FUNNY SIMILARITIES IN SOME NAMES OF UNRELATED ANIMALS

      (The following are names in the published literature. I did not make them up. Also, this list is, by no means, complete.)

Flying lemur, flying fox, flying fish, flying squirrel, Wallace’s Flying frog, flying ray, flying snake, flying lemurs, flying squid.

Toad, toadstool, nematode, fire-bellied toads, jungle toads, helmeted water toads, false toads, midwife toads, Australian toadlets, European spadefoot toads, American spadefoot toads, narrow-mouth toads, hoptoads, red-spotted toads, oak toad, Railroad Valley Toad.

Bats, bat rays, globin bat, baseball bats, lesser bulldog bat, naked bulldog bat, painted bat, ghost-faced bat, big brown bat, little brown bat, great-evening bat, red-lipped batfish. 

Batman, Aqua Man, Spiderman.

Vampire, vampire squid, vampire bat, vampire squirrel, vampire crab, vampire flying frog, vampire fish (vampire tetra), vampire moth.

Killer whale, killer worm, killer bee, killer clam, killer snail, cow killer [= a large velvet ant].

Brachiopod, isopod, pteropod, amphipod, arthropod, cephalopod, decapod, gastropod. 

Meerkat, bobcat, fisher cat, polecat, civet cat, Asian bear cat.

King snake, king cobra, king crab, kingfisher, king vulture, king salmon, king penguin, King Kong.

Sea snake, tiger snake, cat snake, chicken snake, coachwhip snake, egg-eater snake, parrot snake, worm snake, zebra snake, wolf snake, whip snake, chicken snake, coachwhip snake, egg-eater snake, milk snake, parrot snake, tiger snake, flying snake, Golden-tree snake, tree snake.

Electric catfish, electric ray.

Globlin shark, globlin bat, globin spider.

Brain coral, elk-horn coral.

Hammerhead worm, hammerhead shark, hammerhead bat.

Flatworm, computer worm, round worm, tape worm, segmented worm, flat-topped worm, hookworm, ribbon worm, jumping worm, ice-cream-cone worm, spaghetti worm, scale worm, bloodworm, bamboo worm, fire worm, Christmas-tree worm, parchment worm, segmented worm, cone worm.

Bumblebee bat, painted bat, lesser bulldog bat, naked-bulldog bat.

Dracula ant, Dracula parrot, Dracula fish.

Honey bear, bearcat, meercats.

Coconuts, coconut crabs.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE MALDIVES ARCHIPELAGO

The independent Republic of Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean (Fig. 1) immediately south of India, is the smallest nation in Asia. It is also the lowest-lying country in the world with an average elevation of only 1.5 m (4.5 feet) above sea level. With the polar ice caps of Earth currently in the process of melting, the sea level rising,  thus the future of the Maldives (which is a popular vacation site) is problematic. In 2022 census, there were about 500,000 people living in the Maldives.

Figure 1. Location of the Maldives (north to south) chain of islands.

This island nation is made up of coral islands and sandbanks built on a submerged ridge. The islands represent low-laying coral atolls. An atoll is a roughly circular structure consisting of a coral reef surrounded by deep water of the open ocean. Typically, there are inlets in the reef that allow ocean water to accumulate in a shallow lagoon (10 to 100 m deep) in the center of an atoll. In some cases, the center of the atoll becomes filled with carbonate sand.

The Maldives began forming 68 million years ago as a hotspot, which also produced the Deccan Traps (lava flows) in India. As India moved northward, the hotspot generated an island chain in the Indian Ocean. Today, the islands are located in the central section of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge/Plateau which extends from north to south, as indicated by the red arrows in Figure 2.

                                                           
         Figure 2. The arrows point to the extent of the island chain

                       (archipelago) that makes up the Maldives.

    

For an informative step-by-step explanation of the formation of the Maldives, I recommend the website: dreamingofmaldives.com. It is a summary of the history of this remarkable chain of reefs: starting with a chain of active volcanoes, then the eruptions stopped, then sea level rose and the volcanoes sank underwater. At the interior of the islands, fringing reefs formed and eventually became barrier reefs. The entire process of atoll formation took about 30 million years.

There are 16 major atolls (and many minor ones) in the Maldives, each consisting of a ring of coral reef around a lagoon. In some cases the lagoons are open (Fig. 3), partially (Fig. 4) or completely filled (Fig. 5) with coral sand.

Figure 3. Example of a flooded atoll in the Maldives (Google Earth image).

Figure 4. Example of a partially flooded atoll in the northern part of the Maldives, with some human occupation (Google Earth image).

Figure 5. Example of a filled atoll in the northern part of the Maldives, with extensive human occupation (Google Earth image).

MOUNT ST. HELENS, SOON AFTER ITS ERUPTION IN 2008

 

Mount Saint Helens (current elevation 8,366 feet) is an active explosive dacite stratovolcano in southwestern Washington. Its latest eruption was on Jan. 16, 2008, but its eruption on May 18, 1980 was of considerable size, and, obviously, got the attention of inhabitants in that area and the rest of the world!

 

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake on May 18, 1980 initiated the collapse of part of the mountain-top of Mount St. Helens. The collapsed material ended up in a massive debris avalanche that released pressured gas, leading to a powerful lateral blast that that flattened 230 square miles of evergreen-tree forest! The eruption also caused a towering ash cloud (thousands of feet tall). 

Mount St. Helens was 9600 feet tall before the eruption, which lasted 9 hours. After the eruption, the mountain was 1300 feet shorter! It is now 8300 feet tall. The eruption lasted nine hours, killed 57 people, and permanently altered the landscape.

The area is now a National Volcanic Monument.

I made a trip to the area several months after the eruption, and that is when I took pictures (some shown here, below) of the mountain and its surroundings. The area was open then to the public and still is, as far as I know. One of the most memorable features was the huge amount of flattened trees. I had never seen anything like it before.

The following four images sum up most of the results of the massive eruption. I took the pictures from the paved highway that traverses through the Mt. St. Helens area:

                                   overview of Mt. St. Helens

swath of blown-down-trees destruction

   closeup of a representative tree-blow down area

                         a tree trunk still standing after the horrific" blow down" 

AN UNUSUAL FOSSIL CRINOID

This post concerns a fossil that I believe to be Catcocrinus glans (Hall), the youngest known species of this fossil crinoid genus, which is Early Carboniferous (i.e., Mississippian Period) in geologic age; thus it is about 350 million years old. This species is found in Missouri and Indiana. I include here an image of this particular crinoid (for the original illustration, see pl. 77, fig. 10 in Shimer and Schrock 1944:p. 196).  

This fossil does not resemble traditional crinoids, or any other illustration of any fossil, other than that of  Catcocrinus (note: I looked for a long time in every fossil book I have). The Mississippian age was a time of greatest crinoid diversity, and Catcocrinus seems to have been an example of a crinoid that took advantage of this diversification!

Figure 1. Actual specimen (6 3/4 cm tall and 5 cm wide) of this unusual crinoid. 

Figure 2. Catcorinus glans (copied from pl. 77, fig. 10---in Shimer and Schrock, 1944:p.196) [also see their short text note on p. 193].

Main Reference

Shimer, H. W. and R. R. Shrock.  Index fossils of North America. The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 837 pp. 

THE FALSE SHAMROCK FLOWER

Oaxlis triangularis = the “false Shamrock Flower," which is in the wood-sorrel family. This flower has five, clover-shaped petals that grow in clusters and resemble a shamrock. The flowers grow on very long and very narrow, flexible stems. The stems do not shoot up from roots in the soil; instead they emerge from little brown bulbs. The leaves fold-down at night. The entire plant can be up to 20 inches tall.

This plant is a perennial (i.e., thrives for multiple years). There are several cultivares (varieties). This plant has variously colored flowers: bright purple, deep purple, pink, lavender, white, etc. The flowers attract butterflies.

This plant blooms in spring and summer. In southern California, it  does best indoors (otherwise it will go dormant during the winter).

  Classification

Kingdom Plantae

Clades (4 of them)

Order Oxalidales

Family Oxalidaceae

Genus Oxalis 

Species triangularis

All parts of this plant have toxic potential.

This plant is native to South America.

Reference: Wikipedia, 2026 

AN UNUSUAL PINE SHRUB

Pinus mugo is the scientific name for the shrub called “Mugo pine,” a dwarf-sized pine plant, which is native to subalpine zones in central and southern Europe. The word “mugo” is Italian for “small mountain pine.” Today, this plant thrives at elevations between 3,300 to 7,300 feet in the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpatians, and Balkin Mountains.

Figure 1. Mugo Pine (adult!). This shrub has been growing for years in my garden, yet the shrub mostly remains the same size!

Figure 2. Mugo Pine closeup.

This perennial is a hearty (tough) plant that is cultivated throughout the world.

It can reach 15 to 20 feet in height and 20 to 30 feet in width, but some varieties average 2 to 5 feet tall. It is a slow-growing plant that can live in all types of soil. For the most part, this dwarf-pine tree gains only a few inches in height per year. It is also drought-tolerant. It is a plant that is well suited for growing in gardens. It prefers full-sun conditions. These pines can live up to 50 years.

It prefers full sun and can tolerate moderately hot temperatures. This tree does quite well in southern California (we have two trees in our gardent).

Genetic studies show that Pinus mugo persisted in glacial refugia (survival areas) during the last ice ages (e.g., north of the Alps). After the glaciers receded, the mugo populations reconnected allowing the gene flow and expansion across the European mountain chains into harsh alpine environments. After the glaciers receded, these populations of mugo reconnected, allowing genetic mixture and subsequent and expansion across the European mountain chains.

Main reference used for text: Wikipedia, 2026. 

ATTU ISLAND, ALASKA: AN INTERESTING TECTONIC HISTORY AND A BIRD-WATCHER'S WONDERLAND

Attu Island  (located at approximately 52.8 degrees North latitude and 173 degrees East longitude) is the most westward island in Alaska and is 1600 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Location of Attu Island, indicated by the red arrow, in the Pacific Northwest (Google Earth image).

The island is near the western tip of the Aleutian Islands chain, and it is one of the westernmost points of the United States. Its location required a major redrawing of the western boundary of the International Date Line (see the “V” shaped line on Figure 2---just west of the lettering for “Near Islands”). 

Figure 2. Location of Attu Island (indicated by the red arrow) relative to the inter-national date line (Rand McNally Earth Map).

The island is located at 53 degrees North latitude North, 173 degrees longitude East, and is 35 miles long. The Russian Kamchatka Peninsula is 208 miles west of Attu.

The island (Fig. 3) was occupied by Japanese forces during World Ware II, and subsequent fierce battles took place there in 1943. Some warfare equipment is still present but very rusted. The Coast Guard was present on the island for quite awhile, but it left in 2010, leaving the island uninhabited.

Figure 3. ERTS imagery of Attu Island, with latitude and longitude;(a Google Earth image).

The island is now a sanctuary for migrating birds (with many species from Asia). The island is a “birder’s paradise,” with about 748 species of birds recognized. In the references below, I have listed a few URL’s in the References herein, if you want to see detailed lists of birds that have seen on the island. A few examples are: Cacking Goose, Green-Winged Teal, Harlequin Duck, Red-Breasted Mergansa, Black-Tailed Godwit, Tuffed Puffin, Laysan Albabross, Snowy Owl, Common Cucko, White-Tailed Eagle, Chinese Pond Heron, etc. Some of the birds are endemic, whereas others migrate from Asia. Literally millions of sea birds visit the island yearly.

The climate on the island is “subpolar oceanic,” which translates into cold, foggy, and rainy. It has 49 inches of rainfall per year. The cold also has allowed a recently recognized glacier (with crevasses) that formed near the top of the highest mountain on the island (3,000 feet in height). Clear days are rare (only about 8 or 10 per year!) on Attu Island; the rest of the time it is overcast, cold, and rainy (not exactly a resort-type place to visit!). On Attu, five or six days a week are likely not to be rainy.

This island is at the western end of a volcanic chain of islands (i.e., the Aleutian Arc) in which volcanic islands have been formed by subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American plate. Attu will be subducted into the Aleutian Trench located immediately southwest of Attu (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Location of Attu Island (indicated by red arrow) relative to the Aleutian Trench (source National Geographic map, Pacific Ocean Floor, October, 1969).

 As a result of its geologic history, Attu is dominated by volcanic rocks (e.g., andesite and dacite dikes). The oldest rocks on the island are Oligocene-Miocene, about 30 million years in age. Eventually, Attu Island will be subducted back into the Earth’s interior, from which it originally came from.

References;

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L8200014/bird-list

https://fws.gov/refuge/alaska-maritime, visit-us/activities/birding

Wikipedia, 2025.