Triops Revive!

This large body of water is the aftermath of a series of great thunderstorms (as I mentioned from my previous post). The playa was renewed with fresh rain water and revived the Triops! 

So, what is a Triop? It is a tadpole shrimp that once co-existed with mammoths, dinosaurs, and trilobites. While the others died out, the Triops lived on unchanged. Fossils from the Triops from over 300 million years ago are identical to living species today, which is why they are considered "living fossils."

As I walked around the edge of the murky water I was overwhelmed by the shear number of them! The last time I saw one of these was I believe was over a decade ago (at this same location!), so I still felt a strong fascination to them. Who isn't drawn to them? They are such a mystery!

So, I went home to do some research.........

Here is what I discovered about how these organisms achieved their extraordinary feat of endurance:

"Triops are very fast developers, they need to be, as their habitats can dry before they have chance of reproducing. As other crustaceans, they hatch into a nauplius larvae with has a single eye, and move jerkily with their pair of antennae. They moult several times in quick succession until, after a couple of days they look like tiny adults. They their antennae almost disappear and they swim using their legs. When adults, they moult every few days, and can become quite large. Triops live fast and furious, with a lifespan from 4 weeks to 3 months. Desert species are shorter-lived than temperate ones."

"Triops reproduces in diverse ways. Many populations consist of males and females, but Triops are one of just a few animals that reproducibly androdioecy: some populations are made of hermaphrodites and a few males. Hermaphrodites can’t cross-fertilise each other, they can either self or mate with males. It is an intriguing reproductive system that appears to be linked to reproductive assurance."

"The most immediate feature that appears to help Triop's survival is that they produce eggs that are extremely resistant to hostile conditions. These resistant eggs withstand desiccation; extremely high temperatures, right up to boiling point; freezing; and even digestive enzymes - this lets eggs survive when the adults that carry them are eaten by birds."

"These eggs (or cysts) are also dormant, that is, they do not hatch immediately, only when favourable conditions resume, and can survive in this 'suspended animation' state for years, possibly even several centuries. They can build up in numbers in the pond sediments forming 'egg banks' and this allows populations to persist throughout adverse periods. In addition, eggs can disperse between ponds in birds' feet - or guts - or animal hoofs.
Eggs are extremely long-lived and can survive in a dormant stage in sediments for decades, allowing Triops to time-travel. Only when suitable conditions return, they hatch. And then, many eggs remain dormant even when conditions are right, waiting to hatch in a subsequent flooding period. This is an insurance survival mechanism, as often ponds dry before individuals have reproduced and this means mass mortality - and would mean population extinction - if not for the remaining eggs in the sediment. Using this "bet-hedging" hatching strategy, Triops can survive in very ephemeral rain-pools in the desert, which only fill in rare rainy years."

 Triops are commonly found in mass numbers. The birds knew this, as they were having a feast ~ even in my presence. There were also tracks of the birds everywhere.........

The triops that were stranded in an animal print, foot print, or any other impression were easy targets for the birds........

The speed of their deaths increased as the small puddle they were trapped in dried up quicker......

Many perished in vehicle tire tracks where people drove around the reservoir......

As I looked down at their lifeless, expired bodies becoming a mold in the mud, there was no need to remind myself that this specie will keep living on. True survivors.

Another decade may pass before I lay eyes on this three eyed creature again ;)

Simply Mind-boggling! 

It's been a confusing winter so far for us and the animals. Not much snow. Too warm. Rain storms instead of snow storms. The mountains may be finally getting a fresh blanket of winter this week.
Is there a change around the corner for February?
Will we get some March Madness of systems?

Fire and Floods

I'm going to give you a bit of whiplash by taking you back to the summer on this post. I wanted to document this for my personal library too :)
During the summer we had some noteworthy, incredible isolated thunderstorms. This ignited a fire in the Mt. Moriah Wilderness area, called Hampton Creek. Here is the fire from my yard. After the fire was contained the rains came and so did the disastrous flash floods in that area. Flash flooding became the theme toward the end of summer. We had a dry winter, so maybe it was trying to make it up? Geeeeez.......

We had dry days on end, however when it did rain ~ it was measurable amounts. At times I couldn't believe the amount of water that poured from the sky! The neat thing about the Great Basin is that you can see where the weather is, whether moving across the valley or pounding the mountains. It really is a beautiful sight, as long as you aren't inconvenienced from it ;) 

On my Friday commutes to Ely, I try to remember to take my camera. It's been forgotten many times. However, I was able stop on the side of the road and capture the sky with my iPhone.

This system looked like a grey vail moving across the valley.......

These next two photos were taken by my cousin, Janille, who took photos on her trips to town.
You better take those flooding signs seriously ;) 

When it wasn't pouring and the sun was shining, the rainbows were a pretty display in the sky......

I have to admit, the thunder that crashed surprised me a few times. I can't remember the last time I heard a clap of thunder that loud! Just like that, water would pour from the sky. My gutters tried to keep up, but overflowed easily. The driveway filled up with water in minutes, and I watched wide-eyed and said to myself,"Ok, you can stop now." These photos don't do it justice. my driveway ended up all water.......

Here is what the bottom of the gutter looked like; I thought it was foamy water.......

Then I took a closer look. Hail in August (at 5,000 ft)..... you don't see that too often.

Because of these memorable thunderstorms bringing crazy amounts of pools of water to the desert ~ it revived the "living fossils," or Triops. 
What are Triops? I'll explain those on my next post ;)

The flooding in our valley was a hot topic of course. You can learn more and see great pics on the blogs below:
Here is my friend Gretchen's blog post 
My cousin Janille's blog post