Animals

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Animals

An Atlantic walrus plods toward shore after gorging on clams in the shallows.
Such a big bull may stir up, shell, and suck down thousands of clams a day in summer,
relying on his muzzle full of sensitive whiskers, called vibrissae, to help locate prey.

REINWARDT'S TREE FROG
Size: Up to 2.5 inches
Location: Asia
Status: Declining

MARSUPIAL FROG

Tusks of all lengths suggest a mix of ages among these walruses, part of Svalbard's peak summer count of some 2,600.
By the early 1900s ivory hunters had nearly wiped out Norway's herds.
Protected since 1952, the population is still recovering.

CHACOAN HORNED FROG(Ceratophrys cranwelli)

Continuing work that has brought ripples of hope to California mountain waters devastated by fungal disease.
The San Francisco State University ecologist has used an antifungal treatment on frogs living here, and some animals have escaped the chytrid death sentence.
Reexamining his "patients" will help them evaluate the success of the treatment, and perhaps help develop strategies for extending the procedure to other areas.
In hundreds of Sierra Nevada lakes frogs have been completely wiped out by the fungus.

Carrying a heady load, a reindeer takes off across a summer-green Arctic landscape.
When vegetation is lush, the animals feed greedily, supporting antler growth and packing on weight for winter.

HARLEQUIN FROG(Atelopus varius)

Nutrients also wash off the shore and drop from the sky into the ocean, nourishing vibrant anemones and soft corals.

A camera trap catches a polar bear looking out of place on bare brown soil.

LEMUR LEAF FROGS

Drifts of Barents Sea ice can still bear the weight of a bear, but this young male is leaping into a changing world.