Cephalopodcast

Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), a common but introduced species in Florida. Picture by J. Robertshaw

According to the Gregorian calendar, today is Leap Day. It is also the beginning of an amphibian conservation promotion by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as part of their Year of the Frog campaign. Frogs and toads are the most numerous group of the amphibians, which also include the newts, salamanders and caecilians. But they are all in trouble.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums will highlight 2008 as the Year of the Frog to mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis. The Year of the Frog is also meant to engage the public in amphibian conservation and to raise funds for AZA amphibian conservation efforts into the future.

Find out the Top 8 Ways to Help Frogs in 2008

1. Look, listen, and learn: educate yourself and your family about amphibians.
2. Visit an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions near you and experience your very own amphibian adventure!
3. Create amphibian friendly environments by providing clean water, hiding places, and insects to eat.
4. Don’t pollute.
5. Be a responsible pet owner.
6. Conserve water at home, school, and work.
7. Reduce the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas.
8. Be an amphibian champion.

Growing up on a lake in Florida, we had a lot of opportunities to witness amphibian activity. During the wet season there was a solid wall of noise coming from the passionate anurans in the pastures. It was not something you would hear so much as feel. Soon, the lake edge was strung with the black beads of toad eggs. And later, we could gather pollywogs by the handful. I have to wonder what it would be like if I ever went back there.

The difference between frogs and toads might seem obvious at first. Frogs are hoppers with long legs and wet skin. Toads are walkers with dry skin. But as my herpetology professor pointed out, there are exceptions to each of these and the distinction between frogs and toads amongst the experts is not so clear. For instance, the suborder of spadefoot toads (Mesobatrachia) also includes the parsley frogs.

Recently on This Week in Science, Justin and Dr. Kiki were commenting on the recent discovery of a very large amphibian fossil in Madagascar, appropriately dubbed Beelzebufo (at approximately minute 00:23:29). They ran into this same kind of consternation.

• Amphibian Ark: Year of the Frog
• AZA: Year of the Frog
• AZA Year of the Frog Educational Activities and Resources
• How to Tell a Turtle from a Tortoise is a book that also talks about the difference between frogs and toads. Remarkable moreso because it is the first book that I have ever come across that is not available on Amazon.

The Pacific Science Center has a variation on a popular numbers game.

Do you Sudoku? Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku…Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. The question in this edition is:

What ancient sea reptile lived during the age of the dinosaurs in what is now Europe?

To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:

A O U S D L R P C

This might be a fun supplement for educators following along when National Geographic premieres its new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure on October 5th.

Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animated transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America in two. The film follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere close to me. However, it’s not only a movie, it’s also a multimedia marketing blitzvideogame for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 2.

I have to think that combining these games with the standards-based lesson plans would make for a pretty interesting classroom assignment.

• PacSci-Doku - “Ancient Sea Reptile”
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Trailer
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Teacher Guides for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
• See also, Nat Geo’s previous productions: When Monsters Ruled the Deep
• See also, BBC: Sea Monsters adventure game and Sea monster facts
• Puzzle hint: A O U S D L R P C: Bizarre ‘Walrus-Turtles’ of the Triassic

Some osteological curiosities have been collecting in my cabinet inbox. It’s hard to articulate why I find these so humerus since some of them are quite gross.

• Michael Paulus: Skeletal Systems, a character study of 22 present and past cartoon cahracters
• Hyungkoo Lee: Looney Toons I and II
• Pac Man
• Bigfoot
• Grey Alien
• Hajime Emoto: Creepy

And if you want to take these things more seriously, try the teaching kits.

Backside of a fossil sharks tooth, one of the largest ever excavated in Florida. On display at the Paleo Preserve (www.paleopreserve.org).

The Florida Museum of Natural History will soon open a new exhibit called Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived

At about 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived. The dominant marine predator vanished 2 million years ago, but its story inspires lessons for ocean conservation today.

Visitors enter a full-size sculpture of Megalodon through massive jaws. Once inside, they will discover this shark’s history and the world it inhabited.

The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through January 6, 2008.

[via FMSEA]

On this day in 1809, a couple of significant figures were born: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. And even though it’s still a couple years off, it’s not to early too start planning for their 200th Birthday celebration. It will also be the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On The Origin of Species.

The objective of Darwin Day Celebration is to encourage existing institutions worldwide, such as municipalities, public and private schools, colleges and universities, libraries, museums, churches, private organizations and individuals to celebrate Science and Humanity every year, on, or near, February 12, Darwin’s birthday!

There is also an effort afoot to build a recreation of Darwin’s famous brig, the HMS Beagle. His trip around the Galapagos while onboard provided much of the inspiration for his theory of evolution.

[T]he Beagle Project…aim[s] to provide the most compelling events of Charles Darwin’s 2009 anniversary by building a sailing replica of HMS Beagle and sailing in Darwin’s wake. The build and Beagle’s arrival in the Galapagos in 2009 will be two of the most striking, iconic media events of the 2009 celebrations, aimed at firing the scientific imaginations of a new generation and celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin, one of the greatest biologists ever.

• On The Origin of Species
• Darwin Day
• The Beagle Project and the The Beagle Project Blog
• Friends of Charles Darwin
• See also: Alfred Russel Wallace
• Writings of Abraham Lincoln
• Wikipedia: February 12

Daniel Bensen is a scientific illustrator who, along with his cohorts, dares to ask the question:

What if the Chicxulub bolide had missed the Earth?

Some of the weirdest animals on Spec are the balaenateuths or baleen-squids, a diverse group of flippered cephalopods with highly modified tentacles. They range in size from small, mesopelagic gems to immense filter-feeding giants. Absolutely nothing like them exists or has ever existed on Home-Earth.

As with squid and cuttlefish, balaenateuths possess ten tentacles, two of which are greatly elongated and whiplike. The whips terminate in a cluster of finger-like appendages (giving rise to the term “digibrachia” or finger-arms) that are partially retracted into chambers beneath the mantle when not in use. Six arms are shorter, more conventional-looking tentacles that may be equipped with rows of suckers or hooks. The last two arms, one on the top and one on the bottom, are greatly broadened and often internally reinforced with calcite or cartilage. Only capable of vertical motion, they superficially resemble a set of vertebrate jaws and are sometimes referred to as “gnathobrachia” or jaw-arms.

It seems to follow in the footsteps of Dougal Dixon, whose books New Dinosaur and After Man I cherished as a child and still thumb through to this day. A more recent approach was undertaken by Discovery Communications.

Much, much more can be found at The Speculative Dinosaur Project. Be sure to also read up on:

• Gigamouth shark
• Yellowfin arsegill fish

Strangely, all updates from Daniel’s site seem to end circa 2005. Anyone know what’s up with that?