philihp.com » Evolution http://www.philihp.com/blog I do things, and then I tell the internet about them. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:40:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Jellyfish Lake http://www.philihp.com/blog/2009/jellyfish-lake/ http://www.philihp.com/blog/2009/jellyfish-lake/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:04:00 +0000 philihp http://www.philihp.com/blog/2009/01/jellyfish-lake/ On one of the uninhabited pacific islands of Palau, there is a lake. Once upon a time this lake was connected to the sea. This connection closed and any predators still in the lake died soon after leaving native jellyfish isolated. The jellyfish stingers devolved to the point where they don’t sting human skin, making this a popular dive spot.

Don’t dive too deep; there’s a layer of hydrogen sulfide in the lake 15-20 meters deep. Drink it and you die.

http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=s…76111

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTXinF8ZVCo

]]> http://www.philihp.com/blog/2009/jellyfish-lake/feed/ 0 The Highest Socially Organized Mammals http://www.philihp.com/blog/2008/the-highest-socially-organized-mammals/ http://www.philihp.com/blog/2008/the-highest-socially-organized-mammals/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:04:00 +0000 philihp http://www.philihp.com/blog/2008/12/the-highest-socially-organized-mammals/
The Naked Mole Rat is the only other mammal known to exhibit eusocial behavior; a behavior that would otherwise be exclusive to ants, bees, wasps, termites, and sci-fi sequels from the 80s.

Heterocephalus glaber

A rodent which lives in colonies underground, digging with its enlarged front teeth. Only one female in a colony breed, and her offspring become workers or soldiers, helping dig the burrows in search of tubers underground. (bbc.com)

Also interesting in this species: they feel no pain!

The skin of naked mole rats lacks a key neurotransmitter called Substance P that is responsible in mammals for sending pain signals to the central nervous system. When naked mole rats are exposed to acid or capsaicin, they feel no pain. (wikipedia.org)

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