crmckenzie's blog

I am very interested in pursuing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Northeastern University. After review of several different PA school programs and discussions with medical professionals, I have come to the conclusion that Northeastern University has a top tier Physician Assistant program due to its duration and options available within the program. It is ranked 20^th in the nation and has been running since 1971, making it one of the most experienced programs in the nation. The small class size is also very important to my me. I am also interested in the dual degree and certificate programs Northeastern offers, specifically, the PA/MPH pathway as I am very interested in public health.

    Esters are known for their distinctive odors and are commonly used for food aromas and different fragrances. They are made by the food industry to mimic natural flavors of fruits and flowers which in turn lower product costs. The original combination of the reactants produced a strong, unpleasant smell likened to that of alcohol and body odor combined. The final product smelled like artificial banana flavoring. Other smells in the room included pineapple and cherry.

The name Snanker is a playful combination of the words snake and bank that McKenzie came up with during her trip and that the scientists decided to keep. After closer investigation, evolutionist Dr. Devon Elop, Dev for short, has come to the conclusion that the Magnacide dynaphyll is a close relative of Panthera onca, or the jaguar (Sartore). “Both species are well adapted for swimming and aquatic environments, but the Snanker is even more so.” While both the jaguar and the Snanker can become prey to the anaconda, the Snanker is far more equipped in dealing with the snake. The Snanker almost solely hunts anacondas and is extremely specialized in doing so. The anaconda is its only predator and due to the fact that they are larger and swifter than jaguars, they are thought to be on the way to overpopulating the species. “I’m extremely proud of this discovery,” McKenzie gloats. “I cannot wait to see what the world has to say about the Snanker”.

Their life span averages at twenty years. They do not hibernate and their pituitary glands are not terribly overworked, as conserving water is not a main concern in the tropical rainforest (Pituitary). Like most carnivores, their digestive tract is relatively short, and they are equipped with many enzymes to digest meat. Scientists decided to name this species Magnacide dynaphyll by using various Latin roots. The generic name, Magnacide, is a mix of magna and cide, meaning big sharp tooth. The specific name, dynaphyll, is a mix of dyn, a-, and phyll, meaning powerful, green, and on the shore.

Their fur is slick as they love being in the water, and they swim to cool off.” She explained that they are believed to mate at all times of the year, but mostly near the end of the wet season, as their gestation period is about four months and the females prefer to raise their young in the thick of the dry season where anacondas are less likely to strike, for anacondas mate and burrow in the mud during the dry season (Largest Snake). A dominant male claims his own stretch of bank and selected females and uses a special gland to mark his territory. The Snanker are thought to reach sexual maturity at around the age of four, and the dominant male chases young males off of his territory once they reach the age of two.

”It looked like a cat crossed with an otter crossed with a mongoose,” she says. “It used its long claws to tear into the snake and the mud around it, and later I observed it digging into the mud for snakes that were hiding.” McKenzie describes the Snanker as having short rounded ears that become flat to the head when the animal swims, a long muzzle with razor sharp teeth and large canines for puncturing its prey, long muscular legs, and webbed paws useful for swimming and walking in the mud. “They are mainly active during the day, and because of this their eyes are not as large as, say, the ocelot’s,” McKenzie says. After more observation, McKenzie was able to discover more about the seasonal changes and the mating process characteristic of the species. “As the dry season continued on, the green color on their pelts became less and less and faded into brown. I suspect that during the wet season, when they are mostly covered by vegetation, this makes them camouflage more easily into their surroundings.

It was in early June that it happened. McKenzie was sitting in vegetation by the shore of the water, observing the giant water lilies, when she realized that an anaconda was becoming dangerously close. “I panicked,” McKenzie recalls. “I had no idea what to do. I was frozen. But then, all of a sudden, a brownish-green blur flashed before my eyes. It didn’t even care that I was there,” she exclaimed. “The Snanker just jumped right in front of me and killed the anaconda immediately, swiftly dodging its head and biting it in the throat." But this creature was unlike anything she had ever seen before. As the animal devoured the giant snake, McKenzie was finally able to take in the details. It was huge, about seven feet long from nose to the tip of its tail, which was thick and muscular.

The average rainfall in the whole of the Amazon River Basin is about 2300 mm per year, and there are two seasons: wet season and dry season, though it is always hot and humid (Project Amazonas). The Amazon River Basin is a mixture of fresh water and salt water called brackish water and in the wet season the water levels rise drastically (The Amazon River). McKenzie was there during the months of May, June, and July, and so experienced the end of the wet season, which normally lasts from January to May, and the beginning of the dry season, which continues on until December (Wet and Dry Season). “I saw parts of the jungle floor that were once covered in water dry up and become accessible to me and many of the jungle’s species,” McKenzie explains. She states that finding fish to eat was much easier in the latter two months, and snakes and other reptiles such as the Caiman became abundant.

            After a three month camping trip in the Amazon rainforest, field scientist Chandley McKenzie has reported the discovery of a brand new species: the Magnacide dynaphyll, or the Snanker. McKenzie was there to research Amazonian plant diversity and planned to stay for another three months, however the excitement of reporting this new species overpowered her plans. “I needed to spread the word”, the young field scientist explained. “My excitement for the Snanker cannot be contained.” It all began when McKenzie was studying the flora in the dense tropical rain forest of the Amazon River Basin, illustrating the very tall evergreen trees of the rainforest’s canopy as well as various orchids, rubber trees, fruit trees, and kapok trees in her field journal (Study.com). These forests have several layers of vegetation including the under-story, sub-canopy, canopy, and sometimes emergent trees that surpass the canopy.