Welcome to Jurassic World (Part 1): Stop Hating on Kermit!

e been playing waaaaay too much Jurassic World: the Game. No, that isn’t the reason I haven’t updated anything. That, well, I might be moving my blog to Tumblr, or at least another account. We’ll see, but it's pretty likely that this will be a massive, three-part "grand finale" of sorts. 

Anyways. Jurassic World. Fun ride of a movie, which is amusingly about an amusement park. I want to take a D-Rex home. Working on it in the game. D-Rex should have looked more freakish if they put cuttlefish in there - c’mon, at least give us the neat W-eye! My general thoughts on the movie will get their own blurb later. Also, for whatever reason, JW and JP both hate frogs, even though it’s probably entirely unwarranted. 

Why? Because, from the get-go, dinosaurs could reproduce without a male. 

Who's the man in this, again? 

Read that sentence again. 

Read that sentence three times if you have to. Let it sink into your brain: even without as much genetic meddling that Jurassic Park had, from the get-go, the potential for every dinosaur on the island to reproduce asexually, and then sexually. 

Now, here’s my disclaimer: Crichton was largely using the frogs for genetic freak purposes. The whole point of Jurassic Park was that, maybe, there are some buttons science shouldn’t push. The frogs are the bad guys for art rather than any logical reason. I realize people back then didn’t know precisely how close birds were to dinosaurs, but there’s still no reason to use frogs other than HERPDERP SCIENCE EFFED UP. Use lizards. Or chickens. Science can get those very easily. 

So, just how is this possible, anyways? What could prompt natural dinosaurs to reproduce without a male? It’s all genetic…as nature intended?! 

I’m tempted to assume that most people reading this have taken basic biology in high school, sex ed, or both. All you really need to know for this is that human (and other mammal) females have XX sex chromosomes, and males have XY. Women are the only sex that could possibly reproduce without a male, but in mammals, that’s pretty much unheard of, and all of the offspring would be female clones of the mother. 

That is not the case with the rest of non-mammals. 

For many other creatures, including everything from butterflies (yes, butterflies are more like birds in this regard), to lobsters, to chickens, sex is determined by a system called “ZW.” What this means is that the males are ZZ (no, not ZZ Top, but if that helps you remember, go for it) and the females are ZW. 

That thing, with the females having two different letters (heterozygous), changes everything. Parthenogenesis, AKA “virgin birth” if you’re not a fan of Greek, occurs with a female egg effectively impregnating itself. It has been known to occur in lizards (most notably whiptail lizards, who are only female, and Komodo dragons), snakes (boas, Burms, and Brahminy blind snakes - again, that last one is only female) and a special breed of turkey literally bred because people thought this parthenogenesis thing was just too darn cool. No, chickens laying eggs by themselves doesn’t count; the eggs you buy at the grocery store are effectively chicken periods. Enjoy your Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich! 

ZW animals can produce parthenogenically by either all-out cloning or half-cloning. A full clone is exactly that: a perfect clone of the mother. The half-cloning, however, includes only half of mom’s genes - twice over. For ZW, that means one letter gets repeated. 

Umm...girls? Your lesbian sex is legal, now. Everywhere. 

Remember what’s special about ZW: the male has ZZ. Through half-cloning, a mother lizard can create an entire clutch of males. They’re almost identical to her in every way except sex. Then, they can just go ahead and do it again with mom, or maybe even the odd WW females. ZZ Top will always be male. I’m sure they’re thrilled to be in a lesson about dinosaur sex. 

Parthenogenesis gets less frequent down the evolutionary “line,” but it’s not like dinosaurs grew out of it. If you must make evolution linear, dinosaurs are like a link between reptiles and birds. We’ll get to crocodiles; for now, well, birds are capable of it, too. 

BUT…they’re not as good at it. 

Parthenogenesis in birds usually results in duds. Either the eggs aren’t quite fertile, embryos die early, or the offspring have reduced fertility. An exception occurs in turkeys, who, for reasons not entirely clear, have mastered the art of giving birth without a dad. These are all ZZ males, who have then been rebred to virgin-birthing females in order to create a more stable strain, and eventually a breed. These ZZ Toms (the joke will not die as I write it!) are almost indistinguishable from your average turkey. 

If half-female, half-male chickens are possible...imagine a raptor like that. 

This is just the tip of the genetic weirdness iceberg possible without the frog. ZW is also capable of the weird chimerism called “bilateral gynandromorphy,” in which individuals are literally half female and half male. (XY can also do this, but very rarely.) Also, what if, like crocodilians (read: other archosaurs) dinosaurs had temperature-determined sex determination? I realize Crichton was using the frogs for freak’s sake, but the poor frog seems to be the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in that world. Give other animals a chance. 

NARBC Spring 2014!

Confession time: The reason I've not been updating as much is simply because I've been using my other Gmail account more. Having both switchable at the ready is nice. Never fear; more entries are coming, and they'll be juicier and meatier than ever before!

This entry focuses on North American Reptile Breeders' Convention (NARBC) Spring 2014 (Mar 15-6). I love these - there's so much cool stuff to take photos of! These went on my Twitter (@kurokarasu), so some people got a live feed of this entry as it was being made. ;) Most things are way out of my price range, but there are also some really great bargains that remind one how expensive pet stores can be. You'll also see a lot of species that one would not ordinarily see, like...

...yes, that's a hognose (H. nasicus). They're really cool, little rear-fanged snakes that are only mildly venomous. Nobody has ever died from a hognose bite; the worst that's happened is an allergic reaction. I've complained about how hard they are to get in IL before, but all one really needs is a permit.

So, how can these people even touch poison dart frogs? Captive-bred poison dart frogs aren't poisonous. The poison needs a few things before it can activate: bacteria on the frog, UV light, and a certain species of insect. We can take that last one away, at least, meaning that these frogs are OK to handle. Still, wash your hands after handling. These are mostly display frogs, anyways.

Someone on my Twitter commented that these ball pythons (P. regius) were on the pricey side. Um...no, not for ball python morphs, they are not. Here are a few non-slashed (or very slightly discounted) ball python morphs for your gawking pleasure:

Yes, I deliberately took photos of acid trips for you. Bear in mind that your regular ball pythons (usually "loser males") can be purchased for 30-50 bucks from a reptile specialty store.

A leucistic rainbow boa! A shame it looks almost like every other white snake on the market. If there was any of the species' namesake iridescence in these guys, the light was not showing it well.

This is a legless lizard. It was hard to get a good look at its eyes, but several other features made me believe it anyways. I'd like to think someone at a reptile convention would correct the owner if he was BS'ing us.

Hypo Burms! One of them was sold as I was walking around. People acted like they were having trouble getting rid of them. Given the abundance of laws surrounding giant snakes, I understand why.

I absolutely love dwarf reticulated pythons! This picture also happens to be for science; I'm working on a paper concerning what makes for a good domesticated animal, and dwarf retics are actually a really good candidate for a domesticated snake. I asked if they retained their legendary intelligence (by snake standards) even when dwarfs; the seller said yes. Regardless, it was amazing to hold one of these beauties.

Finally, my own acquisition: A GFP axolotl! This little guy (or girl, we don't know) glows green under black light, just like a GloFish. His/her working name is "Fran," short for both "Frankenstein" and "Francesca/Francisco"- we aren't sure, yet. Once the little salamander grows a bit, the males get bulges near the base of the tail. We shall see! 

Creature Feature: Cuban Iguana.

Tip: You can tell how loose a state's animal laws are by how awesome their zoo is. If the reptile house in San Antonio was any indication, there were indeed some loose laws and low paperwork for venomous snakes. I did not expect to see this in the reptile house, either, and since a friend of mine's a big iguana fan, here goes:

Screw sourcing, I took this one.

The lizard lounging above is a Cuban iguana (Cyclura nubila), currently listed as "vulnerable" in terms of conservation. It is primarily an herbivore. This iguana lives in the rockier parts of Cuba, and is closely related to the Cayman Blue Iguana. It does not give a single flip that its island is communist, and walks around Guantanamo Bay quite freely. How fortunate that lizards can still enjoy the island because it's an island.

Cuban iguanas have some weird things about them just by being iguanas. All iguanids have what's called a "parietal eye" on top of their heads. It's a white dot that can detect light and shadow. The iguana's third eye is very active; their real eyes also have red scleras. There's more: their herbivorous diet, in this case, is supplemented by roundworms instead of the multiple stomachs and bacteria that ruminants have. This is just general iguana stuff- bet you didn't know they were strange by default.

Now THAT is eye-popping! Source.

Another weird thing: these iguanas are immune to cacti. Not just "they eat the stuff without getting pricked" - Cuban iguanas thrive around cacti. They make their nests in cacti, probably because other animals will avoid it. The cactus serves as a fortress complete with food. It's hard to get better than that.


Bizarrely, the Cuban iguana is probably the only reptile which has been viewed positively by the U.S. government. In a case concerning the legality of goings-on at Guantanamo Bay, attorney Tom Wilner pointed out that one could be punished for killing a Cuban iguana on-base, but torturing people was A-OK. Interesting argument, and props for looking it up. Not many lawyers would care about iguanas, even if they were endangered. Nicely done. 

Luckily, there are plenty of captive-bred Cuban iguanas. Most of the ones in the pet trade actually come from a feral population released south of Puerto Rico. Zoos breed them all the time. There is literally no need to take these guys off of Cuba, which is a good thing, considering humans, cats, dogs, and swine are responsible for the decline of the native population. They'll make a comeback; maybe the next leader of Cuba will be a lizard. ;)

ReptileFest2013 Coverage.

Argus monitors...and how big they get.

It's a tigertic! For those of you who do not speak snake breeder, that means this fully-mature retic has a tiger gene. IT HAS TIGER BLOOD!

Me with a boa. :) And yes, I can wear a winter coat in 70-ish weather. It was cold enough outside.

Albino corns, but no porn.

A fairly standard garter snake. These are actually really cool little colubrids that deserve an entry or two if I haven't done so already.

Interesting ad.

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake. There were like...three. Maybe more.

Snakeskin jewelry!

A photo of a pink katydid, taken right here in IL.

Snake eggs!

Surprise retic. These usually aren't out for touching at the 'fest.

A few other things that were there, but escaped my pic run:

~A snappy dwarf caiman. I have the pic of him somewhere, but something happened that made him (I think?) turn around and snap at his handler. I heard it was a bathroom break. Still could have ended nasty.

~Red-tailed ratsnakes. I did get a few shots of these, but they weren't very good. For the record, those are not beginner snakes at all, and are usually wild-caught. Hundred-Flower ratsnakes have similar issues, being very hard to take care of. Still cool reptiles, but not good pics.

~A giant tortoise that I should have gotten the species name of. My bad that I didn't. It really was an impressive animal, carrying kids on its back and all.

Creature Feature: Perentie.

Blah, porcupines. No matter how neat porcupines and horned gophers are, this blog needs more badassery. Enough about rodents. Let's just dive right into today's dose of badass, shall we?

Crikey! This fine Sheila is called a perentie (Varanus giganteus), and she's native to Australia. Perenties, being monitor lizards, are carnivorous and have astounding forked tongues. Like many monitors, they also have amazing skin patterning.

Crocodile Hunter jokes aside, perenties are the largest lizards in Australia. They can get over 2.5 meters (8 feet) from head to tail. Larger adults can even take down kangaroos, which, it merits reminding, can kick most predators to death and drown others. Perenties will eat virtually any kind of meat, however...including each other.

It looks so chill...then you see the claws.

Some of you are probably wondering why monitors are called "monitors," anyways. The answer lies in one particular behavior that many monitors, including the perentie, exhibit: they can "tripod," i.e. stand on their hind legs using their heavy tails like an extra foot. They do this to "monitor" their surroundings - just like we use a monitor to see what our computers are up to.

Despite their size, perenties would rather run than fight. They are notoriously shy. Perentie claws are meant to dig burrows in a flash. They can also climb trees very well. Excellent camouflage means that, all things considered, they are even hard to see while standing still. Guess that hardcore ecology down under has taught them a thing or two over the eons.

As with other types of monitors, yes, some people keep perenties as pets. They go for roughly 2,000 USD and you definitely need a license to keep one. There is still debate over whether perenties are venomous or not, but given the damage those teeth might do regardless, best leave handling them to people experienced with reptiles. Get a plushie instead.

Creature Feature: Uromastyx.

So I saw War Horse today. It was amazingly moving, enough so that I spent 80 bucks on a book on the history of Handspring. Those are some awesome horse puppets, and the story is great, too. Go see it, even if you don't normally like theater.

However, it was still winter in Chicago. That means that outside is freaking cold. Quick, I need a desert animal to warm up!

Oho...it's about time we got to this one. Uromastyx lizards are agamids native to northern Africa into the Middle East and India. There are approximately 13 species in the genus. They are wholly herbivorous. Males are larger than brighter than females, FYI. The largest Uromastyx, the Egyptian (U. aegyptia) is almost a yard long.

For those of you curious about the name, "uromastyx" literally means "whiptail" or "scourgetail." No, these guys are not as lesbian as the other whiptails.  They are named for the torture weapon of a tail common to all  Uromastyx species. I think "mace-tail" or "rape-tail "would have suited it better than "whiptail," but to each horny scientist his own. If you don't get that joke...don't think about it too much. Just go with "scourgetail." That sounds like the name of a badass video game boss and you know it. Say it with me: Scourgetail. 

That spiky tail is nothing more or less than a weapon. A threatened Uromastyx will turn towards the enemy with that tail, puffing and hissing open-mouthed all the while. They also sleep with that spiked tail facing out, just in case. Scourgetail indeed.

Uromastyx lizards, or mastigures, have a few more tricks besides that tail. Most of their time is spent underground, making them hard to find. They change color, darkening themselves while basking. Also, these are desert lizards; that means they get most of the water from the food they eat.

Mastigures are uncommon in the exotic pet trade. Although they have been difficult to keep in the past, people's knowledge has improved. The Mali Uromastyx is the best captive scourgetail. They are now common enough that most exotics shops (i.e. reptile stores that aren't Petco) will know what you're talking about. Though accessible, they do have some advanced care requirements; please, be smart and do your research if you think they're neat.

NARBC 2012 Coverage.

First off, the turnout was more impressive than last year in some ways, but a letdown in others. The biggest bummer is that there's a frozen rodent shortage going around.  Literally nobody was selling mice. That sucked, to say the least.

So, here were the highlights:

Cold-Blooded Creatures had a display outside the hall.  Among their offerings was the legendary super-tame alligator, Bubba. Disclaimer: Results with alligators are not typical. It's obvious that the people who tamed Bubba had a ton of experience with alligators before handling him. RESULTS NOT TYPICAL; do not try this at home. 

The first thing I saw upon entry into the actual convention hall: So. Many. LEOS! Actually, they had a few fat-tails, too. I'm still intrigued by lizards after seeing so many wild ones in Rome. Leos have a ton of colors, including eye morphs. I will most likely get a lizard in the future, but exactly what kind remains to be seen. Leos are a good starter bet, though.

This woman had a baby leopard tortoise in her hand. People do that at these cons - you can find a few new owners showing off their catches to other collectors. I wouldn't recommend letting people who have been touching unknown reptiles handle your new pet, though. You don't know where those hands have been.

In case I never touched on them before, NERD (New England Reptile Distributors) is one of the biggest ball python breeders in the world. They invented the spider morph and use it frequently in their projects. The 'next big project' involves a new gene called "Lucifer." Someone loooooves them balls.

To put things in perspective: these hatchies (also from NERD) were probably in the 10,000 dollar range. For real.

Retics! I can't get enough of the wacky paint jobs that people give the largest snakes in the world. I know balls are the ideal pet snake in several aspects and have a plethora of colors and patterns, but there's something about retic patterns that keeps making me go "wow." These guys are a different type of albino than my usual, though...

...that's better. :)

Like most geckos, crested geckos can drop their tails to distract a potential predator. Unlike with most geckos, however, the tails do not grow back. The result is a cute little lizard with a very stumpy tail at a discount price. Don't worry- the stumpy tail is not genetic.

This yellow monitor seemed rather stressed in its little plastic display box. Don't worry - wherever it winds up, it'll have more space.

This seller had few more random lizards, including a basilisk - my personal favorite lizard, but not for beginners. I'm a little bit wary of this particular vendor, who has been here every year. The beauty snake I checked out there once looked like it may have been a wild-caught import...but on the flip-side, they always have some really cool, unique stuff.

 This skink was so cute! Another con purchase being shown the world by her new owner, this girl was sooo sweet! She liked being scratched behind the ears to the point where she would cuddle right into your hand for more. Unfortunately, she never showed her blue tongue to the camera.

Aaaand my own personal catch from the convention: a female hypo boa. She was sold for only 40 bucks by people donating money to help save an endangered Siamese crocodile. Boa constrictors are a sort of standard introductory 'big snake' for people who aren't sure if they can handle a Burm, but still want to lean towards larger reptiles. They're also extremely photogenic; if you see a beautiful woman with a large snake, chances are it's a boa or Burmese python. So, yes, I am well aware of how big a boa can get.

P.S. - another bio-artist was sighted. She will get a free plug Monday. ;)

Creature Feature: Cayman Blue Iguana.

If my entry on blue raspberry did not make it clear, it's really rare to find blue things on land. It's just not a color that rolls well on land. Most mammals can't even see blue. As many of you following this blog well know, however, reptiles skew the natural expectations of color so much that blue should be no surprise.

From Telegraph.co.uk.

The blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi)  is one of the relatively few naturally-blue creatures out there. It is also called the Cayman Island iguana; for those of you who have no idea where that is, Grand Cayman a large island in the Caribbean. These iguanas can only be found on that one island. Just like green iguanas, these iguanas are mostly herbivorous.

Aside from being blue, blue iguanas are pretty neat creatures. They can live well into their sixties, making them possibly the most long-lived of any lizard given the right conditions. Their eggs are among the largest of any lizard. They are also capable of seeing ultraviolet wavelengths, but have poor nighttime vision. Neat.

The iguana's probably wondering what Jack Sparrow is doing on his island.

Blue iguanas also have a more or less working third eye. Their parietal gland is capable of seeing light and dark- simple, but functional. The only other creature with a third eye anywhere near that good is the tuatara - a reptile so bizarre it has its own category. Perhaps the association of lizards with spiritual enlightenment wasn't too far off; after all, few animals can hold the claim to a working third eye.

The blue iguana is probably one of the rarest reptiles in existence. Only 15 individuals were recorded in the wild in 2003. The reasons for this are entirely the fault of European colonization: one, feral cats and dogs apparently have a thing for iguana meat, and two, cattle farming decimated the iguanas' natural habitat. There are several non-profits devoted to its preservation, along with a few captive breeding programs. Look forward to more on that that in October most likely. For now, know that the population is recovering. It's still one of the most endangered animals on Earth.

Creature Feature: Rainbow Agama.

You know what I hate? Every time there's a nature show host, they're always dressed in khakis. Yeah, yeah, OK, khaki's a very earthy color, and thus kinda goes with what they're saying, but really? It's gotta be one of the least eye-catching outfits in existence.  Nature's a lot more colorful than that, guys. You could totally get away with showing a little flash.

Enter the rainbow agama (Agama agama). It's also called the red-headed agama or common agama. It's native to sub-Saharan Africa.  Its diet consists of insects and the occasional small mammal. It can often be seen in broad daylight, which is a real treat if you happen to catch a male at the right time in the year.

Hooo boy does that name say a lot. During mating season, the males go from being relatively drab brown and black to bright blue with an orange-red head. The tail has some rings on it. Overall, it looks like some kid went nuts coloring an outline of a lizard. A shame it's only for a short portion of the year; this would be stunning year-round. Like a boss.

Agamids in general have some pretty neat features,  too. As the color change in the male agamas might have hinted, the whole group is related to chameleons; they also have things like the strange teeth and sticky (but not long) tongues of their sinister cousins. Before you ask, no, they can't regenerate as well as geckos; they regenerate a little, but not much.  Bearded dragons and Uromastyx are in this group, so if you want a good look at the common agama's relatives, check at your local pet shop.

Before you ask: Yes, the rainbow agamas are available in captivity. No, they are not a good lizard for beginners. They require a fairly large cage (4' x 2' x 2'), a really consistent lighting cycle, and a few other peculiar requirements. Like some other lizards, they need calcium supplements on their crickets. Beware even buying one of these things; I'm sure reputable breeders exist somewhere, but fecal sample testings are advised simply because a lot of them come from the wild. Know where your lizards are coming from...

...then enjoy the acid trip. Groovy.

"They Actually Eat That:" Lizards.

So, after my workout today, I caught a commercial for Geico car insurance. I love that little gecko. He has yet to sucker me into buying car insurance, but I still love him. Call me crazy, but I find lizards cute, especially when they're telling me how to save money.



Suddenly, I wondered: Would people in the modern day have the heart to eat such a creature? I could understand, say, China eating lizards (everything's on the menu there), but what about places that don't have such a knack for weird food?

Surprise, surprise. Lizard is actually a pretty popular food animal around the world. This is particularly so in places like Nicaragua, where eating lizards is so much a part of the culture that several species are threatened with extinction in the name of cuisine. They are believed to help people recover from illnesses. Oh, folk medicine, the species that will be lost because of you.

It turns out that Spain, of all places, has a thing for lizard cuisine. They make a dish with the ocellated lizard in Extremadura, Spain. It's called lagarto con tomate - lizard with tomatoes. It involves slicing up the lizards, frying them in olive oil, and then stewing them with tomatoes and onions. I hate to admit it, but this one actually sounds really good!



Let's not leave China out of this. I mean, really, it's not like we didn't see China coming, but they do eat lizards. Lizards, after all, are alive and plentiful in China. That's enough to put them on the menu. Granted, we in America are probably the weird ones for not eating lizards.

Sorry, but they sell us car insurance. Cutely.