Pumas on the edge of town: how human-puma interaction may change the food web

1280px-8th_Place_-_Mountain_Lion_7487178290-690x320My phone buzzed in distress the evening of Nov. 10. UC Santa Cruz had just sent a text alert warning me and other students that someone had seen a mountain lion on campus. Stay indoors,

PLOS ONE’s Spookiest Images of 2014

As we take a look back at research articles published so far in PLOS ONE in 2014, we realize we have no shortage of images to terrify our readers, or at least sufficiently creep them out long enough to last through … Continue reading »

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Meet the Ping-pong Tree Sponge

789a987a5a5c5e3d_mbari_chondrocladia_72The aptly named Ping-pong tree sponge (Chondrocladia lampadiglobus) is a carnivorous sponge. At first glance, you may think “I want that mid-century modern lamp” or “that sponge is adorable”, but the Ping-pong tree sponge is a stone-cold carnivorous killer. Those ping-pong ball looking things are covered in tiny spicules which the sponge uses to catch tiny crustaceans.

Check out another sponge in the same genus-the harp sponge (Chondrocladia lyra).

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.