tagged w/ Invertebrates
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In episode 50 of MicrobeWorld Video, Vincent, Michael, and Stanley recorded episode #8 of the podcast This Week in Microbiology live at the 2011 ASM General Meeting in New Orleans, with guests Andreas Baümler, Nicole Dubilier, and Paul Rainey. They spoke about how pathogens benefit from disease, symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and marine invertebrates, and repetitive sequences in bacteria.In episode 50 of MicrobeWorld Video, Vincent, Michael, and Stanley recorded episode #8... more
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Bad news, Germany! Paul the prognosticating octopus oracle has chosen Spain over Germany for tomorrow's World Cup Football match (I guess I should return my newly-purchased Germany football t-shirt now that I won't be needing it!)Bad news, Germany! Paul the prognosticating octopus oracle has chosen Spain over... more
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An English-born octopus living in Oberhausen, Germany is impressing bookies by correctly predicting the outcome for all of Germany's World Cup football matches.An English-born octopus living in Oberhausen, Germany is impressing bookies by... more
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In 2002, ocean explorer Gale Mead was the first person to see and film the profusion of life 200 feet down on Salt Dome Seamount -- just 16 miles from where the BP oil well is now gushing out of control. Mead (daughter of oceanographer Sylvia Earle) describes the corals and fish she saw and the devastation that the oil is likely causing in a place that no other human has ever been.In 2002, ocean explorer Gale Mead was the first person to see and film the profusion... more
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A scuba diver captured this interesting footage of a group of Chinaman Leatherjacket fish attacking and killing an Octopus, in Jeris Bay, Australia, in this is an amazing display of animal behavior.A scuba diver captured this interesting footage of a group of Chinaman Leatherjacket... more
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This fascinating video captures a glimpse of the weird and wonderful animals that live in the aphotoc zone. The aphotic zone (aphotic from Greek prefix ἀ- + φῶς "without light") is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight. It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates. Consequently, bioluminescence is essentially the only light found in this zone. Most food comes from dead organisms sinking to the bottom of the lake or ocean from overlying waters.This fascinating video captures a glimpse of the weird and wonderful animals that live... more
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Koralle, photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Brain coral is a common name given to corals in the family Faviidae so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles an animal brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically identical polyps which secrete a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate; this makes them important coral reef builders like other stony corals.Koralle, photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.... more
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Click on link for photos of some of the beautiful creatures...
By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
April 22, 2010 3:27 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Color-changing frogs, the world's longest stick insect and a slug that shoots "love darts" are among the biological "treasure" discovered by scientists in the lush green heart of Borneo.
Scientists have found 123 new species of animals, insects and plants on the South East Asian island since the three governments that control the land signed a pact to safeguard its future in 2007.
The new species are on a list released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to mark Earth Day and to raise awareness of the value of protecting areas rich in biodiversity.
"You have some iconic small species which are very interesting to talk about but perhaps it's the plants that are tremendously important in terms of potential future cures," said David Norman, director of campaigns for the WWF.
"About half of all synthetic drugs have a natural origin -- these are commercial drugs based on plants and sometimes animals. So we can't afford to lose species," he said.
The number of new plant species discovered in Borneo in the last three years outnumbers all the other categories combined. Sixty-seven new plants have been found, along with 29 invertebrates, 17 new species of fish, one bird, five amphibians and five reptiles. The WWF describes the region as a "global treasure teeming with unique and extraordinary life."
Some of the more unusual amphibians found there include color-changing frogs, which also fly.
Males of the species (Rhacophorus penanorum) are just 3.5 centimeters long and their skin changes from bright green during the night to brown during the day. They can be found living in trees in the Tapin Valley within the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak. Their fully-webbed feet allow them to glide for up to 15 meters from tree branch to tree branch.
The tail of the long-tailed slug (Ibycus rachelae) is three-times the length of its head, allowing it to curl up to sleep. More unusually, when it mates the slug fires a so-called "love dart" made of calcium carbonate that injects a hormone into its prospective partner to increase the chances of reproduction.
The world's longest-stick insect (Phobaeticus chani) is more than half a meter long and lives high up in the rainforest canopy. "Only three specimens have ever been discovered. It's quite extraordinary that it's been there for so long -- you wouldn't miss it if it landed on you," Norman said.
The rate of the discovery of new species has increased since 2007 when the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei signed an agreement to conserve the area.
The agreement covers a 220,000 square kilometre tract of land that straddles all three countries which is known as the Heart of Borneo.
"This not just a nature reserve. There are lots of people who live there. Farming goes on there. There is eco-tourism. These are all things that must continue. The point is to ensure that the value of the forest standing is much greater than the value of it being cut down," Norman said.
The WWF says the Heart of Borneo Declaration has worked to conserve the environment by exerting pressure on governments, developers and industry to adapt their plans to minimize their impact on the land.
It credits the agreement with preventing the destruction of two million hectares of rainforest to create the world's largest palm oil plantation. Plans to build a road through the middle of the region in 2007 were also shelved for environmental reasons.
"About half of all the land in the heart of Borneo lies in private hands. It's so remote you can't possibly enforce this, so this is very much about negotiating agreements. Whenever there is a new proposal for a new road or a new farm or a new plantation or a new mine, it is worked through in the context of the agreement that was signed in 2007," Norman said.
Meanwhile, scientists are still busy surveying the tangled mass of plants, animals and insects that thrive in the hot, humid conditions of the Borneo rainforest. The WWF says it is impossible to predict how many more new species will be found.
"It is so difficult to know how many species there are on the planet. Scientists sometimes estimate maybe there are 10 million species in total out there and we've only described 1.7 million of them so far," Norman said.Click on link for photos of some of the beautiful creatures...
By Hilary Whiteman,... more
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Some 80 to 90 percent of undersea creatures make light -- and we know very little about how or why. Bioluminescence expert Edith Widder explores this glowing, sparkling, luminous world, sharing glorious images and insight into the unseen depths (and brights) of the ocean.Some 80 to 90 percent of undersea creatures make light -- and we know very little... more
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As if most people don't have enough blood-suckers in their lives, a new species of mucous-membrane infesting leech discovered three years ago in the nostril of a 9-year-old girl. She frequently bathed in lakes, rivers and streams in the Amazonian part of Peru and was distressed by feeling "a sliding sensation" in the back of her nose.As if most people don't have enough blood-suckers in their lives, a new species... more
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This is a gorgeous fossil shell photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum .. how old is this? What species is this? I don't know .. but I will return and collect more detailed information to share with you (this first visit was a quick pass through the museum to see what they have on display).This is a gorgeous fossil shell photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum .. how old... more
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Underwater filmmaker Mike deGruy has spent decades looking intimately at the ocean. A consummate storyteller, he takes the stage at Mission Blue to share his awe and excitement -- and his fears -- about the blue heart of our planet.Underwater filmmaker Mike deGruy has spent decades looking intimately at the ocean. A... more
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"The claim is startling and the evidence indirect, but marine biologists seem open to the idea that multicellular animals can live without oxygen.
Three species of loriciferan, a creature that sounds and looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, appear to go their whole lives without oxygen, researchers report online April 6 in BMC Biology.
“This discovery is truly exceptional,” says invertebrate biologist Gonzalo Giribet of Harvard University, who was not part of the study.
Pulled out of a briny, sulfurous hellhole 3.5 kilometers below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, the newfound creatures look like tiny cups with tentacles sticking out. Loriciferans are real, multicellular animals though, so different from other creatures that the tiny marine oddballs have their own phylum on a par with mollusks and arthropods.
Until now, biologists had expected only one-celled organisms such as bacteria to thrive in oxygen-depleted places. Multicellular animals were known to pass through or hunker down temporarily in environments without oxygen, but in all cases needed to have it in some way at some time..."
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58154/description/Multicelled_animals_may_live_oxygen-free"The claim is startling and the evidence indirect, but marine biologists seem... more
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This is the migratory blog carnival that specializes in all things spineless, and the contributions that you'll find here range from essays and photoessays, to photographs with some accompanying explanatory text and even a few videos.This is the migratory blog carnival that specializes in all things spineless, and the... more
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