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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Scientist: Salamander eats bat droppings |
| 2005-12-06 |
| I've often accused some of my colleagues of going completely bats**t, but this is the first literal example I've come across: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- After two years of study in an isolated northeast Oklahoma cave, Jim Stout has discovered that a rare species of grotto salamander has a diet much different from what was expected. Stout, the supervisor of the Herpetarium at the Oklahoma City Zoo, has helped write a report published by a leading scholarly journal that documents how a blind cave-dwelling salamander eats bat droppings. The salamander was thought to subsist on bugs and shrimp and this is the first report of a salamander, or any amphibian, living on bat guano. Most of us will know "Bat Guano" as the Major who tried to save a Coke machine from vandalism in Dr. Strangelove. His article is in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences. Dante Fenolio collaborated on the research. "Because bats don't fully digest their food, their guano was pretty nutritious, and actually had more calories than the tiny shrimp," Stout said. "In effect, by eating the bat droppings, the salamanders have cut out the middle man." New health food fad? At the time of the study, Fenolio, an expert in salamanders, was working on his master's degree at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Stout said. Fenolio is now at the University of Miami, Fla., where he is working on his doctorate. In addition to Stout, Fenolio's co-authors on the journal article are G.O. Graening, a cave biologist with the Nature Conservancy in Arkansas, and Bret A. Collier of Texas A&M University's department of wildlife and fisheries sciences in College Station, Texas. Stout said the group's original mission was a two-year population ecology study of a federally protected cave in Delaware County. Buy AP Photo Reprints no thanks Stout said about 15,000 grey bats live in the cave he studied. "Except for the bats, the cave is a pretty sterile environment, and the grotto salamander population was larger than we thought the cave could support," Stout said. "Things didn't add up at first." The researchers also noticed a significant drop in the grotto salamander population when the migrating bats were not there. The bats live in the cave from May to December. ...and go to Florida for the winter. |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #5 Grotto Salamanders join invertibrates like dung beetles, banana slugs, and the ordinary house fly... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-12-06 20:56 |
| #4 Well, thanks for killing my appetite for dinner. This is clearly another entry for "Sgt Moms' Diet Plan". |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2005-12-06 20:15 |
| #3 Sounds like Jim needs a girlfriend... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-12-06 17:13 |
| #2 Stout said. "In effect, by eating the bat droppings, the salamanders have cut out the middle man." ..huuum sounds like an e-Bey oportunity..better git my sh*t together. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2005-12-06 16:49 |
| #1 Because bats don't fully digest their food, their guano was pretty nutritious, and actually had more calories than the tiny shrimp Hard to chew properly with fangs. And yes, Gromky. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-12-06 16:40 |