Zoology

The blue-footed booby is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is easily recognizable by its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait and a product of their diet. Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female. To stay cool in very hot environments, Blue-footed Boobies sometimes defecate on their feet (a behavior called urohydrosis). They also flutter the skin of their throats (the gular pouch) by rapidly vibrating bones in their throat, which creates evaporative cooling through the open mouth. The blue color of Blue-footed Booby’s feet varies in its intensity. Boobies with bluer feet appear to have more success in finding a mate than birds with duller blue feet. One study looked at foot color in relation to the health of young chicks and found that healthiest chicks tended to have fathers with intensely blue feet—possibly an indication of the father’s ability to keep himself well fed.

The Camargue horse is a distinct breed native to the Camargue region of Southern France, renowned for its robustness, endurance, and striking appearance. Believed to be one of the oldest horse breeds in the world, the Camargue horse has roamed the marshes and wetlands of the Rhône Delta for centuries, adapting to the harsh environmental conditions of its natural habitat. Characterized by its small stature, sturdy build, and distinctive white or gray coat, the Camargue horse is instantly recognizable

The Poitou is known as the Baudet du Poitou in the Poitou-Charentes region of its native country of France. Mules, the result of crossing a male donkey with a female horse, are a greatly valued resource for draft and farm work. For more than a thousand years, mule production has been documented in France, and, around 1717, the Poitou become the standardized breed we know today, for the purpose of breeding mules. The most desirable mule was produced by breeding a Poitou jack to a Trait Poitevin Mulassier mare. This cross created the finest working mule in all of Europe, and fetched great prices for those who could afford them.

The water anole, is a semi-aquatic species of anole, a lizard in the family Dactyloidae, native to southwestern Costa Rica and far southwestern Panama. The species demonstrates adaptations that allows it to spend periods of time underwater up to approximately a quarter of an hour, forming an air bubble which clings to its head and serves to recycle the animal's air supply while it spends time beneath the surface.

A single golden poison frog harbours enough poison to kill 10 grown men, making these frogs perhaps the most poisonous animals alive.