Spot-it?

viksorion

Participant, Wednesday 31 October 2018

HeadinSand

Participant, Wednesday 31 October 2018

jammy sen

Participant, Wednesday 31 October 2018

soothsayer

The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is similar to a canoe, except it is narrower. It is propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner and acts as the rudder. For centuries, the gondola was a major means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times, the boats still do have a role in public transport in the city, serving as traghetti (small ferries) over the Grand Canal operated by two oarsmen. For some years there were seven traghetti, but by 2017, the number had been reduced to three.
Various types of gondola boats are also used in special regattas (rowing races) held amongst gondoliers. Their primary role today, however, is to carry tourists on rides at fixed rates. There are approximately 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice and a similar number of boats, down from the thousands that travelled the canals centuries ago. However, they are now elegant craft, instead of the various types of shabby homemade boats of the distant past.
The gondola is propelled by a person (the gondolier) who stands facing the bow and rows with a forward stroke, followed by a compensating backward stroke. The oar rests in an elaborately carved wooden rest (forcola) shaped to project from the side of the craft so as to allow the slight drag of each return stroke to pull the bow back to its forward course. Because of the vessel's flat bottom it may also be "drifted" sideways when required.[Contrary to popular belief, the gondola is never poled like a punt as the waters of Venice are too deep. Until the early 20th century, as many photographs attest, gondolas were often fitted with a "felze", a small cabin, to protect the passengers from the weather or from onlookers. Its windows could be closed with louvered shutters—the original "Venetian blinds". After the elimination of the traditional felze—possibly in response to tourists' complaining that it blocked the view—there survived for some decades a kind of vestigial summer awning, known as the "tendalin" (these can be seen on gondolas as late as the mid-1950s, in the film Summertime (1955)). While in previous centuries gondolas could be many different colors, a sumptuary law of Venice required that gondolas should be painted black, and they are customarily so painted now.
Today's gondola is 35.5 feet long and 4.5 feet wide with a weight of 1,500 lbs (700 kg). They are made of 280 hand-made pieces using eight types of wood (lime, oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, fir, larch and elm). The process takes about two months.

mircteryx

It's time to announce the winner!


Thursday 1 November 2018
Answer:



The winner is soothsayer


Participants:
-goa_spice
-jammy sen
-viksorion
-HeadinSand

soothsayer please write something about FROG to get reward. You can post direct on the thread (this time only).
A bonus karma will be added for three (3) consecutive wins.

To all participants please write the following: " Participant, Thursday 1 November 2018" to get reward as participant.You can post direct on the thread (this time only).

Note: You have 24 hours to claim the prize!

HeadinSand

Participant, Thursday 1 November 2018

goa_spice

Participant, Thursday 1 November 2018

viksorion

Participant, Thursday 1 November 2018

jammy sen

Participant, Thursday 1 November 2018

soothsayer

A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura.  Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforests. There are approximately 4,800 recorded species, accounting for over 85% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history.A n adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, cleft tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail. Frogs have glandular skin, with secretions ranging from distasteful to toxic. Their skins varies in colour from well-camouflaged dappled brown, grey and green to vivid patterns of bright red or yellow and black to show toxicity and ward off predators. Adult frogs live in fresh water and on dry land; some species are adapted for living underground or in trees
Frogs typically lay their eggs in water. The eggs hatch into aquatic larvae called tadpoles that have tails and internal gills. They have highly specialized rasping mouth parts suitable for herbivorous, omnivorous or planktivorous diets. The life cycle is completed when they metamorphose into adults. A few species deposit eggs on land or bypass the tadpole stage. Adult frogs generally have a carnivorous diet consisting of small invertebrates, but omnivorous species exist and a few feed on fruit. Frogs are extremely efficient at converting what they eat into body mass. They are an important food source for predators and part of the food web dynamics of many of the world's ecosystems. The skin is semi-permeable, making them susceptible to dehydration, so they either live in moist places or have special adaptations to deal with dry habitats. Frogs are valued as food by humans and also have many cultural roles in literature, symbolism and religion. Frog populations have declined significantly since the 1950s. More than one third of species are considered to be threatened with extinction and over 120 are believed to have become extinct since the 1980s.