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The Watercooler
Got me 'nuther rattl'r tonite!
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 176239" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Yeah. Them things. Couldn't remember the name of them for a bit.</p><p></p><p>And it was a planigale, they're actually a bit smaller than a mouse.</p><p></p><p>Definitely a job for beetles.</p><p></p><p>We also had snake skeletons on display at the uni, the best-looking ones came from China. The vertebrae seem to almost have a ball and socket joint between each bone.</p><p></p><p>Back to marsupial mouse thoughts - I don't think the planigale is in this category, but a slightly bigger cousin, the antechinus (still smaller than a mouse, I think) may have the right idea when it comes to reproduction - the males literally bonk themselves to death.</p><p></p><p>I kid you not.</p><p></p><p>Mating takes several days, after which the males' bodies just shut down in total exhaustion, shock, depletion - you name it. As a result, they have lots of babies (50% of them males) each breeding season. And no, they haven't got a proper pouch (you'd never fit in all those babies!) but they have a shallow depression on their tummies where the babies latch on to a teat and stay there until they're big enough to ride around on their mother's back. They're not pretty. Think- small, ferocious, carnivorous opossum with about twenty babies on its back ready to take down creatures many times their size in the desperation for a meal.</p><p>And heads very flat and triangular, so they can slip between cracks in rocks and survive in amazing conditions, even huge fires. They can fit in a crack in a rock that would give a spider difficulty.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 176239, member: 1991"] Yeah. Them things. Couldn't remember the name of them for a bit. And it was a planigale, they're actually a bit smaller than a mouse. Definitely a job for beetles. We also had snake skeletons on display at the uni, the best-looking ones came from China. The vertebrae seem to almost have a ball and socket joint between each bone. Back to marsupial mouse thoughts - I don't think the planigale is in this category, but a slightly bigger cousin, the antechinus (still smaller than a mouse, I think) may have the right idea when it comes to reproduction - the males literally bonk themselves to death. I kid you not. Mating takes several days, after which the males' bodies just shut down in total exhaustion, shock, depletion - you name it. As a result, they have lots of babies (50% of them males) each breeding season. And no, they haven't got a proper pouch (you'd never fit in all those babies!) but they have a shallow depression on their tummies where the babies latch on to a teat and stay there until they're big enough to ride around on their mother's back. They're not pretty. Think- small, ferocious, carnivorous opossum with about twenty babies on its back ready to take down creatures many times their size in the desperation for a meal. And heads very flat and triangular, so they can slip between cracks in rocks and survive in amazing conditions, even huge fires. They can fit in a crack in a rock that would give a spider difficulty. Marg [/QUOTE]
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Got me 'nuther rattl'r tonite!
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