A vertebrate

33 thoughts on “A vertebrate”

1. Cute vertebrate!

   But I’d say this plant is pretty cute, too:

   http://ilovethaicooking.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_0257_2.jpg

   Cheers,

   b&

   1. Ah yes, the genus Clitoria, a classic.

      This one is pretty neat too:

      http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asarum_maximum2.jpg

      1. I was starting to think nobody was going to figure it out…was it too subtle, perhaps?

         b&

         1. Those plants have relatively recently been found to produce some interesting cyclic peptides called cyclotides. Search Clitoria cyclotide for more on that.

            1. I did not know that. Thanks for the information.

               They’re on the short list for ground cover / green manure for the garden when I finally get around to putting it in, for that shockingly blue tea if nothing else….

               b&

         2. Always been a fan of orchids, myself…

            1. Like this?

               http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/georgia-o-keeffe/an-orchid

               b&

      2. Oh come on, this is even better: http://www.plantdelights.com/Dracunculus-vulgaris-Viagra-Lily/productinfo/2821/#.UYuaJJ7D87Y

         1. Oh, my.

            “Do I look like a Dracunculus vulgaris or are you just happy to see me?”

            b&

            1. 🙂

         2. Taking that one up and notch and you have the Amorphophallus titanum http://www.newscientist.com/articleimages/dn16316/1-giant-stinking-flower-reveals-a-hot-secret.html

            1. Ouch

2. And this vertebrate is a…?

   1. Echidna, I’m thinking.

      Love it’s little feet!!!

      1. My guess is an Atelerix hedgehog. There’s a southern African species that looks like that and n. African one too I think

      2. An echidna? Have you ever encountered an echidna in the wild?

         They are eight feet tall at the shoulder with wild bloodshot eyes and enormous ravening teeth set in wildly slavering jaws. They rend the innocent Eucalyptus limb from limb and smite the unoffending Protaceae hip and thigh. I had one in the back yard last month and it was not a pretty sight.

         And they know where you live. Sort of like a marsupial version of Fox News.

   2. Hedgie!

3. That seems to be a “Desert Hedgehog, Paraechinus aethiopicus” from a post on redOrbit.com

4. He (I would guess from all the profusely protruding … prospects) looks like he, for one, bows to his new mammalian overlords.

5. Aaawwwww.

6. My guess is a Hemiechinus auritus baby, though I’ve only seen adults.

7. It is super cute. Now, please, someone tell me why it should look so cute to us humans. What triggers is it pulling? It doesn’t look anything like a human baby, I think.

   1. Sure it does. It’s got eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hands, and feet all in approximately the right places and proportions.

      For something that doesn’t look anything like a human baby, try an invertebrate.

      1. Awwwww…

8. An igelkott! (Altho maybe not the same species.) When I arrived in Sweden, I needed to open a bank account, but which bank? I picked Handelsbanken on the basis that they had a nice picture of one in the window as part of their reklam (advertising). And when the ad campaign was over, they gave me the poster.

   And here’s one together with a felid for our genial host:

9. What big ears it has! All the better to hear … what?

10. nice urchin!

    Cute because relatively round head, large eyes. short snout, is that a smile?, and iddle widdle biddy hands & feetsies.

11. There are no really cute plants, and I say that as someone who grows various itsy-bitsy plants in pots.

    So as a consolation prize, here’s another cute vertebrate with its mom:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22441199

12. I commented the other day that the young leaf shoots of the black oak tree behind my house looked awfully cute.

13. Obviously all plants are cute, so just post a photo of any plant. 🙂

14. It’s a little known fact that plants speak LOLspeak which of course makes them de facto cute:

    http://lolplants.com/

15. Cats in cardboard boxes from the Gruniad
    https://witness.guardian.co.uk/assignment/5189022fe4b0917c6345be1d?INTCMP=mic_1591

16. Bah humbug. Anthropomorphistic nonsense! Unfair to ugly, gruesome, slimy, blobby organism thingies.

    Oh, wait a minute . . .

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