A collection of images taken deep in the ocean that appear in a book titled The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss.

The Angora rabbit is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara, Turkey, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 1700s, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 1900s. They are bred largely for their long wool, which may be removed by shearing or plucking (gently pulling loose wool).
Sea Mermaid
The sea is a big place with most of our little planet earth covered in water and some of the depths of the ocean has never been explored, so it’s not a surprise that there could be unknown creatures deep under the sea.

Gardiner's Seychelles frog.

EDGE endangered and rare amphibians

Dead leaf butterflies are extraordinary creatures to observe up close. The specimen below illustrates the intricate details chiseled out by adaptation through natural selection, which is a driving force of evolution. The remarkable details help the butterfly evade predation by mimicking a dead leaf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knobbed_Hornbill

http://butterflycircle.blogspot.com/2008/10/life-history-of-fluffy-tit.html

http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Casuarius

http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/the-largest-pigeon-in-the-world-the-victoria-crowned-pigeon/

Bonus: 10 Deliciously Exotic but Edible Fruits and Vegetables: Some of these you might have a tough time finding but as conversation pieces at dinner parties they are sure to pay off. From the monstrously ugly Kiwano Melon to the fractal-filled Romanescu these exotic edibles will certainly turn heads if you can locate or grow them.
http://webecoist.com/2008/11/12/strange-bizarre-fruit-vegetables/

Water Hemlock and Angel’s Trumpet look bright and beautiful but are also notorously fatal. Some of these strange and exotic killers also have medical uses, while others can kill you as quickly, unexpectedly and painfully as a snake or scorpion.
http://webecoist.com/2008/09/16/16-most-unassuming-yet-lethal-killer-plants/

Titan arum Fruit

The Titan Arum seed pod beginning to shoot.

Facts

Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Tracheophyta
Class	Liliopsida
Order	Arales
Family	Araceae
Genus	Amorphophallus
Size	Leaf height: up to 7 m Spathe circumference: up to 3 m Inflorescence height: 2 m Tuber weight: up to 75 kg,

Fascinating Facts about the Titan Arum

• The Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) has the largest - and possibly the smelliest - flower in the world. Four of the Botanic Gardens Trust's Titan Arums have already flowered in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.
• The scientific name Amorphophallus titanum, means ‘huge deformed penis’; its Indonesian common name, bunga bangkai, roughly translated means ‘corpse flower’.
• The Titan Arum grow in the wild in the rainforests of western Sumatera in Indonesia.

• The Titan Arum’s flowering structure grows about 10 centimetres (4 inches) a day to a height of up to 2.9 m.

• The ultimate size for a mature Amorphophallus titanum is: spadix - 2 to 2.9 metres (7 to 12 feet), leaf height - 6 metres (20 feet), leaf width - 4.5 metres (15 feet), tuber (corm) - 70 kilograms (150 pounds)

• While the Titan Arum is a sight to behold, its closest relatives - the familiar philodendrons and calla or arum lilies - are less imposing.

• The first European to discover the monster plant was Italian botanist and explorer Dr Odoardo Beccari in Indonesia in 1878. After digging up the plant he discovered that its giant flower came from a huge underground stem, or ‘tuber’, that had to be carried by two men. The tuber can weigh as much as 100 kilograms (220 pounds)!

• The Titan Arum creates such a stink because when the flower is fully open, it gets hot and emits a repulsive scent that is attractive to its pollinators.

• It first opens at night, and becomes so hot it steams.

• Its heat and foul scent deceive carcass-eating insects into visiting the flower and pollinating it.

• It only lasts about 3 days before collapsing.

• It grows up from an underground tuber which may weigh up to 70 kg and which can stay dormant for 1-3 years.

• The tuber produces only one leaf at a time; the leaf can be as much as 6 m tall and 4.5 m wide.

• The tuber produces leaf and flower at different times.

Where does the Titan Arum grow?

Amorphophallus titanum occurs naturally in a few locations in Sumatera, Indonesia. However, you may be lucky enough to see a plant in flower at:

• Kebun Raya Bogor (West Java)
• Cibodas (Cipanas, West Java)
• Purwodadi (Pasuruan, East Java)
• Eka Karya (Bedugul, Bali)
• The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney
• Other botanic gardens in Europe and North America

Factors contributing to the threat of extinction of the Titan Arum

• Over-collection from wild populations for horticultural purposes
• Habitat destruction - occurring through much of Indonesia at an alarming rate,
• Ecosystem breakdown - loss of pollinators and seed distributors, due to poaching and loss of habitat,
• Vandalism of plants in the wild.