Obsessed with the ornithologist (Mario Cohn-Haft) who heard a birdsong he didn’t recognize in 1988, predicted that the song was made by a new species of bird, and then spent the next 25 years looking for it before finally discovering evidence for the previously undescribed species in 2013. I’m pretty sure this excerpt from the paper is academia speak for “FUCK yeah I totally called it I knew this bird was out there”
The man did one of the most badass things you can do in biology and predicted the discovery of an animal species (which I like to call “pulling a Darwin’s Hawkmoth”) and he has every right to flex by naming his new species the Predicted Antwren! Look how cute this elusive little creature is
Turns out I do need to clarify that these particular comb jellies are actually not filter feeders :)
these are also the true actual first animal group that’s ever thought to have existed; comb jellies or ctenophores are survivors from the *ediacaran,* the point in time where we can’t even guess what kind of animal most of the fossils are. But, maybe all of them were just wacky shaped comb jellies???? we will never know. this one ate them all.
The gold sheen of these beetles is achieved because at the microscopic level, the shell is made of multiple layers with fluid filling the gaps, so what we’re seeing is the sunlight reflecting off that fluid like the sparkling surface of a lake!
These beetles can “tighten” their shell layers to divert the fluid and instantly reveal their true natural coloration, which is usually a duller red or brown. This confuses predators, who think the shiny beetle has suddenly disappeared, because, interesting fact, most animals are stupid
