Paedophagy (Zoology 🦥)
Paedophagy in its general form is the feeding behaviour of fish or other animals whose diet is partially, or primarily the eggs or larvae of other animals. However, P. H. Greenwood, who was the first to describe paedophagia, defines it to be a feeding behaviour evolved among cichlid fishes.
Unearthing how a #carnivorous fungus traps and digests worms
https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unearthing-carnivorous-fungus-digests-worms.html
Key processes required for the different stages of #fungal #carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002400
"#Arthrobotrys oligospora usually derives its #nutrients from decaying organic matter, but starvation and the presence of nearby #worms can prompt it to form traps to capture and consume worms. A. oligospora is just one of many species of #fungi that can trap and eat very small #animals."
A new analysis sheds light on the molecular processes involved when a carnivorous species of fungus known as Arthrobotrys oligospora senses, traps and consumes a worm. Hung-Che Lin of Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.
i *think* this is a common sundew (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera_rotundifolia) eating some bugs.. it lives in a mossy area, so I think the soil must be bad here.. 2nd picture is its inflorescence (central stem with flowers)
#sundew #carnivory #inflorescence; technically #bloomscrolling and growing nearby to #mosstodon
Deficiency causes rare tropical #plant to develop appetite for meat https://phys.org/news/2023-05-deficiency-rare-tropical-appetite-meat.html
#Carnivory on demand: #phosphorus deficiency induces glandular leaves in the African #liana Triphyophyllum peltatum https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.18960
Under certain circumstances, a rare #tropical plant develops into a #carnivore. A research team has now deciphered the mechanism responsible for this.
A carnivorous #fungus (#Pleurotus ostreatus, the common oyster #mushroom!) kills #nematodes with a toxin that paralyses the worm and triggers #apoptosis. The toxin is a ketone that is stored in toxocysts that release their content when the worm touches them.
The dissolved worm then is then fed on by the mushroom.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade4809
Big carnivory by Iberian neanderthals and why a broader diet may have helped H sapiens
Planetary Ecologist
J of Systematics and Evolution
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺
redm(plementation)
Matt Willemsen
Norbert Holstein
Radical Anthropology