Pandora on Earth

[Human No More]

Nice

Amazing what can be found in the sea.

[Raiden]

Oh, I was talking about those fellas in IRC a while back.

They actually make pretty great aquarium subjects, so long as the tank is acrylic and not glass, unless you want to clean up after that mess.

They also possess some of the most advanced eyes amongst athropods, and are probaby one of the more intelligent ones at that.

EDIT: I guess I'll play too. Here are some of my favorite animals that might remind people of Pandora:



Some flourescing zooanthids.



Harlequin shrimp. Hymenocera picta.



Blue Ram Cichlid; Geophagus mikros.



Leafy Sea Dragon; Phycodurus eques.



Mandarin Dragonet. Synchiropus splendidus.


Coincidence? Furcifer pardalis, the Panther Chameleon, with some...interesting coloration.



Uroplatus phantasticus; the Satanic Leaftail Gecko. Likely the inspiration for the fan lizards, minus the fan.

[GhostTiger]

I love the leafy sea dragons, and that little leaftail gecko I've never seen before. He's pretty cute. lol Probably pretty mean though?

I don't know if this is the right place to put this, but a little while ago I found this bug on my door that made me think of you Raiden. lol I had never seen this before, it's a moth masquerading as a wasp... (Not the best picture but tada.)

[rasomaso]

amazing isn't it?

[Moco Loco]

Now, if only those lights were bioluminescence

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by GhostTiger

I love the leafy sea dragons, and that little leaftail gecko I've never seen before. He's pretty cute. lol Probably pretty mean though?

No, Uroplatus geckos are a bunch of docile forest dwellers. U. phantasticus is actually the smallest and most delicate amongst them, and is becoming threatened by habitat loss.

They make very interesting terrarium/vivarium inhabitants, but are prone to dehydration if the humidity isn't high enough.

[apache_blanca]

@Raiden: beautiful bugs! I wanted to say "especially the Na'vi colored one" but hey all of them are beautiful.

[GhostTiger]

Originally Posted by Raiden

No, Uroplatus geckos are a bunch of docile forest dwellers. U. phantasticus is actually the smallest and most delicate amongst them, and is becoming threatened by habitat loss.

They make very interesting terrarium/vivarium inhabitants, but are prone to dehydration if the humidity isn't high enough.

Threatened? So sad.

Have you had one?

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by GhostTiger

Threatened? So sad.

Have you had one?

Man, I wish.

They don't show up in the pet trade often, due to very, very strict import quotas.

Those that do, however, are often snatched up by professionals as a part of captive breeding programs.

The members of the herpetocultural jounal "Gekkota" have been circulating some very high quality captive-bred hatchlings, and these efforts tend to be the best sources of obtaining them.

Aside from this, they are very expensive, and not easy animals to care for; they are very delicate physically and physiologically, and are sensitive to low humidity levels and heat; they require a cool/montane forest habitat to do well.

[Niri Te]

I want to get a few bioluminescent frogs to go with the mushrooms.
Niri Te

[Human No More]

Raiden, I'm sure you'd be able to give one a good home though

[GhostTiger]

Originally Posted by Human No More

Raiden, I'm sure you'd be able to give one a good home though

I agree.

[JohnDOE]

[Clarke]

Originally Posted by JohnDOE

[apache_blanca]

I think Moco Loco posted something like this, too ^^^or was it the same photo... It was a while ago. But the picture is beautiful

More skies:





Now, imagine that there are some floating rocks, too, & the lightnings between them!