It's Nature

Scientists have recently reported that they have finally cracked and analysed the genome of the mysterious Duck-billed Platypus, and discovered that the Platypus, although a mammal, actually has genetic ties to both reptiles and birds. Deciphering the Platypus genome has been a goal for biologists...

David Simpson, a butcher in Fraddon, Cornwall, has a new treat on the menu. Squirrel Pasties. According to David ‘People like the fact it is wild meat, low in fat and local.’ The squirrel meat and pasties in general have gone down a storm at his shop. David says hes managed to get 60 squirrels so...

A Kinkajou, or otherwise known as a Honey Badger escaped from the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, before going for a hour long ride on public transport. Apparently the Kinkajou spent most of the journey upfront with the bus driver and was swinging from the support railings. When the driver...

A Black Bear has been spotted patrolling the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Authorities at the prison are taking a laid back attitude to the ‘Extra layer of security’ as they believe this will help deter convicts who may have been planning an escape. The bear, weighing over 400-lb was fist sighted...

Members of the salmon family, the rainbow trout are those salmon which stay in fresh water after they hatch. They are found in Asia and most of North America. The anadromous type, those that hatch in freshwater streams then return to the ocean have been introduced into forty five countries to be...

Euphorbia, or the various types of Spurge are found in tropical, temperate and subtropical regions of Africa, North America and South America. Over two thousand species exist and they are considered an invasive weed in many areas. The name comes from the Middle English word meaning to purge,...

The prickly pear cactus are actually members of the Opuntia genus and grow in the deserts of North America and can be found in South America deserts as far south as the southern part of Argentina. The size ranges from a few inches to over one hundred feet in height. Like most of the cacti family,...

RATUFA BICOLOR Living in Southern Asia the Black Giant is the largest of the squirrels. It lives in temperate forests and is possibly endangered although science isn’t quite certain due to its secretive behavior The Black Giant has a coat that is pale yellow on its underbelly and is black on the...

Skunks are an animal well known in the US and elsewhere in the world for their method of self protection which is to emit a strong noxious smelling odor. They are mammals, belonging to the Carnivore order, and there are eleven different kinds of skunks living in areas as diverse and the United...

The Mhorr gazell is the largest of the true gazelles, and is a brown red color on the neck and back, with white underbelly and tail. Both the male and the female have very curvy ridged horns that are quite distinctive in nature. Mhorr Gazelle The Mhorr gazelle once ranged in vast herds, but living...

(Ammospermophilus leucurus) A type of squirrel thats found in the United States, usually in the south and ranging as far as northern Mexico. It eats both meat and leafy greens, as well as seeds, making it unusual in squirrels, or what is called omnivorous. Usually it feeds on foliage or seed, but...

The American sweet gum tree is also known as the red gum, star-leafed gum, gum tree and alligator wood. Sweet gum is found in the eastern part of the United States and it prefers wet acidic soils such as those of swamps, streams or ponds. Sweet gum is a pioneer species, being one of the first to...

The rosemary plant in native to the Mediterranean and the Latin name means dew of the sea. It is a member of the mint family and rosemary is also known as the polar weed and compass plant. The flowers are light blue but there have been many different strains developed with scented leaves and varied...

The ash tree is distantly related to the olive tree. There are as many as sixty-five different types found in North America and nearly that many from the European and Asian parts of the world. The genus name for the ash tree comes from the Latin (Fraxinus), and the name itself comes from the Old...

(Asclepias L.) Milkweed is part of the herbal family of perennials, in this case the dicotyledonous plants which is a fairly BIG family that has over 140 member species. It as been recently reclassed to fit into the subfamily of the dogbane plants. Milkweed plants are a very crucial source of...

(Trifolium repens) White clover is a type of clover that is native to most of Europe, Great Britain, North Africa as well as North America. White Clover is a perennial, self seeding. It grows low to the ground, with white coloredflowers that very often have tints of pink or cream colored on their...

The witch hazel plant is a unique shrub due to the fact that the leaves, flowers and fruit all appear on the plant at the same time. The time of blooming is September to January. The habitat is in the Eastern United States, Britain and Canada, with one species in Japan and one in China. Witch hazel...

The buttercup species is home to more than three hundred species of plants, most of them flowering. Some grow on land, some in water and the vast majority of them are wildflowers, not normally cultivated by man. Being one of the first bright yellow spring flowers, the midwestern eyes are always...

(Geochelone pardalis) The Leopard tortoise is a large tortoise that is found in Africa, from the Sudan to the Capes of the southern aspects, and is a type of tortoise that likes the drier areas that are thorny and grassy in nature. The Leopard tortoise is what is known as a grazing tortoise. In...

The Cornet fish is a relative small family of fishes that are very elongated and look quite strange when viewed. They are sometimes called rifle fish because of their looks. When viewed they have a very long snout that is snout making up a quarter of the overall length. The cornet fish is sometimes...