Moonwalking birds

Did you know birds can moonwalk? Manakins can! I've never seen one of these but the video is more than enough.

The whole video is cool, but the moonwalking starts at about 2:40.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI_quJRRGxk

Cute little sac-winged bats

Aren't they cute? They're so little! UPDATE: my bat-loving labmate has corrected me. These are sac-winged bats from the genus Saccopteryx--from the Pacific coast of Panama.

My fault, I know I looked these up in a guide but I mis-remembered the name. Sorry!

Cool caterpillar of the day

Hello, poisonous spines. You look like you would hurt. This caterpillar is from the moth genus Automeris. They are called bullseye moths because of the big colorful bullseyes on their wings.

Croco-terror

Well this is terrifying. 10,000 crocodiles are on the loose in South Africa, after escaping from a crocodile farm! Actually they were let out before a flood so they wouldn't all drown, and now they are running amok in one of the largest rivers in South Africa. Ten thousand!! That is a lot of crocodiles. Here is a link to the BBC news story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21200664

Yikes. Scary crocs. I don't care how big they are, being in a river with 10,000 crocodiles is pretty much my worst nightmare.

Road life

Seeing road life is always better than seeing roadkill. And let's be honest, catching sight of animals as they cross the road is sometimes the only way to see them, because they blend in so well in the forest. Here are a few of the road crossings I have captured or almost-captured on film. 

 This snake is taking up one lane of the road. I'm not sure what it is, because it's hard to detect any pattern and the lighting is not great. I'll update if I find out!

Below is a coatimundi (coati, for short). Check out its tail (in the second picture). This one is probably a male, since the females and their young travel in groups. They spend a lot of time in trees--the babies are born up in the tree tops, but venture out with supervision after a few weeks. 

I thought I had a picture of a baby crocodile on the road for you, but it's so hard to see it's not even worth it. Getting photos out of a moving vehicle is notoriously hard, even when you're not trying to capture a moving animal running for its life. The best subjects are the ones who don't move quickly. Introducing the sloth, the perfect roadside photographic subject:

Sloth, you are just too cute. 

Dolphin rescue

Divers removed a fishing hook and line from a dolphin in Hawaii--the line was wrapped around the dolphins fin, restricting its movement. Awwwwwwwwwww. 

Yahoo news story

Watch the original video here (you might mute it, as the deep sea ocean music is rather intense). 

How to prevent soggy sandwiches

Dear American Airlines,

Thank you for providing breakfast on my recent flight from Panama to Dallas-Fort Worth. In these times of economic turmoil, any airline extras are greatly appreciated. However, it has come to my attention that you could use my advice. You see, my ham and cheese croissant sandwich was a bit soggy because the tomato was pressed up against the bread, probably for the entire two hours I was waiting in line to check in at the airport in Panama City.  I would like to share the following tip with you to prevent soggy sandwiches in the future. Having just spent two weeks in the humid tropical air, taking sandwiches into the swampy mangrove forests in plastic baggies, I have developed a method for preventing the dreaded soggy sandwich:

1. Choose bread. If possible, select pieces of bread that do not have holes in them. Toast bread, if desired. Pita, whole wheat, and even croissants will work nicely. Arrange bread slices on plate so that both sides are ready to be topped, like so:

2. Place meat on one piece of bread and cheese on the other.
3. Add lettuce, tomato, mustard, and any other wet toppings on top of the meat, so that they will be in the center of the sandwich. It is important not to add so much mustard that it oozes out the sides.
4. Flip cheese side of sandwich on top of meat side.
5. Place into bag or plastic wrap and enjoy your non-soggy sandwich hours later.

Example of a correctly made sog-free sandwich. Notice the cheese blanketing the toppings on both sides. You might even say the cheese is sandwiching the other ingredients.

This method will work nicely for any pre-wrapped sandwich situation, including those in airport cafes.

Sincerely,
Dr. Danger

Close encounters

Yesterday the rest of the team went out to the field while I stayed at the lab. When they got back, they showed me the terrifying experience they had with a crocodile.

Taylor went up for a closer look at the crocodile. They told him no, but he just wouldn't listen.

 This triggered the never-ending scream. It's pretty close to Munch's The Scream, wouldn't you say?

Then they ran. So fast they broke the sound barrier.

But Dr. Sousa was preoccupied with his data, and didn't see the dark 

shadow approaching him until it was too late. 

Isn't our field team sweet?

Frigatebird flight

Normally I'm not much of a bird person, but seabirds are okay. Here is a magnificent frigatebird in flight above me:

Apparently in mating season the males puff out a red pouch on their throat to impress the ladies. Heyyyy ladies, check out my red throat pouch.

Pretty handsome, right?

Shiny bugs

I found this pretty iridescent beetle on a sea grape tree. I'm trying to figure out what it is.

 And this little guy is a Junonia evarete caterpillar. They specialize on black mangrove seedlings (Avicennia germinans). Check out their cool blue shiny spots.

Under the sea

Under the sea...dangers lurk beneath unexpecting swimmers. All sorts of toxic creatures live beneath cool blue Caribbean waters. Here are some of the dangerous sea creatures from Panama:

Lionfish, which are native to the Pacific ocean, have become invasive in the Caribbean and Atlantic in the last few years. They have toxic spines which means they have no predators that can eat them in the Caribbean, where they are not native. Humans can eat them though, if they remove the spines!

Portuguese man o'war. Found plenty of places other than Portugal. They look like bright purple potstickers with a tail, or some sort of weird Nerf ball. If you want a fun stinging game, try picking one up. It hurts. 

Sea urchins. Don't step on these guys. This long spined urchin is from the genus Diadema. 

Spanish dancer in the water

I saw a really cool animal yesterday in the water near the lab. At first I thought it was a piece of trash, but then I looked again and it turned out to be a nudibranch. A nudi-what? They are sea slugs, like snails without shells. Nudibranchs come in all different cool colors, but this one is bright red. Usually nudibranchs crawl across the bottom, but this one floats up in the water column and undulates its sides, so it looks like a flamenco dancer twirling its skirts. It is called a Spanish dancer (species name is Hexabranchus morsomus).

Job hazards

Yesterday as we were walking out through the mangrove forest, we came across this fine fellow sitting across our path:

I happen to be terrified of crocodiles. How do crocodiles compare to your job hazards?

Wow Plants

Animals are cool, but plants do pretty awesome things sometimes too. This plant hides when you touch it. Check it out:

(Excuse the dirty fingernails, this was after a day in the mud.) Its name is Mimosa pudica and it is in the legume family (Fabaceae). The movement happens when cells lose turgor pressure (basically water pushing against cell walls). It may be a defense mechanism against things that eat the plant. 

Tribute to a turtle

Sad news today. Our little turtle friend, Milagro, has died. He was well and alive yesterday and mysteriously turned up dead today. We are not sure what happened. Yesterday I saw him attempting to eat the starfish in his tank, and he was picking at their feet. He may have gotten underneath the starfish attached to the wall--starfish tube feet are very sticky and hard to get off. Possibly he couldn't free himself from the starfish and drowned. Another possibility is that he had some internal ailment, but we just will never know. We are very sad here at the lab and wish it hadn't happened.

 Goodbye, little guy. 

Animal sightings in the dry season

Greetings from Panama! It's the dry season here, so sloth sightings have been rare...they like new green leaves and there are not a ton of those out right now. Instead of sloths, I bring you the following:

 A river shrimp from the genus Macrobrachium, found in a black mangrove forest:

A satiny parrot snake, found alongside the road:

And a baby hawksbill sea turtle who washed up in a storm and is being kept at the Smithsonian station until he gets bigger. His name is Milagro, or Miracle.