Peter’s Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat

The Peter’s Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat is a fan of fruit and is very helpful at distributing pollen in Central and Western Africa.  A species of tree called the Sausage Tree, or Kigelia Africana, relies on the Peter’s Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat as its pollinator. The tree’s flowers smell like crap to humans but are totally groovy to the bats as they shove their little furry heads into the flowers to suck on nectar and get covered in pollen, go to the next flower, drop the pollen into the stamen, therefore fertilizing, therefore making more trees, therefore producing more oxygen, therefore helping to make the air good to breathe, etc., and so forth.  Look at these things:

Trees love bats. Bats love trees. Everyone loves oxygen. Without bats, there is no oxygen.

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Hawaiian Monk Seal

Ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua, is the ancient Hawaiian name for the Monk Seal. It means, “dog that runs in rough water.”  Hawaiian Monk Seals are endemic to the Hawaiian islands, which means they are only found there and nowhere else on the whole planet. Hawaiian Monk Seals are one of the rarest marine mammals in the world (there are only about 1,100 in the wild and their population is in decline). Can you guess why? Oh, I think you know: humans. Human nets entangling them, humans ruining the beaches where they breed and hang out/sleep (and they love to sleep), humans ruining everything all the time.

Monk Seals get their name from the folds of skin on their head that resemble a monk’s hood. Plus, they spend most of their time alone or in small groups. Monk Seals are super duper cute, and something must be done to save the cuteness.

Elephant Shrew

In the mid-13th centuries the shrew was believed to have a venomous bite. People were afraid and superstitious of the tiny mammal, and therefore when a woman acted anything but docile, she was referred to as a “shrew.” It was implied that she was a “peevish, malignant, clamorous, spiteful, vexatious, turbulent woman.”

But the shrew is not poisonous. They are like moles or mice. The Elephant Shrew is actually not a “true shrew.” They eat insects and have scaly tails like a opossum and sometimes hop around like little rabbits. They are pretty cool. In 2009, an Elephant Shrew was born at the National Zoo which is rare: 

So go right ahead and call me a “shrew.” Because I will take that to mean I am monogamous, industrious, and independent, with a flexible nose.

 

 

 

Striped Dolphin

A group of dolphins living together is called “a pod.” And the Striped Dolphin are totes Pod-lovers. They are like, superduper social and love clicking and whistling and talking on the phone to each other. Striped dolphins are totally athletes. They are always jumping out of the water and doing cool dancey things like “roto-tailing” or “spy-hopping.” You probably don’t even know what those are. Duh.

Even though Striped Dolphins are like, super fun and love to hang out with each other, they do NOT hang out with other species of dolphin AND they’ve not really been successfully trained in captivity. They just want to do, like, their own thing. Why can’t you understand that?