Recently Chris Mah, that most passionate advocate of all things with pentaradial symmetry (i.e. echinoderms: urchins, starfish etc.), wrote an excellent blog post about how…
View More A sucker for convergent evolutionCategory: Adaptations
Can Bivalves Kick It? Yes they can!
Starting around 540 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion many animal phyla, including the freshest of them all—bivalves, came into existence. Within ~100 million…
View More Can Bivalves Kick It? Yes they can!Ever seen a manta ray’s bellybutton?
In a remarkable turnaround, Craig directed me to a very cool new study about manta rays (next thing you know I’ll be sending HIM papers…
View More Ever seen a manta ray’s bellybutton?The Great Recession of the Deep Oceans
If energy is the currency of life then deep-sea organisms are in a long-term recession. Energy comes in three major forms important for life: solar…
View More The Great Recession of the Deep OceansWhy are whale sharks so small?
Whale sharks won’t be the only big ass vertebrate in the waters off Mexico come August! I’ll be joining Para_Sight and team for the Afuera,…
View More Why are whale sharks so small?Understanding How Hares and Big Lineman Lose Races Through Sucking Feet
In Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare a slow-moving but determined tortoise defeats an obnoxious and speedy hare, who decides to nap mid race. The…
View More Understanding How Hares and Big Lineman Lose Races Through Sucking FeetWith a snail’s help a fish transitions from dying to dead
Like manna from heaven, food from above rains on the deep. Those productive shallow waters full of light, photosynthesis, and food are an extreme contrast…
View More With a snail’s help a fish transitions from dying to deadDear Deeplings: I thought I was a plant, but now I think I’m a killer!
Dear Deeplings, I am a dinoflagellate – a single-celled microscopic plankton of the fine lineage Karlodinium armiger. I’m a pretty peaceful dude-lady – I just chillax…
View More Dear Deeplings: I thought I was a plant, but now I think I’m a killer!Preserved in the Act and Fossilized Turtle Whoopie
This is really too good not to share immediately. A recent study reports on numerous pairs of fossil turtle couples caught in the act of copulation. The…
View More Preserved in the Act and Fossilized Turtle WhoopieCoordinated Hunting in Red Devils
With just reason Humboldt or Jumbo Squid are called Diablo Rojo. The skin of Dosidicus gigas is blood red but can change to bone white.…
View More Coordinated Hunting in Red Devils