The Book Of THoTH

Animals will be featured here from time to time (as often as I can manage it) from all over, the "creepy" and the "cute", sometimes delving into mythos. Hopefully this will encourage interest and open-mindedness (and open-heartedness!!) for different creatures. They are ALL special!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bumblebee Bat

Kiti Thonglongya discovered the Hog-nosed bat in 1973 and sadly died soon after this, early the next year. A friend of hers was left to name, register and announce the new-found creature. Arguably the smallest mammal (weiging only 2 grams and measuring little over one inch), this little critter is often known as the Bumblebee bat.



They are red-brown or grey with lighter bellies and have a long, relative in size, tip on their wings allowing them to hover. These bats have no tail but have a uropatagium, a web of skin between the hind legs. Occupying limestone caves (may migrate seasonally between caves) of forests of western Thailand and south-east Burma, the bats only leave sanctuary to go insect hunting for half an hour at dawn and half an hour at dusk. Though as little as 10-15 bats live together, groups of almost 500 were noted around the time of their discovery.



The only creatures in their distinct Genus Craseonycteris Kitti's Hog-nosed bat is in extreme danger of becoming extinct. They have only one baby a year and the burning of their forest sites during breeding season does not help matters. No-one knows how long they live. Over 20 years ago only 160 individuals were counted in Thailand, living in three caves. The population in Myanmar has not been well monitored (which is now believed to be somewhere between well under 1,000 to non-existent)... but these two groups may very well be seperate and never meet to interbreed.

Long live Bumblebee Bats!!

Well done Juno. I've never heard of this particular bat. Actually, I'm only familiar with a handful. I can see myself trying to swat the little things as if they were insects. but then I guess with their wings outspread they would look more like dragon flies, which I'm not keen on shooing away since they do prey upon mosquitoes & the like. Hopefully, we won't lose these terrific little creatures to habitat loss or any other means. I'm rooting for you little one. Right on.

Great post, Juno54. I look forward to the next entry.

I agree Poppy..

A well written..and illustrated post Juno...thankyou...

Thanks Juno... I too look forward to the next one.

Thanks very much guys. Glad you like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my 27th birthday, at a marine park, I fell in love with a cuttlefish. Having never even heard of them before, I was stunned by how I felt communication and a real sense of connection with this very strange and beautiful creature. They are HIGHLY intelligent. Let me tell you a bit about them.

The cuttle-bone often wash up on beaches and are used for pet birds to sharpen their beaks and supplement minerals, this is what they are most known for.
Cuttlefish are cephalopods (meaning "foot head") like squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Their name is derived from old Norwegian and German words, giving the mollusc an unfortunate title of "testicle pouch" (I would like to rename them Cuddle-fish). Large "w" shaped pupils are but one of their many otherworldly features. They can live for around two years.



By gently undulating lateral fins (resulting in a beautiful "mexican wave" effect) cuttlefish can hover and swim. They will allow gas in the water to flow and fill small spaces within the cuttlebone to change their buoyancy and move up or down, without moving forward or backward. An adult in the largest breed reaches one metre long, the smallest only six inches. They have some regenerative ability.

When feeding (mostly on small fish and crustaceans), two tentacles, which are usually tucked away in pouches under their eyes, shoot out in a rapid whip-like motion to grab prey. Food is then held in any of their other eight "arms" while eating. If they are feeding on a hard-shelled animal, they use their strong beaks to crack open the shell and their tooth lined tongue for rasping away at the food. Disguising themselves (changing their colours, patterns and even texture of their skin) is also used to ambush their prey.





Their phenomenal, almost instant ability for camouflage is attributed to control over a layer of tiny elastic pigment sacs found just under the skin. The range of colours they can produce is astonishing. Cuttlefish blood is greenish blue due to the hemocyanin, which has copper, as opposed to our haemoglobin, which has iron. They also have three hearts, one for each gill and one for the rest of the body.

Mating is done head to head. Eggs are laid one by one, with the mother injecting ink into each one to obscure view of the developing babes. The cluster looks like a bunch of dark grapes (these can sometimes roll up onto a beach still alive, so if you see something like this please put it back in the water!!). The babies take a little under two months to develop, depending on area and temperature. Newly hatched cuttlefish are just 1cm long and can already change colour blend in with the egg cluster. They are excellent parents, ready to defend their young.



Cuttlefish are generally social, but if food is limited they can become cannibalistic. If attacked, cuttlefish can produce a cloud of sepia ink, which probably confuses the predator and allows the cuttlefish to swim away or go into camouflage mode. Another quick getaway is to jet propel themselves backwards, like their relative the nautilus, by sucking water into their body cavity and expelling it through a funnel. Cuttlefish may use their amazing ability for camouflage to hide from their predators whish include dolphins, sharks, fish and seals.

Cuttlefish are served as food in many countries. They are caught for pets in some areas then sent to others but are often dead or ill by the time an owner or store aquires them. Cuttlefish blood is used for dye in tallit strings (tassels on a Techelet, Jewish ceremonial garb) by some groups.

This is the "I'm the toughest male here, so back-off" mode.

Those who keep cuttlefish or work with them say they are playful and have unique personalities and moods.

Short vid, at just past a minute into this the cuttlefish start to react to their paparazzi!! angry cuttlefish reaction to reflection (They don't look happy overall though, and no wonder, look how barren the enclosure is!!! That makes ME unhappy!!)

I know a man who thinks these animals are the ugliest things on this planet. Fair enough. But I'm still smitten!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
p.s. sorry about the link, my computer or the server is glitchy & I can't shorten it atm.

Edited to shorten the link

Another excellent Article Juno..Loved it...

Thanks, Juno. Very interesting little fellow.

Well put together Juno54. I really reading about cephalopods. They're amazing in every way with potential to teach us a lot. We're starting to notice more about the lower classes of molluscs that might be surprising as well. Can't wait for the next one Juno. Right on.

Wow, thanks a lot guys. I wanted to show a clip I once saw (but alas, could not find it) of Steve Irwin swimming with a cuttlefish who was putting on an awesome display of light and texture changes on it's body. And in the blink of an eye!



Cephalopod ancestors were around in the Cambrian period. I agree Trent, they are, like you, very cool!!

Just as an aside..we always used to have a piece of cuttlefish bone stuck on the the side of the birdcage for the budgie to chew on..

I used to think it was for sharpening the beak..until Dad told me it was to give Billy lots of calcium...

Thanks for letting me see what they actually look like Juno...

Now that was very interesting and well written, Juno. You now have me waiting for more. I'm wondering what your next subject will be.
Thanks so much.

Aww, thanks guys. Here we go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ratites are a group of large birds with long necks and only rudimentary wings. This group includes ostriches, emus and the cassowary...we'll be talking about the southern cassowary from a small area in the north-eastern rainforests of Queensland, Australia.



Ratites have have flat, raft shaped breast bones as they do not need the "keel", like other birds have, for strong pectoral flying muscles. Cassowaries remind me of something prehistoric, slightly frightening but magical none the less. They stand 1.5 to 2 metres tall when fully grown, with shiny black plumes covering the stocky body. The head and neck are truely bizarre with a casque (the funny boney thing) on the head, vivid colours on the face and neck with long pink wattles hanging from there. The middle of their three toes is long, sharp and can be used as a dangerous defense weapon when feeling threatened.

Cassowaries love rainforest fruits, lilly pillies, laurels, flowers and fungi. They will also eat insects and snails. Well defined tracks left by cassowaries can be found leading to their regular food sources.

They are solitary for most of the time. Females are the larger gender and dominant on the hierarchy. From around June to October the females tolerate males for the breeding season. The nest is made by males on the ground. About one month after mating three to four green eggs are laid for the father to look after. The female may then pair up mate again with up to three more males during the season. The eggs hatch around 47 - 54 days after being laid and the (very cute) stripey chicks stay with Dad for nine months.



The future of this species is uncertain due to interference with it's habitat. This is a serious problem for the whole ecosystem in that area due to the cassowary being a major, and possibly only seed-disperser in it's habitat (scattering the seeds of more than a hundred plants). This adorable Aussie needs to stick around.

Very interesting birds Juno..I must admit to not having heard of them before..

Is it because of the environs that their survival is uncertain ?

Good article...

You're makin' me blush with all this support.

The only time I have ever seen one of these birds was about a decade ago at Perth Zoo. There was just a fence separating us so you can get quite close...that's cool but I'm only 5ft. and had a fear of birds at the time (beat that about 2yrs ago). Like I said, they have a prehistoric feel about them. I thought not too many out there would know about the cassowary so it might make for an interesting article.

Wow...while checking on something before commenting on it I stumbled accross some more great and interesting infornation on this creature. This week I may update the above article accordingly. Thank's Momma!!!

To briefly answer - Lots of things messing with this bird's survival atm (will expand in article as there is a lot to this!). Put it this way, 20yrs. ago the Southern Cassowary was deemed a "candidate for extinction" by the CSIRO. Not good.

I just love that last picture of him face on.

*BUMP*

Would really hate to see this thread die. I hope it's only having an out-of-body experience. For one thing, the topic is wonderfully interesting and your posts, Juno, are amazingly informative. Well written. Yay, Juno! For another thing, and this is relevant only to me but I thought I'd share anyway because of the synchronicity: I've been mulling a story around in my head these last couple of days, and the info you posted here helped me move forward where I'd been stalling.

Not gonna share the plot line (might not be all that interesting anyway), but suffice to say the main character is an unusual being/creature, and the descriptions of the animals here have helped me quite a bit in deciding how to describe this being... in much more detail, with more complete background, than I would have come up with if not for these articles. Thanks so much!

And... uh... what's up next???
plur

Great thread Juno! What a tiny bat!

I think I saw one of those birds in the Jahore Baru zoo. Malaysia. It was not happy. None of the animals were happy at that zoo.

Think I saw that episode with Steve and the cuddle fish. What an amazing animal. I tried a search and couldn't find it either.

Hope to see more incredible animals here Juno.

Thankyou guys...

Kira - Ugh, all below-par zoo's around the world need to be dismantled. In a zoo somewhere in India I saw a black bear in a cage just big enough for it to stand in. Not that it could have sat anyway 'cause there was a huge metal bolt through it's head attatched to the back wall. The bars were on three sides with concrete making the top, bottom and wall. I think they just fed him through the bars and washed away any excrement with a bucket of water. Civilization indeed.

plur - yes, just a teporary out of body experience. Next?? Something really tiny & really wierd!! I am thrilled that you ideas in writing got a boost. I've started like 10 different decent stories (dare I say books?) but keeping my momentum in one area going..well...

Oh boy do I hear that, loud and clear! Sometimes it seems as though my writer's mind is just one big spinning platter... ideas don't stay long enough to develop before they fly off in random directions. So these animal posts of yours have been really wonderful in terms of keeping me on task, Juno. Thanks!!!


Love the itty-bitties! Can't wait!
plur