wolverine frogs, polar bears, & one hilarious fascist
The hairy frog (Trichobatrachus robustus) is named for the “somewhat hair-like structures on the body and thighs of the breeding male”.
that’s what stood out to people? that’s what they named it for?
THIS FROG BREAKS ITS OWN BONES AND FORCES THEM OUT THROUGH ITS SKIN - PIERCING ITS OWN FLESH WITH THEIR JAGGED SHARP FRACTURED ENDS - TO ACT AS CLAWS WHEN THREATENED
but nah, let’s name it after some kinda hairy bits, that’s what’s notable here1
a better name would of course be: Anuran loganesis23
“No sheaths. No natural armor. Just pure bone tearing through flesh, turning this little amphibian into a self-made weapon.
And when the danger’s gone? The claws retract, and the bones slowly heal.
This frog doesn’t play dead.
It becomes a weapon.”- frog
(the Iberian ribbed newt does something similar, poking its ribs out through its skin and - bonus! - secreting a poison to coat them with for an extra fun bit of poky poky self-defense)
the hairiness is interesting in its own way too - only the males get hairy, and only during mating season.
The ‘hairs’ are “actually a mass of thin strands of skin replete with blood vessels” which function as “a temporary organ that may boost breathing ability in times of need”. (BBC Wildlife)
the males need this extra breathing capacity while they’re stuck underwater guarding the spawn, and can’t get away to take a shower visit the surface to get a quick nap breath of air.
and according to BBC Wildlife, why notallfrogs? is perhaps bc of “the increased oxygen demands caused by their aquatic grappling matches” (emphasis mine)
swerving away from animal facts for the moment, how about some fantastic weird political history?
everything about Gabriele D’Annunzio45 is amazing:
“Now, 200 people has never been enough people to take over a whole city, at any point in history. This coup should have been dead before it hit the water. But people loved Fascist War Hero Poet Gabriele D’Annunzio for reasons wholly inconceivable to me, and before long he had Italian soldiers flocking to his cause from across the country. D’Annunzio successfully seized the city of Fiume in September 1919 and expelled all of the Allied forces who had been occupying it.
“You don’t need to tell me what happens next,” you might be thinking. “Surely he makes Fiume part of Italy again, and this is a source of extremely local tension with the Yugoslavs for the next several years until WWII happens and everyone gets distracted.”
Oh, reader, good news: I absolutely do have to tell you what happens next. Because instead of following through on his plan for a unified Italy, D’Annunzio completely seals off the city of Fiume and DECLARES IT AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY OF WHICH HE IS NOW IN CHARGE.”
dude is credited for both partially inventing Italian fascism and also being an early inspiration to the first phase of the Italian resistance movement to fascism
back to hairy creatures-
Polar bears have black skin. They only look white because their hollow, transparent hairs act like fiber optic lamps, bouncing around and reflecting back all light.
Well, sometimes they look green instead, but that’s because their hollow hairs can (“like miniature terrariums”) fill up with algae.
“The coloration was clearly attributable to the presence of algae inside the hairs, specifically in the hollow medullae of many of the wider (50–200 µm), stiffer guard hairs of the outer coat. (The thinner (<20 µm) and more undulant hairs of the under coat, which were not hollow, were colourless.) Some of the lumina were apparently filled with air, but many of these hollow spaces were partly occupied by masses of small greenish cells, which we describe here.” - Nature (1979)
& somehow this led me to a 2015 article about polar bear meat testing positive for trichinella (a parasitic worm), where I discovered how INCREDIBLY CUTE trichinella [faces?] are under a microscope!
like the sweetest little baby minotaur except sometimes we’re the labyrinth
tbf T. robustus really is a particularly peculiarly hirsute amphibian
this is a terrible joke because it’s so plausible
“He was, without doubt, a revolting man… Even his biographer admits she is repelled by him.” - The Guardian
no seriously dude was a rapist and a fascist, he’s not just some quirky cute little funny man, there are hilarious stories here but let’s not completely ignore the rest of his reality