Saiga

Wow, what do you know? Yet another animal that is on the brink of extinction due to demand for its parts in 'traditional' Chinese medicine.

Say hello to the saiga (aka big-nosed antelope, Saiga tatarica), of the steppes of Central Asia. The next time you need an aphrodisiac, please read the label and make sure it doesn't contain saiga horn. I've heard snake oil works much better.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Photo source: National Geographic

Travelling Knot

There is debate as to whether or not the hagfish (Myxini sp.) is a true fish. One thing that is not in debate, however, is their hideousness.

These monsters can exude copious quantities of sticky slime when captured or threatened (this slime, to my horror, can actually be used as a substitute for egg whites in baking). Once the threat has passed, they have an unusual means of cleaning off said mucus. They tie themselves into an overhand knot, which then works its way down the animal, head to tail, thereby scraping off the slime. They then flick the slime off the tip of their tail in a derisive, haughty gesture.

That's a stunt I've seen in some cartoons, but never thought actually possible. I'd like to see a boyscout master one of these travelling knots.

Thanks for the photo, Kris.

Photo source: World of Wonders

To Be Queen

As a flawed human being, I take a bit of pleasure in seeing the flaws in others, even in insects.

Ants, who are so often praised for their social cooperation, may not be as perfect as we think. Researchers have recently uncovered evidence that individual ants can be as corrupt and selfish as me (and the rest of humanity). It seems that some ants are able to cheat the ant system and ensure that their own offspring become reproductive queens as opposed to sterile works (queen and worker seen below).

I'm reminded of the pageant mother who parades her daughter about in adult clothing and makeup for her own aggrandizement, the football coach who always keeps his own son in the starting lineup, and the boss who promotes his son over more qualified individuals.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Photo source: DR Nash/PA via Guardian.co.uk

Double Dose of Joy

I've always enjoyed posting on deepsea gigantism and on new oceanic finds. This post is a double dose of joy.

Scientists have recently conducted the most comprehensive survey to date of New Zealand's Antarctic waters. While exploring the Ross Sea, they came across expansive fields of sea lilies, huge sea snails, large sea spiders, jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles, and 2-foot-wide sea stars.

These sea stars are the size of giant food platters. I foresee Sizzler offering buffet runs on trays inspired by these. Or maybe plush pillows...

Why do polar waters, much of which has never been seen by human eyes, yield such large creatures? There is no one answer, so here are several: cold temperatures, not many predators, high levels of oxygen, and longevity.

No doubt, if they were found in shallower, warmer waters, they'd be deemed either a delicacy or an aphrodisiac, which would cull their numbers (and size) in two shakes of a sea star's tubercles.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Photo source: New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research via AP

Wrongfully Accused

Marty alerted me to a news story out of Australia. It seems that a man called the police to report that he had been...had...by a wombat, in a way no one should be had by any anything, much less by a large marsupial.


The man, who is a self-proclaimed alcoholic, later called back to say that he was all right, and that the incident hadn't been painful, but had in fact given him a spontaneous Australian accent.


He was sentenced by the Australian court to 75 hours of community service for distracting emergency and law enforcement personnel.


I comment on this news story only to come to the defense of slandered, wrongfully accused, and disparaged wombats the world over. This man should have to serve in some sort of of anti-defamation league for wombats (and their raging cousins).


In another story, Reuters is reporting today on a photo of a chunk of space debris that landed on a man's farm in Australia. Could there be a relationship here? What's happening down there? (see, I refrained from saying "Down Under")

Two Pairs

In my digging around for Sumreen's tapirs, I came across this gem. These two tapirs share their enclosure with another unlikely pair: a couple of capybaras.

This photo looks like it comes from some alternate dimension, where the rodents are oversized (100 lbs in the case of the capybara), and where pigs have coats, manes, and prehensile snouts. But these creatures don't come from an alternate dimension. They come from an alternate hemisphere (from me, at least).

Thanks for the photo, Sarah.

Industrial Webs

K is back with her web-building freaks.

She was given special permission by the staff at the Lincoln Park Zoo to access and photograph their Madagascar Giant Silk Spiders.

Here's whas she has to say about these monsters:

These spiders, and their Costa Rican cousins, have the strongest silk in the arachnid kingdom- they are the ones being studied in labs around the globe in attempts to synthesize the silk in a human made product...Their webs can be bigger than SIX FEET WIDE, and are a complex maze of thick and thin strands strong enough to catch a bird. The Madagascar Silk spiders are the smaller of the two- only about 5 inches from the tip of a back leg to the tip of a front. The Costa Rican ones I documented being up to 8
inches from legtip to legtip!

Many more posts like this, and talk of 6-foot, industrial-strength webs, and I'll become a permanent gibbering mass in the corner of the room. I thought this blog would be cathartic, but I was so wrong.

The photos below are: 1) a set of the Madagascar spiders, and 2) the Costa Rican spider.

Thanks for the photo, K. My skin is crawling.

Tapir Tongue

Sumreen requested that I post on a tapir and a tapir's tongue. Well, I aim to please. Here is tapir and a tapir's tongue.

I'm not good enough with tapir taxonomy to know if this is of the mountain or lowland (Brazilian) variety. The photographer identifies it as both a mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and a Tapirus terrestris (lowland tapir). Both species hail from South America. The northern Andes are home to the mountain tapir, and the Amazon basin and its surroundings are home to the lowland tapir. Though they have pig-shaped bodies, their closest relatives (aside from the Baird and Malay tapirs) are the odd-toed ungulates (think horses and rhinoceroses). They are large animals (upwards of 7 ft, 700 lbs), famous for their adorable babies and their prehensile snouts. But, in the end, it is the snout that most serves the purposes of this blog.

I hope this gives you your tapir tongue fix, Sumreen.

Photo source: Just chaos