Yet another entry in the catalog of strange things people see that remind them of me: the Stinky Squid(Pseudocolus fusiformis), thanks to William Gulvin.
I’m going to have to see if my TV still works, because the Discovery Channel is broadcasting giant squid videos on Saturday and Sunday, August 5 and 6.
(via Squid)
David Berner compiled a list of a few cephalopod based Maakie strips, so I’ll pass them on to you. It’s two good things at once.
I can almost see why an octopus would find an elephant attractive, although it might look like a heptaplegic to it.
Watch the ‘pretty’ birdies land on a tree.
Lippard has also pulled out a viewer comment that you will find hard to believe.
The carnivals du jour:
Again, this is also an open thread. I got a comment on the last one that more open threads are needed. Is that true? I don’t need to go to Atrios-level open-threadery, of course, but if you’d like these a little more often, let me know.
The other day, I was asked a simple question that I knew the answer to, right off the top of my head, and since I’m nothing but lazy and lovin’ the easy stuff, I thought I’d expand on it a bit here. The question was, “How do flounder get to be that way, with their eyes all on one side of the head?” And the answer is…pedantic and longwinded, but not too difficult.
The Pleuronectiformes, or flatfish, are a successful teleost order with about 500 known species, some of which are important commercially and are very tasty. The key to their success is their asymmetry: adults are camouflaged ambush predators who lurk on the sea bottom, taking advantage of their flat shape to rest cryptically and snap up small organisms that wander nearby. They lie on their sides, and have peculiarly lop-sided heads in which one eye has drifted to the other side, so both eyes are peering out from either the left or right side (which side is consistent and characteristic for a particular species, although there is at least one species with random assignment of handedness to individuals, and mutant strains are known in others that reverse the handedness.)
A reader discovered this fascinating graffiti in downtown Minneapolis, near the transit center on Hennepin Avenue.
In Minneapolis! So far from the sea, but I’m not alone in pining for it.
I may have to look this up. This is a travel week for me, as I have to run around taking care of some essential pre-school year duties—I’m actually sitting in the St Cloud mall right now, watching the senior citizens do their laps, while waiting for our car to get some minor repairs and maintenance—and tomorrow I have to run in to the university to attend a meeting and to the airport to dispose of one of my kids for a few weeks. I might have some time to cruise the squid-haunted streets of the Big City for a while.
There is now a web page dedicated to the Neoceratodus cause. If you haven’t yet fired off a letter to oppose the destruction of the lungfish’s habitat, there’s a sample letter there to help you get started. It’s not too late to make your voice heard!
Carel Brest van Kempen has posted one of his paintings of Cambrian animals—be sure to click on it to get the larger size. I wish I had a pet anomalocarid in my aquarium.
