Drafts

Canis lupus familiaris (dogs), Canis lupus (wolves), and Canis latrans (coyote) are very similar and often a topic of conversation if the species are under one species or separate. The three animals are different species. In the article, Yes, eastern coyotes are hybrids, but the ‘coywolf’ is not a thing, the author points out that different species do not have to be completely reproductively isolated. The articles points out that in times when both the species of Canis lupus and Canis latrans were underpopulated and endangered that the different species would mate with each other and the other species Canis lupus familiaris. Although, when each species is not in endangered they choose to mate with their respective species. 

This projects specific goal is to create a multi paneled scientific illustration that displays a flowering plant on the Umass campus. Meanwhile the project also hopes to enhance our scientific writing ability and our ability to contruct a methods section that can be followed by a complete stranger and still provide the same results.

Possible locations to find organism

• Bushes near the library
• Inside conservatory near UHS
• Bushes near ILC

Factors to control/consider when selectiong oranism

• ​Must have flowers
• Must be on the umass campus​
• Minimal human interaction
• Easily Identifiable

Things to remeberfor intro

• ​Include organism background and description
• Explain factors included to facilitate replication

This past summer I went to Burkina Faso, in Western Africa for a military mission. Upon getting to my destination I noticed that the ground was not like the ground here in the United States. I noticed that it was red in color and had the characteristics as clay. I went there during the rainy season of Africa and it would vigorously rain for about 30-45 minutes, and then stop for the rest of the day. However, the few days it would rain for hours, the dirt on the ground would become clay like and would prevent the water from being absorbed into the ground. This would create these rivers that would flood the streets. There were also very minimal trees and crops which grew from this red dirt. This brought me to the question on why? Why is it red? Perhaps it was the lack of nutrients that the ground had. I became interested in this and began to research and learned that the ground is infact clay and is rich in iron and aluminum due to the heavy rains and intense heat. the red color comes from the oxidation of the iron in the soil. 

An unknown organism is presented in a small pertri dish for discriptional observation over a 30-minute period.  The organism appears to be a bilaterally symmetrical insect larva of some sort.  It possesses a tan coloration, with translucent dorsal and ventral sides causing the insides to be slightly visible.  This coloration might have something to do with the environment it inhabits, which may be subterranean, therefore providing camouflage.  The tail is much darker than that of the rest of the body and the very tip of the tail is completely black.  The 13mm long tail is roughly the same length as the 14mm body.  This comparison between tail and body length raises the question of the tail's significance to the organism's survival. There appears to be 8 nubby legs that provide little traction for movement and two black spots that exist close to the rostral end of the body.  There exist slight ridges along the circumference of the body.  These ridges expand and contract during movement, allowing the organism to extend its body forwards in an inching fashion similar to that of a caterpillar.  This organism appears to be blind, as obstruction of its potential viewpoint with a pen has no effect on its reaction.  The organism, however, is very shy and will cease all movement and act dead if touched.  There still exist many questions about this organism that cannot be answered only through observation in a petri dish.  What does this organism consume, and what may consume this organism?  What type of environment does this organism inhabit?  And is this organism at one certain stage of its lifecycle?  These questions have potential answers with more in depth observation.

It appeared seed like before it began to move. The "body" is about 1.25 cm long with approximately a .25 cm diameter. it also has a stringlike appendage at the tip of one end that is about 1.5 cm long. it is very soft and seems to have a  semi transparent dark brown membrane surrounding an inner lighter brown core. it moves around, squirming and stretching. the stringlike appendage seems to be stiffer an lacks any movement byeyond where it connects to the rest of the body. areas closer to the appendage and the opposite end appeear to be darker than the rest of the organism. there appears to be a bottom as there are 8 sets of tiny protrusions that act like tiny legs and it appears to facor moving around with them. as it strethes and squirms about there seems to be a red tube like organ within, only visible from certain angles. the tail like appendage seems to extend into the body about .5 cm and is visible due to the semi transparent light brown membrane. it moves about .25 cm per second, in a similar manner to a caterpillar or a worm. it always moves in one direction, opposite of te tail like appendage. Also similar to a caterpillar its body is wrinkled and appears segmented to help facilitate movement.

I cannot say how or what it feeds on or excretes, Nor do i know how aware of its enviroment it is or what sensory organs it has. I also cannot tell if it is larval or mature for its species, or how it might reproduce.

Observations on the larvae.

Tan body color. Is capable of moving around through undulatory locomotion. It is able to contract its body in order to shorten, condense, and protect its body. When moving its body is roughly ¾ to ½ the length of the larvae’s tail. When condensed the body is roughly 1/3 to ¼ the length of the larvae’s tail. The larvae will one day metamorphosis into an insect with a different exterior morphology. It has a segmented body with 8 small bud like legs. Tail is thicker at the base than it is at the tip. Tail looks like it has a skin coat over it that is not present at the tip of the tail. The outer layer of skin is soft and elastic, allowing the organism to stretch and contract as it moves around. The outer layer of skin is also translucent and certain organs are visible. While terrestrial in nature due to the media it was found in the larvae has small dots that appear to be eyes and has a mouth both located in the cranial or rostral region. From the naked eye small brown incisors or claspers can be seen in the mouth region. This oral appendage can be used for feeding and for locomotion. The locomotion of the organism can be broken up into three steps. First, the organism stretches its head region out as far as it can, bringing it down towards the substrate and clasps onto it firmly. Second, the organism then pulls the lower half of its body towards its head region shortening its body. This sends a wave back to the base of the tail. Third, another undulatory wave from the caudal end of the organism propels forward toward the cranial region, and at the same time the claspers or incisors let go of the substrate allowing the head to extend forward. When prodding at the tail with a pencil the larvae first attempted to run away but when it found that it couldn’t get away it began rolling and thrashing wildly. When that didn’t work the larvae began to try biting and attacking the pencil. When the body is poked with a pencil it twitches violently almost jumping away from the pain. When tapping the surrounding area with the pencil the larvae stopped moving all together until the noise stopped. On the underside of the larvae a large white area can be seen in the center of the interior of the body this area could be some kind of digestive area of lymph. The body is covered in many tiny hairs. It is roughly 27mm long with its tail being 17mm long and its body being 5 to 10 mm long. Two dots in the front of the head appear to be eyes or some type of sensory organ. There is a greater distress reaction when poking the head/cranial region than there is poking the tail/caudal region. The interior of the body appears to have a few long rod shaped muscles of organs. While the body is soft and squishy it appears to be durable. Its legs are not strong enough for it to walk up completely vertical surfaces. It’s hard for the larvae to walk around on bumpy or rough surfaces so it spends a lot of time rolling around. When suspended in the air by the tip of the tail the organism showed a lack of flexibility and was unable to reach back and touch its tail. When blowing air on the organism it acted as if nothing was wrong and continued to move around normally. Where would this organism live? Possible underground, in the water or mud, maybe underground, or even up in the tree canopy. The larvae can create a good amount of force through contractions. Its best defense mechanism is to roll away. It is bilaterally symmetrical.

The organism being observed consists of a body and tail structure covered by a translucent coating. The length of both the tail and body are roughly 15mm and the height of the body is roughly 3mm. The organism is able to move in a wave-like manner, utilizing its ability to contract and expand as well as six leg-like stumps on the bottom of the organism that seem to provide added traction. The six legs counted on the bottom of the organism also seem to provide stabilization and help to turn the organism over when on its back. Also observed through the translucent underside of the organism were white intestine-like organs lining the body, that could have digestive or nervous system functions. Despite being able to move, the organism seemed to lack direction and some sensory skills, moving around the perimeter of the container primarily, and frequently running into the edge. The organism is clearly aware of its surroundings however, when the container was shaken or moved, the organism stopped moving and only resumed when presumed safe. This stopping of movement when in presumed danger could be an important mechanism for evading the detection of predators. Many questions remain about the development of the organism as well as its habitat, place in its ecosystem and sensory and physiological capabilities. 

- this organism appears to have a body-like structure with a long wirey tail 

- there appears to be a coated translucent layer surrounding the organism 

 - it propells itself forward in a wave-like amnner beginning with the back of the body up the length and ends with the stretching of the head forward

- the end of the tail is not covred by the translucent coating 

- 6 leg-like cilia propell it forward 

- the body is roughly 15 mm and the tail is roughly 15 mm in length as well. The body is also 3 mm in height 

- It tends to lack direction, circling the perimeter of the container and it appears to stop when moved or shaken 

- The underbelly of the organism shows intestinal-like organs that are symmetrical and white on both sides 

- A couple of questions remain including if the organism is fully developed, what does it feed on? what is its natural habitat? how does it interact with other organisms? 

The organism is about 26mm in length. It has a spherical body and long, thin tail. The tail length is about 15mm and the body length is about 11mm. It's body is about 3mm wide. The organism is a tan-ish color but see-through. Inside the body are visible and symmetric organs, some of which are white and some are dark. The organism moves simalr to a caterpillar in that is does an abduction/adduction movement to move around. At first, the organism did not move but after some time it began to wriggle around. The movement of the organism seems to be random, with no path or direction. It often flips over and rolls around. Eyes are not visible, perhaps the tail functions for environment sensation. The tail is longer than the body. It does not appear to have any appendages. There are however, small bumps on its underside which may be functional is movement/traction. Based on it's random movement I would guess that the organism is in a juvenile stage. 

- color: creamy white body with a black thin tail that is about 3/4 of an inch long, longer than the body itself
- moves around like a small caterpillar with tiny little legs, however its tail is stiff
- appears that its larva body is inside some sort of transulcent cacoon
- outer surface is somewhat sticky to small particles, but otherwise it is easy to roll over
- white insides
- some sort of hole in the darker mouth region that pokes out before every time it moves forward
- appears to have a difficult time climbing up and out, probably due to its tail
- crawling alongside the outer edges, outer surface is ridged
- symmetrical, bilaterally symmetrical

Total (fully extended) Length: 31mm
Body length: 15mm
Body length (when at shortest): 13mm
Tail length: 16mm
Body width: 2mm
Tail width: <1mm, about 1/3 of a mm

Things I would like to know:
- does the outer portion of its body have muscular functions or does it just serve for protection/movement?
- what does it eat?
- where does it live?
- in what stage of development is it at or is it fully mature?
- can it see? if not, how does it sense its surroundings?