c0nc0rdance

During this phase, the collective organism starts acting as one & is able to respond (collectively) to its environment via chemotactic signals. And that's the part you're seeing as dog vomit, or pink toothpaste or wolf's milk.🤢 These are the brief periods when a bunch of amoebae join forces.

But if food becomes scarce, they do something extraordinary: they come together to form a much larger organism. They totally merge protoplasm, becoming a multinucleated cell called a plasmodium, which rapidly goes from microscopic to MACROSCOPIC (up to 5 sq meters!). This becomes a fruiting body.

To bounce back from the brink of extinction caused by the accidental introduction of invasive species required the cooperative efforts of zoos, conservationists & the indigenous people of Guam, the Chamorro, for whom the sihek has special cultural significance.

They emptied the jungles of native birds, including this handsome Guam kingfisher, called 'sihek' in the CHamoru language of the Mariana Islands. In 1988, it was declared 'Extinct in the Wild', but 29 surviving animals in zoos were enough to begin a conservation breeding program.

The brown treesnake has no predators, a voracious appetite for birds/eggs & populations exploded to 2 million. Today, there are 10 times as many snakes as people on Guam. Thomas Seibert captured this video of their ability to climb nest boxes designed to be snake-proof, by looping their body.

Deep currents can move this cold water without mixing with the warm surface ocean, producing 'thermohaline circulation' The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) moves 100 times as much water as all the rivers on Earth at a speed of 2 knots, extending from the surface to the deepest water.

Here's a weird fact: the average temperature of all the water in the ocean is about 3.7°C (38.6°F), just a bit above freezing. Although SURFACE WATER temps average 20°C (68°F), including depths down to 200 meters, this is only 10% of total water. The other 90% of ocean water is DEEP & COLD.

The 'global winter' produced by airborne ash & smoke would have been particularly devastating for animals already hungry & planning for a summer of bountiful foraging, probably magnifying the extinctions caused. And the paddlefish, at least those not buried in ash in North Dakota, kept on swimming.

They're filter-feeders, swimming through freshwater, mouth open like a blue whale, feeding on phytoplankton that get caught in special structures at the back of their expansive mouths called gill rakers. They can grow to enormous size (7 ft, 200 lbs) in their very long lives (30-60 years).

Karl's shell is also well-adapted to the Life Aquatic, with softer leathery skin like a freshwater softshell turtle, but with the high dome characteristic of ocean dwellers. But it's this last detail that I find most intriguing, and I'll let David Attenborough demonstrate it...

This is Karl the Fly River turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) at the San Antonio Zoo, enjoying his bubbler. Fly River turtles are also known as pig-nosed turtles, or 'Warrajan' in the Kundjeyhmi language of Northern Australia, where they are native. Let's talk about what makes Karl's species unique.

Sassafras just turned 12, and celebrates with a mealworm snack. Eastern Screech Owls in captivity typically live to 20, with Wesley the Screech Owl at the Cornell Raptor program reaching 26. Many more, little buddy! 🦉🎂

Sassafras enjoys head scritches. To maintain silent flight, owls sacrifice standard waterproofing. Instead of using waterproof preening oil, they rely on specialized "powder down" feathers that crumble into a fine, water-repellent, and dirt-absorbing dust.

Screech owls fully replace their feathers every year, usually in late summer & are known for "catastrophic" molting where they lose non-flight feathers in big patches all at once. So Sassafras here gets to go through an 'awkward haircut' phase for a few weeks every year.

Sassafras is a lover. Every December, he offers mealworms to the women in his life (the zoo staff) as part of courtship involving a special hoot & food gifts. Screech owls are socially monogamous, mate for life, but they repeat courtship behaviors every winter in preparation for mating.

Can I interest you in a moist owlette as a timeline cleanse? This is Sassafras the Eastern Screech Owl from the Cincinnati Zoo (@cincinnatizoo.bsky.social, but via their FB) and I love him very much. Eastern Screech Owls (Megascops asio) are native to eastern North America.

The long feather-covered wattle dangling under the neck helps the males to amplify their throaty "hoot" so that it carries through dense cloud forests, but it's mostly for showing off to the ladies. Groups of males gather in a 'lek' & take turns showing off their fluffed-up wattles.

The Long-wattled Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger) are the weirdest birds, from pompadour/mohawk to long fleshy neck-tie shaped wattle that converts to a feather duster on command. Native to the Pacific coasts of Ecuador & Colombia, these extraordinary accessories are mostly found in males.

This surprising strategy could be a consequence of their incredible reproductive rate: A dozen offspring can be produced about every 16 days, females are fertile at 3 weeks old. Real-world tribbles! When colony sizes get large, the group will split & mass migrate, sometimes across bodies of water.

Specifically, they're employing 'aposematism' (threat display), rare in such a small animal. They also use their bold colors & loud noises to advertise THREAT & their response to larger animals is to run /towards/them. If cornered, they will attack with a surprising ferocity.

The filmmakers of 1958 Disney documentary "White Wilderness" imported lemmings to a location in Canada & forced them over a cliff, creating an enduring myth of lemmings driven to suicide. But the Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus) has a new take on that myth: They go Viking BESERKER.

(sound on for full effect) Chapman State Park near Clarendon, PA is home to Chapman Lake, which is home to a group of energetic North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) that like to host a midnight rave / leaf frolic. Not sure where they plug the speakers in.

Native to Africa & Middle East, they're in superorder Afrotheria w elephants & manatee. The enlarged incisors are a close analog to elephant tusks & form the basis for their defense: wedge yourself in a rock & call for mama (or wawa?). They can produce 21 distinct vocalizations (all of them loud).

You might be asking: Why does this Dramatic Groundhog have FANGS? Because it's a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) and those aren't fangs, they're TUSKS, because this furry potato at the San Antonio Zoo is one of the closest living relatives of elephants. Let's learn about them.

This viral video clip captured by Dean Boshoff of a desert rain frog (Breviceps macrops) highlights one aspect of their behavior: Their terrifying WAR CRY or alarm cry. (sound on) Let's learn a bit more about this African frog that lives along the sandy desert coast along Namibia & South Africa.

The Green Broadbill is such a cute little guy, and he does such a convincing impression of brilliant emerald green that I'm willing to just play along. But in my heart of hearts, I know I'm looking at a yellow bird who likes to *pretend* to be Kermit-colored.

This little guy is being hand-raised by zoo staff after being rejected by his mother, but he's already got the hang of the hunt. 🐯 Adults weigh only 3-5 lbs, can travel 20 miles in a single night, can leap 5 ft in the air. You can check him out if you happen to be in Waco: www.cameronparkzoo.com

Cameron Park Zoo in Waco TX has a new black-footed cat kitten (Felis nigripes). It's exploring grass for the 1st time here. This species is the smallest wild cat in Africa, but with the highest hunting success (~60%). They eat 1/6th their body weight in rodents & birds every night.

Under polarized light, as in this video by ​Chloé Savard (Tardibabe, IG), raphides show "birefringent properties", meaning they split the light into component colors, like a crystalline prism, which is essentially what they are. And you're putting THIS on your pizza, folks. 😞

This definitely forbidden gummy is in fact a moth larva of genus Olona (possibly Olona zolotuhini). It's *normal* to want to know what flavor it is, but the answer, unfortunately is "pain". Most species in this family are covered in tiny stinging spines connected to poison glands. (📷: Janice Ang)