North America's biggest salamanders, hellbenders can grow as long as 2.5 feet
North America's biggest salamanders, hellbenders can grow as long as 2.5 feet
Aw, c’mon, don’t compare the snot guy to Helen, the otter has it all over Helen.
Looks like they`ll be collecting some special order “snot” from the “Snot Otters”.
ping
Kind of hard to read “snott otter” and “sperm” the same sentence and not think it is humor..
This is, at the very least, a contender for the strangest headline, ever.
...."and to think I cudda avoided reading this headline before my daily cup of tapioca pudding"
ping
Dude, get a look at him...who would want to?
To top that off, can you imagine "Hey baby, my name is Snot Otter. How do you like me so far?"
Yet, without any evidence or facts/data (admitted in the article) the “conservationists” automatically blame humans for their demise.
They will now scream for knee-jerk reactions that will really harm humans in some way to try to keep this species alive.
Do they not know they are trying to stop the evolutionary cycle they so soundly tout?
Hey baby, wanna hold my snot otter?
a mud puppy by any other name.
Hellbenders are the only species in the Genus Cryptobranchus and they only live in North America. There are two subspecies, the Ozark Hellbender (Missouri & Arkansas) which is very close to extinction, and the Eastern Hellbender which is doing a bit better.
Hellbenders are the 3rd largest salamander in the world, behind the Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders (the Chinese is the largest).
We grew up calling them Devil Dogs and used to find them in the creek on overcast autumn days.
I’ve kept another type of salamander, called an axolotl, for years. Axolotls often don’t go through metamorphosis, which allows them to remain aquatic and keep their gills. Axolotls which don’t undergo metamorphosis can be forced to do so by giving them various substances. When forced to mature fully, their lifespans are cut drastically.
They have been shown to be able to regenerate body parts, including parts of their brains, and can successfully accept transplanted body parts from other animals, including eyes and even parts of the brain.
They have unique hearts, too, and are used to study prenatal heart defects.
All of this makes them very important to medical researchers.
We should be concerned about the decline of amphibians in general, because their inability to breed has been linked to poor water quality. Poor water quality probably isn’t good for anything or anyone.
It would be a shame if animals like this hold the key to regenerating organs, aging, heart defects, or making transplants safer, only to see them go extinct before we can find out what their secrets are.
“They have been shown to be able to regenerate body parts, including parts of their brains,”
Things that make you go “Hmmmmm....” ping.