We had some rain overnight, and this morning the sidewalk on my way to work was swarming with earthworms and slugs. The slugs here in Minnesota are tiny little pathetic things, unlike the lovely behemoths I grew up with in Washington state, but they're still cool to see. Anyway, Afarensis led me to this short photoessay about what happens when a hungry slug meets a worm. I am not surprised at all: I've seen a few cannibalistic slug feeding frenzies in my time. They're like the slo-mo sharks of the damp undergrowth.
Search
Profile
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)
I reserve the right to publicly post, with full identifying information about the source, any email sent to me that contains threats of violence.
Random Quote
The man hates superstition But he believes in God I think that's inconsistent I think that's really odd When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer Superstition ain't the way
[Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"]
Recent Posts
- Our illness is their profit
- Friday Cephalopod: NUMBERLESS HOSTS!
- Dear Jezebel
- There Will Be Blood?
- Zooming in on the Origin of Life Science Foundation
- Friday Cephalopod: Feasibility trial successful
- Making excuses
- More bad science in the literature
- An open letter to the Indiana legislature
- One Carnival of Evolution, coming right up
A Taste of Pharyngula
Recent Comments
- vibise on Zooming in on the Origin of Life Science Foundation
- mrpoxman on Our illness is their profit
- Everbleed on Friday Cephalopod: NUMBERLESS HOSTS!
- CherryBombSim on Our illness is their profit
- I'm sorry, thank you on Our illness is their profit
- https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlg3ZrAn0yJktAa1txQLOB6bCND-AfW0pA on Our illness is their profit
- mandas on Our illness is their profit
- sue.welsh on Our illness is their profit
- Amphiox, OM on Our illness is their profit
- Amphiox, OM on Our illness is their profit
Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
Blogroll
Other Information
« Mouse Wars | Main | Carnivalia, and an open thread »
More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Mollusc vs. Annelid
Category: Organisms
Posted on: April 20, 2006 11:49 AM, by PZ Myers
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/4851
Leave a comment
HTML commands: <i>italic</i>, <b>bold</b>, <a href="url">link</a>, <blockquote>quote</blockquote>
Comments
Posted by: Jake | April 20, 2006 12:23 PM
I'm reminded of a story I once read in an old "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" collection (I discovered these paperbacks at the library of my middle school, read the 4 or 5 they had in the collection in a couple of weeks, then had nightmares). A man--he might even have been a descriptive biologist--finds himself on some previously undiscovered island with a population of giant slugs (i.e. 12-15 feet long). He then learns, to his regret, how easily these slugs will consume animal flesh.
Posted by: Jake | April 20, 2006 12:25 PM
Hmmmm. My previous comment reminded me of a comic I read at about the same time that featured flesh-eating butterflies with paralytic venom.
No wonder I turned out to be a social scientist instead.
Posted by: Stanton | April 20, 2006 12:28 PM
The story was about these giant, peach-colored snails, not slugs, that lived on a deserted island in the Pacific, and how this one ambitious biologist was determined to study them, after he had named them... "Blank claveringi"
Unfortunately, he didn't anticipate them being carnivorous, nor intelligent enough to gnaw through the rope that moored his boat.
Posted by: AndyS | April 20, 2006 1:02 PM
I always thought the magnificent banana slug (ariolimax columbianus) was an entriguing beast. Then I bought a house in what I later found to be their ideal environment. Nothing like trying to relax in front of the TV as an 8 inch yellow slug slimes it's way across the living room window periodically stopping to take a crap. Turns out yellow is merely the most popular color; they come in green and orange too and some sport spots.
I used to live farther south where, after a good rain, the nearby walking path would be covered with snails. Walking there one night my wife and I learned why a cartoon from years ago was funny:
Little girl to her father: "Daddy, do you know what sound snails make?"
Father: "No, what sound do they make?"
Little girl with a big smile: "Crunch, crunch."
Posted by: The Brummell | April 20, 2006 2:14 PM
The experiment described used dead, reconstituted (with TSP) worms.
So the slugs didn't seem so much like sharks as vultures. Small, non-flying, very slow vultures.
Posted by: Doozer | April 20, 2006 4:02 PM
Worms out on the sidewalk, eh? 20 years ago we were all singing...
There comes a time
When the rain begins to fall
And the worms come out of the ground.
There are people walking
Oh, it's time to watch your step
Or your feet will make a squishy sound.
We are the worms
Out on the sidewalk.
We are the ones who make a squishy mess
So watch where you walk.
It's a chance we're taking
Leaving our homes underground
Though it's true we'll get a better tan,
Just you and me.
When we're laying 'round
Keep your eye out on the street.
If you don't look out,
You'll have worms under your feet.
We realize
Oh, that the sun is gonna come
And we'll shrivel up like beef jerky from the heat.
Oh, come on now, let me hear ya!.
We are the worms
Out on the pavement.
And when we hear a squish, we look around
To see where cousin Dave went.
It's a stance we're taking
'Cause worms are people too
And we sure don't want a better look
At your big shoe.
OK, maybe just a few of us...
Posted by: craig | April 20, 2006 6:46 PM
"Mollusc vs. Annelid"
Quick - someone write up a treatment and lets send it to Jerry Bruckheimer!
Posted by: Aydin | April 20, 2006 7:13 PM
PZ, thanks for the link. My hits for today went thru the ceiling.