Interspecies Lovely

How do hippos and crocodiles get along? Swimmingly, apparently.

Olivia Judson’s “Leopard Behind You” introduces us to Diana monkeys. These are elegant animals (pictured above), with fur of several colors. Also, like male vervets and Campbell’s monkeys, male Dianas have a scrotum that’s a tasteful shade of blue.

They also listen and respond to the alarm calls of other species.

Diana monkeys use different sounds for “eagle!” and “leopard!” than the Cambpell’s monkeys, but they respond to recordings of the Campbell’s monkeys making their calls just as they would to their own. Furthermore, Yellow-casqued hornbills (pictured at right) also respond to the Diana monkey shouts of “eagle!” but not “leopard!” (since they have no issues with leopards.)

“Predators sometimes respond too. After all, alarm calls don’t just let other animals know there’s danger in the area. They can also let a predator know that it’s been seen. Ambush predators, like leopards, often give up and go away once an alarm has been sounded.”

In the absence of her fallow deer mate, this lovely lady has taken a shine to an emu.

Sadly, the owner of the backyard where this interspecies love tale is unfolding does not approve. “She follows the emu everywhere. They’re an odd couple, but it doesn’t seem right. The emu should be replaced by the male deer,” says North Whidbey resident Maria Kiefer-Weise.

Where is the male fallow deer? Kiefer-Weise would like to know and has a $300 reward out for him. However, she may not be able to keep him even if she finds him, as fallow deer are illegal to keep under state law.

How could this happen? Well, both deer were secure in a pen, but a mischievous camel named Rutherford opened the door. Then, after they were out of the pen, a miniature donkey chased the male away. The female then found companionship with the emu.

Picture and story from Whidbey News-Times

This unlikely and lovely pair at T.I.G.E.R.S Preservation Station, in Myrtle Beach, USA has their own website and upcoming book.

Suryia the orangutan and Roscoe a Blue Tick hound became friends when they crossed paths at a South Carolina preservefor endangered animals. Now they swim together, play together and Suryia even takes the dog for his walks.

The pair first encountered each other two years ago when Roscoe followed staff from The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) in Myrtle Beach home.

‘He followed us through the gate and ran over and found Suryia. As soon as he saw Roscoe, Suryia ran over to him and they started playing. It was unusual because dogs are usually scared of primates but they took to each other straight away. We made a few calls to see if he belonged to anyone and when no-one came forward, Roscoe ended up staying.’

If we had an evil twin, it would be FU Penguin, a hilarious blog that “tells cute animals what’s what.” Warning: Don’t read while drinking liquids.

Lucky the dog is in love with Tasha the cat. Sweet music video to “I Love You” by Climax Blues Band.

Katjinga, a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, saved the life of Paulinchen, a Vietnamese pot-bellied piglet, by adopting it as one of its own after the two-week old pig was abandoned by its mother.

The unlikely pair live in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga’s owners Roland and Edit Adam also keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.

Mr Adam said he found the weak piglet abandoned by the rest of the family and decided to put her with Katjinga, who had just reared a litter of her own, in the hope that she would take on the motherly duties.

Luckily for Paulinchen, Katjinga started to clean her as if she was one of her own puppies. Mr Adam said days later Katjinga started lactating again and giving milk to the piglet.

(from Daily Mail via Cute Overload)

Sea squirts are chimeras, the result of fusing an ancient chordate with the ancestor of a sea urchin. Biologists are now coming round to the idea that nature is not a product of neat family lines, but a messy mass of cross links.

Another case is the starfish Luidia sarsi. It starts out as a small larva with an even smaller starfish inside. Eventually, the starfish moves to the outside of the larva. Instead of absorbing the larva, the juvenile detaches and the larva continues to swim for up to three months. What started as one rather odd organism continues and ends life as two.