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Post by chelmuth on May 20, 2008 23:29:41 GMT
Hey, could you get a comparison picture of the new/old pitcher?
That's pretty cool, actual caught mice. I wonder if the bones would dissolve?
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Post by shartmeyer on May 29, 2008 7:56:49 GMT
Well, the experiment is still running and even nearly four weeks after capture the pitcher looks healthy. There is no more bad smell inside the greenhouse, so Irmgard and I decided not to touch the pitcher until it dries out normally. Then we will open it and look for the skeleton and without any doubt that will be filmed and photographed as well as the next developing pitchers. The whole experiment will be shown on our next private DVD Triple "E" meets Triphyophyllum, which becomes our lecture for the EEE 2008 in Mira (Italy). Further information will also be provided on our website www.hartmeyer.de.
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Post by sarracenialover on Jun 13, 2008 18:19:15 GMT
Awesome! Those pitchers are really efficient!
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cavila1
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Help! Help! I've fallen & can't get out!
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Post by cavila1 on Jun 26, 2008 4:01:57 GMT
I'm not sure you can post links here but, on YouTube, if you type "Mouse gets eaten by Nepenthes" on the "Search field. It will pull out a vid of a small mouse falling on a Nepenthes spathulata and a second vid that shows the digested remains of the mouse.
Hope you find it interesting.
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mb01
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Post by mb01 on Jul 10, 2008 16:31:22 GMT
Shartmeyer, in your picture of the pitcher where you are giving the measurement, is the plant in the foreground also a N. truncata? Btw cavila1, the video is awesome.
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cavila1
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Post by cavila1 on Jul 12, 2008 18:51:41 GMT
You're welcome mb01,
I've hear the familiar stories of rajah capturing small rodents, the later I heard that some botanical garden in France. A truncata captured a small mouse. That it can capture small mammals is fascinating to me
Also figured out that the forum does allow to post links from YouTube. Swe-e-et! ;D
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Post by jlandrum on Jul 13, 2008 4:42:03 GMT
My N. x Mixta has captured lizards - roughly gecko sized - a few times after they drowned trying to get at the prey in the pitchers (it grows fine outside in Florida). I don't have any photos, but the soft tissues did decay a good while before the trap in question got old and withered up.
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Post by shartmeyer on Jul 13, 2008 12:57:41 GMT
To mb01: the small plant left is N. ramispina, the on right is N. dubia.
Our experiment is still running, but the truncata trap has no problem with rotting. The mouse was caught in April and now in July the lid and the upper third part of the pitcher dried out. That is quite normal for a pitcher of this age. But the lower part is inside and outside still without any damage. The level of the liquid is constant during the whole time despite I did not add any water. Obviously the plant still regulates the level and absorbs nutrients. I expect some more weeks now until the pitcher will dry out and we can film the remaining skeleton.
And the now developing new pitcher becomes certainly the largest since more than 20 years ...
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Post by shartmeyer on Jul 24, 2008 8:42:28 GMT
Oops, it did it again! Well, I expected something like this when the new pitcher reached 40 cm height ... and yesterday (2008 June 23) I realized that it happened: our "Killertruncata" caught the 4th mouse within 15 months. Here are the new pictures:
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Post by lazarus on Aug 14, 2008 22:49:36 GMT
Nice! You have inspired me to try feeding a mouse to my lowii x truncata . The newest pitcher is about a foot tall, and I suppose its large enough to digest one. I've heard that the bones are mainly digested while the skin and fur kinda stay behind. What have you seen so far? That would suggest that they mostly benefit from calcium and Nitrogen in loosely bound, easily digestible compounds within the animal.
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Post by Not a Number on Aug 15, 2008 0:48:51 GMT
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Post by lazarus on Aug 17, 2008 5:47:24 GMT
I'm extremely curious to know how the digestive enzymes secreted by Nepenthes differ from species to species. Particularly when you hear about them catching larger order animals, like fish, birds, mammals, you hear different accounts of what remains in the pitchers as evidence. Like on youtube I saw one guy post video of the remains of a mouse caught by his spathulata. The remains were mostly flesh and hair plus some internal organs. The bones, blood, and most of the innards were completely digested. Ive heard cases of rafflesianas in the wild catching mice and havking nothing but skeletal remains. Ive seen one guy feed his truncata fish and witness the digestion of every part of it from scales to bones.
So apparently there are either a host of environmental conditions that effect the digestion of larger prey (including local bacteria), or it is evidence of some slight differences between the enzymes secreted by Neps. I also wonder how the secretions of species such as ampullaria and lowii differ. These are things that really deserve some dedicated scientific studies.
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kath
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Post by kath on Aug 17, 2008 8:52:37 GMT
Wow!!!
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Clint
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Post by Clint on Aug 17, 2008 13:25:09 GMT
If he had waited longer, the flesh and organs would have decomposed. I find it surprising that the bones dissolved. How big was the mouse?
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Post by shartmeyer on Aug 17, 2008 13:49:01 GMT
Just a short info: the pitcher which caught mouse #3 in April did still not wither in the lower part, so we did not open it. I expect some more weeks, but then we can be sure to see the result of a full "digestion cycle". The pitcher which caught mouse #4 in July showed last week a couple of maggots, obviously feeding on the mouse remains within the liquid. I never observed that before with the other pitchers. However, the greenhouse shows no bad smell and the liquor is surprisingly clear, but that pitcher seems to wither faster than the others now.
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