Amazon's Most Dangerous Animal Is....

Which of the following animals do you think is the most dangerous animal of the Amazon Rainforest?

If you had a tough time guessing, it's because all four of those animals are widely regarded as the top four most dangerous animals in the Amazon.  But the answer is....

THE POISON DART FROG!

Those little guys come in several colors, with gold and blue often being the most prevalent (and dangerous).  Though they're small, just touching their skin can kill you! Actually - the poison in their skin is so deadly that it can kill 10 adult humans!

Their brilliant color is actually a warning to their potential predators. The poison can cause naseau, muscle paralysis, and death. Interestingly, if bred in captivity they're not likely to be poisonous. This is because their poison comes from their diet while in the wild - eating other dangerous creatures like termites, centipedes, and ants. Leimadophis Epinephelus, a special kind of snake found in Amazon rainforests is the only natural predator of poison dart frogs.

Stay away!

Beautiful Animals Alert- Albino Lion & Tiger

Wow, what beautiful animals. Check out this video of an albino lion and tiger just chillin....

https://www.facebook.com/1387391227/posts/10217394741005626/

Happy July 4th - Bald Eagle Facts!

Celebrate the Fourth of July by impressing folks at your bbq with some impressive facts about America's symbol - the Bald Eagle!

They are America's symbol because some of them are naturally born with the American flag design on their wings.

Ok, not really - so here are some REAL facts:

Bald Eagles hold the record for largest bird nest. On average, their nests are 2-4 deep and 4-5 feet wide. But one found in St. Petersburg, Florida earned the record for largest bird nest - at 20 feet deep and 9.5 feet wide. It weighed over two tons!

They mate for life! And they share parenting duties, too - taking turns incubating eggs and feeding their young. They normally pair up around 4-5 years old and can live into their 30's. Romantic, right?

Their eyes are AMAZING. They have a set of eyelids which are a see-through membrane. So they can close that eyelid to protect their eyes, and still see! They also can see ultraviolet light. They can also spot a rabbit at 10,500 feet away!

Eagle talons are reportedly the strongest talons of any bird! They've been tested to have an average crush rate of over 800psi - the strong of any bird!

Fat Animals! Video of the Day

Try not to laugh too hard - FAT ANIMALS!

Because I Can't Wait for Jurassic World .... Dinosaurs!!!

I am a HUGE dinosaur person! I've always loved them. At the beginning of my first book, Acea and the Animal Kingdom, Acea would spend his recesses in elementary school digging through rocks at his playground looking for dinosaur fossils. This was actually me. I used to come back to class with pockets full of rocks that I thought were fossils or footprints. Naturally, dinosaurs were then featured prominently at the end of my trilogy in Acea and the Adventure Thru Time.

So, I can't wait for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to come out! Part of it is nostalgia with wanting to re-live my memories of being enthralled with Jurassic Park as a kid. But the other part of it is that it's just way awesome to see dinosaurs on the big screen!

In anticipation of JW, we went to our local dinosaur museum (Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point, Utah).  We loved it!  We'll skip to animal facts for today - and instead just post some pics of the dinosaur fossils we encountered:

One of the coolest things we did was cleaning fossils of fish - real fossils that came from a Wyoming quarry. I'd been wanting to go to that quarry for a while now, and so getting to finally see those fish fossils in person was great. And we got to keep them!

Worm from Hell? It's the Hyrdothermal Worm!

Ever watched tremors and wondered if worms like that really exist? They don't. But something that's just a creepy-looking-cool does exist: the Hydrothermal Worm!

The little guys are ... well ... little! The below image is zoomed in 525 times and was taken by an electron microscope. They are actually about the size as bacteria. But most people will never encounter these things, so no need to fear. They are deep sea creatures that live primarily next to hydrothermal vents deep in the sea.

Still ... there's something about this picture that makes me thing "Worm From Hell."

(Photo credit: Philippe Crassous & FEI)

Amazing Fact of the Day: Ostrich Eyes

Amazing Animal Fact of the Day:

An Ostrich eyeball is about as big as a billiard ball. Their eyes take up so much room in the skull that each eyeball is larger than the size of the Ostrich's brain! They may be good a running, but they're not very good at outsmarting predators due to that small brain. They tend to run in circles!