Sturgeons as a group are known for their elongated snoots (formally "rostra"). They contain electroreceptors, which allow them to sense electric fields in the water! Like their cousins the paddlefish, sturgeon use these electroreceptors to tell when dinner is nearby! (Zhang et al. 2012) #2025MMM - ThreadSky

docrowschaef.bsky.social • 8 days ago

Sturgeons as a group are known for their elongated snoots (formally "rostra"). They contain electroreceptors, which allow them to sense electric fields in the water! Like their cousins the paddlefish, sturgeon use these electroreceptors to tell when dinner is nearby! (Zhang et al. 2012) #2025MMM

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docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

Don't be deceived! Even though Tuatara look like lizards, they are in fact the only living member of the order Rhynchocephalia, which means "beak head"! The name Tuatara comes from a Māori word meaning "peaks or spikes on the back." This reptile tips the scales at 2.2 lbs (4.5 stoats) #2025MMM

gwenckatz.bsky.social•8 days ago

Tuatara fall into the category of "creatures I was fascinated by as a kid because there was one picture of them in a Usborne book with absolutely no other information."

(Mesonychids are another.) #2025MMM

margooutside.bsky.social•8 days ago

Ah you were that kid too? I always loved the things that had very little information and then would lament that there was not enough information about them #2025MMM #IDoThisToMySelf

docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

Tonight's battle takes place in Eastern Europe. In winter Starry Sturgeon lurked along the bed of the Black Sea, chowing down on fish, worms, & crustaceans detected with her whisker-like sensory organ (barbels). Without teeth, she suctions prey into her large, bottom-facing mouth. #2025MMM

docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

But tonight, Starry Sturgeon is abandoning the Black Sea, laden with eggs, she swims against the current of the Danube River delta, heading upriver for the spring spawning! (Ceapa et al. 2002). #2025MMM

drmurderbritches.bsky.social•8 days ago

Cue Barry White. Aw, yeah... #2025MMM

docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

Meanwhile, on Stephens Island in New Zealand, the morning dawn ends Tuatara's nocturnal hunting. After a summer of hunting seabird eggs & nestlings, in the austral autumn Tuatara's meals are primarily bugs & other invertebrates (Fraser, 1993). #2025MMM

docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

All of a sudden #MMMagic translocates Tuatara to the chilly waters of the Danube River... but Tuatara is cold tolerant & can swim in waters down to 41F! (Thompson & Daugherty 1998) #2025MMM

docrowschaef.bsky.social•8 days ago

The Starry Sturgeon swims closer... closer... closer... to the Tuatara... #2025MMM

kellybrenner.bsky.social•8 days ago

boooooo #TeamInvert says eat the lizard, sturgeon! you need the protein for your babies #2025MMM

modcur.bsky.social•8 days ago

I feel a deep foreboding about the role human interference may play in this bout #2025MMM

drmurderbritches.bsky.social•8 days ago

I still haven't forgiven humans for the Harar Hyena in 2018! #2025MMM

ldurgavich.bsky.social•8 days ago

Yes, humans. ALL humans. Definitely not one particular narrator. #2025MMM

buckykatt.bsky.social•8 days ago

Like the Olms, Tuatara also recorded an album as a hedge in case a reptilian career didn't work out. #2025MMM

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