Monthly Archives: September 2010

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES: Unique North American pitcher plants are threatened by habitat loss, herbicides, and invasive species

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This housefly, in the image below, is precariously close to death as it rests at the edge of a green pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) — a species of North American pitcher plant that’s endemic to a few locations in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. It’s considered critically endangered, and it’s threatened by “the loss or degradation of wetland habitat, often through conversion for cultivation, housing, and the development of recreational areas; direct use of and drift from herbicides (particularly on roadside areas); invasive exotic species such as kudzu Pueraria lobata, Chinese privet, and Japanese Honeysuckle Microstigium; suppression and elimination of the natural processes essential for the maintenance of bog habitat (for example, through fire, or the activities of beavers); and direct collection of the species (more recently, seed collection has threatened smaller subpopulations).”

Image via DrWurm on Flickr

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

COOL IDEA

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Here’s a neat idea — a bike shelf that’s also a book shelf. It’s a simple but beautiful design. You can order the shelf at Knife & Saw.

EDUCATION: What if your child’s biology teacher is a creationist?

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Image via Colin Purrington on Flickr

Via Max Fisher at The Atlantic Wire:

But what about when the roles are reversed and the one advocating creationism in the classroom is the teacher? Laden cites parenting blogger Dale McGowan, who responded to a creationist science teacher by writing a pointed letter asking for more conventional lectures. Laden sighs, “You can’t win that kind of discussion.” The teacher can “nitpick” their way out of it by insisting the student misunderstood or by saying they are simply explaining the controversy. Laden insists you get more aggressive, calling for “A decisive take-down of a creationist teacher who is in violation of the law.”

The teacher is doing something wrong, got caught, and it is perfectly reasonable for the parent, in a more or less irate manner but hopefully reasonably professionally, approaches the school administration (having first contacted, in person, someone at the National Center for Science Education) directly and issues a firm, clear, no-nonsense complaint.

Following up, Laden writes a “template” letter for his readers to use to demand that science teachers cease teaching creationism or intelligent design.

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

NEW SPECIES: A giant elephant shrew photographed by a camera trap may be a new species

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Image via Livescience.com

A camera trap seems to have captured a new species of elephant shrew.

Elephant shrews aren’t related to true shrews of the family Soricidae, so to avoid confusion, they’re often referred to as sengis. More via LiveScience:

If it is a new species, that would make 18 species of sengi in the family Macroscelididae (13 species of soft-furred sengi and five species of the giant sengi). All are native to Africa. The animals are more closely related toelephants than shrews, despite being relatively small creatures – ranging from 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) in length and weighing from less than a tenth of a pound to 1.5 pounds (30 to 700 grams).

The peculiar name is a reflection of their long, flexible, trunk-like noses, which they use to search for insect meals. The newly captured animal is a type of giant sengi, which have patterned coats and other distinct features from the smaller sengis.

“With their ancient and often misunderstood ancestry, their monogamous mating strategies, and their charismatic flexible snouts, they are captivating animals,” study researcher Galen Rathbun from the California Academy of Sciences said in a statement.