Lizard that ain't a Chameleon - The Carolina Anole :

The Carolina Anole or Green Anole is a very interesting type of Lizard. Another name that you may hear it called by is the American Chameleon because it can change colors. That does make things a bit confusing though because scientifically this Lizard doesn’t fall into the category of Chameleon at all.
        Being able to change their color based on mood or habitat is a great feature for the Carolina Anole or Green Anole. This can help them to remain well protected from various predators in their natural environment. Most of the time they are lime green with a cream or white belly. They have a very long tail that gets thinner the further away from the body.

Photo Credits : Source

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At over 2000 kilometers long The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth :

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.

The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 3000km (1800 miles) almost parallel to the Queensland coast, from near the coastal town of Bundaberg, up past the tip of Cape York. The reef, between 15 kilometres and 150 kilometres off shore and around 65 Km wide in some parts, is a gathering of brilliant, vivid coral providing divers with the most spectacular underwater experience imaginable.
A closer encounter with the Great Barrier Reef's impressive coral gardens reveals many astounding underwater attractions including the world's largest collection of corals (in fact, more than 400 different kinds of coral), coral sponges, molluscs, rays, dolphins, over 1500 species of tropical fish, more than 200 types of birds, around 20 types of reptiles including sea turtles and giant clams over 120 years old.

Photo Credits : Unknown

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The Winking Eye - Gateshead Millennium Bridge :

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in England between Gateshead's Quays arts quarter on the south bank, and the Quayside of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank. The award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers Gifford. The bridge is sometimes referred to as the 'Blinking Eye Bridge' or the 'Winking Eye Bridge'due to its shape and its tilting method.

 

Six 45 cm (18 in) diameter Hydraulic rams (three on each side, each powered by a 55 kW electric motor) rotate the bridge back on large bearings to allow small ships and boats (up to 25 m (82 ft) tall) to pass underneath. The bridge takes as little as 4.5 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Its appearance during this manoeuvre has led to it being nicknamed the "Blinking Eye Bridge".

 

 Photo Credits : Source1, Source2, Source3, Source4, Source5, Source6

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Is there really a blue tiger called the Maltese tiger?

The Maltese tiger, or blue tiger, is a reported but unproven coloration morph of a tiger, reported mostly in the Fujian Province of China. It is said to have bluish fur with dark grey stripes. Most of the Maltese tigers reported have been of the South Chinese subspecies. The South Chinese tiger today is critically endangered, and the "blue" alleles may be wholly extinct. Blue tigers have also been reported in Korea, home of Siberian tigers. The term "Maltese" comes from domestic cat terminology for blue fur, and refers to the slate grey coloration. Many cats with such colouration are present in Malta, which may have given rise to the use of the adjective in this context.

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Nacreous Clouds - Mother of pearl :

These rare clouds, sometimes called mother-of-pearl clouds, are 15 - 25km (9 -16 miles) high in the stratosphere and well above tropospheric clouds. They are often found downwind of mountain ranges which induce gravity waves in the lower stratosphere. Their sheet-like forms slowly undulate and stretch as the waves evolve. The clouds can also be associated with very high surface winds which may indicate the presence of, or induce, winds and waves in the stratosphere. They form at temperatures of around minus 85ºC, colder than average lower stratophere temperatures, and are comprised of ice particles ~10µm across. The clouds must be composed of similar sized crystals to produce the characteristic bright iridescent colours by diffraction and interference.

They have iridescent colours but are higher and much rarer than ordinary iridescent clouds. They are seen mostly but not exclusively in polar regions and in winter at high latitudes, Scandinavia, Alaska, Northern Canada. Lower level iridescent clouds can be seen anywhere. Nacreous clouds shine brightly in high altitude sunlight up to two hours after ground level sunset or before dawn. Their unbelievably bright iridescent colours and slow movement relative to any lower clouds make them an unmistakable and unforgettable sight

Photo Credits : Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5

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The Potala Palace - Fortress of the seventeenth century :

The Potala Palace is a palace-fortress of the seventeenth century Dzong, located in Lhasa, on the hill Marpari ("red hill") the center of Lhasa Valley. Including a "White Palace" and "Red Palace", and their ancillary buildings, the building embodies the union of spiritual and temporal power and their respective roles in the administration of Tibet.

Built by the fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso (1617-1682), including the palace was the principal residence of successive Dalai Lamas until the flight of the fourteenth Dalai Lama to India after the uprising against the military China in 1959. Today, the fourteenth Dalai Lama lives in Dharamsala in northern India and the palace became a museum of the People's Republic of China.

Photo Credits : Source.

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Camel Hair Art at Bikaner Camel Festival :

Every January, thousands of visitors go to Bikaner, India to see the famous Camel festival. It begins with the procession of beautifully decorated camels, a competition for best decorated camel, fur cutting design, camel milking and the best camel hair cut. Next day, the fleetest camels of the region take part in the camel races. 

According to photographer Osakabe Yasuo, preparing camel’s hair for the competition may take up to three years to create. First, the hair needs to be grown for two years. Then the hair is trimmed into intricate patterns and dyed for the dramatic effect you see below.

  In the first two years, camel hair just grows, it is only slightly shortened in a special way. In the third year, on the eve of festivals, camel hair cut off to form complex patterns of great beauty, and painted in a special way.

 ^{Photo Credits : Source}

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Bizzare Insect - The Golden Tortoise Beetle :

This pretty little molten gold beetle has been doing the rounds of the Internet lately, because not only does it look like nothing else on Earth, but it can also completely change colours. And it’s just as pretty when it does.
        This is golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata, previously known as Metriona bicolor), a tiny, metallic North American insect that belongs to the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, which includes flea beetles, asparagus beetles and longhorn beetles. Nicknamed ‘goldenbugs’, golden tortoise beetles grow to around 5.0 to 7.0 mm in length and favour foods such as sweet potato and morning glory.

Oh and did I mention that golden tortoise beetles, as larvae, protect themselves by sticking old skin and faecal matter to their anal forks – otherwise known as faecal parasols – to form a shield? How did something with an anal fork get to be so pretty?

Photo Credits : Source

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Amazing Fairy-Tale Flower Tunnel In Japan :

It’s very far and few between these days that gardens are playfully constructed with the user’s perspective in mind. Japan has some interesting landscaping going on in many forms– with one of our favorites being a floral escape that’s just perfect for an Alice in Wonderland type day.
The Wisteria Tunnel at Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan embodies all of that and more. The natural tree setting allows the perfectly lined strands of wisteria to fall where they may, and the varying lavender hues able to fade in and out to give the gardens some depth. The most fantastic part of this area is the tunnel formed from wisteria flowers, which would be an amazing place to let the mind, body and soul wander.

Photo Credits : Source

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Mohawk-Monkey - Cotton-top Tamarin :

The Cottontop tamarin is a small species of monkey found in the forests of South America. The Cottontop tamarin was named because of it's elegant white fur that flows over it's head and shoulders. The cottontop tamarin is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests from Costa Rica to north western Columbia where the cottontop tamarin spends the majority of it's life in the trees.

Cottontop tamarins are among the smallest of the primates with a body length of 17 cm and tail length of 25 cm. The forelimbs of the cottontop tamarin are shorter than the hind limbs, and unlike other monkeys the thumb of the cottontop tamarin is not opposable and it does not have a prehensile tail.

Today, the cottontop tamarin is considered to be a critically endangered species with an estimated wild cottontop tamarin population of just 6,000. The main reason for the severe decline in the cottontop tamarin population is that they have lost more than 75% of their natural habitat to deforestation.

Photo Credits : Source

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Weirdly Beautiful Gasteracantha Spiders :

Gasteracantha cancriformis. It has many different common names, including star spider, spiny orbweaver spider, crab-like orbweaver spider, jewel spider, spiny-bellied orbweaver and jewel box spider, and it is found throughout the tropics.Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs. Gasteracantha cancriformis showed marked sexual dimorphism in size. Females are 5 to 9 mm in length and 10 to 13 mm in width. Males are 2 to 3 mm long and a small amount shorter in width. Six abdominal spines are present in all morphs, but color and shape show geographic variation. Most individuals have white spots on the underside of the abdomen, but the color of the back and spines may be red, orange or yellow. Also, a small number of spiders have colored legs. Theses are pics of various species of  Gasteracantha Spiders :

Gasteracantha cancriformis showed marked sexual dimorphism in size. Females are 5 to 9 mm in length and 10 to 13 mm in width. Males are 2 to 3 mm long and a small amount shorter in width. Six abdominal spines are present in all morphs, but color and shape show geographic variation. Most individuals have white spots on the underside of the abdomen, but the color of the back and spines may be red, orange or yellow. Also, a small number of spiders have colored legs.

Gasteracantha cancriformis showed marked sexual dimorphism in size. Females are 5 to 9 mm in length and 10 to 13 mm in width. Males are 2 to 3 mm long and a small amount shorter in width. Six abdominal spines are present in all morphs, but color and shape show geographic variation. Most individuals have white spots on the underside of the abdomen, but the color of the back and spines may be red, orange or yellow. Also, a small number of spiders have colored legs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Spiny crablike orb weavers, G. cancriformis, live in woodland edges and shrubby gardens. Many of the studies on this spider have taken place in citrus groves in Florida. They frequently live in trees or around trees in shrubs.

Photo Credits : Source

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