Organisms
pharyngula | May 2, 2012I think I saw this tree in a Dr Seuss book once upon a time. Unfortunately, all the source says about is that it is "typical habitat of the Western Clawless Upside-down Fly, Nothoastia clausa." That belongs in Dr Seuss, too.
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pharyngula | April 30, 2012Some species of cephalopods are incapable of concealing their sexual history. The males produce packets of sperm called spermatangia that they grasp with a specialized arm that they then reach out and splat, poke into their mate. In Octopoteuthis deletron, a deep-sea squid, these spermatangia are large, pale, and distinctive, so every time a squid is mated it's left with a little white dangling flag marking it — so sex is like a combination of tag and paintball. The males are loaded with ammo — 1646 were counted in the reproductive tract of one male — and the spermatangia can be counted…
pharyngula | April 25, 2012A while back, I told you all about this small piece of the biochemistry of the fly eye — the pathways that make the brown and red pigments that color the eye.
I left it with a question: if even my abbreviated summary revealed considerable complexity, how could this pathway evolve? Changing anything produces a failure or change in the result. Before I answer, let's make the problem even harder, because I love a challenge (although actually, I'm cheating — it's going to turn out that complexity is not a barrier, but an opportunity).
The pigment pathways above are far downstream: they operate…
pharyngula | April 2, 2012Physicists might look up and recognize awesomeness in the skies, but biologists look down and see it swimming in our seas.
(via The Scuttlefish and Whales of Dominica)
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pharyngula | March 31, 2012Hey, that sounds familiar. The monster snake is getting some new attention, with a life-size replica installed in Grand Central Station, and to be featured in a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel (which I don't get, and never heard of until now) tomorrow.
The documentary might be a little bit cheesy, but it still looks fun.
OK, a lot cheesy.
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pharyngula | March 30, 2012Forget that goofy crocoduck. I want a cephalogull.
Actually, this isn't an octopus growing bird wings. I have a whole series of violent photos of the event — it's a very cunning octopus that oozed up to the Ogden Point breakwater in Victoria, BC, reached up silently with it's suckered arms, and dragged a seagull down to a watery doom, and a tasty fowl dinner. If you were eating nothing but crab every day you might want to try something different too.
Also, take that, bird fans!
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pharyngula | March 16, 2012Regal, triumphant…but so alone. Which reminds me that I must fly home soon to my 32nd wedding anniversary and some cephalove.
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