The Animal That Smells Like a Movie Theater....

I've mostly written about animals that are fairly common and well known, but I think it is time to branch out into some more exotic and unknown animals.  So today kicks off a month of unusual animals posts.  First off is an animal that I first saw at the San Diego Zoo.  My dad was an analytical chemist for CREST, the science portion of the zoo.  It was his job to pick me up from school every Monday when my mom was too busy.  This gave me the luxury of going back to work with him at the zoo every Monday.  As you can imagine I got lots of behind the scenes tours and saw far more of the zoo than the average person.  One of my favorite animals that wasn't a main attraction was the Binturong. 

When you hear the name Binturong, the thought springs to mind is likely what the heck kind of animal is that?  It is a medium sized brown critter that looks like a fox, raccoon, cat, and maybe a little dog all mixed together  It is actually part of the Viverridae family which includes civets and genets, which resemble cats crossed with weasels.  The most striking feature of this animal has nothing to do with it's looks but actually it's smell.  A Binturong smells like fresh buttered popcorn!  Binturongs use their scent markings to signal when they are ready to mate.  Since they live solitarily, scent markings are needed to bring animals together for those romantic times of year.

Binturongs are one of the few animals that can use delayed implantation or embryonic diapause.  This is when a female can mate and delay the embryo from implanting until conditions are better.  They cannot delay implantation for long term, but a few weeks can mean the difference between starving and surviving to a Binturong.

Binturongs live in the trees and have hands evolved to live in a tree lifestyle.  Their paws have claws that are perfect grapsers on tree limbs.
Hope you enjoyed being introduced to a fun creature, next weeks post will be about another unusual animal.
Cass

A Puppy For Valentine's Day?

As much as I would love a puppy for Valentine's Day, my living situation doesn't allow for that right now.  So I'm going to do the next best thing, discuss their relatives.  Today we will get back to regular biomimicry posts with Wolves.  Wolf packs consist of an alpha mated pair, their offspring, and some occasional stray juveniles.  In low population areas the mated pair can be monogamous for life.  making it one of the few animal species that exhibit monogamy.

Wolves have five toes on front paws and four toes on rear paws.  Their legs are built with elbows pointed in and feet pointed out.  This is for optimal running and gripping on difficult terrain, while also allowing them to leap and grasp prey.  In cold climates wolves can the flow of blood close to their skin to conserve body heat.  This keeps warm blood close to internal organs and away form outside of their body where heat is loss.  Keeping warm is one of the body's most difficult tasks and burns lots of calories.  By cutting down on heat loss the wolf doesn't need to eat massive amounts of food.  It is the same reason why people in freezing temperatures have to eat more calories per day to maintain body weight. Their foot pads are regulated independently from the rest of their body.  their temperature is kept right about tissue freezing point.

Wolves howl to assemble the pack, alert the pack of danger, or locate each other during storms.  Wolves have superior hearing being able to hear up to 26kHz which is superior to all other members of the canine family.  Their sense of smell is considerably less powerful that many domestic dogs.  Their eyesight is also less powerful than many domestic dog breeds but they have better night vision.  Wolves will set up ambushes, with a single decoy wolf running ahead while the rest of the pack attacks from behind.  Wolves will eat the internal organs first, followed by the muscles second.  Wolves prefer larger prey but will eat fowls during mating season and even snakes and lizards if made available. 

Hope everybody has a Valentines  Day is filled with love and if you don't have that special someone kiss your puppy or cat, I know I have many years and never came away disappointed.

That's it for now,
Cass

Clean Eating

So I know typically I post about animals and biomimicry, but today I want to share another passion of mine, clean eating.  This is eating food which is as close to possible as its' natural state.  So no processed food.  Obesity has become rampant and people without weight problems have so many ailments that are a direct link to eating heavily altered and processed foods. 

Now I'm about to put forth some controversial ideas out there.  When I tell people I'm against taking antibiotics, or sleep aids, anything for an extended period of time I get a lot of funny looks.  I mean I am a biologist right?  Don't biologist come up with new cures and solve the world's problems?  We do but I believe science is trying to fix too many surface problems.  If we didn't focus so much time on the next weight loss drug, or headache pills, and all of the minor problems, more attention could be put into solving cancer, AIDS, very big not self inflicted issues.

Let me ask some of you out there if you have any of these problems, minor but daily headaches, joint pain, acid reflux, anxiety, sleep problems, overweight?  These all can be fixed or vastly improved through clean eating.  I know because I suffered from daily headaches that got to be debilitating, inability to sleep, no energy, and overweight.  These all have been fixed in less than a month.  I've lost 8lbs, not a single headache, dreaming for the first time in months, and feeling more alive than ever.

How does one eat clean?  Very easy avoid any processed food and eat as much natural food as possible.  Basically anything that comes in a package is bad news, sodas and many juices are bad, white sugar and flour are bad, if it doesn't rot in less than a week it has been altered heavily and is full of preservatives.  It is nearly impossible to eat 100% clean and I don't.  But the better you eat the more your body will restore to its' original blueprint of perfection.  You may not be stick thin but you will be a healthy weight, you may not sleep for 10 hrs but you will sleep as much as your body needs.  It works for everything.  Eating non-processed also means cooking a lot and not eating out.  I cook daily and make extra to take on my lunches.  I eat a huge variety of meat, fruit, veggies, nuts, whole grains, because I get bored with food easily.

I also like to pair the clean eating with moderate exercise.  The more you are active the better your circulation, the more energy you get, the more calories you burn.  It can be nearly any type of activity, I ride my horses and walk, so nothing extreme.  It will only enhance the clean eating.  That's all for now,

Cass

Turtle Power!

Turtles are one of the oldest animals dating back to 215 million years ago, this makes turtles older than snakes, lizards and crocodiles.  Turtles are divided into two groups by how they retract their neck into shells.  One group compresses their spine while the other puts their head to the side.  Turtles like all reptiles lay eggs.  In some species of turtles the temperature that the egg develops determines in the baby will be male or female.  Higher temperature causes females, and lower temperatures cause males.  This is a phenomenon known as Temperature-Dependent  Sex Determination.  The exact reason why turtles and some reptiles and birds have TSD is unknown but theorized that it is advantageous to have females earlier in the season so they have more time to grow and be ready to mate sooner.  But there is little evidence showing turtles actively choose their offspring's sex.

Sea turtles have a special gland in the corner of their eye to get rid of excess salt.  They live in sea water and eat jellyfish and other prey with high salt concentrations.  Now I think of this special salt gland and think of how can it be used in humans.  Well kidney failure patients have a horrible time dealing with their salt regulation, if the same chemicals and processes in the sea turtle eye gland could be replicated it could help many people currently undergoing dialysis.

The Alligator Snapping Turtle is built like a tank, with a huge head and heavily plated back with three rows.  Algae will often grow on their shells allowing them to fully blend in underwater.  Inside the turtles mouth is a small appendage that looks like a small worm to draw fish in, once there their powerful jaws snap down!

Well hopefully I have taught you a little more than what you already knew thanks to teenage mutant ninja turtles...  That's all for now,
Cass

Outrageous Otters

In honor of some special people in my life who love otters, today's blog post is for them (yes you Mow Wow).  Otters are related to weasels, badgers, and wolverines, quite a list of tough relatives.  There are many types of otter including but not limited to, North American river otter, Sea otter, Eurasian otter, and Giant otter.  Most view otters as adorable critters who frolic in the water...  Otters are actually incredibly tough little guys. (click on the video to watch them take on a crocodile, sorry I couldn't find this minus the ads, but the best part starts at 1:00 minute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArhWJts2sg8

Now Sea otters do not have an insulating layer of blubber like other ocean mammals (seals and whales), instead they have very dense fur that traps in air.  They will bob to the surface and blow into their fur to keep it warm.  An otters coat is very dense at 26,000 to 165,000 strands per square centimeter of skin, compare that to humans with 3175 strands per centimeter on their heads.

The Giant otter lives in South America along the Amazon and Panthal rivers.  They live in large colonies lead by a dominant breeding pair.  This otter species is exclusively diurnal, or only active during the day.  Being diurnal indicates that otters have amazing eyesight, in and out of water, and shows they are a sight predator.   Otters on the whole are extremely vocal, with the Giant otter being the most vocal.  Their chirps and barks mean anything from greetings to warnings.  Otters are opportunistic eaters devouring a wide variety of food including fish,  crabs, snakes, and caimen babies.  One commonly eaten fish by Giant otters is even piranha, now that's a tough guy!

Hope you all enjoyed the break from my pet posts, and learned a little more about one of the toughest and cutest critters out there.
Cass

Being a Crazy Cat Lady Doesn't Sound Too Bad



Fluff and her unique face

 I know lately you have been inundated with my posts about my pets.  First my horses, then the giant bunny, well I'm not quite finished...  I introduce you to Fluff!  Well technically her name is Penelope, but my dad started calling her "The Fluff" and well, it stuck.  Fluff is a shelter kitty whom I got on my 18th birthday.  She is my constant companion and basically my child.  So how about some fun facts about Fluff and other cats.  Please note this blog contains lots of genetics terms and discussions...

Most know cats come in a variety of colors, calico being a tri-colored cat (Fluff happens to be a calico).  A little known fact is calico coloring is almost exclusively reserved for female cats.  Wait, how is this unusual coloration created, and why do only females get it?  Both questions can be answered by a scientific principle, X inactivation.  Lets break this down to basics, a male has an X and a Y chromosome, where as females have two X's.  The X chromosome is far larger than a Y and contains far more information, including the coding for hair color.  During the developmental process one X chromosome is dominant over the other therefore the other X is inactivated, but not for long.  The two X's take turns.  Now if the X chromosomes code for different colors, they will display the calico pattern as the X's take turns switching on and off.  Depending on the frequency and duration that each X is on/off you get different size patches or even patches that appear interwoven.  This either gives you a brindle colored coat (like Fluff) or a patchwork coat more like a quilt.

Now a few people may argue that thy have seem male calico cats.  They are very likely chimeras, or have two genotypes.  The possible types would be XX XX, XY XX, or XY XY.  This can also create a calico coat pattern through a somewhat similar process except with two completely different sets of chromosomes.  There are a few other genetic disorders that can also lead to calico males but mainly, calico cats are female.



Polydactyl Cat



Cats can have extra toes, this is called Polydactylism.  It can give cats six or even seven claws on each paw.  A normal cat has five toes up front and four on hind feet.  This is caused by a congenital abnormality, basically it is inherited.  It is caused by an autosomal dominant gene in cats.  So the polydactyl factor is located on a chromosome that isn't X or Y and is dominant so you only need to get the one copy to get it. 

Whew, did I overload your brain with all that genetic jargon?  On a lighter note it has been drawn to my attention that I could be considered a crazy animal lady.  My best response is I am 100% one, I love my animals and given enough room and resources would gladly have a zoo or animal center.  My animals will never maliciously hurt me if I didn't provoke it, and love me unconditionally.  Thus far there is no human who can compete, myself included.  That's all for now,

Cass

Sleeping Fluff

New Year New Bunny



 So New Years is all about having a great party and welcoming the new year with hopes it will be better than the last.  Well I know 2012 is going to be a great year for me because I got a new bunny!  Her name is Opal, and she is a blue Flemish Giant.  While this isn't the largest breed of rabbit, she is a very big girl, and should grow up to be well over 20 lbs.  In today's post we will talk about some science but I'm also a history fan so I'm going to change things up and talk about how giant breeds (in this case rabbits) came to America.

  

Opal at 8 weeks old



In the 1800's rabbits were raised and used for meat very commonly throughout Europe.  This was mainly due to the fact that large livestock was expensive to feed, house and had slow breeding rates.  Rabbits have limited need for space and very fast reproductive rates. Being an island, England consumed large amouts of rabbits, and soon turned to importing them to keep up with demand.  Commonly bred rabbits were mid sized around 7 to 8 lbs.  Travelers returned to England with wild tales of rabbits three times the size in Flanders.  Thus around 1860 Flemish Giants were imported to England, then imported to the Americas in 1890 during a similar "rabbit boom".  So now that we know how Flemish Giants got here lets get down to some science!

  

Opal at 10 weeks old



Probably the most distinguishable features of rabbits are their giant ears.  Most people know their ears act like giant dishes to catch sound waves.  But their ears are also one of their main temperature control (i.e. thermoregulation) devices.  When looking at the rabbits ears you will see many blood vessels.  If a rabbit is cold the simply need to go out into the sun or fold their ears close to their furry bodies, the ears blood vessels go through vasoconstriction or become smaller to retain heat.  If a rabbit is hot they can go into the shade and fan out their ears, where their blood vessels go through vasodilation.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year,

Cass (and Opal as the Jackalope)