“I want to be a Portuguese Man O’ War for Halloween” He asked if I meant a sexy Portuguese Man O’ War because that’s what happens to the majority of girl’s costumes. Uh no, of course I wanted it to be as close to anatomically correct as possible. He said he would be one too. Then he said “you know people will just think we’re jellyfish” which meant he knew that although they were cnidarians as well, they were definitely NOT jellyfish. *sigh* The Portuguese man o’ war (Physalia physalis) is a bad ass colonial organism. This doesn’t mean it has taken over an African country and exploited its people and resources (colonial style), but rather it is made up of many polyps coming together to form a super organism. On top there is a floating gas sac known as a pneumatophore and other polyps attach to this. Only one polyp is lucky enough to be the pneumatophore and the others fall into rank in one of the three remaining divisions: feeding, reproduction, or defense. The long tentacles of the defense troop can be up to 50 meters and have venom containing nematocysts. These stinging cells paralyze small prey and the feeding polyps begin the ocean buffet. Continue reading “Meet the Portugese Man o’ War”
Tag: meet the
Meet the Olinguito
The Smithsonian has just released the news that a new species of mammal has been discovered in the Andes. The Olinguito is a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae) and it is distinct from olingos. This cutie creature has been aptly described as a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear in appearance. Like a lot of incredibly cool animals, these guys hang out in the cloud forests. Continue reading “Meet the Olinguito”
Meet the Backwards Butterfly
A few days ago, a colleague of mine was visiting. When I say colleague, I clearly mean friend that is also a biologist, but I like to pretend that we’re not just up all night drinking and talking about polyandry in frogs. Amidst the usual back and forth game of “no way…did you see that new species they found in wherever”, he mentioned a backwards butterfly. “Did you know about the butterfly that has coloration on its wings to make it look like it’s backwards?” …”uh…no…is that really a thing?”
Tambopata Research Center, Peru
When my friend shared the picture I had no reply (which almost never happens). Damn. Evolution you are amazing. High five natural selection…high fives all around.
Behold the Zebra Hairstreak (Panthiades bathildis)… Not only are the stripes on the wings going the wrong way, but the ends of the wings look like antennae. Continue reading “Meet the Backwards Butterfly”
Meet the Tuatara
The tuatara is often referred to as a living fossil because his buddies went extinct around 100 million years. They live in New Zealand and there are two species.
There have been reports of tuataras living up to 200 years. Henry the proud new father in the video below is 111!
“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.
Meet the Pangolin
The pangolin (Order: Pholidota) is a mammal covered in keratin scales. They can be found in Asia as well as Africa and their size ranges from 1 foot to just over 3 feet. These weirdo cuties eat thousands of ants everyday. Their oversized claws help them dig out ant colonies. As the video below explains, the pangolin uses its super-long tongue to reach the ants. Oh yeah and when it wants to protect itself from predators it pulls an 80s style popple move and rolls up into a tight ball.
“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.
The Finch and Pea 