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.

(Image Source)

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

(Image Source)

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.

(Image Source)

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.

Read More

When Fish Got Feet, When Bugs Were Big, and Big Cats!

Bonner, Hannah. When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before Dinosaurs. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2009.

Chronologically the first of two books by Bonner, When Fish Got Feet... explores the rise of fish in the Silurian and Devonian periods with wonderful comics, cartoons and illustrations. She takes difficult material, such as the rise and fall of the very fish classes (Sharks! Acanthodians! Placoderms! Bony Fish!) and makes it accessible to a younger audience. Even as an adult I really enjoyed this book and it gave me some wonderful ideas on future things to learn about!

Bonner, Hannah. When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Before Dinosaurs. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2004.

The second book chronologically, (though the first published) When Bugs Were Big takes a look at the Carboniferous and Permian periods. This span includes the movement to land by insects and tetrapods, the changing world, and the mass extinction that would give way to the Mesozoic and the age of the Dinosaurs. Once again Bonner has created a text that explains the timeperiod in a fun, illustrated way.

Turner, Alan and Mauricio Anton. The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

Big Cats is a book in a very similar vein to "Dogs," and it even includes illustrations by the same artist, Mauricio Anton. In this text Turner looks only at the big cats- Lions, Tigers, Leopards, etc.- and explains where they came from, who their now-extinct ancestors were, and how and why they have the specific adaptations that they possess. It gives a clear picture of the evolution of Big Cats, and explains nearly every function of their anatomy and how it corresponds to their social, mating, and hunting behaviors. This book is not "light reading" but if you have an interest in feline evolution and physiology, definately take a look. It also has some exceptionally beautiful illustrations and plates by Anton that help to visualize these creatures of the past.

Read More

Large Blue Butterfly

Large Blue Butterfly is both a common name and a description for Phengaris arion (sometimes also called Maculinea arion). It is a species of butterfly that lives in 37 countries throughout continental Europe, and was reintroduced to Southern England after going extinct there in 1979 due to habitat loss. They  are found in warm, dry locations which are often also home to Thyme and Marjoram, plants that are important to the reproductive process. Large Blue Butterflies have wingspans of about 2in, and are blue with black spots.

(Image Source)

Large Blue Butterflies have an interesting life-cycle. Eggs are laid on the aforementioned Thyme or Marjoram plants and when they hatch, the caterpillars will consume the plant that they hatched upon, molting 3 times. After the third molt, the still-small caterpillars drop to the ground where they attract Myrmica sabuleti red ants with a sweet secretion from their body. The ant will feed on the secretion, and after it is finished the caterpillar will inflate the skin behind its head. The ant mistakes the caterpillar for one of its own larvae, and carries it back to the nest, where the caterpillar then proceeds to eat all of the ant larvae, hibernate, and eventually pupate.

Adult Large Blue Butterflies emerge in June and have sadly short lives. While a caterpillar may live 9 months or longer, adults typically only hand on for a few weeks at the very most. This is just long enough for them to find a mate and reproduce.

Large Blue Butterflies are listed as Near Threatened.

Read More

Markhor

The Markhor, the national animal of Pakistan, is a particularly stunning creature. They are large members of the Capra genus, with males reaching weights of 240lbs. They are not the heaviest goats, but they certainly are the tallest, with males standing 3-4ft at the shoulder. Both sexes possess a pair tight, corkscrew twisted horns, but those of the male far surpass those of the female in length. Their horns can grow to 60 or more inches, and are used in aggressive fights during the mating season. They have shaggy coats that grow in length and color seasonally, with the hair shorter and redder in the summer, and longer and grayer in winter.

(Image Source)

Markhors (Capra falconeri) are currently found in only a few small pockets in the Himalayas, typically at elevations of between 2,000 and 12,000ft, where there is still sparse vegetation. They are exceptional climbers and their locations vary with the season, with summers in the higher altitudes and winters in the lower. Their feeding habits also are seasonally affected; in summer they tend to be grazers while in winter they browse. Markhor populations in these few remaining areas are small and typically very isolated. In the past, the Markhor had a range that extended throughout central Asia.

Unfortunately, Markhor are an endangered species, and continue to be hunted for their meat and for their horns, which are used as both hunting trophies and as ingredients for traditional Asian medicines. Markhor horns supposedly sell in China for over $2,200 a pound. Habitat loss and food competition from domestic livestock has also reduced their numbers. It is estimated that there are only a few thousand left. In the wild, Markhor are also hunted by wolves, snow leopards, and lynx.

Read More

Whooping Crane

The Whooping Crane has a quite remarkable story. In the Pleistocene, these birds had a range that covered a vast area of North America. When westward expansion began in the 19th century, unregulated hunting and loss of habitat caused numbers to dwindle. By 1941, there were only sixteen birds left. Since then, multiple efforts have been made to both protect existing birds, and to create new migratory flocks. The only naturally occurring flock left migrates between Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories, Canada and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. An additional route has been established between Wisconsin and Florida.

Whooping Cranes are the tallest birds in North America. They stand at about five feet, and possess a seven and a half foot wingspan. Aside from its dark legs, beak, and facial markings, the adult Whooping Crane is entirely white. They are named for their whooping call, which is instrumental in the mating process. Mated pairs will sing duets together, while additional calls are made by nesting birds to announce their territory. They live in marshland areas, and are omnivorous. Whooping Cranes feed off of a variety of different things including plants, crustaceans, fish, and insects.

(Image Source)

But lets go back to those reintroduction efforts. There are now, as of January 2010, 551 Whooping Cranes in the wild and in captivity. One of the most interesting things I learned about this process is that ultra-light planes have been used to lead young Cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population from their birthplaces in Wisconsin down to their wintering grounds in Florida. In the spring, the young birds are able to make the flight back to Wisconsin unassisted. In a side note, there was also, briefly in the 1970s and 80s, an effort to integrate young Whooping Cranes with Sandhill Cranes, and form a migratory population that ran from Idaho to New Mexico. Unfortunately this program was unsuccessful and has been discontinued.

While Whooping Cranes are now protected from hunting and egg collection, habitat loss is still a threat, as the wetlands continue to diminish. While the current populations live in protected areas, their isolation could prove disastrous should a major environmental change affect that specific area.

Read More