Airlines Will Cancel Flights Rather Than Risk Fines  |   Home  |   Turn On Your Lights

Poo-Eating Plant

Huh.

The largest meat-eating plant in the world is designed not to eat small animals, but small animal poo.

Botanists have discovered that the giant montane pitcher plant of Borneo has a pitcher the exact same size as a tree shrew’s body.

But it is not this big to swallow up mammals such as tree shrews or rats.

Instead, the pitcher uses tasty nectar to attract tree shrews, then ensures its pitcher is big enough to collect the feeding mammal’s droppings.

Details of the discovery are published in the journal New Phytologist.

Posted by Owen at 1939 hrs
Off-Duty

1. Perhaps this plant could be used to clean up government.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 11, 2010 at 0659 hrs
   
   
   

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.