Cayman's like their sex rough
11-03-2005, 12:24 PM
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Cayman's like their sex rough
Some think that the Cayman S is the spiritual successor to the 993.
Does this article from today's Chicago Tribune help their argument?
Birds, bees and caiman lizards
Violent courtship yields 3 hatchlings
By William Mullen
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 3, 2005
It is a pretty good sign that a boy caiman lizard is in love when he clamps his powerful jaws on the tail or hind leg of a girl caiman lizard, stubbornly dragging behind her as she swims back and forth underwater.
If she eventually surfaces and drags him onto dry land, letting him climb on her back to bite her head and neck, that means the girl caiman lizard is in love, too.
Knowing that little bit about the rare, little-known creatures' courtship behavior is a coup for researchers who, along with public visitors, for the last two years have watched many such rough romantic interludes at the Shedd Aquarium's Amazon Rising exhibit.
Three weeks ago, the aquarium hatched out three baby caiman lizards, the first in history to be born in captivity in North America and perhaps only the third, fourth and fifth born in captivity anywhere.
On Wednesday the aquarium held a news conference to show off the scaly little tykes. Though they look a little like miniature caiman crocodiles, with whom they share rainforest riverbanks in South America's Amazon Basin, they are not crocodiles but very rare lizards, both in nature and captivity.
Rarely studied in the wild, they aren't much studied in captivity, either, because, as a protected species, it is difficult to obtain them. Besides the Shedd, only five other zoos or aquariums in North America have them, and no other has successfully bred them.
"It is such a thrill to have these babies," said Erica Clayton, the collections manager for the Amazon exhibit, "because this is our chance to learn something about an animal nobody anywhere knows much about."
The aquarium, she said, wanted to put the lizards into its new Amazon exhibit when it opened five years ago because they are beautiful and interesting creatures, spending more time in the water than almost any other lizard species. Even their eating habits are exotic, largely based on a rich diet of hard-shelled, slow-moving river snails.
They started out with two females and decided to try breeding them two years ago, bringing in a young male on loan from the San Diego Zoo. Probably younger than the two females, he was so much smaller than the females that the staff worried he wasn't old enough to mate when he arrived. They needn't have worried.
"We put him in quarantine when he got here to make sure he was OK," said aquarist Michael Yuratovac. "When he passed through quarantine, we brought him up to the exhibit, and as soon as he got in, he was chasing the girls."
Whether he was actually copulating with the females was a mystery early on, because when the mating game got to that stage, the animals were always on a high platform out of view unless the staff opened an access door.
"We tried peeking at them by just opening the door to a crack," said Yuratovac, "but they'd always see us and stop. When they see us, they equate us with food, and they'd rush the door."
But something must have been going on, because the females started laying fertilized eggs in clutches of seven or eight every few weeks. Because the mothers ignored the eggs, keepers put them in an incubator in the aquarium basement.
The three lizards that hatched came from the same clutch of eggs but emerged on different days after about 160 days of incubation. That span was similar to the incubation period when two caiman lizards were reported born in Prague several years ago.
The babies seemed so aggressive toward one another that keepers put each into its own cage in an off-viewing basement room reserved for breeding frogs and lizards.
Because they are small, the young lizards would be hard to keep track of and take care of in the public exhibit, said chief aquarist Jim Watson.
"They came out like fully formed little adults," said Watson of the 4-inch youngsters, "looking for food to eat, already with teeth strong enough to crush the shells of the tiny snails we feed them."
Now the Shedd staff is trying to figure out why it succeeded in getting three eggs to hatch when so many fertilized eggs there and at other institutions never survived.
----------
wmullen@tribune.com
Does this article from today's Chicago Tribune help their argument?
Birds, bees and caiman lizards
Violent courtship yields 3 hatchlings
By William Mullen
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 3, 2005
It is a pretty good sign that a boy caiman lizard is in love when he clamps his powerful jaws on the tail or hind leg of a girl caiman lizard, stubbornly dragging behind her as she swims back and forth underwater.
If she eventually surfaces and drags him onto dry land, letting him climb on her back to bite her head and neck, that means the girl caiman lizard is in love, too.
Knowing that little bit about the rare, little-known creatures' courtship behavior is a coup for researchers who, along with public visitors, for the last two years have watched many such rough romantic interludes at the Shedd Aquarium's Amazon Rising exhibit.
Three weeks ago, the aquarium hatched out three baby caiman lizards, the first in history to be born in captivity in North America and perhaps only the third, fourth and fifth born in captivity anywhere.
On Wednesday the aquarium held a news conference to show off the scaly little tykes. Though they look a little like miniature caiman crocodiles, with whom they share rainforest riverbanks in South America's Amazon Basin, they are not crocodiles but very rare lizards, both in nature and captivity.
Rarely studied in the wild, they aren't much studied in captivity, either, because, as a protected species, it is difficult to obtain them. Besides the Shedd, only five other zoos or aquariums in North America have them, and no other has successfully bred them.
"It is such a thrill to have these babies," said Erica Clayton, the collections manager for the Amazon exhibit, "because this is our chance to learn something about an animal nobody anywhere knows much about."
The aquarium, she said, wanted to put the lizards into its new Amazon exhibit when it opened five years ago because they are beautiful and interesting creatures, spending more time in the water than almost any other lizard species. Even their eating habits are exotic, largely based on a rich diet of hard-shelled, slow-moving river snails.
They started out with two females and decided to try breeding them two years ago, bringing in a young male on loan from the San Diego Zoo. Probably younger than the two females, he was so much smaller than the females that the staff worried he wasn't old enough to mate when he arrived. They needn't have worried.
"We put him in quarantine when he got here to make sure he was OK," said aquarist Michael Yuratovac. "When he passed through quarantine, we brought him up to the exhibit, and as soon as he got in, he was chasing the girls."
Whether he was actually copulating with the females was a mystery early on, because when the mating game got to that stage, the animals were always on a high platform out of view unless the staff opened an access door.
"We tried peeking at them by just opening the door to a crack," said Yuratovac, "but they'd always see us and stop. When they see us, they equate us with food, and they'd rush the door."
But something must have been going on, because the females started laying fertilized eggs in clutches of seven or eight every few weeks. Because the mothers ignored the eggs, keepers put them in an incubator in the aquarium basement.
The three lizards that hatched came from the same clutch of eggs but emerged on different days after about 160 days of incubation. That span was similar to the incubation period when two caiman lizards were reported born in Prague several years ago.
The babies seemed so aggressive toward one another that keepers put each into its own cage in an off-viewing basement room reserved for breeding frogs and lizards.
Because they are small, the young lizards would be hard to keep track of and take care of in the public exhibit, said chief aquarist Jim Watson.
"They came out like fully formed little adults," said Watson of the 4-inch youngsters, "looking for food to eat, already with teeth strong enough to crush the shells of the tiny snails we feed them."
Now the Shedd staff is trying to figure out why it succeeded in getting three eggs to hatch when so many fertilized eggs there and at other institutions never survived.
----------
wmullen@tribune.com
11-03-2005, 01:00 PM
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That is what separates the boys from the caimans. I will not interrupt perpetuating the human race for food. Which is why there are more humans around than caimans. Possibly.
11-03-2005, 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Terry Adams
That is what separates the boys from the caimans. I will not interrupt perpetuating the human race for food. Which is why there are more humans around than caimans. Possibly.
11-03-2005, 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by ZombiePorsche44
Maybe it's where Porsche executives keep their slush funds........or maybe they just vacationed there and liked the name.
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11-03-2005, 08:07 PM
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Bull
You're spoiling all the fun.
Croc. Lizard. 993 Successor. They are all Caymen. Caiman also accepted spelling, according to dictionary.
You're spoiling all the fun.
Croc. Lizard. 993 Successor. They are all Caymen. Caiman also accepted spelling, according to dictionary.
11-03-2005, 08:09 PM
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And if you keep up with the "Midwest", I'm going to show one your picture, and tell it "look at that gorgeous female Caiman."
11-03-2005, 11:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike in Chi
...a boy caiman lizard is in love when he clamps his powerful jaws on the tail or hind leg of a girl caiman lizard, stubbornly dragging behind her as she swims back and forth underwater...
big turtle... that's hot
11-04-2005, 12:44 AM
#12
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Originally Posted by ZombiePorsche44
Maybe it's where Porsche executives keep their slush funds........or maybe they just vacationed there and liked the name.
I agree with Zombie...I think the inspiration comes from the Caribbean...Cayman being the "Cayman Islands" as well as Cayenne that besides being a kind of pepper is also the French Guiana's capital...maybe the new Sedan will be the "Jamaica SL"
11-04-2005, 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Pedro356C
I agree with Zombie...I think the inspiration comes from the Caribbean...Cayman being the "Cayman Islands" as well as Cayenne that besides being a kind of pepper is also the French Guiana's capital...maybe the new Sedan will be the "Jamaica SL"
PCNA's website teaser before the launch showed the crocodile, not palm trees and sand
11-04-2005, 08:59 AM
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http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/res...=303&year=2005
*****From the above article*****
Introducing this name, Porsche is taking up a concept from the animal world: The cayman belongs to the crocodile family. Within this group of the world's largest reptiles, the cayman is however a relatively small but very nimble athlete. And precisely this creates a clear resemblance not only to Porsche's new sports car, but also to the Company as a whole: The cayman is acknowledged as a highly specialised hunter with strength and agility, quick reflexes and clear target orientation.
*****From the above article*****
Introducing this name, Porsche is taking up a concept from the animal world: The cayman belongs to the crocodile family. Within this group of the world's largest reptiles, the cayman is however a relatively small but very nimble athlete. And precisely this creates a clear resemblance not only to Porsche's new sports car, but also to the Company as a whole: The cayman is acknowledged as a highly specialised hunter with strength and agility, quick reflexes and clear target orientation.
11-04-2005, 09:12 AM
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More and more I know about Cayman, more and more interested I become.
Seriously, animals aside, sounds like it will be one helluva car and since 911 is starting to be too pimp and big for my taste, I need to take a close look at this little Porsche reptile.
Seriously, animals aside, sounds like it will be one helluva car and since 911 is starting to be too pimp and big for my taste, I need to take a close look at this little Porsche reptile.