The Quill is Mightier than the Sword

Meet Pierce the African Crested Porcupine. He is yet another distinguished denizen of Mary's zoo.

There are many creatures in nature that go out of their way to warn would-be predators to stay away. But few do it so well as the porcupine. Hystrix africaeaustralis is a large rodent, weighing it at 22-65 lbs, and grows to be upwards of 34 inches long. You wouldn't know it, but this porcupine is very social (a great host and entertainer) and they love licking each other.

The neck is covered with bristles and the tail with rattling quills, but the back is covered with both quills and spines. The quills can get to about a foot in length, and the spines almost two feet. When threatened, the porcupine turns around and charges backwards, thereby impaling whatever's threatening it.

I guess you can feel free to be social if you can pack that kind of heat.

Belly Slide

The gharial looks like a movie prop alligator someone tried to make and really messed up. Or else like a crocodile who grew up with a snout bind, like bound feet of yore.

The gharial is second only to the crocodile in terms of size (they've been known to reach more than 20 feet!). They are found in India and her immediate neighbors. They live in river waters and use that narrow snout to snatch passing fish.

Gharial legs aren't strong enough to lift their bodies off the ground when they walk, so the most they can accomplish is a belly slide. But don't feel bad little gharial, I'm forced to do the same thing when I leave the buffet line.

Photo source: Knuttz.net

Growing Up

Mary the Zookeeper sent us some photos a couple weeks ago of a mother tailless whip scorpion and her babies.

Well, those babies are growing up, and mommy's so proud. Here's what one of them looks like after its first molt (click on the photo for a larger image). It looks much more tailless-whip-scorpiony and still has some amazing colors. But soon it will enter that nasty, rebellious talk-backy phase. It better harden its exoskeleton in preparation for the spankings (whippings?) its going to get.

Thanks, Mary.

Toys, Gifts and Jellies

Some postal workers in Philadelphia, US, were sorting through the mail when they came across a package labeled "toys, gifts and jellies." But something inside the package was making a noise (I see the beginning of a children's book here). The postmaster sent it off to customs where it was x-rayed and found to contain more than two dozen live giant beetles, some as large as a child's hand (5-6 inches across).

The beetles were a mix of Hercules, Rhinoceros, and Goliath beetles (I see a great jazz band name somewhere in there), all of which are known to be destructive pests.

Photo source: AP via Yahoo!

















At least whoever shipped these (and they are now known to the authorities) gave the postal workers an exciting day. It isn't everyday you get to handle monster insects (and hey, free dollar bill!). I know some of you invert-lovers would be walking on Cloud 9 for weeks.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Freshwater Fish in the Zeitgeist

Giant freshwater fish are in the zeitgeist, people.

Say hello to a new member of the Ugly Overload family. The Mekong Giant Catfish is the largest freshwater, scaleless fish on the planet. They reach 10 feet and up to an amazing 650 lbs. They can live for 60 years. They were once very common in Southeast Asia (the lower half of the Mekong river), but are now on the brink of extinction. Some experts (citation needed) believe that only a few hundred adults may remain in the wild.

This is the catfish you sometimes see being held by a group of fishermen or children. Thank you National Geographic for bringing us a photo of a rare living one.

Thanks for the link, Ida.

Photo source: Zeb Hogan via National Geographic

No Getting Around It

I love, love nudibranchs (this pair is Nembrotha kubaryana). They are the little gems I search for when perusing the tidal pools and sand bars of Northern California. Though their colors are quite striking, there's no getting around the fact that they are, in essence, slugs. And, they're toxic.

Thanks for the photo, Sherry.

Photo source: David Doubilet via National Geographic

Scary Spatula

Aurelialight reminded me that I've been remiss in not posting enough on one of North America's most notable fish. Behold the alligator gar. I never thought that that a creature with the species name of spatula could be frightening, but I was wrong. The alligator gar comes with several distinctive characteristics:

1) It is the largest of all gars, growing to 8 - 12 feet, with a record weight of over 300 lbs (the largest was caught in the Rio Grande River).
2) It is also the largest exclusively freshwater fish in North Americ, where it stalks the waters of the South Eastern US and Mexico.
3) It is able to breath air, and can survive 2 hours outside of water.
4) It is an aggressive carnivore and has been known to attack humans.

Photo source: CoastalThings.com

Neurotoxic

I can't call the Blue Ringed Octopus ugly, strictly speaking. But, it is a mollusk, and it is one of the most venomous creatures out there. To quote TutzTutz:

The painless bite from a Blue Ringed Octopus may seem innocuous, however the deadly neurotoxins in the animals saliva immediately begin working. Within a few minutes, a human will experience muscular weakness, numbness, followed by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.

I believe this critter was featured in Michael Crichton's State of Fear.

Thanks for the link, Danielle.

Photo source: TutzTutz.com