We’re moving on to Issue 101, with a big bite and an armoured back. And if you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant, or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #101 (#281)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

[Clade]*: Archosauromorpha

Order: Crocodilia

Family: Crocodylidae

Genus: Crocodylus

Species: rhombifer

* Due to the reclassification of Archosauromorpha; including both birds and crocodilians the cladistics of the group is currently being reorganized.

Related Species: The Cuban crocodile is one of the four American members of the genus Crocodylus, the others being the American crocodile (C. acutus), the Morelet’s crocodile (C. moreletii) and the Orinoco crocodile (C. intermedius) (1).

Range: The current range of the Cuban crocodile is limited to the Zapata swamp of Cuba and the offshore island of Isla de la Juventud. Fossil remains of the species have been found on multiple other Caribbean Islands including the Dominican Republic, Hispaniola and the Bahamas.

IUCN Status: The Cuban crocodile currently listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Comrade Crocodile

Cuban crocodiles are medium sized crocodilians, reaching an average length of 2.5m and a weight of 90kg, although due to the ability to continue growing throughout their lives, large specimens reaching lengths of 3.5m and weights of over 200kg have been recorded (1). Like all extant crocodilians, including the distantly related alligators and caimans, the Cuban crocodile lives primarily in shore-side habitat, but is the most terrestrial extant member of the order Crocodilia. Cuban crocodiles exhibit partial adaptations to terrestrial habitats with reduced webbing on the back feet, and no webbing on the front feet to allow for easier terrestrial locomotion. When moving on terrestrial habitats, Cuban crocodiles adopt a ‘high walk stance’ with the legs held close to the flank and their belly lifted off the ground. While stamina when moving on terrestrial habitats is typically less than a similarly sized mammal or bird, Cuban crocodiles, like all modern crocodilians have a four-chambered heart, something that no other extant group of reptiles possesses. The respiration of the Cuban crocodile, and by extension all other extant crocodilians, is unidirectional akin to the system found in birds, suggesting that crocodilians are more closely related to them then other extant groups of reptiles (3).

Despite their more terrestrial foot structure, Cuban crocodiles are still ambush predators operating from shore-line habitats. Prey items such as birds, small mammals and fish are often taken, and the Cuban crocodile does feed upon freshwater turtles, using the large blunt teeth at the back of its jaw to crush their shells, making them easier to swallow. There have been some suggestions that Cuban crocodiles occasionally exhibit true co-operative hunting behaviours (4), although further study is required. Adult Cuban crocodiles have no natural predators, despite living alongside the larger American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and is behaviourally dominant other its larger relative. Cuban crocodiles have been witnessed playing with items such as copper piping and cinder blocks in captivity (5).

Cuban crocodiles mate between May and June, with males uttering deep infrasound calls to attract the female, and blowing bubbles at her before mating. Female Cuban crocodiles dig trenches before laying up to 50 eggs and then covering them up and guarding the nest until the eggs hatch 70 days later. The sex of the hatchlings is dependent on nest temperature during incubation, with eggs that reach a temperature of 32°C (89.6°F) or above developing into males (6). Cuban crocodile hatchlings are predated by a wide range of species, primarily humans (Homo sapiens), raccoons (Procyon lotor) and adult Cuban and American crocodiles.

Five Fun Cuban Crocodile Facts

While the Cuban crocodile has been recorded as being aggressive, there is currently only one recorded fatality from this species.

Two Cuban crocodiles, Castro and Hillary, were gifted to the Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov, by their former owner Fidel Castro in 1978, before being gifted to the Skansen Aquarium in Sweden in 1981 (7).

Fossil bones of the giant ground sloths Megalocnus have been found with the bite marks that match the dentition of large Cuban crocodiles.

Cuban crocodiles grow slowly due to reduced prey levels, combined with human hunting and higher than normal cases of juvenile cannibalism have contributed to the species endangerment.

Hybrids of the American crocodile and the Cuban crocodile occur with approximately 49% of wild Cuban crocodiles exhibiting hybrid characteristics (8).

References

1. arkive.com
2. Palmer, Jamie L.; Nieto-Claudín, Ainoa; Rodriguez, Gustavo Sosa; Fleitas, Etiam Perez; Augustine, Lauren; Deem, Sharon L. (July 2023). "Hematology and Blood Chemistry Values in Cuban Crocodiles (Crocodylus Rhombifer) Housed at the Zapata Swamp Crocodile Farm, Cuba". Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. 54 (2): 301–309
3. Farmer, C. G.; Sanders, K. (2010). "Unidirectional airflow in the lungs of alligators" (PDF). Science. 327 (5963): 338–340.
4. Alexander, Marc (2006-01-01). "Last of the Cuban crocodile?". Americas (English Edition). Organization of American States. ISSN 0379-0940. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
5. Murphy J, Evans M, Augustine L and Miller K (2016) Behaviours in the Cuban Crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer), Herpetological Review, 2016, 47(2), 235–240.
6. Ramos Taragon, R. S. (2010). Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer). In S. M. C.Stevenson, Crocodiles Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (pp. 114-118). Crocodile Specialist Group : Darwin
7. Amy Woodyatt (2019). "Fidel Castro's crocodile bites man at aquarium party". CNN. Retrieved 2019-08-24
8. Weaver, J. P.; Rodriguez, D.; Venegas-Anaya, M.; Cedeño-Vázquez, J. R.; Forstner, M. R. J.; Densmore, L. D. III (2008). "Genetic characterization of captive Cuban crocodiles (Crocodylus rhombifer) and evidence of hybridization with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)". Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology. 309A (10): 649–660

Picture Credits

1. OIP.gdC1mMF6FJESEdvtYrJo9AHaE6 (474×314) (bing.com)
2. image.jpg (1198×627) (drb960u7vv58y.cloudfront.net)
3. maxresdefault.jpg (1280×720) (ytimg.com)
4. The-Cuban-Crocodile.jpg (460×313) (reptilefact.com)

5. R.ceae3b5d9fa69331a22565a0da3dd025 (500×344) (bing.com)

Next week, we’re heading up north to meet an animal that likely has saved your life without you ever knowing it. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out the dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals, which can be found here or on the blog of utter crock @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

It’s here, Issue 100. At this point, we are eighty issues past where I planned to go with this. As we leave the beginning of the beginning, rest assured that the Ark will be making a lot more stops as we pick up new issues. And if you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant, or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #100 (#280)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Family: Hominidae

Genus: Pan

Species: troglodytes

Related Species: The closest living relative to the chimpanzee is the bonobo (Pan paniscus). Together with the two species in the genus Gorilla and humans (Homo sapiens) they form the tribe Homininae, also referred to as ‘the African Apes’ (1).

Range: Chimpanzees are found in the belt of tropical rainforest across equatorial Africa, ranging from Tanzania in the east to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau in the west.

IUCN Status: Chimpanzees are currently listed as ‘Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

All in the Family

Chimpanzees are one of the larger extant members of the great ape family, only smaller than the two species in the genus Gorilla and Homo sapiens, with an adult male standing 150cm and reaching a maximum weight of 70kg. Like most extant apes, chimpanzees are social animals, typically living in groups of 15 to 150 individuals. Adapted to both arboreal and terrestrial locomotion, chimpanzees primarily move in a bipedal manner in the former environment and a quadrupedal one in the latter, although they are capable of walking and running bipedally on the ground when necessary. As an adaptation to arboreal living chimpanzees have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscles in their hands, giving them a grip strength of approximately 200kg, approximately 50% higher than humans of a similar age (2).

While omnivorous, the majority of the chimpanzee’s diet is frugivorous, with 64% of their diet consisting of fruits (3). Animal prey is also taken, with some prey items such as yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus), blue duikers (Philantomba monticola), and common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) being sizable. Hunting is typically undertaken as a pack, with ‘blockers’ cutting off escape routes with other individuals acting as chasers, pushing prey to chimpanzees waiting in ambush to capture and kill the prey item. While most prey items are ripped apart, some communities have started hunting with sticks sharpened by the chimpanzees’ teeth to hunt concealed prey such as Senegal bushbabies (Galago senegalensis) when hiding in areas typically unreachable by the bigger primate (4). Tool use is also applied when gathering honey, with the chimpanzees using different length and width sticks depending on the aggressiveness of the bee nests they were raiding. Chimpanzees have few predators, with leopards (Panthera pardus) being the most consistent predator, although attacks are typically carried out at night upon sleeping prey to reduce potential retaliation.

Chimpanzee troops are typically patriarchies, with a linear hierarchy from the largest, most aggressive male through younger males and then down to females and juvenile animals. While the largest male is usually dominant, male chimpanzees sometimes form coalitions to dominate individuals they usually couldn’t and boost their own standing by presenting a united front against rivals. Female chimpanzees are not above forming their own coalitions against males to secure more dominant positions within the troop (5). Coalitions are fragile, however, and may break down if a party within the coalition feels it would be more advantageous to form new alliances or destroy old ones.

While mating occurs throughout the year, females upon entering a reproductive season, do so more readily when food is plentiful. Both sexes engage in promiscuous mating with multiple partners, and while the more dominant male may restrict breeding for other males, chimpanzees have been recorded leaving their established territory to mate before returning to the troop. While copulation is short, approximately seven seconds (6), gestation is relatively long, with females pregnant for eight months. Females are the primary care givers, although male chimpanzees do interact with and support females they mated with (7). Baby chimpanzees typically don’t break physical contact with their mothers in the first year of life and are only able to sit and move independently beyond their mother’s arm span when they reach two years of age. Chimpanzees remain juveniles until they reach nine years of age, when they reach sexual maturity.

Anatomy of an Attack #8 - Ape shall kill Ape

While it is tempting to talk about the many aggressive encounters between chimpanzees and humans in both wild and captive settings, there is another encounter involving chimpanzees I wanted to talk about, one that lasted for four years and changed the scientific perspective on chimpanzee behaviour. Before we get into the event known as ‘The Four Years War’, not to be confused with the Italian Wars between 1521 to 1526, we need to know about the community of chimpanzees living in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. At the start of the war, a single community, the Kasakela, lived in the National Park, ruled by the troop’s leader, an individual named by the observing anthropologist, one Jane Goodall, as Mike.

As he aged, Mike’s grip began to weaken, and a coalition of six males began to schism, preferring to live in the southern area of the troop’s territory (8). As the schism became more noticeable, this new troop, the Kahama, began raiding their former family’s territory, although conflict was usually relegated to noisy shouting matches. Despite the increasing aggression, some friendly ties remained between the Kasakela and the Kahama, with Mike and another older Kasakela male Rodolf maintaining good connections with the Kahama male Goliath. Despite the increasing aggression over the past two years, none of the humans observing the chimpanzees believed that the conflict would go from essentially a border skirmish to a full-fledged war (9).

The Kasakela would draw first blood on January 7, 1974, with six Kasaklea males ambushing a Kahama male, named Godi, as he was feeding peacefully in a tree. Despite trying to flee, Godi was sized by the Kasaklea males, thrown out of the tree, and beat him with bare fists, stones, and tree branches until he couldn’t move. After much boisterous celebration, the Kasakela party left, and Godi stood up and limped away but succumbed to his wounds later that day. This act of murder was shocking; nobody had witnessed chimpanzees attempt to kill one of their own, not just in Gombe but throughout the species entire range until that day (10). Godi may have been the first death witnessed by the watching anthropologists, but he wouldn’t be the last. Another Kahama male, De, was ambushed in the same way, dying of wounds inflicted during the attack.

What little peace there had been ended when the elderly Goliath of the Kahama stepped in. Looking to make peace with his former allies Rodolf and Mike, Goliath was ambushed and was attacked with a furiosity unmatched by the previous attacks, with one Kasaklea male almost twisting Goliath’s leg off in an attempt to dismember him (9). With Goliath dead, three Kahama males remained; Charlie, Sniff, and Willy Wally, the latter essentially a non-combatant due to his ongoing fight against polio (9). What happened to Charlie was unknown; sounds of a fight could be heard, and his corpse showed all the signs of a beating when fishermen found the body three days later. While we don’t know what became of Willy Wally, he went missing shortly after Charlie’s death. With the males of the Kahama reduced down to one, the females of the troop were next to be targeted, with an elderly female, Madame Bee, found dead suffering from terrible wounds. Madame Bee may have been the lucky one; however, three of the other females were dragged back to Kasaklea territory.

Alone Sniff, the last member of the Kahama, survived on his own for a year, with anthropologists hoping that the conflict was over, that another troop would accept him, only for the Kasaklea to find him and finish what they had started. With their territory reclaimed, the Kasaklea soon found themselves in simultaneous conflict with the Kalande and the Mitumba, neighbouring troops of chimpanzees. With Sniff’s death in 1978, the Kasaklea had 15 square kilometres of territory, but after three years of conflict with their new rivals, this had shrunk down to 5 square kilometres, not enough to feed every member of the troop, necessitating more peaceful relations to be sought with their neighbours.

At the time of the ongoing conflict, many accused Jane Goodall of anthropomorphizing the chimpanzees, with the belief held that humans and animals behaved very differently (11). Indeed, before the conflict had started, Goodall herself held the belief that chimpanzees were like people but were generally ‘nicer’ in their behaviour to each other than humans. With the conclusion of the four-year war, Goodall’s perspective changed, and I think she can say it with more poetry than I;

For several years, I struggled to come to terms with this new knowledge. Often when I woke in the night, horrific pictures sprang unbidden to my mind—Satan [one of the apes], cupping his hand below Sniff's chin to drink the blood that welled from a great wound on his face; old Rodolf, usually so benign, standing upright to hurl a four-pound rock at Godi's prostrate body; Jomeo tearing a strip of skin from Dé's thigh; Figan, charging and hitting, again and again, the stricken, quivering body of Goliath, one of his childhood heroes. – Jane Goodall in her memoir Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe.

While Goodall’s own interference was initially blamed for the conflict, it was later discovered that human encroachment is a minor, if not negligible, initiator of chimpanzees going to war with each other, Indeed, it appears internal power struggle over territory and available fertile females is the main reason that chimpanzees choose to go to war (12). While war may be the most monsterous artform associated with humans, it appears to harken back to at least our last common ancestor with chimpanzees and bonobos. Warfare and violence against the outgroup is part of our evolutionary path, tempered only by our ability to empathise with not just our immediate family and friends, but strangers across the other side of the world. So next time we feel the urge to attack someone for their beliefs, their sexuality, skin colour, age, religion (or lack thereof), or gender, take a long look in the mirror, and decide what animal is staring back at you.

References

1. arkive.com
2. O'Neill, M. C.; Umberger, B. R.; Holowka, N. B.; Larson, S. G.; Reiser, P. J. (2017). "Chimpanzee super strength and human skeletal muscle evolution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114(28): 7343–7348
3. Newton-Fisher, N. E. (1999). "The diet of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda". African Journal of Ecology. 37(3): 344–354
4. J (2015) "Female chimps seen making, wielding spears". Discovery
5. Newton-Fisher, N. E. (2006). "Female coalitions against male aggression in wild chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest". International Journal of Primatology. 27(6): 1589–1599
6. Dixson, A. F. (2012). Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans. OUP Oxford#
7. Murray, C. M.; Stanton, M. A.; Lonsdorf, E. V.; Wroblewski, E. E.; Pusey, A. E. (2016). "Chimpanzee fathers bias their behaviour towards their offspring". Royal Society Open Science. 3(11): 160441.
8. Frankenberry, Nancy K.(2008). The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own Words. Princeton University Press.
9. Goodall, Jane(2010) Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. Morris, Ian(2014). War! What Is It Good For?: The Role of Conflict and the Progress of Civilisation from Primates to Robots. MacMillan.
11. Bradshaw, G. A. (2009). Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity. Yale University Press. p. 40
12. Nature of war: Chimps inherently violent; Study disproves theory that 'chimpanzee wars' are sparked by human influence". ScienceDaily., September 2014.

Picture Credits

1. OIP.KkH0SbPzegMeAX_wdwyM_wHaJ4 (474×632) (bing.com)
2. chimp.jpg (2048×1536) (independent.co.uk)
3. image-20170331-16266-1gmqa09.jpg (1356×668) (theconversation.com)
4. Gombe-stream-national-park.jpeg (2560×1700) (mistersafari.com)
5. OIP.80so2-xzE3Uq4UAHEeE5XAHaEK (474×266) (bing.com)
6. 201244125249002-2012-05MargShipmanFD.jpg (424×500) (americanscientist.org)

Next week, we go from looking at apposable thumbs to trying to stay clear of Cuba’s fiercest resident. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out the dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals, which can be found here or on the blog of the greatest of apes, @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

I’m back, and I need to say a big thank you for @cbishop and @arctika for helming this boat while I’m out and about. If you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #99 (#279)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Coccinellidae

Genus: Coccinella

Species: septampunctata

Related Species: The seven spotted ladybird is one of over ninety species within the genus Coccinellia known collectively as ladybird beetles (1).

Range: The seven-spotted ladybird is found across northern Asia and Europe, from the Korean Peninsula in the east, to the United Kingdom in the west.

IUCN Status: The seven-spotted ladybird is currently not listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Red and Black

The seven-spotted ladybird is a small beetle with a carapace length of up to 8mm. Typically the carapace is a dark red, with three black spots on each wing and a seventh spot just behind the thorax in the middle. The seven-spotted ladybird’s carapace is comprised of the forewings and splits vertically when the beetle is ready to take place. While somewhat cumbersome fliers, ladybirds can reach a top speed of 19mph (30kmph) and a maximum cruising altitude of 1,100m (2). While typically solitary seven-spotted ladybirds may swarm in warm weather, with populations occasionally reaching plague proportions, such as during the exceptionally warm and dry summer of 1976 in the United Kingdom. Older ladybirds occasionally tint yellow on the head, due to a process known as ladybird taint, which can spread onto surfaces that the beetles aggregate on (3).

Seven-spotted ladybirds are carnivorous, primarily feeding upon aphids, scale insects and other small insects. Seven-spotted ladybirds are predated upon by lacewing larvae and insectivorous birds, although the aposematic colouration of red and black advertises the beetles foul taste. When disturbed, ladybirds auto-haemorrhage toxic foul-smelling alkaloids from the joints on the legs to deter predators even further. Due to the toxic nature of the ladybird, other invertebrates such as ladybird spiders (Eresus species) mimic the colourations of ladybirds, despite having no toxins themselves to reduce their own predation (4).

Seven-spotted ladybirds lay their eggs near potential larval food sources, so the flightless larvae do not have to travel far to find prey. Like the adults, larval seven-spotted ladybird feed on aphids and when targeted by predators, ooze toxic secretions from their legs and back. Seven-spotted ladybirds go through four instars, moulting three times before they pupate (5). Upon emerging as an adult, seven-spotted ladybirds live for up to a year, hibernating during cold climates, occasionally in large aggregations in buildings.

Nature’s Most Wanted #22 – Harlequin Ladybird

The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is a small beetle native to eastern Asia, and has spread to Europe and North America, with populations beginning to become established in South America and Africa. Harlequin ladybirds have multiple carapace and spot colours and multiple spot patterns. Harlequin ladybirds gather in larger aggregations then other ladybird species and are more likely to enter human habitation. Harlequin ladybirds feed on plant predators such as aphids and were introduced to Europe and North America to control the populations but quickly expanded from the farms they were introduced to into neighbouring areas.

Where harlequin ladybird populations explode, native ladybird populations decline as they are outcompeted by the introduced harlequin ladybirds (6). Where they gather in large aggregations harlequin ladybirds can stain surfaces and crops, causing contamination of grapes resulting in the alteration of the taste of the wine produced (7). The main impact harlequin ladybirds is the spread of microsporidan parasites, such as Wolbachia, to native ladybird populations. While the harlequin ladybird is immune to the impact of these parasites, native ladybirds are impacted, and causes male larvae to develop into adult female beetles. While ladybirds are able to reproduce by parthenogenesis, the lack of genetic diversity makes native species more susceptible to disease.

Multiple control methods for harlequin ladybirds are utilised, primarily by the wine industry to control population. Control methods include trapping, insecticide spraying and removal of ladybirds, with the sealing of buildings in areas where large aggregations occur. Studies have shown that the alkaloids created by the harlequin ladybird contain an antimicrobial chemical called harmonine, with early tests suggest that certain chemicals may inhibit the growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoan that causes malaria in humans (8).

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Jeffries, D. L.; Chapman, J; Roy, H. E.; Humphries, S; Harrington, R; Brown, P. M. J.; Lawson Handley, L-J (2013). "Characteristics and drivers of high-altitude ladybird flight: Insights from vertical-looking entomological radar". PLOS ONE. 8 (12)

3. Pickering, Gary J.; Botezatu, Andreea (2021). "A Review of Ladybug Taint in Wine: Origins, Prevention, and Remediation". Molecules. 26 (14): 4341

4. Raška, J; Pekár, S (2018). "Do ladybird spiders really mimic ladybird beetles?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 126 (1): 168–177

5. Majerus, Michael E. N. (2003). "Ladybugs". In Resh, Vincent H.; Cardé, Ring T. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. pp. 618–622

6. Russell F. Mizell III (2007). "Impact of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidea) on native arthropod predators on pecan and crape myrtle" (PDF). Florida Entomologist. 90 (3): 524–536

7. Gary Pickering; James Lin; Roland Riesen; Andrew Reynolds; Ian Brindle; George Soleas (January 2004). "Influence of Harmonia axyridis on the sensory properties of white and red wine". American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 55 (2): 153–159

8. Christian Rene Röhrich; Che Julius Ngwa; Jochen Wiesner; Henrike Schmidtberg; Thomas Degenkolb; Christian Kollewe; Rainer Fischer; Gabriele Pradel; Andreas Vilcinskas (2011). "Harmonine, a defence compound from the harlequin ladybird, inhibits mycobacterial growth and demonstrates multi-stage antimalarial activity". Biology Letters. 8 (2): 308–311

Picture Credits

1. R.d21e1d2bf91ed67fc0d698da613af636 (885×941) (bing.com)

2. large.jpg (1024×731) (inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com)

3. R.4e9c1d9a7c09302b266d3376a24586b1 (905×800) (bing.com)

4. OIP.FMDa15As17GTc7qy6-_WNQHaF1 (474×373) (bing.com)

And that’s the last stop before reaching one-hundred issues, next week we have a big issue to celebrate reaching three figures. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of @ficopedia clearly more of a beetle than a Beatle.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

This issue is a ripper! No other pretext. If you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

__________________________

Oddity Ark #96 (#276)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

[Clade]*: Scierophorata

Order: Eurypteridia

Family: Pterygotidae

Genus: Pterygotus

Species: anglicus

Related Species: Pterygotus anglicus is one of seventeen species within the genus Pterygotus. All these species and more are colloquially known as eurypterids or sea scorpions (1).

Range: Remains of Pterygotus anglicus come predominantly from coastal marine deposits from the Silurian and Devonian Periods, between 443 and 358 million years ago.

IUCN Status: All eurypterids would be classified as ‘Extinct’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Sea Scorpio

Pterygotus anglicus was among not only the largest members of the genus Pterygotus, but all the eurypterids, reaching a body length of 1.6 meters. While dubbed a sea scorpion, Pterygotus was not a true scorpion, are chelicerates, a clade that includes modern arachnids, as well as horseshoe crabs and sea spiders. In addition to not being a scorpion, Pterygotus was able to migrate into freshwater deposits into addition to marine ones. An active swimmer, Pterygotus used the enlarged wing like pair of legs to swim through the water, likely only descending to the seabed to rest and consume its prey. The eyes of Pterygotus are large and offer the sea scorpion stereoscopic vision and were likely primed to operate in low light conditions and detect movement (2).

Pterygotus anglicus was likely a pursuit predator that hunted prey within the water column. Prey items were seized by the large raptorial claws and were shredded by the sea scorpions mouth parts into easily digestible parts. Prey species probably included every other species within its ecosystem including the spiny shark Climatius, the benthic eurypterid Stylonurus and the jawless fish Mesacanthus (3). Fossils from armoured fish predated with puncture marks suggests that Pterygotis was able to feed on armoured prey in addition to soft bodied targets. Due to its large size, Pterygotus probably had not predators of its own, save for larger members of its own species.

The genus Pterygotus went extinct at the end of the Devonian Period, and the large predatory sea scorpions underwent an extinction event in the Devonian, as fish, most notably the placoderms, developed armour plating and shearing bone serrations on their jaws to assist in feeding on hard shelled prey (4). Those eurypterids that persisted into the Carboniferous and Permian Periods generally consisted of benthic scavengers and predators, wither the entire clade becoming extinct at the end of the Permian during the mass extinction referred to as ‘The Great Dying’.

Five Oversized Extinct Arthropods

As large as Pterygotus was, the largest eurypterid Jaekelopterus was much larger, reaching a body length of 2.5m.

A true scorpion, albeit an aquatic genus, Brontoscorpio grew up to a meter in length. This genus was thought to have some terrestrial locomotion, likely to escape predation from euyrpterids such as Pterygotus (5).

The griffin fly Meganeura had a wingspan of 75cm, making it the largest flying insect. Despite their large size, they probably weighed less than extant beetle species such as the Goliath beetle (Goliathus goliathus).

The largest arthropod to ever exist was Arthroplura, a prehistoric millipede that reached 2.6m in length, 50cm wide and reached a mass of 50kg (6). Despite its large size Arthroplura was likely a herbivore.

While small in comparison to the other species, the ant Titanomyrma has a wingspan of 15cm (7). This species also lived more recently during Eocene Period, after the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction event.

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. McCoy, Victoria E.; Lamsdell, James C.; Poschmann, Markus; Anderson, Ross P.; Briggs, Derek E. G. (2015). "All the better to see you with: eyes and claws reveal the evolution of divergent ecological roles in giant pterygotid eurypterids". Biology Letters. 11 (8):

3. The Old Red Sandstone of Great Britain (Geological Conservation Review Series No. 31) | JNCC Resource Hub". hub.jncc.gov.uk.

4. Lamsdell, James C.; Braddy, Simon J. (2009). "Cope's Rule and Romer's theory: patterns of diversity and gigantism in eurypterids and Palaeozoic vertebrates". Biology Letters. 6 (2): 265–269

5. Kjellesvig-Waering, Erik N. (1972). "Brontoscorpio anglicus: a gigantic Lower Paleozoic scorpion from central England". Journal of Paleontology. 46 (1): 39–42

6. Martino, Ronald L.; Greb, Stephen F. (2009). "Walking trails of the giant terrestrial arthropod Arthropleura from the Upper Carboniferous of Kentucky". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (1): 140–146

7. S. Bruce Archibald; Kirk R. Johnson; Rolf W. Mathewes & David R. Greenwood (2011). "Intercontinental dispersal of giant thermophilic ants across the Arctic during early Eocene hyperthermals" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 278 (1725): 3679–3686

Picture Credits

1. R.6af81a141a3525ba66dca90b781417ae (1300×731) (bing.com)

2. Photograph taken by Sundown89. Please ask permission before using.

3. a83b891ff0cb9e61cec40245fd6abb8e.jpg (1109×796) (pinimg.com)

4. Arthropleura-01.jpg (900×600) (mundoprehistorico.com)

5. OIP.WvFww5_k0qprBx3iocDrFQHaFm (474×358) (bing.com)

That’s it for me, next week @cbishop: is temporarily taking the helm while I’m away from my computer, and the week after @arctika: will be hosting an issue. A big thank you to you both, it is most appreciated.

And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of the covert oviraptorus @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

This is a short post, apologies for that.

Part 6 of this blog was meant to be the annual update of where I am with the development of the Invictia Project, but unfortunately I have bad news. The web site I was planning to post the demo and the completed project on, Relic Castle, received a DMCA takedown notice from a third party on behalf of the Pokémon Company. While I'm not sure if other projects were making money on the Site, from what I saw they weren't, the Invictia Project were going to be free to use, there was no plan in making money of it, in fact I've sunk a lot of money into requesting art for spites as well as over a year's worth of time into the project.

As such my motivation has taken a hit, not just because of the lack of resources, but also the threat of a DMCA takedown aimed at me if I did post it in the future. I don't know what the future holds for the project, while I love Pokemon, love Imp's kooky designs for new mons and have really enjoyed learning how to make a game but this news has made me question where I'm heading next.

I apologise for the disappointing news, and will likely share some of the cool stuff Imp and later myself came up with, even if the game doesn't go ahead. Any ideas would be appreciated, and once again sorry for letting you all down.

Your Easter eggs are at risk, this is a warning keep them safe from this week’s issue. And if you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #95 (#275)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Colubridae

Genus: Dasypeltis

Species: scabra

Related Species: The rhombic egg-eating snake is one of the eighteen species of egg-eating snakes in the genus Dasypeltis (1).

Range: The rhombic egg-eating snake is found throughout habitats in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, with the exception of deserts and closed canopy forests.

IUCN Status: The rhombic egg-eating snake is classified as ‘Least Concern’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Egg Raider

The rhombic egg-eating snake is a colubrid snake that reaches a length of up to 1.2m long. The scales are keeled giving the skin of snake a jagged or saw edge like appearance and has a distinct rhombic pattern of spots along its back. Rhombic egg-eating snakes are skilled climbers and navigate the world through its sense of smell, gathering a wide range of scent particles on the tips of its forked tongue and flicked onto the Jacobson’s organ at the roof of the mouth (2). Rhombic egg-eating snakes are primarily nocturnal, spending the early and late part of the day basking, while spending the hottest part of the day underground.

Rhombic egg-eating snakes feed exclusively on bird eggs, unhinging their jaws and ballooning their necks to facilitate consumption. Unlike other snakes, egg-eating snakes have no teeth, instead relying on ridges in the mouth to walk the egg into the neck area. Once located in the snake’s neck, specialised spurs on the vertebrae puncture the shell, allowing the egg-eating snake to crush the egg allowing it to drain the fluid out (3). Once drained, the shell is regurgitated by the egg-eating snake and abandoned. If targeted by a predator, the rhombic egg-eating snake rubs its coils together creating a hissing buzzing sound that sounds like the warning buzz of the saw scaled viper withing the genus Echis (4).

Well, what a threat to my eggs still, it could be worse…your eggs could already be infected…

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Oddity Ark #95 (#275)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Silphidae

Genus: Nicrophorus

Species: pustulatus

Related Species: The blistered burying beetle is one of over sixty beetles known collectively as burying or sexton beetles (5).

Range: Blistered burying beetles are found in the temperate and sub-tropical regions of Canada and the United States east of the Rockies

IUCN Status: The blistered burying beetle’s conservation status is not currently listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Bring out your dead…or I’ll eat your eggs!

Blistered burying beetles are medium sized beetles, reaching 2cm in length and have small orange spots on the thorax and the rear of the abdomen. Like most sexton beetle, the blistered burying beetles are primarily detritivores, location carrion with their club shaped antennae. Upon finding carrion, typically a small mammals or bird, the beetle drags the corpse back to its burrow, laying its eggs on the body. While other sexton beetles possess a suite of antimicrobial chemicals in their saliva, the blistered burying beetle lacks these (6), and as such while this species can raise its larvae on carrion, it has a higher success rate on other food sources.

Female blistered burying beetles are known to enter the nests of reptiles, primarily black rat snakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) and fox snakes (Pantherophis vulpinus). Snakes that are communal nesters are more readily targeted then those who nest on their own, likely because they provide additional resources for additional egg laying (7). The beetle oviposits her eggs onto the shell of a snake egg, with the larvae burrowing into the host egg, where the larvae feeds on the developing embryo until it is ready to pupate. While adult blistered burying beetles bury carrion, eggs are typically left in situ.

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Baeckens S, Van Damme R, Cooper WE (March 2017). "How phylogeny and foraging ecology drive the level of chemosensory exploration in lizards and snakes". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 30 (3): 627–640.

3. Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp

4. Gans, Carl; Richmond, Neil D. (1957). "Warning Behavior in Snakes of the Genus Dasypeltis". Copeia 1957 (4): 269-274

5. www.arkive.com

6. Hoback, W. Wyatt; Bishop, Andrew A.; Kroemer, Jeremy; Scalzitti, Joanne; Shaffer, Julie J. (April 2004). "Differences Among Antimicrobial Properties of Carrion Beetle Secretions Reflect Phylogeny and Ecology". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 30 (4): 719–729.

7. Smith, G., Trumbo, S.T., Sikes, D.S., Scott, M.P. and Smith, R.L. (2007), Host shift by the burying beetle, Nicrophorus pustulatus, a parasitoid of snake eggs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20: 2389-2399.

Picture Credits

1. Rhombic_Egg-eater_MAIN_web-1.jpg (800×800) (africansnakebiteinstitute.com)

2. egg-eating-snake-eating-egg-1280x720.jpg (1280×720) (exopetguides.com)

3. BZXL9ZMLUZ5L9Z7LJHPHYHGL3HUHLRMLZRNHAZ7L3HMLLRXLYHMLYHXLYHNHJH9HDH0LBZWHUZUHZR8H.jpg (560×560) (bugguide.net)

4. Nicrophorus-pustulatus-female-with-a-small-brood-five-third-instar-larvae-on-a-single.png (374×820) (researchgate.net)

Well that’s the Easter issue, next week we have something (incredibly) nasty from the past. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of the covert oviraptorus @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.

So, this is a speculative evolution project, while many aspects of this come from extant and extinct species, this animal does not exist (as far as we know). The general setting is Terra Nova, a hypothetical India sized piece of land that fragmented off of Gondwana (Africa, Australia, South America, India and Antarctica) in the Cenozoic Period. Terra Nova is in the tropical latitudes within the Pacific Ocean and has a mixture of rainforests, dry scrub, grassland, wetland, and montane habitats.

This week’s issue covers one of the habitats present on Terra Nova and some of the flora and fauna that don’t warrant a full issue on them. A list of species included in within the provenance at the bottom of this document.

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#43 – Spartoi Ant Nests and their hangers on

A common sight within the dry seasonal woodlands of Terra Nova, the two-foot tall mounds produced by Spartoi ants (Velesparta myrmidon) as temporary nests. During the daylight hours, trails of inch long Spartoi worker ants can be seen radiating out in the search of food. These minor workers are shadowed and protected by majors which are double the size and have large mandibles and a pair of venomous stingers on the tip of the abdomen. With the leading edge of the workers lying down a pheromone trail to navigate to and from their nest, a continuous parade of seeds, fruit and pieces of arthropod is carried back. On occasion Spartoi ants can be seen dragging the eggs, larvae and pupae back to their nest. These ‘hostages’ come from smaller species such as little canopy ant (Attica attica) and will be raised by their captors to become a slave workforce, controlled by pheromones, even going as far as participating in raids on the nest where they were born. Smaller then their Spartoi commanders, the little canopy ants are easy to spot in the column, however not all the small ‘ants’ in the column are part of this species, close examination will reveal that these ants have an additional pair of legs, and are Colchis jumping spiders (Myrmimic colchis), who mimic the ant body plan and produce identity pheromones to avoid detection so they can enter the ant’s nest.

The jumping spiders are entering the Spartoi ants to feed on the sugary solutions produce by the Spartoi ant grubs, massaging them until they produce the syrup. Among the ant grubs are other insect larvae, those belonging to the ant-mark moth (Formicomimus raptorus) which mimic the ant grubs but don’t produce the sugary syrup but do produce pheromones that prevent the ants from attacking them. Upon pupating the flightless moths crawl to the surface, typically tying their emergence to a glut of fallen fruit that they feed on, before returning to a nest to lay their own eggs. The larvae, regardless of their origin, are among the most precious resource within the Spartoi ants, and any member who doesn’t have the identity pheromone scent is attacked, torn apart and fed to the larvae. There are parasites too small for the ants to detect however, the fairyfly Mymar terranovam, reaches a body length of 0.2mm and sneaks in past the guards and inject their eggs into the larvae. From their the fairyflies larvae hatch and begin to feed on the grubs internal organs before pupating in the larvae’s corpse before emerging as tiny adults.

Dead ants, and dead larvae including those killed by fairyflies are thrown into a communal refuse tip. This glut of corpses attracts scavengers that can manage to enter the nest and evade the aggressive defenders. Growing from the corpses is the ant garden fungus (Leucoagaricus hesprides), that produce small wart like fruiting bodies across the exoskeleton, whose spores were inhaled by ants that were undertaking cadaver removal duty. The spores remain dormant until a certain humidity is reached before fruiting, and typically only grows in the lowest parts of the nest. Other scavengers include the millipede Armidraco curris that uses its heavily armoured carapace to withstand attack as it meanders down into the lower chambers. These millipedes eat both the decaying ant corpses and the fungus growing on them. When food sources are scarce, these millipedes are not above heading into the upper chambers and hunting ants, spraying toxic foam from its ventral pores to kill prey and fend off retaliation as it eats its meal where it dropped.

Other predators are present in the nest, the guillotine beetle (Deltochilum robespierre) is larger than even the majors of the Spartoi ant. Despite its size, the guillotine beetle feeds almost exclusively on Armidraco millipedes, and is tolerated by the ants, in part due to its ability to produce a pheromone that smells close enough to those they produce. Despite the amour of Armidraco, the guillotine beetle uses its mandibles to grip its prey, before popping the head plate forward causing the horns above the millipede’s armour plating to smash through the armour, to the point where it sometimes decapitates the prey animal. Other beetles are also present within the nest, Xu’s rove beetle (Jiǎchóng communis) is a scavenger that feeds on deceased ants, as well as the waste products produced by the ants, and are valued as a cleaning crew that reduces the amount of disease organisms present within the nest. Their diet of faeces and carrion passes on a passive pheromone scent to the beetles, and along with the beetle’s ability to mimic the ant’s identification antenna movement, keep the ants from attacking them, and sometimes even going so far to protect this scavenging species.

When displaced, usually by flooding, the Spartoi ants translocate the entire colony, forming a column defended by the majors, and includes allied species within the column such as their enslaved little canopy ants and Xu’s rove beetle, with guillotine beetles and Armidraco lumbering behind the main column. Within their nests Spartoi ants are almost untouchable, save for by large predators such as Dinoscutum or infiltrators able to enter the nest undetected, but outside they are vulnerable, particularly those carrying eggs, larvae and pupae. Fortunately, the ants have additional defenders outside the majors in the form of the valiant ant bird (Sipia ajax), small birds that typically follow ant columns looking for insects and lizards spooked into fleeing by the approaching ants. Able to recognise the movement of eggs and larvae, the birds become incredibly territorial of the ants, mobbing would be disruptors to the column.

Not all the external retinue are helpful to the Spartoi ant’s progress through the forest floor. Multiple kleptoparasites such as the centipede Formicovenator ferox and the macabre thorny roach hopper (Pseudogryllus viliscanthum) are fast enough or armoured enough to snatch food transported by the ants and escape before being torn apart. Ant specialist predators are also present, and some, such as the Cadmus dragon (Cadmus microdraco), a two foot long legless lizard can decimate colonies, in part due to chemicals in the dragon’s skin producing chemicals that neutralize most of the ant’s distress pheromones, allowing the lizard to eat for longer before being disturbed. Spartoi ants are also at risk of attack by the ant-decapitating fly (Pseudacteon tricuspis), that lays its eggs on the thorax of the ant, with the hatched maggot biting through the thorax and pupating in the head of the host insect.

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Species List

Species highlighted in bold are real world species, species with an underline will be receiving their own entry;

If you have any recommendations for Terra Nova’s fauna and flora please leave a suggestion, and if you want to take part with this ‘New World’s’ exploration, send me a message.

We’re all abuzz as we head towards the century mark, just don’t eat the honey, its made from corpses this week. And if you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #94 (#274)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Apidae

Genus: Trigona

Species: hypogea

Related Species: Vulture bee is a subgenus of three species within the genus Trigona (1).

Range: Vulture bees live in grassland and forest edge habitats within the tropical and subtropical regions of South America.

IUCN Status: The vulture bee is not currently classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Rotten Taste

Vulture bees are small red coloured bees that reach a body length of up to 2cm, and a reduced amount of hairs on the thorax. Like other bees within the genus Trigona, the volute bee is stingless, but does possess an enlarged pair of mandibles used for food gathering and defence against predator. Vulture bees navigate primarily through the sense of smell to search for carrion, with a presence for corpses that are more advanced in decomposition. The body is entered through the eyes, using their mandibles to shear off chunks of carrion that is stored in the bee’s crop. While multiple bee species will feed on carrion, the three species of vulture bee are obligated necrophages (2), and as such do not contribute to the pollination of plants.

Due to the shift from herbivory to carnivory, the vulture bee has lost enzymes and symbiotic bacteria used to break down pollen and has cultivated relationships with those that can break down carrion (3). Due to the carrion based diet, the vulture bee has an acidic gut chemistry, to speed up the breakdown of food. Upon returning to the nest, typically located in a tree hollow, the vulture bee regurgitates a honey like jelly from the hypopharyngeal glands on the mandible, to feed larvae and to accumulate as an emergency food supply when carrion is readily available.

A single breeding female, the queen, is the only breeding individual in the hive and uses sperm cells accumulated during her nuptial flight to produce both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. The worm like larvae consume stored honey, or are fed directly by workers, regurgitating partially digested carrion, as they return from a foraging trip. After pupating, the larvae emerge as adult bees, with those coming from unfertilized eggs staying with the hive acting as sterile workers, with those from fertilized eggs leave the hive as part of their nuptial flight as fertile drones and queens, that will go on to start new colonies.

Five Bemusing Bees

Perdita minima is the smallest bee in the world reaching a maximum length of 2mm, and weight of 0.333mg.

On the other end of the size scale Wallace’s giant bee (Megachile pluto) get up to 6cm in length. Despite its large size no recorded sightings were made between its discovery in 1858 and 1981, with the next sighting made in 2018 (4).

The capricious masked bee (Amphylaeus morosus), makes hives of two individuals, a fertile queen and a sterile worker that acts as a guard for the developing eggs. This species is considered a model species regarding the evolution of socialness in insects (5).

A solitary species, the alkali bee (Nomia melanderi) are able to open alfalfa (Medicago sativa) by snaping open the keel of the flowers. Due to its resilience and preference for pollen over nectar, this species is preferred as a pollinator by farmers over honeybees (Apis species) (6).

The bee Anthophora pueblo was only discovered in 2016, and bores nests into desert sandstone, the only species known to do so.

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Roubik, D. W. (1982). "Obligate necrophagy in a social bee". Science. 217 (4564): 1059–1060

3. Figueroa, Laura L.; Maccaro, Jessica J.; Krichilsky, Erin; Yanega, Douglas; McFrederick, Quinn S. (2021). "Why Did the Bee Eat the Chicken? Symbiont Gain, Loss, and Retention in the Vulture Bee Microbiome". mBio. 12 (6): e02317–21

4. Main, Douglas (2019). "World's largest bee, once presumed extinct, filmed alive in the wild". National Geographic

5. Hearn Lucas R., Davies Olivia K. and Schwarz Michael P. (2022) Extreme reproductive skew at the dawn of sociality is consistent with inclusive fitness theory but problematic for routes to eusociality Proc. R. Soc. B. 289

6. Cane, James H. (2008). "A native ground-nesting bee (Nomia melanderi) sustainably managed to pollinate alfalfa across an intensively agricultural landscape". Apidologie. 39 (3): 315–323.

Picture Credits

1. vulture-bees.jpg (1000×666) (learnbees.com)

2. DSC_0861-1024x683.jpg (1024×683) (tufts.edu)

3. CNs0ILKUkAAnD2D.jpg (1024×1024) (twimg.com)

4. Wallaces-Giant-Bee.png (1080×1080) (beeswiki.com)

5. Anthophora-pueblo.jpg (660×330) (scinews.ro)

As we head towards Easter be on your guard, next week’s issue wants your easter eggs, you have been warned. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of the eusocial mammal @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey

So, this is a speculative evolution project, while many aspects of this come from extant and extinct species, this animal does not exist (as far as we know). The general setting is Terra Nova, a hypothetical India sized piece of land that fragmented off of Gondwana (Africa, Australia, South America, India and Antarctica) in the Cenozoic Period. Terra Nova is in the tropical latitudes within the Pacific Ocean and has a mixture of rainforests, dry scrub, grassland, wetland, and montane habitats.

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Grand Vampire Gecko (Necrophelusma draculinus)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Gekkonidae

Genus: Necrophelusma

Species: draculinus

Described: Gould (1996)

The recent survival of Terra Nova’s megafauna facilitated the evolution of a wide range of parasitic species. Among these odd endemic parasites where the vampire geckos, lizards descended from day geckos originally from east Africa. Before the last glacial maximum the diversity of vampire geckos was far greater, with a specific gecko allied to a certain clade of megafauna. The four existing species of vampire gecko are restricted to Terra Nova’s toxodontids, litoptens, gompotheres and sebecosuchians. The vampire geckos are thought to have evolved from symbiotic geckos that fed on parasites, before graduating to feeding on open wounds caused by feeding parasites and then finally becoming true parasites themselves.

At a maximum length of 14cm, the grand vampire gecko is the largest surviving member of the clade Necrophelusma. Unlike the colourful east African day geckos, the skin of the grand vampire ranges from a dull grey to a jet black with a line of red scales running down their back. The skin of the grand vampire geckos and the rest of the genus Necrophelusma is hydrophobic preventing blood from sticking to their bodies and allowing them to stand on water. This adaptation suggests that the geckos within Necrophelsuma were adapted to feeding on semi-aquatic animals and radiated into more terrestrial species. Like most geckos, the grand vampire gecko has adhesive hairs to assist in climbing and adhering, and while not feeding typically is situated on the underbelly of its host. While typically found on the external surface of its hosts, vampire geckos, more typically smaller species such as the little vampire gecko (Necrophelusma vampyrum) enter the body cavities of its host, to access blood vessels closer to the surface of the skin.

The grand vampire gecko is a haemovore, primarily feeding on the blood of its host, usually long-snouted toxodon (Hesprotoxodon giganteus), as well as ticks and lice on the dermis. Open wounds are typically the source of blood, but where wounds are not available, the grand vampire gecko utilizes a fused tooth on the lower jaw to pick open skin and access the veins. Skin under the shoulders, as well as the neck and rump are the preferred feeding locations due to the softer skin in these areas, with the geckos lapping up the blood that flows from the opened wound. The saliva of the vampire geckos contains anti-coagulants that slow down the rate of blood clotting to allow the geckos to feed for longer. Grand vampire geckos are occasionally predated upon by birds, notably the smoke winged egret (Ardea vapoteryx) which follows large herbivores looking for small animals flushed out of the undergrowth. Like other geckos, when threatened the grand vampire gecko can drop its tail to distract predators while it makes its escape.

Multiple grand vampire geckos may potentially be present on a single host and may occasionally fight each other, looking to throw each other off of its host. Mating occurs during the rainy season with the larger males engaging in bouts to throw each other off their host until only one male gecko is left where he then mates with the females present on the host animal. Actual copulation is short with the male pinning the female down before mating. During egg development, female grand vampire geckos leave their host and look for burrows or tree hollows to deposit up to twelve eggs, before returning to a new host. Hatchling grand vampire geckos are insectivores, primarily feeding on ticks and lice these geckos roam the grassland and flood plains of Terra Nova looking for its first host, one it typically won’t leave until it reaches breeding age.

Picture References

1: gold-dust-day-gecko.jpg (1067×800) (cbreptile.com)

If you have any recommendations for Terra Nova’s fauna and flora please leave a suggestion, and if you want to take part with this ‘New World’s’ exploration, send me a message.

Eight down until we get to Issue 100, so why not cover an animal with eight of something. And if you want to request an issue on an amazing animal, fabulous fungus, perplexing plant or awesome paleofauna, don’t hesitate to leave a request in the comments.

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Oddity Ark #93 (#273)

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Order: Octopoda

Family: Octopodidae

Genus: Hapalochlaena

Species: lunulata

Related Species: The greater blue-ringed octopus is one of the four species within the genus Hapalochlaena, all of which share the same blue ringed patterning (1).

Range: The greater blue-ringed octopus is found in shallow benthic waters of both the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

IUCN Status: The greater blue-ringed octopus is currently listed as ‘Least Concern’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

One ring to find them, and in the coral bind them!!

The greater blue-ringed octopus has an arm span of up to 10cm, and a maximum weight of 80 grams. While typically possessing yellowish skin, the greater blue-ringed octopus can change its colour, ranging from light brown to a pale white, with the later colour exhibited when sleeping. As the name suggests, the greater blue ringed octopus has blue rings edged with black across its body, which contain indophores shifted to the UV end of the electromagnetic spectrum (2). These rings appear to pulsate when the octopus shifts the chromatophores in its skin between brown and black rapidly. The flashing rings of blue-ringed octopuses are an aposematic warning, advertising the toxic nature of the octopus to potential predators.

Greater blue-ringed octopuses are obligate carnivores, feeding on small crustaceans and fish, ambushing prey before smothering them with its arms. Captured prey is chewed open with a beak, the only hard part of the animal, before injecting toxic saliva into the wound. Once immobilized prey is dragged back to the octopus’s lair to be eaten at its leisure (3), with the undigestible carapaces of hard-shelled prey, ejected to create an ‘octopuses garden’ of feeding remains. Like most other octopus species, the greater blue-ringed octopus has a range of defensive measures, including the production of toxic ink clouds and autotomy of limbs when captured in addition to its toxic venom.

On reaching sexual maturity, greater blue-ringed octopuses enter senescence, where the digestive shuts down in concert with the activation of the reproductive system (4). Male greater blue-ringed octopuses approach females, caressing her with his hectocotylus, a modified arm used for transferring spermatophores, before wrapping an arm around her eyes before slipping the hectocotylus into her mantle (5). After mating the male octopus dies, and the female retreats to her lair where she lays up to 100 eggs, injecting toxin saliva into each egg to protect them from predators, which she guards until they hatch 50 days later dying shortly before they hatch. Greater blue-ringed octopuses live for up to two years until they reach sexual maturity.

Anatomy of an Attack #7 – Diablo Rohas

Stories of the mythical Kraken likely come from encounters with giant squid (Architeuthis dux) coming to the surface in their death throws or feeding as part of the nocturnal vertical migration. Despite the size of giant squid, they are rarely aggressive, with 10 recorded attacks between 1782 and 2024, with only one attack with confirmed human casualties (6). As formidable as giant squid are, there are smaller more dangerous squid which are responsible for more human attacks.

Reaching a mantle length of 1.5m and a weight of 50kg, the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) is a deep-water squid species that raises to the surface every night, following prey species to the surface. Humboldt squid have an infamous reputation within the Sea of Cortez, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, with local fishermen calling them Diablos Rohas, due to the flashing red body of the squid when hunting or when angry. While not overtly aggressive, Humboldt squid do on occasion attack humans, through a combination of ringed suckers on the arms and large beak, one that can crack through human bone (7). Like many other squid species, Humboldt squid travel in shoals, often numbering in the hundreds, with attacks coordinated by the mantle flashing between brown and white (8). Once an attack starts, multiple squid will swarm the prey item, looking to eat as much as they can before the coordination breaks down and becomes a feeding frenzy.

Because of their group hunting strategy, divers and fishermen attack by Humboldt squid are often attacked by multiple individuals, with the weight of the squid physically dragging them down. While there are no confirmed fatalities, there are fish stories of fishermen falling into the water and being dragged down by squid attracted to the lights of the boats. Lights in general may be the reason that Humboldt squid attack divers, due to the majority of the squid’s typical prey possessing bioluminescence, potentially triggering the attack. Humboldt squid will even attack large manmade items, as recorded in 2014 when a shoal of squid attacked a two-man submersible, attracted by the external lights of the vessel (9). Where lights are not an issue and there is no food stimulus Humboldt squid are passive and appear to be more curious of humans within their environment (10).

Global warming appears to be a double-edged sword for Humboldt squid, allowing it to expand its range from sub-tropical waters as far south as southern Peru and as far north as the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska. Warming temperatures have pushed the squid outside its normal range to evade warmer waters, potentially increasing the risk of fisherman and divers encountering shoals of this species (11). Where encounters are likely to take place divers typically employ chainmail dive suits to protect themselves from the hooks and beak of the squids.

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Huffard, CL; Caldwell, RL; DeLoach, N; Gentry, DW; Humann, P; MacDonald, B.; Moore, B.; Ross, R.; Uno, T.; Wong, S. (2008). "Individually Unique Body Colours Patterns in Octopus (Wunderpus photogenicus) Allow for Photoidentification". PLOS ONE. 3 (11):

3. Newman, Shane (2015). "Blue-Ringed Octopus Facts, Habitat, Life Cycle, Venom, Pictures". Animal Spot.

4. Anderson RC, Wood JB, Byrne RA. Octopus senescence: the beginning of the end. J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2002;5(4):275-83

5. Morse, Peter; Zenger, Kyall R.; McCormick, Mark I.; Meekan, Mark G.; Huffard, Christine L. (2015). "Nocturnal mating behaviour and dynamic male investment of copulation time in the southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)" (PDF). Behaviour. 152 (14): 1883–1910

6. Michael Bright, Man-Eaters: Horrifying True Stories of Savage, Flesh-Eating Predators... and their Human Prey!, 2013, St. Martin's Publishing Group

7. Tennesen, Michael (2004). "The Curious Case of the Cannibal Squid". National Wildlife Magazine, Dec/Jan 2005, vol. 43 no. 1. National Wildlife Federation.

8. Helena Smith (2012). "Coordinated Hunting in Red Devils". Deep Sea News

9. https://www.cnet.com/culture/jumbo-squid-attacks-greenpeace-submarine/

10. Zimmermann, Tim (July 2006). "Behold the Humboldt Squid – It's Hard Out Here for A Shrimp". Outside Online

11. Zeidberg, L.; Robinson, B.H. (2007). "Invasive range expansion by the Humboldt squid, Dosidicus gigas, in the eastern North Pacific". PNAS. 104 (31): 12948–12950

Picture Credits

1. _JPL2167.jpg (1600×1163) (bp.blogspot.com)

2. fdc418bb900857fc89fd64a27917e6bc (862×575) (abc-cdn.net.au)

3. humboldt-squid.jpg (1440×720) (americanoceans.org)

4. bc533f559ff399ba1ee0182df563f8dc.jpg (600×450) (pinimg.com)

We’re sticking with small animals next week as we look at honey…made from flesh. And if you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive or past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of the devilfish @ficopedia.

If you still have a yearning for learning, please check out the master list of Mr Monster’s Martial Arts Journey.