tags: National Geographic, Vanuatu, cockle, biodiversity, image of the day
Image: Delphine Brabant, MNHN.
My friends at National Geographic have provided permission for me to share some of the images from the recent discovery of a huge number of new species on and around the south Pacific island of Vanuatu.
Tiny Tropical Island Yields a Wealth of Species
A cockle's large, muscular foot juts through an opening in the mantle supporting its shell.
The cockle bends and straightens the foot to jump away from predators in its shallow-water ocean habitat off the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. The cockle uses the two small holes in its shell to pump and release seawater filtered through its gills.
More like this
Here we go.
Do I really need to see these old reminders that some of our politicians are idiots? Here's a quote from Governor Mark Sanford of South* Carolina:
Well, it's frigid indeed this weekend around Castle Orac. I need something to warm the cockles of the circuits in the deepest, darkest depths of winter, and I know just the thing: A heapin' helpin' of the best skeptical blogging out there.
Singing cockles and mussels, alive alive-o! These are not only beautiful organisms, they are beautifully photographed.