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Weird Creature of the Day: Red Triangle Slug

Thank you for the wonderfully positive response yesterday! Today we're checking out Triboniophorus graeffei!

Red triangle slugs are a common air-breathing slug found along the east coast of Australia. They are considered part of the Athoracophoridae family, also called the leaf-veined slug family. Measuring up to 15 cm/5.9 in, they are Austalia's largest native land slug!

Like most slugs, they love damp spaces such as forests, shrublands, gardens, and, on occasion, your bathroom. They primarily eat algae off of eucalyptus trees, and also sometimes mold, if they're visiting your home. You'll know if this guy has recently had lunch by the telltale circular marks their radula (mouth) leaves behind.

The iconic jaunty red triangle around their breathing pore reminds me of 80s/90s fashion and/or bowling alley carpet. And! It matches the red edge they have around their foot-- very fashion-forward. They don't develop this pattern until adulthood.

Some individuals have markings that are more red or orange, and their main body may be yellow, grey, white, pink, red, or even green. Research is still being done to determine if these variations merit classifying them into separate species.

While they may be considered common, red triangle slugs have one hell of a defense mechanism that sets them apart from other common slugs. While all slugs secrete a slippery mucus that helps them slide around, red triangle slugs can ALSO secrete a highly adhesive mucus that can pin predators down, sometimes for days at a time! Perhaps you will not find her common now!

Coincidentally, this slug lives in the same place that the fictional cartoon dog Bluey does (Brisbane).

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Weird Creature of the Day: Axolotl

Starting off strong with one of the world's most special amphibians, Ambystoma mexicanum!

Axolotls are a freshwater amphibian species native to wetlands & lakes surrounding Mexico City. Spanish colonizers drained these lakes in their conquest of the Aztec Empire, and current agriculture practices and industrialization in the region have further harmed axolotl populations. In present day, axolotls are only found in Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco. Both lakes are historic sites of chinampa style farming developed by Aztec agricultural scientists! (Look it up! It's really cool!)

The name axolotl comes from the Nahuatl language, the main language spoken by indigenous communities in the Mexican Central Valley at the time of Spanish colonization. The species is named after the Aztec deity Xolotl.

The species is considered critically endangered and on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species. The wild population adds up to 1000 individuals at most. Check out conservation efforts here.

Unlike most amphibians, axolotls don't go through metamorphosis (ex., the way tadpoles lose their gills & turn into frogs). They instead go through neoteny, meaning they reach sexual maturity without gaining the ability to go on land. This is because their thyroid doesn't produce the hormone that would start this process (it can be artificially induced, but is not recommended for the survival of the animal).

The axolotl genome is roughly 10x the size of the human genome! They stay winning!

Axolotls can regenerate their limbs, gills, and even parts of their brains! For life! This uncanny healing mechanism has made them the focus of many scientific studies.

Axolotls are the only amphibian to have an entire Google Doogle interactive game centered around them! Axolotls are also featured on the current 50 peso banknote (with chinampas!). They are also in Minecraft apparently

The designs for the Pokemon Mudkip and Wooper are partially inspired by them!

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Weird Creature of the Day: Surinam Toad

Trypophobia warning- this animal is frequently used as an example of a trypophobia trigger, so please do take care of yourself.

Look who's popping off! It's Pipa pipa!

Did you say "Yo what the fuck?" when you saw this lovely lady? I sure did! (That'll teach me not to look at shriveled up museum specimens while eating dinner...) All those holes on the back are actually eggs! After fertilization, surinam toad eggs are transferred to the back of the mother, where they sink in, develop for several months (past the tadpole stage into toadlets, no less!) and then burst forth into this brave new world. Somebody call Sigourney Weaver. After this process, the mother sheds her skin, ready to begin the process anew.

This ambitious amphibian is so well adapted for aquatic life that it's functionally helpless on land! It can still live life and breathe air, but uh...that's pretty much it. It is incapable of any effective terrestrial movement. Surinam toads are found in slow moving bodies of water- ponds, flood pools, stream backflows, etc.- in South America, primarily within the Amazon rainforest.

Speaking of holes, the cloacas these toads have are incredibly distinctive. Like they're a key identifying feature for the species. They're popping their iconically-ring-shaped pussies.

Surinam toads are omnivorous ambush predators, lying in wait until the right time to strike. Well, not strike, exactly-- they suck. When reacting to nearby prey, these toads will schlorp down the water in front of them, taking their prey with it into their stomach (sometimes with extra leverage from their front limbs). The entire torso of the animal is set up not unlike a bellows. Organs and bones rapidly shift to create negative pressure, activating suction and expanding an internal cavity, where the trapped prey will sit until it's moved to the stomach. The water is then released back through the toad's mouth.

I think these guys should be included in Flat Fuck Friday celebrations, being notably flat and compressed like a leaf.

Like most amphibians, they sometimes eat their own skin, and possibly other members of their species.

The design for the giant frobot in Amphibia is inspired by this frog, as is the Hole Frog in Adventure Time.

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Weird Creature of the Day: Stoat AKA Eurasian ermine

Say hi stupendous stoats! Hi Mustela erminea!

Spread across most of the northern regions of the planet, stoats are living large at Of Least Concern status. For most of modern taxonomy's history, stoats were considered one very widespread species, but studies in 2013 and 2021 set to rest the decision to further classify the stoat into 3 distinct species: M. erminea, who I'm spending time with today, M. richarsonii, the American ermine, and M. haidarum, the Haida ermine. M. erminea also has 21 subspecies currently recognized.

Ermine traditionally refers to the bright white winter coats these mammals grow, which were considered a luxury material in late medieval Europe into the Renaissance and beyond. Mary Magdalene is sometimes portrayed as a trendsetter in one of these snazzy white pelts, and I hear they were also a childhood favorite of the Jesus man. I wonder what he's up to these days

Stoats are mustelids, a type of carnivorous mammal. The mustelid family also includes weasels, badgers, martens, otters, ferrets, and wolverines. They're the largest family in the Carnivora suborder Caniformia. Stoats in particular are highly efficient predators, taking down other mammals larger than themselves-- a good thing too, since they have to eat roughly 25% of their body weight every day!

Stoats fit in well in their regions of origin, but are highly invasive in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where they were introduced in the 1880s. What started as a foolhardy attempt to control rabbit populations is now considered one the most decimating hits on Aotearoa's native birds.

Stoats gestate their fertilized young in utero for about as long as humans do- roughly nine months, give or take a few weeks. This feels less mundane if you take into account most stoats live only 4-6 years in the wild. Interestingly, stoats can keep fertilized embryos dormant-- their bodies are can hold off on actually implanting an embryo for 9-10 months at a time, to ensure that the birth of the fetus occurs at a safe time of year. This also means that should winter be particularly harsh, the mother can reabsorb the dormant embryos to ensure her survival (to reproduce at a later date!).

Stoats are kind of like bankers in that they love evicting their neighbors and ruining lives! By that I mean they inhabit the dens and burrows of the rodents they kill.

Eurasian stoats have noteworthy roles in Irish, Komi, and Zoroastrian mythology.

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Welcome to Weird Creature Feed! Send suggestions to my inbox!

This blog seeks to give you snippets about the rich wildlife of our world, with a focus on

learning new things,

generating conversations about conservation, biodiversity, indigenous sovereignty, and advocacy in the face of colonial capitalism,

encouraging appreciation for & reconnection with the world around us (the mental health benefits!),

and above all else, being able to go "Hey did you know that there's a jellyfish that's functionally immortal?" to everyone you meet.

Daily posts are tagged #weird creature of the day and #wcotd while inbox responses are tagged #weird creature asks. Reblogs of previous posts are tagged #weird creature of yesterday, for those who don't want to see repeats. I also post and reblog articles of note to the #weird creature media tag.

Find out what native land you reside on native-land.ca/

Help Axolotl population & wetland conservation in Xochimilco www.moja.ong/donate/

Free Food Not Lawns resources www.foodnotlawns.com/

Learn about indigenous wildlife in your area nativeplantfinder.nwf.org/

This blog began on Cohost and has migrated here! It's run by Morg, a white 24 yr old disabled queer living on the traditional lands of the Snohomish Tribe and the confederation of Tulalip Tribes and their families. Don't know what indigenous groups tend the land you live on? I highly encourage you to check this out and research about what you can do to give back.

I'm still figuring out the schedule and format for posts, so bear with me while I get into a rhythm! Please send me asks about animals, plants, fungi, anything you'd like to see! The blog icon is a photo of a platypus courtesy of Shutterstock. The header image is a photo of Elegant jelly courtesy of @montereybayaquarium.