Love in the Galápagos

In many parts of the word, today is a day set aside to celebrate love and affection. Inspired by last week's posts on the Galápagos (which I know I have yet to finish), I thought I'd share some photos of signs of "love and affection" I saw when I was traveling the islands.

The uniquely shaped pad of the cactus Opuntia galapageia profusa on Isla Rábida .

Interweb Science of the Week #3

Wow, another week flew right by didn't it. I blame my absence from the interwebs on thundersnow, and the resulting power-related maladies that accompanied it. But even though I've missed a lot of the week's big paleo stories, I wasn't about to miss Interweb Science of the Week.

In response to my lack of content here on Superoceras, I thought I'd provide my readers with an ISW that would keep them busy clicking away for a while, and I think I've found the perfect way to do just that.

"Duck", from Seduce Me Season 1

A video like that needs no explanation. Green Porno and Seduce Me are a series of short films put together by Isabella Rossellini and a brilliant creative team, that provide both an accurate and entertaining portrayal of sexuality and reproductive techniques across the animal kingdom. I think they are amazing, and if you like art, film, or animal sexuality, I bet you will too. There are enough videos on the Sundance Channel website to keep you busy for a while, so dig in, and have a great weekend!

Like a virgin, NOT touched for the very first time.

Let's face facts. Life on Earth is pretty awesome. But in order to classify as a living organism, you have to do a number of things, like adapt to your environment, undergo metabolism and maintain homeostasis, have the ability to grow, and most importantly, reproduce. Our human-centric view of reproduction is rather limited. Two partners, one male and one female, engage in the act of combining their genetic material to produce offspring. This method of sexual reproduction is found all across the plant and animal kingdoms, and allows certain advantages. The recombination of genes produces new genetic identities, resulting in diversity and variation in breeding populations. This variation is essential when facing selective pressures in the natural world.

Squid!!!

I'll make this short, and simple, unlike the squid below does (don't worry, that will make sense in a minute). This is a mature male Onykia ingens, a deep-sea squid. This specimen was caught in deep-water by a research team on the Patagonian slope, and I'm estimating is around 7 - 8 meters in length from tip of the tentacle to tip of the fin. This isn't a new species, but researchers did learn something pretty spectacular about it recently. (Slightly graphic image after the jump.)

Photo by V. Laptikhovsky, from BBC Earth News.

Ducks: Feed with Caution

I could not resist posting a quick set of links on what I know is a remarkably frequent occurrence, but one many people simply cannot believe takes place. Dr. Darren Naish of Tetrapod Zoology and SV-POW just blogged a new post on the "unique" mating habits of the mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos). A previous TetZoo post on the subject can be found here.