Category: Trivia
The compounds in cone snail venom that can make any Pinoy smile
Michigan Science Art With its lovely brown-and-white shell, the marine snail known as the geography cone (Conus geographus) may not…
FlipFact (May 18, 2020): The unexpected discovery of the pygmy seahorse
Nick Everett/Shutterstock When marine biologist George Bargibant was examining the Muricella spp gorgonians (soft corals) he had collected for the Nouméa museum, he…
FlipFact (May 17, 2020): The peculiar relationship between the boxer crab and its ‘gloves’
Lee Goldman/Coral Triangle Adventures LLC The coral reefs of the Philippines house many eye-catching marine wonders. However, few are as…
Why the tiny blue dragon goes after bigger, toxic marine prey
Sylke Rohrlach/CC BY-SA 2.0 The animal kingdom is full of species that are much more dangerous than they let on.…
This docile sea krait packs a frighteningly deadly bite
©Christopher and Ylfa Daerr/www.daerr.com The yellow-lipped sea krait (Laticauda colubrina) goes by many names, including the banded sea krait, colubrine…
The Pacific Ocean: The world’s largest, deepest, and oldest ocean basin
NASA Five centuries ago, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan found himself in unfamiliar waters. He took note of their tranquility as he…
FlipFact (May 12, 2020): Scaleless yet spectacular, the mandarinfish can do something most animals can’t
Looking at a mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) is like witnessing a prismatic explosion in piscine form. A popular pet for fish…
FlipFact (May 11, 2020): 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘴, a giant among giant clams
When Filipinos talk about the giant clam, one species typically comes to mind: Tridacna gigas, found in the Verde Island Passage, Panatag…
This ‘living fossil’ shark may hold nature’s longest pregnancy record
Pop quiz: Which vertebrate has the longest gestation period? Chances are you’ll say it’s the African elephant. At 22 months,…
FlipFact (May 9, 2020): 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴, a deep sea lobster with ‘bizarre’ claws from the Philippines
Discovered in 2007 and formally described in 2010, Dinochelus ausubeli is a one-of-a-kind deep sea lobster from the Philippine Sea. Scientists…
