#722: Starfish

Starfish are echidnaderms, named for their star-like shape. About 1,500 species can be found worldwide, living on oceanbeds ranging from the frigid polar waters to the tropics. Starfish are predators, feeding on benthic invertebrates. The more primitive species swallow their prey whole, digesting it internally and ejecting out the inedible parts. Advanced species actually evert part of their stomach, forcing it into the bivalve prey, and digesting it from the inside-out, outside its body. In many species, gender is a fluid concept, with some being gendered, others simultaneous hermaphrodites and some being sequential hermaphrodites and changing gender as they age. Like many relatively sessile invertebrates, larvae are free-swimming. Their diet consists of phytoplankton. They are also able to reproduce asexually, by losing one of thier arms, which then sprouts into a new Starfish.

The Northern Pacific seastar (which I might have to draw instead of this one) has been introduced to Australian waters, where it is a voracious predator doing significant damage to the marine environment. It is ranked on the list of Invasive Pests.

#721: Stag Beetle

The Stag Beetles are a group of over 1000 species of beetle, characterised by the large jaws of the male. Most commonly, however, the term refers to one species, the English Stag Beetle, Lucanus cervus. These large beetles require decaying wood, a habitat that is now threatened due to forest management (which removes older trees). The female lays her eggs in rotting wood, buried in soil, and the blind white larvae feed upon it. It takes 4-6 years, and several instars (developmental stages) before the larvae pupates. After three months, the Beetle hatches and flies unsteadily out into the world. His diet now consists of tree sap and nectar. He only lives a few weeks in this form, long enough to reproduce.

#720: Squirrel

The Squirrels are various species of small-to-medium sized rodents ranging across the Northern Hemisphere. The most familair and easily recogniseable are the tree squirrels, characterised by their fluffy tails and arboreal behaviour. Many species, such as the English Red and the North American Grey, have adapted to the urban environment, and are commonly found in woodlands, parks and gardens. The Tree Squirrel is  agile and well-adapted to a life above ground. Her feet can rotate backwards, allowing her to descend a tree head-first. Squirrels mostly follow a diet of nuts, seeds, flower buds, fruit and fungi. She is unable to digest cellulose and will occasionally eat insects or meat.

The Grey Squirrel was introduced to the UK in 1870. Being larger and more robust than the native Red Squirrel, it has out-competed her in many areas and not outnumbers her by more than 100-to-1. This is not just due to direct competition, but also to diseases carried by the Grey.

Other Squirrels:
Chipmunk
Marmot
Namdapha Flying Squirrel
Prevosts Squirrel

#719: Squid

The Squids are around 304 cephalapod species, characterised by their elongated mantles. Squids range in size from 60 cm, to the 14 m Colossal Squid - the largest invertebrate in the world. Like their cousins, the Cuttlefish, Squid have four pairs of legs and two tentacles. In the males of many shallow-water species, two of these legs are modified into reproductive organs. Deep-water Squid, on the other hand, have the longest penis in relation to body size of any moblie animal (the only one longer belongs to the sessile Barnacle).

This fellow is probably a Reverse Jewel Squid.

#718: Springbok

The South African Springbok is a medium-sized antelope, able to reach speeds of up to 88 km/hr. He is named for his ability to "stot" or "pronk": leaping vertically in the air, all four feet off the ground. This is a strategy to demonstrate to predators that he is fine, fit and not worth pursuing, and to show female Springbok that he is definitely worth pursuing. Springbok form herds. Their diet is mixed, with grazing common during the wet season but browsing on trees and shrubs in drier times.

#717: Spix Macaw

The Spix Macaw is the rarest parrot in the world, being entirely extinct in the wild, with the captive population standing at around 100 birds. He is the small blue macaw made famous by the film "Rio".  Spix Macaw lived in the caatinga forest in northeastern Brazil. This is a dry forest of stunted trees, thorny shrubs and cacti (a far cry from the rainforest in "Rio") that has suffered from dramatic deforestation. The last wild macaw was sighted in 2000. With the captive population descended from only 7 birds, this species has a struggle ahead of it to survive. However, areas of the caatinga have been set aside as a reserve, with restoration in process, and the plan is to release captive-bred birds within the next 5 years. One of these captive-breeding facilities is in, of all places, Qatar, and owned by a sheik.

Here's more infomration on the Al Wabra Wildlife Preserve: http://awwp.alwabra.com/

I have also written a short story inspired by the movie "Rio" and the plight of this parrot - and the hope of it one day being released into the wild. It is called "Saving the Blue" (or possibly may be renamed to just "Saving Blue") and has not yet been released as I am contemplating seeking an anthology for it.

#716: Spider Monkey

The Spider Monkey is a New World monkey found in the tropical forests of Central and South America. It is his long limbs and tail that give him his common name. His tail is prehensile, used as an additional limb to help navigate his arboreal home. Spider Monkeys  favour a fruit diet, but also eat insects, leaves and other vegetative matter. The thumb on his hands is reduced to little more than a nub, but his fingers are long and hook-like. This allows him to move swiftly through the trees. Spider Monkeys live in troops; females often leave their birth-troop when they reach sexual maturity, but males stay.