#tufted ground squirrel

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Tufted Ground Squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis)

Habitat & Distribution

Resides only in lowland tropical forests; occasionally ventures into orchards

Found on the island of Borneo

Physical Description

Weight: 1–2 kg (2.2–4.4 lb)

Length: 63.4–69.4 cm (25–27.4 in)

Tufted grown squirrels are generally brown with reddish tints; they have a white stripe running down the sides of their bodies, and long tufts on their ears

The tail is extraordinarily large and fluffy, and adults have long, grooved inscisors

Behaviour

The tufted ground squirrel forages both on the ground and in trees; its diet include nuts, seeds, and fruit

Potential predators include mustelids, birds of prey, and clouded leopards

Key Advantages

The tufted ground squirrel's large inscisors are mainly used for cracking hard nuts, but have often been rumoured to be used to hunt deer

Its large tail is thought to disorient potential predators

See where they stand in the May Mammal Madness Tournament here!

Photo by James Armstrong

[arulia108]

Sciuridae

1. Giant Indian Squirrel

2. Eurasian Red Squirrel

3. Tassel Eared Squirrel

4. Prevost's Squirrel

5. Eastern Grey Squirrel

6. Tufted Ground Squirrel

7. Tufted Pygmy Squirrel

8. Finlayson's Squirrel

9. Giant Black Squirrel

[bethdehart]

Tufted Ground Squirrel Taur

I love this funky squirrel!! Its tail is so fluffy!!

[ID: A sketch of an anthropomorphic ground squirrel taur. The Taur’s front legs are holding its very fluffy tail as it curls around it. Its fur is dark brown and black with light yellow stripes on its back and a white belly. Its tail is gray. It’s wearing a tank top with a peanut on it.]

[ninbinary]

those squirresl: not liked, liked (so you can draw your own squirresl conclusions)

[themandownstairs]

this is the most fursona-able animal I've ever seen in my life. boy why you so ears boy boy why you so tail also

This is a tufted ground squirrel. IUCN Vulnerable to extinction and endemic to the island of Borneo/Kalimantan.

It has the largest tail to body size ratio of any mammal, with the tail being 130% the size of its body.

I just think everyone should see it

[ceiling-karasu]

I just wanted to look at a few pictures of jerobas but now I feel like I have to write about the hyena scientist OC with the pygmy squirrel and tufted ground squirrel bodyguards.

[redwinterroses]

I like to do this grounding exercise I jokingly call "go touch grass" but honestly it's... almost exactly that.

First you need to go outside. It doesn't have to be far, it doesn't have to be "in nature" -- just somewhere with a bit of wind and sky. A parking lot is as good as a pasture. Make sure you're safe and aware of your surroundings, that you're not about to get run over by a cow or eaten by a moving van.

Close your eyes. Become aware of the surface of your skin. Can you feel the wind on it? Can you feel how it's stronger on one side of your nose and there's a bit of a lee on the other cheek? Can you feel that strand of hair against your neck? Is there sunlight? Feel how you can actually register the heat of it wherever it touches. Maybe the wind competes with the sunlight. Maybe it's cloudy. Maybe there are tiny raindrops that hit your skin. Feel it.

Look down. Really look, like you're five years old again, looking for Special Rocks. Find a bug and follow its path across the pavement. Look at the pattern in the gravel, the way it piles up against the side of your foot. Grind your toe into the ground a bit, see how you cause a mountain range to appear in the dirt. Look at the individual blades of grass, and that dead leaf -- look at its delicate veins. See the little tufts of fibers on the heads of the grassy weeds and how they tremble at the slightest breeze. You can crush them underfoot if you want to -- they'll grow back. Smell the green scent of the broken stems, and then look at how many thousands more blades of grass there are around you, unperturbed.

Look up. See the sky, through the branches or between buildings or over your neighbor's roof. Are there clouds? Look at the way the light filters through them. Tilt your head to the side and see how changing your perspective can heighten your understanding of the shadows. Is there a plane flying over? Maybe a bird? Watch it until it's out of sight. Maybe there are stars. Look closely at their shifting colors and try to name them -- is it blue? or red? or something that's neither?

Listen. Take in one by one the sounds of distant traffic, of a neighbor's washing machine, of the kids next door or the dog three doors down, the birdsong across the creek, the squirrel chittering in the maple tree. Single the sounds out one by one and really listen to them, the way you'd listen to a new song that you're trying to understand the words to. Lick your lips and listen to the sound your jaw makes when you move, or the brush of your hair against your ear, the sound your jeans make as you walk, the crunch of dry grass underfoot or the sksh-sksh of gravel.

Take in every sense with deliberate intent. Focus on your skin, on the tips of your fingers brushing against a brick wall or clasping a porch rail or just rubbing the cloth of your shirt between them. Feel how the air moves over your arms. Listen to the sound of it and the sounds of the world moving around you, whether it's a busy downtown or a rural driveway. Wiggle your toes inside your shoe and be aware of how the pressure changes as you move them. Walk and try to register each shifting muscle as your feet bend, legs picking up and setting down again.

I have bad anxiety -- some weeks worse than others. I've taken to going on a walk every day during my break at work and doing this process as I go. It never fails to make me feel more solid and grounded, and while I've never had much luck with straight meditation, I think this comes pretty close.

You are real, you exist, the world is moving at its proper pace, and all around you life is blooming and growing and shifting and becoming.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Round Two: Connoisseur Critters

Tufted Ground Squirrel vs Koala

Arena: Eucalyptus forest

Remember, it's not a popularity contest- it's a fight to the death!

[sillyygooz]

WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THAT 😭 SO SCKRUNKLY AND GORGOEUS I LOVE IT

[ntls-24722]

who up spec bioing borrower/G/T au

Fritz, a fairy, and Comet, a giant.

This was just supposted to be me drawing the borrower AU again but after I drew Fritz, I drew ocmet and she came out as this bird with a human face. It looked a lot different from the sketch you're seeing now, i actually reined her in to make her look more human, but either way.... The biology around these two are kind of nonsensical, not even thinking too hard about the actual evolution, but that's what you get for character-centric design.

So, base info, they're both hexapods with 5 fingers just like us. Unlike Bolur they have legs instead of being all "arms."

Big cool thing out of the way about fairies, because I mentioned the 6 limbs. but Fritz has 6 limbs and wings? That is because Fairies, i have decided, for the reason of having extra wings alone, are actually 2 species with an arthropod...mm..... exoparasite....? Former exoparasite turned symbiosis necessary to survive, as the arthropod provides Fairies with flight and the Fairies share their blood and nutrients and even opportunities to mate + a place for their babies to go.

Fairies have lemur legs and koala hands! Fun fact, lemurs have very freakishly human-proportioned legs, and it's because when they're on ground they're bipedal hoppers. And so are fairies, here :D

I always imagined borrowers, at least even in the way the original comi-fritz borrowers, were little arboreal freaks (albeit more akin to squirrels in practice than monkeys), so making them lemurs is fitting for the thumb-foot and the 2 thumbs on their hands as both arboreal adaptations!

I was tempted to not do the koala hand thing because if I'm making the fairies and giants like the species Fritz and Comet are, it would've made more sense to rein fritz in as more of a primate the same way i made Comet more of a bird. But in my defense, the way that I usually contextualized Fritz in my brain is just generally "mammal," so... rule of cool stays 💀 (technically that's still taxonomically sound, Fritz can broadly represent the class mammalia the same way Comet can broadly represent the class Aves)

He also has a tail! it's not the skinny little decorative tufted tail like he used to have, he now has a strong, 7th limb right out from above his ass. It's prehensile and callused/naked at the bottom, like an atelid monkey. Yes it's a fun arboreal adaptation but it's mainly so that Comet can safely yoink him away by the tail from the trouble he's causing.

he's also more of a rodent, because i was a pussy???? He's got big fat incisors and his top ones are sideways

Giants are birds, solely because Comet is a bird, so giants are birds. 4 wings, all capped with 4 fingers. it's actually the middle finger that the rest of the wing extends from, with the other 4 sort of radiating out from the base of the middle one. Not much else to say other than the 2nd pair of arms is the most used for dextrous abilities with the first, flying pair of arms being used for situations where they need more power. The second pair of arms is used mostly for steering and falls back from the first pair in order to support the heavy, heavy legs (the legs in which being super powerful in order to jump up into the air)

[mytardisisparked]

Cryptid Hunting for Beginners

Mulder takes Emily out to the woods for a fun afternoon.

(Part of the Adoption AU, wherein Mulder and Scully have adopted both Emily Sim and Gibson Praise. Because they all deserve a loving family.)

For EXCELLENT art associated with this story, please go see @singeart's lovely piece here!

Read on AO3.

---

In some unnamed woods in Virginia, dappled light broke through the trees, falling on two lumps of feathery greens. The larger of the two was doing its best to quiet the smaller lump, which was giggling relentlessly as they moved along the forest floor. 

“Look!” the smaller lump said in a voice that might have been intended as a whisper, but wasn’t. “There’s a tuft of fur on that tree!”

“Very good,” the larger lump said in a quieter voice, “now, looking at the fur closely, what direction was the creature headed in?”

The lumps shuffled up to the tree and looked at the strands of fiber. If anyone else had looked at it, they would have realized fairly quickly that the “fur” were nylon strands taken from a torn bit of yarn, placed purposefully (and a bit obviously). In the imaginations of the two lumps, however, this was evidence of the bigfoot they had been tracking for the entire afternoon.

Emily tilted her ghillie-suit-covered head as she studied the strands. “Um, that way?” She pointed to the left.

“Why do you say that?” Mulder asked as he nodded.

“The fibers are bent to the left, like they were pulled that way.”

“Very good.” Even behind his mask, the smile on Mulder’s face was clear in his voice. He patted Emily on the back. “Let's head that way then, huh?”

They walked for a bit, Emily pointing out birds and squirrels as they went. Mulder would tell her as they got closer to their “bigfoot encounter” to quiet down, but for now he saw no harm in letting her chatter. 

After a bit, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Emily, look.” He pointed to the ground, where a few huge tracks were pressed into the dirt, leading off the main path and into the deeper woods.

“WHOA.” Emily said, kneeling next to the tracks. “We’re really going the right way!”

“We are.” Mulder knelt next to her. “Okay, what do you notice about the tracks?”

Emily tilted her head. “They’re kinda scuffed.”

“Yes, exactly. That means he was running.”

“Oooh, really?”

“Yeah. We gotta move quickly but quietly, okay?”

“Okay!” With her green, fuzzy hand, she made a “zipped lips” motion by her mask.

Mulder grinned and took her hand, jogging at her speed out into the denser trees.

Even though they were jogging and Emily was still so young, she was fast. It made him smile and his chest swell with pride – she may not have been his biological daughter, but she was still taking after her old man. 

They followed the tracks he had laid out that morning using an old pair of boots modified with modeling clay for a while until Mulder slowed, tugging Emily to do the same.

“Okay, he whispered, leaning down by her head. “See how the tracks are closer together and not scuffed here? That means he’s back to walking.”

Emily nodded, lips still zipped. 

“Keep your eyes peeled. He might be close.”

“Eyes peeled.” Emily gave him a tiny salute, which he returned.

They walked quietly until, a few moments later, Emily gasped and pointed.

There, in the middle of a clearing, was a bigfoot.

(Or, rather, a cardboard cutout of one that Mulder had spent a few hours earlier in the week carefully crafting from old boxes and spare lumber.)

Mulder put a finger up and pulled her down to crouch beside him. “Get your camera,” he whispered.

Emily reached under her suit and fished out a yellow disposable camera. Quickly, she took a couple of photos before stuffing the camera back under her suit and grabbing her dad’s hand.

The two of them snuck away, waiting until they were back on the main path before they let their triumphant laughter erupt.

“We found one, Daddy!!!” Emily jumped up and down, the green strands of her ghillie suit flouncing around her.

Mulder laughed, still holding her hand as she jumped. “We sure did! And we didn’t scare it away! Good job!”

“That was better than when we found the Flatwoods Monster!”

“Yeah! You did such a good job being quiet, and you remembered everything we learned last time.”

Emily giggled and skipped down the path, pulling him along. “Come on! We have to show Mommy!”

Soon enough, they were back at the unremarkable house just on the edge of the woods, where the windows glowed with light from the inside, inviting them home.

Mulder and Emily tromped into the house, taking off their masks as the heat of the kitchen hit them.

“Honey, we’re home.” Mulder said with a grin as Scully took in their matching smiles and rosy cheeks.

“Mommy we found one!” Emily skipped up to the table, waving her camera in the air. “And I got a picture!”

“Oh really?” Scully smiled at her. “We can take that to the store tomorrow to develop it.”

“Thanks!” Emily turned to Gibson, who was standing at the end of the table over a metal tray. “What are you doing, Gibby?”

“Dissecting a grasshopper.” Gibson said without looking up. He was pinning open the thoracic cavity with pins from Scully’s personal dissection kit. “Dana’s been teaching me about internal insect anatomy.”

“Ew.” Emily crinkled her nose. “Pass.”

Mulder shared a smile with Scully as he patted Emily on the back. “Go take your suit off and wash up for dinner, okay?” She bounded off, camera clutched safely in both hands, as Mulder turned to Scully. “Internal insect anatomy? Dr. Scully, does your expertise know no bounds?”

She smiled at him. “Old dogs can, in fact, learn new tricks.” She lifted a book of insect dissection instructions from the counter. “The local library is a magical place.”

He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, I’m still impressed.” He looked down the table. “Having fun, Gibson?”

Gibson finally looked up with a small smile. “Yeah. I’m almost through the digestive system.”

Mulder swallowed, deliberately not looking at the insect. “Cool. You can tell me all about it…  after supper.”

Gibson’s smile widened just a bit and then he returned to his work. 

“I’m going to wash up,” Mulder said as he squeezed Scully’s wrist, just above her glove, “and then I’ll start the food, okay?”

“Thanks.” She rose on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “There’s chicken thawing in the sink.”

“Thanks.” 

He headed to the bedroom but, just before he closed the door he paused; in the kitchen, he could hear Scully’s low voice patiently explaining how to make some kind of cut on the grasshopper, followed by a quiet question from Gibson. In the next room over, he could hear Emily singing some playground song as she washed her hands and face. Outside, he could hear crickets calling and frogs croaking. 

And he smiled, feeling warm inside his home with his family.

[internetdruid]

I believe I had asked for an 🥚 before, but if I could also get a 🌱 I’d be thrilled :}!!! I have loved learning about the species from your answers

Tufted ground squirrel! (Rheithrosciurus macrotis)

&

porcupine tomato!

(Solanum pyracanthos)

[bluewingedcoyote]

If I may delight you further with more unusual squirrels?

The tufted ground squirrel or groove-toothed squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis) native only to the island of Borneo. They have the largest tail-to-body ratio of any mammal- their tail is 130% of it own body. Local legends call them "Vampire Squirrels" and say that they wait in trees for deer to pass beneath and then fall upon them and drink their blood (They actually eat nuts).

The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), native to India. Looks like it was drawn by your favorite sparkle artist with rave-ready colors of gold, magenta, and blue-black/purple.

You may think you've seen some cute flying squirrels before... but have you seen the Red and White Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista alborufus)?

This... this is a pokemon you guys...

Supposedly a real animal that lives in China.

best thing about tumblr is seeing pictures of Weird Creatures I’d never heard of before

[antclan-blogs]

MOON 1

Rivernose has gotten a stomachache. He also leaped off a rock, but didn’t land quite right.

This moon’s story under the cut!

Rivernose rolled over in his nest, groaning. Of course it had to be today, the day of the Gathering, that his stomach started acting up. Maybe it was just his luck—nothing had been going his way recently, after the exile.

“Would you stop moaning?” Mossgleam snapped from the other side of the den, cleaning the dirt from their paws. “You’ll wake every cat from here to Silverpelt!”

Rivernose only rolled his eyes and turned away from his fellow warrior. It felt as though a million little angry warriors were pounding at his guts, making his stomach ache like never before. Slightstar would never let him go to the Gathering in this condition, he’d have to sit it out.

“I’m on the dawn patrol, lucky me.” Mossgleam sighed to nobody in particular. “At least I’ll be getting away from RiverGROAN.” They cast a resentful glance over their shoulder and pushed their way through the leaf barrier.

Rivernose watched Mossgleam leave the den and let out a mrrow of humourless laughter. Usually he would find Mossgleam’s morning crankiness funny, but it was difficult when he was in such pain.

Suddenly, Chaffinchbounce thrust his head into the den. “Rivernose! Just the cat I was looking for.” The deputy greeted. “I want you on the dawn patrol. We’re hunting today, and you’re our best tracker.”

Rivernose had to restrain himself from clawing Chaffinchbounce’s ear. The dawn patrol? How was his stomach going to heal if he was gallivanting about the territory like a rabid squirrel?

Sighing deeply to show his reluctance, Rivernose heaved himself up and plodded slowly out of the den and into the clearing. Dawn was well upon the camp, pale morning sunlight flickering through the clouds to shine its diluted light onto Rivernose’s pelt. The patrol, which consisted of Chaffinchbounce, Mossgleam and Sunpaw, were waiting for him at the camp entrance.

“Come on, slowpoke!” Chaffinchbounce called cheerfully. “The prey won’t stay in one place forever!”

Rivernose let out a low grumble and followed his fellow cats as they bounded up the grassy slope and out into the open territory. His bones creaked ominously as he ran, warning him to slow down, but Rivernose paid no heed. He was too focused on outrunning this awful stomachache—usually, a good hunt would fix any ailments Rivernose came down with.

Suddenly aware that he was lagging behind the rest of the patrol, Rivernose caught sight of the cocky apprentice Sunpaw casting a boasting glance over her shoulder as she sped ahead of him. Quickening his pace as the cats scampered along the usual sandy path that led to their favourite hunting grounds, Rivernose let himself brush past Sunpaw and, as he gave a smug glance backwards, tripped over a stray tree root and stumbled on his own paws.

Hissing, more out of surprise than actual pain, Rivernose came to a stop and Sunpaw skidded up beside him. “Alright, Rivernose? Going a bit too fast?” She asked cheekily, humour twinkling in her eyes.

“I’ve got half a mind to rake that pelt of yours.” Rivernose muttered, shaking himself out and continuing a little slower than before. Chaffinchbounce fell into step with him, looking just as amused as Sunpaw.

“Take it easy, Rivernose. Don’t want you in the elders den just yet!” Chaffinchbounce chuckled.

Rivernose spat in annoyance: Chaffinchbounce was a whole 10 moons older than he was! Did every cat think of Rivernose as some incapable old badger?

Peering ahead, Rivernose spotted the looming reddish-brown rocks that marked the prey rich area that Antclan knew as Mouseburrows. The massive clump of tall, wide rocks housed many a grass tuft and stone cleft, making it a favourite spot for mice and voles alike.

The patrol began to fan out, each heading for their preferred spot in Mouseburrows. Rivernose watched as Sunpaw clambered to the top of the highest Mouseburrows rock and dropped into a hunting crouch, wiggling her hind quarters before taking a mighty leap and landing neatly on her paws at the foot of the rocks. When she reappeared around the side, she was holding a plump mouse in her jaws and looking very pleased with herself.

Rivernose rolled his eyes. He could do that, easily! He’d show Chaffinchbounce and Sunpaw that he was more than just some bumbling senior warrior. Casting a hostile look down at Sunpaw, he bounded forwards and began slowly pulling himself up the rocks. He was faintly aware of the other members of the patrol stopping to watch him, but didn’t risk looking back at them in case he lost his pawhold.

As he yanked himself up onto the final rock, he scanned the ground below and spotted an unsuspecting rabbit sniffing around a flowering patch of grass just below. Smirking in satisfaction, Rivernose lowered himself into the hunter’s crouch and adjusted himself to leap. 3..2..1..

Rivernose practically threw himself off the rock, soaring through the air and praying to Starclan he wouldn’t land badly. Just as it began to look as though he would actually make it, though, Rivernose caught sight of Sunpaw’s bright orange pelt out of the corner of his eye and was momentarily distracted.

Forgetting to bend his forelegs as he hit the ground, there was a sickening crack and Rivernose felt a shooting pain flash up to his shoulder. Yowling in pain as he rolled over on the dusty earth, his clanmates surrounded him and began prodding fearfully at his dislocated joint.

“What made you think you could pull that off, Rivernose?” Mossgleam was demanding as they sniffed at his crooked leg. “You’re hardly an apprentice anymore!”

Rivernose hissed in seething pain and and fury—his clanmates were never going to respect him again! His joint was almost certainly popped out of place, on top of his raging stomachache.

What was Starclan trying to tell him?

Omg Rivernose is already the clumsiest little silly i love him!!! he’s like 105 moons but my headcanon is that he insists he’s waaay younger than he is.

[dansnaturepictures]

22/12/2023-Lakeside and home

Photos taken in this set are of: 1. Starlings in the garden. 2 and 3. Black-headed Gull on the green out the front, one a few I really enjoyed seeing there at lunch time. 4. An eyecatching Jay which it was joyful to watching picking at the ground at Lakeside, a key bird moment of my day I was thrilled to see it. 5, 6 and 9. Views at Lakeside on my lunch time walk. 7. House Sparrow beside the allotments at Lakeside, it was immersive and lovely to watch these bustling birds and hear their sweet shriek in the bushes by the allotments. 8 and 10. Another pretty and intense sunset this evening.

Magpie, a prominent Carrion Crow in a tree, Blackbird, Robin, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, dashing Herring Gull and Cormorant enjoyed again the latter in flight, intimate views of Grey Squirrels dashing around, daisy, plantain, old man's beard, some eycatching dock leaves probably broad-leaved dock and moss or lichen were other highlights on my lunch time walk. At home today it was thrilling to see Blue Tit in the garden with House Sparrow and Starlings gathering together on the roof out the back and Jackdaw and Magpie enjoyed at home today too.

[rox-and-prose]

Please reblog if you vote. I will attempt to draw the animal when the poll closes