New Species of 2010

There are many organisms in the world yet to be discovered. Many of them live in the rugged terrain of the dwindling rain forests in South American. Most of the new species are endangered because their home is being destroyed. All of the new species either belong to the reptile or amphibian family. An example of a new species is the Glass Frog in South America. There is no pigmentation produced by its skin, so all of its organs are visible, including its beating heart.

To view more newly discovered species in 2010 visit: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/photogalleries/100120-new-species-pictures-ecuador-snake-frog-gecko/#/ecuadorian-new-frog_12136_600x450.jpg


Glass Frog photo origin: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pickchur.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/glass-frog.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pickchur.com/2010/08/5-most-beautiful-underwater-creatures-that-are-transparent/&usg=__BzQWQfvCxld7K77o5EHfXj6Epmc=&h=530&w=530&sz=111&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=6fXgVIz36x1vSM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dglass%2Bfrog%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3
DN%26biw%3D1246%26bih%3D735%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=378&ei=PnCJTOu1LMH88AalmrFR&oei=PnCJTOu1LMH88AalmrFR&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&tx=65&ty=52

England versus America

Originally Planet Earth and Life were a BBC created show that America adapted by changing the narrator's voice. David Attenborough was the narrator for both BBC series, but, for the Discovery Channel, Sigourney Weaver was the narrator for Planet Earth and Oprah Winfrey was the narrator for Life.
Many people prefer either the British or the American version, saying on was better than the other. The footage is the same as seen below in the examples of Planet Earth (the footage for the American version is shorter because that was what was available).

David Attenborough:



Sigourney Weaver:


I think they were both equally entertaining and it is personal preference to the narrator's voice that determines the person's favorite version. The narrators do say different things, but in the end, the same information is related to the viewer. Whether you like the voice and word choice of David Attenborough or Sigourney Weaver and Oprah Winfrey, the program was still educational and interesting to watch. However, if I did have to decide between the versions, I would select the American version as the better one. The British version was a little dry. Though, both versions have annoyingly long pauses between dialogue.

Both videos were obtained from www.youtube.com.

Conservation

If you would like to help conserve wildlife and the environment, here are some conservation organizations:1. The Nature Conservancy 2. The World Wildlife Fund 3. Natural Resources Defense Council 4. The Sierra Club 5. International Crane Foundation 6. Friends of Haleakala National Park 7. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 8. The Ocean Conservancy 9. Conservation International 10. Wildlife Conservation Society
The site where you can obtain information on all of these organizations is http://animals.about.com/od/wildlifeconservation/tp/wildlifeconserv.htm

There is a link on the sidebar to the World Wildlife Fund where you can adopt and sponsor one of the many endangered species.



Origin of Pictures: 1. http://www.2020mag.com/CMSImagesContent/2003/3/03_03UP13.jpg 2. http://www.icubed.us/files/wwflogo.jpg

Mission Planet

On the official planet earth website you can watch clips and get info on individual animals from the show. Also, there is a game feature. You can control seven teams that venture into the wilderness to film various animals and natural phenomenon. You are given a budget and must decide important decisions for your teams such as where to find the animal or if you should replace the guide. In each of the seven "mini-games," many of the same problems arise, which is frustrating because you cannot really control them only try to fix them. However, if you are successful in retrieving footage and you do not go over budget, you can see amazing footage that the actual Planet Earth team filmed. The ending successful footage makes the game worth playing.

Here is the site: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/game/game.html

The Next Chapter

Recently, Planet Earth released the next set of documentaries about Earth, dubbed Life. The 11 part series that started March 21 covered the various forms of life on the planet from plants to insects to primates to sea creatures to name a few of the categories. The images are powerful and very moving, giving the impression of how small one is compared to the rest of the world. Here are of the wonders the world holds in a preview for the newest miniseries Life:



The series ended on April 18, 2010, but the discovery channel still re-shows the series as well as occasionally Planet Earth and both are available to buy as DVDs.

The Subterranean Animal

to the strange.

Star-nosed Mole Facts
*The nose consists of 22 tentacles
*It is a good swimmer and will create tunnels in/ under water sources
*it is mostly a solitary creature

To research more animals and facts, here is a helpful site: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/
It is part of the National Geographic site and categorizes organisms by amphibian, bugs, birds, fish, invertebrates, mammals, prehistoric, and reptiles. The site includes examples from each category with mammals having the most options to choose from. The prehistoric category isn't very relevant for looking up work Planet Earth focuses on or the animals of today, but dinosaurs are still very fascinating.

Fact Source:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1949568/the_starnosed_mole_facts_and_information.html
Picture Source:http://pal2pal.com/BLOGEE/images/uploads/star-nosed_mole.jpg

The Artic Animal

to the heartwarming . . .

Polar Bear Facts
*strong swimmers and front paws are slightly webbed
*they have white fur to insulate and black skin that absorbs the sun's rays
*females take care of the young solely and are aggressively protective

Fact Source:http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/polar-bear/
Picture Source:http://media.gomemphis.com/media/img/photos/2009/04/22/EARTH_010.JPG

The Sea Creature

to the silly . . .

Puffer Fish Facts
*inflating protects them from predators
*can expand to several times their normal size
*normally awkward and uncontrolled swimmers

Fact Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/pufferfish.html
Picture Source: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01456/puffer-fish_1456251i.jpg

The Tropical Flyer

to the ostentatious . . .

Bird of Paradise Facts
*native to New Guinea and surrounding islands
*the male possess the colorful plumage associated with their name
*common name for 43 bird species

Fact Source:http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/bird_of_paradise.aspx
Picture Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41318000/jpg/_41318338_gal_birds_puff.jpg

The Big Cat

The animal life varies from the majestic . . .

Tiger Facts
*mostly found in southwestern Russia
*rarely man-eaters
*eat about 20 lbs of meat daily


Fact Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/interesting-facts-about-siberian-tiger.html
Picture Source: http://www.listicles.com/wp-content/upload/siberian_tiger.jpg

Planet Earth

The ecosystems vary from woodlands to grasslands to mountain ranges to coastlines (to name a few).

Planet Earth covered the various biomes make up the surface of the planet. Within each of these specific biomes, they introduce the different of animals that inhabitant the terrain and they techniques for survival and adaptions to the environment. Here are some of the strange, interesting, and marveling animal interactions:



Planet Earth premiered on Discovery Channel February 27, 2006. It is occasionally replayed on the discovery channel, but the series is available as a DVD collection.

The First Chapter

Planet Earth is a phenomenal and educationally entertaining miniseries that takes you through different ecosystems and lifestyles of animals.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog!