I’m reading this thing about how farmers in Japan considered thunderstorms to be good luck because they’d make more mushrooms grow so some Japanese scientists created this lil electrical machine that they wheeled through the forest administering shocks to the ground to simulate lightning strikes and the areas that they shocked yielded twice as many mushrooms as unshocked plots of land ⚡️🍄
…is an extraordinary species of Metallyticid mantis which is spread throughout Southeast Asia. M. splendidus is most well noted for its striking iridescent rainbow coloration and short body, these features are present because M .splendidus is a mimic of the colorful tiger beetles (Cicindelinae).
Maybe some of you have heard about that awesome sea slug that contains algae chloroplasts and can actually photosynthesize like a plant, right?
Well, it also seems that its ability to utilize chloroplasts was a mutation induced by a virus.
The virus continues to operate in the maintenance of this process.
100% of the species is infected.
……And after they lay their eggs, 100% of them are killed by that virus. Not by “aging” or some other natural life cycle trigger. They just stop being necessary now that they’ve made a new generation and the virus re-activates what were probably its original deadly symptoms when the two first met millions of years ago.
hi what the FUCK
I’ve only read the abstract but
a) this makes it the second animal clade I know of to have a symbiotic relationship with a virus, Ichneumons and their ilk being the first
b) Synchronized mass die-offs, what the hell, why isn’t that selected against AF
It’s not selected against because the virus-induced mutation provides such a big advantage that the infected slugs produced more successful offspring in greater numbers than the uninfected ones. Now there aren’t any uninfected ones to select against the infected ones. I’d suspect the virus kills the adults in order to ensure the new generation has enough food, but I don’t have anything to confirm that.
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!!!!!!
They’re usually non-territorial. If they aren’t bothering anyone, why touch them?
Mud daubers make mud nests that kind of look like a series of closed-off tubes stacked on each other. They put caterpillars in the tubes, lay an egg, and close the tube, and the larva stays inside until it’s an adult. If the tube is open, a wasp came out.
They definitely aren’t territorial. They also spend very little time around the nest, the builder only comes back to lay more eggs and the adults vanish as soon as they come out. Unless you go up and grab one, they won’t sting you. You could safely stand by the nest and shout at it if you were so inclined.
Atricial baby birds:
Naked with Mouth -> fluff with Mouth -> awkward feathers with Mouth and also Legs -> mostly coordinated feathers with Legs and Wings -> adult (mostly Wings)
Precocial baby birds:
Fluff with Legs -> awkward feathers with Legs -> mostly coordinated feathers with Legs and Yelling -> adult (more Yelling)
A Ctebius sp. pseudoscorpion cleaning its weapons in the secret protection of the “under a stone” world. #macrophotography #arachnid #pseudoscorpion #predatoridelmicrocosmo #italy #underastone #darkside #arachnidofinstagram #pickoftheday @ilcp_photographers
this is primarily an obnoxious ad for the enamel pin above (pre-order it here, folks!), but I’m gonna use this opportunity to compare Velociraptor to modern descendants, and see how it stacks up!
Velociraptors & cassowaries evolved hypertrophied claws for entirely different purposes – the ‘slashing, killing claw’ of the Velociraptor is a myth, but modern-day cassowaries have the Real Deal, a ice pick-like weapon on their second toe that can grow to 5 inches.
“The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. There are many records of natives being killed by this bird” – ornithologist Ernest Thomas Gilliard
notice how the cassowary has a straight dagger, while Velociraptor has a hook? modern equivalents to Velociraptor’s hypertrophied claw are eagle talons, used for gripping prey & maneuvering in trees. because it was a terrestrial runner, Velociraptor held this tool off the ground to keep it razor-sharp, but modern birds-of-prey (given the luxury of flight) have transformed ALL their talons into the famous Velociraptor sickle claw!
tl;dr turns out the group aves used the last 66 million years to advance their weaponry & out murder-bird their ancestors (sorry Velociraptor!)
interesting update!! another modern analogue exists, in the Seriema
though they can fly short distances. Seriemas prefer running from danger. they are the closest living relative to the flightless Terror Birds, which preyed upon proto-horses in the Miocene! the red-legged species is used by farmers to guard property against wild animals & human intruders & DEAR GOD you can easily see why:
Seriema feet are not used when capturing/killing prey, but the raised claw is apparently involved in intraspecies conflict, wherein two Seriemas will rear up & kick at eachother, flapping their wings to maintain balance
SO was Velociraptor’s claw used for arboreal maneuvering & RPR (raptor prey restraint) like an eagle, or intraspecies fighting like a Seriema? unfortunately they are quite dead, so we’ll never know (though I’d put money on it being a multipurpose tool!)
Reblogging for birb foot science!
Well, that’s a horrifying thought, Velociraptors hopping around in trees to jump on unsuspecting prey. I mean, even if they were only about turkey-sized, that’s still a pretty impressive thing to have coming at your face with several feet of falling momentum behind it.
Also, please watch this furious modern dinosaur scream at and try to frighten a car.
BettSplendens Tumblr Evac 