#general zoology

[a-book-of-creatures]

Chelicerate anatomy, showing where the "head" is in each.

From Storer, Usinger, Stebbins, and Nybakken (1972) General Zoology (5th Ed.).

[vintagewildlife]

Basket star (Gorgonocephalus sp.) By: General Biological Supply House, Inc. From: The Science of Zoology 1966

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #842

Ichthyoplankton!

Ichthyoplankton refers to the first pelagic life stages of several species of fish, that is, fish eggs and small fry! These life stages swim poorly or not at all, and so they drift around with currents and serve as important food sources for a plethora of bigger animals.

[jinxedshapeshifter]

okay so in general I really don't like Daryan's design. It works for his character but his hair ruins it. HOWEVER. I am currently finding myself in a state of REALLY wanting his jacket because the shark theme goes beyond just his hood resembling an open shark mouth and the zipper pull resembling a shark tooth.

His jacket is made up partially of layered fabric. For the sake of showing what I mean by this, I've highlighted the parts of his jacket where that's obvious here:

The red lines are where his jacket has fabric that overlaps. This isn't something I would usually find so fun as a character design element, but here, Daryan's shark-themed. His jacket is designed after a shark. The way the fabric is layered on his jacket, especially his sleeves, looks like shark gills when you view them from a dorsal view. How the fabric is on his left arm also looks like the jawbone of a shark.

Maybe I'm just stretching what the intention was with Daryan's design. I fully acknowledge that I might be. But my silly autistic brain cannot unsee the layered fabric on Daryan's jacket resembling shark gills now.

[vaguely-concerned]

illario was so right... this one traumatized crow boy really can contain such a universe of pure and childlike wonder at the mere existence -- the concept! -- of wyverns. even through the horrors

[salvadorbonaparte]

Something is telling me this website wasn't written by a human 🤔

[rakkikuroba]

Petition to name the blue part her mesosoma and the green part the metasoma!

She's an insect.

[miyrumiyru]

Birds on the ground (Happy Bird Floor)

1. Azure-winged magpie - Fledgling (Cyanopica cyanus)

2. Oriental magpie (Pica serica)

3. Oriental turtle dove aka Rufous turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis)

4. Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus)

[velvetwyrms]

I think Team Shinki should all be allowed to have Summons. As a treat.

Shinki: Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos). Unlike the imposing photos you can usually see of its cousin the Griffon Vulture, these dwarf it in size with a body over a meter long and wingspans of 3m/10ft. They the largest and most powerful desert-dwelling Old World vultures, with a lifespan of ~50 years in captivity, but are sadly endangered (as most vultures are). They are also one of the only vultures known to hunt small prey, including baby flamingoes.

Yodo: Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta). With social systems so complex and an intelligence that rival human toddlers, they have recognisable names, identities and flexible interactions for every individual member of their clans, comprising of up to 130 members. This is helped by their extremely sensitive hearing. Playing is an essential part of their socialisation, and they can solve puzzles with ease. While they are often wrongly given the title of scavengers, they are notably Africa's most successful predators. Their hunting skills outrank lions (74% success rate for hyenas, 30% for lions), who they tend to bully around (known as mobbing).

Araya: Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). Neither wolves, nor foxes, they are the only extant (living) member of their lineage, and are the world's tallest Canid (which includes coyotes, bush dogs and tanukis). They cannot howl and half of their diet is composed of plant matter (including cacti, custard apples and lobeira berries, aka 'wolf apples,' the latter of which they actively seek out). They are also very intelligent, and very shy.

[piplupcola]

I've never related more to a penguin. I feel you penguin bro.

[a-book-of-creatures]

Some representative marine gastropods.

From Storer, Usinger, Stebbins, and Nybakken (1972) General Zoology (5th Ed.).

[vintagewildlife]

Tubularia colony By: General Biological Supply House, Inc. From: The Science of Zoology 1966

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #581

Fish anatomy!

Most fish breathe with their gills, sucking water into their mouth cavity and pumping it out through the gills, where small blood vessels absorb the oxygen in the water and give up carbon dioxide. Many fish groups have also evolved to use their swim bladder or a specialised bony expansion of the gill arch (called a labyrinth organ) as a rudimentary lung. Some fish with these specialised structures are obligate air breathers that drown if they do not have access to air!

[heliocentricsunflower]

modern au where hange constantly points out plants and insects and cool facts about them>>>>>>>>>>>

[teeth--king]

um um. idk you but i have to ask because i saw a post involving axolotls you made. are you possibly interested in axolotls. what is your favourite type...

Oh yeah I love axolotls! They are so interesting on an evolutionary front and I've always had a soft spot for lizards and amphibians, so a cute little salamander who evolved to not leave their larval stage, so cool. I can't own them here in California because their illegal due to wild ones being endangered(despite captive bred being hybrids, but to protect animals I'll take this loss). My favorites are of course wild types(not the actual wild one but the natural morph of captive bred), but also the classic leucistic, piebald, and golden albino. They're all very cute tho, the only morphs I don't really like are the artificial ones. I know they technically don't harm or endager the axolotl, but it doesn't stop me from feeling bad, also getting bad feelings like GloFish, don't really like the commodification and alteration of animals just to fit an aesthetic. Idk who knows, maybe one day if I leave Cali from not being able to afford to live here, I can get my two dream pets that are illegal here, axolotls and ferrets :D. Thank you so much for asking! I love to talk about animals, get that itch out of my head.

[quartings]

Animals that aren't Pokemon yet (Mar 2025 Gen 9 Edition)

I noticed the original 2019 version of this post was still getting notes even though it's a bit outdated, so I've made an updated version here as we close off Gen 9 and get ready for Gen 10!

Invertebrates:

Anemone

Assassin Bug

Black Widow Spider

Bobbit Worm

Bombardier Beetle

Christmas Tree Worm

Colossal Squid

Cone Snail

Cuttlefish

Decorator Crab

Doorhead Ant

Dumbo Octopus

Earwig

Flea

Fly

Giant Tube Worm

Glaucus

Glow Worm

Honeypot Ant

Hummingbird Moth

Leaf Bug

Leech

Lobster

Man O War

Mayfly

Mimic Octopus

Proper Cockroach

Proper Mosquito

Sea Pig

Spider Crab

Stalk-eyed Fly

Stick Insect

Tarantula Hawk Wasp

Tardigrade

Termite

Thorn Bug

Water Boatman

Fish:

Archerfish

Barreleye Fish

Basking Shark

Blobfish

Both genders of Anglerfish

Chimera

Clownfish

Cookiecutter Shark

Cowfish

Flashlight Fish

Flying Fish

Frilled Shark

Frogfish

Gar

Goblin Shark

Hammerhead Shark

Icefish

Lionfish

Mahi-Mahi

Megamouth Shark

Moray Eel

Oarfish

Parrotfish

Ribbon Eel

Snakehead

Stingray

Stonefish

Sturgeon

Swordfish

Thresher Shark

Tripod Fish

Whale Shark

Wobbegong

Wolf Fish

Amphibians:

Caecillian

Cane Toad

Flying Frog

Midwife Toad

Olm

Reptiles:

Anole

Armadillo Lizard

Blue Tongued Skink

Flying Snake

Gila Monster

Iguana

Jackson’s Chameleon

Komodo Dragon

Marine Iguana

Sea Snake

Snake-Necked Turtle

Thorny Devil

Tuatara

Birds:

Albatross

Blue Jay

Bowerbird

Burrowing Owl

Canary

Cassowary (Teraleak)

Cockatoo

Cock of the Rock

Condor

Crane

Emu

Goose

Guineafowl

Hoatzin

Hoopoe

Hornbill

Hummingbird

Jacana

Kakapo

Kea

Kingfisher

Kiwi

Kookaburra

Lyrebird

Oilbird

Potoo

Puffin

Sage Grouse

Secretary Bird

Shoebill

Snowy Owl

Turkey

Umbrellabird

Mammals:

Aardvark

Armadillo

Babirusa

Baiji

Beluga Whale

Bilby

Capybara

Cheetah

Chinese Water Deer

Coati

Colugo

Dalmatian/Chihuahua/Husky

Dingo

Fossa

Gazella

Golden Mole

Highland Cow

Hyrax

Irrawaddy Dolphin

Jerboa

Lemming

Llama

Manatee

Mandrill

Moose

Musk Ox

Naked Mole Rat

Narwhal

Okapi

Platypus

Porcupine

Possum

Proboscis Monkey

Proper Kangaroo

Proper Rhino

Quokka

Ram

Saiga

Slow Loris

Solenodon

Sperm Whale

Star-nosed Mole

Tarsier

Warthog

Wolverine

Wombat

Extinct:

Dodo

Thylacine

Quagga

Giant Auk

Megaloceros

Megatherium

Glyptodon

Wooly Rhino

Terror Bird

Basilosaurus

Argentavis

Spinosaurus

Ankylosaurus

Parasaurolophus

Azdarchid

Koolasuchus

Triceratops

Shunosaurus

Iguanodon

Pliosaur

Elasmosaurus

Icthyosaur

Therezinosaur

Utahraptor

YiQi

Tapejara

Ornithocheirus

Stegosaur

Dimetrodon

Heliocoprion

Stethacanthus

Orthocone

Pterygotus

Mythical/Cryptid:

Beast of Bodmin

Beast of Dartmoor

Bigfoot

Boitata

Cerberus

Chupacabra

Cockatrice

Flatwoods Monster

Fresno Nightcrawler

Gargoyle

Griffin

Ice Wyrm

Jackalope

Jersey Devil

Mandrake

Minotaur

Mongolian Death Worm

Mothman

Nessie

Ningen

Owlman

Pegasus

Quetzalcoatl

Ropen

Sleipnir

Wolpertinger

Animals from the previous March 2019 list that now have Pokemon equivalents:

Grasshopper/Locust (Nymble and Lokix)

Poodle Moth (Frosmoth)

Scarab (Rellor and Rabsca)

Sea Urchin (Pincurchin)

Worm (Orthworm)

Bubblehead Goldfish (Chi-Yu to an extent)

Garden Eel (Wigglet and Wugtrio)

Draco (Inteleon)

Cormorant (Cramorant)

Flamingo (Flamigo)

Frigatebird (Kilowattrel)

Peacock (Quaquaval to an extent)

Roadrunner (Galarian Zapdos)

Stork (Bombirdier)

Aye-Aye (Grafaiai)

Bottlenose Dolphin (Finizen and Palafin)

Corgi (Yamper)

Dachshund (Dachsbun)

Greyhound (Boltund)

Gorilla (Rillaboom)

Snow Leopard (Chien Pao)

Tenrec (Shroodle)

Smilodon (Chien Pao and Raikou to an extent)

Dunkleosteus (Vish. The other Galar fossils only partially count)

Diplocaulus (Dreepy, Drakloak, Dragapult)

Chimera (Type Null and Silvally- should have already been noted)