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Sorry this is later than I expected! Woke up with a headache, and the whole day's been a bit fuzzy.

Here are today's picks:

2. Birds of Paradise
26. Cordyceps


It's likely everyone has heard of birds of paradise. There are over 30 different species, most of which live in Papua New Guinea. It is thought that all of the species evolved from one species of bird, and when you look at them all together, there are definitely similarities. The males of all the species are vastly different than the females; the females are usually drab and non-descript (in fact, it's very difficult to tell some female species from others). The males have extravagant plumes and colours and have come up with some incredibly strange dances and calls to attract females. Because food is so abundant where they live, all the males do is eat and work on attracting females, and the females raise the young on their own. Why the crazy plumes? Well, with food as abundant as it is, males' bodies can put a lot of energy into growing their great garb and they have extra energy to burn dancing about. The females are VERY picky, and encourage males to be at the top of their game. This pickiness likely had a lot to do with how the males look and act; females pick what they consider the best to get the best possible donation of genes for her offspring.

Cordyceps are a type of fungus that invade the bodies of living organisms (usually insects) with the sole purpose of using them as a food source and a platform for emitting spores (sort of the equivalent to 'seeds' in the world of fungus). They are incredibly creepy... and interesting. Typically, a species of cordyceps fungi is specific to a species of insect, and serve as a way to help control species. I think this video will explain it best.... it's really quite well done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuopJYLBvrI" target="_blank

Good luck!

1 more for me
that makes three. lets hear it for the birds

Carole

I got both today. I'm up to three now.

I think I saw both of these on episodes of the Planet Earth series they had on TV. The birds were pretty cool. The dances the males did were fun to watch. The Cordyceps, on the other hand, were very creepy. If I recall correctly, they showed ants that would become infected and the colony would take the infected member as far away from the nest as possible before the spores erupted (I guess that's the best word for it) so the rest of colony wouldn't become infected. Very smart little ants.

mechie

I am up to 4 now.

socialsue

One more, so 3 for me as well.

Up to 3 now...

Picks for today:

10. Mycorrhiza and Confiers
13. Flounder

While there are relationships between many plants and fungi species, one of the most famous and well-studied is the relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and conifer trees in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The importance of this relationship has been known for a long time, but as to the depth of it, only in the last couple of decades has it been understood.

Mycorrhizal fungi, as with most fungi, have their main bodies living undergrounds; only their fruiting bodies, the mushrooms or truffles, are seen above (or just below) ground. Their underground bodies are huge, truly massive, in fact, it is believed that the largest living organism is a mycorrhizal fungi that has grown to have its own network of webbed, branching fingers that stretches for many square miles!

The conifer trees of the Pacific Northwest are softwoods (like pine, fir, etc), and do not develop deep root systems. This adaptation is due mainly to the abundance of water for most of the year. The drawback is that acquiring nutrients from the soil is more difficult, since the roots don't go deep and the rain washes minerals and nutrients from the soil on the upper layers. To compensate, the trees developed a relationship with the mycorrhizal fungi. In a nutshell, the fungi, since they spread so far and cover more surface area underground, absorb more nutrients and minerlas than they need and share with the trees, and the trees provide cover, help retain moisture in the soil, and protection.

The flounder is a really weird fish that at first appearance, just seems to be a flat fish that prefers to dwell on the ocean floor. But when you look closer, you can see that while it is indeed flat (as a pancake), it lies on its side... and the side that lies up has both eyes. When it swims, it often affects the same manner as other swimming fish, but as soon as it senses danger (or food), it flips sideways and hides on the ocean floor, eye-side up. This is one of those evolutionary examples that REALLY makes you wonder... how did that even start?? There have been finds that show the progressive evolution and a possible missing link to the flounder we see today, where the fish looks very similar to the flounder, but the eye from the other side of the head has only moved halfway across to the facing side. Crazy!

None today, but very interesting!

stuck at 3 for now. oh well.

Carole

One more today. That makes 4!

mechie

stuck at 4 .....

socialsue

Back from my holidays and I have 4

Today there are three numbers picked, and here they are:

1. The Cheetah and the Gazelle
18. Swallows
24. Mistletoe Bird

The cheetah and the gazelle are one of the best examples of 'coevolution'. Both animals are incredibly fast; the cheetah is the fastest animal on land. The gazelle is almost as fast, but is a bit more agile than the cheetah. Only the fastest and most agile of cheetahs get regular meals (and even so, only about 30% of a cheetah's chases result in catching a gazelle), and only the fastest and most agile of gazelles escape cheetahs. For this reason, both species push each other to become faster and more agile. Together, they have evolved into what they are now.

Swallows are birds that have evolved to be the perfect little flying machines. I should have included swifts with this bird; they are in the same family, and swifts are even more extreme fliers (some believe they even sleep while flying, but this remains to be proven). Swallows eat hundreds, if not thousands, of insects daily, and are incredibly important for helping keep insect populations in check. Barn swallows are often tolerated and even encouraged by people to nest in barns and on their homes because of this (although many people don't... my grandmother is one of them, and I always cry when she takes a nest down). Swallows are flying, insect eating machines, they even drink water on the wing, by flying over the surface of water and dipping their beaks in for a drink.

The mistletoe bird is a lot less well-known than the swallow. They are aptly named, as in the tropical areas where mistletoe is plentiful, you'll find the mistletoe bird eating its berries. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant, growing from seed on branches of trees and taking food and water from their hosts. Some species can kill or severely compromise the trees they grow on. Since mistletoe bear their fruit in a berry, it wasn't known how they spread so successfully to other trees... until the actions of the mistletoe bird were actually seen. When the bird eats mistletoe berries, it digests them fairly quickly; within 10-15 minutes, they excrete the seeds inside along with other waste. When a mistletoe bird eats mistletoe berries, the poo is unusually viscous and sticky, so doesn't just drop off like normal poo would. Instead, the bird has to wipe its bottom along a branch or other surface. What's left behind are the seeds and a neat little package of a bit of fertilizer and sticky fluid that keeps the seeds in place long enough for them to germinate. Kinda gross.... but interesting. Why? Well, this is another example of plants evolving a tactic using animals for their benefit. There are a LOT of examples like it, ranging from using animals for pollination and spreading seeds, to the earlier example of the acacia and the ant.

Good luck everyone! Happy Sunday

2 for me today! total of 5. I'm 1/2 way there

Carole

2 more for me as well, I'm also at 5.

(Carole, did we pick all the same ones again? )

Great minds

i'm on 6!

Finally I got some!!! I'm on three!

None for me today maybe tomorrow .

Off to recover from taking the little ones to the Natural History Museum in DC, where they had something about the passion flower and its false egg spots. I got to show off my new found knowledge on the subject, so thank you Ketta! .

mechie

Oh, how fun mechie! You are so welcome.