what about a bioluminescent bacterium that needs to be in 'possum intestines to move on to the next development phase making the slugs glow so they get caught/eaten more easily by nocturnal predators?
There would have to be some reason that the slugs need to be visually attracted to each other, but their scent trails don't work. all the animals I can think of that use bioluminescence either swim or fly, too.
I got to see some of these guys in person- my instructor in a "Cross-Kingdom Interactions" class had a colleague of hers bring some in. They're really nifty! I guess they somehow manage to keep the chloroplasts they "steal" alive longer than the chloroplasts would live in the algae, and no one really knows how or why yet.
Jeezum crow, that's complicated--but fascinating! Suppose a terrestrial slug fed on larval fireflies and didn't metabolize the bioluminscent material...
They're super cool. When I saw some, as soon as the high-powered lights were turned on, they unfurled like they were basking in the light.
Is your icon from the New England Aquarium touch tank? I'm taking my boyfriend and his son to Boston when I go home to Vermont (we leave Friday!!), and I'm definitely taking them on the museum circuit.
It's from the Alaska Sealife Center touch tank; I wonder if the NEAQ touch tank has funny signs--I never linger there because there are always so many kids.
In my dream it was a terrestrial slug, about the size of a dusky slug but shaped more like this: . It was yellow, and glowed a little yellower than a firefly. I suppose it must me toxic, or else the phosphorescence would attract predators.
about 10 years ago, i went camping by the beach in south carolina. two of us wanted swim at night. our other friend had just seen jaws and refused to get in, so when we started seeing thousands of bioluminescent guys all around us in the water, she told us we were just high and it was our imaginations. she refused to come in and look and she refused to believe us.
after i got out, i took off my bikini and started to wring the water out...sure enough, the padding was full of those shiny little guys. when i pressed it, they glowed. then she had to believe me! very cool. i'm sorry they all had to die in my bikini top, though.
It might just mean you've watched the dvd extras to Return of the King one too many times.
what the hell am I looking at? I tried to parse the jargon, but I'm one glass of wild turkey away from being able to pretend I understand scientist-speak at the moment. Looks cool, though.
Cellular slime mold amoebae have aggregated to form a slug. The amoebae are mutants with a gene (taken from fireflies) that makes a green fluorescent protein. The cells that will end up being dead stalks in the fruiting bodies are the ones that are labelled to see their location in the slug.
Ooops. I said GFP is from fireflies. Luciferase is from fireflies. GFP is from jellyfish. Guh, how did I make that mistake?! They are going to revoke my degree in seamonkeyology.
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oh wait, yeah ... see him down that long, loooong straight sluggy tunnel. Hmmm
OK
In a world were the sun never shines lives a slug that eats decaying plant matter created by a sunshine, carbon and ....
OK
In a world were the sun never shines lives a slug
Nope, just can't make it work.
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I dreamed last night that someone stole my dog and I was chasing him around the Orient Express. I don't even have dog, mores the pity.
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Is your icon from the New England Aquarium touch tank? I'm taking my boyfriend and his son to Boston when I go home to Vermont (we leave Friday!!), and I'm definitely taking them on the museum circuit.
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I love the idea, though.
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Ok, so it's not exactly bioluminescence...
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about 10 years ago, i went camping by the beach in south carolina. two of us wanted swim at night. our other friend had just seen jaws and refused to get in, so when we started seeing thousands of bioluminescent guys all around us in the water, she told us we were just high and it was our imaginations. she refused to come in and look and she refused to believe us.
after i got out, i took off my bikini and started to wring the water out...sure enough, the padding was full of those shiny little guys. when i pressed it, they glowed. then she had to believe me! very cool. i'm sorry they all had to die in my bikini top, though.
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(First video clip)
http://www.dictybase.org/Multimedia/morphogenesis/morphogenetic_movements.htm
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what the hell am I looking at? I tried to parse the jargon, but I'm one glass of wild turkey away from being able to pretend I understand scientist-speak at the moment. Looks cool, though.
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I have to go stick a "slime molds" tag on this thread, now.
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