200,000,000 Years Hence - The Rainshadow Desert
As we were walking to our next destination we saw a massive storm of incredible power.
Lori: Look at that storm! It literally looks mean.
Me: That is a more powerful storm called a Hypercane. It's a much stronger hurricane that is more powerful than a hurricane that we know in our time.
Eddy: Whoa!
Lincoln: That's a terrifying storm.
Lana: How strong do they get?
Me: They can have winds of up to 250 Miles Per Hour and the wave height can get to 100 feet high.
Lisa: I'm not surprised. Because the ocean covers 75% of the entire planet, there's no resistance that limits the wave height of the oceans because of the wind.
Me: That's right. It's a deadly trait that a world with one ocean has. But a Hypercane also can throw Ocean Flish over the mountains as it rages and it sends them into the desert.
We then go over into the desert and saw a bunch of Flish dying in the scorching heat.
Lana: Oh man! Hang on little ones!
Lana formed a ball of salt water and put a Flish in it and it was back to normal. It was eternally grateful to her.
But the rest of the Flish weren't so lucky.
Me: That was a good thing you did Lana. But also the desert has another creature that feeds on the Flish carcasses.
We saw a big bug fly by us and it was a strange one.
Me: See that bug right there? That bug is called a Bumblebeetle. It's descended from a beetle.
Lisa: Very fascinating specimen.
Laney: It sure is. Is it here in the desert to eat the Flish?
Me: No. The adults don't eat. They're here to lay their larvae into the Flish so they can continue the cycle of life. Let me show you all.
We go over to a Flish carcass that it landed on and saw the Bumblebeetle's abdomen drop down and it opened and revealed its larvae cargo.
Me: Those little creatures it has inside it are its larvae. They're called Grimworms.
Lola: Ew! Those are weird bugs.
Lisa: Very fascinating specimens. And we can see their teeth.
Me: Yes. They have 2 sets of teeth. They have slicing and grinding jaws. They grow in size every 2 days.
Nico: Very unusual.
May: I've never seen insects like those before.
Ed: Cool.
Eddy: That is cool.
Me: It is cool. Once they've had their fill of the meat they metamorphose into the chrysalis phase and in a few days they become Bumblebeetles to begin the cycle of life again.
Aylene: But don't Bumblebeetles need to eat?
Me: No that's the funny thing. They don't eat as they have enough fat to survive for 24 hours. They only live for 1 whole day and they have to find a Flish carcass to deliver their cargo of Grimworms.
Lucy: That's an unusual cycle for the creature.
Me: It sure is.
We saw a strange shelled creature hop right by us.
Lincoln: Hey is that a snail?
Me: It is. But that is a Desert Hopper and it is descended from Snails.
Lana: Those creatures are Snails? Cool!
Lisa: Fascinating specimen.
Lola: Ew! But wait. Don't snails usually leave a slime trail?
Me: They normally do yes. But for the Desert Hopper they gave that up because it wastes water. So hopping is a much better and much faster mode of transportation for them.
Laney: That is really strange. I never heard of a snail that can hop.
Me: Well believe it or not there are snails in our time that hop. But they live in the ocean.
Lisa: That's correct and a prominent example is Tylomelania. A type of Rabbit Snail that lives in freshwater lakes.
Lana: That is cool.
We saw the snail eating a cactus.
Lola: How is it eating that cactus?
Me: They have a special tongue called a Radula. It's a grazing tongue that eats plants. That's what makes snails such notorious pests in gardens. They eat things like lettuce and all kinds of soft vegetables. This is what the surface of a radula looks like.
I form a holographic orb and it showed an image of the surface of a Snails Radula. It was a tongue covered with rows upon rows of really sharp hooks.
Me: They use this to scrap plants and feed.
Lana: That is cool.
Laney: It's a strange thing for them. Are there any snails that kill people?
Me: Yes and the most prominent example is a Cone Snail.
I change the orb to a Cone Snail and it showed the Needle Harpoon on the tip of its shell.
Me: They have a deadly poison in a needle-sharp harpoon at the end of its shell. It's a neurotoxic poison called a Conotoxin and it's powerful enough to kill people.
Lisa: That's correct. Conotoxins of Conus gastropods have a delay effect that usually take minutes to days to appear and they can cause muscle paralysis, double vision, respiratory failure and even death.
Lucy: Wicked.
Me: That's right Lisa. That's what makes snails such incredible creatures and they have been on the planet for over 500,000,000 years. Making them one of natures most powerful survivors.
Lori: That is literally amazing. I also remember that the people in France eat snails.
Laney: That's right Lori. They eat escargot. It's a very popular French delicacy.
Lola: Ew! I would never eat snails.
Me: Me neither.
We continue walking and saw a strange plant on the ground.
Lola: What kind of plant is this? (Sniffs) EW! It smells horrible!
Lana: Let me smell. (Sniffs) Ohohoho! It smells like fish.
Me: That's a cool plant called the Deathbottle and it's a type of carnivorous plant.
Laney: This is a carnivorous plant?
Lucy: Wicked.
Lisa: Very fascinating specimen.
Lori: It's unlike any kind of carnivorous plant we know.
Lincoln: I've never seen one like this one.
Nico: Me neither.
Me: Well there are several different types of Carnivorous plants around the world that we know.
I form a holographic orb and it showed many different types of Carnivorous Plants.
Me: These are all the carnivorous plants from around the world in our time. They usually grow in swamp areas and live on poor soil. They eat insects.
Laney: That is so unusual.
Me: It is. This is one of my favorites.
I zoom into an image of a Pitcher Plant.
Me: The Pitcher Plant is a type of carnivorous plant. It has a very unusual method of getting insects for nutrition. It's vase is filled with water and digestive juice. The walls of the vase are lined with juice that make it slippery and it draws in ants and flies into it.
Lana: That is cool!
Lisa: Very amazing specimen.
Me: Here's another of my favorites.
I change the orb to a Sundew Plant.
Me: This is a Sundew Plant. It has a strange method. Those hairs that it has have a strange glue on the ends and when flies come onto it they trap it and the plant wraps around the insect where digestive juices will dissolve it for nutrients.
Lori: That is literally amazing.
Lincoln: That is so cool!
Lola: It's gross but unusual and cool.
Me: It is. That's what makes Carnivorous Plants one of the most fascinating types of plants in the world. The Deathbottle has two types of plants to it. This plant that smells bad is its seed spreader.
Lucy: How does it spread its seeds?
Me: It has a clever method. It disguises itself as a rotten Flish and waits for a Bumblebeetle to come along.
We saw a Bumblebeetle arrive and it went inside a small hole of the plant.
Me: The Bumblebeetle will go inside the seed chamber and get coated with the Deathbottles seeds as it tries to find a way out. There's a special point that they have to find inside it and when it reaches that particular point, the plant will catapult the Bumblebeetle out of it. Watch.
We saw the plant flip up and shot the Bumblebeetle out of it like a rock from a catapult.
Lana: Whoa!
Lincoln: That was so cool!
Laney: That was amazing!
Lola: I've never seen a plant do that before.
Lisa: That is a very ingenious and fascinating method.
Me: That's right. There are plants that know how to use insects to spread its seeds. Remember seeing the Rafflesia flower over in Borneo?
Lincoln: I do.
Laney: We all do actually.
Lori: EW! That flower smelled really bad!
Me: Well that's how it attracts insects. It's the same method with the Deathbottle Plant. It looks and smells like a rotten Flish to attract the Bumblebeetle.
Lana: That's a genius method.
Me: It sure is. But also the Deathbottle has another method on how to get its food.
We saw a Desert Hopper go along and it fell into a pitfall trap. We go over and saw the creature in a pit lined with poisonous spines.
Me: This is how the Deathbottle gets its food. It creates a strange membrane that it uses to blend in with the desert sand and when a Desert Hopper comes around it falls in and it drives its poisonous spines into it and dissolves it with digestive juices.
Lana: That is scary.
Lisa: Very fascinating and ingenious method.
Me: It is.
Lucy: Wicked.
Ed: Cool.
Eddy: That is a strange plant.
Me: It is.
We later proceeded on to our next and final location.
Continues in Part 14