SKIRMISHER

…biologists have uncovered differences in muscle architecture between chimpanzees and humans. But evolutionary biologist Alan Walker, a professor at Penn State University, thinks muscles may only be part of the story.
In an article published in the April issue of Current Anthropology, Walker argues that humans may lack the strength of chimps because our nervous systems [...]

This is the oarfish [wikipedia] is a long bony fish that is rarely seen alive,and presumably the source of many ancient legends such as the sea serpent and the Holy Mother of God, Monster!
In this awesome video, a  bunch of humans managed not only to capture it, but also to turn it into tasty stew [...]

Bonnie, a 30-year old female orangutan living at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C., began whistling on hearing the sound made by her care-taker. This caught scientists’ attention because it was long argued that orangutans have no voluntary control over their vocals and that their sounds are purely emotional – more like a [...]

Forget about LOLcats; this pussy is definitely ROFLMAOcat.

This is probably today’s “feel-good” post, if that’s possible.

Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan with a life cycle in which it reverts to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage (Piraino et al. 1996, p. 302). [...]

Rat kings are phenomena said to arise when a number of rats become intertwined at their tails, which become stuck together with blood, dirt, and excrement. The animals reputedly grow together while joined at the tails. The numbers of rats that are joined together can vary, but naturally rat kings formed from a larger number [...]

Bart Weetjens would like you all to know that the raccoon-size trained rat he’s cuddling there is actually a “hero rat” and he loves it more than anything else in the whole wide world. Here’s why.

Marco Menozzi hit this one-year-old pooch somewhere in Italy at 70 mph, but instead of the usual puppy-flies-and-magically-transforms-into-roadkill consequence, it actually got embedded in the grill and clung on until the car stopped 15 miles later. That’s a story Marco will from now on use to hit chicks at singles bars. Until he chances on [...]

Wondering how the ant colony actually looks like under the ground, these dudes poured 10 tons of cement for 3 days into the tubes. What they’ve found excavating the whole thing after a month was way beyond what they had expected. Balls shrunk.

You can always depend on this cat to NOT do anything.

The Indonesian Mimic Octopus [Wikipedia] was discovered only in 1998 because previous sightings were thought to be of other animals. This godfucckingdammit amazing sea animal can, well, mimic crabs and fish and other crazy shit.

Cat trying to tell its human handlers its sincere love and admiration, and for them to please fuck themselves.

We couldn’t even do push ups like that. Somebody shoot us now.

Thieving raccoon encounters the resident dog and cat. All hell breaks loose.

A vampire bat in action. Just one of a nice handful of bloodsucking animals that look so cute, you’ll willingly give your blood away!
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Susan Savage-Rumbaugh works with bonobo apes, and her findings helps people understand how much of what a species can do is determined by biology and how much by cultural exposure.
{Image: not exactly a Bonobo, but a pig that looks monkey-ish}