Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

Check out these awesome dinosaurs. All pretty and baller and songbirdy and stuff!

Yup, birds are dinos. There are "avian dinosaurs" (Saurischia), which have hips that have legs sticking straight out underneath them, and "non-avian dinosaurs" (Ornithischia - confusingly, translates as "bird-hipped"), which have legs that splayed out to the sides. Birds first appeared during the Jurassic period, 150 million years ago, and they're the only surviving member of the Dinosauria clade.

All carnivorous dinosaurs were warm-blooded, and were Saurischians. One of the two primary herbivorous dinosaur lines is also Saurischian - the Sauropodopmorpha (including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Argentinosaurus) branched off around 230 mya, but well-known dinosaurs such as triceratops and stegosaurus are comparatively unrelated to modern birds.

Birds: The Late Evolution of Dinosaurs.

Dinobuzz: Are birds really dinosaurs? Images:

Giant Heron and Sea Eagle Pied Hornbill, Andean Condor, Leadbeater's Cockatoo xkcd: Birds and Dinosaurs Ostrich, Weaver Birds Rock Penguin, Roseate Spoonbill, Greater Flamingo Wild Life of the World. Richard Lydekker, 1916.

Accipitres competing over carrion.

Of course none of these birds would be found in the same part of the world, but this is an excellent comparison between the Old World vultures and the New World vultures. The Egyptian vulture and Griffon vultures are considered Old World vultures, as is the Lammergeier. However, the Lammergeier is not closely related to the other Old World vultures, aside from the Egyptian vulture. 

New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures, but are superficially similar (they look alike). New World vultures (such as the California condor and turkey vulture) have an excellent sense of smell, and are often the first scavenger at the scene of the death. These are the ones that are popularly depicted as circling overhead when someone or something is dying. Old World vultures have a poor sense of smell, but good eyesight, and tend to follow other birds to carcasses, then fight them away from it.

Natural History of the Animal Kingdom for the Use of Young People. W. F. Kirby, 1889.

"Dog-headed thyloeinus"

This is either a miniature thylacine, or a damn giant of a platypus...thylacines ranged from 40-70 lbs (20-30 kg) as adults (they were about the size of a small greyhound, but built more for stamina than speed), and platypuses are considered BIG if they reach 6 lbs (2.6 kg).

Roosevelt's Thrilling Experiences in the Wilds of Africa Hunting Big Game. Marshall Everett, 1909.*

*No, this scene is not from Africa. It is from an account of another explorer later in the book, who went to Tasmania

Method of the mussurana's attack upon the jararaca.

Note the size difference between the two snakes. The mussurana is able to consume comparatively large snakes because its digestive system compresses the body of the other snake into a wave-like shape.

Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Theodore Roosevelt, 1914.

"The mussurama [mussurana] swallowing the jararaca, or fer-de-lance, after having just killed it."

"Look men, NATURE!" 

The mussurana is an ophiophagous snake, meaning that it specializes in eating other snakes. It has around 15 strong teeth in the back of its mouth that it uses to pull the head of the  (still living) other snake into its gullet, at which point it wraps around its prey and strangles it. This behavior leads it to be called a "pseudoboa".

Mussuaranas are immune to the venom of their prey - the pit vipers of Central and South America. However, the coral snake venom is still deadly to them.

Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Theodore Roosevelt, 1914.

This is Totsy. He is a python. He likes sparrows. He really likes sparrows.

Snakes: Curiosities and Wonders of Serpent Life. Catherine C. Hopley, 1882.

Lion Claw.

Lion paws have an extra joint compared to other cats, and this gives them extra range-of-motion. Thanks to this additional range, lions can sink their claws deeper into prey than any other mammal, and they can hang on through a huge amount thrashing and struggling. Their broad pads that allow for silent movement also provide a huge surface area to back up a swipe with the claws, and combined with the massive forebody muscling, this allows lions to deliver a blow strong enough to break a zebra's back.

The Hand; its Mechanism and Vital Endowments, as Evincing Design. Sir Charles Bell, 1854.

Comparative anatomy of the predator and its prey.

The Hand; its Mechanism and Vital Endowments, as Evincing Design. Sir Charles Bell, 1854.