Science, Curiosity and Life
This week starts with a wet and humid day, not unlike the climate that this creature may experience… do you know what it is?
Image credit:Tassilo Rau
Remember, ask questions if you want some clues and be sure to check back at the end of the week to find out what the creature is and some very interesting facts about it.
If you want to know what this creature is, check out the ‘reveal’ post here.
We had lots of junior scientists having a guess at this week’s Mystery creature, how did you do? Most guessed it was a shark, but to be exact…
It was an epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum)
These small sharks are quite amazing and unique among their species; for one thing, they can walk on land!
Image credit: Jim Capaldi; Image source:Wiki commons
Usually less than one metre in length, these sharks are part of the carpet shark family. They are found in shallow coral reefs and waters off the coast of Australia. Although food can be plentiful in such waters, they have to contend with extreme tides and rapidly changing water levels. When the tide goes out, its larger cousins must retreat into deeper waters, but the smaller epaulette remains behind, left without competition to enjoy the bounty.
However, it is not as ideal as it sounds. Eventually, the water levels recede to dangerous levels. The epaulette shark can no longer swim and runs the risk of being stranded out of water, which would ultimately lead to its death. However, the clever little shark had adapted in two major ways, to overcomes this threat.
The shark requires water as a source of oxygen – to breathe. When the water levels reduce the shark survives by slowing its heart rate and organ use, thereby reducing its body’s demands for oxygen. In this way, it can survive 60 times longer without oxygen than humans can.
The epaulette has one other adaptation to allow it to survive when the tide is out, it can walk to the water! Using its fins as basic legs, it can crawl to a nearby rock pool with enough water to breathe and food to eat, until the tide returns.
Another example of practical and amazing adaptations in Nature. If you have any more examples you’d like to share just leave them in the comments below.
The Mystery Creature posts are back! And here is the first of the year… do you know what it is? It can do something that no other members of its species can, do you know what that is?
Feel free to have some guesses or ask some questions. As always, this post will be updated to reveal the creature’s name, and som unusual facts, at the end of the week.
Image credit: Citron
Looking for the answer? You’ll find it in this post.
This week’s Mystery Creature is a very unusual mammal… can you name it?
Image credit: Lip Kee Yap.
If you know what it is let me know here or on social media. If you don’t why not do a bit of research or, better yet, entertain the kids for an hour by setting them the challenge!
Remember to check back at the end of the week to find out all about this very interesting creature.
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And a little something else … The Boot’s Maternity and Infant Parenting Blog Awards 2015 are still open for voting. If you like what I do here and have a minute to spare I’d really appreciate your vote; You just need to click the image below and scroll down to the “Best Parenting Blog” section under “For the Family”; Many thanks!
How did you do with this week’s Mystery Creature? A pretty extravagant bird don’t you think? It was the Guianan cock of the rock (Rupicola rupicola), a native South American passerine.
Here are ten interesting facts about this beautiful bird:
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And a little something else … The Boot’s Maternity and Infant Parenting Blog Awards 2015 are still open for voting. If you like what I do here and have a minute to spare I’d really appreciate your vote; You just need to click the image below and scroll down to the “Best Parenting Blog” section under “For the Family”; Many thanks!
This week I am returning to the somewhat neglected Mystery Creature series, this feathered one is very bright and… orange; Do you know what it is?
End of week update: Did you guess it? You can see what it was here and find out ten interesting facts about this beautiful bird.
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And a little something else … I am delighted to see my blog listed among some favourite bloggers in the Boots Maternity and Infant Parenting Blog Awards 2015. If you like what I do here and have a minute to spare I’d really appreciate your vote; You just need to click the image below and scroll down to the “Best Parenting Blog” section under “For the Family”; Many thanks!
I have not done one of these Mystery Creature posts in a while, I spotted this one on a program I watched last week and thought it would make a great featured animal; do you know what it is?
Did you guess last week’s Mystery Creature? It is such a master of camouflage that it was difficult to even see it in the picture but it was the very awesome Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus).
Here are ten facts about this amazing creature:
1. Orchid Mantises are native to the rainforests of south east Asia… the word mantis comes from Greek word “mantikos” meaning “soothsayer” or “prophet”.
2. The Orchid Mantis gets its name from its amazing ability to mimic an orchid flower, with the abdomen and four walking legs appearing as the body and petals of the flower. The insect may be white, pink or purple with a range of colour combinations.
3. What is truly remarkable about the Orchid Mantis is that it appears to exhibit “aggressive mimickry”. According to a 2013 study carried out on Malasyian Orchid Mantis it is not mearly hiding among orchids and using them to lure in its prey but they are the lure themselves. The Orchid Mantis appears to other insects as an actual native flower, so much so that the insect is attracted to it, and once it comes within reach it becomes dinner!
So effective is the Orchid Mantis at this that these initial studies reported it to lure 30% more insects to it than the actual plant itself.
4. Orchid Mantises, along with other Mantids, share a common ancestor with termites and cockroaches.
5. The Orchid Mantis can fly; males are thought to be better flyers than females
6. Orchid mantids are sexually dismorhpic, the females can grow to double the size of the male (about 6cm). The male matures more quickly, taking five to six months to reach full maturity, compared with the females eight months.
7. Female lays a cluster of 50 to 100 eggs, wrapped in a foamy, protein rich layer (Oothecae);
8. The nymphs when hatched, look more like ants (with black and orange/red bodies) but lose these colours as they grow and molt. It is thought that the newly hatched nymphs have this colouration to mimic aggressive or foul tasting insects.
9. Orchid Mantises eat a large variety of flies and pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and moths. They may also eat small lizards and bananas. They are preyed upon by lizards, toads, certain jumping spiders and bats.
10. As with many other species of Mantises, the Orchid Mantis has spiked forlegs that they use to hold their prey securely in place while they eat.
This week’s Mystery Creature is a marvel at camouflage. In order to name him you need to spot him first!
To find out what it is, click to this post.
This week’s Mystery Creature was the indian Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis). A very unusual looking frog found in certain parts of India;
Here are ten facts about this unusual creature…
1. The Indian purple frog is so called because it tends to have a dark purple colouring. It is also referred to as the purple frog or the pig-nose frog.
2. Unlike most frogs the body of the purple frog is round and bloated looking, with a very small head and short, whitish snout like nose. The legs of the purple frog are short and protrude out from the side of the body, the hind legs are strong with wart like lumps that appear to aid digging. They have partially webbed feet with rounded toes.
3. The tadpoles of the purple frog have oral suckers to allow them live in fast flowing streams.
4. The purple frog spends almost it’s entire life underground – only emerge for about two weeks at the start of the monsoon season (around May) for mating; The frog’s strong hind legs are used for digging, acting like shovels and scooping the earth out of the way, as the frog reverses into the newly created tunnel. It can burrow up to 3.7 metres below the surface. The frogs need soft, moist soil; a dry, hard terrain makes digging impossible for them.
Unlike most other burrowing frogs the purple frog feeds underground. They eat mainly termites which they are thought to suck up with their fluted tongue. The diet also includes ants and small worms.
5. The purple frog is only found in the Western Ghants in India.
6. Purple frogs grow to no more tham 7cm in length. They are sexually dismorphic, the males are smaller than the females (about a third of the length of females).
7. During the mating season the males use sound to attract females. They start their calls from underground, giving a very unusual sound, like a chicken or wild fowl.
8. These reclusive creatures are listed as endangered species – threatened mainly by deforestation for coffee, cardamom and ginger.
9. The purple frog is considered a living fossil. It provides evidence that Madagascar, the Seychelles and India were all part of the same land mass at one point. Genetic analysis confirms that their closest living relatives are frog species found in the Seychelles.
Ancestors of the purple frog shared the earth with the dinosaurs; These frogs are unique in that they have evolved independently for over 130 million years, surviving mass extinctions and the break up of a continent. Their solitary life underground has probably been their saving grace.
10. Despite the fact that the purple frog species has been around for 130 million years, it was only formally recorded as a species in 2003.