Bio-Boffin: Remnants

A handful of photos with more or less value for those interested in biology.

Thrush Anvil

Thrushes (Turdidae) feed on snails, but they may encounter difficulties with the shells of larger snails if they are too large to be swallowed at once and too solid to be broken. In these cases, thrushes tend to use a suitable stone as anvil to shatter the shells. Read more 》 Thrush Anvil

Schneckenschmiede Drosselschmiede

How crabs are doing it

Crabs of the genus Carcinus are common at european coasts, but these omnivores are spreading worldwide thanks to global shipping lines. These photos show how crabs initiate reproduction. Read more 》 Carcinus

Carcinus Gonopods Carcinus mating

10,000 km

The 10,000 km cruise MSM 17/3 of research vessel Maria S. Merian followed the continental shelf along the African west coast. Sediment cores were retrieved from water depths as deep as 5,000 m and analyzed subsequently to learn more about the processes at the sediment-water interface.

RV Maria S. Merian im Südatlantik onboard lab view from galley
sampling in hangar of RV Maria S. Merian pore water Macrozoobenthos
sedimetn core worm castle

Plankton critter

Marine plankton also comprises unicellular Dinoflagellates. This one (Peridiniella danica) uses protein filaments as harpoons to prey on other plankton organisms. One of it's favourites is the unicellular Rhodomonas salina, and after ingestion it is still visible within the Dinoflagellate cells as organge blobs . These photos many, many more yielded a master thesis. Read more 》 Plankton critter

P. danica: surface with sulcus P. danica: cross section of thecal plates P. danica: food vacuoles with Rhodomonas

Save a rat

Dissecting class is a traditional part of biology studies. During mine, I made these photos and who ever wants peeking underneath a rat's skin (here: Rattus norvegicus) now has the opportunity without having to kill another one. If this peek is all you need then you can save a rat's life.

skin open abdomen open intestine loosened
intestine abdominal cavity without intestine kidney stones

Glimpse of pig's eye

From biologist's view, pig (Sus scrofa) and human are quite similar in details. Thus, pig eyes are popular subjects, especially for beginners as they are available bag-wise (and often free of charge) from slaughters. And they do not bleed. This is a very simple dissection with simple tools, presented by a biology teacher.

pig's eye first cut eye: cross section
retina lens

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