Jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family, Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian jay than to the Oriental blue and green magpies, whereas the blue jay is not closely related to either.

The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.

The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta. Similarly, the relationships of the genera in the family are not completely resolved. However, one species formerly considered to constitute a separate monotypic family, the Cochlearidae or the boat-billed heron, is now regarded as a member of the Ardeidae.

These birds exploit a very interesting evolutionary niche. They roll the eggs of another species out of the nest, and replace them with cowbird eggs. This may seem sad, but nature will always take advantage of shortcuts for survival, and the cowbird does this very effectively.

natureasart.photoshelter.com

"[...] viruses [...] since they are the basis of the evolutionary progression of the whole biological system where viruses and their hosts are constantly adapting to each other, either

gaining certain advantages or suffering considerable

losses. This is a continuous, ongoing process with a

varying rate [...]"

Blinov et al., Viral Component of the Human Genome

Molecular Biology, 2017, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 205–215

.......................

"Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on earth, and recent estimates suggest more than 380 trillion of them (10 times the number of bacteria) inhabit us – seemingly without causing much harm at all."

microbiome.mit.edu/news-events/newsletter/#:~:text=Viruse....

.....................

"The truth is we have an entire universe of flora and fauna inside of us that [...] Living inside every person are trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi [...]"

Dr. Zack Bush

....................

Music:

"To and Fro" by Rebecca Saunders

open.spotify.com/track/6UEPxefMJraXZ8auHrMzRO

The immortal words of Sir Edmund Hillary, following his ascent of Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, came to mind when young Brian made an error in his testing climb of Mount Improbable.

For Smile on Saturday theme 'Balancing Act'.

Climbing Mount Improbable is a book by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The term test refers to the hard shell of a sea urchin.

No snails were harmed in the making of this photograph.

Another from our cold walk on the beach a week or so back.

To retreat from a wintry day I went to a greenhouse that keeps plants for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. I has two rooms for tropical plants, and two for desert plants--they are a pleasure to visit when the snow is swirling outside. This one, in particular, caught my eye.

Tom Lemieux, retired manager of the greenhouse, informed me that this is a cultivar of Gasteria that goes by the common name Little Warty.

Vancouver

With their extraordinary haunting song, and obscure evolutionary relationships to other birds, kōkako evoke the forests of ancient New Zealand/Aotearoa perhaps more than any other species. More likely to be heard than seen, North Island kokako have persisted in small populations particularly in the central North Island from the King Country through to Te Urewera. They typically inhabit tall native forest dominated by tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), singing from tree-tops but often feeding in understorey layers.

All mainland North Island populations persist only with sustained control of key pest mammals (ship rats and brushtail possums). All unmanaged populations are extinct.

nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-kokako

© Dominic Scott 2023

Pumpkins are barging their way in and over my Gold Coast hinterland garden. The plants are not so photogenic but there's beauty in the detail. I am not sure of evolutionary advantage of trichomes but it seems they differ in length and profusion on different parts of the plant. This male flower is about twenty millimetres long.

The Bleeding Hearts in Brueckner Gardens are in full bloom. I liked the grouping of these particular flowers, so I thought is was worth a capture.

Although this was taken with a macro lens, it is not a macro shot. I did have to use focus stacking, as I could not get parallel with the branch without disturbing the composition or damaging the surrounding other plants.

The island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is a small fox species that is endemic to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. There are six subspecies, each unique to the island it lives on, reflecting its evolutionary history. They are generally docile, show little fear of humans, and are easily tamed. Island foxes played an important role in the spiritual lives of native Channel Islanders. They have been likely semi-domesticated as pets, used as pelts, or for other functions, like pest control.

The island fox is significantly smaller than the related gray fox, and is the smallest fox in North America, averaging slightly smaller than the swift (Vulpes velox) and kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis). Typically, the head-and-body length is 48–50 cm (19–19.5 in), shoulder height 12–15 cm (4.5–6 in), and the tail is 11–29 cm (4.5–11.5 in) long, which is notably shorter than the 27–44 cm (10.5–17.5 in) tail of the gray fox. This is due to the fact that the island fox generally has two fewer tail vertebrae than the gray fox. The island fox weighs between 1 and 2.8 kg (2.2 and 6.2 lb). The species exhibits sexual dimorphism: the male is always larger than the female. The largest of the subspecies occurs on Santa Catalina Island and the smallest on Santa Cruz Island.

The island fox has gray fur on its head, a ruddy red coloring on its sides, white fur on its belly, throat and the lower half of its face, and a black stripe on the dorsal surface of its tail. In general the coat is darker and duller hued than that of the gray fox. The island fox molts once a year between August and November. Before the first molt pups are woolly and have a generally darker coat than adult foxes. A brown phase, with the grey and black fur of the body replaced by a sandy brown and a deeper brown, may occur in the San Clemente Island and San Nicolas Island populations. It is unclear if this is a true color phase, a change that occurs with age, or possibly a change that occurs because of interactions with Opuntia cactus spines that become embedded in the pelt.

Santa Barbara Zoo. California.

Ophrys insectifera (Orchidaceae) 101 23

The Fly Orchid can never be described as pretty, but it is one of the most bewitching of the Ophrys species displaying, as it does so perfectly, the highly evolved deception mechanisms that the genus of bee orchids uses to attract pollinating insects. The part of the flower which demonstrates most visibly the results of this evolutionary process is the lip which can be velvety or hairy with a speculum (mirror) in the center that is hairless and shiny and looks just like the wings of the insects that it hopes to attract.

Ophrys insectifera is so distinctive that it is very easy to identify. The flowers closely resemble little flies - the lip forms the body of the insect, the mirror is shiny like the folded wings of a fly and there are even two glossy depressions at the base of the lip which represent the insect's eyes.

The Fly Orchid is a European plant that can be found as far south as Spain and Greece but, unlike other members of the genus, extends its range into the north as far as Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic States.

The physical sun is the realm of the higher souls of the more pure and evolutionary in the Cosmos. Your soul has to be very pure and high evolutionally to be able to enter the heavenly realms of the Sun. All the other angelic souls go the Moon realm and planetary realms and the non so evolutionary souls go to the Nether worlds below Earth, to the Patala underworlds or Ades of the ancient Greeks. Below Ades or Patala is Naraka what we call Hell worlds or Tartara in ancient Greek.

The souls that live now in the Sun realm we may call them gods for they are responsible and guardians of the Earth and the planetary worlds. The fate and destiny of the Earth is in their hands and they control its fate.

Now we enter the Solar maximum when we have many explosions of the sun in the form of flares bombarding our Earth and its (magnetic) atmosphere. These flares now have significant power and energy energising the Earth and its inhabitants. The flares that hit the Earth in this period of Solar maximum will have a great spiritual and energetic and purifying effect in all beings now living on Earth. The physical beings now living on Earth even the plants and animals will have to be purified in order to withstand these higher energies coming from the Sun. Not everyone will manage to withstand these purifications waves coming from the sun and many will succumb to them not being able to withstanding its energies for they have not been prepared by God to handle these high elevated energies. Many will suffer from illnesses and various karmas not being able to handle these purifying energies. The purification of the energy of the sun will continue non stop through this year and the next till all that remains on Earth is purified.

Many souls knew this coming and had prepare themselves by purifying their bodies with pure sathwic foods and purifying their minds and heart with godly thoughts and sentiments loving all Gods creations. The Avatar of the Lord also descended on Earth and gathered the lovers of God beside Him the previous decades and gave them the instructions and teachings necessary to purify their souls and bodies to be able to withstand the purification rays coming from the sun this solar maximum.

From this purification that is now happening from the Sun rays and flares all the consciousness on Earth will rise to an unprecedented level heralding the Golden Age of humanity and closing the Kali Yuga of wars and strife and vengeance among the souls now living on Earth.

The Earth and its inhabitants are now entering a new Era of peace and love and truth and justice after this purification ends in the next two years and only those who will withstand this purification happening now will continue to live and inhabit the Earth.

Only deva, that is God like people will walk on the surface of the Earth during this Golden Age of humanity called by the Veda as the Sathya Yuga, the Age of Truth.

So do not be afraid and in panic for the gods living now in the Sun realm know what are they doing and how they will use the flares that are ejected by the sun. They hold the destiny of Earth in their hands trusted by the almighty God fully in unison with Him. At the right time a big flare will emanate from the Sun that will finish the purification process and then Earth and its inhabitants will shine in a new splendour, the splendour of the Golden Age of Truth !

Thank Yous fer da 5.5 million views

trying something new, enjoy!

utilizing spiritual alchemy fer evolutionary purposes

now is da time to go witin & harmonize da male n female qualities n energies

I use me hand-drums

Please, no invitations to award/forced comment groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.

The Northern Treeshrew is a small mammal belonging to the order Scandentia. It measures roughly 12 to 15 inches in length, including its long tail, and weighs between 200 to 300 grams (about 7 to 10 ounces). Although often confused with other small mammals, treeshrews are more closely related to primates than to squirrels, marking a special branch on the evolutionary tree.

The Northern Treeshrew plays a significant role in its ecosystem. As an omnivore, its diet consists of fruits, insects, and small vertebrates, which helps in seed dispersal and insect population control. These activities foster a balanced ecosystem, contributing to the health of the forest environment. In this way, treeshrews are crucial players in maintaining biodiversity.

Northern Treeshrews thrive in tropical and subtropical rainforests across Southeast Asia, particularly in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. They prefer areas with high tree canopies, where they can easily forage for food and escape from predators. Treeshrews are often found in primary and secondary forests, as well as in cultivated areas, displaying a remarkable adaptability to different environments.

The Northern Treeshrew has a unique way of adapting to threats. When faced with danger, they may feign death, “playing dead” until the threat passes. Additionally, treeshrews are voracious eaters. They can consume their body weight in food each day! This key adaptation helps them maintain energy levels for their active lifestyle. (wwww.knowyourmammals.com)

----------------

This delightful little animal showed up several times while we were sitting in the hide. Looking for water and insects, it moved around the birds with no apparent fear although it is a prey animal for larger animals and probably raptors as well. We ran into treeshrews several times during the trip.

Kaeg Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi, Thailand. February 2025.

Rockjumper Birding Tours.

Not easy catching this little moth using a manual lens!!

Hummingbird hawk-moths can be easily seen in gardens, parks, meadows, bushes, and woodland edge, where the preferred food plants grow (honeysuckle, red valerian and many others)

Their larvae usually feed on bedstraws or madders (Rubia) but have been recorded on other Rubiaceae and Centranthus, Stellaria, and Epilobium.

Adults are particularly fond of nectar-rich flowers with a long and narrow calyx, since they can then take advantage of their long proboscis and avoid competition from other insects. Flowers with longer tubes typically present the feeding animal a higher nectar reward. Proboscis length is thought to have been evolutionarily impacted by the length of flower feeding tubes. Examples of such plants include Centranthus, Jasminum, Buddleia, Nicotiana, Primula, Viola, Syringa, Verbena, Echium, Phlox, and Stachys. They are reported to trap-line, that is, to return to the same flower beds at about the same time each day.

Κάποιος που ξέρεις πως πραγματικά σε νοιάζεται, αν σε δει ΠΟΛΥ θλιμμένη θα ρωτήσει τρεις φορές για την αιτία της θλίψης σου. Ο ίδιος, πάλι, αν σε δει ΠΟΛΥ χαρούμενη, το πολύ να ρωτήσει μια φορά ή και καθόλου για την αιτία της χαράς σου. Πόσο παράδοξο! Η χαρά θεωρείται δεδομένη. Δεν είναι. Πάντα μου έβγαινε αβίαστα να ρωτάω κάποιον τους λόγους που τον κάνουν χαρούμενο, το θεωρώ πιο σημαντικό σε πολλά επίπεδα, χωρίς αυτό να σημαίνει πως δεν ενδιαφέρομαι και για τη θλίψη του.

Πολλές φορές, οι άνθρωποι δίνουν περισσότερη αξία στο "τέλειο" αποτέλεσμα μιας δράσης ή στον "τέλειο" άνθρωπο κι όχι στην εξελικτική πορεία της δράσης ή του ανθρώπου.

Δεν νομίζω πως το κάνουν γιατί δεν νοιάζονται πραγματικά, αλλά πιθανόν γιατί μεγάλωσαν σε μια κοινωνία που η χαρά θεωρείται δεδομένη και σημασία, τελικά, έχει μόνο το άψογο αποτέλεσμα.

Σκέψεις της μέρας...

..........................................................................................................

We all have someone, who we know that he really cares about us. If he sees that you are very sad, he will ask you three times about the cause of your sadness. Again, if he sees you happy, he will ask you once or not at all for the cause of your joy. What a paradox! Joy is taken for granted. It is not. I always ask someone the reasons that make him happy, I find it more important on many levels, and that doesn't mean that I do not care about his sadness.

Many times people place more value on the "perfect" outcome of an action or on the "perfect" person, rather than on the evolutionary process of the action or person.

I don't think they do it because they don't really care, but probably, because they grew up in a society where joy is taken for granted and the most important is the "perfect result" in every level.

Thoughts of the day ...

Early offshoots of an evolutionary line that led to modern crustaceans, the so-called anomalocaridids looked sort of like modern shrimp. This replica is created based on fossilized remains. Seen in the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

This is pollinator appreciation week, and in tribute to this critical ecosystem service this post celebrates the evolutionary contortions that result in some bizarre strategies to accomplish pollen dispersal.

Fairy slipper orchids (Calypso bulbosa) are widespread throughout the Northern hemisphere, occurring in cool shaded environments. They produce a single leaf in the fall that overwinters under snow, ready to photosynthesize in the early spring following snowmelt. The flowers emerge early in the summer and last only a few days before wilting. They lure pollinators by producing a scent that mimics neighboring nectar producing flowers, although this species of orchid lacks nectar.

The species is named for Calypso, a Greek nymph who lured Odysseus to her Island so he could be her husband.

Teilhard imagined himself standing at the Evolutionary Front, at “the final boundary between what has already been achieved [by Evolution] and what is striving to emerge,” at the “edge of chaos,” the critical point that is available to the Human community at each and every moment of its evolutionary history. Riding on “the ‘front of the wave’ [that is] carrying the world… towards its new destiny,” he had “an over-all view of the whole forward [movement] of the human mass,… an underlying stream of clarity, energy, and freedom… found hardly anywhere else in ordinary life” (MM, 203–5). This gave him hope.

-Teilhard's Struggle, Embracing the Work of Evolution, Kathleen Duffy, SSJ

With some squally winter weather keeping us indoors today - not to mention the ongoing pandemic restrictions, we are well and truly stayed at home. What better time to dig into the archives and see what I can do with older images. I've had this one for a year but didn't know what to do with it until recently. The edit was inspired by one one of my Flickr friends, flic.kr/ps/j3pnr whose work I greatly admire.

It isn't easy to be original in your own photography and the last thing I want to do is copy others. However, one cannot help but be influenced on some level by what you see. To that end, I think any art form becomes an evolutionary process and when I look back at my own attempts, it also seems to be true of me.

- Veiled Bae - Floppy Hats @TheHeatEvent

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The Southern Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a fascinating Neotropical raptor, primarily recognized for its unique terrestrial lifestyle—an evolutionary adaptation that sets it apart from many related species. It inhabits extensive open prairies, grasslands, savannas, and semi-arid zones across South America, ranging from southern Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru through Argentina, Uruguay, and central Chile. The species shares many physical and behavioral traits with its North American counterpart, A. c. hypugaea, including its upright stance and its frequent diurnal hunting activity.

Although the species is strongly associated with underground cavities—reflected in its Latin name (cunicularia, meaning “of the burrow”)—not all South American populations dig their own burrows. In many regions, the owl predominantly occupies abandoned mammal burrows, while studies from southern parts of its range indicate that some populations are capable of excavating their own shelters.

Comparisons with Old World members of the genus Athene, such as the Little Owl (A. noctua) and the Spotted Owlet (A. brama), also require nuance. While A. noctua may occasionally nest in burrows and is sometimes loosely grouped among “burrowing owls,” these species generally rely more on arboreal or rupicolous sites and do not consistently exhibit the same habitat use or behavioral adaptations as A. cunicularia.

• Lechucita de campo, mochuelo de Madriguera, tecolote Llanero, lechucita vizcachera, lechucita pampa

• Southern burrowing owl

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Aves

Order:Strigiformes

Family:Strigidae

Genus:Athene

Species:A. cunicularia

Santa Regina, Colonia, Uruguay

The Southern Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a fascinating Neotropical raptor, primarily recognized for its unique terrestrial lifestyle—an evolutionary adaptation that sets it apart from many related species. It inhabits extensive open prairies, grasslands, savannas, and semi-arid zones across South America, ranging from southern Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru through Argentina, Uruguay, and central Chile. The species shares many physical and behavioral traits with its North American counterpart, A. c. hypugaea, including its upright stance and its frequent diurnal hunting activity.

Although the species is strongly associated with underground cavities—reflected in its Latin name (cunicularia, meaning “of the burrow”)—not all South American populations dig their own burrows. In many regions, the owl predominantly occupies abandoned mammal burrows, while studies from southern parts of its range indicate that some populations are capable of excavating their own shelters.

Comparisons with Old World members of the genus Athene, such as the Little Owl (A. noctua) and the Spotted Owlet (A. brama), also require nuance. While A. noctua may occasionally nest in burrows and is sometimes loosely grouped among “burrowing owls,” these species generally rely more on arboreal or rupicolous sites and do not consistently exhibit the same habitat use or behavioral adaptations as A. cunicularia.

• Lechucita de campo, mochuelo de Madriguera, tecolote Llanero, lechucita vizcachera, lechucita pampa

• Southern burrowing owl

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Aves

Order:Strigiformes

Family:Strigidae

Genus:Athene

Species:A. cunicularia

Santa Regina, Colonia, Uruguay

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks. Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises, spoonbills, and cranes, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. They are also one of the bird groups that have powder down. Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, while others, notably the bitterns, use reed beds.The herons are medium- to large-sized birds with long legs and necks. The herons are a widespread family with a cosmopolitan distribution. They exist on all continents. 54291

The Southern Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a fascinating Neotropical raptor, primarily recognized for its unique terrestrial lifestyle—an evolutionary adaptation that sets it apart from many related species. It inhabits extensive open prairies, grasslands, savannas, and semi-arid zones across South America, ranging from southern Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru through Argentina, Uruguay, and central Chile. The species shares many physical and behavioral traits with its North American counterpart, A. c. hypugaea, including its upright stance and its frequent diurnal hunting activity.

Although the species is strongly associated with underground cavities—reflected in its Latin name (cunicularia, meaning “of the burrow”)—not all South American populations dig their own burrows. In many regions, the owl predominantly occupies abandoned mammal burrows, while studies from southern parts of its range indicate that some populations are capable of excavating their own shelters.

Comparisons with Old World members of the genus Athene, such as the Little Owl (A. noctua) and the Spotted Owlet (A. brama), also require nuance. While A. noctua may occasionally nest in burrows and is sometimes loosely grouped among “burrowing owls,” these species generally rely more on arboreal or rupicolous sites and do not consistently exhibit the same habitat use or behavioral adaptations as A. cunicularia.

• Lechucita de campo, mochuelo de Madriguera, tecolote Llanero, lechucita vizcachera, lechucita pampa

• Southern burrowing owl

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Aves

Order:Strigiformes

Family:Strigidae

Genus:Athene

Species:A. cunicularia

Santa Regina, Colonia, Uruguay

*Working Towards a Better World

Looking back, there is nothing wrong with that peace, love and equality that the hippies espoused. In many ways, we have regressed because they were into organic food, back to nature, make love not war, be good to all men, share and share alike - which is what many are talking about now. -

Imelda Staunton

Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! xo💜💜

The subject of mimicry in evolutionary biology is one that absolutely fascinates me. It is a complex and highly intriguing topic.

I was thrilled therefore, to come upon a wasp-mimicking robber fly recently, Neosaropogon princeps.

It is mimicking the large spider wasps that paralyze and prey on spiders. I noted that in flight, it even produced a significant buzz to accompany the already convincing physical appearance. A special moment for me.

Around 25mm body length.

Link to lateral image: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/52903205897/in/datepo...

© All rights reserved.

[Ecuador 2021] In a remarkable feat of evolutionary adaptation, the Swordbill's exaggerated bill is perfectly suited for the long flowers of the passion vines. Zuro Loma.

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Top: ROULY :: Hottie Bikini Top

Pants: ParexPox.Yani Cargos - Brown

Boots: Semller Untied Nubuck Boots Classic

On Him:

Hair: Vango. Theo /NEW@ALPHA

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Necklace: RAWR! Spartan Necklace /NEW@ALPHA

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The Chevrolet Corvette (C7) is the seventh generation of the Corvette sports car manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet from 2014 until 2019. The first C7 Corvettes were delivered in the third quarter of 2013. The racing variants include the C7.R, which won the GTLM 24 Hours of Le Mans.

GM executives began planning the next-generation (C7) Corvette sports car in 2007. The car was originally planned for the 2011 model year, but was delayed. Mid-engine and rear-engine layouts had been considered, but the front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive platform was chosen to keep costs lower.

The lead exterior designer of the C7 Corvette was Hwasup Lee, whose team completed the design between 2010 and 2011. The design director for the C7 was Kirk Bennion and the design was approved by the division's design director, Tom Peters, in 2011.

The 2014 Corvette debuted on Sunday, January 13, 2013, in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show. Chevrolet also showed the new crossed flags logo for the Corvette.

While overall the C7 attempts to provide an evolutionary redesign to an iconic theme, the car's designers incorporated aggressive angular elements. The C7 received criticism for some of the more styled elements of the car. "The rear contains what will surely be the C7's most controversial styling elements. It's all creases and vents back there, with aggressive trapezoidal taillights similar to those found on the current Camaro and quadruple-barreled tailpipes lined up in a neat row in the center of the rear valance", wrote Jason Kavanagh for Edmunds. Functional aerodynamic aids are tacked on or cut into every body panel of the C7, often juxtaposed against sharp creases. This is a radical departure from the prior generations of Corvettes, whose styling had no spoiler, few body panel creases, and only semi-functional gills for front brake cooling. In addition, past Corvette models minimized the size of headlamps or even hid them altogether. The C7 reverses that minimalist styling language with intricately styled headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights (DRL).

The C7's all-new LT1 6.2L Small Block V-8 engine develops 460 horsepower (340 kW) and 465 pound-feet (630 N⋅m) of torque. This comes with the performance exhaust package, which is already included in the Z51 Performance Package or the level-up model, the Grand Sport, but is very common to see the standalone performance exhaust package being paired up with the base model. Without the performance exhaust, the powertrain produces 455 horsepower (339 kW) and 460 pound-feet (620 N⋅m) of torque. With the performance exhaust, the car can accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.7 seconds when paired with the eight-speed automatic gearbox. The C7's suspension consists of independent unequal-length double wishbones with transverse fiberglass mono-leaf springs and optional magnetorheological dampers, similar to its predecessor.

The one on the left is a Mandarin Duck, and the one on the right is a Muskovy Duck. One is a strikingly handsome petite bird while the other...., well you get the point. Yet in nature each has its purpose. The Mandarin duck is an escapee and now enjoying his freedom amidst a group of mallards in a stream in Newmarket, Ontario. I understand that he has so far evaded traps set out for his capture. The Muskovy duck photo was taken by the side of a pond in the outskirt of Las Vegas in Dec of 2013.

In some dive sites black durgons are relatively common. They tend to school and they propel themselves like other triggerfish, moving their dorsal and anal fins. Very fun to watch.

They have no trouble being a bit distant from you, but they are annoyingly hard to get into close range. Even if you approach carefully, and don't blow bubbles, they move quickly to just a bit too far for an image.

Although they usually just look black underwater, if you are lucky to get close and with the right light, you can see that they have an array of colors. Hit them with strobe light and the magic of their pattern really emerges. To me, the most interesting thing about the pattern is that it is not the same throughout the fish - there are several regions with the pattern blending at the boundaries. Not sure if that gives them an evolutionary advantage - if you know why the pattern shifts, please let us know in the comments.

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spike boots by neutral tones

Black squirrels are the result of "interbreeding" between their grey cousins and the North American fox squirrel, a study has concluded.

Research published in BMC Evolutionary Biology found the black fur emerged from a faulty pigment gene.

The study by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge says the difference between black and grey squirrels is simply the color of their fur.

Author Dr. Helen McRobie said grey and fox squirrels share the "same root".

There are thought to be around 25,000 black squirrels in the UK, with numbers largely concentrated in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.

The first wild black squirrel was recorded in Woburn in 1912 and was believed to have escaped from a private zoo having been imported from the United States.

The new findings build on earlier work by Dr. McRobie which found that the black fur in grey squirrels is caused by a missing piece of DNA in its pigment gene.

Squirrels take part in "mating chases" and a male black fox squirrel "most likely" mated with a female grey, Dr. McRobie said.

Dr. McRobie, a senior lecturer in biomedical science, collaborated with researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Virginia Museum of Natural History in the United States.

She said people have mixed feelings about black squirrels with some regarding them as a "menace".

"The most likely explanation for the black version of the gene being found in the grey squirrel is that a male black fox squirrel mated with a female grey squirrel," she said.

"The fact black grey squirrels have become so common right across North America is possible because black fur offers a thermal advantage, helping them inhabit regions with extremely cold winters.

"This may have contributed to the expansion of the grey squirrel's range during the past 11,000 years, following the end of the most recent ice age, helping them spread further north into Canada." ( www.bbc.com/news/uk-england )

For Thomas, self-realization in the larger story calls for a reinvention of ourselves as participating in our genetic relatedness to Earth, as well as in the material elements of the universe. The challenge that Thomas himself underwent by integrating cultural and evolutionary history became his prophetic call. He called humans back from a hyper-individualism trapped in a use-relationship with an objectified, dead world. The three mediations evident in the cultural historical record inspired him to call for a communion experience with the Earth community as continuing the emergence of the universe.

--Thomas Berry, “The Role of the Church in the 21st Century,” in The Christian Future and the Fate of Earth, ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2009), 58.

When I started birdwatching Siberian Stonechats were considered to be an eastern race of Stonechat, and they were a rare bird to look out for. But British Stonechats are very variable and some look incredibly similar to Siberian Stonechats, which are now thought to be a separate species. These features include more white in the rump and underparts, with a smaller orange breast patch. But one diagnostic feature is the colour of the underwing coverts, which are black in Siberian Stonechat, and grey in British Stonechats. But these birds flap their wings so fast it is near-impossible to see this feature in the field. But modern cameras can freeze birds in flight and show off features that were beyond the reach of our eyesight abilities. The underwing coverts are those feathers covering the "arm" at the front of the wing, and this shows that they are grey, not black. I used a shutter speed of 1/2000 which froze the body, but those rapidly moving wings are still a blur.

Incidentally, it was a 2002 study of DNA that suggested that Siberian Stonechats and European Stonechats diverged between 1.5 and 2.5 million years ago so should be considered separate species: Wink, M.; Sauer-Gürth, H. & Gwinner, E. (2002): Evolutionary relationships of stonechats and related species inferred from mitochondrial-DNA sequences and genomic fingerprinting. British Birds 95: 349–355

Got back the other day from a caravan park holiday with the fam, and am feeling all kinds of ready for June. They had a skate park at the town we stayed in and it's been [redacted] years since I was on a skateboard, but I knew I wanted to take inspo back with me for a pic.

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Nymphaeaceae /ˌnɪmfiːˈeɪsiː/ is a family of flowering plants.

Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight large-flowered genera with about 70 species. The genus Nymphaea contains about 35 species in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus Victoria contains two species of giant water lilies endemic to South America. Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on the surface. The leaves are round, with a radial notch in Nymphaea and Nuphar, but fully circular in Victoria.

Water lilies are a well studied clade of plants because their large flowers with multiple unspecialized parts were initially considered to represent the floral pattern of the earliest flowering plants, and later genetic studies confirmed their evolutionary position as basal angiosperms. Analyses of floral morphology and molecular characteristics and comparisons with a sister taxon, the family Cabombaceae, indicate, however, that the flowers of extant water lilies with the most floral parts are more derived than the genera with fewer floral parts. Genera with more floral parts, Nuphar, Nymphaea, Victoria, have a beetle pollination syndrome, while genera with fewer parts are pollinated by flies or bees, or are self- or wind-pollinated. Thus, the large number of relatively unspecialized floral organs in the Nymphaeaceae is not an ancestral condition for the clade.

Horticulturally water lilies have been hybridized for temperate gardens since the nineteenth century, and the hybrids are divided into three groups: hardy, night-blooming tropical, and day-blooming tropical water lilies. Hardy water lilies are hybrids of Nymphaea species from the subgenus Castalia; night-blooming tropical water lilies are developed from the subgenus Lotos; and the day-blooming tropical plants arise from hybridization of plants of the subgenus Brachyceras.

For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphaeaceae and www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=705

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