This is a guest post by Rachel Rodman. Photos by Daniel Murphy.
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Every U.S. state has its own set of symbols: an official flower, an official tree, and an official bird. Collectively, these organisms form the stuff of trivia and are traditionally presented in the form of a list.
But, lists…well. As charming as lists can sometimes be, lists are rarely very satisfying.
Of all of the species in the genus Uroplatus, U. lineatus is by far one of the most unique of the group. They’re one of the largest Uroplatus, reaching a total length of 10-11". U. lineatus primarily inhabits the tropical and bamboo forests in eastern Madagascar.
this is a single celled parasite of marine worms that really looks like this
This is actually two cells of Pterospora floridiensis! As “adults”, they squelch around in their hosts until they find another compatible individual to hook up with, upon which they divide to become hundreds of gametes (sperm and eggs). Here’s some more info about Pterosporaand their relatives, the gregarines
The rarely seen semi-aquatic Northern Eyelash Boa,Trachyboa boulengeri. This small tropidophiid “dwarf boa” is known to feed on amphibians and fish. They are found in Panama, Colombia, and We. Ecuador.
Let’s talk about prairie, history, and language. For communities so focused on “native plants”/”native gardening”/etc there’s so little acknowledgement or engagement with indigenous Americans and their history.
When we talk about science, there’s a baseline assumption of objectivity. Science is Truth, something apart from messy cultural ideas. The reality is, culture and all it’s messes bleed into science, like here in ecology. We gotta be conscious of the histories we inherit in science.
