Unique Characteristics: • Sea Urchins are a delicacy that only becomes edible during their reproductive stage • The edible part of the urchin is in fact its sex organs, five of them to be precise • Red-shelled urchins are the most popular and can be found in the warm mediteranean sea • Green-shelled urchins are the most rare and can be found in the cold atlantic ocean, they are also the most expensive.
Hidden inside a well-armored exterior, is a creamy orange delicacy known as the ‘sea urchin’. Sea urchins only become edible during their reproductive cycle. The unique flavour of the urchin comes from the “roe”, the orange parts of the urchin. Although these bits might look like like egg sacks, diners are actually feasting on their five sex organs - one of the reasons this seafood is considered an aphrodisiac.
The shells of urchins varies in colour, such as red, purple and green. Red is the most well-known since it is indigenous to the romantic Mediterranean and Southern California locales. Green shelled urchins can be found in the cold water of the atlantic and is very expensive because it doesn’t break down in the frying process.
Opening the hard shell of the urchin is an art. Carefully avoiding the spines, you have to cut around the top using a blunt knife and scissors or a specific sea-urchin shear. Seawater pores out of the shell and leaves only the black web that holds the roe together, behind. When cooked in oil, the urchins release water and become creamy.
Although young females are most popular because of their bright colour and firm texture, it is said that the duller males are better tasting. A topmost urchin at a top restaurant can cost up to R400 for less than 114 grams. magazine.wsj.com
Unique Characteristics: • A Phorid fly injects their egg into a fire ant • The phorid larvae then feasts on the brain of the ant, turning the ant into a zombie • The baby fly decapitates its host and exits through the ants head • In some cases the zombie fire ants will start to attack their own kind Phorid flies in South America have a bizarre and rather cold-hearted way of reproducing. First they need to find a target, a nonchalant fire ant; they will then hover over it and inject their victim with their egg, using their needle-like appendage.
After the eggs hatch, the larvae moves to the head of the ant, feasting on it’s brain for weeks, turning the fire ant into a zombie, making it the perfect plot for a horror movie. However the movie is still not at it’s end; finally the baby fly decapitates its host and exits through the ants head. In some cases the zombie fire ants will start to attack their own kind, just as any zombie will do. Feeding ants roaming outside is more vulnerable to attack than those taking shelter in hidden nests. news.nationalgeographic.com
At first sight nothing seems out of the ordinary about this bird, but beyond its exterior lies characteristics that makes this bird one of the most unusual species in the world.
Birds of a different feather Unique Characteristics: • They are also called 'The Stinkbird' because of their repulsive smell that keep predators at bay and making their flesh inedible. • The have the same digestive systems as cows (the only bird in the world with foregut fermentation) • They have two claws on each wing, chicks use the claws to rummage about in the trees • The Hoatzin uses a leathery bump on the bottom of its crop to help balance itself on the branches The swamps of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America is home to very unusual bird, the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) or ‘stinkbird’. It is a brown pheasant-sized bird some 65 cm long, with a long neck and small head. It has a blue face with maroon eyes, and its head is topped by a spiky, rufous crest. Besides its appearance, the Hoatzin has features that sets it apart from all other bird species.
The first distinctive characteristic of the Hoatzin is their very repulsive smell. This odor keeps predators, including humans, at bay and it also makes their flesh inedible. Studies showed that the Hoatzin’s odor comes from the way it digests the leaves it eats. Uniquely among birds, the Hoatzin has developed foregut fermentation. Hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material they consume, much like cattle and other ruminants. Hoatzins is said to consume more than 50 species of leaves. Despite the abundance of leaves in the tropics, no other bird has any kind of foregut fermentation. How the hoatzin came to develop this is a mystery.
The Hoatzin uses a leathery bump on the bottom of its crop to help balance itself on the branches. The Hoatzin also has a very primitive characteristic that dates back to the Jurassic era. Their chicks have two very recognizable claws on each wing which are used to rummage about in the trees. Adult birds still have their claws but are no longer of any use to them. This enigmatic bird is so unique that scientists has struggled to classify it under a family of birds. Because of this it has been given its own family, the Opisthocomidae, and its own suborder, the Opisthocomi.
