These snakes are unique to Madagascar and have these unusual extended “nose” appendages. The shape of the snout varied between the sexes (sexually dimorphic), the female’s is more broad and serrated and the male’s is longer and more pointy. The females are typically grey in colour while the males are usually brown on top and yellow on the underside of their bodies.
The nasal appendage is present from birth, though it is folded in to expose the egg tooth.
Leaf nosed snakes feed mainly on lizards and frogs and are thought to be ambush feeders. They are arboreal snakes and are often observed hanging straight down from branches, noses pointing to the ground. Their shape and colouring camouflage them well. They are found in deciduous dry forest and rain forests.
A good few correct answers this week… This week’s Mystery Creature goes by the name of Elephant Fish, Elephantnose Fish or, most commonly, Peters’ Elephantnose Fish (Gnatonemus petersii).
Peters’ elephantnose fish is common in certain parts of Africa, found in muddy, slow moving rivers and pools with heavy vegetation. it are nocturnal, preferring to hide away during the day. It grows to about 20 -25 cm in length and is grey/black to brown in colour. The most striking feature of these little fish is their trunk like “nose”, which is not actually a nose at all but an extension of their mouth, or more specifically their chin.
These fish have quite poor vision but can navigate and seek out food very well using active electroreception; they generate small electric fields by flexing muscles in their tails and then detect any interference in the path of these fields. Its “trunk” like mouth extension is covered in more than 500 electroreceptors (which are also found on much of the body) which can detect the feedback signals. The fish moves forward with its “trunk” pointing downwards, passes it back and forth, just like a metal detector. Active electroreception can be likened to echolocation in other animals such as whales and bats. The detail these fish can gleam from their electrical scan of their environments is quite remarkable. In order to process the information they are constantly receiving their brains are very large, larger than that of a human, relative to their overall body size.
In their native environment they feed on small worms and some aquatic invertebrates. They have become popular additions to domestic aquariums though, particularly in America, and appear to accept common fish food in such environments.
We waited a long time for the return of our friends, the House martins, this year. We were so pleased last year when two pairs built nests on our house, in fact, they inspired my first blog! House martins tend to repair and re use their nests each year so we were sure they would return. By the end of May though they still had not arrived and we began to give up hope. Finally, just at the end of May we spotted the familiar flight of their small bodies outside the window and the household celebrated!
Last year we had two nests under the eaves on our house. This year, as well as repairing the old nests, more couples arrived and built adjoining nests and one more on the South facing end of our house… so now we have five nests… more rejoicing (you get the idea – we REALLY like House martins in this family).
The first nest built on our house!
One pair of nests is literally built over a door into our kitchen so we get to enjoy the cheery little guys every time we come in and out. My nine year old daughter has inherited her father’s obsession with them and took to checking on them every morning as soon as she awoke. They make a really chatty, cheery sound and always seem to pop their heads out and greet us as we pass, like gossiping neighbours chatting over a garden fence!
The big excitement this week was when we spotted the ejected egg pile below one of the nests. The first batch of chicks have hatched! Eight egg halves in total so four chicks which is in keeping with the norm. The eggs are tiny as you can see below. Hard to imagine how small the chicks are. The will be fed by both parents for the next couple of weeks and then will fledge about 22-32 days old. The young fledglings usually return to the nest for another week or so and will be fed by the parents during this time.
Evidence of four hatchlings!
Look how small the eggs are!
As amazing as it is to realise how small the hatchlings are, it is an equal marvel to wonder how the whole family fits into the nest after the chicks have grown. It is an amusing and charming site to see so many little heads beeping out of such a small space.
The house martins will usually have a second brood before the end of the Summer. Occasionally the first year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood.
I will be posting more photos and facts on these charming “house guests” as the Summer progresses. Perhaps you have something to share on the subject too? If so share it in the comments below!
How did you do with this week’s Mystery Creature? This charming moth is called a “Buff tip” (Phalera bucephala).
Image Credit: Michael Bell (Nature Learn)
Image Credit: Michael Bell (Nature Learn)
As most moths are nocturnal they need to rely on good hiding areas or camouflage to survive during the day. The Buff tip is a true master in the art of camouflage. Not only does its colour and markings blend in among the branches of the trees upon which it rests but its body shape is also ideal to make it look just like a twig.
These moths are fairly common in Ireland and throughout Europe. They have a wing span of between 4 and 7 cm. The Buff -tip over winters in the crysalis state underground, emerging in adult form in early Summer. The female lays large groups of eggs which hatch en-masse. The black and yellow larvae tend to feed in large groups after hatching, moving towards a more solitary lifestyle as they grow. They feed on a variety of deciduous trees such as birch, hazel, alder and oak. In the Autumn they pupate underground and the cycle begins again.
These images (unless otherwise stated) were kindly provided by Michael of Nature Learn, a Nature Education program for schools and public groups. Keep watching for another Mystery Creature from Nature Learn in the coming weeks!
Clouds are made up of tiny drops of water or ice crystals. They form when warm air picks up water vapour from the land or sea and carries it into the sky turning it into water droplets or ice crystals!
The study of clouds is called Nephology.
Let’s learn more!
There are lots of ways to describe clouds but they are usually named based on their height in the sky, their shape or the weather they can bring!
If a cloud name starts with “cirr-” then you know it must form very high in the sky (over 20,000 feet).
If a cloud name has “Alto”- in it then it is in the middle section of the sky (between 6,500 and 20,000 feet).
Clouds with “Strato-” in the name are found in the lowest part of the sky (below 6,500 feet).
The clouds that are really high in the sky are mainly made up of ice crystals as the air is so cold.
Clouds at ground level are called “fog”.
Did you know…all clouds are white but can appear grey or dark when seen from below? This may be due to the amount of water they contain and shadowing by clouds above them.
Clouds named according to their shape will contain one of these Latin words in their name…
Therefore a cloud named Altostratus would mean a cloud that forms in layers and sits between 6,500 and 20,000 feet above land.
Did you know... other planets contain clouds made up of chemicals other than water? Venus has clouds made up of sulphuric acid, chlorine and flouride. Neptune is covered by bright blue methane clouds!
The latin word “Nimbus” is used to name rain clouds!
Clouds called Cumulonimbus are often referred to as thunder clouds as they usually bring thunder storms!
Cumulonimbus clouds are the tallest of all the clouds.
Cumulonimbus looks a bit like a giant cauliflower in the sky!
Did you know… a sinlge cloud can hold billions of pounds of water?
Clouds are carried along by the wind and can often travel quite fast;
Thunder clouds (Cumulonimbus) usually travel about 64 kilometres per hour (kph). The highest clouds (above 20,000 feet) can reach speeds of over 160 kph!
An experiment to try at home:
Make a cloud in a bottle!
You will need… an empty 2 Litre plastic bottle, warm water and a match.
What to do… Fill the plastic bottle one third full with warm water. Put the cap back on and squeeze and then release the bottle. Nothing happens. Ask an adult to light the match and put it into the bottle. Replace the cap quickly. Try squeezing and releasing the bottle again. What happens this time?
So what is happening?…Once the match has been added to the bottle a cloud forms when you squeeze and then release the bottle (if you squeeze again the cloud dissapears and reappears when you release). To make a cloud you need water vapour, small particles (like the smoke) and a decrease in air pressure.
Our garden is bursting with life at the moment! Busy, haggard birds are flitting around, building nest and laying eggs. Insect populations are slowly emerging and even our hens are getting broody! For the first year ever we have a number of young rabbits joining in the ecosystem that is our back garden. The rabbits in particular have attracted the children’s attention. You can understand why… there must be at least five of them and they are very tiny, very cute and very independent! That got my children wondering….
Rabbits are independent from a very early age. A female rabbit (called a Doe) will give birth to a litter of four to twelve baby rabbits (called Kits). The kits are born blind and without any fur. However within a week their eyes have opened, their fur begins to grow and their ears begin to stand upright. Wild rabbits will begin to wean about two weeks old and within three weeks they have grown enough to leave the nest and live independently. They may look small and helpless in our back garden but they are old enough to go it alone in the wild.
A doe can reach sexual maturity between three and six months and can live for up to ten years. The breeding season of rabbits usually last three quarters of the year. The most amazing aspect of the rabbit though, is that fact that the doe has no oestrus cycle. She can literally get pregnant a day after giving birth. Her gestation period is only one months long.
If you want to do the maths on all that it means that one doe could give birth to up 80 to 100 kits a year, or as many as 1,000 kits in one lifetime. With these turnover rates you can see why the kits have to be independent pretty quickly!
The busiest members of the garden seem to be the birds. Nest building, egg laying and then feeding a brood of hungry and demanding chicks. For the first part of their lives these chicks are completely dependent on their parents for food and the parents spend the early summer months on a non stop conveyor belt of foraging and feeding. The chicks learn to out “beg” their siblings rather than how to feed themselves. Of course this does not last for long, eventually these young birds will learn to fly and forage all by themselves … no mean feat!
Why do birds choose to feed rather than encourage foraging at an earlier stage? By evolving in this manner birds can choose to build their nests in more isolated, out of reach places, such as high up trees or on cliff edges. The compromise is that such places do not have a ready supply of food so the parents must go and source the food and bring it back. Although an exhausting process, the chicks are more likely to survive!
WHAT ABOUT THE INSECTS AND THEIR YOUNG?
This one depends on the insect obviously. Most insects’ parenting work ends with the lay of their eggs. This they usually do in large quantities, to increase the chances of survival of at least some of their progeny. Once the young hatch they are on their own! Often having to work their way through a number of different forms and changes before they even make it to adulthood! Imagine what it must be like to morph from a grub to an adult? Must be like going through your teens without any parental guidance what so ever!
Not all insects leave their young to their own devices of course. Some bee, wasp and ant species tend to the eggs in colonies of nests or hives. Once the larvae emerge from the egg they are fend and tended to completely, passing through different developmental stages until they pupate and emerge as adults.
HOW DO HUMAN INFANTS COMPARE?
The insects and birds mentioned above rely on their young doing most of their development outside the adult body, in eggs and/or larval stage. They are not mammals (giving birth to live young) like rabbits or humans. We have seen how quickly the rabbit young develop and gain independence from their mother. This is not the case with human infants though. So why the big difference between the dependence of the young in rabbits and humans?
Factors that influence the level of dependence of young on the adult can include…
size of the fetus
size of the mother
number of young per birth
brain size and growth rate
cultural behaviour of the species
life span
Rabbit have large litters, short gestation periods, a less developed brain and a shorter life span than humans. These facts all explain the difference in dependence of young.
If we look at all mammals we find that humans have very dependent young relative to most other species.It is thought that our evolution into bipedal (walks on two legs) creatures has meant that our young must be born with smaller brains and that the brain develops more after birth. This is for physical reasons: in order to walk upright the size of our pelvis is restricted and therefore the size of the infants we give birth to is restricted.
To examine infant dependence even further we can compare the dependence of human young with those of other primates; Human infants are much more underdeveloped at birth than their primate relatives! In fact human development is thought to take 30% to 50% longer than that of other primates. Why is this the case? Perhaps it goes back to the point that life span may play a role in infant dependence? This point alone does not account for the big difference observed between humans and other primates. Other suggestion that might contribute are the nutritional demands on the mother during gestation and the amount of growth and development the brain will undergo after birth.
Scientists are now also looking at the contribution of maternal nurture and the cultural development of the society of the species. Humans have evolved a highly developed social and cultural environment. We have developed complex communication methods (e.g. language and social ques) and cultural interactions. In order to fit into such a complex system, perhaps the human infant must learn by observation and inclusion… neither of which it can do in the womb. Maybe we are born with such underdeveloped brains because most of our development and learning can only be done in the culture within which we will live!
…and the adult moth is the SPOTTED HAWK MOTH (Manduca sexta), also known as the SPHINX MOTH.
The adult moth (image source: wiki commons)
This species is very common in America (and probably only present in Ireland as imports). Horworm caterpillars can grow up to three inches in length. The tobacco hornworm is often confused with the tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) as both look very similar and can each feed on similar plants. The tobacco hornworm has white stripes along it’s body and a red “horn” while the tomato hornworm has V-shaped markings and a black “horn”.
Horworm eggs are typically laid on the underside of leaves. When the caterpillar emerge they will eat through a large amount of leaves for a month or so before pupating in the soil, building a small hole a few inches below the surface. The adult moths, commonly known as shinx, hawk or “hummingbird” moths emerge from the ground and feed on nectar. The life cycle can be competed in 30 to 50 days and under the right temperatures, there can be two hatches in one Summer.
“A rose can say ‘I love you’, orchids can enthrall, but a weed bouquet in a small chubby fist, – that says it all.” -Author Unknown
I heard this saying recently and it came to mind again today as I strolled home in the beautiful sunshine with my little three year old. We were admiring some flowers in the hedgerow and my little companion decided he would like to bring some flowers home for his convalescing daddy. After the delay of Summer in this Country it is uplifting to see all these little bursts of colour emerging in the hedgerow. It is amazing how many different flowers we came across on our slow half mile walk home from playschool!
This little fistful includes dandelion, buttercup, daisy, herb roberts, forget-me-not, speed well, scarlet pimpernel, vetch and horsetails. Anyone who has been following my blogs will be aware of my loose definition of a weed and my delight in all these little hedgerow friends.
We often look to the exotic and rare in the pursuit of beauty but if we take a moment to bend our heads and look into our local hedgerows and grassy verges we can find an abundance of beauty in the common, local and tiny plants that grow there.
Many of these plants held symbolic and medicinal value to our ancestors, perhaps I will explore these lores and legends a little further in individual blogs about some of these little delights, what do you think? If you have an opinion, a suggestion or some information to share on the topic please drop me a note in the comments below!
The two toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means) is a snake like salamander found primarily in Southern USA. They are often (incorrectly) called conger eel, congo eel or congo snake. It has four short legs with two toes on each which appear to serve no purpose. These creatures can grow up to one metre in length and are nocturnal, feeding usually on small fish, snails, small salamanders, small frogs and even some snakes. They tend to live in acidic waters in swampy areas.
The Amphiuma has a very slimy skin which make them very difficult to handle. They do not pose any chemical (poisonous) threat to humans but can harm physically as they have a very fast sharp bite, with a double row of razor sharp teeth. They are also thought to generate suction to draw in their prey. Typical of salamanders they do not have a tongue, but unlike other salamanders they are not mute, but instead are know to make a whistle type sound.
The female lays up to as many as 150 to 200 eggs, laid in a long string and then coils around them to incubate them for almost five months (20 weeks), until the young hatch.
My son just loves apes, all sizes, shapes and nature! I think he feels a kindred spirit with their curious, mischievous side and the ease and ability with which they swing and climb. As his mother, watching him grow over the last seven years, I can certainly vouch for these similarities between boy and beast!
However, that is where the analogy ends. There is a darker side to many apes such as chimpanzees and baboons; they are often know for their aggressive, bullying and violent nature! That is, until we look at the laid back left side of the Congo river, the exclusive habitat of the Bonobo ape (Pan paniscus). Although similar in size and shape to the chimpanzees of the right bank (Bonobos tend to have slightly leaner bodies, longer limbs and smaller skulls) these apes are defined by their “make love not war” attitude to life!
photo credit: Jeroen Kransen via photopin cc
So, is this laisser-faire attitude really what is seen in bonobos in the wild? The bonobos are know for their relaxed, non-aggressive nature, living in large sociable groups with a strong female dominance to their social hierarchic. There are a number of long term studies examining these animals in their natural habitat. Although there are exceptions to the rule, they do indeed seem to be a lot more peaceful than their cousins on the other side of the river
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What makes the bonobos such placid creatures? So why are the bonobos so much more placid? Some of the answers lie within their food choice and its supply within their habitat! Bonobos are similar to chimpanzees in that they eat fruit, leaves and a bit of animal protein; the big difference though is that they are also fond of local herby vegetation. This vegetation is a good source of protein and sugars and, even more importantly, it can be found all year round! The bonobos are not frequently challenged by the threat of food shortages and starvation. This allows them to forage in large, social groups, ensuring that each individual may have continuous social connection and back-up. The chimps on the other side of the river are not so fortunate! Their diet is more restricted and therefore more scarce! This immediately adds stress. The requirement to find food arises, along with the need to fight for it. These stresses are at the basic level of survival and inhibit the development of large and strong social bonds. It also explains the incidence of cannibalism among chimpanzees.
Empathy is another trait associated with bonobo interaction, thought to be developed from an early age. Comparative studies of the chimp and bonobo at a neuro-biological level have shown significant differences between the two apes and provide biological support for the suggestion of empathy among bonobo populations.
Are bonobos always chilled out?
Current studies are looking at stress levels in bonobo apes. By examining the levels of the stress hormone cortisol within urine samples taken from male bonobos it would appear that high ranking males do appear to get “stressed out” sometimes. The cause, not too surprisingly, appears to be the presence of a female. In a society known for its peaceful behaviour it must be very stressful trying to remain calm and cool when vying for the affection of a pretty “lady”.
What about their family tree?
Bonobos and chimpanzees are our closest living relatives. The question of which came first and to which we may be most closely linked is still open. There are suggestions that the bonobo has evolved as a “naturally domesticated” version of its more aggressive cousin. Where does that put homosapiens? We have evolved a softness and empathy in our communications and an emotionally developed social behaviour, and yet we have raged the largest wars and atrocities on earth;
