This Bat is No Sucker

As reported in the National Geographic Daily News, the sucker-footed bat of Madagascar is no sucker.  Of 1200 bat species, only six roost hanging head up.  This bat was so named because of its ability to hang on slick leaves, a trait attributed to having suction cup like pads on its feet.
Not so, says a recent study.  Researchers used metal plates with tiny holes to spoil any suction effect and the bats hung on fine.  They use the same surface tension of water that "allows flies to hang on to smooth surfaces like glass ceilings … or wet paper to stick to your windshield."
Furthermore, they describe why they have to roost upright and how they let go.  The whole story is including videos is available at this Discover Magazine site.

Dolphins Learned a New Fishing Technique

I tend to think that feeding strategies are somehow inherent in different species.   As an example, humpback whales use bubble netting bubble netting to corral their schools of fish to feed on, a well known technique that is unique to them and only those in certain areas.  How did they develop the technique?  Surely there was once a whale that saw that bubbles spooked their prey and eventually developed the trick of blowing bubbles in a column to trap them.
Bottlenosed dolphins frequently feed communally by scaring their prey fish into a tightening circle.  A single pod of bottlenosed dolphins has discovered a new technique which gives them a competitive edge and an entertaining way of "catching dinner on the fly".  They stir up clouds of debris from the shallow ocean bottom in a constricting circle.  The panicked fish leap out of the water and the dolphins catch them in the air.  Seaworld, eat your heart out.
As the site says, "Another awesome thing about this technique is that only one female in the pod can create this ring, and it's always anti-clockwise."  Leave it to an intelligent female to find an easier way to fix dinner!  Watch this dramatic video.

Animals That Photosynthesize?

We all were taught that only plants have chlorophyll and get their energy from the sun by photosynthesis.  Right?  Now wrong!

A green sea slug living in the salt marshes of New England and Canada apparently have stolen the genes of algae they have eaten.  They are the only know multicellular animal capable of producing chlorophyll.  Consequently, they are able to survive months with just sunlight alone.  They can even pass on this gene to their offspring, although the kids have to algae to get enough chloroplasts to start photosynthesis on their own.  The story is at this Live Science link.

Parking Lot Pollution

Springfield City Council has been pondering the fate of coal tar sealant on our parking lots over the last month.  Coal tar was the first carcinogen, identified with scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps in the 1770s.  We are now recognizing the risks of coal tar sealant which is washed off pavement into our streams and lakes.  City Council will be hearing more testimony on the subject as reported in the News Leader.
Now there is more evidence that it is commonly tracked into homes where it can contact children playing on their carpets.  Read more in this news link.

Rules of Latitude

This from the Chert Glades Chapter meeting, thanks to Jeff Cantrell of MDC.

Ever notice how Alaska claims bigger mammals than the lower 48 states?  Maybe, just maybe, they are right!  Here are two rules to know.

Bergmann’s Rule  Latitudinal based size differences:  We see this with a large variety of mammals and birds.  Animals of the same species will be larger in their population range closer to the pole.  Example, Canadian moose are larger than moose living in Minnesota.

A good explanation is a larger-sized animal produces less surface area per unit of weight, and the animal loses body heat through its body surface so it just makes sense.  Thus, a bigger animal can tolerate the cold better.

Allen’s Rule:  Mammals in colder climates often have shorter extremities (ears, tails, and legs). It is the same principle as above, basically about body heat. It may really be seen with in different animals instead of individuals in the same species.

Think about the ears of a fennec fox or jackrabbit, for them heat loss is important to survive in a hotter climate vs. a pika with its little round ears.

Note to myself:  After looking in the mirror this morning, it is probably time for me to move to Texas.

Feel like hibernating?

If you have been hibernating during this long cold snap, you are not alone.  Lily the bear is starring in her own reality TV show with live video feeds from her hibernation den in Ely, Minnesota.  She is expecting a little one pound bundle of joy which should be born soon, maybe on your screen!
The web cam is live 24 hours a day.  The camera transmits in color by day and produce infrared images at night.  A motion sensor will trigger video and sound transmission when there's activity. Otherwise, it will send stills.
The feed is available on the North American Bear Center's Web site at http://www.bear.org/.

Saving the Prairies

There was a time when much of the land North and West of Springfield was prairie extending as far as the eye could see.  Henry Rowe Schoolcraft looking just west of the James River around what is now Sunshine described it this way in 1818:

"The prairies, which commence at the distance of a mile west of this river, are the most extensive, rich and beautiful, of any which I have ever seen west of the Mississippi River.  They are covered by a coarse wild grass, which attains so great a height that it completely hides a man on horseback riding through it.  The deer and elk abound in this quarter, and the buffaloe is occasionally seen in drives upon the prairies and in the open highland woods."

Almost two centuries later, most of these lands have been developed, plowed or converted to fescue.   It takes a lot of effort to maintain the few remaining prairies in a world of crops and invasive species.  The Springfield Plateau Master Naturalists work with the Missouri Prairie Foundation to preserve these special areas for future generations.

Joe Kleiber and Buck Keagy recently spent the day assisting with a prescribed burn to maintain the Penn-Sylvania prairie in Dade County.   Joe had previously spent an two evenings blackening burn lanes around the edge of Schwartz Prairie, and finished the evening of December 1 by helping with that prescribed burn.  Pictures can't do this justice but we will still try.  For more information on these and other prairies, check out the Missouri Prairie Foundation.