Tree of Life -- Mammals, Arachnids, Insects, Plants and Fungi

Here are the observations about the five iconic taxa this past week:

1. Mammals: On Observatory Hill today, I was able to snap a photo of the infamous Fox Squirrel. This squirrel, seen all over campus was quite a relief to see since photographing images of other animals such as birds was getting quite difficult and I just really wanted a 5th taxa. It was still quite tricky observing this taxa since it kept running away, but luckily it paused for a moment on the tree. Under it, you can also see some lichen on the tree branch.
2. Arachnids: At University Village when I was walking along the creek, I found some California Sagebrush and decided to look through it. After a few seconds, I spotted a tiny spider, about the size of a piece of rice and got an extremely close zoomed up photo of it. It has white stripes on the bottom of it and I am starting to think I discovered a new species. Most likely not, but I'll keep telling myself that until it's identified as something else.
3. Insects: After lecture was over, and we were on Observatory Hill, our professor Scott Loarie flipped over a log to demonstrate just how easy it is to find 5 different taxa. He was right. Besides the fungi, salamander and other random taxa, there was a Western Yellowjacket as well. I absolutely despise Yellowjackets since I always think they will sting me, but seeing one that might have been a queen as well was pretty cool.
4. Plants: Just like the Fox Squirrel and Yellowjacket, I spotted the Bermuda Buttercup on Observatory Hill. There were a good number of these sprawled out indicating they were wild. The bright yellow really made them stand out compared to other plants in the area.
5. Fungi: I noticed the Common Greenshield Lichen on a tree after I took a photograph of a not-wild, clearly maintained Camellias. It is next to a blue lichen as well, which I have not yet identified. I noticed this lichen all over Observatory Hill, it seems like it is a pretty common fungi.

I enjoyed this exercise and realize now it is actually possible to find five different taxa quite easily, you just have to go to the right places. For the next assignment, I'm definitely making my way over to Strawberry Creek or a different hiking location and getting tons of research-grade observations.

Posted on February 15, 2013 01:02 AM by adamremba