Blue Marlin

Blue marlins are incredibly large, iconic fish. In fact, they are one of the largest fish species in the entire world. Interestingly, the females are larger than the males and can reach lengths of 14ft and weight close to 2,000lbs. Males are substantially smaller and rarely weigh more than 300lbs. This means that all of those gigantic trophy fish are in fact female.

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There is some debate on the taxonomic status of the Blue Marlin. Some consider to be the Atlantic fish to be a very separate species from those in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Others consider them to be all one species within the genus Makaira. For the sake of this entry we are going to go with the earlier view: that of different species. Makaira nigricans is found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, where they prefer to live near the warmer surface waters. They are migratory, solitary hunters, and will move to areas where the food supply is better. They eat a variety of pelagic fishes, and will also dive down deeper for squid and other prey. The characteristc beak of the Marlin is actually and extension of their upper jaw, and it is used to slash at schools of fish and stun victims.

Spawning occurs in tropical waters, and females may lay several million eggs at a time. They will hatch after about a week but very few of the larvae will live to reach sexual maturity. Blue Marlin females can live as long as 27 years, while the lifespan for males is around 18.

Blue Marlins are not yet a threatened species, but many fear that the amount of fishing that they are subjected to will damage the population in the future.

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"Guinea-zilla"

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Oh do I ever love mega-fauna, especially when it's something you completely wouldn't expect. Giant Mammoth? Alright, sure, Elephants are big. Giant Bear? Yeah, that too. But what about a Giant Guinea Pig? And now, I'm not talking about something Capybara sized. (Capybaras, for reference, are the world's largest living rodents and weigh up to 130lbs) Oh no, no no no. Phoberomys pattersoni, first discovered in 1999 and just recently published about, was a massive rodent that exceeded 1,500lbs. A typical modern guinea pig weights about 2lbs. That is 750 Guinea Pigs or about the size of a Buffalo!

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But never you fear. Phoberomys pattersoni died out about eight million years ago, and even when it was alive, it was an herbivore that fed off of sea grasses in Venezuela's Orinoco Delta. Its hind limbs were much more powerful than its front ones, and it had a strong tail that suggests that it sat up while eating.

So what ate it? Well, back around the same time and place their also existed one of the largest Crocodylians ever; Purussaurus brasiliensis measured somewhere in the ballpark of 12m. And given that P. pattersoni was found in semi-aquatic riverside habitats, they may have interacted. It is believed that P. pattersoni went extinct because they were so big. They were too large to burrow and were unable to outrun predators like many of the lither, hoofed mammals could.

P. pattersoni was named in honor of Brian Patterson, a paleontologist who worked in the region of its discovery back in the 1970s.

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Golden Poison Dart Frog

By now you should know that I definitely have some favorites in the animal kingdom. I love gigantic birds. I love anything that moos or bleets, and I definitely love anything that has enough natural toxin in them to kill a man without even trying. Morbid? Maybe, but totally awesome nonetheless. So today we're going to talk about one of the single most toxic animals on the planet: the Golden Poison Dart Frog.

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There are actually a whole mess of Poison Dart Frogs, all of whom are found within the Dendrobatidae family and all of whom are (you guessed it) poisonous. The Golden is the king of them all. This itty bitty two inch frog has enough venom in it to kill ten men. The toxin is actually secreted through the skin, and can cause severe problems if held. If you ingest the poison or have it come in contact with an open would... well, then you are in even more trouble. The poison actually stops nerve impulses, causing  heart attack or fibrillation.

Poison Dart Frogs get their name from the fact that indigenous tribes use their poison to coat their darts when hunting. Because of their toxicity, Golden Poison Dart frogs have only one natural predator; a snake that has developed a resistance to their poison. Interestingly, they aren't born toxic. Instead, it is the diet of the frogs that contribute to their toxin producing ability. The eat alkaloid-rich meals that allow them to create it. Frogs that live off a different diet in captivity are essentially harmless.

Though Golden Poison Dart Frogs seem small in comparison to us, they are actually pretty large within their own family. As previously stated, they can grow to about 2inches in length, and have a very uniform golden color to them, with some small populations being green or orange. They can be found in lowland Rainforest areas on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Habitat loss has caused them to become endangered.

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Okapi

Though they look quite zebra-ish, the Okapi (Okpaia johnstoni) is actually a member of the family Giraffidae. They are found exclusively in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. One fifth of this forest has been set aside as the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, which is a World Heritage Site.

Okapi legs are striped in a pattern much like a zebra. These stripes can distinguish one Okapi from another, and, combined with the brown on the rest of their bodies, provide camouflage in a forested habitat. Okapi are so well camouflaged that scientists did not even know of their existence until 1900!

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Okapis share many features with giraffes, but are not nearly as tall because such heights would be detrimental in a thick forest. They have sloping bodies, with the front end being more elevated than the back, and reaching a shoulder height of around 5.5ft. Males also have giraffe-like knobs on their heads, which grow between the ages of one and five. Okapis also posses extremely long, black tongues that are prehensile and are used to grasp leaves. They are so long that they can groom their own faces with them.

Okapis are solitary animals, and males can become quite aggressive regarding their territory. Males and females  locate each other for breeding using their sense of smell, and the gestation period is a whopping 440 days. Young Okapis are able to walk 30 minutes after birth and have an rather interesting way of protecting themselves from predators. Calves will not defecate at all until they are six to eight weeks old. This prevents predators from being able to track them as easily. Mothers are extremely protective of their young, and will fight to defend them.

Okapis are listed as Near Threatened, and the global populations is estimated at between 35,000 and 50,000 individuals. Loss of habitat and hunting have affected their numbers. They are protected by Congolese law, and are a national symbol of the country.

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Coelocanth

Coelocanths are an entire order of lobe-fined fishes that were believed to have died out during the Cretaceous Extinction 65 million years ago. Fossil specimens of 125 species have been identified, some dating back 400 million years. Everyone thought they were a creature of the past and then all of that thought kicked the bucket when a living species of Coelocanth was caught by fishermen off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Since then, dozens of these fish have been found off the east coast of Africa, and in 1998 a second living species was discovered in the waters outside of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

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Coelocanths are so amazing because they really are living fossils. They are lobed finned fish, a class of animals that is now largely extinct but that also includes half a dozen species of extant Lungfish. The fins of Coelocanths jut outwards from the body and rotate almost as if the fish were walking. If is no surprise that lobed finned fish were the descendants of all Tetrapods!

Coelocanths also have a few other special features, including an electrosensitive organ in their snout that helps them detect prey. They also have no vertebrae, and their "spine" is actually a notochord; an oil filled tube that provides the body with support. Coelocanths also have an intercranial joint that allows their mouths to open especially wide in order to swallow prey whole. Coelocanths can reach lengths of up to 6 feet and weigh over 200lbs. Females are ovoviviparous, and two pup baring females have been caught.

It is estimated that there are around 1,000 Coelocanths left, all of which lives at depths of up to 2,300ft. They are an endangered species and are protected by CITES.

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Madagascar Teal

The Madagascar Teal (Anas bernieri) is a small, reddish-brown duck that is endemic to (surprise!) Madagascar. They are also sometimes referred to as Bernier's Teal. They are found in a very specific area of Madagascar, namely the coastal regions on the western side of the island. They are endangered, with somewhere between 1,500 and 2,500 birds remaining in fragmented and declining populations. Extensive habitat loss has caused this downtrend.

Captive Teals at the Milwaukee County Zoo

Madagascar Teals are shy little guys, and live in small groups that change location based on the season. They feed off of invertebrates that are filtered through their bills, and they will occasionally upend themselves in deeper water to obtain food. During molting season they will also consume seeds of various aquatic plants.

Madagascar Teals nest in tree holes, often belonging to Grey Mangroves. Average clutch size is 6-7, and the eggs hatch after about four weeks. Madagascar Teals are monogamous and are extremely aggressive about guarding their nests. Chicks fledge after six weeks.

Captive breeding programs have been established to save this species, which faces extinction in the wild. The captive populations was founded by birds from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

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Shonisaurus

Shonisaurus is a genus name basically meaning "Lizard from the Shoshone Mountains." There are two identified species, S. popularis and S. sikanniensis. The first of those was discovered in the Shoshone Mountains near Berlin, Nevada in 192. While Nevada is now dry, back in the Late Triassic the entire area was underwater. 37 specimens were found at that site, (one theory is that they all beached together) with excavations under Dr. Charles Camp of UC-Berekley taking place in the 1950s and 60s. The second species was discovered in British Columbia, Canada in the 1990s.

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Shonisaurus is one of the oldest and largest Ichthyosaurs ever discovered. It is rivaled in size only by sea dwellers that existed tens of millions of years after it. The largest Shonisaurus specimens, those of S. sikanniensis were estimated to be 21m long. S. popularis was a bit smaller, at around 15m. Both species lived during the late Triassic between 225 and 208 million years ago.

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Shonisauruses were predators. Their mouths contained teeth, but only at the front end, and their skulls were up to 3m long. They possessed long, narrow flippers in both front and back. They had streamlined bodies and powerful tails for movement underwater.

There is an interesting story that miners actually discovered Shonisaurus back in the 1860s, and used their vertebrae as dinner plates until scientists swooped in decades later and told them what they had. Alas, this story is a myth, with origins possibly residing with a description by Dr. Camp of the eyes being as large as dinner plates.

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