On the topic of whether the Venus Flytrap is "irreducibly complex", and whether mousetraps can or can't evolve step-by-step, Pete Dunkelberg considers the evolution from something like a sundew into the "irreducibly complex" Venus Flytrap here.
Dennis Venema · 15 May 2013
Wow, there's a blast from the past. I think I submitted this three, maybe four years ago? :) Nice for it to see the light of day.
Pretty easy to see an adaptive path from attracting insects as pollinators to occasionally snagging one as a convenient source of nitrogen as well.
https://me.yahoo.com/a/5rJLWq8Iqe0R3hRf7YLMHc45lsnr49Q.pOxGKuOen7O_#dc428 · 15 May 2013
This is such a fascinating little beast, with an absolutely unbelievable geographic distribution.
It's difficult for me to imagine how this little beauty could be so widespread, given the habitat specificity and the small number of seeds per individual plant.
i have observed this plant at high elevations in the appalachians and along the coastal plain of VA/NC/SC... very few other organisms share such a combination of broad geographic distribution, climatic tolerance and narrow habitat preferences
also, great picture Dennis!
Matt Young · 15 May 2013
I think I submitted this three, maybe four years ago?
2009 contest. We had a lot of entries the first couple of years, so we never got to posting some of the Honorable Mentions. Now (as I think I mentioned a few months ago) we are going back and running some of the early entries. Still have a goodly handful from 2009 before we get to 2010.
Dennis Venema · 15 May 2013
https://me.yahoo.com/a/5rJLWq8Iqe0R3hRf7YLMHc45lsnr49Q.pOxGKuOen7O_#dc428 said:
great picture Dennis!
Thanks. If memory serves the photo shows the specimen larger than it was in real life. It was a grey, overcast day, so light was at a premium. I'm pretty sure I shot this with my Adaptall-2 Tamron 90mm f2.5 macro wide open at f2.5. The camera was a Pentax K10D (I've since upgraded to a K5). I was also leaning out from a bank onto a peat moss "waterbed" hoping I wouldn't punch through in order to get the shot. :)
10 Comments
Gary_Hurd · 13 May 2013
I like this.
ksplawn · 13 May 2013
phhht · 13 May 2013
I like those stalked mucilaginous glands.
phhht · 13 May 2013
See this.
Henry J · 14 May 2013
Flower Power!
diogeneslamp0 · 15 May 2013
On the topic of whether the Venus Flytrap is "irreducibly complex", and whether mousetraps can or can't evolve step-by-step, Pete Dunkelberg considers the evolution from something like a sundew into the "irreducibly complex" Venus Flytrap here.
Dennis Venema · 15 May 2013
Wow, there's a blast from the past. I think I submitted this three, maybe four years ago? :) Nice for it to see the light of day.
Pretty easy to see an adaptive path from attracting insects as pollinators to occasionally snagging one as a convenient source of nitrogen as well.
https://me.yahoo.com/a/5rJLWq8Iqe0R3hRf7YLMHc45lsnr49Q.pOxGKuOen7O_#dc428 · 15 May 2013
This is such a fascinating little beast, with an absolutely unbelievable geographic distribution.
It's difficult for me to imagine how this little beauty could be so widespread, given the habitat specificity and the small number of seeds per individual plant.
i have observed this plant at high elevations in the appalachians and along the coastal plain of VA/NC/SC... very few other organisms share such a combination of broad geographic distribution, climatic tolerance and narrow habitat preferences
also, great picture Dennis!
Matt Young · 15 May 2013
Dennis Venema · 15 May 2013