#The species is also very very diverse and can have quite a number of colours. horns. stripes and all sorts

[clinicallyinsanedumpsterrabbit]

Ok Bestie question time What is your Dave? Is he a cryptic snake? In curious. also here’s ur snack 🧁

Oh yeah, I don't think I've actually explained it here, but yeah, he's pretty much a humanoid snake like cryptid.

But more specifically he's a sleep paralysis demon [it just made too much sense to me, with dave watching jack sleep all the time, being generally unnerving to be around, the constant biting] a species of cryptids in my mind that eat people after putting them in a state of sleep paralysis with their venom.

Now, aren't you glad dave got his venom glands [violently] removed.

And the snack is greatly appreciated, you may have the cupcake wrapper back as a gift

[prof-peach]

I'm curious about your stance on the mass breeding some people do in order to get "shiny" pokemon

Stance is bad haha!

It’s alwasy going to be a disaster if you introduce a huge number of non shiny Pokemon into the environment, which is the biggest issue with the whole mass breeding topic if you ask me (though it is not the only issue). If the Pokemon introduced has no natural predators they’ll run riot, take over the ecosystem, and destroy countless species homes, and potentially lives. If the released Pokemon is no acclimatised to wherever their careless breeder dumps them off at, then they suffer, huge numbers of Pokemon being released in the wrong locations means Pokemon centres, and labs like ours get sudden mass waves of Pokemon needing medical attention and care. Quite frankly we aren’t alwasy equip to handle such high volumes. A wonderful example of this whole mess that we’ve recently had to clean up after is a local pest problem, someone brought a breeding pair of alolan rattata to johto, they kept trying for a shiny, subsequently resulting in many eggs hatching, released what was left after obtaining his 1 in 3000 or whatever the odds are. Now goldenrod has a bit of a pest problem to say the least, we get so many of these new rattata handed to us to send home, they breed madly and have a much more aggressive temperament than the native ones, so they’re even being wiped out by them. Honestly the while things a mess, and it can disrupt an awful lot. Rattata also eat Pokemon eggs, so you know, a load of those turning up will affect the local native species really negatively.

With this aside, you can then deal with the secondary horror to the practice, breeder Pokemon and their welfare. Ditto seem to be the most commonly used for rare breeding, but when possible you can obtain two of the same species from different parts of the world, this is said to increase shiny odds by a small margin, and a lot of people try to do this. While it’s not an issue that they come from different locations, it is however a problem as to how they’re pushed together to produce eggs. All Pokemon have preferences, and of course prefer a choice, especially over mates. To have one partner in the daycare with them, who they don’t particularly like will put a lot of emotional (and physical) stress on the individual if they’re expected to keep breeding endlessly for eggs. It’s not a good and healthy environment for anything, pokemon or otherwise. breeders should at the very least do the right thing in finding their pokemon appropriate mates that they have chosen and enjoy the company of. 

Breeding specialists usually have to go through rigorous health and safety, providing appropriate documentation for all their pokemon, and they must prove they can care for great numbers, and that the pokemon hatched go to either their rightful location, or to good homes. Breeders caught without the correct permits will be fined and given a grace period to sort their paperwork out. Failing to provide the correct documentation will result in confiscation of all pokemon, and you will be sent to a court of law to explain your practices. Should you be found guilty of pokemon abuse of any kind you get a fine, your license stripped, your pokemon get rehoused and/or rehabilitated, and some trainers get jail time on top of that, depending on the severity of their crimes. it is not an industry that takes their work lightly, breeders who love their job and want to do the best for their partners will go through hell and back to get their paperwork in order and keep their pokemon healthy, happy, and safe.  The shiny hunting that seems to grip so many trainers is a bit of a mystery to me, with variants and hybrid pokemon being so much easier to come by, and diverse in terms of skills and forms, shiny pokemon are simply a different colour, no special abilities, no large quantities of power, just...shiny? its cosmetic only and personally I find it quite selfish for one trainer to go off and try to breed for one. If you find one by chance in a shop or in the wld so be it, we’ve all been there at least once right? but endlessly breeding for one is very telling of a trainers character, to want something for its looks alone? sounds unkind to me. I don’t personally support the shiny hunting/breeding industry and have had to rescue a lot of them from terrible people, rehabilitating them and caring for them, when you see first hand the emotional toil being a shiny pokemon has, the stigma, the attention they get, how high on a pedestal they are put, and if they should fail their trainers, some humans go as far as to physically and/or mentally abuse them when they fail. they expect a shiny pokemon to be more than average, when its truly just a different protein in their bodies that makes a slightly different colour. They have no special skills because of this, and need just as much care love and attention as an ordinary species.

I could go on, but these seem to be the bigger issues facing the industry.

[walpurga-nacht-academy]

Isle of Phantasmagoria

Located near the Isle of Sages, the Isle of Phantasmagoria is the home of Brocken and Walpurga Nacht Academy. Considered a site of great magical energy, its culture and history were largely shaped by the multitude of unusual events that have taken place there. 

Geography & Population

The Isle is rather small, being only about 33 square kilometers in size, and being for the most part overtaken by vegetation with only a few particular spots being inhabited by humans. It has a mild climate where the winters are comfortably cold and the summers tend to be humid, but pleasant. The lowest temperature recorded on the isle was -10 degrees Celsius, while the highest was 25 degrees. It seems to be primarily characterized by an autumn and spring aesthetic, with winter and summer passing by rather quickly. Precipitation is an unexpected phenomenon, with warm showers starting without warning and ending just as quickly. The flora is surprisingly diverse with a variety of flowers and plants being native to the island, yet its famous fertility means that anything planted here is likely to take root. The same cannot be said for the fauna, as mammals tend to be quite small in numbers. Instead birds and fish seem to be rather plentiful which has influenced the gastronomy of the place as well. 

In regards to demographics, humans are the majority, with a smaller number of beastmen and other races living there. Fairies, however, are unfamiliar to the Isle and have never settled there as far as records show. Currently the island population is 18,738.   

Culture

Despite its small size, the Isle is a place teeming with customs and festivals, making for a very lively atmosphere. Its people are famous for their hospitality and easy-going nature so many sailors who had the fortune of being washed onto its shores ended up taking residence there. The Isle has been ruled by the Tauros family since olden times, though their exact aristocratic title is unknown. 

Origin Myth

Locals often claim that the very first inhabitants of the isle were pixies, small little fairies that would command the weather and welcome in the seasons with their dances and songs. They were said to fly above in the sky and sprinkle drops of dew on every flower and stem to help them grow and bloom. Due to this the earth became so fertile that when the first humans stumbled upon the island, they were able to plant anything there and even the smallest seed would produce bountiful harvest. 

Modern science has discredited this claim as the product of intoxication at the hands of a type of mushroom unique to the isle. It seems that consumption of the fungi causes one to experience potent hallucinations which require a few days to wear off. It is most likely that the locals consumed the mushroom and in their haze, aided as well by the refraction of light, they mistook the native Sylphs living on the isle for pixies due to their seemingly colourful appearance.

Interestingly enough those very mushrooms have been shown to help fertilize and make the soil richer in nutrients. Mushroom rings are thus quite common on the island, and it is considered bad luck to uproot or cause them harm. 

The King on the Bald Mountain

A mythological figure that is said to have ruled over the island back in ancient times. Locals claim that the King would wake up every year and along with his congregation of witches would torment the souls of the townsfolk of Brocken. Though it is a popular folktale on the isle, the existence of such a creature is still under question as very few sources can be found regarding its authenticity. 

Wine

The most popular alcoholic beverage on the island. Wine is considered the official drink of Phantasmagoria and is present at every celebration as a result. Due to the extensive orchards that have made the isle famous, wine from this place is considered a luxury and one of the most expensive brands in Twisted Wonderland. Every year, the Tauros mayor donates a huge casket of wine for the Cydalise Rite.

Thistles and Orchids

The official flowers of the isle. It is said that back in ancient times, the flowers of the island were blessed by fairies so they were able to walk and dance together in harmony. The flowers were also rumoured to be the favorite of the first Tauros mayor and his wife, and thus they were emblazoned everywhere. Official letters from the island all sport a stamp with a drawing of a thistle and an orchid intertwined. 

During wedding ceremonies it is considered traditional to have the venue decorated with these flowers so that it would bring the newlyweds good luck.  

Ostrich, Hippos and Elephants

Characters in the popular “Dance of the Hours” play. It is unknown how exactly the legend came about to exist, as none of the animals are native to the island. The Tauros mayor who is credited for the creation of this story said that the image came to him as he was napping in a ring of mushrooms in the Golden Pasture. The play became such a success that it was made an important part of the Cydalise Rite. 

A point of consternation for the locals is deciding which one of the three animals should become known as the official representative of the Isle. This debate has been going on for at least 1.000 years and is no closer to being resolved.     

Festival

The Cydalise Rite 

The most anticipated event of the year, the Cydalise Rite is the festival that celebrates summer and good luck. The Rite is said to have existed for centuries, its main purpose being to cause disruption and merriment so that the King on the Bald Mountain and his minions would be driven away from the homes of the locals and back on the Bald Mountain where they would be caged in by magic. Though few believe in the legend anymore, since the construction of the Selene mansion and later the Walpurga Nacht campus has demystified the area, the festival continues to be held every year in honour of that old tradition. 

In the past it used to involve a parade of horses going through the main street of Brocken, following the path through the forest and heading straight into the Pasture where the event-goers are able to enjoy a little masquerade play called the “Dance of the Hours”. It is a romance piece about three sisters (an ostrich, a hippopotamus and an elephant)  who wander into the palace of alligators by mistake. As they try to escape the dangerous place, the middle sister falls in love with the leader of the fearsome group and vice versa. The play ends in a marriage, after which all the spectators are invited to join the dance to celebrate future good tidings. A huge casket of wine is broken open by the mayor’s wife for all to enjoy. The festivity lasts until dawn when all those present are given special lanterns lit with magic crystals found only on the island and proceed to return to the town in a column singing in celebration for the coming of a new day. 

Ever since the founding of Walpurga Nacht however, it seems that the task of leading the parade of horses through Brocken has been awarded to the students as a show of good faith on the town’s part. The leader of the parade is usually the Prefect of Monarchia, who, along with her dorm members, lead a blessing of unicorns and Pegasi dressed in the dorms’ colours. Due to the rarity of such creatures on the island it has become one of the most anticipated sights during the Rite, with people usually gathering around the parade route to take pictures and sing loudly.      

History

Few historical sources detailing the early history of the island remain, however from what historians have been able to piece together it seems that the island has existed for a long time. The main argument in favour of this theory are the large animal bones that have been discovered all over the island, and which are believed to belong to a primitive species of dragons that has since gone extinct. The first settlements on the island precede the discovery of magic around the world, but the first concrete piece of evidence that proves that the isle had been inhabited for a long time are the mentions of the annual meeting of witches on the Bald Mountain to honour their King. References to this event can be found in the grimoires that the Eight Witches have passed down to their followers, along with several anonymous texts written by natives of the island. 

More recent discoveries have also found a journal kept by a member of the ruling Tauros family, which mentions that these annual meetings would cause great havoc among the population of the island. Among the effects he described were the “raising of foul ghouls from the depths of the earth, the theft of souls from among [our] village and the horrific calls of harpies, vultures, imps and firewomen as they danced around his monstrous figure.” In response to the threat posed by the emergence of the King from the mountain every year, the townsfolk would be forced to keep vigil together at night and guard themselves from the evil spirits with lanterns powered by pure magic.

Years later, another Taurous aristocrat would mention the commercial exchange that had taken place between them and a member of the famed Selene family of magicians in regards to ownership of the mountain. Having acquired property rights over the site, the Selene noble built a mansion at the very top and restricted all outside access to it. This building would later fall into disrepair once the aristocratic family fell from power and were forced to abandon most of their dwellings. Another member would repurpose it later and transform it into an education center, rather elevated to the rank of international boarding school and institute for magic.  

Notable Locations

Brocken

The only large settlement on the island. A pleasant town that is considered a wonderful tourist spot, Brocken is well-known for its welcoming attitude and laid-back atmosphere. The people there enjoy a ‘stress-free’ life in which they work, eat and sleep at their own pace. Siestas are recognized officially on the island as mandated periods of rest.

The town’s economy revolves around fishing, vinification, agriculture and tourism. It is a popular spot for location weddings and something of a cultural landmark due to the existence of places such as the Bald Mountain and the Golden Pasture. Tourists who often come here are able to make use of special programs which offer them housing, food and the opportunity to participate in some of the town’s vinification and fishing business.  

Because it is difficult to gain access to the island, Brocken has become rather isolated from the rest of the world. Thus its technology is considered old-fashioned by modern standards so things like television, mobile phones and cars are quite rare and seen as luxuries.

The Bald Mountain

One of the most well-known landmarks and the home of Walpurga Nacht Academy. The mountain is perhaps the oldest point of interest on the island, and legend has it that it was and still is the prison where a King of demons is said to slumber. Every year he would awake for one night to cause havoc on the island, aided by his congregation of witches. 

Now the mountain is associated with Walpurga Nacht, a world-famous institute of magic. 

Due to old legends and rumours surrounding the mountain, locals are known to keep away from it for fear of being cursed. Among the most popular beliefs is that anyone who dares come across the school at the top of it will be immediately struck mad. This is a concept that has been inherited since ancient times when the Eight Witches were said to dance in revelry in that spot and their fury at being glimpsed by strangers was so great they would curse them in retaliation.

The Mad Mage’s Tower

An old derelict tower, hidden far into the wilderness. It is said that there once lived an old magician whose years of isolation had driven him mad so he enchanted the objects around him to come to life and do his bidding. Though the mage had long since died, the objects still seem to be capable of sentience and continue moving around unhindered. Sylphs can be seen circling the highest point of the tower at dawn and dusk. 

Another rumour regarding the tower is that the magician might have had once a goblin apprentice that as revenge for the poor treatment he received bashed his head in with a rock during the middle of the night. 

The Golden Pasture

An idyllic sight, the pasture is one of the most famous locations on the isle. Considered a natural wonder due to its extensive flora, the Pasture is a site beloved by all citizens of the Isle, but due to the increased littering among tourists has been closed off to outsiders. It is also the location where the Cydalise Rite takes place every year. 

An interesting rumour regarding the Pasture is that those who dwell in it for too long are liable to experience hallucinations. Among those, the most commonly reported sighting was that of dancing flowers, colourful fairies, spinning mushroom rings, performing goldfish, flashing lightning and, more terrifyingly, erupting volcanoes.

[southend-on-seacc]

The hunt for red October

By Rick Milsom, Arboriculturist, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

During my many hundreds of walks inspecting trees in Leigh, I’ve observed our stock of mature Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ and one specimen in particular has become possibly my favourite tree. It colours up beautifully but briefly every year, with reds and oranges. They are quite similar to the much and unreasonably maligned sycamore at first glance, but the bark is different and so are the leaves, so it has an overall more delicate appearance.

Acer rubrum-The red maple.

With plant names, rubra or rubrum would indicate there is something red going on somewhere with the plant. With Acer rubrum it refers to the red flowers, not very conspicuous, but nice if you look closely.

Also known as red maple, Acer rubrum has been planted quite a number of times over the last few years. As has the Freemans maple or Acer x freemanii (the x means it’s a hybrid) to give it its botanical name. It is a naturally occurring hybrid which was also cultivated in a nursery in the USA.

This tree has spectacular autumn colour of deep red and grows very fast. One particular cultivar we plant is ‘Autumn Blaze’ and it certainly lives up to its name. There are a number of young trees of this species around the Borough.

Acer x freemanii 'Autumn Blaze' Does what it says on the tin.

The other parent of Freeman’s maple is Acer saccharinum or the silver leaf maple, this is large growing species with silvery undersides to its leaves. Another fast growing maple, it is easy to establish and widely used as an urban tree, but it doesn’t seem to be widely planted at present.

It seems to me planting has fashions and over the years things go in and out of favour. We are always trying new species to find what grows well and to keep our tree stock diverse. This helps to meet the challenge of changing climate and be resilient to pest and disease.

Interestingly, the red maple can be rather hard to establish when young but the Freeman maple doesn’t seem to take a lot of nurturing regardless of its location. This makes the Freeman maple a good urban tree for us to plant, as long as we choose the site carefully due to it being a large growing species. It can also be prone to weak branch junctions, but thankfully I have only seen this on a couple of occasions.

The Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ hasn’t yet coloured up fully, even though we are well into October. It needs to get a move on and turn fully red.

The foliage of Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ and Acer saccharinum

I will be writing more about maples in the future. A very useful genus and a large constituent of our tree stock.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Chapter 26: Bickering

The Bog King and Fairy King had been lecturing one another for thirty minutes now. Bog's opening had been hardly diplomatic – "Why do you only allow fairy men to serve in your military?" – and he kept interrupting when Dagda tried to explain. 

"Fairies are larger than other fays –" 

"So I'd think there'd be places they wouldn't fit, interfering with their duties –" 

"They won't be outsized by anyone they'd need to arrest –" 

"Numbers and skills can take down larger opponents if it comes to a fight –" 

"And our flight allows patrols to cover a greater area –" 

"But sprites fly too, and you have dragonflies –" 

"They're more easily spotted at a distance by a citizen in need –" 

"Aye, but that's the shiny armour, not the guards' size –" 

"All our armour is designed for fairy men –" 

"But smaller armour would require less material per unit –" 

"Fairies are the only ones to meet the educational requirements –" 

"Haven't you ever tried teaching the others –?" 

"And even among fairies, it's inappropriate for ladies to fight!" 

"That one doesn't even make any sense!" 

It had all gone downhill from there, and now Bog was ranting that "You're courting rebellion, going on like this, having one group that your entire population associates with making arrests!" 

"It's not like that!" Dagda insisted. "Towns have their own magistrates and constabulary of citizen-operated patrols; it's not as though the army intervenes in every petty theft!" 

"What support and training do these citizens' patrols get from the Crown, to ensure they know the law and aren't enforcing arbitrary whims, and can protect themselves from violent criminals?" 

"They can summon the army if the feel the threat is severe enough –" 

"And who all's allowed to join a citizens' patrol?" 

"Any man of age is free to volunteer –" 

"Volunteer? As in they aren't conscripted or as in they aren't even paid? And this one's 'men only' too?" 

"The patrols receive a stipend for equipment, but no, not a salary. Of course they're all men, I already told you, it's inappropriate for women to fight! Maybe it's different in that Forest of yours where anyone might have to fight for their lives at any moment, but my kingdom is safe!" 

"How can a place be safe if ninety percent of the population aren't allowed to know how to defend themselves?" 

"Where did you even get that percentage?" 

"Four races, assume just below half the fairies identify as male. And for that matter, what are male fairies allowed to do besides politics and military work?" 

Marianne made an interested noise, reminding Dagda that this debate had been going on at her bedside. It was so unlike her to keep quiet during discussions like this. 

Of course, he already knew her opinion on many of these issues … 

"There are many trades for a fairy man to enter," he answered Bog, "especially if he has a strong magical aptitude in some field." 

"Assuming he doesn't stand to inherit a title, or have a family history of military involvement," Marianne chimed in sweetly. "Then his interests have to stay 'just a hobby'." 

Dagda internally groaned, foreseeing the conversation lasting at least another half hour with no satisfactory resolution on either side. 

"I don't see why you're so invested in this," he said to Bog. "It's not as though you have that many women among your Guard." 

"Of course I do. Not quite half, since not everyone identifies as male or female, but probably forty percent? Captain, you'd know this." 

"Not off the top of my head, Sire, but forty percent sounds roughly correct. Maybe forty-two." 

The Fairy King spluttered, and finally managed to say, "What?!" 

"And meanwhile, you say that your military is primarily structured around traditions that started because they seemed like a good idea at the time and that no one's bothered to revise since?" 

"Whereas, from what I've seen," Dagda shot back, getting a second wind, "the Dark Forest's military has barely any structure at all!" 

"What, just because we don't wrap ourselves in a differently coloured metal for each rank, you think we don't have a hierarchy?" 

"If untrained civilians from another country were able to slip past all your sentries and defenses multiple times, you clearly aren't very organized." 

The Bog King's honour guard flinched and looked about to say something, but didn't. 

"While of course the Fairy Kingdom's patrols function as a tightly woven net, which is why we weren't able to catch you off-guard five nights ago and kidnap the Heir to the Throne right in front of everyone." 

"Bog!" Marianne interrupted, sounding scandalized. 

"She put up a better fight than any of your knights when she wasn't even trying to escape!" he continued. 

"Bog, that is enough!" Marianne shouted. She lowered her voice, but her tone was just as firm when she said, "You, too, Dad. These are all important topics to discuss but if you're just going to yell at each other then we aren't going to reach any conclusions." 

Dagda had no intention of revising the Fairy Kingdom's military structure no matter what the goblin king had to say, but he nodded in any case. 

It was … nearly unprecedented, for Marianne to take the role of mediator, let alone volunteer for it. If nothing else, that was an encouraging sign that she was maturing into the great queen he had always hoped she would one day become, rather than the rash, brash, abrasive woman she had been for the past year. 

Like the council structure she'd proposed, she would probably radically alter the guard format once she took the crown; Dagda wasn't looking forward to that. He was much less willing to compromise on this issue. 

Adding diversity to the Royal Council was one matter, to ensure the voices of all the Kingdom's peoples were heard in court, and the fairy king could see the potential benefit of the revisions that were even now being set up. 

But bringing the other fay races into the military? Marianne's egalitarian views could make her popular with the masses, to be sure, but Dagda could not see this ending well. The physical differences were so extreme … there was a level of strength required of the guards that a brownie, elf, or sprite, or even most pixies, simply could not achieve. 

"I take it your biggest concern is the size difference?" the Bog King said in a carefully level voice. That was unnerving, how he seemed to read Dagda's conclusion, or so quickly reach it himself. "If you're willing, I could ask volunteers from the Forest Guard to come and aid with training while you're working out the new training program." 

"There are already volunteers to teach a civilian self-defence class," said his honour guard. That goblin's voice, deep and smooth, caught Dagda unprepared with how pleasant it was to the ear. The guard had not spoken much in his presence and kept startling him. 

"That would be great," said Marianne. "I don't know how many students they'd have at first, but once the word got out I bet there'd be lots of takers. And people who already know how to protect themselves would be more likely to volunteer for patrols or sign up to join the Guard, right, Dad?" 

"That sounds likely," he reluctantly agreed. 

Of course, once the 'new recruits' realized the demands of such positions, they would inevitably realize they were in over their heads and have to withdraw, Dagda reassured himself. Then things could go back to normal. Hopefully that would happen before some overeager volunteer got themselves badly hurt and had to be held up as an example of why some roles were best kept relegated to their traditional bearers. 

And, if the fay were going to be dealing with goblins on a regular basis from now on, there was really no harm in more citizens knowing how to escape or fight off an attacker. 

In fact, now that he and the Bog King were no longer shouting at one another, Dagda felt calm enough to admit that there could be advantages in knowing more about how the goblins fought. 

Of course, this would also result in the goblins having greater knowledge of how the fay fought, but that was an acceptable risk. In brute strength, a goblin would almost always overpower a fay regardless of exact species. But if a fay could anticipate how the goblin would attack … well, when they were unrestrained, fays were usually faster, and if they could free themselves whenever they couldn't avoid being caught in the first place … 

The conversation had moved on without him, Dagda realized. Marianne and her handmaidens and Bog and the Bog King's honour guard were discussing the drill schedules of the Fairy Kingdom and Dark Forest Guards, working out which mornings and evenings would be available for new exercises on the various training grounds scattered through each kingdom. 

"Ordinarily, mixing diurnal and nocturnal schedules would be a strain, but guards should be used to waking up early and staying up late." 

"Speaking of that, Bog, when do we need to wrap this up so you can go and sleep?" 

"Soon, but I think I have a while yet." 

"Whenever you do finish, Your Highness," said Caroline, leaning out of her office – had she been listening, or just overheard all the shouting earlier, Dagda wondered – "that would be a good time to have a light lunch and resume your physical therapy. Bog King, Captain, if you plan on joining Princess Marianne and King Dagda in their meal, you should send a message to the kitchens now so they'll know to include meat." 

"Will you?" Marianne gave the Bog King a large-eyed, sweet look that Dagda was more accustomed to seeing from his youngest daughter than his eldest, especially in the past year. 

He could wish for better circumstances, and a less terrifying target for her affections, but it was nice to see Marianne happy about something again and no longer completely closed off to the idea of love. 

"I … believe we will, yes," said Bog. 

Dagda privately and sternly insisted to himself that it would be worth the discomfort of having to share a meal with goblins to see Marianne smiling so brightly. 

He'd wanted her to be happy again, and now she was. Furthermore, he was the one who had told her that she would be a better queen if she had a king to share her burdens. And now, five days after meeting the goblin king, she was dedicating her time on bedrest to the political betterment of the Fairy Kingdom. 

Marianne had always done her best to be active in Fairy Kingdom's political landscape, well aware from an early age of the responsibilities awaiting her in adulthood. She had never before attempted anything on the scale of her current projects. 

Dagda really wanted to take this as an encouraging sign, and not as a sign that she was still under the love potion's influence and that the goblins were taking advantage of her and conspiring to undermine the Fairy Kingdom from within. 

That rumour had recently been brought to his attention by a group of concerned members of court. He had done his best to ease their worries, but it was hard to silence the voice of suspicion in his own head after a lifetime of conditioning that goblins were to be feared and avoided. 

Sugar Plum knew love potion magic better than anyone else in either land. If she said that Marianne was free of its power, then this had to be true. 

Unless Plum had been lying and joined the conspiracy in exchange for her own freedom, one of the courtiers had pointed out. But Caroline had been called in for her opinion by that point and reminded everyone that, even without an antidote, love potion still left magical traces that could be scanned for, and Marianne had tested negatively for any magic other than her own. Since Marianne did not have plant magic, the primroses couldn't be masked by her own magical readings, which had occasionally happened in past cases where love potions were used illegally. 

Everything would be fine. Dagda would get through this meeting and this meal and … he and the Bog King would learn to get along. Eventually. Somehow. He was sure. 

If only for Marianne's sake. 

I really need to come up with some scenarios where the two kings interact on positive terms or they're going to have a very strained relationship, which would in turn put strain on Marianne's relationships both with her father and with Bog. Feel free to send suggested conversation topics for them. Yes, Roland's sentence will be discussed again eventually. 

In positive news, while trying to write this chapter, I wrote and outlined a bunch of one-shot stories! 

Fun game: try to spot the point where this chapter originally ended. It took on a lot of additions. 

Re-read the previous chapter. 

Read the next chapter. 

[sciencespies]

Angels In Disguise: Angelfishes Hybridize More Than Any Other Coral Reef Fishes

https://sciencespies.com/news/angels-in-disguise-angelfishes-hybridize-more-than-any-other-coral-reef-fishes/

Angels In Disguise: Angelfishes Hybridize More Than Any Other Coral Reef Fishes

Almost half of all marine angelfishes surveyed so far hybridize frequently, both with close relatives and with distant relations, highlighting the question: what is a species?

A juvenile marine angelfish hybrid (Pomacanthus imperator x P. annularis) shows striking … [+] intermediate colour patterns between its two parent species. (Credit: Yi-Kai Tea.)

Yi-Kai Tea

I’ve always been intrigued by what a variety of animals tell us about species concepts. Most contemporary biologists and students of biology are familiar with the statement that “species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations, which are reproductively isolated from other such groups” — a proposal that is commonly known as the “biological species definition” or the “biological species concept” (i.e.; ref). But if you read a recent study about two species of crows that are genetically identical except for a tiny region of their DNA that controls plumage color — a single trait that makes them look different enough that they refuse to breeding with each other (more here) — you may be pondering what exactly is a species.

Hybridization — the production of living offspring by two different parental species — also informs our ideas about species concepts. We know, for example, that hybridization is most frequently seen between closely related species that have not had sufficient time to fully speciate; that have very similar behaviors or a large ecological overlap; or are rare at the edges of their ranges. Hybridization is particularly common in coral reefs that are home to animals and plants that evolved in one geographic region and are now in contact with those that originated in another geographic region. These ‘hotbeds of hybridization’ are biogeographically important areas known as ‘hybrid zones’ or ‘biogeographic suture zones’.

Most studies of hybridization have been conducted in coral reefs because they are crowded and species-rich marine metropolises that allow for no real spatial separation between their many diverse citizens. For example, hybrids have been identified for more than 173 species of coral reef fishes (ref). And yet, despite all this hybridizing, coral reefs remain one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth (ref). This raises a fundamental question: why do some coral reef fishes hybridize, whilst others don’t?

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Investigating one hybrid fish’s ancestry inspired a survey of its entire family

“This project started as a small case study trying to identify the ancestry of one particular hybrid (between Paracentropyge venusta and P. multifasciata — the one used as a case study in our paper), but it eventually grew into a survey of the whole family”, said the lead author of the study, ichthyologist Yi-Kai Tea, a PhD Candidate who is studying marine fishes at the University of Sydney’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences.

Figure 1. Paracentropyge multifasciata X Paracentropyge venusta hybrids. (a) and (b): specimens … [+] retained in this study; (c) and (d): aquarium specimens, not retained. Photographs by B. Shutman, S.K. Tea, Y.K. Tea, and H. Debelius. (doi:10.1098/RSPB.2020.1459)

doi:10.1098/RSPB.2020.1459

The marine angelfishes, Pomacanthidae, contain seven genera and about 86 species. These brightly colored fishes are roughly the size and shape of a person’s hand and are common on shallow tropical coral reefs throughout the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Marine angelfishes, which are “one of the most charismatic and iconic groups of coral reef fishes” according to Mr Tea, are familiar to many people because quite a few species are popular subjects in both public and private marine aquaria.

“[O]ver the last decade or so (before I started my PhD) I’ve worked in the marine fish industry as a writer, editor, and photographer, and over the years have amassed thousands of fish photographs”, Mr Tea said in email.

“This project was a really great opportunity to re-examine my existing photographs, and compare them to ones taken by my colleagues who have extensive experience doing underwater field surveys.”

These photographs featured wild fishes as well as those living in aquaria.

“Many of these include hybrids of angelfishes that are rarely seen”, Mr Tea added in email.

Mr Tea and his co-authors, Professors Nathan Lo and Simon Ho, and Dr Joseph DiBattista from the Australian Museum, Jean-Paul Hobbs from the University of Queensland, and Federico Vitelli from Edith Cowan University, began their survey by identifying 87 species of angelfishes as being valid species.

Mr Tea and his collaborators then identified hybrid angelfishes from photographs by their intermediate colors and patterns between two formally recognized species (Figure 2), an approach that has been validated in previous studies of other species (i. e.; ref).

Figure 2. Putative hybrids are identified on the basis of intermediate coloration between … [+] contributing parents. This approach has been adopted by several authors in the context of the Pomacanthidae and has been demonstrated to be a sound approach in several other coral reef taxa. (a) Apolemichthys griffisi × A. xanthopunc- 155 tatus; (b) Centropyge eibli × C. flavissima; (c) Centropyge loricula × C. ferrugata; (d ) Genicanthus melanospilos × G. bellus. All photos by Yi-Kai Tea. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459)

Yi-Kai Tea (doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459)

Using this simple methodology, Mr Tea and his collaborators report that at least 42 species — nearly half of all known species of marine angelfishes — create hybrids. Even amongst coral reef fishes, this tendency for hybridization is exceptionally high.

“This is among the highest incidences of hybridisation in coral reef fishes”, Mr Tea remarked.

How reliable is visual identification of hybrid angelfishes?

Because Mr Tea was identifying hybrids from photographs amassed over the years, it was impossible to travel back in space and time to get a small sample from them for genetic studies to validate this method. However, Mr Tea did have access to several individual Paracentropyge hybrids (Figure 1, also Figure 3, upper right panel) that he could get samples from so he could genetically test whether visual identification of hybrid angelfishes is a valid approach.

The genus Paracentropyge contains three species distributed across the Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean: the purple mask angelfish, Pa. venusta, whose range is restricted to shallow coral reefs in southern Japan, extending south to Taiwan and to the northern Philippines; the multibarred angelfish, Pa. multifasciata, which is distributed throughout shallow coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean; and the recently discovered peppermint angelfish, Pa. boylei, a small elusive fish that is restricted to very deep reefs in the French Polynesian Islands.

Figure 3. Upper left: purple mask angelfish (Paracentropyge venusta). Lower left: multibarred … [+] angelfish (Pa. multifasciata). Upper right: hybrid angelfish (Pa. venusta X Pa. multifasciata). Lower right: a third member of the genus, the peppermint angelfish (Pa. boylei) (lower right) whose range is restricted to deep coral reefs in the Cook Islands. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459)

doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459

Previous studies of marine angelfishes suggested that the multibarred and the purple mask angelfishes are genetically well separated into distinct species (ref).

Mr Tea and his collaborators genetically tested the reliability and reproducibility of visually identifying hybrid angelfishes by conducting an analysis on a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers from two naturally occurring hybrids (denoted by a pale blue star following their scientific names in Figure 4) between the purple mask angelfish, Pa. venusta, and the multibarred angelfish, Pa. multifasciata, that he and his collaborators had previously identified based their intermediate color and distinct patterning.

Figure 4. (a) Geographical distribution of species of Paracentropyge. Known localities of hybrids … [+] are indicated by closed stars. Overlapping regions between species are denoted by coloured gradients. The Kuroshio Triangle sensu Chen & Shashank is loosely reconstructed and represented by the dashed triangle. (b) Phylogenetic relationships and median-joining haplotype network among species of Paracentropyge based on mitochondrial COI. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Numbers at nodes indicate posterior probabilities and likelihood bootstrap support. Haplotypes of hybrids are indicated in light blue. Median-joining haplotype networks are also presented for (c) RAG2, (d) S7 and (e) TMO-4C4. Each circle represents a haplotype and its size is proportional to its total frequency. Unless specifically stated, black crossbars represent a single nucleotide change. In the haplotype networks for RAG2, two haplotypes are presented for the single hybrid examined, corresponding to alleles inherited from each parent. Sites that displayed ambiguous bases in the sequence of one or more non-hybrid individuals were removed from alignments prior to network construction, and a single haplotype consensus sequence per individual was used. Each network is, therefore, an underestimation of the true haplotype diversity at each nuclear locus for the parent species. Photographs of angelfishes from top to bottom by: H. Senou, Y.-K.T., J. T. Williams and Y.-K.T. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459)

doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459

How can marine angelfishes hybridize so often?

As a result of this survey, Mr Tea and his collaborators report that marine angelfishes are one of the most prolifically hybridizing families of fishes on coral reefs. Nevertheless, they were surprised to find hybrids between species separated by more than 10 million years of evolutionary time, and with as much as a 12% pairwise distance between their mitochondrial DNAs. Pairwise distance is a measurement of differences in pairs of DNA sequences.

“This genetic separation is quite astounding, considering that hybrids are rarely reported between species that share more than 2 percent in genetic distance”, Mr Tea observed. “Though coral reef fish hybrids are common; they are usually formed by closely-related species.”

Mr Tea and his collaborators also found that even when the parental species look quite different, hybridization occurs on coral reefs, often due to a combination of factors, including external fertilization and the marine environment itself.

“Marine angelfishes, like many coral reef species, are broadcast spawners that fertilize their eggs externally”, Mr Tea elaborated in email. “Given that physical barriers of isolation are fewer in a watery realm, and with so many species living together on reefs, the chances of accidental fertilization even between species that do not normally come together intentionally is higher than, say, in terrestrial species.”

Figure 5. A harem of female (dominant male out of frame) Lamarck’s black-striped angelfish … [+] (Genicanthus lamarck) in the Philippines. Several genera of pomacanthid angelfishes are haremic, where multiple females are tended to by a single male. In sympatric, haremic species, mixed-species aggregations are not uncommon on adjacent reefs, which may lead to higher incidences of accidental fertilization during synchronous spawning events. (Credit: L.A. Rocha / doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459)

L.A. Rocha

Another intriguing possibility is that some life history traits may enhance hybridization. For example, living in harems, which is a fairly common life history trait of the Pomacanthid family, could also enhance hybridization. We know that many species in the Pomacanthid family are protogynous hermaphrodites, where each individual in a harem is capable of changing its sex, although this transition is typically suppressed by the presence of a dominant male, thereby maintaining a female biased sex ratio in the harem.

Further, many species in the Pomacanthid family — including some Pomacanthus species — live in mixed-species aggregations on the same coral reef. Thus, synchronous spawning in these mixed-species harems could provide increased opportunities for hybridization through accidental fertilization, disassortative mating (choosing a mate that looks different) and sneak spawning.

With so much hybridization occurring, will marine angelfishes eventually merge into just a few species?

“Simply put, the answer is no — at least, not really”, Mr Tea replied in email.

Studies indicate that most hybrids in marine angelfishes occur between distantly related species so they are less likely to be fertile and thus, they end up as ‘evolutionary dead-ends’.

“This means that they are unable to breed with their parents, or among themselves, and so species erosion is prevented”, Mr Tea explained in email. “However, this isn’t always the case. In some areas of the world, for example, the Christmas Islands, where closely related sister species abut in distribution, we often see way more hybrids than pure blooded parents. In situations such as these, there is a continuum of parents and their hybrids.”

Genetic mixing between species is known as ‘introgression’, and it is common in specific regions of the world known as ‘hybrid zones’. But introgression is often localized to these areas, and so does not affect the species as a whole in other parts of their distributions.

What do angelfishes reveal about the Biological Species Concept?

“There are several proposed species concepts. Dozens. The one most people are familiar with is the biological species concept, which states that species are a group of organisms that can successfully interbreed and produce fertile offspring”, said ichthyologist Luiz Rocha, Associate Curator and Follett Chair of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences as well as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and San Francisco State University. Professor Rocha, who was not involved in this study, is an expert in speciation in coral reef fishes.

“If we follow this concept, several angelfish species are not valid”, Professor Rocha pointed out in email. “However, in practice, very few people follow this concept, and angelfish species (even the ones that hybridize and leave fertile offspring) do fit several other species concepts, like the ecological, evolutionary, and taxonomic concepts.”

Most marine angelfishes are restrict to shallow coral reefs, seldom venturing deeper than 50 m (160 … [+] ft). However, the recently described peppermint angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) is an exception. It inhabits tropical reefs in the eastern-central Pacific around the Cook Islands and Rarotonga and has been recorded at depths between 53 and 120 m.

Yi-Kai Tea

Has the rate of hybridization increased recently, or has our ability to detect hybrids improved recently?

“Absolutely the latter”, Professor Rocha replied in email. “Now with underwater photography, the internet, and genetics, our ability to detect them greatly increased. Especially in groups as charismatic as angelfishes.”

“With molecular techniques advancing so quickly, we are now able to detect and confirm hybrids better than ever”, Mr Tea agreed in email.

Mr Tea recognized that not all hybrids can be easily detected by simply looking at them.

“Although most hybrids show intermediate coloration between their parents, thus allowing easy visual identification, this is not always the case. Some hybrids are masked by having coloration that lean more towards one parent over the other — this is especially common in hybrids between very closely related species, where repeated back-crossing and interbreeding can give rise to a myriad of offspring with intermediate colors.”

Cryptic species hybrids are even more difficult to identify visually.

“It is also important to remember that there are many other fish groups that are not as colorful, and so visual identification would be of little use”, Mr Tea pointed out in email. “In those instances, we are still able to detect hybrid ancestry using DNA techniques.”

The study that launched a thousand questions

Why do some fishes hybridize, whilst others don’t? What genetic and ecological thresholds limit and permit hybridization? This large-scale survey provides a critical launchpad for tackling these and other key questions concerning hybridization in coral reef fishes — the largest group of vertebrate species in the marine environment. 

“Given the weak barriers of separation in marine systems, we expect hybridization to occur more widely between closely related species”, Mr Tea said in email. But he noted that, curiously, “some species have very little separating them in terms of genetic distance and ecological overlap, yet we absolutely never find hybrids between them.”

Is this a stochastic process?

“We simply don’t know”, Mr Tea replied in email. “We still do not know why some species just never seem to form hybrids. The regal angelfish for example — Pygoplites diacanthus — is found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans, yet has never been reported to hybridize. It is the only genus in the family not reported to form hybrids.”

Figure 6. Regal angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus, Pomacanthidae), also known as the Royal angelfish. … [+] This species is unusual amongst the marine angelfishes because it apparently never forms hybrids. This individual can be seen at Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe in Germany. (Credit: H Zell / CC BY-SA 3.0)

H Zell via a Creative Commons license

“There is still so little we know about the secrets of our coral reefs”, Mr Tea concluded in email. “Although we characterize and show that hybridization is a common process, we still don’t really know much about it. Over the years we have shown that genetic distance and relatedness is key to permitting hybridization, but recent studies have shown that species separated by tens of millions of years can still come together and form viable offspring.”

“This phenomenon is still largely poorly known and we are only beginning to chip away at it.”

Twitter is for the fishes, too

“This was an opportunity that kind of grew out of nothing really, and it has been great fun”, Mr Tea said with his characteristic enthusiasm. “In fact, Luiz [Rocha] and I often compete with each other (to the amusement of science twitter) to see who has the best angelfishes photos!”

Twitter is a great tool to follow the musings of the close-knit scientific fish community and to brighten your day with lots of gorgeous photographs of colorful — or just plain weird — fishes.

“I highly encourage readers to follow along — there are heaps of incredible fish photographs floating around twitter, and it’s always great when ideas spark into collaborative studies! Luiz and I are on twitter as @coralreeffish and @fishguykai, respectively.”

Source:

Yi-Kai Tea, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Federico Vitelli, Joseph D. DiBattista, Simon Y. W. Ho and Nathan Lo (2020). Angels in disguise: sympatric hybridization in the marine angelfishes is widespread and occurs between deeply divergent lineages, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1932):20201459 | doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1459

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[dansnaturepictures]

6/1/18-Blashford Lakes 

After another successful New Year’s Day of seeing birds and a morning and lunch break year tick during my first week of my new job, I was itching to get out and see some birds seriously again today and due to desires and weather forecasts there was only one place I wanted to head to. This is a reserve that I’ll have been visiting 10 years in February and I had an incredible year there last year, Hampshire & Isles of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Blashford Lakes. Its really a key destination for the continuation of foundation building of year lists as its habitat diversity allows such a range of species to be seen. Sure enough between coming here today and a quick drive around the fields at nearby Harbridge I got 19 more year ticks, meaning my year list currently sits at 57. 

I was aiming to get to 50 by the end of this weekend so I have already overachieved even if practically I maybe set that bar a little low. Blashford today allowed me to see a lot of what I call clean up year ticks so things I might have perhaps seen easily already but hadn’t which I did see and some really classy birds seen for the first time this year too. All coming together to be a massive number of birds seen for the first time this year today which I really enjoy and make the most of as it doesn’t really last long that happening. I will mention all of what I saw for the first time this year in the Harbridge fields now and not include them in the Wildlife Sightings Summary as I didn’t really get out of the car, but with the Blashford year ticks I will skim over with highlights telling the story of today but include all 12 in my Wildlife Sightings Summary. 

So just before reaching Harbridge a Buzzard beautifully soaring was a welcome sight as I had tried all journey to look for this one of my favourite birds. Next it was a Little Grebe on the river, followed by Greylag Geese in a field and Rooks. A few Egyptian Geese in a field was one of the things I suggested a quick pre Blashford Harbridge call in for and they were perhaps the highlight of it. A Cormorant and other of my favourite birds the Little Egret flying over would tie up a nice seven year ticks before even getting into Blashford. 

When there I first went to the Tern hide were seeing my crucial first Goldeneye of 2018 and loads of Lesser Black Backed Gulls stood out from the three year ticks I got from this hide. I say crucial as there’s not many places I can see Goldeneyes as easily as here so not seeing them here could lead to a bit of a wait/struggle to see them in a year like in 2013 when they were my bogey bird. When leaving the Tern hide I took the first two pictures in this photoset of the sky and a Robin. I then went to Ivy North hide, round to the centre to use the facilities getting a further three year ticks as I detail below, the Shoveler my milestone 50th bird of 2018. At the Ivy South Hide I caught sight of my first Pintail of the year, a bird I’d seen here only once before and am more used to seeing on the coast so that was impressive. A Common Gull was also out on the water, as I’ve said so many times a bird I always find satisfying to see and one I do well at identifying within my family. I don’t think I’d quite seen one this early in a year before so I was very happy with this.

Four more year ticks would prove to be waiting for me, two on route to the Woodland hide from Ivy South, one in Woodland and one when walking along the path after it. It was that second one on route that was the star bird today and this year so far. I just caught sight of an egret on the water in a gap between the trees and I knew the Great White was about. It flew as soon as I got the binoculars on it desperate to see the colour of its beak to identify it and thankfully it would land again facing me and I made out the orange beak of the Great White. This is a really amazing bird to see always and I didn’t see one until the summer at the Bird Fair at Rutland Water in 2016 and 2017 being a key target throughout the first eight months of last year. This beats common relative Grey Heron onto my year list which always entertains me as I say and seeing this bird left me in a great mood. 

As I moved out of the Woodland hide I would pass Ivy North again. My Mum’s husband had been in Ivy South hide when I left. The Great White Egret after I first saw it today flew and I thought to myself I bet it flies in view of one of the Ivy hides. When he caught me up in Woodland my Mum’s husband didn’t say the Great White Egret had come into his view at Ivy South when I mentioned it to him. So when passing Ivy North I knew there was a good chance I could see this bird in front of the hide like I had done before and I got in there and there it was. I managed the record shot modest as it was dark at this point and through glass in the third picture in this photoset of the famous bird named Walter the UK’s oldest Great White Egret one of Blashford’s greatest ever birds. Before leaving I took the fourth picture in this photoset of a sunset behind the trees. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first Wigeon, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shoveler, Greenfinch, Pintail, Common Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Great White Egret, Dunnock and Song Thrush of the year, three of my favourite birds the Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Buzzard, Coot, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Nuthatch, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon and Magpie. 

[pokemaniacal]

Pikipek, Trumbeak and Toucannon

ahem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNxujJGnbB4

Okay, let’s go.

Pikipek and Trumbeak could be loosely based on any of several species of North American woodpecker with black and white plumage and red crests; the pileated woodpecker is the largest and most iconic of these, and one of the most common.  Toucannon is pretty clearly a toco toucan, likewise the largest and most iconic member of the toucan family (if you didn’t know there were different species of toucan, this is probably the one you were thinking of), which is native to Brazil.  That in itself deserves some comment: it’s odd that Game Freak didn’t choose Hawaiian birds to fill the requisite early-game generic Normal/Flying-type “slot.”  Many other Alolan Pokémon are designed in reference to the unique wildlife of Hawai’i, and the islands would have provided a wide variety of interesting and colourful songbirds to any designer who felt so inclined.  Neither woodpeckers nor toucans, of any species, are endemic to Hawai’i at all (notwithstanding the ‘akiapola’au, a species of honeycreeper which is sometimes known as the “Hawaiian woodpecker” but has more in common with Oricorio than Pikipek).  I’m inclined to think that Game Freak may have been sitting on Pikipek’s design, or something like it, for a while, perhaps since before they decided to set a game in a Hawai’i analogue (this would imply that they may have several of these godawful Normal/Flying generic bird Pokémon saved up, just waiting for the right excuse to deploy them, which may be my most depressing realisation of the entire week).  Having said that, expecting them to make literally every Pokémon in Alola a reference to Hawaiian wildlife would be a bit of a stringent requirement, which I would never have demanded from Unova or Kalos, and a toucan Pokémon at least fits the “tropical” theme of the region well enough.

A woodpecker evolving into a toucan makes more sense than you might at first realise, since the toucan family, the Rhamphastidae, are some of the closest relatives of the woodpecker family, the Picidae.  Both are known for their beaks, so there’s a useful thematic similarity there as well.  The toco toucan lends Toucannon a nicely distinctive and visually striking appearance, which draws attention to the part of his body associated with his most unique abilities – the toucan’s massive beak, which is the largest and heaviest relative to its body size of any bird in the world.  There is a danger here that he winds up being just literally a toco toucan, and there’s not much in his art to stave that off except for a truly masterful side-eye, which conveys a level of Skrelp-esque sleep-deprived surliness that no real toucan quite manages.  The physical design just isn’t all that imaginative, which has to count as a fairly significant strike against him, even though a toucan is already an interesting animal in its own right (props to Nature and Evolution on that one).  Toucannon does twist the function of a toucan’s oversized beak in a fun way, though.  People are somewhat split on what a toucan’s beak is actually for.  In at least some species, it probably does have display purposes, which was what Darwin thought when he saw toucans in South America, but today we also believe that they play a pretty important role in heat regulation.  Toco toucans are quite large birds that live exclusively in tropical climates, so having a huge beak with lots of blood vessels and bright colours that can dump a lot of excess heat quickly is a fairly significant advantage.  Toucannon takes this a step further, by dumping that excess heat directly onto his enemies, burning anyone that comes too close during battle and igniting his seed projectiles to create explosive blast attacks.  It makes sense, it’s creative, and it’s badass, which is all good news.

Speaking of explosive blast attacks, Toucannon’s unique powers are represented in the game by his Beak Blast signature move.  This looks at first like a two-turn move in the vein of Sky Attack or Solarbeam, but actually functions more like Focus Punch, with the “charging” phase happening at the beginning of the turn, before the opponent’s move, followed by the attack firing at the end of the turn, after the opponent’s move.  It can’t be interrupted like Focus Punch, and in fact, any enemy who hits Toucannon with a contact move while Beak Blast is charging will suffer a burn.  The attack itself does some fairly hefty Flying-type damage too, and Toucannon has an excellent physical attack stat to back it up.  So the good news is, you have a very powerful Flying-type move to serve as your primary attack, you can burn enemies insolent enough to attack you (even if the attack actually knocks out Toucannon), and you were probably going to move last anyway against a lot of Pokémon, because Toucannon is pretty slow.  The _bad _news is, Beak Blast is still less powerful than Brave Bird, which Toucannon can get as an egg move, and his defences are decidedly on the average side, so going last does leave you vulnerable.  Probably the biggest issue with Beak Blast is that very few of the attacks Toucannon is most afraid of will actually trigger the retributive burn effect.  The best Ice and Electric attacks are special, and although Rock primarily has physical attacks, almost none of them actually make contact.  Just playing normally against Toucannon will probably be all it takes for most Pokémon to avoid suffering burns from Beak Blast.  The fact is, it’s not a great move, but it’s a move with a hell of a lot of personality, and I have to love it for that.

All this being the case, I can see basically two ways you could go with Toucannon.  You could dedicate his training to attack and speed, trying to help him outrun as much as his stubby wings will allow, then slap Brave Bird on him and use him as a fairly conventional sledgehammer Pokémon.  Toucannon gets the Skill Link ability, which guarantees five hits with moves in the “hits 2-5 times” category and turns the normally unreliable Bullet Seed and Rock Blast into top-notch Grass and Rock attacks with the added perk of being able to pierce Substitutes and the Sturdy ability (Fury Attack is also improved, but is still too weak and too inaccurate to be worth using, which just goes to show how terrible Fury Attack is normally).  Sheer Force, Toucannon’s hidden ability, is available as an alternative to Skill Link, but although it’s normally a fantastic ability (giving a +30% damage bonus to moves with a secondary effect, at the cost of removing the effect), Toucannon learns very few moves that benefit from it – pretty much just Steel Wing, so you’d basically be taking the ability just for an edge against Fairy-types.  Skill Link is better; Keen Eye is garbage.  For a fourth move, you could pick up a Normal attack like Return, but Normal attacks are mostly redundant with Flying in terms of type coverage, and you’ll be leaving Toucannon dead in the water against most Steel-types.  Brick Break loses out to Steel Pokémon with a secondary type that resists Fighting, which many of the best ones do (Metagross, Skarmory, Scizor).  Your other option is Overheat.  Toucannon’s special attack stat is, at best, fine.  However, Overheat is extremely powerful, and Toucannon won’t much care about the special attack penalty that the move inflicts on its user.  Brick Break is still better against some Steel-types with good special defence, and really does a number on Bisharp, but Overheat is probably a better general-purpose move, and is nicely thematic (bonus style points for using it with a Z-crystal).  U-Turn is always a move worth considering, but is probably not great for Toucannon specifically, for much the same reason as Gumshoos – he’s a super-heavy hitter who’s very hard to get into play in the first place, and is better off just bludgeoning enemies into submission than trying to play tricky.  The most glaring absence from Toucannon’s movepool here is the absence of Agility – or indeed any way of increasing his decidedly mediocre speed, aside from Flame Charge or Tailwind, which I hesitate to actually recommend.  Any kind of sweeping strategy is more or less out of the question; Toucannon is here strictly to blow things up and open the path for an actual sweeper.

The alternative path is to reason that Toucannon isn’t going to outrun much of any importance anyway, just dump his speed completely, and instead try to spec him as a sort of blasty tank, with a bunch of points in HP.  Take Beak Blast over Brave Bird, both to spare yourself Brave Bird’s recoil and to cripple physical attackers with burns.  Take Roost for healing.  Consider Feather Dance, then stop because Feather Dance is silly.  Other than the main Flying attack, you probably want to think about most of the same attack options for this Toucannon, since he doesn’t really have a support movepool other than the aforementioned Tailwind (a short-term global speed bonus for your team).  Finally, I suppose I should at least mention Swords Dance, because the very notion of a Swords Dance Toucannon is a little bit terrifying, but it’s an iffy proposition for much the same reasons as I hesitated to recommend Swords Dance on Decidueye or Incineroar: he’s just too slow and doesn’t have the bulk or resistances to compensate (Alola seems to really like slow Pokémon for some reason).

All in all, Toucannon is… fine.  He’s much more interesting than the typical early-game Normal/Flying fodder, in an apparent continuation of generation VI’s effort to make the “template” Pokémon a bit less repetitive and pointless.  His signature move is a cool reinforcement of what his design is about.  Talonflame is an extremely hard act to follow as far as the competitive scene goes, and Toucannon is frankly nowhere close, but at least he diverges from the battle style of most of the early-game bird Pokémon.  He’s not directly overshadowed by Talonflame in quite the same way as Gumshoos is by Diggersby (instead he gets to be overshadowed by Braviary, of all things, who’s tougher and faster, but has an arguably worse movepool thanks to Toucannon’s Skill Link goodies).  So, I mean… I guess he exceeds the low expectations I have for a Pokémon in his position.  Don’t get too cocky, Game Freak.

[guidetourme]

Kallanai Dam in Tiruchi

Kallanai Dam in Tiruchi

Kallanai is the pride of Tamizan as it is only dam in the planet that has been functioning for more than 2000 years. It is situated in Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu and attracts lots of tourists due to its strong architecture and impressive engineering structure. Kallanai Dam is known as the Grand Anicut of India and is the fourth oldest dam built by King Karikala Cholan over the Cauvery River. The main reason to build the dam was to divert the water to delta regions for irrigation purpose. Over centuries this dam is still serving the state with a blissful life by providing water to the crops.

Brief introduction to the Kallanai dam

The dam is not only a useful water reservoir but it serves as a tourist spot due to its wonderful scenic beauty. The rough stones used to construct it are strong enough to hold the dam for thousands of years. If you have a quite look to the dam, then you could watch the fishes reaching the surface at certain interval and the ducks chilling them by the mild weather. The birds are seen flying a few inches above the water and the water seems to scatter an essence of peace and freedom. The place is being used as picnic spot by the locals and there is a park nearby for the kids to enjoy. The technology used is very unique as the stones are sunk in the river to make the water flow to the delta forming region. Previously only a lesser volume of water was used for irrigation but later with the idea of Captain Caldwell, the volume of water was raised to improve irrigation facilities.

Useful tips to follow before you go

The sunrise is the most beautiful moment of the day while you are at the dam, as the colour of the sky is cherishing and would leave you spellbound. If you are there on any weekend then you must try fish fries and local snacks sold there. You can watch many different species of birds if you can carry a binocular. And carry a hat too to prevent scorching sunlight. And one more things to make you aware are that be careful of the insects inhabitants. Various unknown insects find their home at the dam. So make sure to carry insect repellent to avoid insect bites.

Activities to do

The Kallanai dam with its diverse natural beauty offers eye soothing scenario as the place facilitates several ecosystems inn its surroundings. The availability of enough water has attracted huge number of flora thereby giving way to the range of birds to hover around. You can feel refreshed and energised celebrating nature at the edge of the dam. Secondly, there is a nature park where you can have a quality time with your love ones. Being a picnic spot you can lay your picnic baskets and blankets to relax under the sky. The lush green landscape and well maintained lawns is well matched with the environment. The park has little rides and area for playing games for the children. The place is well suited to both the adults and children. And the interesting thing is that one side of the river is kept opened for the travellers. Spending time in the river with splashing water and small fish around is mind blowing. A natural bath in the river is definitely a different experience. The thick bushes and the forest at the background added up to the beauty of the Kallanai Dam. Fishing in the zone is also allowed for the visitors. The mouth watering fried snacks and fish fries are the main attraction in the evening that ensures your convenient time with extra fun.

Route to Kallanai Dam

If you want to go to the dam then get down at Lalgudi station and take a cab from there to reach  the destination which is just 4 kms away. The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli located at a distance of 15 kilometres from the site. The nearest bus stoppage is Chatiram which is 18 kilometrs from the dam. The dam is located near the Sarkarpalayam village where you can reach by hiring taxis. Read the full article

[tourtotanzania]

The Tanzania's Southern National Parks and Reserves

Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater are a hive activity for most of the year. For most travellers coming to Tanzania, these two natural wonders take first and second place on an itinerary. If the crowds are too overwhelming and your escape not quite tranquil enough, then why not consider some of Tanzania’s other national parks and game reserves, located in the south of the country. Ruaha National Park We’ll forgive you if you’ve never heard of Ruaha National Park, it’s one of Africa’s best kept safari secrets. Located a meagre three hours from Tanzania’s national capital Dodoma, with the distinct Ruaha River running through it, Ruaha is Tanzania’s largest national park. The Serengeti is only 14,750 km2 compared to Ruaha’s 20,226 km2 of untamed woodland, grassland and dusty savannah. Ruaha may not have millions of wildebeest roaming from corner to corner of its park borders, but it makes up for this in other areas. Predator Playground Ever since Ruaha was declared a NP in 1964, it’s been famous for its number of lions. In fact, Ruaha, at one point, comprised of 10% of Africa’s remaining lion population and is one of only six lion populations in the world, numbering over 1,000 individuals. Next to its lion population, Ruaha has provided a haven for around 200 cheetahs as well as the mysterious and enigmatic wild dog. Wild dog should deservedly have a spot next to Africa’s Big Five, because the opportunity to see them rarely presents itself and when it does, there’s a high chance it will end up being the highlight of your safari. Incredible Biodiversity Ruaha owes a lot of its biodiversity due to the intersection of Africa’s eastern and southern flora and fauna ranges. Not to mention the Ruaha River that runs through the park providing much needed water for wildlife. The Udzungwa Mountains have a hand in supplying this water by breaking up rain clouds that travel inward from the Indian Ocean, which spill over into the park. Notable species include the greater male and female kudu (where their cryptic colouring makes them difficult to see in dense thicket), Sable and Roan antelope, eland (the largest antelope, weighing up to 800 kg), hartebeest (called kongoni in Swahili), Cape buffalo, Grant’s gazelle and waterbuck. Selous Game Reserve Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest wildlife reserves in the world. At a size of 54,600 km2 it is larger than Switzerland and cover’s 6% of Tanzania’s land mass. For a reserve so vast, Selous remains relatively immaculate and untouched (it was even declared a World Heritage Site in 1982). Although a lot of the reserve has been privately set aside for game hunting (which is an important part of the reserve’s revenue), a lot of photographic and game viewing tourists flock to Selous each year. Landscape Diversity The variety of vegetation zones within Selous Game Reserve contribute greatly to wildlife diversity. Vegetation zones range from forests and dense thickets, to open wooded grassland and riverine swamps. A large part of the reserve is drained by the Rufiji River and below the Rufiji-Ruaha confluence are a stretch of lakes and swamps. There are few places in Tanzania, or east Africa for that matter, where you will see such a variety of landscapes in one place. The northern and north-east corners of Selous offer some of the best game viewing in the reserve. This is mostly due to the fact that these areas contain all three types of habitats. Grassland supports species such as wildebeest and zebra. In the miombo woodlands covering the mountains and ridges around Stiegler’s Gorge, visitors may see Greater kudu and Roosevelt’s sable. In the riverine thicket you will find elephants, hippopotamus, antelope and crocodiles. Mikumi National Park Mikumi National Park is the access point for the southern Tanzania tourist circuit and is directly adjacent to Selous Game Reserve (located on Mikumi’s southern border). Mikumi provides a great safari option for travellers entering Dar es Salaam which is roughly three hours away. Wildlife sightings are guaranteed almost year-round and it’s a great safari option for travellers who don’t have a lot of time in Tanzania. Of all the Tanzanian parks, Mikumi is the most visited. It is also adjacent the main highway to Zambia, meaning many people pass through the park by train, bus, truck or car. Given the amount of traffic, wild animals are inevitably killed on the railway and road. Not a Quiet Escape, but You Won’t be Disappointed Compared to the rest of Tanzania’s national parks, Mikumi is the easiest to access. This makes it a great option for many travellers who want to experience a Tanzania safari. Ease of access means you will have to compete with the crowds, but it’s well worth the effort. Mikumi is distinguished by its impressive Marula trees (Mng’ongo in Swahili). This tree grows up to 15 m high with a thick trunk and long branches, where the leaves crowd towards the end of the branch. Elephants can be seen eating the Marula fruit and it is regarded as a treat for them. Next to the impressive Marula trees, the main feature of the park is the Mikumi floodplain. Open grasslands dominate this floodplain, which eventually merge with the miombo woodland that cover the lower hills. At 3,230 km2, Mikumi is very small compared to Ruaha NP, Selous Game Reserve and Katavi NP. A lot of wildlife thrives within the park borders including buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, lion, elephant, impala, hippos, baboon, giraffe, warthog, waterbuck and eland. Other animals that can be sighted, although rare, are greater kudu, Sable antelope, leopard and African wild dog. Udzungwa Mountains National Park The smallest national park on our list (covering only 1,900 km2) is far removed from Tanzania’s sunlit plains and golden savannahs. Udzungwa Mountains NP is made up of a mixture of tropical rainforest with miombo woodland and grasslands. It forms part of the Eastern Arc Mountains (which is referred to as the ‘Galapagos of Africa’). Interestingly, when an area-specific guide was set to be published on the national park in 1999, a well-known bookshop in Dar es Salaam decided not to put the book on sale. The owner of the bookshop, her husband and two friends planned to spend the New Year camping in the park and they did not want to be disturbed by other visitors. Forest Wonder Udzungwa Mountains is not really big game country, but that’s part of its allure. There are no roads that crisscross this NP and it is only accessible on foot. Hiking and trekking in the park varies in difficulty, from the one hour Sonjo trek to the extremely challenging 6-day camping trek on the Lumemo Trail. A lot of visitors opt for the Sanje Waterfalls trek which takes roughly four hours to complete and allows you to see the stunning 170 m waterfall. Taking a dip in the waterfall’s plunge pool is a welcome relief after the humid and demanding trek. Birder’s Paradise The tropical conditions of Udzungwa, not to mention its forests which have been ecologically stable for thousands of years, make it a unique enclave in Tanzania for bird watchers to explore. The NP contains a far higher density of specific rare birds, including the Dappled mountain robin, White-chested alethe, Sharp’s akalat and Olive-flanked ground robin. There are also species of birds found in Udzungwa that were thought to only have been endemic to other countries. Katavi National Park Katavi is perhaps Tanzania’s most remote NP. Located to the east-south-east of the country, adjacent Lake Tanganyika and not far from the border of Zambia, very few visitors make the difficult journey to this NP. If you do take the time, and have the money, to visit Katavi you won’t be disappointed. Remote as it Gets The remoteness and lack of access via roads outside the park has helped Katavi’s wildlife and plant life to flourish. Katavi NP lies in a basin of the Great Rift Valley, with the Lyamba la Mpipa escarpment to the west and the Mlele escarpment in the east. The crowning feature of Katavi is Lake Rukwa. The catchment area for this lake is over 85,000 km2 which means the lake is prone to periods of flooding. This floods grazing areas surrounding the lake forcing a lot of wildlife to find other grazing areas. Residents of Katavi Katavi Plains has four principle types of vegetation; in ascending order these are: grasslands (mbugas), mixed thickets, open woodland and miombo proper – there are also pockets of riverine thicket and forests. Buffalo are the most numerous species followed by zebra, hippopotamus, waterbuck and impala (other notable species include the Puku antelope, black Sable antelope and Roan antelope). Katavi is great for watching lion-buffalo interactions and spotted hyena can frequently be seen. Leopard appear on the fringes of the woodlands but are not easy to spot. Wild dog also stick to the woodlands but are mostly found on the escarpment and are rarely seen on the plains. About 450 bird species have been found in Katavi. Species include open-billed and saddlebilled storks, spoonbills, crested cranes and pink-backed pelicans. Raptors are plentiful whilst the woodlands are home to species as diverse as African golden orioles, paradise fly-catchers and pennant-winged nightjars. Countless pictures of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater have graced Tanzania travel guides and itineraries, but there is a whole other side of Tanzania to explore. If you have the time and a few days to add to your itinerary, then you won’t be disappointed with what the southern Tanzania safari circuit has to offer.   Read the full article

[lionwall08-blog]

Jim Mann’s new study: are high fat diets really dangerous, or is soybean oil toxic?

We were surprised to hear this Radio New Zealand interview with Jim Mann regarding a Chinese study he co-authored.[1] In it he predicts various terrible things for people eating LCHF diets, which we think is out of line and not supported by the study.

In fact, the LCHF and Paleo community have been warning about exactly the type of diet that was used in the study – high in energy from soybean oil, rice, and wheat – for years, and Jim Mann’s crowd have attacked us for that, while the NZ Ministry of Health and Heart Foundation they advise has actively promoted such a diet. So it’s ironic that, as soon as we’re proved right, this is presented as evidence against our own, quite different advice – rather than being acknowledged as the humbling result it is for those supporting the current guidelines.

Professor Jim Mann of Otago University Department of Human Nutrition and Medicine

“Of particular interest was what happened to the bacterial flora of the gut, the microbiome underwent radical changes in these three different groups. The low fat group had a bacterial profile which was compatible with low risk of a number of western diseases: heart disease and cancer. The high fat group had a very different profile of bacteria in their gut, one more compatible with an increased risk of bowel cancer and also a much higher risk of inflammation leading to cardiovascular disease, heart disease and possibly diabetes,” Prof Mann says. The results, he says, were pretty “pretty scary.” “It’s a strong message for what is happening in China, but I believe also a strong message for New Zealand and other similar countries where at least some people believe there are benefits to a high fat diet.” All three groups had consistent and similar intake of vegetables, he says. “A lot of people have argued you can have a high fat diet as long as you have a lot of veggies, I think that’s a serious misapprehension. If you are having a really high fat diet you’re not going to get a high fibre diet at the level of fibre that will be protective against these diseases.”

So what was the study?

“In a 6-month randomised controlled-feeding trial, 217 healthy young adults (aged 18–35 years; body mass index <28 kg/m2; 52% women) who completed the whole trial were included. All the foods were provided during the intervention period. The three isocaloric diets were: a lower-fat diet (fat 20% energy), a moderate-fat diet (fat 30% energy) and a higher-fat diet (fat 40% energy). The effects of the dietary interventions on the gut microbiota, faecal metabolomics and plasma inflammatory factors were investigated.”

The most important part of the paper is this statement:

Notably, the predicted lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and arachidonic acid metabolism pathways were also increased in response to the higher-fat diet. Lipopolysaccharide is known to induce the release of arachidonic acid and its inflammation-involving metabolites, such as prostaglandins, thromboxane and leukotrienes. It should be noted that the intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was relatively high in the higher-fat diet group (24% of total energy) owing to exclusive use of soybean oil, which is rich in n-6 PUFA. A higher intake of n-6 PUFA has been reported to have proinflammatory effects.

In the interview, host Jessie Mulligan, who is a chef and knows his oils, does a great job of extracting this part of the story from Prof Mann. The n-6 (omega-6) PUFA in soy and other seed oils is linoleic acid; linoleic acid is the precursor of arachidonic acid (AA) and high levels drive AA synthesis. Lipopolysaccharide is also known as endotoxin and is a product of gram-negative bacteria that stimulates an immune response if it enters the bloodstream; a little endotoxin seems to be beneficial, but a lot can drive inflammatory diseases by activating the TLR4 receptor on immune cells.[2]

Now, the traditional Chinese diet varies across regions so that it is hard to generalise, but the low fat Southern version looks like this – lots of green and coloured vegetables ( a very wide diversity, not just a large quantity), nose-to-tail meat (mostly pork and chicken), eggs, legumes, and white rice. Though low in fat, it can be relatively high in cholesterol due to the use of organ meats. Cooking can be by steaming, or stir-frying using small amounts of various oils. The dietary transition has seen more deep-frying in oils and the use of more oils in processed foods. Most of this is soybean oil (the majority of the soy grown in the former Amazon rainforest is now exported to China where it is used to make oil and soy protein, some of which is no doubt exported to NZ and the Pacific).

The equivalent of a 40% seed oil diet in NZ would be deep fried meals from KFC, plus Best Foods mayonnaise – popular foods in the more deprived areas of NZ.

Now, why would a high fat diet be bad for the microbiome? A moment’s thought will show that this doesn’t make sense as a generalisation. The microbiome is established in infancy, starting with birth when bacteria are transferred from the mother. The diet in infancy for mammals is, by definition, milk, a food always high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat. At day 16, human breast milk is 54% fat; of this fat 44.6% is saturated, 37.6% is monounsaturated, 14.6% is polyunsaturated omega-6 and 3.1% is omega-3.[3] in hunter-gatherer populations without access to seed oils the omega-6 content is lower – e.g. 10% in the Tsimane of Bolivia vs 18% in the population of Cincinnati, USA.[4]

Breast milk contains small amounts of soluble fibre, and lactose which lactobacillus can ferment but which is mostly absorbed and used for energy and growth. However – lactobacillus also metabolise saturated fats. And some lactobacillus species make saturated fats that many other bacteria rely on between meals – these are the odd-chain fatty acids, C15 and C17, which you’ll find in dairy, beef, and lamb fat, but other dietary saturated fats can substitute for C15 and C17 when their production is disrupted by alcohol.[5]

Supplementation of saturated long-chain fatty acids maintains intestinal eubiosis* and reduces ethanol-induced liver injury in mice. (*Eubiotics (Greek eu = good/healthy, bios = life) is the science of hygienic/healthy living. The term is used in the feed industry where it refers to a healthy balance of the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract.)

And really, this should be obvious – if you buy yoghurt, the original probiotic food, you will only find two types to choose from – that made from milk (the animal food highest in saturated fat), and the vegan yoghurt made from coconut (the plant food highest in saturated fat).

Don’t blame the butter for what the soyabean did.

It has been known since 1945 that polyunsaturated fatty acids are toxic to lactobacillus and other gram-positive bacteria.[6] In the China trial, the high soybean diet decreased levels of the gram-positive bacteria, Faecalibacterium, and increased levels of the gram-negative bacteria Bacteroides and Alistipes.[1]  A 2018 review [7] stated that:

Linoleic acid and the other two major unsaturated FAs in SBO, oleic acid (18:1), and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3), are known to be bacteriostatic and/or bactericidal to small intestinal bacteria as non-esterified (free) fatty acids in vitro at concentrations found in the small intestine (Kabara et al., 1972; Kankaanpää et al., 2001; Kodicek, 1945; Nieman, 1954). The primary modes of killing include permeabilization of cell membranes (Greenway and Dyke, 1979) and interference with FA metabolism (Zheng et al., 2005). Affected microbes are predominantly Gram-positive bacteria including the genus Lactobacillus (Nieman, 1954). Lactobacilli are particularly important as they are considered beneficial members of the human small intestine (Walsh et al., 2008; Walter et al., 2007; Walter et al., 2011). They have been shown to be growth inhibited by the specific FAs present in SBO (Boyaval et al., 1995; De Weirdt et al., 2013; Jenkins and Courtney, 2003; Jiang et al., 1998; Kabara et al., 1972; Kankaanpää et al., 2001; Kodicek, 1945; Raychowdhury et al., 1985). It is interesting to note that the human-associated L. reuteri underwent a population bottleneck that coincides with the increase in SBO consumption in the U.S. and is far less prevalent than it was in the past (Walter et al., 2011).  In the 1960’s and 1970’s prior to the emergence of SBO as a major dietary fat source, L. reuteri was recovered from the intestinal tract of 50% of subjects surveyed and was considered a dominant Lactobacillus species of the human gut (Reuter, 2001). Today, however, it is found in less than 10% of humans in the USA and Europe (Molin et al., 1993; Qin et al., 2010; Walter et al., 2011), yet it is present at a reported 100% prevalence in rural Papua New Guineans (Martínez et al., 2015).

Yet the paper Jim Mann co-authored cites none of this research. There is only one reference in it (46) to the possibility that a high omega-6 intake can be inflammatory,  and this review does not mention the effect on the microbiome – despite being written by microbiologists.

This sort of thing is all-too common – a lack of curiosity in nutrition research. To plan an experiment like the Chinese soybean oil trial takes years. If you’re planning to feed an unusual amount of linoleic acid – 24% of energy – to people and measure its effects on the microbiome, why are you not curious enough to search for the evidence about the effect of linoleic acid on the microbiome? If you think more fat is bad fat, whatever its composition, you might miss this step. It’s possible that reference 46 and the comment about linoleic acid was added by a reviewer and was not even part of the paper as originally submitted. Or, it might have been included by Jim Mann, who is not a complete fool and who has long been exposed to Paleo arguments about omega-6, but went over the heads of his coauthors, the microbiologists.

So the microbiome results are no surprise to us (though predicting disease from the microbiome at our present stage of knowledge would be about as reliable as predicting it from tea leaves or tarot cards, gram-positive lactobacillus and bifidus probiotics have been well-tested and are for example associated with a reduction in rehospitalization for mania in bipolar disorder, HR 0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10, .69; P = .007)[8]. But what is surprising, and should have surprised Jim Mann, is that LDL cholesterol did not go down on the high-PUFA diet. After all, the effect of PUFA on cholesterol has been the excuse for promoting these oils. There is increasing doubt about whether the effects of fat (amount or type) on LDL cholesterol counts has any important influence on CVD risk in the first place, but the news that soybean oil has no effect on LDL in a real world experiment means that there is no longer any rationale for recommending it.

So come on. This isn’t good interpretation of the results. The results of this high-soybean oil study say nothing about the effects of high fat diets when those fats are traditional fats that are not toxic to beneficial bacteria. The results of this study, where more energy came from carbs (mainly wheat and rice) than from fat, can say nothing about LCHF diets where wheat and rice are avoided or limited. Jim Mann’s comments about “the level of fibre that will be protective against these diseases” are based on epidemiology where very high levels of fibre are associated, not with IBD as in the real world, but with protection against all sorts of diseases. But we have news for him – very high levels of linoleic acid were also protective in epidemiology. Just not in the real world. The majority of associational results discovered in epidemiology are not borne out by later experiments, because associational epidemiology is inherently inaccurate, and can reflect the bias of epidemiologists, who are today also influencers of the populations they study.[9]

References

[1] Wan Y, Wang F, Yuan J, et al Effects of dietary fat on gut microbiota and faecal metabolites, and their relationship with cardiometabolic risk factors: a 6-month randomised controlled-feeding trial. Gut Published Online First: 19 February 2019. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2018-317609

[2] Marshall JC. Lipopolysaccharide: an endotoxin or an exogenous hormone? Clin Infect Dis. 2005 Nov 15;41 Suppl 7:S470-80. https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/41/Supplement_7/S470/666706

[3] Jensen RG. Lipids in human milk. Lipids 1999 Dec;34(12):1243–71. http://pmid.us/10652985

[4] Martin MA, Lassek WD, Gaulin SJ, et al. Fatty acid composition in the mature milk of Bolivian forager-horticulturalists: controlled comparisons with a US sample. Matern Child Nutr. 2012;8(3):404-18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3851016/

[5] Chen P, Torralba M, Tan J, et al. Supplementation of saturated long-chain fatty acids maintains intestinal eubiosis and reduces ethanol-induced liver injury in mice. Gastroenterology. 2014;148(1):203-214.e16.

[6] Kodicek E. The effect of unsaturated fatty acids on Lactobacillus helveticus and other Gram-positive micro-organisms. Biochem J. 1945;39(1):78-85.

[7] Di Rienzi SC, Jacobson J, Kennedy EA, et al. Resilience of small intestinal beneficial bacteria to the toxicity of soybean oil fatty acids. Elife. 2018;7:e32581. Published 2018 Mar 27. doi:10.7554/eLife.32581

[8] Dickerson F, Adamos M, Katsafanas E. Adjunctive probiotic microorganisms to prevent rehospitalization in patients with acute mania: A randomized controlled trial. Bipolar Disord. 2018 Nov;20(7):614-621. doi: 10.1111/bdi.12652. Epub 2018 Apr 25.

[9] Ioannidis JPA. The Challenge of Reforming Nutritional Epidemiologic Research. JAMA. 2018;320(10):969–970. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.11025

Source: https://profgrant.com/2019/02/25/jim-manns-new-study-are-high-fat-diets-really-dangerous-or-is-soybean-oil-toxic/

[zandoct]

Why Mass Effect Andromeda is Great

So I finished MEA the other day, and I loved it to pieces. Easily top 5 games of all time, and only ten good games have ever been made. So imagine my surprise when I, the Discourse Liker, logged on and discovered that this beautiful work of art hadn’t been received very well. Who let the critics get away with that? Anyway, I’m going to explain why I love the game and why it’s really good and even some things it did better than the original trilogy.

Spoilers for the new alien species ahead

The Magnificent Ten

One of the great strengths of MEA compared to its predecessors in the franchise is the small cast of intimately written characters that form the Tempest crew. The Tempest is approximately one half the size of Normandy SR-2 and smaller than the SR-1, which means that there aren’t any faceless, nameless crewmembers. Instead, you have what I call the Magnificent Ten, because I’m bad at naming things.

To me, keeping the crew small and tightly knit is a fantastic improvement over previous games. This gives more space for the interrelationships (i.e. the way characters interact with characters other than the player) and helps you feel like you have greater agency over the Tempest, as a home. Which is one of the major themes of the game. Come on now. For instance, Lexi’s character is explored by her interaction with Drack as much as it is with Ryder, or Kallo with Suvi.

Compare that to ME2, which had a brilliant but very large cast that hardly ever interacted with each other. As discussed in this video, the only way a player can have agency in RPGs is if the NPCs have agency, and a great way to achieve that is to explore their relationships outside of the player. Using the banter system from Bioware’s other major modern title Dragon Age is one great way of making a team a family. WHICH IS THE OTHER MAJOR THEME OF THE GAME.

A rigorous analysis of the characterisation of the Tempest crew would take an entire other essay, but I’ll just comment that I found the interplay of themes shared between the crew – especially their loyalty missions – to be one of the best expressions of theme, tone and allegory in any game I’ve played.

For instance, Cora’s arc is (partially) about how you deal with being rejected, and Peebee’s arc is about how you deal with rejecting others. Liam represents your own mistakes and Jaal represents the mistakes of others. Vetra represents letting go of a role and Drack represents stepping forward into a role. Obviously this is just my interpretation but the very fact the narrative can be interpreted in so many fascinating ways is testament to its… beauty.

The supporting cast outside of the Tempest family are also a diverse, fascinating bunch. The Angara are represented on Aya by Commander Evfra, Moshae Sjefa and Governor Paaran. They have an interesting chemistry and each represents an individual, subtle example of Angaran culture. This makes the introduction to Aya a little overwhelming, filled as it is with so many important characters and unknown conflicts. But it’s a great way to be immersed in your Ryder, who’s probably also blown away by one of the game’s major discoveries.

A significant problem some critics have with the game is that only two sapient species were introduced in this new galaxy. While it would have been cool to see one or two more, the intense focus on two cultures is more reflective of the how the game interrogates having a smaller crew.

Plot Course, Setting Course (or; The Process of Renewal)

Another key criticism of MEA is that it is very iterative of the original series: keep in mind though that the original series is also iterative in its own way, drawing inspiration from a number of sci-fi/fantasy sources (KOTOR I’m side-eyeing you big time)

I think it can be refreshing to examine the themes of the original series with a new perspective granted by the different events and characters of MEA. Fundamentally, stories are only compelling because of what it tells us about humanity. Yes, the ancient Prothean tech is reminiscent of the Remnant. But they have different goals, different culture and most importantly, their two commentators – Liara and Peebee, respectively – are affected by them in different ways. As William Faulkner said:

“The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.” What I mean by this is that the similarities between the Protheans and the Remnant are less important than the different effect they have on the player and our companions.

The same goes for the Reapers and Kett and their twisted idea of uplifting other species. The Kett’s semblance of Ur-fascism is part of what makes them thematically distinct from the Reapers, rather than their superficial aims. Throughout the series, the Reaper’s philosophy was vague and mainly gathered from piecemeal exposition of the supporting cast, especially Legion and Saren rather than the Reapers themselves. The Kett are also enigmatic for most of the game, but what you learn about them is more concrete than their all-powerful Milky Way counterparts.

A fantastic scene, demonstrating that there's a niche for moments with no dialogue in Bioware games.

Discussing ‘the Kett as fascists’ is worthy of its own article so I will only briefly explore it here. In 1995, Umberto Eco provided a great analysis of fascism, both past and future. He states that fascist ideologies can be extrinsically and intrinsically contradictory while also being equally valid under the umbrella of fascism, something he calls Syncretism. For instance, Nazism and Mussolini’s fascism disagree in their treatment of religion, but both are quite clearly forms of fascism. He goes on to describe the theoretical qualities of ‘ur-fascism’, a hypothetical social order that could potential arise from any of the aforementioned qualities. I propose that the Kett are best analysed from the perspective of these qualities:

1. Cult of Tradition. The Kett oppose developing their philosophy. For instance, The Archon is harshly scrutinised by the Primus for trying to develop a new strategy for exalting the Angara. “We will take Heleus the way we always have.” To Archie’s credit, he’s hardly a true progressive, just an example of syncretism in action, and he’s also more of a practical leader than an ideological one.

2. Fear of difference (or diversity). The Kett only wish to integrate the aspects of species they deem appropriate, in a carefully predetermined way. They do not allow actual species into their hierarchy and they do not tolerate unexpected diversity. Eco refers to this as “an appeal against the intruders” but this can equally apply as “an appeal against the conquered” – that strategy is just as common in human history as the former.

3. Irrationalism (or, action for action’s sake). The Archon is not compelled to justify his actions to the player, and instead simply acts. To criticise himself would be to generate difference, or imply that his ideals may be unworthy, and that is unacceptable.

It is difficult to consider the Reapers so politically, as their motivations are left more ambiguous. For instance, one cannot draw a comparison between the Reapers and the Citadel Council as easily as one can between the Kett and the Andromeda Initiative, who both arrived from beyond Heleus. The differences between the Kett and the Reapers, then, are subtle but still significant.

Me looking at the discourse surrounding Andromeda

It’s also worth keeping in mind the struggle Bioware faced in producing a game that incorporated the themes of the original series (discovering ancient things to lead into the future, the interaction between technology and humanity) while also doing something new. In fact, MEA very clearly is trying to revisit the concepts of the first game in a new and improved light, and I think from that perspective MEA excels.

But there is plenty new here, don’t forget that! They were damned if they didn’t incorporate enough of the original series and if they didn’t innovate enough, and I think this lies at the root of its lukewarm reception. That and the complaints about cinematics. WHICH ARE BASICALLY ON PAR WITH THE ORIGINAL SERIES SO SHUT YOUR MOUTHS

S.A.M., INTERFACE

Paragon and Renegade, eat your heart out

As you can probably tell, this essay has focused much more on narrative and metaphor than on gameplay, purely because I find gameplay the least compelling part of all games. However, most would agree that the combat of MEA is the most fun of the franchise and the difficulty is very well gauged. I also think the dialogue interface (no pun intended, hahahaha get rid) is a real improvement. The demise of Paragon/Renegade system is finally here, and the game is better for its loss. Every decision must be judged on its own merits and the tone of dialogue options is much easier to predict by having four consistent possibilities.

The psych profiles Lexi compiles are also a much cooler way for the game to express how your Ryder is developing than a coloured bar. It’s a shame that ‘persuade’ abilities are lost: a system similar to Dragon Age Inquisition, where perks in history, politics, academics etc can increase your character’s expertise and hence persuasiveness would have been nice. But MEA doesn’t give you an easy way out, and sometimes you have to make a decision knowing it’s the wrong one. That’s very cool.

Also, right lads, no listen right, they actually FIXED side quests in MEA. Don’t you dare look me in the eye and say the side quests were anything but trash in ME, ME2 and ME3. Don’t you dare. Other than the fetch quests, ME3 wasn’t too bad, but MEA gets them really right. I would have liked a bit more cinematic dialogue in some of them, but it’s SO much better than Shepard and co silently jogging around a heartless rock jungle, pressing buttons. Also, who are these folk who love ME2 but attack Dragon Age Inquisition? What the hell is going on?

We Made It (to a conclusion)

One of the key differences between the original series and MEA is the scale. MEA is about a small supercluster of the galaxy (a piece of a corner of the universe, as Suvi calls it) and the few factions that are influential there. In ME1-ME3, life as we know it is at risk on a galactic scale. There are hundreds of different factions and a broader cast. Which you prefer is a matter of personal taste, but the intensity and detail of MEA’s story is a refreshing change for the franchise. I’ve often felt the vast, vast lore of the original series is done a disservice by the main plot, which renders all of it largely futile because all that matters is defeating the Reapers. Both games are about survival, but Andromeda’s smaller stakes allow for a variety of factors – political, environmental, military, philosophical etc – to influence that survival. In the original series, the only thing that influences survival is resolving the reaper threat. The original series is about heroes of legend rising to the challenge of saving the galaxy from an ancient conflict. On the other hand, Andromeda is about an inexperienced, relatively ordinary group of people who are prematurely forced into difficult situations and have to make a home out of them. I know which one I’d rather believe in.* Let me know what you think, send an ask or reply or w/ever

*Just kidding I love every Mass Effect game. Righto, cheers

See ya

[profspruce]

Pokémon in our Biomes pt. 20: Coral Reefs (2 of 2)

“I’ve recently decided to make a series of posts with hypothetical thinking and analyzing of what Pokémon species could potentially be found in the world’s biomes. Not at all relative to the games, I will be focusing primarily of the elements, design, and relativity to real life flora and fauna of Pokémon to depict where different species would roam on our big blue marble.”

This is the first biome post that I have made in over a year, so I’m really excited for this post! I’m sorry for the inactivity, but I’m back, so here we go!

This is actually the second coral reefs post, and you can find the first one here, and that post was uploaded two years ago today! In the last post, I had mentioned how there are four main types of coral reefs: fringing, barrier, atolls, and patch reefs. Since this is my first post since Sun and Moon was released I am going to try to focus my analysis more on the fringing coral reefs around Hawaii, the region that Alola is based off of.

The Hawaiian coral reefs stretch for 2000 km, and account for more than 85% of the reef systems in the United States. With more than a quarter of all of the fish, plant, and invertebrate species in the Hawaiian coral reefs being endemic to Hawaii, there is a huge diversity of life that can’t be found anywhere else. This may explain the unusual designs that many Alolan Pokémon have, and maybe I can shed some light on how their morphological and anatomical traits have evolved to help them in Alola, like so many species in Hawaii have traits that help them survive.

Let’s get started!

Staryu

Staryu is a starfish, which is a member of the echinoderm family. As you will see throughout this post, many species of Pokémon are echinoderms. Echinderms are pretty amazing, as their unusual but very primal anatomy allowed them to evolve to be the second-largest grouping of a superphylum, right after chordata in the world. Staryu is like many starfish in that it has remarkable regenerative abilities. Most starfish in the real world cannot “regenerate” from severed limbs, creating two beings or clones, so most of the Pokédex entries that say they retain the ability to regenerate from thousands of pieces as long as their core remains intact is a bit of a stretch. Staryu, like most other starfish, are diverse in their locations throughout the ocean. Perhaps species more adapted to deeper water can be found in the abyssal zone where they can evolve to Starmie.

Pyukumuku

Like Staryu, Pyukumuku is a sea cucumber, which is an echinoderm. Echinoderms have an endoskeleton which helps form their shape and adds some form of rigidity to their body. Pyukumuku, like many species of sea cucumber in real life, can excrete a white sticky substance used in self defense. However, Pyukumuku have more control over these excrements as they are the internal organs of the animal. Most wild sea cucumbers that have this ability release the sticky filaments in a random way and the animal doesn’t really have any control over the movement of these filaments. Like Staryu, Pyukumuku would feed on the detritus of other animals off the bottom of the ocean floor.

Finneon

I didn’t really go over this too much in the last Coral Reefs post, but many fish species in reef environments essentially have one of two shapes: very tall with short bodies to allow for very sharp turns among the coral, or have amazing fin designs that are used to attract mates or deter prey. Luvdisc is a great example of this trait as it can be easily related to many species of angel fish or other reef fish, but Finneon is a bit different. Finneon have unique fins that I believe would not allow for speed through the water, so it makes sense that the dual-tail fin would only aid in quick maneuverability through the cracks in reefs.

The ability to absorb light in the lines along its body may help it confuse predators at night. It would sort of dazzle predators in a way similar to how zebras have their stripes to blend themselves together to seem like a giant mass of zebra. Finneon may operate their schools in a similar way, confusing any predators that would try to pick off individual Finneon from a school. This may be a pretty effective means of defense as most predation in coral reefs occurs at night. The dazzling light show may really confuse potential predators, and should any Finneon get isolated from the school and chased down, their best course of action may be as simple as turning off the lights.

Mareanie/Toxapex

Although when I first saw these two Pokémon I truly thought that they were designed to look more like sea urchins than the crown-of-thorns sea star, however when I finally learnt more about its prey item, Corsola, it made sense. Coral is incredibly difficult to utilize as a food source because there really isn’t much to coral. Coral is essentially layers upon layers of calcium carbonate, or chalk. It is difficult to use this as a food source as there is no protein, or other vital nutrients.

However, a few animals have adapted to utilize the calcium carbonate as a fuel source, and crown-of-thorns sea stars are so environmentally catastrophic (on top of coral reefs being destroyed by humans) conservationists have begun fencing off areas of coral reefs in efforts to protect them.

I imagine that in the Pokémon world, the problem with Mareanie and Toxapex is quite similar to the conservational problems that the crown-of-thorns sea stars are giving in our world. I can assume that although Mareanie and Toxapex are quite dangerous, if they are in fact like the crown-of-thorns sea star, their skin is very fragile and their bodies are actually quite gelatinous. If the sea star is brought onto land from the ocean, the membrane is likely to break, releasing the inner fluid that provides the animal with its shape. This even renders the venomous spines useless as they don’t retain enough rigidity to pierce skin at this point.

Bruxish

Shockingly enough, Bruxish uses the appendage on its head to emit psychokinetic waves, and not light. This Pokémon resembles a number of reef fish species, like trigger fish, parrot fish, and butterfly fish. The colourful pattern of Bruxish may help to ward off predators and warn them of Bruxish’s powerful telekinetic powers.

Apparently Alolan lifeguards allow Bruxish to swim near beaches and popular tourist spots as it drives potentially dangerous Pokémon away with not only its telekinetic powers, but also its amazingly strong jaw, which not even Shellder are safe from. Unfortunately, there isn’t necessarily any compelling evidence that it feasts on Mareanie or Toxapex other than its distinct type advantage. If anything, its strong jaw allows it to indulge itself on tougher Pokémon, like Corsola.

Thank you for reading!

Hopefully for my first post in over a year this was as much fun for you guys to read as it was for me to write. I belief this is going to be the first in many new posts! Furthermore, I plan to continue extending previous biome posts to cover more Pokémon.

As always let me know what you thought, if you have any recommendations, insight, opinions, etc. Please don’t take credit for my work.

[john-barley-corn]

I bought myself a wild flower field guide yesterday (one more specialized than the one I’ve been using, which covers all wildlife). I’m trying to learn what the different plant families are, so here are the descriptions of the dicotyledon families, mostly taken verbatim from the guide; writing these out will probably help me remember them:

Ranunculaceae, the buttercup family. Flowers with many stamens, usually five petals (or no petals, but petal-like sepals), and at their base often small honey-guides, which secret nectar. Fruits with many separate nutlets or tiny pods.

Papaveraceae, the poppy family. Includes both poppies, with large, floppy-petalled flowers, and fumitories and allies, which have unusual tubular, spurred flowers.

Cannabaceae, the hemp family. Flowers greenish, male and female on separate plants.

Urticaceae, the nettle family. [No description.]

Amaranthaceae, the goosefoot family. [No description.]

Caryophyllaceae, the pink family. Stems usually swollen at the nodes of the opposite pairs of usually untoothed and unstalked leaves, with stipules only in spurreys and their allies. Flowering shoots repeatedly forked; flowers with 4-5 petals or none and 4-5 sepals, often joined at the base, in the campions and pinks forming a tube or more or less inflated bladder.

Polgonaceae, the dock family. Characterised by a sheath at the base of the leaves forming a whitish papery tube (ochrea) around the stem at the more or less swollen leaf-nodes. Leaves alternate, usually undivided and untoothed. Flowers small, pink, white or green, with no petals but petaloid sepals (tepals).

Plumbaginaceae, the thrift family. [No description.]

Cistaceae, the rock-rose family. [No description.]

Hypericaceae, the St. John’s wort family. [No description.]

Malvaceae, the mallow family. Now also contains Limes; otherwise non-woody plants except Tree Meallow, usually downy or softly hairy. The often large flowers have five notched petals, a double row of joined sepals, the inner ring often larger, the outer (epicalyx) sometimes forming a cup, and a prominent bunch of stamens. Leaves palmately lobed or cut, stalked and toothed. Fruits disc-shaped nutlets.

Violaceae, the violet family. [No description.]

Droseraceae, the sundew family. [No description.]

Brassicaceae, the cabbage family. Annuals/perennials, almost all non-woody, with flowers, often called crucifers (from the Latin for cross) from the four (usually none in Narrow-leaved Pepperwort, rarely none in other species) petals arranged crosswise; stamens usually six; sepals four; mostly in stalked erect spikes or clusters. The seeds are contained in a usually beaked pod, either long and thin (siliqua) or of various shapes less than three times as long as broad (silicula).

Resedaceae, the mignonette family. [No description.]

Cucurbitaceae, the marrow family. A family with only one native member, White Bryony, but numerous casuals deriving from human food wastes and most often encountered at sewage works. All these have yellow flowers, palmately lobed and coarsely hairy leaves, tendrils (except Squirting Cucumber) and distinctive (and mostly well known) yellow or green fruits. The commonest are Marrow Cucurbita pepo and Melon Cucumis mela, but Pumpkin Cucurbita maxima is established in at least one place in Hertfordshire, and Cucumber Cucumis sativus, Water Melon Citrullus lanatus and Squirting Cucumber Ecballium elaterium (no tendrils and leaves often not lobed) all occur more rarely. Fruits are rounded in the two melons and Pumpkin and elongated in the rest.

Ericaceae, the heath family. A morphologically diverse family of herbs (Wintergreens)---including some with no green colouring (Yellow Birdsnest), dwarf shrubs, trees and taller shrubs; mostly evergreen, but some bilberries are deciduous. Flowers often distinctively globular/bell-shaped. Fruit usually a capsule or berry. Mainly avoiding lime.

Primulaceae, the primrose family. Mostly perennials. Flowers usually with five joined petals. Fruit a capsule.

Lythraceae, the purple loosestrife family. [No description.]

Saxifragaceae, the saxifrage family. Annuals/perennials, with flowers 4-5-petalled and 3-styled, leaves usually alternate or basal and fruit a capsule.

Parnassiaceae, the grass of Parnassus family. [No description.]

Crassulaceae, the stonecrop family. Mostly hairless perennials, with star-like, 5-petalled flowers; untoothed, fleshy, un- or short-stalked leaves and dry, many-seeded fruits. Most stonecrops (Sedum) prefer walls and dry rock places, and many are grown in gardens; nearly a dozen species are liable to escape.

Diapensiaceae, the diapensia family. [No description.]

Rosaceae, the rose family. A large family, including many trees and tall shrubs. Flowers very variable in size, with five petals and sepals, numerous yellow stamens, leaves usually alternate and with stipules, and fruit usually compound, of several to many achenes (dry) or drupes (fleshy).

Portulacaceae, the purslane family. [No description.]

Montiaceae, the blinks family. [No description.]

Fabaceae, the pea family. Distinctive for its 5-petalled flower shape: the broad and often erect standard at the top, the two narrower wings at the sides, and the two lowest joined as the keel, which hides the stamens and styles. Flowers usually in heads, the unique shape not being immediately apparent when the flowers are small and in a tight head, as with some of the clovers. Leaves alternate and usually either pinnate (with or without a terminal leaflet) or trefoil. Fruit a pod (legume), usually long and resembling a cultivated pea or bean---Garden Pea Pisum sativum with white to purple flowers is a frequent relic of cultivation. Members of the family are often known as legumes after the pod. All legumes have nodules on their roots that harbour symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia which fix nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into ammonium that can be used by plants; this process is of enormous importance in natural ecosystems and in agriculture, and legumes are of great ecological and economic significance.

Onagraceae, the willowherb family. [No description.]

Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family. [No description, except for a red P for “poisonous”.]

Cornaceae, the dogwood family. [No description.]

Santalaceae, the sandalwood family. [No description.]

Linaceae, the flax family. Flowers 5-petalled. Leaves opposite, undivided. Fruit is a globular capsule.

Polygalaceae, the milkwort family. [No description.]

Oxalidaceae, the wood-sorrel family. Perennials, often with bulbils. Flowers 5-petalled. Leaves trefoil. Fruit a capsule. Besides the native Wood-sorrel, there are 17 introduced species.

Geraniaceae, the cranesbill family. [No description.]

Balsaminaceae, the balsam family. Hairless annuals with fleshy stems. Flowers with a unique shape, 5-petalled with a broad lower lip, a small upper hood and a usually curved spur behind; in loose clusters. Leaves oval, stalked, slightly toothed. The seeds explode from the ripe cylindrical fruits. Only one native species, Touch-me-not Balsam.

Apiaceae, the carrot family. Typical umbellifers are easily identified: their flowers are arranged in a flat umbrella-like head or umbel. (But there are a few atypical umbellifers. Also, Yarrow is an umbellifer-like composite.) The spokes (rays) of the umbel end in secondary umbels, with a number of small 5-petalled flowers arranged in a smaller umbel, usually with a flattish top, but becoming domed as they go over. The tops of these smaller umbels make up the top of the whole umbrella. In some country districts the larger umbellifers are still called Keck or Kecks. The hollow stems of, for instance, Hogweed and Wild Angelica, used to be, and perhaps still are, cut by country boys to make whistles.

Hydrocotylaceae, the pennywort family. [No description.]

Gentianaceae, the gentian family. Hairless annuals/perennials. Flowers in a branched cluster, with 4-5 joined petals and sepals, often opening only in sunshine. Leaves undivided, opposite, usually unstalked. Fruit a capsule.

Solanaceae, the nightshade family. Mostly poisonous; even Potato and Tamato if you eat the wrong parts of the plant. Flowers with five joined petals and sepals. Leaves usually alternate and stalked.

Convolvulaceae, the bindweed family. Perennials with stems usually twining anticlockwise. Flowers large and trumpet-shaped, sometimes quite deeply lobed. Leaves usually undivided, untoothed, alternate. Fruit a capsule.

Boraginaceae, the borage family. All except Oysterplant are hairy, often rougly hairy. Flowers usualy blue, often pink in bud with five joined petals and sepals, usually in 1-sided spikes, tightly coiled at first. Leaves undivided, alternate. Fruits four nutlets.

Apocynaceae, the periwinkle family. [No description.]

Menyanthaceae, the bogbean family. [No description.]

Polemoniaceae, the Jacob’s ladder familly. [No description.]

Verbenaceae, the verbena family. [No description.]

Lamiaceae, the dead-nettle family. Formerly known as Labiatae, hence still referred to as Labiates. Hairy/downy annuals/perennials, often aromatic or pungent, with square stems. Flowers with joined petals and five sepal-teeth, 2-lipped and open-mouthed (except mints and Gipsywort); upper lip missing in bugles and germanders; usually in whorls up leafy stems. Leaves opposite, toothed, usually stalked and undivided. Fruit a cluster of nutlets.

Scorphulariaceae, the figwort family. A much reduced family following re-classification using molecular evidence. Mostly annual/perennial herbs, but includes some shrubs (e.g. Butterfly Bush). Mulleins have open flowers that are large and usually yellow.

Veronicaceae, the speedwell family. Part of the former Figwort family that includes both the Speedwells whose flowers have 4-5 petals joined at the base, and toadflaxes and other species with tubular, often 2-lipped flowers.

Phrymaceae, the monkeyflower family. A difficult group of three naturalised species and five hybrids. Perennials with leafy runners; large and showy 2-lipped flowers, bright yellow usually marked with red, 25-45mm (except Musk), June-Sept; and broad toothed opposite leaves, the lower often stalked. Wet places, especially by shallow streams.

Orobranchaceae, the broomrape family. A family of parasitic plants, including both the true broomrapes which have no chlorophyll and are wholly dependent on their hosts, and species which are hemiparasites, with green leaves but parasitic on the roots of host plants for water and minerals. Unlike the broomrapes, the hemiparasites are generalist parasites with no special host plants. All have 2-lipped, more or less open-mouthed flowers.

Acanthaceae, the bearsbreech family. [No description.]

Adoxaceae, the moschatel family. [No description.]

Plantaginaceae, the plantain family. [No description.]

Juncaginaceae, the arrow-grass family. A monocotyledon family. Hairless perennials with spikes of stalked green flowers with six sepals/petals and styles forming a short whitish tuft. Leaves linear, in basal rosettes.

Scheuchzeriaceae, the rannoch-rush family. [No description.]

Lentibulariaceae, the bladderwort family. [No description.]

Campanulaceae, the bellflower family. Mostly perennials. Flowers usually stalked, bell-shaped, usually blue, with five usually short lobes. Leaves undivided, alternate. Fruit usually a capsule.

Rubiaceae, the bedstraw family. Annuals/perennials, often climbers, with clusters of small flowers, with four petals (except Wild Madder and Madder) and minute or no sepals, and whorls of undivided leaves and leaflike stipules. Fruit usually a nutlet.

Caprifoliaceae, the honeysuckle family. [No description.]

Valerianaceae, the valerian family. [No description.]

Dispacaceae, the teasel family. Perennials/biennials, like the Daisy Family, with their dense compound flowerheads, somewhat mimicking a single large stalked flower. But the smal individual flowers have 4-5 joined petals, with four separate stamens, and very narrow, sometimes bristle-like joined sepals sitting in a small green cup of bracts. What look like green sepals around the whole flowerhead are also actually bracts. Leaves opposite. Fruit a small seed.

Asteraceae, the daisy family. The largest family of flowering plants, often called composites; their tiny flowers are closely packed into a compound head, which resembles a single flower, surrounded by sepal-like bracts. (These flowerheads are referred to as flowers, and the single flowers as florets.) Petals are joined in a tube so that the florets are of two kinds: disc florets with the tube ending in five short teeth and ray florets, ending in a cospicuous flat petal-like flap. Composite flowers are thus of three kinds: daisy-type, with a flat or conical base of yellow disc florets usually surrounded by ray florets; brush-like or thistle-type, usually with disc florets only; dandelion-type with (almost always yellow) ray florets only. In some daisy-type flowers the florets’ true sepals become chaffy scales. In the two other groups they become hairs, simple in thistle-type, and feathery in dandelion-type flowers. These become the thistle-down and dandelion-clocks, on which the tiny nut-like seeds float away in the wind.

Aizoaceae, the mesembryanthemum family. [No description.]

Nympheaceae, the water-lily family. Hairless perennials, with large flowers and long-stalked leaves. Still and slow-moving fresh water, rooting in the bottom mud. This family and the Birthwort family have been shown by new molecular evidence to be the most primitive flowering plants in the British flora.

Paeoniaceae, the peony family. [No description.]

Sarraceniaceae, the pitcherplant family. [No description.]

Gunneraceae, the giant rhubarb family. [No description.]

Aristolochiaceae, the birthwort family. Two long-established but widely scattered aliens are Birthwort Aristolochia clematitis, source of a drug used to save peccant medieval nuns from their misbehaviour with peccant monks, and Asarabacca Asarum europaeum, a plant so dull that one wonders why it was ever planted, its dull purple bell-shaped flowers being usually hidden under kidney-shaped leaves on a few shady banks. Birthwort is foetid with pale yellow tubular flowers and large heart-shaped leaves; found, in Oxfordshire for instance, at Godstow Nunnery ruins and by a roadside at Kencott.

[khalilhumam]

World Shorebirds Day in the Caribbean: The beauty of wetlands and the birds that visit them

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/world-shorebirds-day-in-the-caribbean-the-beauty-of-wetlands-and-the-birds-that-visit-them/

World Shorebirds Day in the Caribbean: The beauty of wetlands and the birds that visit them

Many shorebird species are migratory, but some do stay

Least Sandpiper at Great Pedro Ponds, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. This very small sandpiper spends the winter in South America, via the West Indies. Photo courtesy Ann Haynes Sutton, conservation ecologist, with permission.

Not only do birdwatchers the world over love looking at birds, they also love to count them: lists and data factor into the pastime in a big way. In the Caribbean, these “citizen scientists” play an important role in documenting the presence and the movements of island birds — there are special dates on which they spring into action, and one of these is World Shorebirds Day, which was recognised this year on September 6. In honour of the occasion, regional birds were counted, photographed, and recorded in the eBird Caribbean database between September 3 and 9. Many shorebird species in the Caribbean are migratory, often stopping off in different islands on their way to somewhere else. The chunky Red Knot, for example, is an incredible long-distance flyer. In its ongoing series of online colouring book pages, the nongovernmental conservation organisation (NGO) BirdsCaribbean noted:

Red Knots breed in the far north, the Arctic. They can spend the winter as far south as the southernmost tip of South America. This means they make some amazing migratory journeys of tens of thousands of miles overall! Red Knots gather in large groups in some places during autumn and winter; this makes them vulnerable to threats like sea-level rise and hunting.

BirdsCaribbean also shared a useful Shorebird ID guide, as many of these charming little birds can be deceptively similar:

BirdsCaribbean's guide to identifying common Caribbean shorebirds.

Members of BirdLife Jamaica — much fewer in numbers this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions — trekked in ones and twos to their favorite viewing sites. One member, on arriving in Old Harbour Bay after heavy rains the day before, found the location overwhelmed with mud:

Watching seabirds often involves large quantities of mud. Photo courtesy of Ian Gage, with permission.

Many shorebirds have an amazing range. The Short-billed Dowitcher, for example, flies from Alaska to Canada, winters south in Brazil and spends time in the Caribbean, too:

Short-billed Dowitchers in Great Bay, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Photo courtesy Ann Haynes Sutton, Conservation Ecologist, with permission.

The Grey or Black-bellied Plover is a global nomad. It breeds in the Arctic tundra and winters south, spreading virtually worldwide. This one decided to make a stop in Jamaica:

The Grey or Black-bellied Plover feeding along the water's edge near Black River, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Photo courtesy Emma Lewis, with permission.

There were more sociable events on the calendar. The NGO SusGren (Sustainable Grenadines) shared photos of an educational trip to the newly-restored Ashton Lagoon on Union Island:

In celebration of World Shorebirds Day 2020, SusGren in collaboration with Environmental Attackers conducted educational outreach for some students of the Stephanie Brown Primary school. The high-spirited students, who were out of their beds as early as 5:30 a.m for the session, were engaged in activities such as bird labeling, bingo, and bird identification. […]

In Trinidad, a huge and diverse array of wetland species was on display. The Whimbrel, an elegant shorebird, is another Caribbean migrant that is still fairly widespread globally:

Whimbrel, Trinidad. Photo courtesy of Jerome Palmer, with permission.

The Black Skimmer, however, is quite an unusual sight in the Caribbean. This bird literally skims the surface of calm coastal waters and lagoons:

Black Skimmer, Trinidad. Photo courtesy Jerome Palmer, with permission.

The beautifully named Laughing Gull is fairly common across the Caribbean, where it breeds. It spends winters in northern Brazil:

Laughing Gulls in Trinidad. Photo courtesy Jerome Palmer, with permission.

Some shorebirds, of course, do stick around. The Brown Pelican, for example, is a regular sight, cruising along the shorelines and further out to sea. Its local name in Jamaica is “Old Joe”; it is a common, year-round resident of the larger islands, gliding low over the waves or doing spectacular dives for fish:

Brown Pelican, known as “Old Joe,” in-flight at Palisadoes, Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Photo courtesy Ian Gage, with permission.

Another charming Jamaican resident, whose numbers may be augmented by migrants from North America in winter, is the Black-necked Stilt. This noisy bird, on its spindly red legs, nests on the ground near water's edge:

Black-necked Stilts in flight in Old Harbour Bay, Jamaica. Photo courtesy Ian Gage, with permission.

For Jamaican birders, the highlight of World Shorebirds Day was perhaps the appearance of an adorable family of West Indian Whistling Ducks, captured on video by Damion Whyte, biologist, birder and a passionate social media educator on all things environmental. The location — a sewage pond in Portmore, St. Catherine, — was perhaps not so beautiful, but a good birding spot nonetheless:

The West Indian whistling duck (Dendrocygna arborea) is a whistling duck that breeds in the Caribbean. It is protected by law and it is illegal to capture or hunt these birds in #Jamaica. #Roostersworld @Birdlifejamaica @BirdsCaribbean @ebird pic.twitter.com/q2xA3qf218 — Roosters_World (@Roosters_World) September 6, 2020

Species such as this beautiful bird are declining in numbers throughout their range in the Caribbean. Large tourism developments, including hotels, marinas and other projects, continue to be built along the islands’ coastlines, resulting in the destruction of vital mangroves and wetlands in which these birds rest along their migratory flyways. Currently, three tourism projects under way in Grenada threaten wetlands that shelter several endangered species, including turtles. On some islands, especially in the French Caribbean, hunting and plastic pollution are major threats. World Shorebirds Day in the Caribbean is not only a celebration of the birds themselves, but of the beautiful places they call home, even if only temporarily for many of them.

Written by Emma Lewis

[guidetourme]

Kallanai Dam in Tiruchi

Kallanai Dam in Tiruchi

Kallanai is the pride of Tamizan as it is only dam in the planet that has been functioning for more than 2000 years. It is situated in Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu and attracts lots of tourists due to its strong architecture and impressive engineering structure. Kallanai Dam is known as the Grand Anicut of India and is the fourth oldest dam built by King Karikala Cholan over the Cauvery River. The main reason to build the dam was to divert the water to delta regions for irrigation purpose. Over centuries this dam is still serving the state with a blissful life by providing water to the crops.

Brief introduction to the Kallanai dam

The dam is not only a useful water reservoir but it serves as a tourist spot due to its wonderful scenic beauty. The rough stones used to construct it are strong enough to hold the dam for thousands of years. If you have a quite look to the dam, then you could watch the fishes reaching the surface at certain interval and the ducks chilling them by the mild weather. The birds are seen flying a few inches above the water and the water seems to scatter an essence of peace and freedom. The place is being used as picnic spot by the locals and there is a park nearby for the kids to enjoy. The technology used is very unique as the stones are sunk in the river to make the water flow to the delta forming region. Previously only a lesser volume of water was used for irrigation but later with the idea of Captain Caldwell, the volume of water was raised to improve irrigation facilities.

Useful tips to follow before you go

The sunrise is the most beautiful moment of the day while you are at the dam, as the colour of the sky is cherishing and would leave you spellbound. If you are there on any weekend then you must try fish fries and local snacks sold there. You can watch many different species of birds if you can carry a binocular. And carry a hat too to prevent scorching sunlight. And one more things to make you aware are that be careful of the insects inhabitants. Various unknown insects find their home at the dam. So make sure to carry insect repellent to avoid insect bites.

Activities to do

The Kallanai dam with its diverse natural beauty offers eye soothing scenario as the place facilitates several ecosystems inn its surroundings. The availability of enough water has attracted huge number of flora thereby giving way to the range of birds to hover around. You can feel refreshed and energised celebrating nature at the edge of the dam. Secondly, there is a nature park where you can have a quality time with your love ones. Being a picnic spot you can lay your picnic baskets and blankets to relax under the sky. The lush green landscape and well maintained lawns is well matched with the environment. The park has little rides and area for playing games for the children. The place is well suited to both the adults and children. And the interesting thing is that one side of the river is kept opened for the travellers. Spending time in the river with splashing water and small fish around is mind blowing. A natural bath in the river is definitely a different experience. The thick bushes and the forest at the background added up to the beauty of the Kallanai Dam. Fishing in the zone is also allowed for the visitors. The mouth watering fried snacks and fish fries are the main attraction in the evening that ensures your convenient time with extra fun.

Route to Kallanai Dam

If you want to go to the dam then get down at Lalgudi station and take a cab from there to reach  the destination which is just 4 kms away. The nearest airport is Tiruchirapalli located at a distance of 15 kilometres from the site. The nearest bus stoppage is Chatiram which is 18 kilometrs from the dam. The dam is located near the Sarkarpalayam village where you can reach by hiring taxis. Read the full article