Creature Feature: Rufous-backed Kingfisher.

Some readers are bound to ask: what's the deal with the URL of this blog? Originally, it was intended to push the boundaries of fantasy and reality, showing how "mythological" things could either be real or have a solid basis in reality. Since this blog has covered phoenix bases in the past, I feel pretty safe putting this little bird up:



This is a rufous-backed kingfisher (Cyex rufidorsa), so named for its reddish back. It's native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It eats fish, insects, frogs, and reptiles. The bird is small enough to fit in one's hand.  Unlike many entries from steamy rainforests, this little bird is not even remotely endangered. The only threat it faces is a slight decline due to habitat destruction.

The rufous-backed kingfisher does not seem real. It's bright red and purple, like a little phoenix. Its head is disproportionately large compared to its body. The bill is particularly huge. It's adorable and psychedelic. This should be a Pokemon; make it a baby Moltres and it'll sell like hotcakes (pun totally intended).

The rufous-backed kingfisher's appetite is just as extraordinary as its coloration. Thesebirds will hunt a number of things from high perches overlooking water, then dive in after them; that's how kingfishers roll and should be no surprise. What's more surprising is that it's not afraid to eat things twice its size. How does it pack all that fish into its little stomach? Probably very carefully.


There is some confusion when classifying this kingfisher. Another species, Ceyx erithaca, was discovered first. Both are properly "Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers," depending on whom you ask. They also overlap in some areas, leaving one to wonder if there's a difference aside from color. Whatever you call it, it's quite remarkable for a little bird, no?

Killer Cute: The Slow Loris, Revisited.

(Apologies on the lateness for this entry. I actually have no idea why this bugger took me so long. It feels like I've been a bit off-kilter since Florida. That said, this did provide an idea for the Easter theme week: Killer Cute.)

Hey, remember two years ago when this blog covered the super-cool, unique primate called the slow loris? In 2012, the BBC released a documentary with new information concerning this cute, cuddly YouTube star. It turns out several corrections need to be made to that old entry, but the meat of that documentary is enough to say "screw it, let's just do another entry."

First off, it turns out that slow lorises are not that slow. They, like the gremlins the documentary compares them to, hate bright lights, and move slower because of it. In actuality, they are lightning-fast furballs that can snatch any little thing that moves. That said, they are also more predatory than previously thought, although the fangs and forward-facing eyes should have been a giveaway.

The scientist in this video has one question on her mind: Why are lorises poisonous? It's a good question, seeing as lorises are the only venomous primates and among the very few venomous mammals. The "how" seems to come from the loris's diet, much like how monarch butterflies are poisonous because the larvae eat milkweed. The "why" is a lot harder to figure out, and almost enters the realm of horror movies.

Pygmy Slow Loris- it's even cuter when it's small!

It turns out that this venom has a number of purposes. One, again as with monarch butterflies, the venom makes the loris smell and taste awful. Two, it prevents wounds from healing, making anything it envenomates susceptible to infection and necrosis. Lorises can use the venom in male-to-male combat, meaning that any battle-damaged lorises will die sooner rather than later. Creepier still, Indonesian natives figured out that things that the loris touched didn't heal, so they opted to coat their battle blades in loris blood. They are more terrified of loris venom than snakebite, and we're talking about a rainforest island chain with more venomous snakes than the entire U.S. of A. Screw Houndoom's supposed eternal burns; that's chilling.

I am going to keeeel you.

The documentary also takes a heartbreaking look at an exotic pet market in Indonesia. Conditions in the trade are hot, cramped, and smelly. Lorises and other endangered species can be gotten for a song. All slow lorises are taken from the wild; the documentary would probably have shown us adorable, well-tended baby lorises had any been available.

While I personally do not agree with this treatment, I do see the trade in general as a sort of inevitability. It's silly to think that humans would not try to expand the possibilities of domesticating animals. Anyone who thinks "get a cat or dog" is the acceptable answer to any exotic pet query is kidding themselves; menageries go back at least as far as the European monarchy, and conditions of zoos and the like have gotten better, not worse, through repeated interaction with "wild" animals. We know more about handling animals than we did way back when.

Some animals make good pets; others do not. The slow loris sounds like it is firmly in the "not" category, being venomous, smelly, loud, and not able to breed in captivity. Don't let that adorable YouTube video fool you. There are plenty of other exotic mammals that have proven to breed in captivity, if not make great pets. Wolves and skunks have a better track record in that regard than slow lorises.

You know that Killer White Rabbit from Monty Python's Holy Grail? That's what the slow loris is, for real. It's a cute fuzzy thing that kills people. The natives know it as a lethal, mystical animal that is to be feared despite its cuteness, and occasionally trap it for tourists. Scientists treat it as a mysterious creature that we need to learn a lot more about. The rest of the world see it as nothing more than the most memetic animal since LOLCats. Could LOLris be up next on the horizon? Hopefully not.

Creature Feature: Dugong.

Ever wonder how stories of mermaids got started? Like, who decided to put a hot lady on a fish's body? It was obviously someone very drunk and/or creative. It's not like a normal person could look at any sea mammal and go, "hey, that looks like a woman with a tail! I should say hi."

Source.

Oh, hell. With a tail like that and a little bit of liquor, that could totally pass for a mermaid.

That, by the way, is a dugong (Dugong dugon). No, not Dewgong- the animal came first. Dugongs are sirenids, making them related to manatees and, more loosely, elephants, tenrecs, and hyraxes. They live in most of the warmer waters around the world, including those around Africa, Australia, China, and the islands around those areas. They are mostly herbivorous, but some populations are omnivores, munching on invertebrates when grass is not available.

For those of you curious about the nomenclature, the odd name comes from the Malayan word for "mermaid." The idea seems pretty universal, with people all the way in Kenya considering dugongs feminine. Indonesians even consider them reincarnations of women. If any sea mammal can be considered a basis or mermaids, this is the one. Instant mermaid: just add rum.

(c) Mandy Episton.

 

That said, outside of being mermaids, dugongs are fascinating creatures. The tail is fluked like that of a whale or dolphin; this allows it to 'stand' in shallower waters and keep its head above the sea in order to take a breath. Speaking of, dugong lungs are very long, extending all the way down to their kidneys. This arrangement helps balance out the dugong's buoyant blubber.

The dugong is always culturally-significant in the areas in which it is found. Catching a dugong can be seen as either good or bad luck, depending on where you go. In Thailand, the tears are an aphrodisiac; the Indians are more rational and use its meat for sexual potency. The list of things dugong can be used for goes on, possibly into the Bible.

Under the sea, under the sea~

Alas, the dugong is nearing endangered status, and it's entirely our fault. Its meat, oil, skin, and bones are all valuable. They are big, docile, and slow-moving, making them easy targets.  Let's not even get into how humans are polluting the ocean and cutting up sea cows with boats. Once you learn that everybody eats dugong meat, all other reasons seem miniscule by comparison. Luckily, most areas with dugongs have some regulations on hunting them. Good luck enforcing that.

Oh, and yes, dugong has a Poke-sona in Dewgong, the evolution of Seel. Real dugongs, however, cannot handle icy water period, let alone swim through it at high speeds. Sorry, but this Water-Type will not be learning Ice Beam aaaany time soon. Still, save the mermaids!

Creature Feature: Cream-Colored Giant Squirrel.

Any environmentalist  will tell you that every animal alive today has its place in the world. Every single species is a special little snowflake and a piece of a much bigger puzzle. This blog was made to celebrate how wicked awesome other species are. If you've been reading this blog, this paragraph was a broken record to you.

Then there are some animals that make us go, "the fark, nature? Why is this thing still alive?" The panda bear is on that list. So is this:

The Cream-colored Giant Squirrel (Ratufa affinis) is one of those animals. It can be found only in Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It eats seeds, leaves, bark, and insects. It is almost completely arboreal. It is thought extinct in Singapore and Vietnam, making the stamp above very ironic. 

So, let's get some facts down. The Cream-colored Giant Squirrel ("creamy-squirrel") is exactly what it says on the tin: a pale squirrel that is giant. It can get almost a yard long from the tip of its nose to the end of its long, bushy tail, which helps it balance like a tripod while eating. Along with being pale, these giant squirrels are usually boldly marked. The name alone says that this animal should not survive.

Surprise surprise: It just barely lives. OK, so it's not on the Endangered List  yet, but it is near-threatened. These squirrels are easy to hunt and prone to deforestation. As arboreal animals, even sustainable logging might be a threat. What else is new? Well...

Along with human interference, the creamy-squirrel has competition from the giant black squirrel. In most of its range, these two squirrels share habitat. The only place where creamy-squirrel is truly safe is in Borneo, where it is the only giant squirrel. The main difference is that creamy-squirrels do not so much as go to the ground to feed, whereas the black squirrels leave the trees every now and then; otherwise, the creamy-squirrels have no real niche. Regardless of how many enemies the cream-colored squirrel has, I bet this is one of the few times you will ever hear of a squirrel going extinct.

Creature Feature: Hermit Crabs.

So I'm now back in a little area of Illinois I like to call "Suburban Hell." There are whole strip malls that have died just by being in this suburb. Most tragically, the local magic shop, and several other stores in its little strip, have decided to close shop. Even other suburbanites say my suburb sucks.

That said, here's a critter known for moving: the classic hermit crab.

The name "hermit crab" is a little bit misleading; they are more closely related to squat lobsters and porcelain crabs than 'standard' crabs. They are usually native to tropical regions or completely marine. There are several kinds of hermit crabs (over 1100 species), but they all have one thing in common: As they grow, they need to move into another animal's shell or shelter. 

Unlike most crustaceans, hermit crabs have squishy abdomens.  They are designed such that, as they grow older, they can fit into another animal's shell. When a nearby snail dies, hermit crabs line up to see who can fit in the shell. When that owner gets too big for it, the cycle starts again, and smaller crabs line up to take the abandoned shell. I would hate to see the real estate prices on those shells.

Quick, find it an apartment!

 

Not all hermit crabs live in shells. Some of them inhabit burrows of sea worms.Others prefer coral, sponges, and bivalves to snails. They've been around since the Cretaceous- of course they've evolved to do better than single snail shells.  A few of them deliberately put sea anemones on their shells as a form of home security. Despite the names, hermit crabs can and should live in communities, making housing slightly easier to come by.

Most of you have probably seen land hermit crabs in pet stores. These are terrestrial hermit crabs of the genus Coenobita; I usually see some Ecuadoran hermit crabs around. As hermit crabs grow in popularity, more and more species of this genus are appearing for sale. They used to be thought of as a "throwaway" pet, but can live a surprisingly long time if their rather strict environment is maintained. Now that people are catching on, books and other items for hermit crab care are becoming readily available. They even make little painted shells for your hermit crab to move into.

For those of us who don't have the space or time to manage hermit crabs (they aren't that bad, really), Pokemon has four hermit crabs total. The Slowpoke family is  based off of hermit crabs, with Slowbro outright called "hermit crab" as its title. The other hermit crab family, Dwebble and Crustle, is newer. 

Fungus Among Us: Skirted Stinkhorn.

Since the power outage unfortunately cut our fungus week short, here's what I would have done if the power hadn't gone out. Yes, I know, we already did a stinkhorn, but this stinkhorn is a little more eerie.

More here.

Perhaps this would have been a little more appropriate for Halloween, but the skirted stinkhorn (Phallus indusiatus) is the quintessential "weird mushroom." It's identifiable as a mushroom, but looks like it was laced with cobwebs or the skirt of a ghost. Every tropical region in the world has this thing. It's that one mushroom that people photograph and demand to know what it is. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

P. indusiatus has a very distinctive 'skirt' of lacy indusium- the stuff beneath the cap on this mushroom. As in the basket stinkhorn, this mushroom uses its scent and presumably holes to help spread its spores around. Again, the spores are stored in a sticky fluid called gleba as opposed to being airborne. Is it just me, or do all stinkhorns sound like something out of alien movies?

Unlike the other stinkhorn we covered, yes, this baby is edible. It was a rarity in Qing dynasty cuisine for a long time. The notorious Empress Dowager Cixi had a particular fondness for skirted stinkhorn, and Henry Kissinger got a taste of it as well. It has been successfully cultivated in China since 1979. It is now sold commonly in Asian markets, so if you're curious, take a look there.

Along with actually being edible, P. indusiatus has a few compounds in it that may prove useful. One, hydrxylmethylfurfural, could prevent browning in commercial food. Extracts are antioxidants and antibiotics. There is almost nothing bad about this mushroom...except that it might be an alien spore. Quick, run!

Creature Feature: Temple Viper.

There is no creature more prevalent in mythology than the snake. If a culture is near snakes, they've got stories about them. The snake is simultaneously hated and revered, cursed and respected. They are so different from humans that they must be magic. No wonder everybody talks about them!

Then there are some serpentine coincidences that cannot simply be dismissed as coincidences. The white snakes in Iwakuni are a good example; Japan is loaded with eagles, cats, and a million other things that would love to munch an easily-visible snake, but there managed to be a lot of Shirohebi in one place. The Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia has a similar, much more deadly tale to tell...

...thanks to being the home of dozens of Wagler's vipers (Tropidolaemus wagleri), AKA "temple vipers." They are native to Thailand, Sumatra, and Malaysia. Arboreal snakes, they eat rodents, birds, and lizards. They are in the same viper group as rattlesnakes, which should give you an idea of how nasty a bite can be.

Temple vipers come in a million different color phases. Some are brown; some are orange; some are bright green. They used to be classified as subspecies, but now they're treated more like morphs. In temple vipers, the females are a lot larger (up to a meter long) than the males, so they're nice and easy to sex, too. Y'know, just in case you want the gender of the snake that bit you.

 I've gone into the neat adaptations of pit vipers before. Their teeth are organic syringes. They hunt you by heat and scent, both things that mammals have trouble concealing. This snake also has camouflage on its side, coupled with a nice strike that can probably catch birds in mid-flight.  The venom is hemotoxic, which is is own brand of hemorrhagic nastiness. On the bright side, I kid you not, some people think this snake's venom has the potential to remove wrinkles. Whatever floats your boat.

So, why are these snakes at the temple? Legend has it that a Buddhist monk decided to give shelter to the snakes of the jungle. Indeed, there are more snakes there than just the temple viper. Some of them have been defanged, but do you really want to risk messing with one that just got its teeth back in? Yes, snake fangs grow back. Just another reason that mammals are screwed by our own global warming issues.

Food Week: Rambutan.

Wait a sec. That's food? It looks like a radioactive hairball, or a pompom that suddenly came to life, or - OK, insert your own here. Point is, if it wasn't growing on a tree, we would have trouble recognizing it as a fruit. Since it is, we must find out if it is edible. Whooo boy is this weird-looking thing edible!

Yes, those red, hairy fruits are called rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum).  They are extremely popular in Southeast Asia and Hawaii. Although the real native range of the fruit is not known (suspected Malaysia and Indonesia), nearly every place in SE-Asia has naturalized rambutan trees. It's related to other tropical fruits, the most common of which in the U.S. of A. is lychee. There is also a weird yellow version grown in Costa Rica, but this entry will focus on the SE Asian versions.

The word "rambutan" means "hairy" in Malay. Indeed, that hairy husk is the most prominent part of the fruit. It is peeled off entirely before eating. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds. Here's a video if you don't believe me:

 

The fruit itself is almost like a white grape. Inside the meat of the fruit is a pit, again similar to a regular grape.  As with most foods with heavy pits, the pits are cast aside. Eat the translucent flesh however you like. It has a ton of vitaminsand antioxidants in there, but really, this just looks fun to eat.

Rambutan is quite popular in Southeast Asia. There are some 200-odd cultivars to choose from. Some are bright red, some are yellow, and some strains are just plain more awesome than others. Rambutan is also made into jellies and other flavored products. Almost all of the rambutan there comes from Thailand, so if you want it straight from the source, take a little trip to Bangkok. They can usually be found fresh on the branch, already ripened (because they only ripen on the tree).

Unlike tamales, I want to try this. This sounds just bizarre and tasty enough to be worth trying. How many people from the West can honestly say they've eaten a fruit that looks like a pom-pom?

Green Tree Python and Emerald Tree Boa.

I know, I know - another snake entry. You're probably getting sick of these, but this is an entry I've owed you all for almost two years, now. To sweeten the deal, it's a double header...with good reason.

Look at the two snakes below. Tell me if you can tell that they aren't the same species.

Despite looking very, very, very similar, the two snakes above are not even the same type of snake. The one on the left is a green tree python (Morelia viridis); the one on the right (with the large white stripes) is an emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus). The GTP is native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Australia; the ETB is native to the rainforests of South America.

So, fact blitz: Both the ETB and GTP are green, arboreal constrictors that get roughly 6 feet long as adults. The young ones are usually either red or yellow in color, changing to bright green within a year. Both snakes will also loop a coil or two over a branch and set their heads dead center. In captivity, it can be really, really hard to tell them apart.

Remember when I said that snakes had some crazy convergent evolution goin' on? This is exactly what I meant. These two snakes live nowhere near each other. Unlike lions and tigers, which are genetically close enough to reproduce even though they've been separated for thousands of years, ETB's and GTP's aren't genetically compatible. Their similarity is solely based on the evolutionary process; because they adapted to the same environments, eat the same food, and so forth, they evolved similar adaptations. In this case, they happen to be creepily similar.

Yeah, umm...I'd wear a glove, too. This is an ETB.

Similar does not mean identical. For example, the emerald tree boa has, proportionately, the largest fangs of any non-venomous snake. The ETB eats birds to warrant these super-long fangs; for whatever reason, GTPs do not. ETB's also have more apparent white on them than do GTP's as a rule. Also, GTP's are a lot more common in captivity in general, even sporting a blue morph.

A few handy tricks if you're stuck identifying a random green snake in a tree and somebody asks, "hey, what is that?":

~ Emerald Tree Boas are from South America. GTPs are from Asia and Australia. Location is one of the main dividing points, here.

~Boas have live babies; pythons lay eggs. Even if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's gotta give birth like a duck to really be a duck.

~ Those TEETH. We do not advise testing this in the wild by sticking your hand over the snake's head. Hell, we don't even advise trying this at home. Messing with those fangs sounds like a Jackass bit waiting to happen.

~ Both of these are rather thick-bodied. If the snake in question is slender, it's probably one of the many types of vine snakes or some other colubrid. Some people apparently do not know the difference, so there ya go.

A blue GTP. More here.

Both the emerald tree boa and green tree python have a strong following in the exotic pet trade. GTP's in particular have a huge fanbase, both because of their diverse color morphs as adults and their cross-compatibility with another Morelia complex known as carpet pythons (who also SO deserve their own entry!). The ETB base is a bit smaller, but they are nonetheless particularly popular in the Netherlands. Both of these species are intermediate-level snakes requiring elaborate enclosures with humidity setups etc. These are not snakes you take out and play with; these are snakes that you spend thousands on a nice, realistic terrarium setup for, then show your friends that.

Creature Feature: Hill Myna.

Birds are, without a doubt, nature's original artists. Although some of them may be rather morbid, they had colors before we did (and make better use of them), created music as we know it, and, we aren't even kidding, have complex enough songs that many songbirds have dialects - i.e. even though they're the same species, the songs are so dissimilar that two birds from different areas can't understand each other. Even today, what artist of any discipline has not felt the urge to fly into the great blue on wings or in song? Hell, even the great Beethoven kept a mynah bird.

The common hill myna (Gracula religiosa), or mynah, is one of the most famous talking birds in existence. It is native to South and Southeast Asia, ranging from India to Indonesia, and is most closely related to starlings. There are eight or so subtle subspecies which are mostly differentiated by the wattles on their necks. They eat fruit, nectar, and insects in the wild. There are several other species of mynah, but this is the one that most people are referring to.

Mynahs are among the several birds known for being excellent mimics. In their natural range, they can have anywhere from 3-13 calls per bird. The calls completely change within miles of each other. It's things like this that make us wonder if birds had language before people did, along with nearly every other art form.

So, just how well can mynahs talk? They're amazing. Parrots have a sort of 'parrot dialect' whenever they speak; mynahs have no such thing. If we didn't know that the clip below was a bird, we might've very well mistaken it for a monotonous screenplay:



Mynahs are listed as 'least concern' according to CITES, but populations have been declining in recent years. The only place in SE Asia in which the mynah is not plentiful is Bangladesh, due to both habitat destruction and over-hunting for the pet trade. They are so easy to breed otherwise that they have established feral populations in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Australia (with disastrous results). If you do want a myna bird, I'm sure there are people breeding them in captivity in the States, and several farmers in India have learned the right time to take the young out of the nest in the wild. Who knows? Get a mynah bird and you might write the next great symphony.

Creature Feature: Palm Cockatoo.

Aww, parrots! Pirate references aside, there are few things that have the charm of a rainbow-colored, bright-eyed hookbill. There is very little bad to be said about parrots (unless you try owning one - then you get dust issues). Overall, they're happy, brightly-colored, intelligent, fun-loving birds.

Then you remember they have beaks. Parrots have strong, heavy beaks that can crush nuts with ease. Seriously, your finger is screwed if a large parrot bites it. If only they had the aggressive look to match that badassery...

(From thepetwiki.)

....yep, perfect candidate for "heavy metal parrot," there.

The Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) is probably the best parrot-y logo for a band ever. It crushes nuts for food, which is a good threat to anybody's masculinity.  It is native to Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia. Unlike many of the creatures in that range, the palm cockatoo is nowhere near endangered. This is somewhat of a miracle, but more on why later.

Palm cockatoos are in a class all their own. No, really; they're the only members of their genus. Molecular testing says that they're distantly related from most other cockatoos.  If any cockatoo is an ancient cockatoo, it's probably the Palm.



Genetics talk aside, palm cockatoos are impressive birds to look at. They're the largest species of cockatoo in the world. Those red patches get brighter if the cockatoo gets stressed, making them one of the few birds that can change color. Their bill size is second only to that of the hyacinth macaw. Again, please think about that before you piss one of these birds off. (Is this guy nuts?)

These cockatoos have one of the neatest-sounding behaviors in the world: they drum. As in, they take a seed pod or heavy stick and drum it against a dead tree. Nobody really knows why they do this - dress rehearsal, perhaps? Their vocal repertoire isn't lacking, either, sporting a large vocabulary, a variety of whistles, and a call that sounds like a human's "hello." These guys truly are the rock stars of the parrot world!

You lookin' at me?

Palm cockatoos are available in the exotic pet trade with a price tag over 5,000 USD (I've seen snakes worth more). I'm honestly surprised they are not worth more; one of the candidates for "good pet" is a relatively fast breeding rate compared to humans. Some palm cockatoos do not breed until their 30's or 40's. They also live into their 80's, so if you do happen to be able to afford one, be sure to provide for it in your will.

Also...they can eat meat.

NIPAH: When a meme goes viral.

Raise your hand if you know at least one internet meme, You know, those pics, videos, and crazy phrases that get emulated over and over? That is what we mean.  Such memes are said to have gone 'viral' if they are played with enough.



Well, it turns out NIPAH! is an actual virus. Who knew?

OK, so technically, the Nipah infection virus (NiV) is a virus of the Henipavirus genus. The only other known member of this genus is the Hendra virus. Nipah is native to Southeast Asia (virtually all of it), India, and Africa,  and could get really dangerous really fast. Despite its cute resemblance to an internet meme, it is named after a village in Malaysia that we hope has gotten tourist business from its similarity to Rika's catchphrase. It was named in 1999.

Nipah virus is nowhere near as fun as its name might suggest. It all starts with contact with coughing (or "barking") pigs. Then it escalates into flulike symptoms of fever and muscle pain. Then it moves on to inflammation of the brain and, in worst cases, comas and death. Twirling and repeating the word "nipah" is not a symptom; if you experience this, I suggest checking for Hinamizawa Syndrome instead.

I wouldn't touch that pig if I were you.

The main vectors of the Nipah virus are fruit bats.  Every place in Southeast Asia, from India to Vietnam, has fruit bats, and Nipah could be in any one of them. The bats themselves have antibodies to the virus. The virus can also be found in the urine and saliva of fruit bats. It should be common sense to avoid fruit that's been partially-eaten by gods-know-what, but someone must be silly enough to try it. The bats were probably as close and contagious as they were thanks to habitat destruction; chalk up another fail tally for humanity.

Nipah virus is a real threat. It can spread from virtually any mammal to another. It has already hopped from bats to pigs, leading to million-dollar losses for the farming industry in Malaysia. It can cross from humans to pigs just as easily as it can from bats to pigs. Oh, and it's mutating - just like a real meme- so whatever we come up with might not work in the near future. This thing attacks anything with hair, remember.

Image (c) Higurashi.

Nipah!- the only meme that turns villages into ghost towns.

Creature Feature: Red-tailed Pipe Snake.

Google is a wormhole. It is perfectly possible to be looking for one thing and find another thing entirely. I had personally just discovered an albino sunbeam snake (which did not show the iridescence well if it was present at all) when another caught my eye.

This snake confused me. It was, for starters, hard to tell which end was the head and which was the tail. I thought I was looking at a baby cobra for a second. The actual snake turned out to be much more fascinating.

The specimen I had encountered online was a red-tailed pipe snake (Cylindrophis ruffus). They are small snakes (a meter in length at most) that live in China and Southeast Asia. As they are partially aquatic, they eat fish, eels, and frogs. They prefer wet areas like marshes and rice paddies. They aren't venomous, just strange. Seriously, Thailand advertises them.

Pipe snakes are seriously weird, even by snake standards. Along with boas, water snakes, and pure sea snakes, they have live babies. Litters consist of roughly 12 live babies. They are probably the closest relatives to boas, even though there are no boas in Asia (they all moved to America). Neat.




Oh, and the tail is pretty neat, too. Pipe snakes tend to have tails that look a lot like their heads. When a predator approaches, the pipe snake will lower its head and raise its tail, looking for all the world like a little cobra. The added bonus of this trick is that, should a predator still find it appetizing, it is biting the snake's tail instead of its head. Better tails than heads!

Mind, this is just one of several pipe snakes. Yes, they do all resemble the mythical, two-headed amphisbaena, but it would have been hard for the Greeks to know about them.

Creature Feature: Orchid Mantis.

Why, in all of the entries here, have mantids gone unnoticed? There is certainly something bizarre about a bug with 'arms' as its first two legs. Mantis heads make good bases for alien heads. Mantids in general should have been covered here a while back, but for now, we are only looking at the weirdest of the weird. Even mantises have their freak shows.



 That insectoid flower (or floral insect) is an orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus). Like all mantids, it is predatory. Don't let that pink fool you; the orchid mantis will eat any small bugs within its reach. We wish Avatar had one of these, but they are only native to the rainforests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sumatra.

The orchid mantis has some of the best camouflage in the insect world. Its lower legs look almost exactly like flower petals. Its abdomen and eyes have stripes like flowers, too. One could probably stick this mantis into a bouquet of flowers and not notice until the bug flew off. Ladies, hold onto your monocles - that flower's alive!

Image by Luc Viatour at www.Lucnix.be. Go visit him now!

The mantids are not born with this stunning coloration. They start as orange, antlike nymphs. With each shed, they become steadily more colorful. The mantis takes on the coloration of whatever flower becomes its home - usually a papaya or orchid blossom. This leads to a great variety of patterns in mature specimens. There are some theories that climate, rather than just surrounding flora, may have an impact on the insect's final colors. Bear this in mind if you plan on taking one home and breeding it.

As one might imagine, orchid mantises are uncommon in the exotic pet trade. In captivity, they live almost exclusively on fruit flies. They are docile and can easily be handled. Provide sufficient decor for the mantis to molt and otherwise feel comfortable. Although not for beginners, if you are looking for an exotic insect, this mantis might be up your alley.

Frog Week: Pearly Tree Frog.

You know how every frog entry I make keeps bringing up the point about how frogs, of all animals, are the most prone to being endangered? This has to be among the most endangered frog species in existence...so much so that one of the few pieces of evidence that it exists is a children's trading card:

(I actually have this card, but the uploader was being screwy.)

Yes, that's a thing. It's called a Pearly Tree Frog, but most sources, even Wikipedia and reptile-keepers, use its scientific name Nyctixalus margaritifer (disclaimer: this frog will not bring you drinks). It is native only to the island of Java in Indonesia. Although there are more photos of this guy than I originally thought (searching "pearly tree frog" will get you almost nowhere), it is still a very rare, very beautiful frog.



Although only listed on the IUCN website as "Vulnerable," just going by the description on that site, this frog should be at least endangered. They cite their reasoning as "Listed as Vulnerable because its Extent of Occurrence is less than 20,000 km2, its distribution is severely fragmented, and there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of its forest habitat in Java." The only reason it isn't outright endangered is because so very little is known about it. Fewer than ten specimens are known. Why is that not enough to put something on the Endangered list?

Furthermore, for a LONG time, this frog was thought extinct. Records of its existence miraculously resurfaced in 1997. The reasons behind this re-emergence are even more obscure than the storm that brought crested geckos back into existence. (Note to nature- thanks for that one.) If it can vanish and reappear once, it can do so again. Reminder: This is a bling-bling frog we're talking about, not a camouflaged gecko.

And THIS is how you propose to a herpetologist. No exceptions.

Apparently, some people DO have Pearly Tree Frogs in captivity. Many of them are probably smuggled in under the name Nyctixalus pictus - a frog close enough to mistake for this rare beauty.  Judging from the responses to the posts, the frogs were wild caught, and the care tips given for them looked basic to N. pictus. With any luck, N. margaritifer will at least get a strong captive base like the Scimitar-Horned Oryx. Otherwise, we may have another vanishing act with no encore.

Creature Feature: Dhole.

Wolves are overrated. Yes, they are cool animals, and yes, they are the closest relatives to the domestic dog, but they aren't endangered, aren't the most powerful predators around, and are overanthropomorphized like crazy. They are not even endangered anymore, so wolf-lovers cannot use the generic "it's endangered so it must be cool!" defense. There, I said it.

Instead, how about investing your collective energy into canids that do need love and are actually rebellious? Dholes fit the bill nicely, and probably look just wild enough to incite the inner rebel that we all have during our teenage years.

From the University of Massachusetts.

Dholes (Cuon alpinus) are a type of wild dog native to South and Southeast Asia. They are called red wolves, red dogs, whistling dogs, chennai, and mountain wolves. The main differences between these dogs and official members of the genus Canis (wolves and domestic dogs) are the amount of teats and teeth. Yes, mammal classifications are that subtle.



 Dholes have a few other, more visible traits that sets them apart from wolves. For example, they always let their puppies eat first at a kill. As in the video above, they also whistle to talk to each other; it is a much more pleasant sound than barking. This creature should be instant mammal fan fodder, looking like a wolf mixed with a fox, but nope. No love. 

Dholes, like honey badgers, show almost no fear. Once they get in a pack, anything except humans becomes fair game.  They will attack boars, wildebeests, and even other big predators like tigers and leopards. Although instances of taking on tigers are rare and always come with casualties to the pack, dholes have been known to chase tigers into trees. Tigers that run rather than fight are nearly always killed. When was the last time one saw a wolf doing that?



Unlike wolves, even native cultures have nothing good to say about dholes. Until dholes were officially protected in 1972, farmers shot them in the name of protecting livestock. Their pelts were also valuable in China, but still had no "OMG DIVINE STATUS" like wolves tend to get, especially in modern times. In various European sources, such as the French passion plays and gothic sagas, dholes are characterized as hellhounds. Even Rudyard Kipling cut the dhole no slack in Red Dog, and he's the guy who made a giant python into a believable, fun character.

Alas, the dhole's range has shrunk considerably since prehistoric times. If art is any indication, the dhole once ranged across most of Eurasia. Now, its habitat is limited to India, Indonesia, and parts of China.  They have been shot by hunters and have niche competition with domestic dogs. (See, anti-exotic people? Even domesticated animals can cause ecological damage.) Sometimes, domestic dogs slip into dhole packs, just because, making things even more confusing.

By the way, dholes do not domesticate. At all. Go with the silver foxes from Russia.

Creature Feature: Large Flying Fox.

Well, Halloween is fast approaching. So too is the freaky Theme Week starting on Halloween. You all have waited very patiently for it, so prepare for a horror the likes of which you have never seen before! *Insert evil laugh here.*

Until then, we have a classic fixture in Halloween decor: A giant bat.

This is NOT a sparklebat.

 

This particular bat, a Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus), is the largest bat in the world. It is also called the Malaysian Flying Fox, Greater Flying Fox, or Kalang. It is native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. There are many species of flying foxes, but they all have a few things in common: They have almost doglike faces, cannot echolocate, are usually threatened, and can scare the excrement out of small children.



Don't let the "vampyrus" in its name fool you- these bats do not suck blood and are definitely not vampires in disguise. Megabats like the flying fox feed on nectar and fruit. The bats serve as pollinators in their native habitat, meaning that the giant bats have the same ecological function as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. One of those things is not like the others, but hey, whatever works.

The Large Flying Fox is, well, large. Although it weighs only 3 pounds, that's a lot for a bat. It also has a wingspan of up to 6 feet. They eat in groups of up to 50 individuals and are very noisy; put together an image of 50 giant bats all in the same place for some real Halloween material!

From Superstock! :D

 

Due to much of its habitat being in danger, the Greater Flying Fox is considered near-threatened. Farmers may kill them, seeing them as crop pests. There's another reason for this bat's sudden decline in population, but, well...let's save that for next week.

Creature Feature: Fiddler Crabs.

Look around at most crablike monsters. There will be a good chance that one claw is larger than the other. As in, possibly bigger than the crab's entire body. Since these are monsters we are talking about, they may even come with electric spikes or blades in between the two parts of the claw.

This is a particularly worrisome one.

Surely such a disproportionate crab can't be real. Just imagine a crab like that. It would lose balance all the time...right?



The hundreds of fiddler crabs (genus Uca) exist to prove you wrong. No matter how off-balance they may look, the male fiddler crabs do not tip over on a regular basis thanks to their massive claws. The smaller claw is used almost solely for bringing food (algae and bits of dead flesh) into the crab's mouth. The group is successful enough to inhabit the marshes, beaches, and mangrove swamps of the East Pacific, West Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.

Male fiddler crabs are all endowed with giant claws on one side or the other. They are so named because the smaller of the two claws sometimes looks like it is 'fiddling' the larger claw. Really, the smaller claw is just used for eating, making the fiddler crab one of the few animals that can eat and fight at the same time.



Besides engaging in combat with those massive claws, fiddler crabs are one of the few crustaceans out there with a sophisticated communication system. The crabs will often wave to each other with their large claws. Variations are made depending on visual distance. This is particularly true of courtship displays, which sacrifice feeding time and must be seen as soon as possible. This form of communication is almost like crab semaphore when studied closely. Maybe those PETA folk were onto something; that's pretty smart for a crustacean!

Mind, this doesn't mean that other crabs are ill-suited as monsters. I'm stunned that a certain other crab lacks more monsters, to be honest. More on that when the Week of the Abyss starts up, just in time for Halloween!

Creature Feature: Land Planarians.

As you all (hopefully) well know, the authoress of this blog finds planaria to be among the cutest creatures in existence. Some people are freaked out by simple earthworms, but what's there not to like about cross-eyed flatworm? Heck, they even look like they're smiling if you catch them on a good day. Even without that luck, they are eternally cross-eyed, which is pretty amusing itself.

ETERNAL DERP.

Then there are land planarians. Yes, flatworms can go on land. Did you think you were safe just by avoiding the water?

Land planarians (family Geoplanidae) are a lot less cute than their water-bound counterparts. They look a lot more like nudibranchs that made it onto land. These worms come in trippy colors and are definitely predatory, eating any invertebrates smaller than themselves. They cannot live outside of rainforest regions. When they do have the right environ, they do well enough to cause problems to native invertebrate fauna.

TRIPPY! Credit is on the pic. :3

 

The way these land-bound planarians hunt is quite ingenious: Many invertebrates leave a slimy trail in their wakes as they squish along. As soon as night falls, the planaria come out and follow the chemical trails to find slugs, snails, and their favorite foods, earthworms. They are also cannibalistic, showing that even flatworms can be quite vicious!

Land planarians are so successful in the right environment that they have been used to curb invasive snail species in Hawaii and the Pacific Isles. On the flipside, they also threaten any native snails. Somehow, land planarians have caused issues in the British Isles - how they survive there, we do not know.

From Whatsthatbug.com. Go there.

Unfortunately, not many people are looking into these exotic worms. Despite their flashy colors and ecological significance, land planarians remain one of the least studied invertebrate groups in existence. This must be fixed.

Creature Feature: Atlas Moth.

Moths are underrated. Sure, everybody loves butterflies, but moths? Moths are the sneaky cousins of butterflies that hang out at night, eat your carpets as larvae, and don't have pretty colors. People make gardens to attract butterflies, but get all sorts of foul-smelling treatments to remove moths. Hell, a moth wound up on the cover of Silence of the Lambs. You could not do that with a butterfly.

This does not mean that moths cannot be interesting, beautiful creatures. Most folks will say that luna and comet moths look almost like butterflies, for example. Hummingbird moths look like little tiny bird-bug hybrids. Then there's this magnificent specimen, actual size not properly viewable on this blog:

So here's the moth compared to human hands.

The Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) ranges from India to just above Australia. Its English name comes from its size or the wings resembling a simple map; its Cantonese name, "snake's head moth," comes from the weird tips on its forewings. The caterpillars are fond of several pleasant trees, including cherry and cinnamon. They do not eat at all as adults.



The Atlas Moth has the largest surface area of any lepidopteran. It may be outmatched in wingspan by another moth, but the wings are, we kid you not, as wide and high as a dinner plate (anywhere from 10-12 inches). This leaves the Atlas moth with 62 square inches of surface area to boast about. Females are larger than males, by the way, making all record-holders in this species women.



As if size was not enough to make this moth interesting, people have found uses for its silk as well. The silk is broken in Atlas Moths, but is nonetheless used to make Indian Fagara silk - said to be sturdier than most others. In Taiwan, women use the cocoons straight to make pocket purses. Stop complaining about moths; they make silk.