Here’s a peek at a work in progress: it’s got two kinds of cephalopods, Stethacanthus, and crinoids front and center. Delicious.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Here’s a peek at a work in progress: it’s got two kinds of cephalopods, Stethacanthus, and crinoids front and center. Delicious.
As is traditional at the end of the month, a new Circus of the Spineless is up at The Voltage Gate. And the next Circus of the Spineless at the end of February will be…here! Start sending me good stuff on invertebrate organisms—remember, there are over 30 animal phyla, and all but one of them are fair game, and even that one contains non-vertebrate classes. Will we be able to get them all represented?
Oooh, cool movie of a recently captured frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus. These are weird-looking deep water predators with awkward-seeming bodies and extremely sharp teeth that they use to catch fish and squid.
(hat tip to the Count)
Hot tip for cephalopod fans: the February 2007 issue of Natural History magazine includes a very good article on octopus intelligence and personality.
Mather JA (2007) Eight arms, with attitude. Natural History 116(1):30-36.
Oh, sure…one moment it’s all long throbbing organs pumping slickly in and out of orifices, and then the next thing you know, you’ve got a whole faceful of babies and little larvae giving you that evil demonic look. This is what happens after the squid orgies.
Watch the octopus crawl through a maze of plexiglas tubes—it makes a fellow wish he could get rid of his bones. Hydraulic skeletons rule!
The vulva is one of my favorite organs. Not only is it pretty and fun to manipulate, but how it responds tells us so much about its owner. And it is just amazing how much we’re learning about it now.
Don’t worry about clicking to read more…this article is full of pictures, but it is entirely work safe because it’s all about science.
Any other fans of the Phasmatodea out there? For years, we kept a collection of stick insects — they are extremely easy to raise, and although they aren’t exactly dynamos of activity, they’re weird enough to be entertaining — and so I perk up when I notice a paper on them. The latest news is the discovery of a fossil leaf insect (also a member of the Phasmatodea, but a smaller subgroup specialized to resemble leaves rather than twigs) from 47 million years ago that resembles modern forms very closely. The cryptic camouflage of this group is ancient, and probably coevolved with the emergence of angiosperms.
Here’s the specimen.
In case you were wondering about relationships, here’s a very nice cladogram. One other detail is that there are about 3000 species of phasmids with the stick form, but only 37 that are leaflike, and all are confined to Southeast Asia; this fossil was found in Europe, where no such species are native.
Now I’m pining for our old insect pets — we had to leave them behind in one of our many moves. Anyone want to mail me some phasmid eggs?
Wedmann S, Bradler S, Rust J (2007) The first fossil leaf insect: 47 million years of specialized cryptic morphology and behavior. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 104(2):565-569.
