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Substancewithoutstyle's Slightly Frivolous Flora and Fauna Photo Gallery

HomesickAlien

By HomesickAlien,
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HomesickAlien
HomesickAlien

16 March 2014 Sunday   The Titan Arum Amorphophallus titanum   http://i.imgur.com/sAtk90F.png http://i.imgur.com/q69WGSs.png http://i.imgur.com/nRM9UdN.png http://i.imgur.com/jRegam3.png

HomesickAlien
HomesickAlien

02 May 2015 Saturday     Madagascar Leaf-Nosed Snake   This bizarre-looking snake is an arboreal species endemic to Madagascar. As their name implies, leaf-nosed snakes have bizarre nasal appendage

HomesickAlien
HomesickAlien

18 June 2014 Wednesday     Alligator Snapping Turtle       The prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America and among the largest in the world. Wi

Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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07 January 2015

Wednesday

 

And now for something completely... disgusting.

 

 

Kinabalu Giant Red Leech

 

Mimobdella buettikoferi, commonly known as the Kinabalu giant red leech, is a large bright orange-red coloured leech that is endemic to Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. It can grow to a length of 30 cm (12 in).

 

The Kinabalu leech is not hematophagic and feeds only on worms such as the Kinabalu giant earthworm. It lives in the damp leaf litter and soil that often accumulates in fissures. It can be found in Kinabalu Park at an elevation of 2,500 to 3,000 metres (8,200 to 9,800 ft) where the trail runs over a rocky outcrop near to the Mempening and Paka Cave shelters. It is usually seen during or after heavy downpours.

 

 

The giant red leech was filmed for the first time by BBC filmmakers for the new series ‘Wonders of the Monsoon.’ The giant red leech is one of the biggest in the world. The specimen captured on camera was around 50cm long, but experts believe they could grow larger. The new footage shows the leech detecting a worm’s trail and following the scent like a sniffer dog. When it encounters its prey, it quickly latches on and moves its lips up and down the iridescent blue body. The worm tries to pull away but slowly the leeches lips inch forward until, with a slurp, the worm is gone.

 

 

Ew! ...and much too big to be that gross :scared:

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Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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08 January 2015

Thursday

 

 

Elephant Beetle

 

One of the giants of the insect world, the elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas) is a large and distinctive tropical beetle with a long, rhinoceros-like horn on its head. This unusual structure is found only in the male, and is used in combat with other males. Like the adult, the larva of the elephant beetle also reaches an enormous size.

 

Adult elephant beetles are active at night, particularly between September and January, and are often attracted to artificial lights. The diet of the adult beetle is likely to include flowers and fruit, and it is also known to feed on the sap from recently cut twigs.

 

Interestingly, the elephant beetle is able to increase its own body temperature metabolically when the air around it cools, in a manner more like that of a small mammal than an insect.

 

Male elephant beetles use their impressive horns to fight rival males for access to females or to feeding sites. The female elephant beetle is believed to lay eggs in holes in living or dead trees, often within the abandoned nest of a bird or mammal. The larvae feed on organic material within the hole and may also feed on the rotten wood of the cavity’s walls.

 

Although elephant beetle larvae have sometimes been found in rotten logs and stumps on the ground, the adults are thought to generally live in the forest canopy, with the female typically laying the eggs in the upper parts of trees. In captivity, the larvae of this species have been reared on a mixture of rotten wood, forest soil and dry cow dung.

 

The larvae of the elephant beetle take two to three years to mature, and spend around 38 to 44 days in the pupal stage before developing into adults. The elephant beetle larva can reach impressive weights of up to 86 grams, and can eat its way through an amazing 1.5 kilograms of organic matter as it develops.

 

The elephant beetle occurs in Central and South America, from south-eastern Mexico south to Colombia and Venezuela.

 

 

Holy Sh1t!!! Something else that shouldn't be allowed to be that big :scared:

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Babycat

Babycat

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08 January 2015

Thursday

 

 

Elephant Beetle

 

One of the giants of the insect world, the elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas) is a large and distinctive tropical beetle with a long, rhinoceros-like horn on its head. This unusual structure is found only in the male, and is used in combat with other males. Like the adult, the larva of the elephant beetle also reaches an enormous size.

 

Adult elephant beetles are active at night, particularly between September and January, and are often attracted to artificial lights. The diet of the adult beetle is likely to include flowers and fruit, and it is also known to feed on the sap from recently cut twigs.

 

Interestingly, the elephant beetle is able to increase its own body temperature metabolically when the air around it cools, in a manner more like that of a small mammal than an insect.

 

Male elephant beetles use their impressive horns to fight rival males for access to females or to feeding sites. The female elephant beetle is believed to lay eggs in holes in living or dead trees, often within the abandoned nest of a bird or mammal. The larvae feed on organic material within the hole and may also feed on the rotten wood of the cavity’s walls.

 

Although elephant beetle larvae have sometimes been found in rotten logs and stumps on the ground, the adults are thought to generally live in the forest canopy, with the female typically laying the eggs in the upper parts of trees. In captivity, the larvae of this species have been reared on a mixture of rotten wood, forest soil and dry cow dung.

 

The larvae of the elephant beetle take two to three years to mature, and spend around 38 to 44 days in the pupal stage before developing into adults. The elephant beetle larva can reach impressive weights of up to 86 grams, and can eat its way through an amazing 1.5 kilograms of organic matter as it develops.

 

The elephant beetle occurs in Central and South America, from south-eastern Mexico south to Colombia and Venezuela.

 

 

 

Pardon me, but... that's a bloody big beetle! :o

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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I'm not going to lie, if I saw one of those in person I'd do everything in my ability to murder it.

 

http://youtu.be/fgq0ecMHfzc

 

"This video is not available."

 

( :sigh: )

 

It was a Starship Troopers clip.

 

Bugs. Big Bugs!

 

http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/4/1/66941_v1.jpg

 

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared001.gif

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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09 January 2015

 

FLORA FRIDAY

 

 

Bristlecone Pine

 

The bristlecone pines are one of the world’s oldest living organisms; the oldest known living tree is called ‘Methuselah’ and has been dated at 4,789 years of age. These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface.

 

Bristlecone pines have an extremely slow rate of growth. The summer months are very short-lived; new cones and twigs must be formed at this time and reserves stored for the long over-wintering phase. If trees are damaged by fire or drought, their living tissues will die back retaining only what can be sustained by the tree, thus much of the tree appears dead but it is still able to produce cones with viable seeds in the summer months.

 

Tree growth rings reveal the age of an individual tree but can also provide insights into past climates. Pines produce wide growth rings in generally good conditions, that is, sufficient moisture and good soil, and narrow growth rings form in poor conditions: little moisture and poor soil. By studying these growth rings, light can be shed on past climatic events. Because bristlecone pines are such old organisms, and because their timber persists for an incredibly long period after death, the study of the wood of these ancient trees has revealed environmental conditions stretching back to almost 9,000 years ago.

 

Pinus longaeva is found in the mountains of California, Nevada and Utah; the oldest trees are located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California.

 

 

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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10 January 2015

 

Paleontology Saturday

 

 

Australopithecus afarensis

 

Australopithecus afarensis is one of the longest-lived and best-known early human species—paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals. Found between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania), this species survived for more than 900,000 years. It is best known from the sites of Hadar, Ethiopia (‘Lucy'); Dikika, Ethiopia (Dikika ‘child’ skeleton); and Laetoli (fossils of this species plus the oldest documented bipedal footprint trails).

 

Similar to chimpanzees, Au. afarensis children grew rapidly after birth and reached adulthood earlier than modern humans. This meant Au. afarensis had a shorter period of growing up than modern humans have today, leaving them less time for parental guidance and socialization during childhood.

 

Au. afarensis had both ape and human characteristics: members of this species had apelike face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeters -- about 1/3 the size of a modern human brain), and long, strong arms with curved fingers adapted for climbing trees. They also had small canine teeth like all other early humans, and a body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright. Their adaptations for living both in the trees and on the ground helped them survive for almost a million years as climate and environments changed.

 

The species was formally named in 1978 following a wave of fossil discoveries at Hadar, Ethiopia, and Laetoli, Tanzania. Subsequently, fossils found as early as the 1930s have been incorporated into this taxon.

 

 

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Babycat

Babycat

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I'm not going to lie, if I saw one of those in person I'd do everything in my ability to murder it.

 

http://youtu.be/fgq0ecMHfzc

 

"This video is not available."

 

( :sigh: )

 

It was a Starship Troopers clip.

 

Bugs. Big Bugs!

 

http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/4/1/66941_v1.jpg

 

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared001.gif

Big?! They're enormous! :scared:

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Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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09 January 2015

 

FLORA FRIDAY

 

 

Bristlecone Pine

 

The bristlecone pines are one of the world’s oldest living organisms; the oldest known living tree is called ‘Methuselah’ and has been dated at 4,789 years of age. These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface.

 

Bristlecone pines have an extremely slow rate of growth. The summer months are very short-lived; new cones and twigs must be formed at this time and reserves stored for the long over-wintering phase. If trees are damaged by fire or drought, their living tissues will die back retaining only what can be sustained by the tree, thus much of the tree appears dead but it is still able to produce cones with viable seeds in the summer months.

 

Tree growth rings reveal the age of an individual tree but can also provide insights into past climates. Pines produce wide growth rings in generally good conditions, that is, sufficient moisture and good soil, and narrow growth rings form in poor conditions: little moisture and poor soil. By studying these growth rings, light can be shed on past climatic events. Because bristlecone pines are such old organisms, and because their timber persists for an incredibly long period after death, the study of the wood of these ancient trees has revealed environmental conditions stretching back to almost 9,000 years ago.

 

Pinus longaeva is found in the mountains of California, Nevada and Utah; the oldest trees are located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California.

 

 

 

 

Amazing looking trees. They have a lot of character

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Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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Posted

10 January 2015

 

Paleontology Saturday

 

 

Australopithecus afarensis

 

Australopithecus afarensis is one of the longest-lived and best-known early human species—paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals. Found between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania), this species survived for more than 900,000 years. It is best known from the sites of Hadar, Ethiopia (‘Lucy'); Dikika, Ethiopia (Dikika ‘child’ skeleton); and Laetoli (fossils of this species plus the oldest documented bipedal footprint trails).

 

Similar to chimpanzees, Au. afarensis children grew rapidly after birth and reached adulthood earlier than modern humans. This meant Au. afarensis had a shorter period of growing up than modern humans have today, leaving them less time for parental guidance and socialization during childhood.

 

Au. afarensis had both ape and human characteristics: members of this species had apelike face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeters -- about 1/3 the size of a modern human brain), and long, strong arms with curved fingers adapted for climbing trees. They also had small canine teeth like all other early humans, and a body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright. Their adaptations for living both in the trees and on the ground helped them survive for almost a million years as climate and environments changed.

 

The species was formally named in 1978 following a wave of fossil discoveries at Hadar, Ethiopia, and Laetoli, Tanzania. Subsequently, fossils found as early as the 1930s have been incorporated into this taxon.

 

 

Cool. I bet Andy Serkis can't wait to play one in a movie

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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11 January 2015

Sunday

 

 

Galapagos Marine Iguana

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are the world’s only marine lizards. They inhabit the Galapagos Islands and, in the absence of mammalian predators, have adapted well to the harsh marine environment.

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are active during the day and spend the first few hours after sunrise basking in the sun in preparation for activity. The vast majority of individuals in each colony feed almost exclusively on marine algae in the intertidal zones during low tide. Only the largest five percent of individuals dive into the water for food, mostly during the hot midday hours. The waters are extremely cold, and cause the iguana to lose heat rapidly when feeding. This forces them to return to the rocks and warm up in the sun again. In fact, an iguana’s size and the way it retains or loses heat determines its method of feeding. Small individuals, which lose heat quickly, forage on rocks at low tide, scraping algae off the surface, and rarely dive into the sea. Larger individuals, however, do not lose as much heat and so they can be active for longer. They graze seaweeds in the shallow water around two to five metres in depth but can dive up to 25 metres down to rocks where there is an abundance of algae, and no competition from other iguanas. While feeding they also consume a great deal of salt solution which, in excess, can be toxic. They therefore excrete concentrated salt crystals from a nasal gland by sneezing. Activity slows between noon and late evening, and before sunset the iguana retreats into crevices or beneath boulders for the night.

 

This species breeds every year over a three month period, during which the males defend mating territories. Individuals breed normally just once every two years. Females lay between one and six eggs up to 300 meters inland, in sand or volcanic ash burrows that are 30 to 80 centimetres deep. When the young hatch they look like and act like miniature adults, and have no parental care.

 

 

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Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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11 January 2015

Sunday

 

 

Galapagos Marine Iguana

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are the world’s only marine lizards. They inhabit the Galapagos Islands and, in the absence of mammalian predators, have adapted well to the harsh marine environment.

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are active during the day and spend the first few hours after sunrise basking in the sun in preparation for activity. The vast majority of individuals in each colony feed almost exclusively on marine algae in the intertidal zones during low tide. Only the largest five percent of individuals dive into the water for food, mostly during the hot midday hours. The waters are extremely cold, and cause the iguana to lose heat rapidly when feeding. This forces them to return to the rocks and warm up in the sun again. In fact, an iguana’s size and the way it retains or loses heat determines its method of feeding. Small individuals, which lose heat quickly, forage on rocks at low tide, scraping algae off the surface, and rarely dive into the sea. Larger individuals, however, do not lose as much heat and so they can be active for longer. They graze seaweeds in the shallow water around two to five metres in depth but can dive up to 25 metres down to rocks where there is an abundance of algae, and no competition from other iguanas. While feeding they also consume a great deal of salt solution which, in excess, can be toxic. They therefore excrete concentrated salt crystals from a nasal gland by sneezing. Activity slows between noon and late evening, and before sunset the iguana retreats into crevices or beneath boulders for the night.

 

This species breeds every year over a three month period, during which the males defend mating territories. Individuals breed normally just once every two years. Females lay between one and six eggs up to 300 meters inland, in sand or volcanic ash burrows that are 30 to 80 centimetres deep. When the young hatch they look like and act like miniature adults, and have no parental care.

 

 

They look great. I'd say Iguanas are my favourite of all the scaly animals.

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Babycat

Babycat

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09 January 2015

 

FLORA FRIDAY

 

 

Bristlecone Pine

 

The bristlecone pines are one of the world’s oldest living organisms; the oldest known living tree is called ‘Methuselah’ and has been dated at 4,789 years of age. These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface.

 

Bristlecone pines have an extremely slow rate of growth. The summer months are very short-lived; new cones and twigs must be formed at this time and reserves stored for the long over-wintering phase. If trees are damaged by fire or drought, their living tissues will die back retaining only what can be sustained by the tree, thus much of the tree appears dead but it is still able to produce cones with viable seeds in the summer months.

 

Tree growth rings reveal the age of an individual tree but can also provide insights into past climates. Pines produce wide growth rings in generally good conditions, that is, sufficient moisture and good soil, and narrow growth rings form in poor conditions: little moisture and poor soil. By studying these growth rings, light can be shed on past climatic events. Because bristlecone pines are such old organisms, and because their timber persists for an incredibly long period after death, the study of the wood of these ancient trees has revealed environmental conditions stretching back to almost 9,000 years ago.

 

Pinus longaeva is found in the mountains of California, Nevada and Utah; the oldest trees are located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California.

 

 

 

That's stunning!

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Babycat

Babycat

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11 January 2015

Sunday

 

 

Galapagos Marine Iguana

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are the world’s only marine lizards. They inhabit the Galapagos Islands and, in the absence of mammalian predators, have adapted well to the harsh marine environment.

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are active during the day and spend the first few hours after sunrise basking in the sun in preparation for activity. The vast majority of individuals in each colony feed almost exclusively on marine algae in the intertidal zones during low tide. Only the largest five percent of individuals dive into the water for food, mostly during the hot midday hours. The waters are extremely cold, and cause the iguana to lose heat rapidly when feeding. This forces them to return to the rocks and warm up in the sun again. In fact, an iguana’s size and the way it retains or loses heat determines its method of feeding. Small individuals, which lose heat quickly, forage on rocks at low tide, scraping algae off the surface, and rarely dive into the sea. Larger individuals, however, do not lose as much heat and so they can be active for longer. They graze seaweeds in the shallow water around two to five metres in depth but can dive up to 25 metres down to rocks where there is an abundance of algae, and no competition from other iguanas. While feeding they also consume a great deal of salt solution which, in excess, can be toxic. They therefore excrete concentrated salt crystals from a nasal gland by sneezing. Activity slows between noon and late evening, and before sunset the iguana retreats into crevices or beneath boulders for the night.

 

This species breeds every year over a three month period, during which the males defend mating territories. Individuals breed normally just once every two years. Females lay between one and six eggs up to 300 meters inland, in sand or volcanic ash burrows that are 30 to 80 centimetres deep. When the young hatch they look like and act like miniature adults, and have no parental care.

 

 

 

How magnificent!

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x1yyz

x1yyz

Posted
Posted

11 January 2015

Sunday

 

 

Galapagos Marine Iguana

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are the world’s only marine lizards. They inhabit the Galapagos Islands and, in the absence of mammalian predators, have adapted well to the harsh marine environment.

 

Galapagos marine iguanas are active during the day and spend the first few hours after sunrise basking in the sun in preparation for activity. The vast majority of individuals in each colony feed almost exclusively on marine algae in the intertidal zones during low tide. Only the largest five percent of individuals dive into the water for food, mostly during the hot midday hours. The waters are extremely cold, and cause the iguana to lose heat rapidly when feeding. This forces them to return to the rocks and warm up in the sun again. In fact, an iguana’s size and the way it retains or loses heat determines its method of feeding. Small individuals, which lose heat quickly, forage on rocks at low tide, scraping algae off the surface, and rarely dive into the sea. Larger individuals, however, do not lose as much heat and so they can be active for longer. They graze seaweeds in the shallow water around two to five metres in depth but can dive up to 25 metres down to rocks where there is an abundance of algae, and no competition from other iguanas. While feeding they also consume a great deal of salt solution which, in excess, can be toxic. They therefore excrete concentrated salt crystals from a nasal gland by sneezing. Activity slows between noon and late evening, and before sunset the iguana retreats into crevices or beneath boulders for the night.

 

This species breeds every year over a three month period, during which the males defend mating territories. Individuals breed normally just once every two years. Females lay between one and six eggs up to 300 meters inland, in sand or volcanic ash burrows that are 30 to 80 centimetres deep. When the young hatch they look like and act like miniature adults, and have no parental care.

 

 

 

These guys are so cool. They're like little mini-dinosaurs.

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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12 January 2015

Monday

 

Piranha

 

Widely distributed throughout tropical freshwaters in South America, the red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) has a reputation as a voracious predator, with razor-sharp teeth and an insatiable appetite. Although it is extremely variable in appearance, the red-bellied piranha takes its name from the characteristic red belly, which is often a deeper, more intense red in the male .

 

Despite frequently being portrayed as a dangerous and unpredictable predator, the red-bellied piranha feeds mainly on fish, insects and aquatic invertebrates, such as molluscs and crustaceans. It may also feed on any small, terrestrial animals it encounters, as well as fruits, seeds, algae and aquatic plants. The sharp, triangular teeth of the red-bellied piranha interlock when the mouth is closed, making it extremely efficient at biting through food items, and its powerful jaw arrangement and flat, blunt snout give the fish the ability to attack and bite with remarkable force.

 

The red-bellied piranha lives in shoals, although it does not exhibit group hunting behaviour. Occasionally the red-bellied piranha will enter into a ‘feeding frenzy’, where schools of piranha converge on a large item of prey and strip it clean within minutes. This particular behaviour contributes to the formidable reputation of the red-bellied piranha, but the frenzies are not usually random attacks, and are more often the result of provocation or starvation.

 

Breeding occurs during the rainy season, usually peaking over a two month period that can vary depending on location. The female lays around 5,000 eggs on newly submerged vegetation, often in bowl-shaped nests that have been built by the male.

 

 

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Babycat

Babycat

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12 January 2015

Monday

 

Piranha

 

Widely distributed throughout tropical freshwaters in South America, the red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) has a reputation as a voracious predator, with razor-sharp teeth and an insatiable appetite. Although it is extremely variable in appearance, the red-bellied piranha takes its name from the characteristic red belly, which is often a deeper, more intense red in the male .

 

Despite frequently being portrayed as a dangerous and unpredictable predator, the red-bellied piranha feeds mainly on fish, insects and aquatic invertebrates, such as molluscs and crustaceans. It may also feed on any small, terrestrial animals it encounters, as well as fruits, seeds, algae and aquatic plants. The sharp, triangular teeth of the red-bellied piranha interlock when the mouth is closed, making it extremely efficient at biting through food items, and its powerful jaw arrangement and flat, blunt snout give the fish the ability to attack and bite with remarkable force.

 

The red-bellied piranha lives in shoals, although it does not exhibit group hunting behaviour. Occasionally the red-bellied piranha will enter into a ‘feeding frenzy’, where schools of piranha converge on a large item of prey and strip it clean within minutes. This particular behaviour contributes to the formidable reputation of the red-bellied piranha, but the frenzies are not usually random attacks, and are more often the result of provocation or starvation.

 

Breeding occurs during the rainy season, usually peaking over a two month period that can vary depending on location. The female lays around 5,000 eggs on newly submerged vegetation, often in bowl-shaped nests that have been built by the male.

 

 

 

Pardon me, but... :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

 

 

 

:outtahere:

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Your_Lion

Your_Lion

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12 January 2015

Monday

 

Piranha

 

Widely distributed throughout tropical freshwaters in South America, the red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) has a reputation as a voracious predator, with razor-sharp teeth and an insatiable appetite. Although it is extremely variable in appearance, the red-bellied piranha takes its name from the characteristic red belly, which is often a deeper, more intense red in the male .

 

Despite frequently being portrayed as a dangerous and unpredictable predator, the red-bellied piranha feeds mainly on fish, insects and aquatic invertebrates, such as molluscs and crustaceans. It may also feed on any small, terrestrial animals it encounters, as well as fruits, seeds, algae and aquatic plants. The sharp, triangular teeth of the red-bellied piranha interlock when the mouth is closed, making it extremely efficient at biting through food items, and its powerful jaw arrangement and flat, blunt snout give the fish the ability to attack and bite with remarkable force.

 

The red-bellied piranha lives in shoals, although it does not exhibit group hunting behaviour. Occasionally the red-bellied piranha will enter into a ‘feeding frenzy’, where schools of piranha converge on a large item of prey and strip it clean within minutes. This particular behaviour contributes to the formidable reputation of the red-bellied piranha, but the frenzies are not usually random attacks, and are more often the result of provocation or starvation.

 

Breeding occurs during the rainy season, usually peaking over a two month period that can vary depending on location. The female lays around 5,000 eggs on newly submerged vegetation, often in bowl-shaped nests that have been built by the male.

 

 

Nice teeth :unsure: :scared:

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