Thursday Travels

Dementor wasps sound like fun, don't they?

They are part of the 139 new species that were discovered in the Greater Mekong Region in 2014. That's a lot of new species, especially when a mammal is among them.

Another species is a Crocodile newt, which sounds adorable.

Here's an article about the new species:

'Dementor' wasp, giant stick insect among new Mekong finds.

The bat picture they use as the main image is cute as well. It smiles with it's pointy teeth and says "I'm ready for my close up."

I love hearing about new animals being discovered. Some are extremely cute, others are so poisonous you get sick reading about it.

What's even better is that these aren't from someone's imagination, they're real, and they're here.

I've been trying to create some creatures for my fantasy adventure novels, and there are some, in the heat of a scene, that come out as the most ridiculous things I've ever thought of. I need to plan better sometimes. Or maybe I should take a trip to Mekong and discover a new species for myself. (Only joking. Though it would be fun to discover a new species).

Thursday Travels

A photo of an animal that is said to be closely related to rabbits and hares (lagomorphs) has been floating around.

The Ili pika:



It's adorable and looks like a cross between a rabbit and a mouse. One reporter even called it an Ewok.

Unfortunately, for us and them, they only seem to reside on a specific mountain in China. Plus, they are extremely endangered.

The reason the critter is so spectacular, besides being cute, its because it hasn't been seen for 20 years. The photograph is actually from early 2014, but only recently has become a big deal in the media.

Personally, I love it. I adore rabbits and I want to hug one of these. If my plot bunnies looked like this, I would welcome them with open arms.

Now, I'm going to return to my cave and get some work done. Enjoy the cuteness!