Bish’s Beauteous Beasties!

Today's magical mammal is: the aardwolf! Thank you KC for the suggestion!

By Stefan Haag - Photo 107167442, (c) Stefan Haag, some rights reserved (CC BY), CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121677777

Doesn't it look so cool? The aardwolf is an insect-eating hyena species that lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern Africa. It mainly eats termites, and can eat as many as 300,000 in a night!

The aardwolf is smaller and more slender than other hyenas, with a distinct mane running all the way down its back, and a long bushy tail. It's debatable whether it has only one species with two subspecies, or if the eastern and southern types are distinct enough to be two separate species; either way, the southern aardwolves tend to be a little smaller than the eastern ones. It has five toes on its front legs and four on its hind legs; this is why its genus name is Proteles, which means "complete in front"!

Aardwolves have super interesting mouths! They do have canines, but since they eat insects, they only use it for fighting and defence, which is super different from other hyenas! They have cheek teeth which are specialised for eating insects. As aardwolves age, they'll lose their teeth, but this doesn't actually matter so much because of their diet! They have long and broad sticky tongues with really pronounced bumps. If you want to see a kind of cute picture of an aardwolf with its tongue out, click here! I didn't want to put the actual photo in the post because the bumpy tongue honestly kind of sets off my trypophobia.

I said earlier that aardwolves eat termites, but they're actually really specific about it! Termites from the genus Trinervitermes are the primary food source; when the rainy season comes, the eastern aardwolves will eat Hodotermes mossambicus, and the southern ones will eat Odantotermes or Macrotermes termites. Unlike anteaters, they don't dig into the termite mound to find food, but they just lick termites off the ground. This means they don't destroy the termites' homes, so the population is sustained. Licking termites off the ground does mean that aardwolves also end up eating lots of sand, but actually, this helps them digest their food, especially for older aardwolves who might have lost their teeth!

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Aardwolves are nocturnal, except for eastern aardwolves during the rainy season, because Hodotermes are more active in the afternoon. They're shy and solitary, but they will form monogamous pairs during mating season. Aardwolves have anal scent glands which they use to mark their territories. They're not actually very good runners or fighters, so when threatened they'll try to mislead the enemy first. If that doesn't work, they raise their manes to look bigger, and use their anal scent glands to emit a really bad smell. I wonder how effective that is?

Baby aardwolves are born with their eyes open, but they're still helpless at first. The male spends several hours a night guarding them while the female goes off to forage for food. When the cubs are three months old, they'll start to go on supervised foraging trips with their parents, and at four months they're already independent. They'll share a den with their mother until the next breeding season, when they'll leave for their own territories.

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I have a post queued up for tomorrow (Monday 22nd) but unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to finish writing posts for the rest of the week! So FYI there may be a little break in posts again while I try to catch up. It depends on whether I manage to write up any posts tomorrow night :)

And wow, do I have a fabulous fishie for you! Today we're celebrating the hairy ghost pipefish! Thank you AC for the suggestion!

By David Harasti - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.70497, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=192155352

First, I need to talk about the scientific name of this fish: Solenostomus snuffleupagus. This fish was named after Mr Snuffleupagus (full name Aloysius Snuffleupagus) from Sesame Street, who is Big Bird's best friend!

By Screenshot from the TV show, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23699071

The hairy ghost pipefish is related to sygnathiform fishes: that is, fishes like seahorses, sea dragons, and trumpetfishes, to name a few. It's pretty small, coming in at only 21.3-33.6 millimetres long, with a compact body that's a little bit flattened laterally. Like other sygnathiform fishes, it's got an elongated body with a narrow "snout" or "trunk", but it's super distinct because of all the shaggy filaments covering it! The filaments are denser on the snout, jaws, head, and fins, while there aren't as many on the central body of the fish.

Adults are coloured bright orange or red, and juveniles are a deeper red or even purplish. This means they're well-adapted for hiding in the red seaweed of their natural habitat! They live in the lower parts of coral reef bommies (a rocky outcrop somewhat isolated from the more sprawling reef system), where red seaweed tends to be. They mimic the tufts of algae and kind of undulate with the movement so they're harder to spot. Places where they can be found include the Great Barrier Reef, Portlock Reef in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga.

Super cool thing I just learned about ghost pipefish in general: the females are the ones who brood in a pouch on their bellies! Other sygnathiform fishes like seahorses are pretty famous for the males doing that, but ghost pipefish are just special :)

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THURSDAY (T)HERPETOLOGY THEATRE!

Today's humble herp is: the dubious dtella!

By Greg Tasney - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/186535759, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120623105

What a brilliant name for a brilliant creature! This is a species of gecko native to northeastern Australia and Torres Strait. It's so common in Queensland that it's known as a common house gecko over there- not to be confused with the Asian common house gecko, which I grew up with and will feature in its own post some other time!

Its natural habitat is eucalyptus and acacia woodlands, but it's also got a really wide urban presence, which is why it's a house gecko too. It's nocturnal and feeds on larger invertebrates, especially spiders, beetles, cockroaches and scorpions. I was really surprised to learn that, because these geckos are pretty small, only up to 6 cm without the tail (the tail adds another 14 cm)! Apart from invertebrates, they also lick plant sap when available as it's an easy source of sugar and nutrients.

Speaking of licking- they don't have eyelids, so they can't blink, and have to lick their eyes to clean them! That's a fairly common gecko thing, as well as their ability to cling to surfaces with the circular pads on their fingers/toes. They're a dull, spotted grey-brown, but they have a bit of camouflaging ability and can change into light brown, and will lose the spots on their back when foraging. Their tails can also come off as a defence mechanism to allow them to escape a predator, and will grow back later. Unlike other Australian gecko species though, their skin is smooth, and unlike the Asian common house gecko, they have much rounder feet and quieter calls.

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Dubious dtellas are pretty aggressive! They're really territorial, especially the males, and will bite and claw and chase to defend their homes. They're also quite talkative and have a range of different chirps and calls, some of which are out of the human hearing range. They modify their calls based on circumstances, but also the sex and size of the individual they're talking to, so it's really important for their communication.

In urban areas, dubious dtellas are being outcompeted by the invasive Asian common house geckos (accidentally introduced in the 1960s), but out in the Australian wilderness, dubious dtellas are winning. The Asian geckos are habitat generalists and are able to tolerate more light than dtellas, but dtellas are more aggressive.

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Wildcard Wednesday!

Today's awe-inspiring wildling is: Microeledone galapagensis!

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How adorable is that?

This tiny creature is new to science, and was only described in a Zootaxa paper published 25 May 2026. It doesn't seem to have a common name yet, but I've been calling it the Galapagos tiny blue in my head :)

I am not very good at reading the paper I linked, because I'm not entirely sure what their measurements mean, but you're welcome to have a look and let me know how big this actually is! According to a couple of photos with a preserved specimen beside a ruler, I reckon it's about 7 cm long from the top of its head to the tip of a short tentacle (rough estimate!) and the diameter of its head is about 3 cm. I'm not copying the actual images here in case people don't want to see a preserved specimen, but you can check it out in this article!

The little blue octopus was actually first spotted in 2015 near Isla Darwin, when the ROV Hercules (launched from the E/V Nautilus) was exploring an underwater mountain 1773 metres below the surface. The ROV took one specimen, a female, which was sent to an octopus expert Janet Voight. Since there was only one specimen, the researchers decided to do something rather different! Instead of cutting open their specimen to examine its internal workings (necessary for correctly identifying octopus species), they used CT scans instead.

On the outside, the octopus is already super interesting. Not only is it blue (the rarest colour in nature), it's also surprisingly smooth-skinned for an octopus! It's kind of squat and has really short arms with only one row of suckers, which isn't much for an octopus. It also doesn't have an ink sac, and it has one really big central tooth.

On its colouration: I've been saying it's blue, because it looks like it, but actually this octopus shows a really fascinating trait called reverse countershading. (I know, so many negatives!) Its back is actually pale and pigment-free, but the inside of its mantle is a deep purple. This countershading is thought to be a form of defence: there are a lot of bioluminescent things down in the deeps, and if the octopus goes after prey that starts to glow, other predators might be attracted to the light and eat the octopus. If the octopus can smother that light with its deep purple mantle, then it lessens the chances of it being eaten by some bigger baddie. Fascinating stuff!

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Today's terrific tetrapod is: the tufted pygmy squirrel!

By Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/252609606, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159213768

This cute thing has gained a little notoriety here on tumblr, mostly because tumblr user creekfiend (whom I will not @ because I don't know them!) has been absolutely hilarious about their hatred for these animals. Is it a bit? Is it true, seething rage? I do not know, but honestly that post introduced me to tufted pygmy squirrels in the first place, so everybody say thank you creekfiend!

Tufted pygmy squirrels are endemic to the high mountain forests of Borneo. It's the smallest squirrel in the world, measuring only about 10-12 cm long excluding their tails.

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It forages on tree trunks and eats a combination of insects (mainly ants!), tree bark, lichen, moss, and some fruits. It can leap from branch to branch even though it's so small!

Generally, tufted pygmy squirrels are solitary, but will come together in pairs to breed. They communicate using chirps, whistles, and scent markings to delineate their territories. Males compete for the attention of females, and after breeding, females will give birth to a litter of about two to four babies. The little squirrel pups are born blind and hairless, so they have to rely on their mother for warmth and food.

Today's magnificent mammal is: the jaguarundi! Thank you AC for the suggestion!

By Hugo Hulsberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/98473168, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=186242821

The jaguarundi is a medium-sized wild cat from the Americas, with a huge range spanning all the way from central Argentina to northern Mexico. It was apparently in Texas for a while too, but it's now locally extinct there. They're most commonly seen in Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. It looks a little bit like a cross between a cat and a mustelid (think weasels and otters), but is twice the size of a domestic cat.

It also comes in two fun colour morphs: grey and red! You can get both colours born in the same litter. Red morphs are more common in dry, open habitats.

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Speaking of habitats, the jaguarundi can live in lots of different places! They can live in tropical rainforests, deciduous forests, cloud forests, mangroves, but they can also live in drier and more open areas like savannahs, deserts, and thorny scrubland.

In the wild, jaguarundi are pretty solitary or they might form pairs. In captivity though, they're a lot more sociable! Even though they can be seen in lots of countries, they have a pretty low population density because a jaguarundi tends to have have a big home territory. They are also very vocal, and 13 different sounds have been recorded from them so far, including purring, chattering, screaming, and a kind of "wah wah" cry!

They hunt during the day and evening, normally on the ground even though they're pretty good climbers and like to spend time up in trees. Rodents, ground birds, and reptiles make up the bulk of their diet. They can also eat flying birds- they can jump up to 2 metres to catch them! Though they're pretty generalist with their diet and will eat whatever's most abundant and easy to catch, they do prefer small mammals.

Check out this 15-second video from a camera trap of a jaguarundi in the wild!

Jaguarundi don't have a specific breeding season and will mate all year round. Mothers will give birth after 70-75 days to a litter of up to four kittens. The kittens are already furry and have spots on their undersides, but they disappear as they grow older until they're uniformly-coloured like the adults. They can start eating solid food at around six weeks old, but interestingly, the mother will start bringing them solid food when they're only three weeks! The kittens just seem to play with it until the mother eventually eats it. I don't have a picture of kittens playing with food, but have a kitten playing with a toy!

By Ken Mayer - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_mayer/3155939997/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=169693764

To see some adorable kittens in action, have a look at this video from a camera trap in Brazil! At around 40 seconds in, you get a bonus anteater! It also will show loads of other animals I don't know the names of yet, including a very smart tool-wielding mammal known as a human, hahaha. The jaguarundi don't come back.

Did you know: the name jaguarundi comes from the Old Guarani word yaguarundi and Old Tupi word yawaum'di, which mean "dark jaguar".

It’s SPECIFIC BEASTIE SUNDAY!! I got a request to feature two very special little beasties, and I'm very excited to show them to you. Thank you SM for the suggestion!

Today's Specific Beasties are: Winston and Isa!

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Winston and Isa are peregrine falcons who have only recently fledged and left their nest at Glasgow City Chambers, Scotland! Their parents are the notorious (read: beloved) Bonnie and Clyde, who made a nest in the city government building this year. In previous years, Bonnie and Clyde have raised chicks in the Glasgow University tower.

Winston and Isa have already fledged, which means they can fly! Technically they are now old enough to leave the nest and establish their own territories, but for now they're still exploring their local area and being fed by their parents.

Peregrine falcons (also just called peregrines) are crow-sized falcons known for their super fast speeds. It's the world's most widespread raptor, found all over the world except in extreme polar regions, tropical rainforests, very high mountains, and Aotearoa New Zealand for some reason. They're also increasingly found in cities and is considered a success story for urban wildlife. Actually, the only other land-based birds with wider ranges are doves and pigeons, which needed human intervention to spread so far.

Peregrine males and females have similar markings and plumage, but the females are 30% bigger. The back and wings are blue-black to slate-grey coloured, with some barring that's very hard to see, and their undersides are very distinctly barred. Interestingly, the dark patch of feathers below their eyes is called a malar stripe, and it's wider in birds that live in areas with more sunlight, which might mean it's used to reduce glare!

By Greg Hume (Greg5030) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17098529

Peregrines almost exclusively eat smaller birds, but will sometimes go for small mammals or reptiles. They have a notch on near the tip of their upper beak, which allows them to kill prey by severing the spinal column at the neck. They hunt by soaring super high and then diving down extremely fast (a behaviour called a stoop), hitting one wing of their prey so they don't hurt themselves. Here's a super cool thing: apparently the air pressure from that kind of speed should damage their lungs, but they have bony tubercles on their nostrils that people think probably guide the air away, reducing the immense air pressure on them.

In 2005, someone named Ken Franklin recorded a stoop of 242 miles per hour. Apparently this hasn't been confirmed, with the highest reliable measurement being 114 mph. If true, though, that speed would make it the fastest animal on Earth!

By FlightEditor - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149418936

Though their name literally means wandering falcon, peregrines living in mild winter areas tend to just stay there permanently. The only populations that migrate any great distances are the ones that breed in Arctic areas, who move to warmer climates during the northern winter. Peregrines mate for life and return to the same nesting site every year, except apparently Bonnie and Clyde who moved house in 2026. They live in "scrapes" on cliff edges or the sides of tall buildings. Quite literally, the female chooses a nest site and scrapes off loose soil and lays eggs there. No other nesting material is used.

Speaking of mating, peregrines have a really cool courtship dance! It involves a whole lot of aerial dives, spirals, and acrobatics. At some point, the male will pass some prey he has hunted to the female while in mid-air; to catch it, she needs to fly upside down!

Peregrines have been used in falconry for about 3,000 years, with the practice starting in Central Asia. Their small sizes and super high speeds make them a joy to watch, but they also have a better disposition than some other birds for training. Most of the peregrines used for falconry now are captive-bred, so people don't usually go out and get a wild bird to train; they tend to do that just to maintain a healthy genetic diversity in the captive populations. Sometimes people will cross a peregrine with a gyrfalcon or a lanner falcon to breed birds with specific hunting characteristics.

I had only known of falconry as a way to help people hunt for food, but modern falconry has also been used to scare away birds at airports!

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Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Today marks 128 years since the Philippines declared its independence from Spain after over three centuries of colonisation. Our flag was flown for the first time that day, accompanied by the newly-composed national anthem. Unfortunately, other nations did not recognise our independence; we were subsequently sold to and colonised by the USA, and then occupied as well by Japan in the 1940s. The USA chose 4th July 1946 to officially grant us independence, coinciding with their own celebrations, and Philippine independence was celebrated on that date until 1962, when it was moved back to 12th June in response to the US government failing to pay $72 million in war damages. Even though we didn’t officially become independent on 12th June 1898, it’s a date close to my heart because that’s when we chose it. That’s when Filipinos announced our right to freedom and independence, and it just took the rest of the world some time to catch up.

ANYWAY!! That concludes our brief history lesson! On to the thing you follow me for…

FRIDAY FISH FIESTA!

Today’s fantabulous fish is: the milkfish! Thank you AC for the suggestion!!

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The milkfish is a ray-finned marine fish found widely throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In Hawaii, it’s known as awa; in Tahitian, ava; in Nauruan, it’s ibiya; in Indonesian, it’s bandeng or bolu. For the rest of this post, though, in keeping with this week’s theme, I’m going to refer to it by its Filipino name: bangus!

Bangus live in tropical waters around islands and along continental shelves, from 1 to 30 metres deep. Sometimes they enter estuaries and rivers, which is actually why I didn’t know until now that they’re normally seadwellers! One cool thing about bangus is that they’re the only living species in their genus and family! Their closest living relatives are freshwater fishes like carps, catfish, and loaches.

Unofficially, the bangus is called the national fish of the Philippines. It’s got an elongated, almost flattened body, a sleek and streamlined look, with a big forked tail. It looks silver to me but is actually kind of olive-green with silvery sides, and the fins have dark borders. However, some variants have shown up! In the Philippines there’s a golden bangus, while in Hawaii, Indonesia, and Australia there are dwarf or hunchback types. Apparently there’s also a red and blue one that’s been found in Northern Australia!

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In the wild, bangus like to form schools around coral reefs. Juveniles live at sea at first, then will migrate to calm, protected mangrove swamps and estuaries, then move back to sea to reproduce. They’re super good at tolerating changes in their environment, especially salinity!

Wikipedia tells me that bangus can grow up to 1.8 metres long, but usually only grow to about 1 metre. They can live for 15 years and reach a weight of 19 kg in a pond. But, hand on heart, I’ve never seen a bangus that big before—otherwise it wouldn’t fit on a plate!

Bangus is widely eaten not just in the Philippines; it’s a big deal in Indonesia and Taiwan too! My favourite way to have it is deboned, butterflied, grilled, and then served on a sizzling plate with fried garlic and black peppers on top. I like to dip it in soy sauce with bird’s-eye chillies and calamansi juice! However, it’s prepared in loads of ways: smoked, fried, dried raw with calamansi juice or vinegar (like a ceviche), or turned into fishballs. It’s an oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, so it’s pretty good for you, I think.

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Even though we eat bangus, it’s still important to us that they are protected. Under Philippine law, it’s illegal to catch wild adult bangus (called sabalo) measuring over 60 cm (which is probably why I’ve never seen a big one). The consequences are pretty severe, too— 6 months to 8 years in prison, and/or a fine of up to PHP 80,000, and revocation of their fishing license.

Bangus farming is super important economically to many countries in Southeast Asia. In fact, it’s such a big industry that milkfish aquaculture accounts for 14% of aquaculture worldwide! Indonesia and the Philippines are the world’s largest producers of bangus. A couple of cities in Taiwan and the Philippines have bangus festivals and dedicated museums, it’s that important to our food culture!

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Since it’s a special day, why not try something Filipino? Maybe try out some Filipino food, buy a Filipino product, learn a few words from one of our many languages, learn some of our long history, or just look up images of our beautiful islands and nature! There’s so much to celebrate and explore🤩 Also, if you don’t know where to start but want to learn more, just ask! I love sharing!

Today's happy Filipino herp is: the tokay gecko! (Gekko gecko)

By Gerard Chartier - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/192144834, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128661915

Right, now that I've declared it to be the tokay gecko, I'm going to turn around and tell you all right now I'm going to exclusively refer to it by the name I grew up knowing it as, which is the tuko. No shade on the English name, but I just think tuko makes more sense!

Now, why would it make more sense? This is because the male tuko makes a really distinct mating call that sounds like TUK-o... TUK-o.... Listen here! When you grow up hearing (and fearing) that, you don't really want to call it anything else.

The tuko is found throughout Southeast Asia (including maritime SEA countries), northeastern India, Bhutan, Nepal, and New Guinea. It's also been introduced to some other places, like Florida, Martinique, Belize, and possibly Hawaii too. It's the third-largest gecko in the world, normally reaching up to 25 cm long, but sometimes up to 40 cm!

Despite its size, it's got a really strong grip. Its foot pads can support its weight on a vertical surface for a really long time! I would know, there was a tuko in my bathroom once that just kind of stayed there for several days. I was too afraid to try getting it out, because they're very aggressive and territorial, and can break skin if they bite you!

By Gerard Chartier - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/192144888, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128659343

The tuko feeds on insects and small vertebrates. When breeding, they form temporary family groups and can identify their mates and young by their smell. Females lay a clutch of one to two hard-shelled eggs and guard them until they hatch.

By Wich'yanan L - https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/86791002, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128661837

The tuko is culturally significant in many Asian countries. It's an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, so there's a lot of poaching to satisfy the market. In some regional folklore, it's believed to have supernatural powers and is descended from dragons, and in some parts of Southeast Asia it's a symbol of good luck.

Did you know: I mentioned I used to really fear the sound of a tuko. This is because Filipino kids get told that if a tuko decides to hold on to you, you can't pull it out without ripping your skin off. Supposedly the only way to get it off is to show it a mirror, and when it sees itself it'll go away! (I have never been in a position to test this, thankfully). There's even a Tagalog idiom "kapit-tuko", which literally translates to tuko grip. This idiom refers to when someone figuratively clings to another person or group in exchange for various benefits.

I'm trying to unlearn this fear, because really, the tuko has been unfairly villified!

It's the best day of the week, AND it's also Filipino Week! That means today's wonderful wildling is: the windowpane oyster!

By Johnnyflex - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17012328

As you've noticed, thats not a live specimen, but a cleaned shell. It's kind of hard to find anything on live windowpane oysters, because more than anything else, they're prized for their shells. They are very flat and relatively large (can exceed 150 mm), and are very translucent and beautiful!

Before I get into why I decided on this animal for Filipino week, let's look a little bit at their biology. Windowpane oysters are bivalve molluscs found around the Gulf of Aden, the Malay peninsula, all around the Philippines, and Taiwan. They live on muddy or sandy soil in the shallows all the way up to a depth of 100 m. They are filter feeders, so when in water, they open their shells a little and use their gills to sieve out food particles like plankton and organic detritus. At low tide, they clamp shut. They have different sexes, which you can tell apart by the colour of the gonads, and reproduce by external fertilisation.

In the Philippines, windowpane oysters (or more accurately, their shells) are known as capiz. Though the oysters are found in many places, we are the top exporter and manufacturer of capiz products in the world! There's even a whole province named Capiz, though I'm not sure which name came first.

Capiz shells have been used in windows for centuries. I'm not certain if it was the Philippines that first began using it, as they definitely also do it in India, but it was extremely widespread in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era (which started from 1521). It was used first for churches and then homes. Capiz windows are usually made of a wooden lattice into which the shells are inserted.

By Bagoto - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=177057310

It's not just the old churches and wooden houses that have them. In 19th century Filipino colonial architecture, lots of stone houses popped up; in the tropical heat, you need good ventilation, so they had these huge windows at least a metre high and up to five metres wide, with sliding windows made of capiz. When the wind would get too strong, you could slide the windows shut, and the translucent shell would still allow a good deal of light to come in.

Before architectural use became widespread, capiz shells were used mostly for decorating weapons and clothing. Now, we still do that, but we've also expanded into producing things like lampshades, lanterns decorated cabinets, windchimes, etc. There are very few man-made things in the world as beautiful as a capiz chandelier or a Christmas parol, in my opinion.

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It's uncommon to find a modern home with capiz windows now, but many of the very old churches and some preserved colonial houses will still have them. It may not be used so much in architecture anymore, but this beautiful shell is still undeniably part of our culture.

Tuesday Tetrapod Time!

Today's tremendous Filipino tetrapod is: the Luzon bleeding heart!

By Kao-Tai - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12418077

Isn't it beautiful? I'm really excited about it, because it's from my island!

A bleeding heart dove is a common name given to different species of the Gallicolumba ground-dwelling pigeons. Not all of the Gallicolumba are bleeding hearts, but the ones that are are only found in Filipino rainforests. The Luzon species is probably the most famous one because its colouration really does make it like it has a realistic bloodstain on the chest. Other bleeding heart doves are also named after the islands where they are endemic, such as Mindoro, Negros, Sulu, and Mindanao.

The Luzon bleeding heart has really gorgeous colouration. It's grey on its upper parts, but its feathers are also iridescent, so you can see a lot of beautiful colours like purple or green depending on the light! They aslo have distinctive black bands on their wings. The underside is kind of buff-coloured, but of course the most amazing part is the "bloodstain": a bright red centre surrounded by faint pink, giving the impression of fading blood. Amazing!

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Its call is a "mournful" cooing that goes up and then down for 1-2 seconds. It's also got a second kind of chirping display call. Click the links to listen! Warning, the mournful cooing has quite a lot of loud background noise, and the chirping also has another bird calling in the background.

Luzon bleeding hearts breed in May, and the female will lay a clutch of two eggs. Both the male and female parents take turns sitting on the eggs for 17 days. Both parents produce "crop milk", which honestly shocked me until I learned it's not actually real milk but a nutritious secretion from the crop that is regurgitated out to chicks.

Their diet consists of berries, seeds, and also insects and worms. They are shy birds, super dependent on their forest habitat and won't venture out into clearings or paths, which is partly the reason why they're classed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Logging, agriculture, the illegal pet trade, and a method of forest clearing known as kaingin are all big threats to all the bleeding heart doves.

Thanks so much for your patience during the Great Pause! This is the first of the queued posts, hopefully I can sustain this for a while! When the queue eventually runs out, I will probably pause posting so I can draft more without getting stressed about my entirely self-inflicted deadlines.

Before I get into the animal of the day, I'd just like to make an announcement! It just so happens that this Friday, 12th June, is Philippine Independence Day, so it's a really important day for me and my fellow Filipinos around the world.

To celebrate, we're doing Filipino Week! All animals featured this week will be either endemic to the Philippines or culturally important to us, and I'm super excited to introduce you to them! As a reminder, before moving the blog to Tumblr I've previously featured animals like the Philippine mouse deer, Northern Luzon giant cloud rat, the Philippine eagle, the whale shark, etc so I won't be repeating those even if they're super awesome, but let me know if you want a recap and I'll gladly share!

Anyway, on to the mammal! It's Monday Mammal Madness, so today's magnificent mammal is: the carabao!

By SwarmCheng - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126388313

Ah, my beloved carabao... Has there ever been an animal so humble, so strong, so gentle as the carabao? I tell you, surely no!

Unofficially, the carabao is widely considered to be the national animal of the Philippines. It's a swamp-type water buffalo endemic to the Philippines, and is genetically distinct from the water buffalos in other parts of Southeast Asia. It's also been introduced into Sulawesi, Borneo, and Guam, and it's become especially culturally significant in Guam.

Carabaos have sickle-shaped horns that curve back towards the neck. They are grey in colour but can vary in lightness. Most of the time, though, you'll see them covered in mud; they love to wallow in mud pools, which they dig out with their horns! They generally eat aquatic plants like reeds, rushes, and water hyacinths.

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Carabaos are traditionally draft animals used for rice farming, and 99.3% of the carabaos in the Philippines are raised by smallholder farmers. The carabao can be used for ploughing fields, transporting people and goods, threshing rice and even milling sugar. For some of these functions, they're slowly being replaced by modern technology, but you'll still see loads of carabaos around. Some farming families will treat their carabaos as pets, too. Have a look at my favourite video in the world, literally the most Filipino thing ever:

Apart from being draft animals, you can also get meat (known as carabeef) and dairy from them. Butchering is strictly regulated though, so it's not the most common meat in the Philippines. Carabao milk is actually the best milk in the world, in my opinion, as it's way creamier than either cow's or goat's milk. The pasteurisation and processing of carabao milk is still mostly a cottage industry, though a dairy farm has opened up near my hometown so sometimes we can get some bottles! I've made really nice homemade apple cinnamon ice cream with it, but traditionally carabao milk is used in fantastic desserts like pastillas de leche or mantecado ice cream.

Back in the precolonial era (before 1521, and probably still a bit after since it would have taken time to colonise everywhere), carabao hide was used to make armour for warriors. The horns would have also been used to make pommels for swords and bolos (a traditional big knife kind of like a machete). Carabao leather is still a thing now too.

I’m gonna pause posting for about a week or so, after one more special beastie I’ve been asked to feature!

I’ve been struggling a bit with getting these posts done, and I’ve posted late on many occasions now. I started a new job a few weeks ago and I think I’m still figuring out when I have the energy to research, write up, and post these Beastie facts. Now that I’m not doing it on my desktop on the work Teams, I’ve learned it takes way longer to do everything on mobile, and I can’t just whip up a quick post during my lunch break anymore. I try to post in the evenings, but I’m usually tired and just want to have dinner and watch some TV! I worry that if it keeps stressing me out, I’ll lose my love for this series.

I’m hoping that pausing for a week will let me type up a bunch of posts in advance, without being stressed about getting it done on a particular day. Tumblr has a really nice queueing system for posts, so I’m hoping I can use it to release one pre-written post every weekday!

FRIDAY FISH FIESTA!

Today’s fabulous fish is: the basking shark! One of my favourite sharks!

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Okay. I say that, but I’m definitely no shark expert. I mostly like these because I’m hoping to see one in the wild someday if I visit the islands up north!

Anyway, the basking shark is the world’s second largest living fish, after the whale shark (my ultimate fave shark). Along with the whale shark and the megamouth shark (excellent name), it’s one of only three species of plankton-eating sharks. It’s super well-adapted to filter feeding, because it has a huge mouth and very developed gill rakers!

I didn’t know about gill rakers until recently, or rather, I didn’t have the words for them. Gill rakers are bony or cartilaginous protrusions along the gill arches that prevent particles from getting through the slits. Earlier in evolution, they seemed to just be to prevent injury to the gills, but since a lot of the particles ended up being pretty nutritious, gill rakers evolved to be really good food traps for filter feeders! The density, size, and shape of gill rakers vary depending on the fish’s diet, so you can actually use them to identify different species 🤩

Anyway, back to basking sharks! Unlike the other two plankton-eating sharks, they don’t pump or suck water through their gills. Instead, they rely only on water passively flowing through. Basking sharks are slow swimmers and basically just move through clouds of plankton with their mouths wide open, which is how they feed. The water goes in through the mouth and exits out the gills, where the rakers are ready to catch any plankton along the way.

Even though they’re filter feeders, they still have teeth! They’re small and hooked, and basking sharks can have up to 100 teeth per row. It must be terrifying being a diver and suddenly seeing a giant mouth full of teeth coming at you, but actually, basking sharks aren’t aggressive at all and are harmless to humans.

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Basking sharks are usually solitary, but in summer, they can form groups around dense patches of plankton. Usually this is only about three or four sharks, but sometimes you can get hundreds! It’s possible that when they get together around summer, they may also be showing courtship behaviour.

Basking sharks do some seasonal migration. Generally, they prefer temperate waters (around 8 to 14.5 C) but they will cross the warmer equatorial waters sometimes.

The reason they’re called basking sharks is because they’re often found feeding close to the surface, as though they’re basking in the sun. When they’re not feeding, they can be found much deeper, up to around 800 metres under the surface. Interestingly, they can also breach—that is, they can jump all the way out of the water! No idea why, but there are theories that it might help dislodge parasites, or it might be some kind of threat display to other basking sharks nearby.

Did you know: basking sharks have the smallest relative brain size of any shark? It’s literally got a ratio of 1:16 brain to brain cavity, so the brain is literally just a tiny thing suspended in a big dome. In contrast, their liver is about 25% of its body weight. Priorities!

Have a delightful weekend, everyone! I’ll leave you with this incredible image of a basking shark’s face, perfect for reaction images:

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THURSDAY (T)HERPETOLOGY THEATRE!

Today’s humble herp is: the olm!

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The olm is a type of cave-dwelling salamander that lives its whole life underwater. It’s native to the underground waters that flow through the karst* of Central and Southeastern Europe. This includes southern Slovenia, southwestern Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the area near Trieste in Italy. Some populations can be found elsewhere but those are introduced.

*had to put a link in there because I only recently learned about karst! Apparently I’ve been living near it forever but I’m not confident I can actually define what it is, so you get the wiki, haha. If you already knew the word, congrats!

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Olms have long, slender bodies up to 12 inches long, sometimes even 16 inches, which makes them some of the largest cave-dwellers in the world. They have a relatively short, slightly flattened tail with a thin fin. They have short, thin limbs, with three toes on the front feet and only two toes for the back feet. They mostly get around by swimming and twisting their bodies, with only a little help from their limbs.

Probably because they’re always in the dark, they have really light skin. Their skin still can produce melanin though, and will gradually go dark in the light.

Living their whole lives in caves, olms can’t see, but they have super developed senses of smell and hearing. They do have eyes, but they’re not really developed, and they’re covered with a layer of skin. Though they’re blind, their eyes are still kind of sensitive to light, so they’ll actually swim away from a light source! Actually, young olms are born with normal eyes, but development stops pretty quickly and they basically atrophy after four months. I suppose eventually, they’ll evolve to not be born with eyes at all!

Speaking of development, the olm is another animal that shows neoteny! If you remember the time I featured axolotls, it’s the same sort of thing. They keep their baby characteristics all the way into adulthood—things like external gills, long slender bodies, and relatively big heads. Having these proportions actually means they have more sensory receptors than other surface amphibians!

Olms can detect astonishingly low amounts of organic chemicals in the water through their sense of smell. They’re also able to hear extremely well, able to detect frequencies from as low as 10 Hz up to 12,000 Hz. Like fish, they have a lateral line along their bodies which also senses low-frequency water displacement. Olms can also sense electric fields and the Earth’s magnetic fields, and can orient themselves that way.

They may not be able to see, but all of that means olms know exactly where they are, where they’re going, what kind of prey is around, and how much prey is around. Honestly, who needs sight at that point?

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Okay, after all of that: did you know there’s a subspecies called the black olm? Black olms actually have mostly normal eyes and are way less sensitive when it comes to the other senses! Their eyes are still really small and covered with a thin layer of skin, but still, they can see a lot more than the typical olm.

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Anyway, back to prey! Olms eat small crustaceans, snails, and sometimes insects. Since food can be hard to come by in the caves, olms have adapted to survive for ages without food. They can eat a huge amount in one go and store the nutrients in their liver. When food is scarce, they can slow down their metabolism, and if needed, even reabsorb their own tissues. Olms can survive for up to 10 years without food! 😱

But wait—10 years is a long time. How long do olms live anyway?

The average lifespan is probably 68.5 years, and it’s estimated they could live up to 100 years!

That being said, they are seriously vulnerable to any changes in their environment. Contamination and pollution of karst water are the biggest threats. Let’s try to keep our waters clean so this amazing animal can keep being amazing!

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Wildcard Wednesday!

Today’s (yesterday’s) wonderful wildling is: the beadlet anemone!

Image source: me!!

The beadlet anemone is a very common sea anemone you can find in Western European and Mediterranean coastlines, along the Atlantic coast of Africa, and even some in Australia and East Asia. I actually just saw a whole lot of them on Monday while walking around the beach!

Beadlet anemones are extremely well-adapted to harsh conditions. They can survive high temperatures, drying out, and varying salt levels, meaning they can live in difficult environments like tide pools and estuaries.

They are small, only about 5 cm in diameter at most, and generally come in dark red, though occasionally you can get orange or even green. The base of their body is like a sucker that anchors them to the rock. On the other end, though, they have up to 192 tentacles, arranged in 6 circles! These short, thick, stinging tentacles are used to catch prey like crabs, shrimp, and small fish.

Image source: still me! Wow, you can tell I changed phone at some point in the last 4 years.

Beadlet anemones are named for the ring of beautiful blue “beads” under their tentacles. These are called acrorhagi, and are full of stinging cells! Acrorhagi are used to fight off other anemones that might disturb their chosen patch.

Image source: also me!

When I was tide pooling last Monday, I also saw small shrimps, limpets, crabs etc. They were way outnumbered by these little guys, though—the anemones were everywhere! It’s really cool to watch them!