[Ag-eq] re" a little peep into New Zealand ecology

[Jewel]

Nella!  I have no specific background in ecology, but the animal kingdom and all that affects it is 
one of my pet interests, so I make every effort that is available to me to learn as much about it as 
possible.
Just to add a little to what I wrote the other night re Hamilton's frog and the mystery of how it 
crossed the 3 kilometres of sea between the mainland and Stevens" Island, and also how does the very 
lethargic Tuatara manage to grab a tasty fleet-footed frog.
Firstly:  the  frog.  It was just a natter of happenstance.
12,000 years ago, what is now Stevens" Island was part of the mainland.  One bright, calm morning, 
Mrs mergatroid Froggerbolley was just getting the children's fly breakfast ready for them to eat 
before they set off for froggigarten, when, suddenly, there came a rumble and a roar followed by  a 
terrific shuddering of the earth, and when she looked out of the window, what had been solid land 
was now very unsolid Pacific Ocean:  so the family froggerbolley and all their neighbours were 
marooned, and thus it has remained to the present day.
How does the, largely,  sedentary Tuatara catch the athletic frog?  It
is true that the Tuatara would never be a threat to Mr Bolt, but, it can, when a tasty meal comes 
within range, sprint 6 metres in 2 seconds, which is quite quick enough to get it a  meal!


Jewel


--------------------------------------------------
From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 12:01 AM
To: "Jewel" <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>; "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" 
<ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] re"  a little peep into New Zealand ecology


Jewel:

is your background in biology or some other science?

You seem to know so much about New Zealands's environment.

Nella

Quoting Jewel <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>:

> I looked up Hamilton's frog on Wikipedia, but found very little relevant
> information there.
> I will ring Lindsay Haysley, the "tuatara man" at the Southland museum
> tomorrow to see if he can
> provide more details than Wiki gave.  The Southland museum, amongst others,
> has a very successful
> tuatara breeding colony:  to the point that there are sufficient juveniles to
> start free-living
> populations on off shore predator-free islands, and it is hoped that they can
> be reintroduced to the
> mainland where they have not existed for many many years.   Incidentally, the
> Tuatara also lives on
> Stevens' island and predates Hamilton's frog which does surprise  me a little
> as Tuatara are very
> slow:  they can go 90 seconds between one breath and the next:  while I think
> of frogs being quite
> quick on their feet.  The H frog has the IUCN classification of critically
> endangered but I doubt
> that the Tuatara is to blame for this!"  after all, tuatara share the burrow
> with the broad-billed
> Prion and do take Prion chicks when they get the opportunity and those are
> not hard to find as the
> parents are out at see all day leaving their children at home, alone and
> unprotected, but the prion,
> though not prolific is in no grave danger of extinction.
> Hamilton's frog used to live on the mainland and may have been moved to
> Stevens' island as it is one
> of our predator-free islands:  that is:  free of predators such as cats and
> rats!
>
>        Jewel
>
>
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