So nervous now, a bit of a wait till I get confirmation of acceptance.
As for my project, I think we are going to be doing renal vasculature and kidney structure in water dragons, not something that has been done before in this particular species and doing a comparative study in relation to a desert agamid :)
Super excited. I promise after this weekend I will get back to blogging again :)
Wedge-tailed Eagle silhouette from my trip home last night.
These two are a pair that inhabit one of the National Parks my grandfather manages.
They were feeding on a fox carcass but I did not manage to get photos as I only had my small crappy camera :\
I do understand that dissections are not for everyone but when you have the opportunity to participate in them to the extent I have during my university degree you come to understand how invaluable they are as a learning tool.
I have stated it repeatedly through out the blog and try to put a disclaimer on each set of images but for the most part our specimens are recycled from a previous use.
They are not collected in masses solely for the purpose of dissection, nor do we work on threatened or endangered species EXCEPT in the rare opportunity that a specimen has passed naturally in captivity/washed ashore and is donated to us.
All post experimental animals (particularly the mammals) we use are humanely euthenased as a requirement of the research they are involved in. This allows us to then use them for dissection without killing a whole new set of animals.
Does this mean a lot of our specimens are old, smelly, missing bits and sometimes with badly dehydrated organs from continual refreezing YES IT DOES.
But both myself and the teaching staff I am privileged to learn from feel that this is a far more ethical means of specimen use.
If anyone is particularly offended by my imagery I apologise but I will continue to share as many people are quite interested in this content. I do not take offense to anyone who feels the need to unfollow the blog as a result.
Thanks guys.
Sami
1) Ovary
2) Oviduct
3) Kidney (just above the fat body)
4) Dissection in progress lol
5) Trachea and subsequent branching
6) Lung tissue (these were bloody hard to find)
7) Pancreatic tissue
Anonymous asked: hi- i love your blog, and dont want to come off as preachy- but are your dissection subjects found dead naturally? i love science, and see the value of dissecting something one time for the sake of knowledge- but your blog has been filling with corpses lately, and i guess i just wouldnt be able to do that without a cringe of self-disgust. i dissected a fetal pig in high school once, and even just the one time bothered me immensely. (for the sake of my grade and knowledge i got through it)
A lot of our specimens come from post experimental animals, so things used for other purposes, then euthenased and recycled. Some come from natural deaths in captive collections or donations from farms (as in the case with crocodiles which are donated and reused up to three times by freezing before we acquire new specimens). Some of our animals are collected from fish markets or as fisheries bycatch and in a very small number of cases are purpose caught for dissections. The Varanids were all donated as excess from collections done by museum taxonomists. I understand this sort of thing isn’t for everyone but it is a huge part of zoology and how we learn. I don’t know anyone who does this degree and isn’t exposed to dissection. It really is an invaluable learning tool. Some people don’t warm to dissections but I personally don’t have a problem with them as I understand how all our specimens are acquired and/or euthenased. I know some people may be bothered by the images but I do get a lot of requests for them for people who a) are interested in some of the requirements of lab work for this major, b) those who wish to use them as a study guide and c) those who have not had the opportunities to view and explore the internal structures of animals. I do apologise if the imagery offends or bothers anyone but as it is such a large part of my major it is something I will continue to share in the interest of science.
So here are some photo’s from yesterdays Varanid dissection lab.
1) One of the few specimens that still had a head (heads are removed to enable vouchering of skulls for museum collections)
2) Open body cavity, note the ribs protruding. The large yellow structures are fat stores given our animal was female they are primarily used during reproduction. The large orange lobes are liver.
3) The gall bladder embedded in the lobes of the liver
4) Stomach
5) (Bit blurry sorry) the heart with the adjoining vena cava
6) Heart (two upper atria chambers and singular lower ventricle)
7) Substantial fat bodies
8) Swollen large intestine (note the yellowish substance below being unreleased uric acid) and liver lobes
9) Loops of the small intestine
10) Large intestine a liver showing the bile duct.
Ok so here are the scanning EM shots I promised from the vascular casting lab
1) Bird artery, branching into arterioles and capillaries
2) Bird air spaces and capillaries
3) Capillaries of bird lung
4) Fetal pig air sacs
5) Branchings of toad lung capillaries
6) Air spaces of the rat lung
7) Rat artery, branching into arterioles and capillaries
8) Shark gill lamellae
9) Shark gill lamellae
10) Toad lung capillaries
Today I received some saddening news.
My boy Baxter who had transferred to another zoo passed away.
This is one of the hardest parts of doing this work.
Miss you bub, I’ll never forget you.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Phelsuma
Species: Phelsuma standingi
Size: Length: up to 30.5 cm
Weight: 40 - 80 g
Description: The Banded Day Gecko is one of the largest day gecko species in Madagascar. The adult is a mottled pale blue or blue-green colour, which is often similar to the bark colouration of the trees it inhabits. The underparts of the body are typically beige. The juvenile Banded Day Gecko has prominent russet bands across the length of the body which fade with age, while the hatchling is blue-grey in colour. The Banded Day Gecko produces various noises including clicks, squeaks, and croaks.
Habitat and Distribution: An arboreal species, the Banded Day Gecko lives only in arid environments including deciduous dry forests and dense, scrub-like vegetation known as thorn forest. Little is known about the exact habitat requirements of the Banded Day Gecko, but it appears to have a close relationship with Baobab trees (Adansonia spp.) making it the only known reptile in Madagascar to have an association with this particular plant species. It is also found on other tree species and even on wooden buildings. The Banded Day Gecko is found only in a small arid region of southwest Madagascar, occurring in an area of approximately 17,000 square kilometres. It was previously known from only five locations in the Toliara region, but another population has recently been discovered during forests surveys.
Biology and Ecology: The Banded Day Gecko is rarely seen in the wild and little is known of its feeding habits in its natural environment. Other species of day gecko are known to be omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates, nectar, pollen and fruits. The Banded Day Gecko may feed on baobab nectar or invertebrates attracted to the nectar, but there are as yet no field observations to support this. In captivity the banded day gecko is known to feed on other geckos as well as a range of invertebrates and nectar. Day geckos are unusual among the gecko family because they have a diurnal lifestyle, from which they derive their common name. The Banded Day Gecko has tiny hair-like structures on the bottom of its toes, called ‘setae,’ which aid in climbing on various surfaces. Predators of the banded day gecko include birds of prey and snakes.
The breeding season of the Banded Day Gecko usually runs from November through till March. The female will lay one to two eggs every four to six weeks, but neither the male nor female will provide any parental care to the young. The eggs hatch after about 70 days, and the young geckos reach sexual maturity at 1 to 2 years old. In the wild, the banded day gecko may live for up to 5 years, while in captivity it may live for over 12 years.
Status and Threats: The Banded Day Gecko is classified as Vulnerable under the IUCN Redlist and listed on Appendix II of CITES. The Banded Day Gecko is thought to be experiencing substantial habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation due to the conversion of land for agricultural uses. These include logging, charcoal production, cattle grazing and slash-and-burn farming, which can also lead to destructive brush fires. The Banded Day Gecko is also illegally harvested for the international pet trade, despite being under protection from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It is thought that capture for the pet trade has been intense in recent years, leading to substantial declines in this species’ numbers.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Genus: Pteropus
Species: Pteropus livingstonii
Size: Length: 30 cm
Average wingspan: 1.4 m
Weight: 500 – 800 g
Description: Livingstone’s Flying Fox is one of the largest bats in existence, and also has the regrettable distinction of being among the most threatened. It has dark brown to black fur, with rusty- or ginger-tipped hairs across the shoulders and in the groin area. While they are bats, flying foxes, (also known as Old World fruit bats), are named after a different animal because their elongated muzzles give them a distinctly foxy appearance. The orange-brown eyes of Livingstone’s Flying Fox are large, reflecting this bat’s well-developed visual senses. This species does not use echolocation, but exhibits typical mammalian hearing, and thus has simple, rounded ears.
Habitat and Distribution: Livingstone’s Flying Fox inhabits forests, above 200 metres on Moheli and above 500 metres on Anjouan. Its roost sites are generally found on southeast facing slopes that receive morning sun and are shaded from noon through late afternoon, in valleys with rivers running though. This species occurs on the islands of Anjouan and Moheli in the Union of the Comoros, an island nation in the western Indian Ocean.
Biology and Ecology: Livingstone’s Flying Fox is predominantly nocturnal, but unlike most bats it is also active during the late afternoon, when it flies from roost sites to feeding sites where forest trees are fruiting. This species locates fruit with its well-developed vision and sense of smell, and feeds throughout the night, resting intermittently. These flying foxes feed primarily on fruit juices; they squeeze pieces of fruit pulp in their mouths, swallow the juice and then spit out the pulp and seeds. Their diet is predominantly fruit from native tree species, though it varies seasonally. They also feed on the flowers of native plants, to obtain the nectar, and occasionally leaves are consumed too. Livingstone’s Flying Fox plays an important role as a forest pollinator and seed dispersal agent.
Livingstone’s Flying Foxes roost in tall trees in medium to large, often noisy, colonies, in which there is a defined social structure, based on dominance. Male flying foxes mark a territory by rubbing branches with the strong musky scent produced by glands in the neck and shoulders, and a dominant male may also use this to mark females that share his roosting or feeding territory, in an attempt to deter other males from rerproducing with these females. Livingstone’s Flying Foxes breed seasonally, generally at the beginning of the rainy season, between August and October, when food is plentiful. Heavily pregnant females cluster in groups away from the males, and give birth the ‘right’ way up, by clinging onto a branch with their thumbs. The pups can usually cling to their mother straight after birth, and then climb to one of the mother’s nipples, where they feed while tucked safely under her wing. At about three weeks of age, the young are left in a ‘crèche’ at night while the mother flies off to feed.
Status and Threats: Livingstone’s Flying Fox is classified as Endangered under the IUCN Redlist and listed on Appendix II of CITES. Once abundant in the vast forests of Anjouan and Moheli, extensive deforestation has led to the worryingly small populations of Livingstone’s Flying Fox in existence today. Native forests of the Comoros Islands continue to decline rapidly, at a rate of 5.6 percent per year, as forests are under-planted with, or cleared for fruit, coconuts, manioc, maize, peas, sweet potatoes and cloves. Cyclones pose another serious threat; major cyclones in 1983 and 1984 were believed to have a significant impact on the Moheli population. It is believed that without urgent action, these incredible bats may be extinct within 25 or 50 years.
1) From top: red bag = heart, blue structures = liver, large pink bag = stomach, green structure = gall bladder, small pink tubes = small intestine, larger tubes = large intestine
2) Trachea, heart, liver, pink bag above the heart = lung.
3) Blue circular structure = spleen
4) Gall bladder
5) Large intestine
6) Stomach
7) Blood clot moulded to shape of the pharynx as a result of euthenasia
1) First pair of skull fenestre
2) Second pair of skull fenestre
3) Isolated pelvic girdle
4) Isolated pelvic girldle
5) Articulated alligator skeleton
6) Highly fortified cartilaginous trachea
7) Open body cavity
8) Salt glands of the tongue, each pore indicates a single gland
Tumblr is being EXCRUCIATINGLY slow today so bear with me guys.
As I am sure you are all aware I have been struggling to keep up with my usual posts most of the semester, particularly lately.
I have hit the wall of death time period of semester where everything is due and I am desperately floundering to select an honors project.
So while I may post occasionally, this blog will for the most part be pretty quiet over the next couple of months until exams are done.
I am sorry guys but I do have to put uni work first sometimes :)
As I said I will try and post when I can, so I haven’t died or given up on the blog, my life is just boatloads of crazy right now
On the upside our rat lung vascular casts worked extremely well, we got a full cast of the right lung and half cast of the left.
So that was in itself very exciting :)
I will post some of the scanning EM shots we get next week as I am sure some of you will enjoy that.
Thanks for sticking with me guys and a big welcome to the recent new followers :)
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Family: Stenopelmatidae
Genus: Deinacrida
Species: Deinacrida fallai
Size: Body length: c. 10 cm
Total length: c. 20 cm
Description: The Poor Knights Weta is one of over 100 large, flightless insects belonging to the Weta family (Stenopelmatidae), all of which are endemic to the New Zealand archipelago. Weta are one of the world’s most ancient groups of species alive today, and look somewhere between a cockroach and a cricket, with large legs. This sizeable species belongs to a subset known as Giant Weta (Deinacrida), which comprises some of the largest insects on Earth. The Poor Knights Weta is pale brown with dark brown lower hind limbs, a line of black markings on its back and black stripes along the flanks.
Habitat and Distribution: This species is primarily arboreal but also frequently ventures to the ground, where it lays its eggs. Confined to the Poor Knights group of islands, New Zealand, after which it is named. Common on the two main islands, Tawhiti Rahi and Aorangi, and a faecal pellet confirmed to be from a species of giant weta has been found on Archway Island.
Biology and Ecology: During their life span of a little over two years, Poor Knights Weta pass through 9 to 11 nymphal stages before reaching maturity. Egg-laying can take place at any time of the year throughout the female’s adult life. Between 200 and 300 eggs per clutch are laid in the ground. These nocturnal insects mainly feed on vegetation such as leaves, fruit and fungi, with invertebrates only forming a minor part of the diet.
Status and Threats: The Poor Knights Weta is classified as Vulnerable under the IUCN Redlist. Although this Giant Weta is not thought to be declining in either abundance or distribution, its restricted range within the Poor Knights Islands leaves it in a highly vulnerable position. A range of native species (e.g. tuatara, lizards and birds) prey upon this Weta, but do not appear to have a dramatic impact or threaten the species’ survival. Any reintroduction of other predators, such as the native saddleback, could be extremely damaging, although there are no current plans to reintroduce such species. Accidental introduction of rodents could also decimate Poor Knights Weta populations, and poses a serious potential threat to the species.
