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Rat-eating Plant Discovered in Australia
Megaport writes "Finally, the news that every slashdot-meme poster have been waiting for. A rat-eating vine called "Tenax" has been discovered in the rainforests of the Cape York region in Queensland, Australia"
I figured it'd be more useful in the fire swamps.
Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre
or at least a full article :( does anyone have more information on these?
I, for one, welcome our Splinter eating overloads!
Be relentless!
I for one welcome our new leafy, rat eating overlord...but... does it blend?
But do they run linux?
It is a form of pitcher plant so it probably evolved to capture insects. It's rat "eating" ability is probably co-incidental. Too bad there were no pictures.
the citizens of new york can now take back their subways from their vermin overlords.
Australian Geographic magazine has an article on these plants. Apparently they are in an area which also has lots of saltwater crocodiles, so not even humans can claim to be at the top of the food chain there! http://editorial.australiangeographic.com.au/ is the front page but the article does not appear to be on-line.
Time to update the Monster Manual again...
Now, how can I get my Ex to be around it?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
picture here, and there is even a Wikipedia entry.
New York desperately needs them, especially that KFC-Taco Bell from a year ago (http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=113755). Then again, maybe Washington needs them more for the big ones they have there.
That's pretty neat, you managed to fit two memes in one line bashing memes.
You did intend to do that... no? Well, at least it managed to be self descriptive.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23094097-3102,00.html
dear lord, not Washington. They would go all kudzu crazy.
Think Day Of The Triffids vs. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
-- Sig under construction...
Suddely those old Tarzan movies don't seem so far-fetched anymore.
wait, I didnt think plants would eat lawyers...heh, guess everything has its place on the food chain, huh?
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
Who cares about a wee little rodent eating plant when they have trees attacking cows in India!
"something retarded"
Yuk, yuk, yuk.
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!
no one?
Given that pretty much absolutely everything else in Australia is poisonous or capable of eating a full grown human being it doesn't surprise me that plants thewould start making things worse for other creatures as well.
I have nothing compelling to say
If all the rats are gone; what will my mother in law eat?
Ed
Other links that discuss this plant mention pitchers that are 15cm. A 6 in pitcher is going to have a hard time holding onto a rat. Pitchers capture their prey by drowning. Fine, downward pointing hairs prevent creatures from crawling back out of a pitcher once they have entered. Again I have a hard time believing that this plant can regularly restrain small mammals. I don't doubt that an occasional small mammal may get trapped but I bet most escape. And a 6 inch pitcher is not all that big. The yellow pitcher plant of North America (genus Sarracenia (no close relation to Nepenthes))can have pitchers that exceed a 12 inches in length (they are more narrow however). Also, many Nepenthes species are vine so that mention in the article is likely from a journalist trying to increase his/her word count.
How long does it take to digest? Does it stink? How does a plant that small keep small rodents from escaping? I would think it would be hard to drown them, unless there liquid is tasty and sedative? More info please!
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.
However the co-author "R.Kruger" is Rod Kruger who runs Captive Exotics,The first author Charles Clark seems to have an interest in this business
There are a lot of popup ads that appear when you go to that link.
Hmm, is there any coincidence that the name of new the species resembles "Texan"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat
why dont you ever hear of these things.... which are WAY more seemingly complicated and amazing and "improbable", as the proof that god exists?
oh yeah, that would be horrific.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
Ode to Carnivorous Plants
Your nutrients are derived
From those so kin to me
Yesterday, Mus musculus frolicked by you
Today, the sweet smell of you absorbing his tiny brain
Your large pitcher, an inviting opening
But oh, the Musmanity!
For it is full of your digestive fluids
But wait, rain approaches
Your operculum must spring forth, like an umbrella
But all is fell, your pseudo-stomach is full
Enjoy the rain, my sweet
For one can only hope, you avoid your own pitfall.
Plants in the genus Nepenthes have been known to catch the odd large-animal from time to time. Notably, Nepenthes raja which have been observed to grow individual pitchers that are capable of containing volumes of fluid up to ~3.5 litres. You can find pictures strewn across the internet of a Nepenthes or other carnivorous plant having caught a rat, a bird, a bat, a toad, a shrew, but these are not the normal constituents of carnivorous plant diets. Generally larger fauna caught by carnivorous plants are suspected of simply looking for a drink and being sick or near death anyway. Often times, due to the inability of the plant to digest these creatures the pitcher will often suffer rather than benefit the plant as a whole.
Some awesome, yet very unusual examples:
A bat was caught by a Nepenthes and discovered during the North Eastern Carnivorous Plant Society meeting in 2007. Note that the bat (though it stunk to high-hell) is largely in tact, a testament to the fact that these plants aren't made for eating larger creatures. http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110338
A treefrog caught by a venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) caught and successfully digested- all but the skeleton, of course! http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93070&highlight=frog While a new species of carnivorous plant is always welcome, until enzymes produced by the pitcher, or a symbiotic relationship between bacteria and plant is found which specifically targets rats or other mammals, I call BS to the claim of it being a rat-eater.
A vine called Tenax that kills rats? Heck, where I work we have a vine called Twinax that could choke a horse!
That's not Offtopic, it's untranslated, but very funny!
Large Nepenthes have been known for many, many years. Do a search on Google images for "Nepenthes mouse" and you'll find examples of where people have had rats and mice fall victim to nepenthes in people's greenhouses so there's little reason it wont happen in the wild, although I suppose you could argue animals should be more wise to it in their natural environments.
;)
There was a story going around various carnivorous plant communities and quite honestly I can't verify it's truth but needless to say it seems plausible. There was apparently a zoo that had some large nepenthes in the monkey enclosure (They're often just called monkey cups because monkeys have been known to drink from them in the wild) and they had to be removed because baby monkeys kept falling into the pitchers and required rescuing before they began to get digested which in turn apparently made many of the children at the zoo observing the monkeys cry.
You can keep nepenthes at home, some species are easy to keep as they don't need a massive amount of humidity and don't need especially warm temperatures but others can be kept in a greenhouse. Personally I keep one in the bathroom as use of the shower provides all the humidity it needs in that room and it does a decent job of dealing with spiders and mossies that make their way in there although be warned, the digestive process isn't particularly fast or terribly exciting, we're talking weeks or months. They do look impressive though, particularly the species with red pitchers or the combined reddish/yellow/green pitchers.
It's interesting keeping carnivorous plants and I started it because I got fed up of insects in my computer room in the summer. I didn't want an insecticutor as the room gets too hot as is and I don't want to use even more electricity so I figured the natural route may be an interesting option, it certainly is. Sundew (drosera), Venus flytraps (dionaea muscipula), Pitcher plants (nepenthes and saracennia) and butterworts (pinguicula) are the best bet.
If you are interested in getting started with carnivorous plants, I don't recommend trying from seed at first and you really need rainwater or distilled water (tap water doesn't cut it) but there are decent suppliers everywhere (www.littleshopofhorrors.co.uk if you're in the UK is decent). The one thing I will say though is please, if you are going to maintain your own creature killing plants use peat from sustainable sources or alternatives! There's no reason you can't keep this type of plant at home though if you can get hold of one from a legitimate source (i.e. not looted from the wild) which isn't too hard.
What I really want is a rat catching venus flytrap or sundew, now THAT would be something
KFC and Taco Bell together? *shudder* They should send the health inspectors to protect the rat from the food, not the other way around.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Semore, is that you? Feed me!
"Victory can be anticipated, but not assured" - Sun Tzu
We could just make a maze of these plants as the entrance to every law school! Voilà, no more law-rats...
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
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So he should get a job reporting for the Fox News Channel?
...They had to be removed because baby monkeys kept falling into the pitchers and required rescuing before they began to get digested which in turn apparently made many of the children at the zoo observing the monkeys cry. Stupid young'unsComment removed based on user account deletion
Nepenthes Rajah is probably the most notorious rat catcher. The pitchers on average are about the size of a NFL football and dwarf these newly discovered ones. http://www.vcps.au.com/pics/plants/n_rajah.jpg
That Kent Brockman quote... you all KNOW the one I'm talking about (and if you don't know, turn in your geek card immediately). It's not a Slashdot meme. Give credit where credit is due.
Stories like this prove someone's messing with the time line again. The day before yesterday it was reading about Sweden's colonies and the Swedish East India Company.
Harry Turtledove, knock it off!
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Why build one when you can grow one!
If you genetically engineer one to grow bigger it could become a carbon friendly alternative to Razor Waire in the battlefield.
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
... "then there are people out there who would take advantage of that."
But here's a map to where they are, that is posted on the same friggin' article... map
Certainly journalism at its finest... I would truly expect nothing less from a network called ABC news, I suppose.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I'm not sure who will end up killing us first, the carnivorous plant lovers or the people working on carnivorous, flesh-powered robots. (you remember the slugbot, right?)
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
How does it crap?
And where does it crap?
People keep these things as plants in the house?!
Now i've seen everything, a crapping plant.
I've got a Natalie Portman eating vine.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
I think you're right it is a worrying obsession, I really like cactus and succulents too but imagine my excitement when as a cactus and carnivorous plant lover I found out that Euphorbia, a type of cactus-like succulent that can ooze a toxic sap like substance that can cause human skin to blister. It's like the next best thing to a carnivorous cactus!
Ugh. The worst I ever read about was fiction, it had man-sized "tumbleweeds" which were mobile, self-steering plants that tumbled across the plains. They would roll over any animal they could, impaling them on their spikes. The nutrients would be sucked from the bodies which would decay, skeletalize, and then fall off due to the vibration of movement.
I didn't like that place.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
You mean bogus journalists like Jeff Gannon? The guy who the White House vetted as a real journalist despite him not being one AND his involvement with gay escort service web sites?
Or did you mean bogus journalists like FEMA used for a quickie press conference?
Those who live in glass houses and all that. . .
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sounds no different from the tumbleweeds we get in the SoCal desert -- some are bigger than a VW, and armed with hordes of small poisoned spikes. Largest one I've pulled up was over 8 feet across and it hadn't matured yet. When they're running loose in the fall, you don't want to get in their way!
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Is that the sort of meme you were expecting?
-- Boycott Shell
So somebody that likes the Bush administration still exists?
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
That is a well known hoax you bunch of retards.
Welcome to slashdot, where the occasional posting is not meant to be taken seriously and the only prerequisite is a smidgen of critical thinking.
I've seen rats eating plants all the time. Usually they like to eat food pellets too. What's the big deal?
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Humans are very close to the bottom of the food chain: Grass, Cows, Humans. That is only two up, while crocodiles, sharks, dogs, lions, vermin, snakes, rats, mosquitos, bacteria, viruses and many others are all above us.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Step 1: Eat rats.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit.