The Saiga Antelope Really Is A Guy

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck would have reblogged this

if you hired a galapagos finch as a linecook it would perfectly evolve a beak to optimally smoke cigarettes behind the dumpsters

Ah this part of the intro is the Bad Kids falling through the briefcase…

it's important to remember that most 'invasive species' did not change the region and habitat to which they have adapted by their own accord; stowaways on cargo vessels, changed migration patterns due to human settlements or a changing climate; animals formerly used for furs or other animal products being released after those goods were no longer in demand... these animals are displaced. it's very sad because often the best solution is population control.

we made the problem and the best solution feels pretty ugly, but the alternative is often ecologically much worse.

BBC News

Northumberland and Cumbria red squirrel groups say greys freed by public

The groups protect red squirrels by trapping greys but say some are released and equipment damaged.

Not only do we have the rich elite releasing millions of non-native birds for sport shooting, and shooters and farmers campaigning against efforts to re-wild parts of the UK, we also have animal rights groups sabotaging conservation efforts.

Grey squirrels are highly invasive in the UK. They spread disease, outcompete the native red squirrel, and also predate native bird nests and damage trees. Culling them is vital to helping to restore ecosystems and threatened native wildlife. Yet there are groups of ARAs dedicated to saving these invasive squirrels. UK wildlife just can't win.

This is how bad the situation is btw:

I hope everyone understands, when I say “most endangered habitat on earth”, I mean temperate grasslands.

They’re more endangered than tropical rainforests, coral reefs, the arctic tundra, all of those go-to environments that get more of the spotlight.

Where I live, maybe 25% of the prairie remains in a natural state and that number is dropping. Even these fragments are mostly missing the keystone species that maintain their health, like bison, wolves, and prairie dogs. I know this is the case for other grasslands like the pampas and steppe as well. Vast lands empty of many species that used to call them home.

If you live on temperate grasslands, hold onto them tight, because they’ve been exploited like no other land and most people don’t even know how far the devastation goes.

the rosy-patched bushshrike is a passerine bird found in a wide range throughout africa. they prefer subtropical to tropical dry scrubland habitats. their coloration differs throughout their range, though all members of the species display some bright red coloration. they primarily hunt insects for food, but also feed on berries, fruits, and small rodents and reptiles.

*taps the evergreen xkcd comic*

I just read "i have a tech illiterate friend but even she has her torrents!".... like almost all of my coworkers ask to me to "fix" resident TVs by... putting the tv on the correct input

Why do men have nipples?

it's not just human men, it's all placental mammals!

pour one out for all of the "I found this weird lump on my male cat's chest, what is it" posts on r/cats

the short answer is: because it's easier.

so, natural selection is lazy. it tends to take the quickest and easiest path to any given solution and can only work with what it already has, so it's really reluctant to drop traits that aren't actually hurting anything by being around! like male nipples.

and since male and female mammals in general start as the same weird little flesh tadpole thing and only start to diverge a couple months into development, it's waaaay easier to just leave male mammals with mostly non-functional nipples than it is to patch them out and maybe bork up something with the female nipples by mistake.

tldr: it's because evolution is naturally lazy.

dude im such a shosthead. real shostokovich enjoyer.