relatives

I can't stop staring at this photograph (by Cyril Rusoo on the National Geographic site).

It also reminds of a book that blew my mind, called Monkey Portraits, by photographer Jill Greenberg. I won't try to explain - you have to see for yourself (below).

Oh, and one is snuck in just for being a redonculously adorable buddy with no underlying points about our ancestry.

yes, yes, and yes.

Still from a video about cute sloth babies at the Aviaros Sloth Orpahnage from this site here.   Apparently it was posted to raise awareness for a fungus which is killing red-eyed tree frogs. Personally I got stuck in sloth-love. This guy is my favorite!
Hello, buddy!
here's the vid:

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Glow Zoo

This would be nice to have at home. Even though I am an "adult".

nosing around the interwebs

The Internet: immediate curiosity / idea spinning satisfaction. I can already see some creatures coming to life...

hooty hooooo....

Awesome owl macrame adjustable necklaces. At $13.80 (this includes shipping) it's a sweet deal! My sausage fingers could never dream to produce something like this. That's right, my fingers have dreams too.
Turns out, the two women who make these little friends live in Argentina, and are the top most active "hearters" of things on etsy: 2284 pages and counting. FYI.
You can buy their 3 species of owl here.

Nudibranch

(Pronounced "noo-dee-brank", as I just learned, although I still prefer the "brantsh" version I'm used to.) Everybody should be aware of these mollusks.

On a different note, I will try to start linking all the images to their original contexts to be fair to the originators. Often I just save screenshots and use them way later, but I will do my best. Here goes:

Baby Tapir, I want to squeeze you.

Yes, this is going into the "plant friends" category. We don't need Avatar for quality animals. Although I wouldn't mind braiding up to one of those horse creatures...

This and many other things you want to get really close to from cuteoverload, which I visit far too often. Speaking of which, someone once told me that this is the substance (a hormone) which makes you (me) squeal with joy when we encounter very, very cute things and want to squeeze them until their eyes pop out:

"Oxytocin is best known for its roles in female reproduction: 1) it is released in large amounts after distension of the cervix and vagina during labor, and 2) after stimulation of the nipples, facilitating birth and breastfeeding, respectively. Recent studies have begun to investigate oxytocin's role in various behaviors, including orgasm, social recognition, pair bonding, anxiety, trust, love, and maternal behaviors.^[2]" (wikipedia)



I don't know if it's true, but it would make sense if there is powerful stuff involved.