Spending time in the unused anteater cage by choice
Jake likes hammocks
Anteater poop
Because we know you wanted to know
Tamandua bones
Tamandua skull
Tamandua Tetradactlya, anteater
Tamandua leg bone
and an unfused cap(growth plate).
He was a young adult but doing this showed that he had a lot of bones that should have fused with maturity that didn't. This shows he had some major chronic problem. Had we been able to save him he likely still would have had a short and possibly unpleasant life.
Claw and claw bone
The first knuckle ends in this claw like point on all digits then covered with the sheath like claw
Claw and bone together
The end of the claw tucks into the bone
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Well I didn't get photos as I changed the water between rain showers today but it's getting quite interesting. As I mentioned to some after last time the bones now help tell some of Kamena's story.
All those little discs are parts of the spine. It was explained each vertebrae is several pieces until they fuse with age, usually early on in life. There are several other bones that would normally fuse with age like the ends of the joints have bone caps that would normally have fused to one humerus(arm bone) for example. To see what I mean go to this site See where it points out the epiphyseal line? That line isn't sealed on Kamena's bones so is a cap there(separate piece). There was even a little "cap" bone on the scapula but not sure where that would be in the picture I linked too.
What does all that mean? Well assuming that tamanduas bones do not fuse really late in life for some reason it means Kamena was a very sick boy with a long term(chronic) underlying condition. It means he was likely doomed no matter what we might have done differently. I lost the site I read about it on but there was a long list of possible causes basics being genetic, congenital and or environmental. Malnutrition growing up was one possible cause but even if it was that and things had been done differently and we had "saved" him nothing would reverse the damage and he wouldn't likely have had a long healthy life.
So on to something that is simply interesting to me. Since I didn't take photos today here is one from the web
Now the reason for that is the claw. The claws slid off and underneath is a pointy claw shaped bone which is also part of that big knuckle as one bone. So in the photo above the pointy claw bone would come out about half way in the claw with the claw covering it like a sheath but tucked into that knuckle bone. If you can't picture it I will get real pictures eventually.
Pua is happy prices have gone back down and we have a bunch planted this year.
Little warrior
This humming bird sat in the tree and would come and chase away all others when one tried to use the feeder.
I thought we were going for a walk
I opened the door but Pua wanted to snuggle for a bit instead.
Kisses
Once she decided to go she climbed into the back to wait for the proper door to be opened. She always gets out the back passenger door.
Sticking her nose into things
Action shot
This looks interesting
What's in here?
Low bridge
Scrunching down from the sapling branch
Between a rock and a log
She was much closer to me than she looked to be.
Canopy
Wondering should I crop the tree trunk from the photo?
Bye bye forest
when I label these bye forest they always get favorited on Flickr.
Sitting on my lap
After walk let down
She went to bed but then poked her head out for a bit before going back in. I offered some juice but she wasn't thirsty.
Just heard that the episode of "Weird, True and Freaky" with me in it aired on Animal Planet. It's just a couple photos of me. I'm not the star but watch for it. ~ Pua
To those that helped get the funds to get Pua's new mate, we are still working on it. Trying to get an adult male imported from Paraguay. It shouldn't be much longer. I've seen some photos but can not share them on the blog at this point.
We've had a lot of progress on the bone project. I've got the feet and legs in two different buckets bur was a bit late to keep the hands separated. Tail is soaking due to it having been mummified and it's un-mummified now. I think I got all the bones but will scoop the top bit of soil once all the fly babies and smell is gone and sift it through my dad's mining classifiers to be sure no little claws or bones were lost.
Will try to get some photos next time(I know I said that last time). Has still been a bit messy and will require a change of gloves. On the plus side found a fellow on Flickr who puts skeletons together as a hobby who is willing to help. And this link is great. Even has a part explaining how to pt the ribs together. I think the wrists will be the most challenging to get just right.
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