Bird Wizard

Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), female, family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes, WA, USA

Female phalaropes are more colorful than males, and the females court the males.

The drably colored males tend the eggs, nest, and chicks.

Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, found along the coasts of the PNW United States, British Colombia, and Southern Alaska

ENDANGERED.

Convergence of form in groundwater wildlife from different regions of the world.

A quick definition... characters that are considered a result of permanent life in subterranean habitats are referred to as "troglomorphisms."

Dr. Ron Brandon wrote of the suite of characteristics that tended to be observed in North America's diverse, obligate subterranean, groundwater-inhabiting salamanders: An elongation of the head, a flattening of the head, a general trend toward a "shovel shaped" head, an increase in the number of teeth, a reduction of pigmentation and of eyes, and an elongation and attenuation of the body and limbs. These are common troglomorphisms observed in said salamanders. The same trend is also observed in Europe's "Olms." The "duck-biled" mouth is a characteristic observed in various groundwater fishes as well - see the image here comparing the face and mouth shape of obligate groundwater fishes from opposite sides of the planet (China and North America). Why? Dr. Brandon's hypothesis (H₁): The flattening of the head and the increased teeth (relative to surface-inhabiting related species) leads to more efficient prey capture and handling. This confers an evolutionary advantage in a habitat where feeding opportunities might be scarce, even rare in some systems. Every opportunity is significant; maximizing said events is key to surviving in the habitat. If this is true, strong evolutionary pressures toward improved prey capture and handling will influence head shape in evolutionary time. In fact, that is what we observe in unrelated groups of organisms. This doesn't mean that there can't be other hypotheses for the observed head shape and the convergence on it by multiple species in unrelated groups of salamanders.... OR that this is absolutely why we observe what we observe; however, the hypothesis does explain the convergence of head shape. Hope you enjoy these amazing inhabitants of subterranean waters from around the world. Here is what the "salamander circle" is represented by: the following...

Clockwise, starting at 12 noon:

European Olm (Proteus anguinus), Tennessee Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus palleucus), Cascade Cavern Salamander (Eurycea latitans), Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei), Comal Blind Salamander (Eurycea tridentifera), Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni), Western Grotto Salamander-larva (Eurycea spelaea), Western Grotto Salamander-adult (Eurycea spelaea)

junicorn

day 11

‘pigecorn’

Fern Diversity: The Fern Tree of Life

Conjure an image of a fern in your mind. What is likely to fill the space is a large, lacy frond, illuminated by dappled light in a damp forest understory. You may also have been transported back in time millions of years ago, to a prehistoric landscape shrouded with ferns and dinosaurs. We often think of ferns as old, shade-loving, understory plants in temperate forests. While the lineage dates back 400 million years, and while many ferns do occupy such a niche, this evolutionary and ecological pigeonhole couldn’t be further from the truth. Ferns are not hanging on by a thread in refugial environments — they are an evolutionary success story, persisting and diversifying into one of the most species-rich and biologically diverse groups of vascular plants, just behind the angiosperms. In this primer, I will expound on their evolutionary history, species richness, and modern ecological diversity, highlighting what they are and how they came to be.

WINONA RYDER as MINA HARKER and SADIE FROST as LUCY WESTENRA

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992)

Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei), family Colubridae, Death Valley National Park, CA, USA