Fascination Diversity

The nocturnal Eurasian eagle-owl is the largest owl species. During daytime the bird disguises itself by stretching out the feather tufts and by narrowing its big eyes. Amongst other birds, crows noisily call the attention of other birds to the nocturnal predator and also attack it.

Tigers are apex predators, primarily preying on ungulates. They show territorial behaviour and are generally solitary, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey requirements.

The blood-red ant is a species of slave-maker ants. The workers steal larvae and pupae from the nests of other Formica species to acquire slave workers and to use them as a food source.

In this amber are fossil inclusions of a termites' nest and hundreds of termite workers. Its age is unknown but according to the literature between 100 and 10,000 years.

This genus of hedgehog includes four species – among them also the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), which is commonly found in Germany. Common to all hedgehogs is their nocturnal, solitary way of life.

The okapi, also called forest giraffe, is one of the last large mammal species to become known to science. The first scientific description was made in 1901 based on skulls and fur pieces.

This snake with a length of one meter stands out even among the most exquisitely preserved objects from the Messel Pit. It is the young of an extinct species of boa, and even some of its scales have been preserved. Shortly before its death, it devoured a lizard of the basilisk tribe (Geiseltaliellus maarius), which, in turn, had recently eaten an insect. All three are visible – can you find them?

Green malachite belongs to the mineral class of water-free carbonates with foreign anions and is formed by the weathering of copper ores. It is used both as a gemstone and as a pigment.

The seed of the sea coconut is the largest in the plant kingdom. The sea coconut exists exclusively on both isles, Praslin and Curieuse, of the Seychelles. 8282 adult individuals were counted in 2011. The species is categorized as "endangered".