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[ Slender-billed curlew specimens at the Natural History Museum in London, England. ]

"The slender-billed curlew was last officially seen in 1995. Over the past 30 years there have been a trickle of reports of the migratory bird being seen across south and eastern Europe. It now seems likely that these were mistaken identities. Researchers have gone through the account of every specimen, photograph and report for the slender-billed curlew since the late nineteenth century to figure out the probability that the bird survives to the present day. The result is that the curlew is likely extinct, making it the first mainland European bird to go extinct in half a millennium. Dr Alex Bond is the Senior Curator in Charge of Birds at the Natural History Museum. He has been involved in tracing the fate of the curlew. “When the slender-billed curlew stopped returning to their main wintering site at Merja Zerga, Morocco, there was quite a lot of effort put in to try and locate them on breeding grounds,” explains Alex. “Several expeditions, hundreds of thousands of square kilometres searched. And all this has turned up, unfortunately, is nothing.” “They are extinct. And they probably went extinct very close to or very soon after 1995.” The full assessment for the status of the slender-billed curlew has been published in Ibis."

- Excerpt from "The slender-billed curlew is declared extinct" by Josh Davis.

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A duck billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) takes a dive in Scottsdale, Tasmania

by Charles Sharp

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My new art print of leopards including the subspecies is available in my store. It is updated with the latest information of the Cat Specialist Group which reduced the number of subspecies from 9 to 8, including the North Chinese Leopard subspecies as the Amur leopard.

You can find it HERE

I'm having 20% off in all my store if you are interested in acquired any other of my art prints. Cheers!

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In a monumental discovery for paleontology and the first of its kind "Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia"

Abstract The frozen mummy of the large felid cub was found in the Upper Pleistocene permafrost on the Badyarikha River (Indigirka River basin) in the northeast of Yakutia, Russia. The study of the specimen appearance showed its significant differences from a modern lion cub of similar age (three weeks) in the unusual shape of the muzzle with a large mouth opening and small ears, the very massive neck region, the elongated forelimbs, and the dark coat color. Tomographic analysis of the mummy skull revealed the features characteristic of Machairodontinae and of the genus Homotherium. For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in the modern fauna has been studied. For more read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1

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I have been so depressed lately I haven’t been able to post any sturgeons but I saw this on the Great Lakes aquarium Instagram his name is CRACKERS he is a BELUGA STURGEON they are TARGET TRAINING HIM so that he can eventually enter a sling comfortably to get his checkups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE IS A HOOP GENIUS!!!! GENUIS AT GOING THROUGH A HOOP!!!!!!!!

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there’s a lot going on here

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[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8265869] Coyote || Canis latrans Observed in United States (Wyoming) Least Concern in location of observation

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Y’all.

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So beautiful

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The shape of a fish's caudal tail can tell you a lot about how fast the fish moves! A rounded tail is the slowest and a lunate tail is the fastest! The lunate tail has the most optimal ratio of high thrust and low draw, making it the fastest.

Ichthyology Notes 2/?

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There are four types of fish scales!

Cycloid scales are thin, overlap, and flexible. They're found on primitive teleosts (like minnows and carp).

Ctenoid scales have small, backwards pointed scales (known as cterns) make the fish more hydrodynamic and faster. They're found on Advanced Ctenoids (like perch and sunfish).

Ganoid scales are thick, diamond-shaped, and mostly non-overlapping. They're found on Chondrostei (like sturgeons and paddlefish).

Placoid scales are spikey and tooth-like with nerves. These are found on Chondrichthyes (like sharks and rays).

Ichthyology Notes 3/?

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Amazon deforestation fell over 50% in 2023 and as of August 2024 it was 46% lower than this time last year.

The Brazilian government has pledged to end Amazon deforestation entirely by 2030 and their current efforts have deforestation approaching the lowest it has been in the last six years.

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Megalopyges are cute but beware, they are danger boys as well

(Florida, 12/27/18)

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A Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) sleeping in Galapagos, Ecuador

by Tim Matthews

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Don't forget to stretch!