A Slithering Solution

Everyone has different opinions on snakes, some see them as terrifying creatures who can kill you with their venom and others see them as the cutest things ever. What if I told you the venom snakes produce can be prevented by the blood of another snake. Scientists have found that different combinations of natural toxic-blocking proteins that are found in snakes can be very useful antivenoms.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – My Magnetic Sense is Tingling!

Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about magnetism and migration here.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

PMOS: Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome 

In honor of September being PMOS awareness month, I will work to raise awareness as a fellow cyster (a moniker given to those who are diagnosed with PMOS). PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome), formerly known as PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) until May 2026, a less accurate description of what the condition entails, affects around 5-10% of the female population; it’s become increasingly common.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Mammal Monday – Humpback

Image from Wikimedia Commons Listen to the singing of Humpback Whales.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Need a New Tongue?

Have you heard about the parasite that steals tongues? Cymothoa exigua, better known as tongue-eating louse do exactly as their name entails. These critters are a rare type of crustacean known to parasitize some species of fish. The tongue-eating louse forms a special bond with specific bony fish, usually the teleost fish. Cymothoa exigua begins its process by entering the gills of the fish.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Frog Friday – Now You See Me…

Boutry River Frog (Phrynobatrachus calcaratus) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Are We Really Ovary-Acting?

It’s common to hear jokes about women being on their period—moody, hungry, crying. These unpleasant comments often deter from someone’s genuine emotional struggles. Why do people get so moody during their menstruation? Is it fair to make this into the butt of a joke? Human menstruation is the roughly monthly cycle of growth and then shedding of the uterine lining, relating to the release of various hormones regulating the system.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Balance is Key

Humans are far more fragile than a good chunk of the animal kingdom. Things like not getting enough sleep, food or water, along with being over active or even underactive, or too hot or too cold can cause issues like stress and muscle fatigue and damage. There must be a very good and strong balance between doing things that are good for us and not doing too much or too little of it, otherwise something is bound to go wrong.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Paint it Black!

Imagine buying a Rotisserie Chicken at the grocery store, only to discover the meat is completely black when you cut it open at home. You might think the chicken was burned to a crisp or was artificially dyed, however, this unusual coloring is perfectly natural. This chicken has Fibromelanosis, a characteristic that is helping scientists understand rapid evolution in various species of animals.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Mammal Monday – A Marsupial in Wolf’s Clothing

Tasmanian Wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus) Image from Wikimedia Commons Did you know? "The last known shooting of a wild thylacine took place in 1930, and by the mid part of that decade sightings in the wild were extremely rare. Authorities from scientific and zoological communities became concerned about the state of the decimated thylacine population and pushed for preservation measures to be undertaken.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Frog Friday – A Wrinkle in Time

Japanese Wrinkled Frog (Glandirana rugosa) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Like Father, Like SON: How One Mutation Alters a Gene’s Legacy

It is a fitting biological coincidence that the SON locus presents a striking parallel to familial lineage, as the SON gene functions as the father dictating the rules of inheritance, while the SON protein functions as the offspring that carries out those instructions. From splicing certain pre-mRNAs with weak splice sites to maintaining nuclear speckle organization, there is no doubt that the SON lineage plays a pivotal role in cellular action.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

The Biology of Deception

Over the course of time, many organisms have developed a way to trick predators and become the ultimate copycats of the natural world. Two main types of mimicry are Mullerian and Batesian, although there are many more types of mimicry that have evolved. Mullerian mimicry has to do with two poisonous species that mimic each other's characteristics and physical features, in order to give predators a lesson on which prey to trust.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – They’re Grrrrrreat!

Great Egret (Ardea alba) Image from Wikimedia Commons At fishing, that is.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

“Come Give Grandma a Kiss!”

Let me paint you picture: your a fish, scaly, pale and free. You get food regularly at the local mud trenches swimming here and there. You have a happy family with a wife you haven't seen in who knows how long and a little under a hundred kids swimming out in the great blue. Life is good! And then… BOOM!!

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Mammal Monday – The “Sea Canaries”

Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas)Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about this fascinating species here.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

What If The Secret to Immortality Was a Jellyfish? 

Aging seems pretty straightforward. A baby is born, they grow up, they get older, and eventually their cells become less capable of repairing themselves. It’s one of those things that feels so obvious that we rarely question it. Then, there is Turritopsis dorhnii, a tiny jellyfish with a very different approach to getting older. When its life gets difficult, it can basically hit rewind.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Frog Friday – It Is Friday, My Dudes!

Budgett's Frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

“Loose Cannon”

Have you ever experienced a flu that wouldn’t go away? Today many viruses and diseases are rapidly scattering and antimicrobial resistance is continuously growing in germs. Antimicrobial resistance is when germs (bacteria, parasites, viruses, and fungi) change over time to resist medicines, making them almost impossible to cure. But scientists are discovering viruses that infect bacterias, called phages, that can target selective pathogenic bacteria by shutting down the bacterial defence systems.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – Passenger Pigeon

Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about the possible return of the Passenger Pigeon here.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Acid and Anthills!

What do ants, French chemists, and artificial sweeteners have in common? Not much of anything— unless you account for the existence of one colorless, pungent chemical that serves as an important biological defense mechanism and a special tool to help sweeten your coffee: formic acid. The “Ant Acid” Formic acid is a very useful chemical component found in both nature and industry.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Stone Man’s Disease – Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

Have you ever broken a bone? Maybe it’s a wrist fracture or something with your legs, either way, it probably healed just fine, right? I mean, the average person breaks about two bones in their lifetime, but picture a life in which any slight injury resulted in hindrances that affect your daily living. The people diagnosed with F.O.P. (Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva…

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Mammal Monday – Javan Rhinoceros

Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Frog Friday – Common Rocket Frog

Image from Wikimedia Commons This terrestrial amphibian species deposits its eggs in leaf-litter. Upon hatching, the adults carry the tadpoles to streams. The common rocket frog is not to be confused with this rare species.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – Gold Rush

American Goldfinch Spinus tristis Image from Wikimedia Commons Did you know? American Goldfinches are the only finches that molt twice a year, replacing their golden plumage first in late winter and again in late summer. Each spring, the brightening yellow of male goldfinches is welcomed as an indicator that warmer days are approaching.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Mammal Monday – The Cutest Clones

Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about recent efforts to save this endangered species.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Frog Friday – UnFROGettable Discovery

Starry Dwarf Frog (Astrobatrachus kurichiyana) Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about this frog here.

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com

Winged Wednesday – Wannabe Flamingo?

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Image from Wikimedia Commons

toucanplaythatgame.wpcomstaging.com