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canisbeta · 35 minutes
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im sorry seals molt? my association with that word is insects so i am confused and intrigued
They do! I’d say most species of animals sloughs off “old” parts of their bodies at some point of their lives in some capacity. The word “molting” is used as a catch-all term for this process, although exactly what body part they shed and how they do it varies from animal to animal. Arthropods grow an entire new exoskeleton and shed the old one, but for most other animals, this process only involves shedding the outermost layer of their bodies, the pelage and/or their first layer of skin. Reptiles are quite famous for this because they sometimes manage to come out of their old skins and leave them almost fully intact as if they were kigurumi pajamas:
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Mammals tend to mostly only shed fur or hair, growing thicker fur during colder months and losing it in favor of shorter fur during warmer months. How obvious this is depends on the climate, though. It’s quite perceptible in mammals that live in the arctic whose fur changes color depending on the season:
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But even the difference between the summer coats and winter coats of domestic dogs can be palpable if you live in places with colder climates!
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(I’m quite fascinated by this because I was born and raised in a tropical country and my dogs look the same all year round heh)
But back to the seals. Pinnipeds don’t really use their fur to keep warm like other mammals do, but they still have it, and they have to shed their old coats and grow new ones accordingly, which they do once a year!
In elephant seals, this process is so sudden and so extreme it’s called catastrophic molting. They don’t only lose their fur, but also a layer of dead skin all at once and this forces them to stay on land for a full month without swimming (and therefore, without hunting and eating) until the process is fully done. Because molting requires redirecting blood flow towards the skin instead of to their vital organs as usual, if they swam in the cold waters they’re usually accustomed to while molting, they’d freeze!
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Bonus fun fact: despite having lost their fur during the evolution process, cetaceans like whales and dolphins also go through a molting process where they lose a layer of dead skin, which they scrape off by rubbing against rocks and rolling on sand banks.
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It’s been recently discovered (as of 2020!) that the reason whales migrate annually from arctic waters to tropical waters is the exact same reason elephant seals spend a month on land: to molt! It’s much easier for a whale to keep warm while shedding its skin in warm waters than it is in cold waters.
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canisbeta · 39 minutes
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one thing antiquity had going for it was every now and then someone would unveil a new fruit. doesn't happen anymore
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canisbeta · 40 minutes
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hi! love what you do! can we hear more about the massive black tailed prairie dog colony?
Sure!
So, for a bit of context, black-tailed prairie dogs organize themselves first into coteries, or small family groups usually consisting of one adult male, three to four adult females, and pups. Up to a dozen of these coteries make up a 'ward' centered around a natural landmark like a hill; these wards are like neighborhoods, in which coteries are aware of each other but don't interact much. Sometimes a colony consists of a single ward, but more often there will be multiple wards that make up a colony (also called a town). Towns can house miles of interconnected burrows and tunnels which its inhabitants use to move underground.
The largest of these colonies was first described by naturalist Vernon Bailey in the early 1900s. At the time, the colony extended from the city of San Angelo to Clarendon-- a distance of about 430 km (250 mi). Bailey described the inhabitants of the town as "...comparatively tame, standing at the entrance to their hole, flipping their tails, and steadily barking." He also noted that, "When properly prepared and cooked, they are a delicacy."
Unfortunately, disease and extermination regimes have decimated black-tailed prairie dog populations, and it's now estimated that less than 10 million live in the state of Texas.
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canisbeta · 60 minutes
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they left me in the air fryer
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canisbeta · 1 hour
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canisbeta · 1 hour
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dear god i slept like dogshit
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canisbeta · 13 hours
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(march 27, 2024)
hey all! sorry for making one of these posts again, and you know i will again in the future, but i want to try and be prepared for the coming week before it's here.
my girlfriend is a homeless trans woman currently living out of a hotel. she doesn't have a tent or anyone to crash with at the moment, so it's pretty important she has a roof over her head. a week's rate at her hotel is $360-- can send receipts if you'd like, but they have her and/or my private information on them, so you'll have to dm. (also, if you're in portland oregon and have a free couch or guest room please hmu) her current stay ends on friday.
i currently have about $200 in my account and am planning on using most of that toward her next week here. if i could get some help raising the rest, i'm offering custom photos/videos, or quick drawings.
i'll try and keep a rough donation log in the replies, but i do also use my money for food cigs etc so it's not gonna be entirely indicative of how much i have total. thanks everyone! :^)
$aspenadams | @/pisshet on ven | pal
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bonus axolotl face
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canisbeta · 13 hours
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She has those blow job eyes
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canisbeta · 13 hours
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very cool but also kind of a dick move
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canisbeta · 14 hours
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canisbeta · 17 hours
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The rats have been hard at work excavating a huge tunnel at the front of their right cage section. The first pic was from last Wednesday, the second from yesterday.
I wish we could give them even deeper bedding but it would get too complicated to clean out, sigh. Maybe someday we'll figure something out? They adore it, and it's been well worth the mess they make!
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canisbeta · 17 hours
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I’m in tears… look at her…
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canisbeta · 17 hours
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this month's bugs. the outrageous one at the top right is real, Austrospirachtha carrijoi, a rove beetle that parasitizes termite nests
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canisbeta · 17 hours
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so many areas have been un-wetlanded and we need to re-wet them. if there is an area that makes a big puddle for days every time it rains everyone wants to make a channel to make the water go away faster. but actually that solution creates muddy polluted water flowing rapidly into the streams. the real solution is to dig a wide shallow pit to become a pond and make the water hang out for longer so it can become the cattails' and rushes' home. make sure to make the edges a gradual slope so the frogs can get in easily btw
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canisbeta · 17 hours
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A type of flu virus that used to sicken people every year hasn't been spotted anywhere on Earth since March 2020. As such, experts have advised that the apparently extinct viruses be removed from next year's flu vaccines. The now-extinct viruses were a branch of the influenza B family tree known as the Yamagata lineage. Scientists first reported the apparent disappearance of Yamagata viruses in 2021. At that time, experts speculated that precautions taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 — such as masking and social distancing — had not only driven the overall number of flu cases to historic lows but may have completely snuffed out this type of flu virus. 
Continue Reading.
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canisbeta · 18 hours
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which one is the fake bird name
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canisbeta · 18 hours
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Why do men have nipples?
it's not just human men, it's all placental mammals!
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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.
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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.
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