Glass frogs are seriously way too cool, down to their crazy eyes and their visible innards. Via IFLS: "Glass frogs are a group of South and Central American frogs with translucent skin. Their internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract, are all completely visible." The transparency is thought to help them camouflage. Read more
See-through glass frogs
Cortney Science & Technology + biology, frogs
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Structure and formation of recent limestone (Miami & Key Largo) of Southern Florida
Cortney Science & Technology + bryozoans, calcium carbonates, corals, florida, geology, limestone, ooids, sea level, southern florida
This post provides a brief overview of the formation and characteristics of recent limestone deposits in Southern Florida, the Miami Limestone and Key Largo Limestone. Most of this material was collected as part of a presentation for EOS 404S: Geology of Tropical Marine Environments in Spring 2013, but has been expanded and re-formatted here. Read more →
Why Gastropods (snails & slugs) are awesome
Cortney Science & Technology + busycon, gastropoda, nematocysts, nudibranchs, radula, snails, whelk, why invertebrates are awesome
Snails. They're slow and boring. We regularly use "snail-like" as an adjective to diss something for being so slow - hardly a positive connotation. What could be so exciting about snails? For starters, what about the fact that they're basically moving fortresses? Okay, maybe this doesn't impress you. Turtles have the same thing going for them, after all. Read more →
Why Poriferans (sponges) are awesome
Cortney Science & Technology + archeocytes, biology, diffusion, porifera, regeneration, spicules, sponges, venturi effect, why invertebrates are awesome
I've talked about why despite their slow rap, snails are actually awesome -- but if there's a creature more seemingly boring than a snail, it's the sponge. Evolutionarily, sponges are among the oldest, most basal multi-cellular animals, and as such, they're very simple, lacking organs and the ability to move -- but despite this, they've come up with some clever body engineering. Read more →