The Book of Heterocephalus

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Heterocephalus glaber, The Naked Mole-Rat

Rodents, with their continuously growing front teeth, are the most successful and numerous order of mammal. The Naked Mole-Rat is just one of its many various forms. 
The Naked Mole-Rat is fur-less simply because it lives in burrows deep in the ground of Africa where the temperatures remain stable. These burrows are excavated using their strong incisors.  Their lifestyle makes their eyes practically useless, they interact with their surroundings using mainly touch (they are very sensitive to vibrations) and hearing. Their gestation period is only 70 to 80 days but can produce 10 to 27 pups. These herbivorous rodents measure about 3 inches (7cm) and weigh, on average,  1.75 ounces (50g).

It's not their burrowing or incredible fertility that makes them interesting, it's their social structure.


Naked Mole-Rats are eusocial, like bees, ants and termites. Being eusocial means living in a large colony with only one breeding female (the queen) and very few breeding males. Other members of the colony (whether they be male or female) are of the worker or warrior caste. They are the one of the two known mammal with this social structure (the other being the Damaraland Mole-Rat). 

With a life expectancy between 10 and 30, their life span is considerably longer than that of their other eusocial comrades and most other rodents. 


Even though this species is not widespread, it's population is doing well. Isn't that nice to hear?
 
Watch a video by Jeff the Zoo Guy (my dream job right there...sigh...)

 

Watch a clip from The Life of Mammals: The Chisellers narrated by David Attenborough (my hero) 
 
This 50 minute clip is all about rodents, the Naked Mole-Rat appears after 30mins. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi_LTK956Wg

The popularization of the Naked Mole-Rat

1. Rufus, the butt kicking pet from Kim Possible 

 

2. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

 Where have you seen Naked Mole-Rats?

 Take care!

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Sources:

"Naked Mole-Rat." Small Mammals. Smithsonian National Zoological Park. [On line] 18 Jan. 2011  

Maree, S. & Faulkes, C. (2008). Heterocephalus glaber. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [On line] on 18 Jan 2011.

The Book of Saturnus

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Saturnus vulgaris, The European Starling.

Originally from Europe, this species was introduced to North America in a very special way. Their introduction can be pinpointed not only to a year but also to a person, Eugene Schieffelin. Mr. Schieffelin, a 5th Ave Resident in the late 19th century, reportedly thought "it would be nice to have all the birds mentioned by Shakespeare available for viewing in the park outside his window". So between 1890 and 1891, he had a total of 100 starlings shipped over from Europe. This small population exploded and within half a century, it went from 100 to to than 200 million in the United States. From New York, they have spread all across North-America. Thank you Mr. Schieffelin, now everyone can see the Shakespearean pests from their window whether they like it or not.

Starlings are an aggressive invasive species. They are cavity nesters and will bully their way in. Marie Winn, author of Red-Tails in Love and other great books and articles, tells of one such bullying episodes. The Northern Flicker, a large brownish woodpecker, painstakingly excavates its nest in tree trunks. Mrs. Winn and her fellow Central Park birdwatchers have observed this behavior and also the stalking Starlings, that sit and wait for the nest to be large enough before charging the flickers and laying their eggs in the freshly excavated nesting cavity, leaving the flickers to start again. It's not only the Flickers that suffer from the starlings self entitlement. All native cavity nesting birds must compete with the brutish starlings.

Enough with the accusing, let's get to know them a little better.

Member of the Order of Passeriformes, the European Starling is the type species of its genus Sturnus (meaning its the representative, the species you compare all Sturnus to). During breeding season (spring), its plumage is iridescent black with hints of green and plum, its bill is yellow. In the fall, feathers are tipped with white giving a speckled appearance and the bill is now darker, brownish. The juvenile birds are grey-brown, with a brown bill.

They are ground feeders with a particular technique called open-bill probing in which they prying into the ground by inserting and opening their bill to search for hidden food.

Outside nesting season, they can be seen in large flocks, to say the least. Watch this video (beware of motion sickness).



Take care!

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References:

1. Winn, Marie. Red-tails in Love: a Wildlife Drama in Central Park. New York: Random House, 1998
2. European Starling. Field Guide to the Birds of North America -4th Edition. Washington : National Geographic, 2002
3.  European Starling. Wikipedia. Oct.23rd 2010. [Accessed online] Oct.25th 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Starling

The Book of Impatiens

From the Balsaminaceae or Touch-me-not Family comes this wonderfully exciting plant: Impatiens capensis. It is also known under the names of Orange spotted Jewel-weed and Orange spotted Touch-me-not.

At this time of year, it is a delight to encounter this plant because it's capsules are ready and they hold quite a surprise for the curious observer. But let's keep the best for last.

I. capensis is a widespread plant; I have encountered it in moist woods, brooksides and wet roadside ditches in Montreal, New York, and Virginia beach.

Gleason and Cronquist (1991) describe the range as such: Newfoundland and Quebec to Saskatchewan to South Carolina, Alabama, and Oklahoma – East Coast to about the middle of North America.

Impatiens flowers are easy to identify due to their shape. The spurred sac-shaped flowers droop upside down from slender pedicels. The opening if formed by three petals, one larger than the others making up the top lip (or bottom considering it's upside down). Many flowers have a radial symmetry (actinomorphic) meaning they can be divided in more than 2 equal parts. Jewel-weed flowers have bilateral symmetry (zygomorphic); you can split it into two equal parts much like the human body. If you want to read more about floral symmetry, click here.

Even without it's distinctive orange speckled flowers, Jewel-weed is easy enough to identify; alternate, softly toothed and delicately veined leaves upon a ghostly translucent stem with darkened nodes. I have seen it with a stem as thick as my finger and so thin it's a miracle it can stand at all. All you need is to see it once and from then on, they jump out at you.

I. capensis is the Aloe Vera of native North America. I rub the juice on insect bites to stop the itch. You can mix it with Vaseline (or fat) to make an antiseptic and hydrating cream. My recent forest walks have led me to observe a funny tendency: when I come across a patch of Poison Ivy there is a patch of Jewel-weed not far from there. I haven't tried walking through Poison Ivy and rubbing Jewel-weed on it but maybe that's what nature is trying to tell me. That, or they tend to grow in similar conditions which not as romantic.

The main reason I love to meet this plant is due to its seed dispersal method. Impatiens produces elongated oval-shaped capsules which dangle so alluringly amongst the leaves and flowers. When you reach out to touch these little green pods they explode, shooting their seeds aloft. Believe you me, hours upon hours of fun. This particularly exciting dispersal method explains why they belong to the Touch-me-not family. The capsule twirls up into 4-5 curls, which once surrounded four seeds. Depending on when the capsule bursts, they can be green or a dark striated brown. When looking for capsules, pick the biggest and plumpest ones. You don't need to squeeze forcefully, a gently touch suffices to set off the mechanism. Try and catch the seeds if you can. The seeds will land a couple meters away from the parent plant and lay dormant until the following spring.

They are not the only ones that propel their seeds. Dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium), a parasitic plant, gathers up hydrostatic pressure in the fruit and shoots out the sticky seeds at 100 Kilometers per hour (65 miles an hour). Where dispersal agents are concerned, plant scientists have divided them in three large categories: wind, water, and animals. Propelled seeds are considered a form of wind dispersal along side dust-like orchid seeds, winged schizocarps of maples and the plumelike pappus or parachutes of the dandelions.

Keep your eyes peeled and fingers ready!
Take care!

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References

Gleason, H.A & Cronquist, A.. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada - 2nd Ed.. Bronx, NY: The New York Botanical Garden Press, 1991.

Raven, P.H., Everet, R.F. & Eichhorn, S.E.. Biology of Plants - 7th Ed.. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers, 2005.