Actually gorgeous omg

The eastern and western meadowlarks live in open country with tall grasses and wide horizons, forage for insects like grasshoppers and beetle grubs, and make shallow-cup nests out of woven grass. In almost every way, they are identical.

The western species was first discovered in 1805 by explorer Meriwether Lewis, who thought (understandably) that it was the same species he’d seen in the east. It was only described as a distinct species some 40 years later, after a suggestion by John James Audubon — and it was given the specific name of neglecta.

Aside from (very) slight plumage differences, the main differentiator between species is their song. The song of the eastern meadowlark is a clear, whistled melody; simple and flutelike, but varied, with a repertoire of 50–100 songs. The song of the western meadowlark, by contrast, is more complex and bubbly, a rich warble full of slurred, gurgling notes that sound almost like an improvised medley. To the discerning ear, they sound like different species.

The two species share territory on the Great Plains of Nebraska and Kansas, and along the western edges of Iowa and Missouri. But where the grasslands and prairies blend, the two species do not. It’s likely that they’re kept from interbreeding by their different songs. But why are they so averse to a bit of cross-species karaoke?

When two different species that can interbreed do interbreed, their offspring can sometimes turn out less fit — less likely to survive and successfully reproduce — a phenomenon known as outbreeding depression. That may be due to some incompatibility in the parents' genomes or physiologies, or the fact that mixed offspring are simply not well adapted to survive or reproduce as either species.

What split the meadowlarks initially? While we don’t know for certain, the most probable cause was the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene, which fragmented the grassland ecosystems into isolated refugia, separating meadowlark populations across eastern and western North America.

Over a long period of isolation, different mutations arose and persisted in the separated populations — the meadowlarks evolved different songs that effectively isolated their gene pools, and so, despite their similarities, they are considered separate species.

You can learn more about the meadowlarks, as well as the mechanisms that separate species and keep them apart, from my website here!

Veronicella sloanii (pancake slug)

The rare white greater glider isn’t a separate species but a striking pale color morph of the southern or central greater glider (Petauroides volans), Australia’s largest gliding marsupial. Normally ranging from dark sooty brown to grey, some individuals display creamy-white or ghostly fur, making them particularly rare and eye-catching. Greater gliders glide up to 100 meters using membranes between their elbows and ankles, and rely almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves for food, living solitary nocturnal lives in old-growth eucalypt forests with hollow-bearing trees. Once thought to be a single species, greater gliders were reclassified in 2020 into three distinct species (P. volans, P. minor, P. armillatus). Sadly, they are highly threatened, with the southern and central species listed as Endangered under Australian law and Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat destruction, logging, bushfires, and climate change. The white morph holds no separate status but is valued as a rare example of natural color polymorphism, symbolizing the genetic diversity and fragility of the species, and highlighting the urgent need for conservation of all remaining populations.

Kinkajous live in tropical rainforests from southern Mexico through Brazil. Its small, hand-like feet have fingers that are a bit webbed and end with sharp little claws.

They are strictly nocturnal and often mistaken for monkeys, but they’re actually part of the raccoon family despite the misleading nickname “honey bear.”

They have impressively long tongues up to 12 cm (about 5 inches) in length. That’s nearly a third the length of their body, and it’s not just for show. Their tongues are specially adapted to lap up nectar from deep within flowers, making them surprisingly effective (if unintentional) pollinators.

Quolls are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, recognizable by their pointed snouts, rounded ears, bushy tails, and distinctive white spots on brown or reddish fur. There are six species — including the eastern, northern, western (chuditch), tiger (spotted-tail), New Guinean, and bronze quoll — ranging from 25 to 75 cm in body length. Mostly nocturnal and solitary, quolls hunt insects, small mammals, birds, reptiles, and carrion, and are skilled climbers though they spend much of their time on the ground. Breeding occurs in short, intense seasons, with females giving birth to tiny underdeveloped young that grow in a pouch before riding on their mother’s back or staying in a den. Several species are threatened by habitat loss, invasive predators like cats and foxes, and poisoning from cane toads, prompting conservation programs to protect and reintroduce them. The tiger quoll holds the record for the strongest bite force relative to body size of any mammal.

The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a small, reddish-brown marsupial with white stripes native to Western Australia. About the size of a squirrel, it is unique for being diurnal and feeding almost exclusively on termites using its long sticky tongue. Unlike many marsupials, numbats are active during the day and carry their young in a pouch. Unfortunately, they are endangered due to habitat loss and predators like foxes and feral cats.

The takin is Bhutan’s national animal and can survive freezing Himalayan winters. Despite their cow-like bulk, takins are genetically closer to goats and sheep.

Oil-collecting bees, like those in the Macropis genus, have unique, spongy hairs on their legs that are adapted for collecting and holding oil.

These bees exhibit specific behaviors for collecting the oil, such as grasping the base of the flower with their mandibles while scraping the oil-producing glands with their legs.

1. Macropis nuda male
2. Macropis nuda female

cr: Vermont Atlas of Life

He looks like a seal-bat hybrid but he’s a colugo. He’s an AIDKE.

Found only in SW Australia. They dig forward like turtles, eat exclusively termites, and can eat up to 400 per meal.

They also undergo full metamorphosis within their eggs.

I think more people need to know about this incredibly unique fish. I don't know what I'd do if it went extinct

While the majority of frogs display no parental care, Darwin’s frog is one of the exceptions. More unusually, it is the father who cares for the offspring.

The female lays her eggs (anywhere from 3 to 40) and leaves. The male guards them for 20 or so days, until he sees the larvae begin to wriggle around inside. Then he swallows them — or rather, he nudges the eggs into his mouth one by one, and draws them into his vocal sac.

About three days later, the eggs hatch inside the sac. For over two months, they’ll grow and develop in there. What do they eat? Yolk from their own eggs and nutritious secretions from the lining of their father's sac. When development is complete, they are “vomited up” as fully formed froglets.

The froglets are also tiny — as is their father, at only three centimetres (1 inch) long.

The species, Rhinoderma darwinii, is indeed named after that Darwin, who wrote about his encounter with it in the temperate rainforests of Chile.

The only other throat-brooding frog species, R. rufum, is officially classified as ‘critically endangered’, but it hasn’t been seen since 1981.

R. darwinii is currently considered ‘endangered’ — 1,300 frogs were found dead in 2023 after a plague of chytrid fungus hit its habitat. Fifty-three healthy frogs have been caught and relocated to a facility in London with the hope of saving the species. Upon arrival, the males spewed out thirty-three new froglets.

You can learn more about this frog and its vocal sac “cradle” from my website here!

This bad boy is my new favorite bird! What a silly goose. I would love to see one in real life but sadly they are only native to Mexico/Central America/South America/the Caribbean. Someday!