Journal task 3Samuel Munt

A Hybrid creature/animal.

Aim- Working together in a 3 person group to combine ideas to create a hybrid animal that utilizes skeletal and muscle structure of at least two existing animals.

Team Echo/Group 2- Samuel, Chris, Eileen

The group spoke online through the Moodle regularly as well as exchanging and using messenger/Facebook details. We were able to share ongoing ideas and upload images of proposed animal hybrids we were concepting. Also, we met during tafe hours to work out some finer details, teeth and tongue, webbed feet of fins and how the animal lived inthe enviroment as well as what sort of enviroment it may live in. The moodle by far proved to be the best, quickest and easiest way to communicate online, with everyone also receiving an email to remind them each time others contributed.

I had several animal hybrid design that I proposed early on and posted into the Moodle forum. I concept photo-mashed together several random animals to get a feel for what sort of design the others wanted.

Design 1- Rabbit/Echidna Design 2- Bear-Kangaroo

The images got the team thinking, and they responded with positive reasons why these particular animals may not work well. The team felt the reasons why these two animals quite didnt work was due to the rabbit had the chance to impale itself when ever it bounded or hopped, and the legs of the bear-roo may not have held its own weight. And as Eileen pointed out, “...the bear-roo would require more fat for hybination.”

With the quick replies and spark of interest, we were able to consider other ideas. We came at it from as many angles as we could. Ideas were floated forward and we considered “a bug hybrid such as dragonfly/spider because the dragonfly wings and eyes would make up for the spider's bad vision and widen their hunting range. “ Although this hybrid would look amazing, it didn't really allow for muscle structure we were after.

To meet the brief giving, we decided on an animal hybrid we felt could certainly have existed.

Frog /SharkChris offered up a great idea of an amphibian frog shark, for example, when animals migrated from the sea millions ofyears ago and they were halfway between fish and reptiles.

Frog/Shark breakdown:

Legs:The frog shark would live in small metre squared puddles in dank humid tropical areas, and stagnant waterways. Feeding would consist of the frog/shark hidding beneath or on lilleys, reeds, rocks and mud, then when the hybrids spots its prey it darts through the water quickly and silently eating the many bugs and insects that land on the waters surface to drink. The frog/shark with it's keen frogs eyes spots its meal and drives towards it with such stealth that the fin does not cut a wake in the surface. Spending more time in the water as opposed to on land, this hybrid would rely mostly on it's gills the same way a shark breathes when underwater. Having a small set of lungs allows the hybrid a small amount of time to breath oxygen when outside of water, which it utilizes when attacking prey from above the waters surface or when the puddle is emptied of prey and a food source, the hybrid then needs to use it's hind legs to hop/spring to an adjacent puddle. The legs have become quite small as the hybrid spends most of its time in the warmer waters where its skin can remain moist. Although the hind legs are also small, they are very powerful and act like a coiled up spring awaiting release. As the hybrid has only moments on land before they suffocate, their hind legs have had to evolve to get them to their new puddle/food source as quick as possible. The jump often uses up the last oftheir energy and they will easily die from oxygen suffocation if they cant reach a new puddle with in three standard frog jumps covering up to approx 6 metres.

A frogs hind legs are more powerful than the standard humans, with AquaticSciences arguing, “frogs can jump much greater distances relative to their small size than a human can. For example, the frog which holds the world record for longest jump is the South African sharp-nosed frog. Although it is only 3 inches long, it canjump over 130 inches in one leap, which is 44 times its body length...Frogs need to jump quickly to escape predators and catch food.”- Aquaticsciences.org 2017which is demonstrated via the following diagram,

Henry C. Astley, Thomas J. Roberts 2014

“Many animals use catapult mechanisms to produce extremely rapid movements for escape or prey capture, resulting in power outputs far beyond the limits of muscle. In these catapults, muscle contraction loads elastic structures, which then recoil to release the stored energy extremely rapidly. Many arthropods employ anatomical ‘catch mechanisms’ to lock the joint in place during the loading period, which can then be released to allow joint motion via elastic recoil.”2014 Henry C. Astley, Thomas J. Roberts

The front two webbed feet and legs would be of little use, mainly for stability while on land, and to help move eggs in to position into the “nest” after reproducing. The tiny webbed feet have solid grip using suckers and webbs to manouver over obstacles eg, rocks and plant life surrounding the puddle where it has made it's home.

Skin:The full grown hybrid would still be small, approx 10cm to 20cm max. The skeletal structure would be a combination between hard bone (that is seen in land animals) and cartilage (the human ear has cartilage) as a lot of underwater life has. The tough skin exterior would be a combination of the thick shark skin hide to keep the hybrid warm and safe when on land as the thick hide is hard to penetrate, and the course moist skin of a frog. Although the skin looks slippery it is quite rough with a tactile surface. The skin has a central pulp cavity, dentine and the outer layer is made up of enamel which creates a seemingly smooth surface that can cut through the water with reduced friction, yet, is made up of tiny spines can feel like rough sandpaper upon touch and can harm other animals that brush against it.

High magnification of sharks skin. www.sharksinfo.com

“A frog's skin is always moist. It is made up of two layers, an outer epidermis and an inner dermis. In addition to

protecting the frog, the skin also helps the frog breathe. A frog will take in oxygen from the water through their skin.

The oxygen in the water passes through their skin and goes directly to their blood. Frogs also have a pair of lungs

which allows them to breathe when on land.” E-tutor 2017

Fins and tail:

The hybrid has the fins of a shark which aid in gliding through the water with out leaving a wake and attracting

unwanted attention. The fins are slightly smaller in ratio than the standard sharks , while the tail is taken from a

tadpole. As the top half of both the frog and shark skeleton are very similar, eg no neck and placement of shoulder

position bones, the main difference is at the tail end. Frogs still have the tiny bump that was once their tail which

evoulution removed as the frogs grow and require to be in the water less. Perhaps if the frogs never became

amphibious and stuck to aquatic they may have kept their tail to aid in swimming and balance. This hybrid keeps the

tail for the balance while in the water, yet small enough to not hinder the hybrid when it jumps from puddle to puddle.

Left, Frog skeleton

Right, Shark skeleton

combination of skeleton

Tadpoles:

The tadpole is a young frog early on in life. There is similarities to not only the frog they will become, but also similar

traits to a shark. I propose the the frog/shark hybrid breaks away from the common frog at this stage.

Although tadpoles are considered entirely aquatic even though there are some species that become land loving,

Tadpoles.com say, “during their short and young life, breathing is done using autonomous external or internal gills.

The do not have arms or legs until they reach adulthood, and can be see with large and flattened tails that aid them in

swimming.”-The Amazing Science Behind A Tadpole’s Life Cycle,MAY 30, 2015 .

The evolution of the tadpole continues through out it's life span. As a tadpole matures, it metamorphoses into a frog by

progressively growing limbs and losing its tail following lungs development about the same time as the legs fully

develop. During this part of the tadpole’s life cycle, a tadpole can be found near the water’s surface and breathing air.

*Normally as the tadpole becomes a froglet, it is ready to venture out of the water and live on dry land. During this

period of evolution, the lungs start to function completely, the tail vanishes, the mouth widens to the width of their

head, and their skin becomes “breathable.” This is the stage where the hybrid animal forks away from the known

evoulution of the frog. The hybrid kept its fine tail, and the lungs and skin did not become as powerful, as the hybrid

stayed with in the water more.

australianmuseum.net.au/frogs-amphibians

Final Result:

The final result I hope to achieve will be a little predator that dines on insects, and relies on the water hole/puddle that it

makes it's home. Once that water hole has evaporated, or the food source for the frog/shark has gone, the frog/shark will

leave the water hole and quickly (as it's life depends on it) locate and hop to another water hole to begin feeding again. The

frog/shark lays tiny eggs in the bottom of the water hole, in which it uses its fine webbed feet to dig the eggs into the warm

soil to be left to hatch. As the tadpole/frog/shark hatches, the tadpole migrate by leaving the water hole and quickly hoping

to another source. The more successful tadpoles will jump further, reaching further water holes on their own and having the

hole to themselves, not needing to fight off others for food.

After the review, once we had decided on the hybrid, as a group decided we would alter certain factors about the hybrid so

we each had our own individual look and feel to it. I focused heavily on wanting the shark body and shape for wwhen the

hybrid cuts through the water. While I thought it added to the evolution of the hybrid, to have it only rely on its hind legs

during certain times. Also, working out a system of breathing and deciding if it breathed via water or oxygen was tough. I

ultimitly went with the breathing system of a shark through gills (same as the tad pole) but also be able to breath via the

pores on the skin surface, along with the tiny lungs of a frog, for when it needed to bound over land, I felt I covered the

breathing system well. As both the frog and shark live by/in the water, their body shapes are both sleek and streamlined.

Frog/Shark

Final look by Samuel Munt

bibliographywww.aquaticsciences.org frog jump- Activity centre,centre for aquatic sciences accessed online 04.05.2017

http://www.e-tutor.com/et3/lessons/view/52133/print. E-tutor, ET3 lesson pdf. Accessed online 04.05.2017

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/24/4372. Henry C. Astley, Thomas J. Roberts, The mechanics of elastic loading and recoil in anuran jumping,Journal of Experimental Biology 2014 accessed online 04.05.2017

http://www.sharksinfo.com/skin.html. www.sharksinfo.com Amelia Meyer, Shark-Skin 2013 accessed 04.05.2017

http://www.tadpolesblog.com/the-amazing-science-behind-a-tadpoles-life-cycle/. May 30 2015, The amazing science

behind a tadpole's life cycle accessed online 04.05.2017http

https://australianmuseum.net.au/frogs-amphibians. Australian Museum. Ground dwelling frogs. 2017. Accessed 04.05.2017