I’m so fascinated by the unisex Ambystoma and y’all should be too!!
The Unisexual Ambystoma is an all female group of salamanders native to the Great Lakes and the North Eastern United States. They are most commonly a triploid species (but they can have multiple variations of polyploidy). But what is SO COOL about them is they steal genomes from males of 5 other species (A. laterale, A. barbouri, A. tigrinum, A. texanum, A. jeffersonianum)!!
The unisexuals pick up and use genomes of sexual species every time they breed, but those genomes do not pass onto the next generation. The genes they “steal” are adapted to the conditions of the local sexual males. They’re like the ninjas of the world of herpetology!!
Imagine that! A lineage made up of only women that, generation after generation, collect genetic material from males of other species that they can distribute to their offspring in pretty much any configuration. Science still doesn’t know how the mother “chooses” the genes she gives to her daughter, and that is FASCINATING!
And this has been going on for millions of years! It is hypothesized that the Unisexual Ambystoma comes from a cross between A. laterale and A. barbouri.
But those two no longer have the same geographical range. This means that the production of new Unisexual Ambystoma populations is not ongoing. This group of female salamanders have been surviving solely by stealing genes from other species!! That’s so freaking cool!!!!!!
imagine being able to read lips and reading the lips of someone who’s lip-sinking a song, except they don’t know the lyrics at all so they’re just mouthing bullshit and hoping to get by w/o anyone noticing, but you do. you notice. you know
i think about this a lot
as someone who can read lips, it’s actually really annoying
when Mom was in language school, there was a dude that knew/was learning morse code, and of course all the students decided that meant they had to mess w him (bc they were students and needed to have fun in class?)
everytime this dude started nodding off and half-sleeping someone would start tapping their pencil on their desk and pretty soon the dude would snap up and call out a random word like “Tree!”
and then realize what’s going on, and get super annoyed at everyone
My middle school history teacher stopped teaching Morse code because kids were using it to cheat on tests by blinking answers to each other.
excellent, excellent post, terrific contributions, all of you
Oh god, I have never successfully cleaned a baby bird skull. They are SO fragile. So all I can really tell you is what DOESNT work lol. and that would be cooking methods, and maceration. They turned to goop with both of those. I would try a gentile natural rotting method. Maybe stick it in a cup outside in the warm sun so bugs can get to it? But sometimes they are so fragile the bugs will break them apart.
Dermestid beetles, only the tiny larvae, or mummify it.
Also, if you’re in the US, it’s illegal to possess all migratory bird parts. You’ll want to be aware of that.
Fieldfare (Turdus Pilaris?) spotted in Sweden May 25th together with 3 others, none of them able to fly. Parents were in the vicinity however and they looked to be healthy so no intervention was necessary.
@turipuri
This cutie is a fledgeling. They’re generally not supposed to be out of the nest before they can fly at all, but the parents will feed and care for them if they do fall out, and babies at this stage can run just fine to avoid predators. If predators are nearby, it can be good to put them on a branch or in a temporary basket nest for some protection, but otherwise they should be left alone unless they’re standing in the road. Birds are pretty good at surviving.
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