Wild Facts

Photo by Blair Hedges, Penn State

So it looks like the work week has started again as we all drink our coffee and try to recover from a great long weekend.  While you get your caffeine fix, you might as well learn about the World’s Smallest Snake, the Barbados Threadsnake.  This incredible creature was discovered on the tropical island of Barbados only a few years ago (in 2008).  So let’s see what we can learn about this fairly new species.  Okay, take one more sip of coffee and let’s get this Wild Fact started.

As mentioned the Barbados Threadsnake is the worlds smallest snake species.  Honestly, you would probably mistake this slithery reptile for a worm.  The adults are typically around 10 cm (less than 4″) long and can actually fit on a quarter.  I included the picture above just to prove it to you.  If that doesn’t put the size of this snake into perspective for you then perhaps this will.  It is said that the Barbados Threadsnake is as thin as spaghetti.  I guess this just goes to prove that not all snakes are big, scary and poisonous.

So what does this tiny snake eat?  Usually they feast on large mammals and birds.  Okay, I am just messing with you, they actually feed on the larvae of termites and ants, which makes sense considering their size.  Believe it or not though, it may be this food source that actually caused the Barbados Threadsnake to become so small.  You see, on islands such as Barbados there are often vacant niches.  For example, if there are no millipedes or centipedes living on the island then a snake may evolve down to this size and take over that available food source.  So now the question is, does the Threadsnake eat insect larvae because they are small or are they small because they eat insect larvae.  Yeah, you had better take another drink of coffee before thinking too much about that one.

Barbados Threadsnake Fast Fact – The Barbados Threadsnake will produce one large egg, in which the offspring that emerges is usually half the size of the adult. Proportionally, this is actually a pretty large baby compared to other snake species.

Well, I hope you enjoyed learning about a relatively new species of animal.  See all of you tomorrow for another Wild Fact.

Photo by Sabine's Sunbird (Wikimedia)

Since yesterday’s topic was a little more serious, and should have been since White Nose Syndrome is a serious topic, I figured we could all use a light-hearted post today.  Normally, I would go find a cute or funny monkey to write about since everybody likes monkey’s.  But, I wanted to be different today so I went to the deserts of Namibia to find the Namaqua Chameleon.   Come on, look at the pictures of this Chameleon and tell me that they are not the perfect animal for a nice, light-hearted post?

Perhaps I don’t know as much about Chameleons as I thought I did because I am pretty sure they like to hang out in trees.  If I am right about this then where in the world are they going to find a tree in the middle of a desert? For the record, the answer to this rhetorical question is they won’t find any trees.  This is only one of several differences we will discuss about the Namaqua Chameleon.

Photo by Hans Stieglitz (Wikimedia)

As a result of living in a completely different habitat than other Chameleons the Namaqua has evolved a few different adaptations.  For starters these guys are actually able to spread their toes apart. I know this may not seem like a big deal to us but most other Chameleons have their five toes fused into a set of three and set of two.  Naturally, this helps our forested friends grip branches and do other things that tree dwelling animals like to do (such as throwing fruit at the people down below……..OK, so maybe I am thinking about monkey’s again).  Obviously a Chameleon that lives in the desert doesn’t need to worry about gripping branches.  As a result, their toes can spread apart which gives them the ability to run along the flat open ground.

This leads us into the next adaptation.  Generally, we think of Chameleon’s of being a slow, care-free animal species.  Not the case with the Namaqua….well, they may be care-free, I am not sure as I have never met one.  This desert Chameleon needs to be able to run at high speeds to catch their fast moving prey (usually beetles).  Let’s face it, food is scarce in the desert so you don’t want to miss out on dinner because you are too slow and lazy.

One last thing before we end today’s fact.  The most famous trait about the Chameleon is their ability to change colour.  Well, the Namaqua Chameleon is able to complete this formidable task as well.  They don’t just using their colour changing super powers for threat displays, courtship and camouflage like their boring, tree dwelling cousins.  Nope, they use this amazing gift to help regulate their temperature.  They have the ability to turn a darker colour to absorb the sun and heat up or turn a lighter colour to reflect those powerful rays and cool down.  This has to give them an advantage over the other animals in the desert.

So this post seemed to turn into another longer post.  I guess I am just in a talkative (writeative?) mood this week.  I hope you enjoyed our trip to the Namib Desert.  Time to get the sand out of your shorts and relax for the rest of the day.  See you tomorrow!

Photo by: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Today we are all in for a very special treat.  I am sending everyone on a trip to the exotic islands of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean.  I know!  I am pretty excited too.  We are taking a quick trip there to learn about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise which just happens to be one of the largest tortoise species in the world. They are also one of the oldest. I will tell you how big and how old in a second as I want to keep the suspense up for a bit.

These wickedly, cool reptiles can be found in herds (or individually) hanging out in the grasslands or swampy areas of the aforementioned islands.  All right, I can’t handle the suspense any longer.  The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is approximately 1 m (3′) long and can weigh up to an astonishing 250 kg (550 lbs).  Believe it or not there is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise at the Fort Worth Zoological Park that weighs about 790 lbs.  I want to put this into perspective for everyone, a Grizzly Bear will usually weigh about 500 lbs with the larger bears being about 700 lbs.  Who would have thought that a Tortoise could weigh as much as a Grizzly Bear?  The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has a very large, domed shape carapace (shell) which is supported by strong, stocky legs. I am sure this large shell contributes to a good chunk of their weight.  This particular turtle also has a very long neck which allows them to feed on leaves approximately 1 m (3′) off the ground. Personally I am starting to think they are more closely related to a Giraffe than any other animal species.  Obviously I am kidding since the Giraffe is much heavier and much taller.

Giddy Up!!

So we now know that these Giant Tortoise species could probably use a few months on the Atkins diet.  Actually their diet of leaves and grass is probably pretty close to the Atkins diet.  Let’s find out just how long these giant beasts hang around for.  It is thought that many of these Tortoise species are over 200 years old.  The oldest living Aldabra Giant Tortoise was 255 years old and lived from 1750-2005.  I would like to put this amazing stat into perspective as well.  This particular tortoise named Adwaita lived to see the Industrial Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, American Revolution, War of 1812, two World Wars, the invention of the steam engine, the first flight and of course experienced some of the greats such as Darwin, Mozart, Beethoven and one of my favourites, Thomas Edison. Not to mention that the human population when Adwaita was born was probably under 1 billion people worldwide, which of course is about 7 times lower than it is now. I would have loved to have had a conversation with that Tortoise.

Aldabra Giant Tortoise – This particular species of Tortoise had some very powerful friends, such as Charles Darwin who managed to create a wildlife preserve by the end of the 19th Century so these timeless creatures would be protected.  I wonder if our good friend Adwaita helped with that movement?

That is all for today folks.  I hope you enjoyed the unusual history lesson. Enjoy the remainder of your beautiful day.

Photo from Wikimedia

Photo by NatalieK

You may be a little confused today if you read the title of our Wild Fact and then looked at the picture.  You are probably thinking to yourself that the picture looks more like a snake than a lizard.  If you picked up on this than good for you but believe it or not the Glass Lizard is actually a lizard and not a snake.  As you can imagine these animals are also referred to as Glass Snakes for obvious reasons.  You might be questioning how it can be a lizard if it doesn’t have any legs.  I guess we should address that issue right now, shouldn’t we?

The majority of Glass Lizard species have no legs, however, a few select species actually have very small stub-like legs.  So how is it that we call them lizards instead of snakes? Well, the Glass Lizard still has the head of a lizard including movable eyelids and external ear openings.  These distinct features puts them into the lizard category as opposed to the slippery, slithery snake category. I guess this is another example that illustrates that looks can indeed be deceiving.

The Head of the Glass Lizard

The Glass Lizard can get up to 1.2 m (4′) in length although two-thirds of this length is their tail.  In previous reptile Wild Facts we have discussed that one of the main defense mechanisms for some lizards is to drop off part of their tail.  The Glass Lizard is no exception and has the ability to easily break off sections of their long tail.  This is actually how they get their name.  Get it? Both glass and these lizards break easily? This is actually a pretty clever naming convention, for once. The coolest thing about this is the fact that the portion of the tail that breaks off remains mobile while the rest of the lizard stays motionless.  Obviously this distracts the predator and allows the Glass Lizard to make an escape when the time is right. Unfortunately this cool defense mechanism requires a lot of energy to regenerate a new tail so it will often be smaller.  I guess this is a good way to tell how often the Glass Lizard had to drop off its tail.

I guess that does it for the Glass Lizard.  Make sure you check back here tomorrow for another crazy Wild Fact.  Have a great day!

Photo by Stephen G. Johnson

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your day so far and are ready to learn about an interesting reptile.  I figured it has been awhile since we talked about a cool reptile so today we are learning about the Rhinoceros Iguana. No it isn’t related to the rhinoceros, although that would be pretty impressive.  Actually it gets this name because of the bony plate “pseudo-horn” growing out of its head.  I know, I wish it was because it was the size of rhino or something cool like that but we will just have to settle for a “pseudo-horn”.

The Rhinoceros Iguana can be found in the Dominican Republic and Haiti so it prefers the nice tropical locations. The Rhinoceros Iguana is not much different than other iguanas as far as their diet is concerned.  They are omnivores but focus their efforts feeding on fruit, leaves and other plant matter.  They will mix it up occasionally and feed on insects and small mammals so keep your pet beetle on a leash when you are in Rhino Iguana territory (I don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s late!)

As with the males in other species (including humans) the Rhinoceros Iguana generally has to try hard to get the attention of a suitable mate.  They will have an elaborate courting dance which includes head bobbing and erecting the spines along their back.  For the record, it is not known for sure what the horns do but they believe they somehow play a role in this courting behaviour.  The Rhinoceros Iguana doesn’t just save their unique spine trick and head bobbing behaviour just for getting the attention of a lovely mate.  In fact when threatened the Rhinoceros Iguana will try a variety of elaborate head and neck movements to make themselves look bigger.  I am not sure how well it works but considering these iguanas are still around, I would say they are doing a find job tricking their predators.

Rhinoceros Iguana Fast Fact – The Rhinoceros Iguana are more terrestrial than some of the other iguana species.  This gives them the advantage for living in a rocky and dry climate.  These little guys will rarely been seen hanging out in trees or forested areas for that matter.

Well that is it for today.  I hope you all enjoyed the fact!

Photograph by Bates Littlehales

Happy Friday everyone! Another weekend is upon us and I hope you have something fun planned. To get your weekend started on a good note, I chose one of my favourite reptiles to learn about today. Of course I am talking about the one and only Gecko. This little lizard is usually found around the equator in the Southern Hemisphere so that means we need our flip flops and sunscreen for this trip. Let’s Go!

The gecko comes in all kinds of different colours such as green, purple, pink and of course for the boys, blue. These colour variations really make the gecko a beautiful sight to see. They also have a variety of different patterns among the 2000 species thought to be inhabiting earth. If you are a budding scientist and have an urge to name an animal after yourself, then I suggest looking for a new gecko species since it is believed that there are more to be found. Besides it is a great excuse to travel to the warmer southern climates.

If you have ever had a pet gecko then you would know that they are capable of sticking to anything. You will often see them crawling around on the ceiling or the side of their terrarium. In fact, it is thought that the only thing they can’t stick to is Teflon. How about that for a non-stick frying pan commercial. So how do these cute and colourful lizards stick to all of these substances? Well, that is a good question that has a complicated answer but basically the gecko has about 14 000 tiny little hairs on every square millimeter of their foot pad. These tiny, stiff hairs allow the gecko to hang upside down, climb the side of anything or just show off in front of other lizards. You might be thinking that it would be impossible for them to walk if their feet are constantly sticking to things. This would be true but the gecko is able to peel their toes back to relieve these attractive forces and move. This is why it looks as if your pet gecko is double jointed. The truth is the gecko’s toes are designed to bend the opposite way from our fingers and toes. There you go, the next time you have company over and your pet gecko is stuck to your guests “balding” head, you will be able to explain why he is able to do that.

Have a great weekend!

A close-up view of the Gecko's foot

Well, I just finished shoveling the driveway so I figured it is time to take a trip south.  Since, I can’t do that in real life at this point in time, I figured I will do it in my virtual, blogging life.  I want to take a trip to South America to describe an unique turtle that lives primarily in the Amazon River. The Matamata turtle has developed some unique adaptations that allow them to laze around all day and still manage to catch its dinner.

You see, the matamata turtle is carnivorous and feeds on fish and invertebrates.  Now you might be thinking that it would be tough for a turtle that prefers to live a sedentary life to be able to capture the sneaky, evasive fish. If you look at the picture of the matamata turtle (go ahead and look again, I will wait!). About time, sheesh, I didn’t say to study every detail of the picture!  Did you notice that the shell of the turtle looks similar to bark while the head resembles fallen leaves (go ahead and look again).  We are going to be here all day while you study this picture!  Naturally, the colouration and shape of the turtle allows it to blend into their surroundings.  Don’t worry, this isn’t the only adaptation that allows it to easily capture a quick meal.  The matamata turtle has flaps on the side of their head and a very large mouth.  The flaps on the head and neck add to the camoflage but they are also very sensitive in detecting the slightest movement of water.  When a fish swims by, these flaps ensure that the turtle is aware that dinner is nearby. When the disguised turtle senses the swimming fish it will thrust its head forward and open its large mouth as wide as possible.  This will effectively create a low pressure vacuum and actually suck the fish into the turtles mouth.  The turtle will then snap its mouth shut and slowly expel the water. Due to the unique construction of the matamata turtle’s mouth, they can’t actually chew their prey. This means the little fishy is swallowed whole.  I think I will stay out of the shallow bays of the Amazon River while on my virtual trip.  I don’t want my foot getting sucked into the mouth of the matamata turtle.

Matamata Turtle Fast Fact: The Spanish meaning for matamata is “It Kills, It Kills”.  That pretty much sums up Wild Fact #927.

I realize I just did a post on a turtle species but trust me, you will like seeing another turtle post. The alligator snapping turtle has a very unique hunting method that I think will interest you.

Before I get into the hunting strategies of the alligator snapping turtle let me explain a little bit about this turtle species. They are the largest freshwater turtle in North America, with the largest on record being over 200 pounds. That is right, they are larger than the common snapping turtle but don’t worry as the alligator turtles are not as aggressive as the common snapping turtle. Nonetheless, you wouldn’t want to mess with these turtles since they have a very strong bite force. If you look at the alligator snapping turtle you will find that it resembles a dinosaur. For this reason it is known as the dinosaur of the turtle world in some circles. These are probably the same circles that contain the crazy animal biologist that has just spent 3 weeks camping by themselves in the bush so they giggle every time they think of a dinosaur turtle! One last feature to note before moving onto the feeding strategy. These turtles will spend the majority of their life submerged in the water and generally only venture onto land when the female needs to lay their eggs.

All right, the moment you have all been waiting for! How does this bizarre looking turtle hunt? Well, that is easy to answer. Since they spend the majority of their time in the water the alligator snapping turtle goes fishing to catch its food! I realize you probably think I am being a smart alec but I need to keep myslef entertained while I write these posts. Besides, I didn’t lie to you about the turtle fishing to catch its prey. You see the inside of the alligator snapping turtles’ mouth is camoflaged and contains a tongue that resembles a worm. Now I am sure you see where I am going with this. So the turtle just lies on the bottom of the lake with its mouth open dangling the worm-like tongue. A fish sees the worm-like tongue thinking it is a yummy meal only to be surprised to find out that they are the yummy meal! I hate to admit this but I am willing to bet the alligator snapping turtle is a much better fisherman than I am.

Alligator Snapping Turtle Conservation Status: Although, this particular turtle as no natural predators other than man they still find themselves at risk.   Unregulated harvesting and habitat loss has lead the United States to protect them throughout the majority of their range.  The alligator snapping turtle is listed as threatened.

If you want to see more about the Alligator Snapping Turtle then check out the video below.

Below is a short clip taken from the television show “Dirty Jobs”.  The host of this show gets the opportunity to see a majestic alligator snapping turtle.  Enjoy the clip!

Photo courtesy of http://www.papermag.com/blogs/american-crocodile-emerging-water.jpg

Yesterday’s fact discussed how the camel was able to live in extreme dry and arid conditions. Today’s fact will make a complete 180 and discuss a few of the interesting crocodile adaptations that allow them to thrive underwater.

If you have ever swam underwater then you know the benefits of wearing goggles. The thought of a crocodile wearing swim goggles may be amusing but they have adapted a feature very similar. Crocodiles have two sets of eyelids. A normal set for when they are out of the water and a clear eyelid that helps them see while underwater. Obviously the benefits of these “goggles” are to allow the crocodile to hunt while underwater. Similarly, the ears of the crocodile have also adapted to an underwater life.  While swimming underwater they are able to use flaps to cover their ears. It hasn’t been scientifically proven but I believe they also use these “ear plugs” when their wives are reading out the “Honey Do” list.

Crocodile Fast Fact: The eyes, ears and nostrils are all located near the top of the crocodiles head. This allows the crocodile to see, hear and smell while they are almost totally submerged.

Did you enjoy this Wild Fact? Did you know crocodiles had two sets of eyelids.  I would love to hear what you have to say!