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by Dylan

Did you know that the largest mammal in the world can swim up to 30 mph? That is pretty fast for being over 100 tons. The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on our planet. Blue Wales are very difficult to film. They are faster than most boats and are even faster then some speed boats. This means that tracking one would be very difficult. They can consume up to 40 million krill a day. These whales can be found in all of the oceans around the world. They can live in the tropic water and also can live in the arctic waters. They are very adaptable which is unique for an animal with such mass. Here is a video of the blue whale.

The age that most female blue whales reproduce is 6-10 years. In the late summer the female whales will give birth to a 2 ton baby blue whale. When the whale is in the mother’s womb it is growing 8 pounds an hour and 200 pounds a day. The mother will stay with the baby until age 3 then it will set off on its own. These animals do not usually travel in large groups but it is not a surprise when a whale is with one to four other whales. Blue whales feed on shrimp krill and other small crustaceans. The tail is somewhat short and only is 12% of the whale’s actual size.

Are there any other animals that can eat close to what the blue whale can eat?  Are there any organisms that depend on the blue whale?

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by Dylan

As we find more and more species in the deep depths of the ocean, we find out their ways of life. As you know, 2 miles under sea level there lives many kinds of organisms. How these organisms live and reproduce are some of the most fascinating facts of life. Some are scavengers and patrol the bottom of the sea, looking for dead organisms to pick apart like the spider crabs. These crabs are 3 feet in width and will eat every part of an organism until nothing is left.

There are other organisms like the angler fish. These fish attract other fish towards them with their glowing lure and if they come close enough they are eaten. The angler fish gets up to 3.3 feet long. The light on the top of their head is glowing due to bioluminescent bacteria under the skin.

These fish are some of the nastiest fish in the deep. The large ones are female while the males are very small in size. The male angler fish bites into the female, attaches itself, and it stays there for life. When the female is ready to reproduce it already has its mate and does need to go and find one. This means that producing offspring is very easy. As the female goes on with life the male’s main purpose is to produce sperm for the female to reproduce. When the female dies, the male dies along with her and can not detach itself from the female.

As we use light to function in our every day lives the animals use the bioluminescent light to help them function in the deep sea. It is similar to using a light when it is dark out side. There is only one big difference, the light they use is in their body. Since there are so many types of organisms that use luminescence, there are many different ways organisms produce it. Luminescence is produced when a chemical reaction happens in the organism’s body witch converts to light energy. The bioluminescent organisms are hard to study because when captured their light producing organs are exhausted or destroyed. Bioluminescent light also helps animals with protection, communication with others of the same species, and luring prey.

Can organisms change the colors of their bioluminescence? Is there any other animal that attaches itself to the opposite sex for life?

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by Andie

Ever thought about what kind of animals live at the bottom of the ocean? You probably picture some huge bizarre fish. Ever thought that maybe something cute could call the ocean floor its home? The Dumbo Octopus is a little creature, usually around 20 c.m.. It is benthic, which means it lives close to the bottom of the ocean. These little guys are in every ocean all around the world.

You’re most likely wondering about their odd name. They got it because of their paired fins that resemble the character Dumbo from the Walt Disney movie. These ears are used for swimming and they are actually very graceful swimmers. Here is a video of one swimming.

They feed on crustaceans, worms and bivalves, and they swallow their food whole. There are 37 species of this little octopi. From observing them scientists have learned that they live at depths of 300 to 400 meters, but they have also been found much lower.

Scientists actually know very little about the Dumbo Octopus. How do you think they could find out more? What other cool deep sea creatures can you find?

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by Rachael

After a long winter of developing in its cocoon, the adult flannel moth emerges from its shelter, mates, and lays its eggs during the end of spring. Flannel moths deposit eggs on different bushes,trees, and shrubs. The eggs, resembling a cotton ball, hatch within a few days and the larvae mature in a few weeks. When the larvae is fully developed it is called the Puss caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis aka “asp”. The puss caterpillar are teardrop-shaped with long yellow or reddish-brown silky hairs. The caterpillar can grows to 1 or 1 ½ inches long and has seven pairs of prolegs (suction-cup claspers on the rear of the body).

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Now, this may seem like an ordinary caterpillar, but don’t be fooled, the puss caterpillar is very unique. The puss caterpillar is covered with long hairs that hide hollow spines These spines connect to poison glands in the skin. The puss caterpillar releases the venom when it is rubbed against skin causing a severe burning sensation. The pain is much like a bee sting, but with worse side affects. Someone who has touched a puss caterpillar will experience pain within the first 5 minutes. Swelling and Erythemetous, blood-colored spots, will appear where the sting is. Other symptoms are headaches, nausea,vomiting, intense abdominal distress, and sometimes shock may occur. The pain usually goes away within an hour, but if injected with a large dose of poison symptoms may last up to 5 days.

What other types of poisonous caterpillars are there, what are their affects?  Why do you think the puss caterpillar releases venom?  Are puss caterpillar larvae and flannel moths also poisonous?

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting everyone to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces bats.

Fruit Bat Photo source

by Miss Baker

This post is dedicated to my AP biology students, Jacob and Stevie, who think bats are as cool as birds because they also fly. Well, I’m not convinced they’re as cool as birds, but I do think they are endless forms most beautiful. I actually know very little about bats so I had to do a bit of research. Here is the classification scheme for bats:

Basic bat anatomy can be viewed here. Bats are divided into two groups: echolocators and fruit bats. There are four other extinct groups. Most echolocators are insect eaters and are helpful to agriculture because they eat insect pests. In one hour, a single bat can eat up to 1,000 insects. Fruit bats also benefit agriculture because they aid in seed dispersal. When they ingest fruit, the seed is not digested and is eliminated in the bat’s feces. By this time, the bat has flown away from the original parent plant and thus, the seed is dispersed far away from the parent.

Fruit bat holding an orange Photo source

Unfortunately, bats have been given a bad reputation, mainly due to the few species that drink blood. These bats don’t drink enough blood to kill their hosts, but the bites may cause infection. There is also a common misconception that bats are a dangerous source of rabies. While it’s true that bats can carry rabies, less than one-half of one percent of bats have it. Another reason bats are disliked is that some species aren’t considered very attractive.

Golden Bat (Mimon bennettii) Photo source

However, on this website you can see what I think is the world’s cutest bat.

Much to my surprise, I discovered that bats are better fliers than birds. You can watch them flying in wind tunnels on this website. There is one species of bat that can catch birds in the air and prey on them! However, there are some birds that can catch and prey on bats as well, as you can see in this video.

How do bats hang upside down? The talons on a bat’s feet are closed when the feet are relaxed and opened when the feet are flexed. Think of a bull clip. In order to open the bull clip you must apply a force, but it takes no energy to close it. When a bat lands it flexes its feet, grasps the ledge, and then relaxes.

Bull clip Photo source

Fruit Bats Photo source

Because the bat’s feet are relaxed while hanging upside down, if a bat dies while hanging, it will continue to hang until something knocks it down!

Why hang upside down? Bats can’t take off from the ground. They must climb up to a high spot and then fall from that spot to begin flight. Roosting from a high spot allows bats to easily launch into flight when desired.

A mysterious illness has been killing thousands of bats in New York and Vermont. In some caves, the death rate has been as high as 90%, leaving many to fear the bat populations may not recover from what is affecting them. It’s nicknamed “white-nose disease” after the fuzzy white fungus that grows on the nose of most affected bats. But, the fungus is just a secondary infection that only attacks the bats once they are already sick from the unknown primary cause.

Little Brown Bats Photo source

The disease is currently affecting four species including the highly endangered Indiana bat. Like the disappearing bees, a decrease in bat numbers will have a severe impact on agriculture. The faster this mystery is solved, the better.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting everyone to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces the Long-eared Jerboa.

Photo source (Zoological Society of London/PA)

by Miss Baker

Deserts are one of the most misunderstood ecological biomes on planet earth. People often think they are lifeless ecosystems with a few uninteresting cacti and vultures. But, you need to look closer. Deserts are hotbeds of “endless forms most beautiful” that possess spectacular adaptations.

For example, the Long-eared Jerboa lives in the Mongolian desert. It’s a nocturnal mammal that eats insects and lives in burrows. The first video images of a long-eared jerboa were recently recorded. Scroll down on the video link page to see all the videos. An additional video can be found here.

What is the purpose of the exceptionally long ears? No uneducated guesses please. Use the internet to research and then propose hypotheses.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting everyone to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces the Rock Hyrax.

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by Will

The rock hyrax is said to be the closest living relative to the elephant. How is this possible, you say? The problem with the statement above is that a common ancestor, the sea-cow(manatee or dugong), links these two species together. For more information on how the two species are related, check out my source of information at the bottom of the post. This is a truly fascinating species.

What makes it even cooler to me is that Miss Baker has never even heard of it. This animal is measured at 12 inches to the shoulder and is an herbivore, just like elephants. The hyrax can also be called the rock rabbit or the dassie and its habitat ranges from dry savanna to rain forests. Its life span is 12 years and it weighs 5-9 lbs. Their main predators are leopards, pythons, large birds, cervals, and civets. Rock hyraxes protect themselves from biting their predators or escaping to hiding places near or in rocky spaces.

An interesting fact is that the hyrax is so unlike any other animal, that it is placed in its own order (Hyracoidea). Another cool fact is that fossil remains indicate that there were hyraxes the size of oxen at one point of time. This may explain why its gestation period (7-8 months) may be so unusually long for an animal of its size.

Rock Hyrax Behavior

The rock hyrax does not dig burrows. Instead, they live in colonies of about 50 in natural crevices. Hyrax vocalizations include twitters, growls, whistles, and shrieks. Although hyraxes are generally shy, they are easily tamed in captivity. Hyraxes live in groups of one territorial mate and up to 20 females and their young. More than one group can live in an area, but each male protects its territory.

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Have you ever heard of the rock hyrax?

What other information or pictures can you find on the rock hyrax?

Have you ever heard of another animal this small being related to an animal as large as the elephant?

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting everyone to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces the Lyrebird.

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by Richie

I was bored one day and I thought I would look for some good YouTube videos. I had no idea that I would be watching a video from an animal documentary, but the name of the video just caught my eye: “Amazing Lyrebird Footage. Mimics Chainsaw, Camera, Music, DJ”. Now, I had never heard of a lyrebird, but any bird that can mimic a chainsaw is pretty awesome, so I went ahead and clicked on the video.

Now, after I saw this, I was just thinking someone messed with the video and put it on YouTube. So I looked up the Lyrebird on the internet and it turns out that it is truly capable of mimicking chainsaws, car alarms, and other human made noises. From what I have found out by looking at sites, the Lyrebird must have the most unique song to impress his mate. Since the Lyrebird has no song of its own, it must copy other birds’ songs. Sometimes when there are other noises in the forest, such as chainsaws and car alarms, the Lyrebird will copy that sound and use it to attract a mate. I think this is a wonderful example of the amazing animals in our world and just gives us more reason to try our best to protect it.

What other information can you find about Lyrebirds?

After watching the video, do you think the Lyrebird truly has no song of its own when it copies human noises?

Sources:

http://www.birdnature.com/dec1899/lyre.html

http://home.iprimus.com.au/readman/lyrebird.htm

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting students to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces the Sifaka Lemur.

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by Miss Baker

Sifaka lemurs cannot walk on all fours because their front limbs are shorter than their hind limbs.  So to get around on the ground they must leap.  Their leaping ability is extraordinary.  When leaping from tree to tree they can leap a distance of 30 meters!  On the ground, their leaping is so graceful a display that the narrator in the following video considers it a ballet:

Video from BBC program, Weird Nature: Marvelous Motion

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Lemurs, like the Sifaka, are native to Madagascar.  What other information can you find about lemurs?

I originally found out about this amazing animal from the science blog post, “Leapin’ Lemurs!” by grrlscientist.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting students to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces the Wandering Albatross.

Original Photo source

by Miss Baker

To sailors long ago, the sight of an albatross signaled good luck. So when a mariner kills an albatross in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the ship is cursed and we get this famous passage:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

According to this source, the author who wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, had a specific purpose in mind when writing this poem.

His underlying theme is that all things that inhabit the natural world have an inherent value and beauty, and that it is necessary for humanity to recognize and respect these qualities.

When the mariner disrespects the natural world by killing the albatross, the end result is human suffering.

Wandering Albatross Videos

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What information can you find online about the wandering albatross?

by Miss Baker

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a weekly, Sunday post inviting students to learn more about the incredible biodiversity on planet earth. This week’s edition introduces Cymothoa exigua.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One of my reasons for starting this weekly post is to point out that all life is beautiful because every life form possesses incredible adaptations that fit it to the environment in which it lives. These adaptations help life forms reach their biological goal - survive to reproduce. Admit it, if you’re a parasite, this has got to be one of the most beautiful adaptations to possess…

Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean that attaches itself to its host’s tongue. Then it slowly extracts blood from the tongue until the tongue cells die and the tongue falls off. The parasite replaces the tongue with its own body. The host (a type of fish) survives just fine with its new parasitic tongue and every time the host eats, the parasite takes in some of the food for itself.

This is a picture of the parasite.

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This is a picture of the parasite attached to its host.

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Parasite got your tongue?

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by Miss Baker

If you’ve ever been stung by a bee think of it as a love sting. While it probably didn’t feel very good, you have a lot of reasons to be thankful for when it comes to bees. 3/4 of the flowering plants on the planet rely on bees to pollinate them. Bee pollination of agricultural crops is worth an estimated $15 billion dollars in the United States. According to a Cornell study, honeybees can be thanked for 1 in every 3 bites of food Americans eat!

But, like a lot of organisms on the planet, honeybees are disappearing and entomologists (biologists who study insects) aren’t sure why. Check out this article. Or you can listen to a podcast here.

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If you have the misfortune to be allergic to bees, you probably have a harder time feeling appreciative. But, you can still appreciate them, just at a considerable distance.

This bee is just being born! Picture Source

There’s actually an animated Dreamworks movie coming out in November entitled Bee Movie. It’s rated PG. I thought it would be interesting to mention it here, however, I am in no way saying it’s a good movie. Hollywood doesn’t have a good track record with science concepts in movies.

Gotta buzz off now! I’m busy as a bee! Until next time…

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