As I mentioned not too long ago, the natural world is more weird and wonderful than anyone can imagine, and yet another example of the diversity of life is the giant Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus). This super-sized worm was thought to be extinct by the 1980's, but a number of the worms have been seen recently, showing that they are still hanging on. Unlike the worms in your garden (which are actually European in origin), this worm is native to North America and presently can be found in Washington state and Idaho. Indeed, this isn't just an ordinary worm, the species being known for "spitting" at attackers and having a flowery smell.
Not many people care about worms, but given that this strange endemic was supposed to have been lost you would think that officials would want to protect it when it was shown to still exist. Surprisingly, however, government wildlife officials have denied endangered species protection to this worm, essentially saying "Sure, there aren't many, but until we know how many there are we can't do anything about it." In a report released the other day via Yahoo!News, U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Tom Buckley was quoted as saying;
"They do seem to be rare, but rarity doesn't mean endangered... They may be in trouble, but we'd need more information to know, and based on the information we received, there's not enough scientific data out there to make a determination."
This is absolutely absurd, especially when conservation biologists have noted that the vast majority of the habitat for the worm is gone (habitat fragmentation being a major trigger for the decline and extinction of species). In response to the inaction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, conservation groups have filed suit in an attempt to protect the worm and use it as an umbrella species to also protect remaining prairie habitat, the continued existence of the worm depending on the persistence of prairies. Whether this action will be enough to get the worms protection is anyone's guess, but it is a shame that conservation has suffered so much due to the attitudes of the present administration.
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depending on the persistence of prairies. Whether this action will be enough to get the worms protection is anyone's guess,
I think it would be best to try to tie it in with the persistence of the prairies. Believe it or not, there are only going to be so many people who get warm fuzzies at the thought of preserving a spitting worm! Even if it does smell like Lilies! LOL!
Dave Briggs :~)
So it could only love itself huh? That's probably fine - aren't these worms hermaphroditic? Someone really needs to capture one, sequence the genome and also try to get it to breed with itself before everyone is standing around looking helpless and saying "What a shame it's gone".
We can't find enough of them to determine if they are endangered, pretty much sums up the whole Bush administration to wildlife conservation.
I remember hearing about that. The person who found one wasn't able to keep it alive (since they can't regenerate from being cut apart), and so the part of the body that was retained was put into embalming fluids.
Thus destroying any possibility of getting usable DNA from it.
(facepalm)
I blogged on this in October: The Giant Spitting Earthworm Needs Your Help!