use as many sources as possible--field guides, websites, online and in-person groups, journal articles, etc.--to make absolutely sure that your identification is solid.

And every year, I get people (thankfully, a very small minority of my students) who complain because my two-hour basic mushroom hunting class wasn't just five minutes of introduction and one hundred and fifteen minutes of me showing slide after slide of edible mushrooms. There are so many people out there who just want a quick, easy answer so they can frolic in the woods and blithely pick mushrooms like some idealized image of a cottagecore herbalist with a cabin full of dried plants and smiling frogs or something.

While I do incorporate a bit of information on getting started with the app iNaturalist in my classes, it is as only ONE of MANY tools I encourage people to use. Sure, it's more solid than most apps because, in addition to the algorithmic I.D. suggestions it initially gives you, other iNaturalist users can go onto your observations later and either agree with your I.D.s or suggest something different and even explain why.

And yet--even as great as iNat is, it and its users can still be wrong. So can every other I.D. app out there. And I think that is one thing that the hyper-romanticized approaches to foraging--and nature identification in general--miss. In order to be a good forager, you HAVE to also be good at nature identification.

And nature identification is an entire process that requires you to have solid observational and critical thinking skills, to be able to independently research using many different types of tools, and be willing to invest the time, patience, and focus to properly arrive at a solid identification--if not to species level, then as far down the taxonomic ladder as you can realistically manage. (There's a reason even the experts complain about Little Brown Mushrooms and Damned Yellow Composites!)

People mistake one single tool--apps--for the entire toolkit. They assume any book they find on Amazon is going to be as good as any other, and don't take the time to look up the author to determine any credentials or experience, or even whether they actually exist or not. It doesn't help that the creators of these products often advertise them as "the only [book/app/etc.] you need to easily identify [organism of choice]!"

I mean, sure, the world isn't going to end if you never question the birdsong results on the Merlin app, or if you go through life thinking a deer fern is just a baby western sword fern. But when we get into people actually eating things they find in the wild, there's often no room for error. There are plants and mushrooms that can kill you even if you only eat a tiny amount. And even if they don't kill you, they may make you wish you were dead for a few days while you suffer through a whole host of gastrointestinal nastiness and other symptoms.

There aren't any shortcuts if you want to be safe in your foraging. You HAVE to be willing to do the work. And any teacher, author, or product that says otherwise isn't being ethical. I'm glad to see more people speaking out against the "fast foodization" of foraging in regards to overreliance on apps and the existence of AI foraging books; I just hope it's enough to prevent more people from getting sick or dying.

[sixpigeonz]

respectfully

I love frogs sm

if sapnap was a frog he'd be a tiny dessert rain frog or a chaco horned frog

[mwolf0epsilon]

Flat Frogma Friday - 67

More 501st (and 332nd Company) Froggies!

I admit the Frog-O-First was a little incomplete without these four background froggies, so have Appo the Blue Poison Dart Frog, Denal the Amazon Milk Frog, Nax the Argentine Horned Frog and Vaughn the Harlequin Frog!

— ☕️ Ko-fi | 🧡Commissions

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Surinam Horned Frog (Ceratophrys cornuta)

(Photo by Bernard Dupont)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- Amazon Basin

Size (Weight/Length)- 20 cm

Diet- Insects; Small mammals; Small reptiles; Amphibians; Fish

Cool Facts- Have no fear, the surinam horned frog is here. This bulky lad’s mouth is wider than their head and capable of eating animals as big as mice and fish, swallowing them whole. These frogs are considered relatively aggressive, attacking, and eating, other frogs and their own tadpoles after the mating season. Their bright colors, ranging from orange to green, help to blend in with the thick leaf litter of the Amazon rainforest. These frogs are highly valued in the pet trade for their looks, often being captive bred but some are illegally collected from the wild. Chytrid fungus is also a huge issue with these large frogs, eliminating the ability for the frog to breath through its skin.

Rating- 12/10 (Eye horns are just for decoration.)

[chenanigans-draws]

Here's the Flockless as each others respective species! Dungeon Meshi was a huge inspiration for this and just my love for my dnd party!

I'll talk about the designs briefly under the cut!

Cherry (Mechanically an Aasimar)

In every form, Cherry is still an Aasimar.

She almost surged due to the Howler, but instead she got a buff, being able to add her Charisma modifier to her attack cantrips.

Frogfolk - Based on the Cape Rain Frog (Breviceps gibbosus). This isn't new info!

Tiefling - She's still small, brown, and has huge eyes. Cherry would always be black and black-coded like all my characters.

Jackalope - Fluffy lil bunny with lil bud antlers.

Kenku - Based on the Canary (Serinus canaria forma domestica).

Yuan-ti - Based on an albino Ball Python (Python regius).

Shelley (Mechanically a Zariel Tiefling)

Shelley's eyes are red and blue, formerly purple, due to a surge caused by the god, the Howler.

Frogfolk - Based on the Amazon Milk Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix).

Tiefling - Formerly a Dhampir, she is now some kinda blessed and kinda cursed Zariel Tiefling.

Jackalope - Kept her elegant look as a Jackalope.

Kenku - Based on the Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius).

Yuan-ti - Based on the King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah).

Luren (Mechanically a Harengon)

Frogfolk - Based on the Cinnamon Frog (Nyctixalus pictus).

Tiefling - I wanted to keep his cheeky nature in this tiefling design.

Jackalope - Same old Jackalope with a lucky white foot.

Kenku - Based on the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

Yuan-ti - Since he also has an association with the god, Jack the Dealer, I wanted him to have more snake-like proportions.

Silence (Mechanically a Kenku)

Silence's skin is blue due to surge caused by the god, the Howler.

Frogfolk - Based on the Diablito Poison Frog (Oophaga sylvatica).

Tiefling - Their horns are black and white due to their patrons.

Jackalope - They're just fluffy with a blue nose!

Kenku - Based on an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). This isn't new info!

Yuan-ti - He's a chubby, blue snake!

Cres (Mechanically a Changeling)

Frogfolk - Based on this frog (Hyloscirtus hillis).

Tiefling - Based on one of their forms aka Elia Crescentmoon.

Jackalope - Also based on Elia Crescentmoon if they were a Jackalope.

Kenku - Based on the Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina).

Yuan-ti - It's their base form, what else can I say?

[senor-plume]

This Metal Opera

this metal opera of ours shivers like a good taste on my face and screams in my ears (which happen to be my all time favorite body part)

and so as you remove your blouse and my birthday has arrived I take you in like the music of a thousand planets

singing simply for me

and you with your horned helmet and robotic brassiere does something smooth to me and I can sing your praises all fucking night

and now with glasses the color of winter flowers sitting on top of my forehead I squint insanely at your nude figure in the blue walls of our lovemaking sessions

and flip it over once to the other side and sing for me a new song

and you captivated by my mellifluous croaking (a honey frog) you call me the style of the year… you whisper my hidden nickname as I penetrate the walls of your tender mouth with my crazy soft tongue singing as always singing to you to me to us

and the night is young and the fat lady she ain’t showing up (my ears wouldn’t pay her any mind anyhow that’s why I love them to pieces)

so dear heart flip it over twice and we’ll have another run into the wild flesh that burns hot with scented lust as the tea seeps inside of mugs underneath the New York moonlight that pours into our song that only the two of us know the lyrics to

so one more amazon kiss… a bravo jungle with flowers hitting the ceiling fans before showering us with sliced pedals and laughing we continue on and on like a needle stuck so sweetly into the groove of the perfect record which plays at every speed with grace and gusto

so say a prayer for that wax in our collective souls and don’t let the tune fade out to crisp December air keep it warm keep it hot keep it alive and most of all keep it coming

dear, keep it coming

[anotterthatlovestoys]

Welp, I've said before that I don't buy new dolls, but they got me, yall.

Ever since these Bratz Babyz reproductions hit stores I've been tempted by them. They really hit that nostalgia factor for me. My cousin and I had a lot of Bratz dolls as a kid- her more than me, but I still had a sizeable collection, especially from hand-me-downs. Yet, none of the Bratz reproductions have tempted me until the babies.

Still, I don't usually buy new dolls. But when we went out today with target gift cards (courtesy of Christmas gifts) in hand to buy tupperware and I saw that they were on sale for less than half their original price I just had to get them.

They were on sale for about $7, $7, $5 and $5 in this order:

and I almost walked out with Jade and Sasha (far left and right) because there was not a single Chloe but literally as I was walking way from the toy section someone had set a single Chloe on the end cap! hooray!

Chloe and Jade were two of the ones I had as a kid, and they looked basically identical to the repros. When I told my mother these had hit shelves and I was considering getting them because I was sad I had lost mine (I though in a move) she told me she threw them out. I honestly don't know if thats true but it just made me feel sad. I don't think she actually threw them out, because I lost all my Bratz in a move at my dads house, but she certainly didn't like them.

I had a black cat growing up and now I have a black cat heehee:

My mom doesn't wear make-up and I don't wear make-up, and as an adult I get why adults are weirded out by the big lips on these things. But there is something that is very camp to me about them, and with their chubby little hands and chunky legs they just make me think of a kid dressing up in her mom's lipstick. Like, she thinks she looks like the left but she actually looks like the right:

And I think it's kind of cute that she has simple little underwear that match the pig and a camp little milk bottle. It's so very Rugrats.

I feel like I should like the modern LOL dolls lines because I think the bratz babyz are so cute, and maybe its just the nostalgia speaking but I just dont think they compare. I don't find the round eyes as charming, I dont like the open mouths. I also kinda dont like the more complex clothes, I think the simpler baby style makes more sense and seems more cohesive.

Oh, AND an extremely important part of the Bratz babyz: the pets! you know im always excited about animal figures.

I think I liked Chloe because Im blonde but also the baby version has a pig with wings and I was OBSESSED with pigs as a child. Meanwhile Baby Jade has a black cat, and again, I have always had a black cat. I do like Sasha and Yasmin's frog and bunny, but if I were to pick my favorite animals out of these four it would 100% be the black cat and the pig.

The only piece of my original Bratz collection I have is this little flocked duck:

This tiny flocked duck with devil horns is from my Roxxi and Pheobe twin set:

In case you're wondering, buying even an incomplete set of these with their pets is quite expensive:

and a NIB version is twice that:

So yeah, I would love if they reproduced the twin set, but I probably won't get any others. Unless Sasha and Yasmin end up on clearance for $4 in like a month and I feel bad for them, idk. The thing about getting things secondhand is getting accessories like pets isn't likely, so at least I feel justified buying these in store.

..

The twin set is listed as a 2025 release on thetoypool.com with links to amazon but it looks like

the ducks

are not flocked

[mitamicah]

there's a frog species nicknamed "banjo frogs" because their call kind of sounds like a string being plucked! that's already fun, but they also have another, even funnier nickname... pobblebonk

i think that's just delightful

actually there's a lot of frogs/toads with fun names and appearances! like the motorbike frog, the hairy frog/horror frog/wolverine frog, banana frog, pumpkin toadlet, horned frog, paradoxical frog/shrinking frog, turtle frog, any flying frog, common Surinam toad/star-fingered toad, and amazon milk frog!

not gonna add fun facts for all of them because i'm not about to make you read a wall of text afajkfjkdsfj i have self-restraint bigger than my need to talk about frogs at all times

Banjo frog is rEAL OVO I honestly throught it was "just" a meme that a carpenter had made (seen a tiktok a bit too much about queers loving banjo frogs x'D hahaha) omg that's so cool I love that :D!!! 🐸

Horror frog OVO? Banana frog? MILK FROG? okay these are cool and silly and I love that x'D

Thank you for sharing all these wonderful frog names 🐸🐸I dig them a lot :D <3

[yourlocalmissingtexture]

I’m not feeling great so I’m gonna quickly (“quickly” lol) infodump about a character of mine. Well, two of them. One is based on history so their info might be a bit shaky, just an fyi.

Introducing: Cecilia/Lamare!

Cecilia Perrot was born in 1330 in France and was surrendered to a monastery due to her parents being unable to care for her. She saw the onset of the Hundred Years War and petitioned St. Michael frequently.

When the Black Death swept through her area in 1348, she and her convent did what they were able to help the sick but to no avail. Frustrated, she left the convent and took on a masculine disguise so that she could work as a plague doctor outside of the monastery (which was proving to be more like a death house than a hospital). She felt better being “freelance” so to speak but still felt guilty and afraid. If these were the end times, she worried she’d be denied entry to heaven because she failed so thoroughly: as a convent sister, as a doctor, and as a woman.

During one intense bout of prayer she had a vision of St. Michael and St. Raphael, who praised her efforts but also let her know that her work would kill her. They assured her that if she kept up what she was doing that she was basically guaranteed entry into heaven.

Seems peachy, right? Well…

Enter Lamare (true name Lahar-harah), a demon*. He is rather small and weak physically and resembles a stereotypical goat-legs-and-horns demon, but his psychic and magical abilities are profound. He was lurking around France at the time, leeching energy from people who mistook him for a grotesque (gargoyle minus the water spout!) or who fell under his influence of persuasion.

One day Cecilia finds him and while initially frightened feels compelled to interact with him without invoking the name of Jesus. She felt she could bring him to the light. For all her brightness in her mind and all the kindness in her heart, this was unfortunately part of Lamare’s plan. He waited until she was especially close and vulnerable before he made his move and possessed her, pushing her soul into the depths of her psyche and leaving him to pilot her body.

Before he wasn’t very capable of interacting with the physical world, but now he had a body! A former nun’s body, even! How ironic! He’d make good use of it, keeping it alive far longer than a body was meant to last via his powers.

While in her stolen body, he enjoyed intentionally botching surgeries, dental procedures, embalmings, and anything else that involved the corruption of the flesh. Thanks to his abilities, however, he was never reprimanded. He also took classes in Oxford in 1503, ventured across the ocean to watch the American Civil War unfold, and researched poison dart frogs in the Amazon while the French Revolution was ongoing.

During all of this, Cecilia grew distant from reality at first. The violence and sadism wore heavily on her conscious, as did the general knowledge that her trusting a demon got her into this mess to begin with. No way she was going to heaven now. At points she felt she got some kind of pleasure from the cruelty she was forced to partake in, which worsened her guilt significantly. But she remained hopeful, deep down. Hopeful she’d be able to be herself again someday. Hopeful that maybe God would have mercy on her for her grave mistake and that those she watched slip away by her own distant hand would forgive her as well, perhaps.

Oh also Cecilia is agender. She still uses she/her pronouns and likes being called Cecil sometimes. Lamare is masc and uses he/him. Do not call him Lammy.

* For context, angels & demons in this universe are the same kind of entity, the difference being that angels are subservient to someone (compare to being employed) and demons aren’t (like working freelance).

[snowytiger]

created some monsters based on brazilian stuff for seasonal shanty + tribal island :) (will go in real depth below so uhhh yeah)

the seasonal shanty one is based on brazilian carnaval and the instrument is a whistle (cuz whistles can be common in samba), the design is based on carnaval masks and a mixture of brazilian birds such as toucans, brazilian teals, emus and tesourinhas (i forgot the english name for it but it has long tail feathers that look like scissors hence its name "little scissors)

the tribal island ones work kinda like magical island monsters: they have their own element (tribal) and you can breed the monotype with other monotypes to get the other five!

capebass the mono tribal is based on both anteaters and the amazon legend of the capelobo (which are basically werewolves except they turn into a monstrous anteater)

ribbox the tribal/plant is based on poison dart frogs because they exist here, its tail is also designed to look like a dart (failed attempt at a visual pun)

xyloboto the tribal/water is based on amazon river dolphins (aka pink dolphins, known as botos here), there's also the amazon legend of these dolphins turning into handsome men and impregnating women in parties (yeah its weird like that)

sucolossus the tribal/fire is based on the anaconda (known here as sucuri) and the also amazonian legend of boitatá, a giant fire snake. (its also a little based on convergent evolution because it is slightly related to stogg)

flutdgerigar the tribal/air is based on hummingbirds and birds-of-paradise (sorry but the budgie part is only in its english name because i didnt have ideas for it :()

berimbull the tribal/cold is based on, well, bulls (oxen actually but berimbull has a nicer ring to it), and the instrument it plays, the berimbau (which is a brazilian instument!) + the design is also inspired by the parintins festival which celebrates the legend of a ressurected ox and has a competition where two teams (caprichoso the blue ox team and garantido the red ox team) compete in retellings of the story to try and outdo each other! though the drawing is not colored, the horn ribbons + the sash and the crescent moon marking on its forehead are purple, as mixing blue + red results in purple

god that might've been the longest post ive ever done but i am really passionate about these guys and the thought put on them! as a brazilian myself i'd love to see more stuff based on brazilian stuff, not just msm monsters but stuff in general (also if you bothered reading this to the end, thanks a lot :D)

[fedor-bortnik-p2]

Week 2 - Siblings work (part 2)

Today I played with different types of shapes while paying attention to the reference.

I shared my thoughts to our group and Camila gave some comments about the model. They replied with several ideas about adjusting his hips, make him look more round and curly, and making sure that I control the arm's position.

I considered those comments and updated the model.

One of the popular references that our group have used frequently to portray the siblings - is an image of a horned frog. So what I decided to do for fun is to make the image black and white and see what it would look like.

While its not much, I still used that as a reference for my work.

Since the presentation day was getting closer and closer, I decided to quickly create the props for Hansel - so that it would be visually easy to show the character and their items.

References:

Fine Art America. (n.d.). Amazon Horned Frog Framed Art Prints for Sale. [online] Available at: https://fineartamerica.com/shop/framed+prints/amazon+horned+frog

D. P. Camila (2024) Hansel with a backpack - Concept Art. [Digital Art]. University of Hertfordshire.

D. P. Camila (2024) A friendship trinket - Concept Art. [Digital Art]. University of Hertfordshire.

[sixpigeonz]

DTEAM AS FROGS🐸

George: Amazon milk frog

Sapnap: either a chaco horned frog or desert rain frog (I couldn't choose)

Dream: Australian green tree frog also known as the dumpy frog

[rubydolly]

HIGHLIGHTS AND MAIN MEMORIES OF 2023 FOR ME

2023 had many memorable times for me, some great and some not so great but all together they are what made my year the year it was. How was 2023 for you? I recommend copying this format and making a post about 2023 for you.

JANUARY

Lost My Father I am actually struggling to put this devastating experience into words, however I feel like it needs to be acknowledged as it was such a major thing that happened this year. I will not disclose what happened as that is private information that I do not wish to share, however I will say that I love and miss my Father every single day and the pain a year later is still so raw. R.I.P. Dad <3

FEBRUARY

Fitness Photoshoot James, the photographer who I also worked with last year, called me back to do another photoshoot. The theme of this photoshoot was fitness which required a natural, dewy look. The poor model had so much olive oil on her body to create that "sweaty" look.

Mardi Gras I got in contact with my Makeup Teacher from back when I did the Diploma Of Screen And Media, Cherine and she invited me to come along with her to a job she had for Mardi Gras. The staff members of the Marriott hotel, were going to be on a float and needed their makeup done, they were representing W Hotels, the luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International.

MARCH

Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat Last year my mum bought me tickets to see Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at the Capital Theatre. The show was absolutely amazing and I defiantly recommend seeing it, if it is coming to your state.

Sunderella I had the amazing opportunity to work as an Assistant Makeup Artist to Geeta on the set of Sunderella. Sunderella is a bollywood drag version of Cinderella, the show went for a 5 nights and was a huge success.

MAY

Photoshoot Another photoshoot I did with James. The model in the photoshoot is Jina Lim, she is such a beautiful and down to earth person and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with her and her beautiful face.

Went To Singapore This was my first overseas trip since 2018, I was very excited to finally be leaving Australia again. I went with my Mum and my Boyfriend at the time Aaron. I already made a blog post about the trip earlier in the year, however to do a quick recap, my trip was amazing. Singapore is a very clean and beautiful country and so much fun!!!! the highlights of the trip for me were: - Gardens By The Bay - Seeing the amazing Cloud Forest and the floral fantasy and then returning at night to see the Garden Rhapsody show that takes place every night. - Mandai Wildlife Reserve - Two zoo's in one and easily the best zoos I have ever seen, the "Amazon River Cruise" ride in the River Safari is amazing, my favourite animals in both zoos were the Panda's. Jaguar, Western Gaboon Vipers, Horned Viper and Poison Dart Frogs. - Haji Lane - A fun, bright and vibrant little area that comes alive at night. It is also the location of the famous Sultan Mosque - Lau Pau Sat - The BEST!!! Meal I had in Singapore was at this famous hawker centre. I had chicken satay stick, haianaese chicken and rice and spicy tofu - Universal Studios - I don't feel I need to explain much here, had great fun at this amazing theme park, my favourite rides were Revenge Of The Mummy and the Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure.

Aaron And I Separated After five years together, Aaron and I both made the difficult decision to seperate. The split was totally amicable and there are absolutely no hard feelings between either of us, we just simply felt we had grown apart and it was time to move on. I wish Aaron all the best for his future and thank him for the good memories we made together over the time we were together.

JUNE

Bathurst My Cousin Cameron and his wife Anna, left to go to Ireland so before they did, myself and my family all met up and had a little farewell party for them at my Aunty's house in Bathurst. Since we were already in Bathurst, Mum and I decided to stay for a view days and have a little holiday. We ate our favourite restaurant The Church Bar and visited the amazing Abercrombie House. Of course I also stopped off at my favourite Ice Cream shop Annie's.

Alyssa's Wedding My Cousin Alyssa got married to her now Husband Josh, so myself and my family all went up to the Sunshine Coast for the wedding. It was such a beautiful and relaxed wedding, Alyssa was an absolutely beautiful bride, Josh was a gorgeous groom and their two little boys were the most adorable pageboys ever. They took their vows at the beautiful Coolum beach and the reception was held at Kawana Waters Hotel. The night before the wedding, we all went out for dinner at the local Surf Club and had a great night.

Love Bites I was given the opportunity to work as a Special Effects Makeup Artist on this very important film that highlights and brings awareness to domestic violence. The film is by Fabio Caprarelli but the New South Wales Police also had a hand in it, the film will be shown in schools all throughout New South Wales in 2024.

JULY

Barbie Movie I very much got all caught up in the Barbie craze that went around following the release of the movie. I went and saw the movie 3 times!!! I also went as Makeup Artist Barbie on Halloween and I am still not done with the craze yet, I even have a page on my Tumblr of every Barbie doll ever made from 1959 until now.

AUGUST

Diploma Of Beauty Therapy Nothing makes me happier than being able to work as a Makeup Artist, it is my true calling, however a I do Makeup for film and theatre, work can be very unpredictable, there is not always work. I decided this year I needed to find myself a small consistent job somewhere for when I don' t have makeup jobs on. I saw that TAFE was offering a fee free Diploma Of Beauty Therapy and I immediately enrolled myself into it. I have learnt nails, waxing and lash and brows and next year I will learn so much more and hopefully when I am done with the course I will get a job in a beauty salon.

South Coast My Mum's good friend Michele turned 50 and had a big party at her place. She lives in the South Coast so Mum and I decided to make a little weekend trip out of it and stopped in at Kiama on the way. Michele's party was amazing!!! the food was great, the music was great and we all had such fun. Her beautiful daughter Grace had an exchange student from Japan staying with her and her and I instantly bonded over Studio Ghibli and Japan in general, oh how I wish i could go back.

Maddy's Birthday I have been with Horizon Theatre since year 11 when I was sent by my school for work placement. The woman who runs the theatre, Maddy is the only Marionette Puppeteer in Australia!!! She is amazing, so amazing that she she and Horizon Theatre have won awards over in Romania and Russia, anyone who knows anything about puppetry and performing arts knows that this is HUGE!!! as puppetry and performing arts unlike in Australia is huge in these countries and throughout Eastern Europe. Maddy turned 70 this year and Shab, who is an Actress but also runs the theatre with Maddy organised a surprise party for her. She put on a performance called "Beauty" which I got to be a part of, and in the meantime people set up the party outside the theatre. Maddy got such a lovely surprise when she went outside at the end of the show.

SEPTEMBER

Singaportal Mum and I missed Singapore so much that we jumped at the opportunity to experience it again, albeit in Sydney. Klook hosted an event which basically brought Singapore to Sydney, one of the supertree groves from Singapore was actually flown out for the event, and there were stalls selling hawker style food, a pop up Raffles bar and live music. This event really took us both back to Singapore.

Oz Comic Con I attended my first Oz Comic Con this year with my good friend Izzy. I was originally planning to go as Wednesday, however with a trip to Uluru booked in for November, I needed to save money so I instead went as Broken Heart Harley in Birds Of Prey. We both had a great time, met some lovely people (I ran into my friend from TAFE Destiny and her family) and spent more money than we should have (so much for me saving money).

OCTOBER

Tarot Photoshoot James called me back to do another photoshoot. This photoshoot, was based on medieval tarot cards, and Alison was such a perfect model.

Dance Photoshoot Alison from the Tarot photoshoot, asked me to do a photoshoot for her. Alison is currently completing a Bachelor Of Dance at AMPA and is as part of her course has to put on a dance piece. The dance is called "Beauty's Beast" and she needed to do a photoshoot to promote the dance, James was the photographer and I did makeup for Alison and all of her dancers, it was such a great experience.

Halloween If you know me, You know how much I love Halloween, it made it into my Highlights And Memories list last year as well. This year I had four of my very good friends come over to my place and celebrate the spooky occasion with me. Everyone's costumes looked awesome and we had lots of fun, I went as Makeup Artist Barbie.

NOVEMBER

Uluru My Mum and I took a trip to my favourite state in Australia for my birthday, the Northern Territory. We stayed for a week at Ayer's Rock Resort and explored the magical Uluru and surrounds. Learning about the Anangu people and their culture was a wonderful experience I will never forget, as was walking around the base of Uluru and seeing Kata Tjuta change colours at sunset. I made a blog post about my trip which you can find here

DECEMEBER

Girls Weekend My good friend Izzy and I went to the Australian Museum to see the Ramses II exhibition and we decided to stay overnight in the city. The exhibition was amazing!!! this particular exhibition had never left Egypt until now. Izzy and I are both fascinated with ancient Egyptian history so this exhibition really ticked all the boxes for us. We stayed at the Pullman Hotel and that night we had dinner at Lotus in the Galleries. We spent the entire next day swimming in the hotel pool.

Bathurst Christmas Party Mum and I went up to Bathurst for our annual family Christmas party from my Dad's side of the family. We went up a day before the party and did our last minute Christmas shopping and chilled out by the hotel pool and I of course had an Annie's or two. For dinner we went to the Church Bar which does amazing wood fired pizzas. The family Christmas Party was the next day and it was great, it was so lovely to see all of my family and catch up, I also got some awesome presents, they know me so well, the two highlights were a replica skull of a West African Gaboon Viper. and an Emu Egg

Christmas Of course its a given that Christmas made this list, how could it not? This year my Mum and Grandparents spent the day together, I decorated the house and Mum cooked a lovely Christmas Lunch and we all sat and enjoyed lunch together. In the afternoon we went to my Aunty and Uncle's house, stayed there until night and ate lots of good food and caught up with lots of lovely family and friends.

[sylveonyiezoo]

꒰ঌৎ୭໒꒱ My Introduction post!

꒰ঌ Information ໒꒱

My name is Ambrose! ♡

I am 20 years old! ♡

My pronouns are He/Him! ♡

I mainly post planet zoo on this account but I will also post about animals and animal themed games/shows! ♡

꒰ঌ Games ໒꒱

My favourite animal themed games are: Planet Zoo, Calico, Koi Farm, Let's Build A Zoo, Zoo Tycoon, Bunny Park!

My favourite dinosaur themed games are: Jurrasic World Evolution 2, Prehistoric Kingdom, Paleo Pines!

꒰ঌ Shows and Docs ໒꒱

I love the Jurassic Park franchise! I really love camp cretaceous!

My favourite animal shows/docs are: River Monsters, Our Great National Parks, Our Planet!

꒰ঌ My Favs ໒꒱

My favourite fish are: Red Tailed Cat Fish, Koi Fish, Veiltail Goldfish, Strawberry Peacock Cichlids, Clownfish!

My favourite sharks/rays are: Nurse Shark, Whale Shark, Great Hammerhead Shark, Lemon Shark, Silky Shark, Thresher Shark, Zebra Shark, Manta Ray!

My favourite crustaceans are: Cherry Shrimp, Fairy Shrimp, Vampire Crab, Mantis Shrimp, Golden Bee Shrimp, Horseshoe crab!

My favourite marine/aquatic mammals are: Orca, Harp Seal, Leopard Seal, Beluga, Amazon River Dolphin, Dusky Dolphin, Humpback Whale, Narwhal, Sea Otter, Giant Otter!

My favourite cats are: Pallas Cat, Caracal, Siberian Tiger, Asiatic Lions, Cheetah, Fishing Cat, Scottish Wild Cat, Eurasian Lynx, Clouded Leopard!

My favourite canids are: Maned Wolf, African Wild Dog, Raccoon Dog, Bat-Eared Fox, Arctic Fox, Fennec Fox!

My favourite primates are: Ring Tailed Lemur, Squirrel Moneky, Golden Lion Tamarin, Lar Gibbon, Siamang!

My favourite snakes are: Corn Snake, Desert Horned Viper, Green Tree Python, Green Vine Snake, Barons Racer, Boomslang!

My favourite lizards are: Asian Water Monitor, Frilled Lizard, Marine Iguana, Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko, Day Gecko, Tokay Gecko, Namib Sand Gecko, Veiled Chameleon, Emerald Tree Monitor, Bearded Dragon!

My favourite amphibians are: Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, Glass Frog, Whites Tree Frog, Axolotl, Marbled Salamander, Chinese Giant Salamander, Clown Frog!

My favourite turtles & tortoises are: Red-eared Slider, Common Musk Turtle, Eastern Painted Turtle, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Indian Star Tortoise, Galapagos Tortoise!

Some other animals I like: Butterflies, Rosy Maple Moths, Poodle Moth, Orchid Mantis, Gharials, Cuban Crocodiles, Quokka, Sugar Gilder, Skunks, Genet, Owls, Octopus, Nudibranch, Binturongs, Capybara, Chinchilla!

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Honk for the Amazon Horned Frog

The Amazon horned frog, or the Surinam horned frog (Ceratophrys cornuta) is a medium-sized species of frog found in the tropical forests of South America. They tend to be wide and bulky, but only grow to be about 20cm in length and weigh 0.5kg. Color schemes can range from tan to green to brown, and this frog blends in very well with the leaf litter on the forest floor. The Amazon horned frog’s name comes from two horn-like protrusions over the eyes, although these are more likely meant to break up the frog’s silhouette than to be used for fighting. This species is also sometimes mistaken for a toad due to the bumps over its skin.

Like all frogs and toads, C. cornuta begins its life as an egg. After a male attracts a female by calling and the two mate, the male helps deposit the fertilized eggs onto the female’s back. The usual clutch size ranges from 300-600 eggs. The female then searches for an appropriate place-- usually an ephemeral pool-- for the eggs to develop into tadpoles, a process that takes anywhere from 3 to 25 days after being fertilized. Tadpoles are highly aggressive and will fight each other as they develop. It takes three months for tadpoles to grow into fully-formed frogs, although they do not become sexually mature for another 3 or 4 years.

In their day-to-day life, Surinam horned frog spends its time hiding in leaf litter or under fallen logs. It is an ambush predator, to which its appearance lends itself well. It’s predation actually makes it one of the most distinguished frogs, as they have one of the largest mouth-width to body length ratios. This exceptionally large mouth enables them to consume a wide variety of prey, including mice, fish, frogs, lizards, and tadpoles of their own species. Common predators consist of birds and snakes. Against each other, Amazon horned frogs are incredibly violent and will attack each other with their sharp teeth. They will also use those sharp teeth against predators or perceived threats.

Conservation status: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN; however, they are currently threatened by heavy habitat loss and capture for the pet trade.

Photos

George Grall

Bernard Dupont (via Wikipedia)

Cullen Hanks (via iNaturalist)