Plants and Animals

Cycads have an evolutionary history dating back to the dry, cool age of the Triassic, when much of the world’s terrestrial landscape was inhospitable to spore-producing plants. They have carried the evolutionary breakthrough of the seed from an ancient group of now-extinct plants called Bennettitaleans, to the present.

Cycads are pollinated mainly by weevils and thrips, which carry out much of their life cycle within the tissues of the male and female cones. In what could be considered an insightful adaptation to global warming (albeit at a micro-level), an ABC Science Online article by Stephen Pincock reveals how another species of cycad Macrozamia lucida uses a stockpile of sugars, starch and fats to heat their cones to around 12 degrees Celsius above air temperature to encourage thrips to evacuate to the more appealing climes of the female cones.

Whilst cycads are pollinated by weevils and thrips, the distribution of their seeds is reliant upon another group of animal carriers.

The world’s tallest cycad Lepidozamia hopeii can reach twenty-metres. Every five-years-or-so, female plants produce large cones that mature over about ten months. They then collapse and bright-red seeds adorn the forest floor at the base of the plant. Mammals carry individual seeds away from the intensity of competition and remove the delectable red aril from the seed, leaving the camouflaged core to recruit away from the competitive disinterests of the parent plant.

I was just out photographing cycad cones for a new entry, when I happened upon this bizarre creature. It would appear to have eight legs, with the forelegs raised completely over the animal, presumably in an expression of defense. The noodle-like embellishments on the ventral surface of these legs (at least) appear to add a degree of emphasis to the expression.

Tucked under the bulk of the animal, between the short leg in the foreground (pointing towards the bottom left corner of the image) and the bulbous mass aligned with the central vein of the leaf, is another appendage that looks suspiciously like a palp. This would imply that the head of the animal is most proximal to the top left corner of the image and that the rear legs have been hyper-extended up and over the animal’s back.

The total length of the animal, legs excluded, is less than 4 mm.

Any ideas?

I associate Golden Orb-weaving spiders (Nephila pilipes (syn. maculata)) with the hot period leading up to the wet. Adult females are particularly impressive in their gigantism, which increases relative to the equator. The image on the left has a male on the female’s abdomen.

They would appear to have a three-month life-cycle with an extraordinary growth rate in females; from ~1mm to full hand-span in six weeks.

Their webs are spectacular and so strong they can break the momentum of small birds and bats. I observed one spanning an expanse one night and was astonished to see a three dimensional film of silk (about 30mm in diameter) being played across currents, seemingly unaffected by gravity, to a tree some five-metres distant. The spider then pulled the film into a thread.

There seems to be two distinct morphs; the lighter-coloured variety being vastly out-numbered by the black and yellow variety. Each is viewed differently through the compound eyes of flying insects, producing different capture rates. At nightime, however, darkness is so complete that colour is of little relevance and different groups of flying/jumping insects abound. Nephilas can vary the strength and flexibility of their silk to meet the different challenges of crickets or flies.

They are eaten by cassowaries and most probably frogmouths.

Brendan Moyle has previously provided us with alternative ways to save tigers from extinction.

Now the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies states that tiger parts are not necessary for traditional medicines, and alternatives are available and effective. Can this statement from the organisation save tigers?

Excerpts from an opinion letter to the Los Angeles Times , by Vinod Thomas, director general of the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank states :

“How has the tiger’s fate come to this? The foremost reason is poaching to meet demand for tiger products used in traditional medicines in China and other parts of East Asia. The other crucial factor is the continuous loss of tiger habitat, which is down by about 40% across India in the last decade, along with which has disappeared much of its prey.

“To make matters worse, there now is relentless pressure from tiger farmers in East Asia to legalize the trade in the bones, fur, paws, penis and teeth of their animals. On the surface, the case made for legalizing the sale of tiger parts is beguiling. By flooding the market with parts from farm-raised tigers, it’s argued, prices will plummet, reducing the profitability of poaching. A cited analogy: People don’t hunt wild turkeys for Thanksgiving when supermarkets overflow with farmed supplies.

“But to reduce poaching, those who raise tigers in captivity would need to undercut the cost of supplying the parts from wild tigers. That’s improbable. Poaching in India, by poisoning or with simple steel traps, costs less than $100 a tiger (plus transport and other costs). Raising one in captivity — even three or more to a cage — costs about $3,000.

“Conservationists warn that legalizing the tiger trade would be the death knell for tigers in the wild. That’s because it will always be cheaper to hunt tigers, and poaching will be less risky if poached parts can be easily laundered — that is, passed off as coming from captive-bred animals”.

“What now?

“It is essential to deal with poaching and the demand for tiger parts in traditional medicine immediately. The World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies states that tiger parts are not necessary for traditional medicines, and alternatives are available and effective. So there are solid reasons to strongly enforce the international ban on the tiger trade, and for China to keep its 1993 domestic ban securely in place.”

“As the symbol of countries, teams and corporations, the tiger has helped sell beer, sports goods and breakfast cereal. Now it could use some high-profile reciprocity. Support from private corporations — such as Exxon Mobil’s Save the Tiger Fund — as well as the Asian business diaspora and international agencies could prove decisive. But the moment for action is now. Without immediate financial and political commitments, it will be too late to save this mesmerizing animal”

So can the tigers survive with the help of Exxon Mobile , that Greenpeace has proclaimed as the “Criminal # 1 of the Planet”?

Ann Novek
Sweden

Following is my summary from an editorial in Norwegian paper Fiskaren:

“In October many celebrities will gather to celebrate 30 years with Sea Shepherd, including Mick Jagger, Martin Sheen, Orlando Bloom , Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan among other super stars together with their cheque books.

Norway has been under heavy international criticism for its whaling policy. To counter this , Norway has presented facts after facts to defend its whaling policy. Even if the Embassies will not be attacked by anti-whalers, what consequences will show up if a new “whale war” blows up?

Probably it will mainly harm the seafood industry and the country’s image.

Sea Shepherd will arrange the history’s biggest “ Save the Whale’s Party”.

Sea Shepherd might feature images of the attacked whalers “ the Nybraena”, “ the Willassen Senior” and “ the Elin –Torild” on the big screen and as well featuring video sequences of whale’s dying in agony to the tunes of Rolling Stones.

The revenues from this gala evening will be bigger than the revenues from Norwegian whaling. Revenues that can pay new ships, direct actions and media campaigns.

With James Bond and Mick Jagger in the frontlines it might be a tough battle for Norway.

However, the Coastal Party, that represents most whalers, made this statement after the sinking of the Norwegian whaler, “Norwegian authorities must now act to promote minke whaling , as a means to save fisheries in the North. It’s a traditional, sustainable and eco-friendly industry that international extreme animal rights activists mustn’t ruin”.

Ann Novek
Sweden