Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Ready to get your ewwweeewww factor going? Check out this very colorful and very slimy land planarian (flatworm). It is approximately 12 inches long! Land planarians are voracious predators and they hunt the forest floor for invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, slugs, insects and chelicerates. They attack and capture their prey using brute force, sticky adhesive goo, and digestive enzymes in their slimy mucus. Cool right??
Because they do not have water-retaining mechanisms, they have very specific habitat requirements and are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. According to wikipedia, "some species have been proposed as indicators of the conservation state of their habitats....and can be also used to accurately determine the distribution of biogeographic zones." Who knew that a slimy land planarian would be a good thing to look for to determine the overall health and vitality of an ecosystem??
For fun check out this website for more info: http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2012/01...
Lat: -3.25, Long: -72.91
Spotted on Jul 15, 2010
Submitted on Jun 15, 2012
2 Comments
This is amazingly colorful! Our land planarians are boring(comparatively) and yellow or tan. I would not say "ewww" either!
Here is mine from New York:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/...
That thing is too beautiful and interesting to be an "ewww" : )