r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Aug 12 '24

Verified The large-billed tern uses its disproportionately long and thick beak to catch fish — either by plunge-diving into the water or skimming the surface with its beak as it flies. It has a commensal relationship with the tucuxi river dolphin, which often flushes fish towards the surface while hunting.

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287 Upvotes
6 comments

r/Awwducational • u/Blissful_Canine • Aug 12 '24

Verified Barbary macaques, are one of 25 species of macaque found around the world. They’re the only macaque species living outside Asia and the only non-human primate in Europe.

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310 Upvotes
22 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ExoticShock • Aug 09 '24

Verified The Greater Hog Badger is native to Northeast India/Southeast Asia and is the second largest Mustelid. Its pinkish, piglike snout and massive foreclaws both evolved to aid in feeding its worm-eating diet. Sadly, the population has decline by more than 50% over the past 15 years in Indochina.

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303 Upvotes
11 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ExoticShock • Aug 02 '24

Verified Black Bears are highly efficient hibernators, with a lower surface to mass ratio than smaller species, enabling them to cut their metabolic rate in half. Mothers will wake up to give birth & take care of the cubs, licking them clean while giving warmth/milk & will even ingest their urine & feces.

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503 Upvotes
19 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jul 29 '24

Verified The common reed frog (Hyperolius viridiflavus) exhibits extreme variation in colour patterns — with some 50 recognised subspecies. Additionally, this frog changes the colour of its skin according to weather and temperature, turning pure white in the heat of the dry season.

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512 Upvotes
13 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jul 26 '24

Verified Endemic to Fiji, the golden fruit dove exhibits remarkable sexual dimorphism — the female is forest green while the male is a brilliant golden yellow. This dove lives in the canopy and is more often heard than seen, producing dog-like barking, low growling, and snoring noises.

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1.1k Upvotes
16 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ExoticShock • Jul 24 '24

Verified Aardvarks feed on Ants & Termites with a 30 cm long tongue & a muscular stomach to grind them up but will not fully destroy the mound. Instead, they allow the insects to repair the damage so they can return to feed at the same mound in a few weeks.

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625 Upvotes
12 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jul 20 '24

Verified Endemic to Japan, the Japanese badger — like other badgers — lives in underground dens called "setts". However, the Japanese badger is known to be more solitary, with even mated pairs often living in separate setts. It is currently unknown why this is the case.

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1.2k Upvotes
34 comments

r/Awwducational • u/maybesaydie • Jul 17 '24

Verified The Jaguarundi is small New World cat native to both South America, Central America and the Southwestern US. Like its relatives the Cheetah and Puma it sqeuaks, chirps and trills.

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213 Upvotes
5 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ExoticShock • Jul 15 '24

Verified Sloth Bears are considered one of the most dangerous mammals in India, with the total number of Human attacks even exceeding the number from all other Bear species combined. However, these are defensive attacks, not predatory, as an evolved response to living among other carnivores like Tigers.

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1.1k Upvotes
25 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ReturntoPleistocene • Jul 10 '24

Verified The spectacled bear is the only bear species found in South America. It is the last living member of a lineage that includes the Giant Short-Faced Bear that lived in North America 12,000 years ago. While they are solitary, they are not territorial & have even been recorded to feed in small groups.

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2.4k Upvotes
34 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jul 08 '24

Verified The palm-nut vulture is unusual among vultures, in that about 70% of its diet is vegetarian — mostly consisting of palm nut fruits. It was once called the 'vulturine fish eagle', because of its eagle-like appearance and the way in which it hunts; swooping to the water's surface to grab fish.

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570 Upvotes
11 comments

r/Awwducational • u/CaitlinSnep • Jul 07 '24

Verified Snow leopards have specialized nasal passages that warm the air they breathe before it reaches their lungs!

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859 Upvotes
6 comments

r/Awwducational • u/CaitlinSnep • Jul 06 '24

Verified The Bay Cat is one of the rarest members of the cat family. It's native to Borneo and there are thought to be fewer than 2,500 of them left in the wild. They are active during the day and very little is known about their mating or hunting habits.

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1.8k Upvotes
53 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jul 06 '24

Verified The giant otter shrew is named for its resemblance to both an otter and a shrew, despite not actually being either. It hunts nocturnally in forest pools and streams, swimming with a laterally flattened tail, like that of a fish or crocodile — an unusual swimming method among mammals.

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745 Upvotes
15 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jun 29 '24

Verified The white-tailed tropicbird performs noisy, aerial displays — swaying its tail streamer from side to side while gliding through the sky. A male courts a mate by flying above her and touching his tail to hers, they then glide away together in synchronized zigzag flight to find a nesting spot.

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502 Upvotes
13 comments

r/Awwducational • u/Prestigious-Love-712 • Jun 28 '24

Verified Halszkaraptor was a small dromeosaur about the size of a duck. They had a long neck, legs and a short tail and arms. Short tail would have put their center of gravity at the front which would help them in swimming than walking. They would have hunted underwater due to sensory neurons on their snouts

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350 Upvotes
10 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jun 26 '24

Verified The dwarf mongoose — Africa's smallest carnivore — uses old termite mounds as shelter, living with a family of up to 30 individuals. When foraging for insects, these mongooses work together with hornbills; the mongooses flush out insects and the hornbills watch for aerial dangers.

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725 Upvotes
15 comments

r/Awwducational • u/Apprehensive-Ad6212 • Jun 26 '24

Article These Stunning Butterflies Flew 2,600 Miles Across the Atlantic Ocean Without Stopping

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131 Upvotes

Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) Butterfly

3 comments

r/Awwducational • u/TheUtopianCat • Jun 25 '24

Verified Why blue animals are so rare in nature

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651 Upvotes
50 comments

r/Awwducational • u/ExoticShock • Jun 24 '24

Verified Unlike in "Winnie The Pooh", Bears eat more than just honey when they raid beehives. Both Black & Brown Bears will also consume the larvae & the bees themselves found inside the hive, as both are a good source of protein.

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748 Upvotes
23 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jun 20 '24

Verified The Luzon bleeding-heart dove is named for the vividly red marking on its white breast, which often looks like a real bleeding wound. During courtship, a male follows a female, inflating his breast to show off his "bleeding heart", and tries to win her affection with head bows and flirtatious coos.

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952 Upvotes
22 comments

r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Jun 18 '24

Verified Coruros live in complex subterranean colonies — feasting on plant bulbs and tubers with their protruding upper incisors. Coruro colonies are nomadic; they move to a set of burrows, eat the plants, and then move on, letting them regrow before eventually returning. The species is endemic to Chile.

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610 Upvotes
15 comments

r/Awwducational • u/Animal_Pharmacy • Jun 17 '24

Verified African Servals have large ears that rotate like radar dishes, can hear in ultrasonic, and even hear up to 13 inches underground.

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1.6k Upvotes

Got to meet one at Barn Hill Preserve in Ethel, LA. A great conservation/rescue. This handsome boy was rescued as a cub and can not survive in the wild.

33 comments

r/Awwducational • u/Apprehensive-Ad6212 • Jun 17 '24

Article The lyrebird synchronizes elements of its mating dance

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40 Upvotes

The male Lyre bird wraps himself in vines and incorporates this in his dance to attract a mate.

2 comments