The Realm Of Nature

Welcome to the 2nd issue of The Realm - an online magazine dedicated to wildlife and nature!

In this issue...

News in Brief - Catch up on the top news stories from the last month

Class Amphibia - Find out more about the rise, and now the fall, of the amphibians.

SPOTLIGHT ON...Ring-Tailed Lemurs - Arguably the most well-known of the lemurs, find out more about these attractive primates

Flower Power - The Dandelion - Common in everyones garden and usually regarded as a weed, the dandelion does have it's uses...

Fossilised Sharks Teeth - An article on fossil shark teeth

Ancient Sharks: Rise of the Neoselachi - Delve into a world where modern sharks are just starting to overtake their ancient counterparts.

Myths and Legends - The Deaths Head Hawkmoth - Gracing the cover of Silence Of The Lambs, this moth has long being believed to be an omen of death...

POEM: Justified?

ACT NOW! - The latest campaigns to protect animals and the environment

Letters & Comments - Have your say about this issue of the magazine

And don't forget to come back to check out next issue - out the first Thursday of every month!

A quick look at some of the top stories making the wildlife news over the last month...

A giant pliosaur larger than a humpback whale has been discovered in the Arctic.  It is the the largest marine reptile so far discovered and it would have been the most formidable of marine predators 150million years ago.

A highly endangered Amur Leopard cub has been born in a British Zoo.  There may be fewer than 35 of these secretive big cats left in the wild and the female cub will hopefully become part of a breeding project hoped at saving the species and eventually returning them to the wild.

Peregrine Falcons are becoming nighhawks.  The birds of prey which are the fastest in the world have being using urban lighting to their advantage to spot and ambush prey.

The Federal Courts have ruled that the ban on the use of Mid-Frequency sonar by the USA Navy off Southern California is to remain in place.  The use of sonar is thought to disturb and even cause damage to the whales possibly even causing the marine mammals to strand.

Researchers have discovered a fish that hibernates - the Antarctic Cod.  Thought to be a response to decreasing light levels, the fish slows its metabolism sitting on the bottom of the sea in a dormant state after a summer of feasting.

Nine species of shark, including the scalloped hammerhead, are to be added to the IUCN red list of endangered species. Overfishing - both targetted and bycatch - is devestating global shark populations and removing the oceans top predators at a higher rate than they can replace themselves.

South Africa is causing controversy by re-introducing an elephant cull.  This will be used alongside othe measures including contraceptives and translocation to reduce the elephant numbers in the country.

A ship that ran aground on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda, a world-renouned bird sanctuary, could spell disaster breeding seabirds that nest there as the ship may have carried rats. Already emergency procedures are in place to catch any rats that may have made it onto the island. The island is home to 90% of the European population f Leach's storm-petrels as well as gannets and puffins.

Fish can count up to four, but no higher, and are able to differentiate between larger numbers if they differ by a ratio of at least 2:1. This was discovered by a series of tests which followed the behaviour of a female being harassed by males.

A fossil of a frog the size of a "squashed beach ball" has been unearthed in Madagascar. The frog is a relative of modern horned frogs and like them may have been a sit-and-wait predator. Living in the Cretaceous period, hatchling dinosaurs could even have been on this frogs menu!

A new bat fossil has solved one question over the flying mammals evolution - what came first, the wings or the sonar? The new fossil suggests that bats developed the ability to fly, then came their ability to use echolocation to locate prey.

The third great white shark to stay at Monteray Bay Aquarium has been released. The young male remained in captivity for 152 days and was seen by more than 650,000 people.

Strange new creatures have been found lurking in the depths of the Antarctic, with sea-spiders the size of dinner plates and jellyfish with 18 foot long tentacles living in the deep waters. Here, gigantism is common.

Around 400 million years ago in the Devonian period life on land started to change. Long dominated by the invertebrates, the terrestrial environment was soon to be invaded by a new group of animals. The earliest ancestors of the amphibians were emerging from the water.

The land was a relatively safe place compared to the waterways filled with giant predatory fish and sharks. Away from the water, they sought sanctuary among the lush swamp vegetation that sheltered them from the burning sun. Amphibians skin is moist and permeable. Water escapes easily from their bodies and this means that they are very vulnerable to drying out. As a result, amphibians can never stray far from moist environments and most have to return to the water to lay their soft eggs.  These eggs hatch into tadpoles, and most are simply left to fend for themselves in their nursery pond but a few species of reptiles care for their offspring with as much dedication of many a mammal.  Several salamanders remain with their eggs guarding them from predators, and a number of frogs and toads care for their tadpoles protecting and even feeding them.

Since these early days, the world around them has changed dramatically. The giant insects that roamed the land while they were just emerging from the water started to shrink as the oxygen levels in the atmosphere declined. The reptiles appeared and the dinosaurs came and went leaving the world free for the mammals and birds. Today, there are over 6,000 species of amphibian ranging from tiny frogs to the largest of them all - the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) that patrols the waterways of China. Some amphibians such as the poison dart or arrow frogs have developed powerful chemical defences that are more than capable of killing several people, while others mimic these deadly little amphibians pretending to be just as deadly when they are comparatively harmless though they secrete a foul taste from their skin that is usually more than enough to put off any would-be predators.

However, not all amphibians are so well protected. Without armour, their chemical defences are all most have to ward off attack. Many are slow moving and this leaves them as easy targets for sharp-eyed predators - but they don't sit around waiting to be picked off. Camouflage allows amphibian species to simply vanish. For those without chemical defences, matching the environment is the next best way to stay safe. While the toxic frogs and toads advertise their danger through bright colours, others have shades of green and brown to match their environment. Projections along their bodies break up their outlines. The Eyelash Leaf Frog (Ceratobatrachus guentheri) takes this to the extreme. With leaf-like projections above its eyes, a pointed snout like the tip of the leaf and even veins running along its body this frog looks so much like a part of the leaf litter it is easy for all but the most sharp-eyed of predators to miss.

Now though, there is a new threat facing amphibians - one that cannot be warned off by powerful toxins or highly effective camouflage. A threat that no amount of leaping can propel a frog away from. That threat is a deadly fungus that causes the disease Chytridiomycosis. Already this disease has led to some amphibians becoming extinct and leaving many others on the brink of extinction. Amphibians breathe through their skin, and the fungus prevents this causing the amphibians to suffocate. Within two weeks of catching the disease, infected amphibians are usually dead. Some amphibians though appear to have a natural resistance to the disease and it is hoped that by finding out what chemicals keep these amphibians safe from the fungus will lead to a vaccine.

The Cytrid fungus isn't the only threat to amphibians, amphibians are also under threat from the destruction of their habitat. Forests and wetlands are destroyed to make way for logging and development, pollution is turning their waterways and pools into a cocktail of deadly chemicals and other diseases are springing up that leave them with crippling disabilities that make it easier for predators to pick them off. Having survived five mass extinctions, amphibians are now declining rapidly and unless their fortunes change, many more could be lost forever.

By Silvershark

Common name - Ring-tailed lemur

Scientific name - Lemur catta

Location - Madagascar

Lifespan - around 16 years in the wild

Status - Vulnerable

Distinguising features - long, black and white striped tail

The islands of Madagascar are home to a variety of animals and plants found no where else in the world, and among them are the lemurs. The ring-tailed lemur is a medium-sized lemur with a body length of up to 46cms with a black and white striped tail even longer than their bodies. This tail is used both for climbing helping the lemurs to keep their balance. As they are sociable creatures living in close-knit troops groups, being able to stay in contact with each other is vital and they do this using both vocalisations and scent. Foraging on the ground, more terrestrial than any other lemur, they are easy targets for some predators but once one lemur spots the danger the others are quickly alerted. In lemur society, it is the females that are dominant over the males with the latter moving to new troops every few years. Ring-tailed lemurs are omnivores taking whatever food is available. In their seasonal habitat, it doesn't pay to be a fussy eater. Fruit, leaves, berries, insects, spiders, chameleons and even birds are on their menu. Female lemurs give birth to one, occassionally two, offspring after a gestation of between four to five months. The young lemurs are taken care of by all the females in the troop with the youngsters living together in a crèche.

Photo by Tom Junek

Written by Silvershark

Taraxacum Officinale...

The dandelion gets its name from the genus Taraxacum which is derived from the greek " Disorder" and Axos "Remedy" on account of the curative actions of the plant.
Common names for the dandelion include "Swines snout" and Piss-the-bed due to its strong diuretic properties.
Lions tooth is yet another name as the leaves resemble the angular jaw of the lion with teeth.

Family Conections

This Perennial species belongs to the Daisy Family and is found all accross the world in temperate regions.
It is extremely hardy and can survive in tempretures down to -29 degrees.
Single bright yellow blooms borne on leafless stems and deeply and unevenly serated leaves give the plant its distictive appearance.
During autumn tiny seeds with fine silky hairs appear.  They form a sphere or clock shape and are ready to be disperesed in the wind and seed them selves far and wide..
The common Dandelion means different things to many people to the gardener its a tenecious weed.
To the Herbalist its one of the most useful Herbs and has been used down the ages in medicine.

Parts used

Flowers, leaves, Roots, whole plant

Properties..

Bitter sweet cooling, diuretic, laxative, improves liver function and digestion, anti-rheumatic effects and reduces inflammation and swelling.

Medicinal..

Dandelion is recommended for some heart conditions and its a very powerful diuretic in some ways its better than prescription water tablets as it's rich in potassium so it doesnt deplete your potassium unlike prescription tablets.
The Dandelion also boosts digestion and helps constipation.
It also has the ability to reduce inflammation and ease joint pain and skin problems.

Culinary

Fresh leaves can be added to salads after being blanched to reduce the bitterness.  Roots are also chopped into salads or roasted to make a coffee type drink.
Flowers and leaves are both used for wine and beer making.

Very nourishing and high in vitamin A.  Blood, kidney, and liver cleanser and tonic. Useful as a diuretic and one of the best natural sources of potassium. This makes it an ideal balanced diuretic even with edema related to cardiac conditions. Its cholagogue action makes it an ideal remedy for inflammation and congestion of the liver and gallbladder. Dandelion root has a significant cleansing action on the liver and stimulates bile production. It is also mildly bitter and a gentle laxative.

Dandelion's bitter taste stimulates bitter receptors in the mouth and by reflex activates the entire digestive tract and the liver. It increases the flow of digestive juices thereby improving digestion and assimilation and enhancing the appetite. Dandelion cleanses the liver by increasing bile production and flow through the liver. Thus giving support to the liver's work as the major detoxifying organ in the body.

Dandelion root is one of the best detoxifying herbs. As is works on the liver and gallbladder to help convert waste products it also assists the kidneys to remove the toxins through urination. It encourages steady elimination from infection and pollution and has benefits for constipation, acne, eczema and psoriasis. Arthritic conditions are improved because it improves elimination of uric acid. It is a gentle detoxifying, bitter tonic cleansing the blood by increasing elimination of toxins and waste through the liver and kidneys.

Dandelion root and leaf have a strong effect on the gallbladder and are used to prevent and dissolve gallstones. Its stimulating effects act on the pancreas where it increases insulin secretion which assists in controlling diabetes and hypoglycemia.

Its use helps with problems associated with liver weakness including tiredness and irritability, headaches and skin problems. Dandelion helps to relieve emotional stagnation and release emotions such as anger, resentment and grief. It is cleansing and detoxifying to the emotions as well as to the body.

The young leaves in the spring make an excellent bitter tonic to cleanse the body of waste that may have accumulated through the heavy foods and inactivity of the winter months.

Caution..

Please do not use Dandelions from the side of roads or factorys as all plants are deemed unsafe for edible and medicinal use from areas such as this as they absorb toxins from the earth or fumes.
You can purchase dandelion seeds if you wish to grow your own.
I take dandelion tea daily using dried leaves and I leave to steep in a mug of hot water for half hour before straining the leaves off and drink it, well it doesn't taste nice but it's bitter for a reason so the herb has impact on you.

By Wyldeflower..

Sharks have lived in the oceans for 400 million years, evolving long before dinosaurs did, and during this time, they have changed relatively little.

All sharks shed their teeth and grow new ones constantly during their lifetimes. Behind the front row of teeth, there are up to seven more rows of developing teeth, so that a lost tooth can quickly be replaced. A shark living 25 years can have grown and shed up to 24,000 teeth.

A few miles off the coast of Venice, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico, there is what is called an ancient shark burial ground. Sharks have lived and died all around this area for millions of years. When they died, they sank to the ocean floor and were covered by layers of sand and silt. Their bodies disintergrated and storms and water action finally exposed the remains and sweep the teeth ashore, where they are collected by locals and holiday makers. Depending on the minerals in the soil in which they were buried, the teeth can be black, brown or grey.

About 10 years ago, we were on holiday in Florida and visited Venice Beach where we also collected a good few of these fossilized teeth.

Photos and article by Kedi-Gato

Seventy million years ago, Texas was underwater and home to a variety of marine animals. Among them was the hybodont Ptychodus whipplei. These were more specialised than some of the their relatives. Their teeth were arranged into a palate for crushing shelled prey such as ammonites and crustaceans. With its humped teeth, Ptychodus whipplei would has specialised on those animals with fairly week shells while their relatives with more flattened teeth would have been able to tackle prey with tougher defences. Such slight differences reduced competition between the different species allowing them to co-exist together. Ptychodus though, along with the rest of the hybodonts, were in trouble. Having been the dominant shark group for millions of years, they were now being ousted by their sister group - the Neoselachi.

The Neoselachians appeared in the Triassic, however throughout most of the Mesozoic they never reached the abundance and diversity of the Hybodonts. They lived in the shadow of their highly successful relative but now things were starting to change. The Neoselachi were taking over, and they were making their presence known.

In these seas, swam a monster neoselachiian shark - Cretoxyrhina mantelli. Even the mosasaurs would have been quick to get out of its way, for this shark saw these marine reptiles as food. However, their diet was mainly made up of the variety of fish that swam in the seas including the monstrous Xiphactinus. These fast moving fish would have been a challenge for any shark, and reaching up to around six metres long a large individual would have been a difficult fish to catch. Despite this, these fish do appear on this sharks menu. Their speed was not enough to keep them safe from attack. Reaching lengths of seven metres or more, Cretoxyrhina were the great whites of their day. Their teeth were like knives measuring as long as 5cms from root to tip, and they would have been put to good use. Not even the thick scales of the mosasaurs was enough to protect them from this sharks bite. Coming up hard and fast from below, the shark would have aimed for the most vulnerable parts of the mosasaur - its belly and fins. Its blade-like teeth would have ripped off huge chunks of flesh disabling the prey with a single bite. After the attack, the shark sank back into the depths. Even an injured mosasaur could cause some damage, and so the shark simply waited as its victim slowly bled to death.

The slick of blood in the water drew in other sharks too. Not the hybodont Ptychodus for their teeth weren’t designed for dealing with ripping off chunks of flesh, but another Neoselachian, Squalicorax pristodontis. While Cretoxyrhina was the Cretaceous great white, Squalicorax was the opportunistic tiger shark. At 16 feet in length, these large sharks had relatively little to fear though they would still need to be cautious of their larger cousin, and even Cretoxyrhina would have needed to beware of the largest mosasaurs. While Cretoxyrhina moved in to take a bite out of the dead mosasaur, the Squalicorax hovered nearby before they too moved in to take their share of the meal, always careful not to get too close to the large shark. For those sharks first to arrive, there was a sense of urgency in the feasting for the blood slick was drawing in more of their kind. A smaller individual would have no choice but to retreat should a larger one of their kind appear otherwise they would risk injury. The pecking order here was based on size, and all smaller sharks were wise to give way. A large meal would keep the sharks satisfied for several weeks, but when the time came to feed again these sharks were capable of more than just scavenging. They were powerful and active predators, and they weren’t fussy over what they ate. Fish, turtles, mosasaurs, smaller sharks and maybe even the early sea-going birds such as Hesperornis were on their menu. Bellies full, the sharks would depart from the kill leaving the last of the remains to sink to the seabed providing food for the creatures dwelling at the bottom of the sea.

By Silvershark

The skull that decorates this large moths back brings a sign of bad omen for all that see it.  The pattern led to this moth long being associated with evil, death and war.  What better animal could there then be to grace the cover of Silence of the Lambs?  The movie about the cannibal Hannibal Lectar helping to trace a serial killer that leaves the pupae of this moth in the throats of his victims...

Superstition claims that should this moth fly into a house, bad luck will be brought down upon it.  Should one of the candles that lit the rooms of these times be snuffed out by the activity of the moth was the worst sign.  That meant that death was near.  In France, it was believed that the dust from the moths wings could cause a person to become blind.  Even the Latin name of this moth is related to death.  Acherontia atropis is this moths name.  Acheron, "the River of Sorrows" that was one of Hades five rivers, a tributary of the river Styx over which Charon ferried dead souls.  Atropos is one of three fates, the oldest.  This is the fate that selects which way a life will end, cutting their thread of life with her shears.  This moth couldn't be more associated with death than it already is.

But though they are often an animal that is feared and disliked, they is nothing horrific about a moth.  They have no venom and cannot kill.  Most are in fact useful pollinators of plants.  The deaths head hawkmoth though, prefers something sweeter.  They can't sip the nectar from plants for their proboscis is too short, instead they feed on beehives.  Their thick cuticle leaves them immune to the stings of the defending bees as they force their way in to reach the sweet honey in the midst of the hide.  Though most moths are silent, this one makes a sound that can be heard even by us.  This dismal sound led to the moth being further associated with death.  In fact, the moths squeek may help to subdue the bees in the hive it raids and deter predators like bats that threaten to eat the moth.

By Silvershark

Photos by Noclue4aname

Email: Support Scotland in the fight against climate change

The Scottish Government has just published proposals for the most progressive climate change legislation in the world – the Scottish Climate Change Bill. If the proposals are passed, they could commit Scotland to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 – the target that all developed countries should make if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Climate change is the biggest threat to nature and humanity in the 21st century. Today we are starting to see its impacts around the globe - be it melting glaciers, rising sea levels, stronger storms, higher floods, less snow in the north and more drought in the south.

Before it came into power in May 2007, The Scottish National Party (which makes up the minority Government in Scotland) proposed that the Climate Change Bill should have annual emission reduction targets of 3%. Annual targets are essential to provide the urgency needed to start making cuts immediately – we must ensure that the Bill includes these targets.

Email - HERE

Stop the long-distance transport of animals for slaughter

Every week, hundreds of millions of farm animals endure journeys, sometimes lasting days, weeks or months, in cramped conditions on their way to slaughter.

They experience stress and exhaustion, rough handling, hunger and thirst, extreme temperatures and unsanitary conditions as they are transported live across the world. As a result, the animals suffer horrific injuries, diseases are spread and many die before reaching their destination.

We already have the technology to transport fresh chilled and frozen meat, and the science to prove the welfare benefits of local, humane slaughter. For these reasons, long distance transport is not only cruel, it is unnecessary.

Find out more and sign a petition asking for this long-distance transport to slaughter to end HERE

If you would like to leave a message or a comment about this issue of the magazine, please feel free to do so here!

I would like to thank all the contributors to this issue of the magazine:

Rufus

Wyldeflower

Kedi-Gato

If you would like to contribute to the magazine, you can find out more about how on the forum or by e-mailing me at SilverSteno@hotmail.co.uk  Whether you're interest is photography or whales, fossils or ants there is room for all in The Realm Magazine!