Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Week Eighteen (Final Post): Jaguar

Common Name: Jaguar

Scientific Name: Panthera onca


Fun Fact: The Aztecs both feared and admired the jaguar. One of their elite warrior units was named for the animal, and the black jaguar was also the symbol of one of their most important gods, the darkly powerful Texcatlipoca.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Panthera

Species: P. onca

Description: Jaguars are stocky and muscular cats with heavyset features. Their fur is golden-brown and may contain hints of red. Their bodies are covered in black rings and spots. The all-black variety associated Texcatlipoca is quite common and is known as melanism—somewhat of an opposite to albinism. Jaguars may grow to around six feet in length with an additional thirty inches of tail and weigh 264 pounds. They are similar in appearance to their Old World cousins the leopards, but they are found exclusively in the Americas and are shorter and stockier in build.

Environment: Jaguars are native to South and Central America and are the largest of the New World cats. Their preferred habitat varies from forest to semi-desert but must include a nearby area of water for drinking and swimming. Poaching and habitat destruction have restricted the range of these animals.

Reproduction & Development: Jaguars reproduce sexually and females give birth to litters of 1-4 live cubs after a gestation of 93-105 days. The mother cares for her litter by herself; the cubs are weaned by about six months of age and become sexually mature at two to four years. Jaguars can live for up to 24 years.

Nutrition: Jaguars are carnivorous predators at the top of the food chain. Despite their skill at swimming, they mainly hunt on land. Their preferred prey includes various medium-sized herbivorous mammals such as peccaries, capybaras, and tapirs. Jaguars do make exceptions to the rule of terrestrial meat; they may catch fish and have even been known to kill and eat crocodiles.
 

Week Seventeen: Vegetable Caterpillar Fungus

Common Name: Vegetable Caterpillar, Caterpillar Fungus, Awheto (Maori)

Scientific Name: Cordyceps robertsii


Fun Fact: The indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, burned the fungus stalks for charcoal, which they used to draw decorative patterns on their skin. They also used it as a food source.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Sordariomycetes

Order: Hypocreales

Family: Clavicipitaceae

Genus: Cordyceps

Species: C. robertsii

Description: Vegetable Caterpillar is a fungus that parasitizes the larvae of several species of moths. Vegetable Caterpillar encases the caterpillar in a cocoon that has been described as mummy-like. This so-called mummification slowly kills the insect larva as the fungus takes over its body, leaving it a hollow shell swathed in its predator. The fruiting body of the fungus is 2-3 mm in diameter and may be 20 cm tall.  To the casual observer, it may look like a small brown stem pushing up through leaf detritus.

Environment: This fungus is native to New Zealand and preys exclusively upon a variety of moth species also native to the islands. It infects its prey while the potential host is living on the soil as a larva. The host eats the almost imperceptibly small spores of the fungus and is therefore infected.

Reproduction & Development: After the host is infected, the fungus eats it from the inside out. Once the caterpillar is dead, the fungus sprouts a fruiting body from the neck of its host, which punches through any decaying plant matter on the ground to form a tall stalk. This fruiting body sprays new spores in all directions, allowing the cycle to begin again.

Nutrition: This fungus is a parasitic heterotroph, which means that it must eat a living host to survive. The nutrients the fungus steals from its host allow it to grow and produce reproductive spores.
 

Monday, May 4, 2015

Week Seventeen: Giardia

Common Name: Giardia

Scientific Name: Giardia lamblia or alternately G. intestinalis


Not-So-Fun Fact: Giardia is a parasite and is responsible for the contagious waterborne infection known as giardiasis. Giardiasis causes a number of delightfully messy and painful gastrointestinal problems before being fought off after a few weeks, though some symptoms may linger long after the initial infection.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Sarcomastigophora

Class: Zoomastigophora

Order: Diplomonadida

Genus: Giardia

Species: G. lamblia

Description: Giardia is a microbial organism spread through contaminated water that severe gastrointestinal problems such as fatigue and malaise, abdominal cramps and bloating, frequent and noxious belching, nausea, weight loss, and diarrhea. Symptoms begin after one to two weeks and usually last from two to four weeks.

Environment: Giardia is spread in water contaminated by feces laced with the microbe. Victims usually contract the disease by drinking improperly purified or completely untreated water or by coming into direct contact with infected stool. Giardia lingers in the intestines until it is killed off or becomes dormant.

Reproduction & Development: The life of the giardia is split into two parts, called the trophozoite and cyst phases. The cysts are ingested and release freely swimming trophozoites which adhere to the intestinal lining and then undergo asexual reproduction by binary fission. It is the cyst that later forms from the trophozoite after a presently unknown trigger that is spread from host to host.

Nutrition: Giardia is a parasitic heterotroph, which means it ingests nutrients by feeding off of its host. The organism steals food from the intestine of its host and damages the tissue around it, causing the symptoms of the disease.

Week Sixteen: Lionfish

Common Name: Red Lionfish, Zebra fish, Turkey fish

Scientific Name: Pterois volitans


Not-So-Fun Fact: The beautiful fins of the lionfish hide extremely venomous spines used to deter predators and capture prey. However, contact with the spines can also be dangerous to human swimmers and it is extremely inadvisable to touch or handle a lionfish.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Scorpaeniformes

Family: Scorpaenidae

Genus: Pterois

Species: P. volitans

Description: The red lionfish is a brightly colored animal with contrasting bands of red and white covering its entire body. Its fins are very ornate and conceal sharp, venomous spines. Its coloration also gives it the common name zebra fish. The fanlike spread of its elaborate pectoral fins give it the name turkey fish. Red lionfish usually reach a size between 15-30 centimeters as adults; the largest individual ever caught and recorded was a stunning 43 centimeters in size.

Environment: The red lionfish is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It has recently been introduced to the United States Atlantic coast and is especially problematic around the coast of Florida. The lionfish is an invasive species and is a factor in the endangered status of many species of marine life in the area. Lionfish prefer tropical ocean waters.

Reproduction & Development: Lionfish reproduce sexually by externally fertilization. This is a common practice among fish and involves females excreting ova into the water, which are then fertilized by the males’ excreted sperm cells. While solitary for most of the year, in the breeding season lionfish females are herded into harem-like groups by aggressive males. The 2,000 to 15,000 eggs hatch with the aid of marine microbes 36 hours after being fertilized and the lionfish infants become capable swimmers and predators after two to three days.

Nutrition: Lionfish are heterotrophic predators and feed on small fish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine life of a similar size. Because of the recent nature of their invasion into Florida waters, it is unsure yet whether lionfish competition will be detrimental to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Week Fifteen: Malaria

Common Name: Malaria

Scientific Name: Plasmodium vivax


Not-So-Fun Fact: The plasmodium protist is the organism responsible for the infection known as malaria. Once a human host is infected with the disease via a mosquito bite, he or she may experience symptoms for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, the vegetable extract quinine acts as a preventative medication against infection.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Sporozoa

Class: Sporozoasida

Order: Eucoccidiorida

Family: Plasmodiidae

Genus: Plasmodium

Species: P. vivax

Environment: Plasmodium circulates throughout the body of a mosquito and is injected into a human host’s bloodstream by using the mosquito’s contaminated saliva as a vehicle. The protist inserts itself inside the host’s red blood cells and there wreaks havoc upon its host’s body. Malaria is most common in the tropics, especially sub-Saharan Africa.

Description: The Plasmodium vivax protist infects almost five hundred million people around the world and kills one million of its victims every year. The best defenses against catching malaria are sleeping under bed nets in areas at risk for the disease and taking quinine drugs regularly. Symptoms of malaria include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Reproduction & Development: A mosquito must be infected by male and female Plasmodia to continue the life cycle of its resident parasite. Inside the insect’s body, the Plasmodia sexually reproduce. Their offspring make their way to the saliva of their host and are carried into a human bloodstream, where they asexually reproduce via binary fission and spread throughout the body. From here they attempt to circulate around the superficial blood vessels until they are picked up by new mosquitoes, mate, and begin the life cycle again.

Nutrition: Like its fellow members of phylum Sporozoa, Plasmodium is a parasitic heterotroph, which means that it feeds off of the tissues and bodily fluids of its host to survive and cannot make its own food. Plasmodium cannot perform photosynthesis.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Week Fourteen: Nettle

Common Name: Stinging Nettle

Scientific Name: Urtica  dioica


Not-So-Fun Fact: Stinging nettles are named for their agonizing properties. Simply brushing up against one of these plants releases a variety of acids that cause terrible pain akin to the a hundred tiny barbed needles being rammed forcefully into one small patch of skin. The author has personally been the victim of this particular plant while hiking and can state this as a first-hand account.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Rosales

Family: Urticaceae

Genus: Urtica

Species: U. dioica

Description: The stinging nettle is perhaps the most well-known and well-hated of its family. It is an emerald green perennial herb that grows during the summer to a height of around three feet and blissfully dies back again each winter. The agent of the nettle’s painful poison is a series of almost invisible urticating hairs on the undersides of the leaves and on the stem of the plant. Each of these injects a cocktail of formic, oxalic, and tartaric acids. These compounds are found in bee and ant stings and bites, used by other irritating vegetables, and act as a muscle toxin, respectively.

Environment: Stinging nettles can be found in almost any habitat that supplies their preferred nutritional needs within the regions of the United States and northern Europe.

Reproduction & Development: As stated above, the nettle is a perennial plant that grows during the summer and dies back during the winter. It is also a flowering plant whose pale green blossoms form small clusters on the stem. The nettle reproduces either by self-pollination between male and female flowers or by sexual reproduction with others of its species. Once pollinated, a small fruit grows briefly around the seed before shriveling and allowing the seed to be blown off of its parent by the wind.

Nutrition: This nettle’s main condition for growth is an environment featuring moist soil. The author personally encountered the plant growing next to a small stream and surrounded by lushly growing grasses. It was likely also enjoying the contributions of the sheep roaming nearby, though we must not blame the lambs for the existence of the nettle. This plant requires sunlight and nutrients from the soil as well as water.
 

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Week Thirteen: Foxglove

Common Name: Purple Foxglove, Witch's Gloves
Scientific Name: Digitalis purpurea


Actually Fun Fact (but only if your heart is failing): Foxglove, while extremely poisonous and irritating to most people, can be synthesized into the drug digitalis, which helps treat congestive heart failure by the same method the plant uses to damage healthy cardiovascular symptoms. Digitalis increases the strength of each heartbeat, which is dangerous and potentially deadly to most people but is helpful to patients with a weak heartbeat.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Lamiales

Family: Scrophulariaceae

Genus: Digitalis

Species: D. purpurea

Description: Foxglove is a low-growing biennial prized for its beautiful towering branches of white and pale violet flowers, which sprout over rosettes of hairy ovoid leaves. This organism is highly poisonous, causing rashes and blisters if touched. Any part of the plant if ingested can cause stomachache, nausea, delirium, tremors, convulsions, headache, and disruption of the heart.

Environment: Foxglove is native to Europe, though it has been introduced to the Americas, especially the Pacific Northwest. Foxglove prefers rich loam soil but can survive in less nutritious earth as well and is often found in rocky terrain or even in crumbling stone walls. This organism generally favors shady woodland environments.

Reproduction & Development: Foxglove’s famed blossoms live for approximately six days after sprouting from two- to five-foot-tall green stems in the plant’s second year of life. After this final second year, the plant dies, but not before being pollinated and producing new seeds for offspring.

Nutrition: Foxglove is a vascular plant and draws nutrients and water from the soil in which it grows. The leaves of the plant perform photosynthesis and draw energy from the sun.