#artiodactyl

[vickysaurus]

Megaloceros! They have a female and a male at opposite sides of the gallery.

[vickysaurus-art]

350000 years ago, just beyond the western edge of the icy Schwarzwald, spring has come to the mammoth steppe. A raven flies over a group of steppe mammoths enjoying a cold bath in the Oos river, while a Megaloceros grazes on some choice plants growing on the riverbanks. With the harsh ice age winter in retreat for a few months, a flock of greylag geese migrates north, a buzzard hunts, and a small pack of wolves observe a herd of steppe bison and some roe deer.

[fawnrats]

[Image description: A stylized digital drawing of an okapi sticking out his tongue to reach a leafy branch. End of image description.]

[captious-solarian]

@caesarsaladinn

i recently learned that dromedaries and bactrian camels can hybridize and usually produce fertile offspring, and the hybrid camels usually have a singular hump that's really big

[crabussy]

I need to talk about how orcas and giraffes are in the same order in regards to taxonomy. because WHAT. HOW. and also HUH???????

for reference. as humans our order is primates. e.g. chimpanzees. makes sense right? forward facing eyes. omnivores. hair covering our bodies. fingers for grasping. large brains. it MAKES SENSE.

and then you have the order of artiodactyla. this order includes deer, giraffes, bison, sheep, goats, cattle, etc. again, makes sense right? cloven hooves. primarily herbivorous. have horns or antlers. HAVE FOUR LEGS. but SOMEHOW. orcas (alongside whales, dolphins, etc) are ALSO PART OF THIS GROUP?!?!????? the carnivorous entirely aquatic smooth as hell extremely intelligent school bus sized legless marine predator?????????

????????????????? WHAT THE FUCK. I'm extremely upset. I love zoology. sorry one extra fun fact before you go. cows are more closely related to whales than they are to horses.

[fawnrats]

vulpes vulpes VS. capreolus capreolus!! gotta love seeing deer being awesome! people often underestimate them I think, especially people who don't encounter them a lot

Early morning drama. A Roe deer/rådjur is doing everything she can to protect her newborn fawns against a Red fox/räv. The fawn or fawns are hidden somewhere in the area and the fox was getting too close. This time the roe deer managed to lure the fox away but the fawns are very vulnerable these first few weeks. Värmland, Sweden (May 21, 2023).

[hyper-coasters]

I had never seen one of the grazing animals come up so close to the walkways before this. Certainly seemed interested in my french fries!

* Friendly reminder not to feed the animals at ANY zoo or amusement park!

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Got milk? The blue whale sure does! Blue whale calves can drink up to 200 L (52 gal) of milk a day, every day for 6-8 months. Due to the milk's high fat content (35-50% fat), these calves gain weight extremely fast-- a single nursing calf can put on 10 lbs an hour!

(Image: A mother blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) and her calf by Whale Watch Western Australia)

[vickysaurus]

Andrewsarchus! One of my favourite things about the Eocene is the fact its top land predator is an Artiodactyl ungulate, of all things.

[botaniqueer]

The dik-dik is like if an ungulate was also a bug

I've no idea where this pic is from, must be some zoo, but! baby steenbok and dik dik! look at them! look how tiny they are 🥺

[dougdimmadodo]

Sulawesi Babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis)

Family: Pig Family (Suidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Native to the islands of Sulawesi, Pulau Muna, Butung and Lembeh in Indonesia, the Sulawesi Babirusa is a small, slender, almost entirely hairless species of wild pig best known for the four enormous curled tusks seen in adult males (which are derived from highly elongated canine teeth,) although adult females also possess a single pair of smaller, less elaborate tusks protruding from their lower jaws. The tusks of a male babirusa are used to intimidate rival males and impress potential mates (with females generally preferring males with larger, curlier tusks,) although despite their impressive appearance they are brittle and unsuited for fighting; males generally resolve conflicts through intimidation alone, but if a fight does occur they instead rear up onto their hind legs and strike at each other with their front hooves, similar to a clumsier version of the boxing behaviour of hares. Typically inhabiting dense forests or canebrakes (forest-like areas dominated by tall bamboo of the genus Arundinaria,) members of this species tend to remain near permanent bodies of water such as rivers and large ponds and feed mainly on fallen fruit, although like other pig species they are unspecialised omnivores and will also readily consume leaves, roots and small invertebrates. Female Sulawesi Babirusas live in groups of around 15 adults accompanied by their young, while males are generally solitary outside of the mating season (between January and August). Unlike most pigs females of this species produce only small litters of 1-2 piglets each year, with young being born tuskless and covered in a coat of short, reddish-brown hair.

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/74099-Babyrousa-celebensis

[fawnrats]

one of my fursonas :)

I really gotta make up to date references for all my fursonas some time. some of them I haven’t drawn at all yet and are just ideas.. I probably have too many fursonas but whatever, HOW am I supposed to decide if I wanna be a rat or a caribou or a lynx or a kitty cat or a glacier bear or-

[image description: a cartoony digital drawing of a light brown caribou walking to the left. her eyes are obscured by the long fur on her head and she has a slight smile on her face. she wears one dandelion blossom behind her ear and one on her tail. she has an ivory-colored heart marking on her upper leg, a somewhat small pair of ivory-colored antlers and a pair of somewhat small wings. end of image description]

[artapir]

Quetzalokapi model, life size. Vinyl figures and plush toys available in the gift shop.

Midjourney 5.2

[im-literally-just-sitting-here]

Day 6 of hermit-a-day, a very lazy doc doodle because, uh, head empty only silly :< head tilt goat remains

Go ahead and laugh! yeah, he's a funny guy :)