WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.759 Bienantma got boga on the haartnir, the Hola, the hayman 2 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:09.800 A he call ah ersuen as lance La Dani Detained, 3 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:15.800 Nudovshutarhu La Hula, schamparods on udos ors lanse Is Phaser, 4 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:22.199 Latgun's throw, Tasha Tapa, Sierra, Nashka avad is FuGO more 5 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:26.640 hey rig hi a punk i e is called RelA 6 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.399 on tudoros or Raslenza. If we real this in the heron, 7 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:30.879 Oh hey. 8 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:32.359 It's a lady in front of you in the check 9 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.320 out with twenty six items who doesn't realize she's in 10 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.719 the express lane and is fully oblivious to your Clare's 11 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.880 ali ward so Hi. This is an episode of Smology's 12 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.880 which we've made classrooms safe so you can listen with 13 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:49.159 your little ones. So the full episodes are obviously a 14 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.799 little more spicier, more in detail, but smologies are safe 15 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.560 to listen to around anyone. So I hope you enjoy this. 16 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:58.119 If you're looking for the full length version, it's linked 17 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.399 in the show notes. Okay, scrapyaogy, Yes, this is a 18 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:06.159 real ology. It's a subset of arachnology, Iraqnans and Scorpion 19 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:11.560 comes from the Greek. Are you ready for this? For scorpion? Okay, 20 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:13.920 that is not something that made me say, oh my god. 21 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:18.040 All right, we cover myths about scorpions, what big pinchers mean, 22 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.959 movie magic, how lethal are these critters? Glow in the 23 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.159 dark magic? And also where is their butt? So bust 24 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:27.400 out your black light, keep your ears on alert for 25 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:33.040 stem advocate, science communicator, researcher, expedition leader and curator at 26 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:38.480 the California Academy of Sciences. Scorpiologist doctor Lauren Esposito. 27 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:55.840 Knowlogio alogy, pologyglogies. 28 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.159 Okay, so you are I looked this up. You're in 29 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.599 Iraq tchnologists. Yes, but I saw that there is a 30 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.519 subset that is scorpiology. 31 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:09.159 There is scorpiology, so I'm technically speaking as scorpiologists. 32 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:11.199 Now, at what point when you were studying them, did 33 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:14.080 you say, holy not alroady, these are cool? 34 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:14.840 You know? 35 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.479 It was really it started when I was doing that 36 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.080 undergraduate internship and I realized, like, man, scorpions are amazing 37 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:22.199 for so many reasons. 38 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.560 Oo boy, how did you get ready for this? Okay? 39 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:25.759 Here we go, Here we go. One. 40 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:31.080 They were the first terrestrial arthropod predators, so before anything 41 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.400 else was on land, scorpions came on land. 42 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:36.759 These little beasts. 43 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.639 They weren't little then. They were like the ancestors of 44 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:40.599 scorpions were like a meter. 45 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:46.080 They were huge three feet yeah, three feet maybe even bigger. 46 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:50.039 And they were these like underwater marine predators that were 47 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.000 like ruling the oceans at the time. And eventually some 48 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.560 people have hypothesized that because we found these ancient trackways 49 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:02.400 alongside rivers of scorpions, little footprints embedded in rock. Well 50 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.360 it was mud that turned into rock over time, and 51 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:08.840 they've hypothesized that they were actually became amphibious and were 52 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.120 coming up on the land to eat spawning fish. Oh, 53 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:14.439 like grizzlies, right, you know, grizzlies like come in the 54 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.759 river and eat the spawning fish. They were doing the 55 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.719 same thing, but they were like the size of grizzlies, 56 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:19.879 and they were scorpions. 57 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:22.520 It comes to scorpions, the bigger the better. 58 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.199 Oh my god, I literally am having like a vertigo, 59 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.840 Like I can't just imagining a scorpion the size of 60 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:30.080 like a kiddie pool, just. 61 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.719 Like like an alligator, basically like an alligator. They were 62 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:35.039 these things. 63 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:38.080 They were called eurypterids, the ancestors of scorpions, and eventually 64 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.680 the gills that they had to breathe underwater were internalized 65 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.039 and that allowed them to live on land. And so 66 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.879 the scorpions of today basically look identical to the scorpions 67 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.919 of four hundred and fifty million years ago. So they've 68 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:52.680 been on Earth forever, right, So we can ask all 69 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:54.360 kinds of questions about what happened on Earth in the 70 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:56.319 last four hundred and fifty million years by trying to 71 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:59.639 understand the evolutionary history of scorpions. 72 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:04.159 And so, how do you think they got and littler well, there's. 73 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:08.879 Like the main driving factor behind why insects and arachnids 74 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:10.520 are not as big as they used to be, as 75 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:14.879 big as the fossils we find is the oxygen percentage 76 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:19.839 in the air in the atmosphere, because scorpions and spiders 77 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.279 and insects all basically passively respire, so they don't breathe. 78 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.199 They don't have lungs where they're breathing in and out, 79 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.439 and they don't have closed circulatory systems. They just kind 80 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.920 of have blood that gets pumped around by a heart 81 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:36.399 just open up in their body. And so the rate 82 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:39.240 at which oxygen can get to all their tissues that 83 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:41.360 they need for walking around and moving and eating and 84 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.279 doing all the things. Is limited by how much concentration 85 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.399 of oxygen there is in the air, and over time 86 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.120 the oxygen concentration has gone down. 87 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.720 So Laurie explained that when life started coming on land 88 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:55.920 and there were more and more air breathing critters, the 89 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:59.959 carbon dioxide output increased and the oxygen levels went down. 90 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.480 So when you have less fuel, you downsize. So think 91 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.240 of turning in a hummer for a Fiat but slowly 92 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.439 as a result of evolution. Okay, So apart from the 93 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:13.639 last four hundred and fifty million years of history, where 94 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:17.160 can we find scorpions? And so where do scorpions live? 95 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:18.920 Clearly not in New York City, Oh my gosh. 96 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.600 They live basically everywhere that there's not major freezes for 97 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:23.639 long parts of the year. 98 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:27.560 Okay, So like like, imagine a place it's scorpions and 99 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:28.759 you're not unaware. 100 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:32.160 There's probably scorpions there. They're not in Antarctica. They're also 101 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.800 not in the Arctic because it's cold, it's like snow 102 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:35.879 on the ground all year round. 103 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.399 But they are in places like the Alps. 104 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.360 So you wouldn't expect them to be in the Alps 105 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:44.279 or like the upper reaches of the Andes, like in Argentina, 106 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:48.480 there's scorpions. My real area of specialty is the neotropics, 107 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:51.600 so I go to the Caribbeans, the Central America, South America, 108 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:54.319 but I've been to places like islands off the coast 109 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.839 of Equatorial Africa, Southeast A. 110 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:03.720 I don't know. I've been like all over the world 111 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.120 looking for those little buggers. 112 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.959 And now, tell me a little bit about the basic 113 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.319 structure of a scorpion, Like what are we dealing with, 114 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.439 because I feel like they got crab in the front, 115 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.920 they got snake face in the back with the venom. 116 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.079 Like they got the business end in the box. Yeah, what, 117 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.560 it's like a mullet, right. So, so scorpions, like all oraknas, 118 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:26.319 have have two primary body parts. They have a pro soma, 119 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.319 which is like the head, and they have a pistosoma, 120 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:31.480 which is like the body. 121 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:32.879 So they picture a spider. 122 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:35.959 There's two main chunks, but scorpions have this extra little 123 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.839 business end, which is the tail, and their pro soma 124 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.079 and a pistosoma are sort of fused, so there's not 125 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:43.439 like a real delineation between the head and the body, 126 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.399 and then up in the front they have two pairs 127 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.360 of appendages they have callissary, which are the mouth parts, 128 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:51.480 and they have these chewing mouthparts that they use basically 129 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:51.759 to like. 130 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:58.000 Rip up meat meat before they get it down their gullet. 131 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.040 And so their eyes are on the top of their head. 132 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.600 Yeah, like facing up towards the sky. 133 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.199 How many eyes do they have, It depends, but usually 134 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:08.000 they all almost all have three sets of eyes, two 135 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.800 in the middle and then a set of three to 136 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.240 six in each corner of the front of their head, 137 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:17.920 and so they're arranged like in a triangle. Some people 138 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:21.720 have hypothesized that they use the triangular array of eyes 139 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.000 to look up into the night sky and navigate by 140 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:24.480 the stars. 141 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.879 Oh my stars. Now, for those who enjoy a good 142 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:34.120 crossword puzzle word or are choked for conversation on a 143 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:40.160 long car ride, navigating by stars is called astromenotaxis. Astrominotaxis 144 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:41.560 there you know that now. 145 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.839 And then they have claws that they use mostly for 146 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.000 grabbing on to prey like in some scorpions. 147 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:51.160 They just use the clause to grab their prey. 148 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:52.839 They don't ever actually need to sing them because they 149 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.680 have these big, chunky claws, like picture those those big 150 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.279 black emperor scorpions that you see in the movies all 151 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.240 the time. They have these huge claws up front, and 152 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:02.199 they almost never use their tail, and their venom's not 153 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:06.959 very toxic. But other scorpions have these really slender, thin 154 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:09.680 claws and they really just use those for manipulating prey 155 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.360 items and mostly use the tail and really powerful, super 156 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.439 toxic venom for disabling their prey and escaping predators. Claws 157 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:19.160 in the front, tail on the back, and at the 158 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.279 very end of the tail is the stinger, and the 159 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.439 stinger is a looks kind of like a bulb, like 160 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.240 a light bulb, and at the end of that is 161 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:31.199 a hypodermic needle, and inside of the bulb is a 162 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:36.720 layer of secretory cells, so cells that secrete toxins, and 163 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:39.200 it's surrounded by muscle that allows them to squeeze those 164 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:43.320 toxins out of the cells into the hypodermic needle that 165 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.159 they use to inject into their prey. 166 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.000 Okay, so their venom bulb is kind of like one 167 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.639 of those little squirty things you would jam into your 168 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.440 ear hole to flesh out funky chunks only it's a 169 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.960 nerve toxin made by DNA that they probably had for 170 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:02.279 something else but evolved to become venom. So what is 171 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:03.559 in this exactly? 172 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.759 But the really crazy thing is that their venom is 173 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.279 not just one thing. It's actually a complex cocktail of 174 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.480 all sorts of different components. And they have things like 175 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:17.200 antimicrobials in there, enzymes that break open tissue and help 176 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:21.000 them digest, and then they also have these complex neuropeptides. 177 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.480 And neuropeptides are basically things that, when they interact with 178 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:27.080 your nervous system, tell your nerves to either send a 179 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.480 signal when there's not supposed to be sending a signal, 180 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.399 or they inhibit the transmission of signals between cells. 181 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.159 Neuropeptides, by the bye, are chains of amino acids that 182 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.559 form these protein like molecules that your nervous system uses 183 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:45.279 to communicate, and the neuropeptides bind to receptors and activate 184 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.000 a bunch of events inside a neuron. The neuropeptides in 185 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:53.000 venom can jack that system by cutting off the neurons 186 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.320 from talking to each other or sending signals when they 187 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:59.159 shouldn't be talking. So venom is like when someone grabs 188 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:02.159 your phone and star Art's dming people it shouldn't, or 189 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.399 withholding a text from your boss. Okay, what if you're 190 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:08.000 like a cricket and you don't have a boss or 191 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:10.240 a phone. What does that do if your prey? 192 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.159 Yeah, so if your prey, what it might do is 193 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.039 disable you, keep you from moving, send you into a seizure, 194 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.440 really just dis incapacitate you very quickly so that you 195 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.600 can be eaten and make baby scorpions mm hm with 196 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.080 the energy that you get from your prey. But if 197 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:31.080 you're a predator, what it does is it sends pain 198 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.039 signals to your brain, telling your brain that you're on fire. 199 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:39.240 Oh my god, we're hiring a fire sale. Oh my god, 200 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:39.919 when you're really not. 201 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:44.120 And that pause, that signal interruption caused by the scorpion 202 00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:46.639 venom allows the scorpion a moment to escape from the 203 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:49.600 prey while the predator's reacting to this signal that it's 204 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:51.559 forcing its body to send to itself. 205 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:57.120 What types of scorpions have venom that is powerful enough 206 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.919 to say incapacitate like a dog or a human? Like, 207 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:02.159 how much do they get a bad rap? 208 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:02.639 Yeah? 209 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.279 Well, they get a pretty bad. 210 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:06.840 Rap I would say overall, there's like, so far, we've 211 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:09.840 discovered about twenty five hundred species of scorpions, give or take, 212 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:14.080 and about twenty five of those are something that are 213 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.720 a concern for a healthy human and there's maybe a 214 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:20.120 dozen or two more that are a concern for people 215 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:25.120 that have a compromise immune system or are elderly or 216 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:29.120 very young. So the majority of scorpions, that means like 217 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.759 less than ten percent of all scorpions are something that 218 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:32.840 are really dangerous that. 219 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:33.759 We need to be worried about. 220 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.120 But that being said, all scorpions do have a stinger, 221 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:38.919 and they can jab it into your body, and they 222 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.919 can inject things that are in their venom, but oftentimes 223 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:44.440 those things are more mild than a beasting or waspsing. 224 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:46.879 Oh okay, let me step back and say there's two 225 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.399 major groups of scorpions. There's a group called the boothed scorpions. 226 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.720 It's one of the oldest lineages of scorpions, and it's 227 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.759 also has the greatest number of species compared to all 228 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.080 the other lineages, and those ones all make neurotoxins that 229 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:05.000 affect mammals, So they make neurotoxins that can interact with 230 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:05.879 our nervous system. 231 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:08.559 Again, these are the boothids. And I looked everywhere to 232 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.519 find out where the name boothed comes from, and I 233 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.879 think it's from the Greek for ox or cow, because 234 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:17.519 there's stings were thought to be real cow killers. Again boothheits. 235 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.600 And then all the other scorpions are non boothieds ah, 236 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:22.840 all the other groups of scorpions, and all those guys 237 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:26.679 typically don't make neurotoxins that affect mammal nervous systems. 238 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.240 But considering their reputation of scorpions, they do carry some 239 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:34.919 dramatic names like the black spitting, thick tailed scorpion or 240 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.440 the man killer or death stalker. These kind of sound 241 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.919 like nineteen seventies carnival rides. 242 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:44.399 But scientific names are jumped up by the scientists that 243 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:46.440 first recognize that species. 244 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:47.000 As being a new species. 245 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.320 Have you gotten to name any I have? 246 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:49.919 Yeah? 247 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.399 Well, we discover new scorpions all the time. There's like 248 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.519 maybe fifty or so added a year. 249 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:56.840 To my God for knowledge. 250 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.879 Now, when you're discovering scorpions, I understand that there are 251 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.799 black lights involved. There are, yeah, so tell me everything 252 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:06.679 about why they fluoresce under black lights. 253 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:11.720 So scorpions, all scorpions fluoress it's a universals to scorpions. 254 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:17.000 What fluorescence means basically is that there's a pigment in 255 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:19.519 the exoskeleton of scorpions that's embedded in there. 256 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:20.639 It's called cormarine. 257 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.960 So side note, cormorine is often found in plants, and 258 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:28.480 according to this Wikipedia prose, it has quote a sweet 259 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:32.840 odor resembling the scent of newly mown hay. It's also 260 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:37.799 found in cassia, cinnamon, in fake vanilla, and in perfumes. Oh, 261 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:42.960 and it makes venomous arthropods glow like ravers. Anyway, Cormorine what. 262 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:45.840 It does is it takes in light waves just from light, 263 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.559 ambient light, and it excites those white those light waves 264 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:53.559 and then projects them back at a higher wavelength. So 265 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.080 that's what causes the fluorescence. It's not like a reflection 266 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:01.399 or it's actually like an excitation of lights. And so 267 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:06.320 they all fluoresce this bright like neon toxic sludge green 268 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:11.200 under a ultra violet light. And we don't really know 269 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:16.120 why they have this feature. There's a few possibilities. One, 270 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.600 it's just a byproduct of how their exoskeleton forms. Like 271 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:24.720 the process in which they form their exoskeleton creates a fluorescence, 272 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:29.159 or alternatively, it has like a function that's helpful for them, 273 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:32.159 and there's a few possibilities. One that's been proposed is 274 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.399 that it's a whole body light detection system, so it 275 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:37.240 allows them to detect when there's light. 276 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.799 Which I think could very well be. 277 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:42.960 But also they have eyes, so typically they can see 278 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.679 if there's light outside or not, so it could be 279 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:49.200 another function as well. The other functions that have been 280 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:51.720 thought up are that it's a way to tell other 281 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:56.080 animals that they're dangerous, like bees are black and yellow, 282 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:59.000 and that black and yellow is like a sign that 283 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.360 they're dangerous. Scorpions are active at night and at night, 284 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.399 colors don't show up very well, and things that are 285 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.639 active at night can't see very well in color. 286 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:07.159 Mm hm. 287 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:10.960 So, so many things that are that are doing things 288 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:16.519 at night have have evolved greater UV capabilities, and so 289 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.279 flowers that bloom at night have a UV pattern that 290 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:20.360 attracts pollinators. 291 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:20.799 Mm hmm. 292 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.799 So scorpions that are active at night might want a 293 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.600 UV pattern to say, hey, wait this I'm dangerous and 294 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.600 you should stay away from me, like a warning color, 295 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.159 or they're actually trying to mimic something else like a 296 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.960 flower and attract things so that they can eat them. 297 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:35.480 Oh my god, So those are all the possibilities. 298 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:38.679 Do you think that their ancient ancestors that were ginormous 299 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:39.679 could fluoresce? 300 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:44.200 Well, there is some a geologists mention that there's some 301 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.279 really well preserved fossils that preserved cuticle and the cuticle fluoresces. 302 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:49.080 Oh my god. 303 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.720 So side note this is due to their glowing hyaline 304 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.879 layer in their axis skeleton. Also, did you know that 305 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.519 horseshoe crabs also glow under UV light. If someone wanted 306 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:01.480 to go out and look for critters at night, do 307 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.720 you think getting a black light and just checking things out? 308 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.120 Yeah, I mean, like in some places I saw them 309 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.360 a home depot, you can go on a scorpion hunt. 310 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:11.159 And the thing that the trick is to go out 311 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:13.799 at night because one, you can't really see anything with 312 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:15.279 the black light during the day because it's not a 313 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.080 very bright wavelength of light, so it gets washed out 314 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.639 by daylight. And two, scorpions are nocturnal, so they're active 315 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.559 at night, not not during the day. 316 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:28.720 Now, what about scorpions in movies or pop culture? Is 317 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:31.720 there any movie that really does a good job with 318 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.399 scorpions or one that really gets your goat? 319 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:34.960 Do you know what? 320 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.399 Like, I feel like there are always The problem I 321 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:42.159 have with movies and scorpions is that they're always very inaccurate. Okay, like, 322 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.519 why in every single movie does it have to be 323 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:48.720 the Emperor scorpion. Emperor scorpions are from tropical Africa. They 324 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:52.159 most definitely do not live in deserts. There's definitely no 325 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.120 black scorpions living in a white sandy desert. Oh, it 326 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:58.159 doesn't exist. They want to blend in with their environment. 327 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.080 They're not trying to stand out like black on white background. 328 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:01.600 Mm hmmm. 329 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.279 Are they ember of scorpions easier to handle? Yeah? 330 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.279 I mean they're really common in the pet trade, and 331 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.640 actually for that reason, they're the only scorpion that's considered 332 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.480 to be threatened or endangered. 333 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.839 Oh, like they can live to be twenty five. 334 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:15.759 Yeah. I feel like, lay off the scorpions. 335 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:17.240 Yeah, like lay it, layoff of them. 336 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:17.599 Yeah. 337 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.400 And the other crazy thing about scorpions that I always 338 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.279 that I was struck by when I first learned about 339 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.160 them is that the moms give birth to live baby. 340 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.559 That was my next question. I've seen a picture of 341 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.880 scorpions that are just to have a backpack full of 342 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:33.480 baby scorpions. Yeah, what is happening there? 343 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:37.279 Oh yeah, So while their courtship starts by the what 344 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.039 we call pa dey do they actually dance. They do 345 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:43.680 like a ballroom dance. They're actually quite refined animals. So 346 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:47.559 the males approach the females and grab onto their hand. 347 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.039 They face her and grab onto her hands, and then 348 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:51.960 they do this like dance like back and forth where 349 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.440 he like leads her back and forth. 350 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.799 Oh my god. Gestation period you ask, seven to nine 351 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:02.119 months similar to a human, or up to fourteen months 352 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.640 for emperor scorpions what troopers. 353 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:06.839 And once they give birth, she does this thing called 354 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:09.519 a berth basket where she arges her back up and 355 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.079 makes her arms into like a circle, like kind of 356 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.559 touches her hands together and makes like a little circle. 357 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.559 And so they'll crawl up her hands onto her back 358 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.960 and then they'll stay up there for it depends on 359 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.720 the species, but they'll stay up there until they've molted 360 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.039 for the first time, so they've shed their exoskeleton and 361 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:31.079 gotten a little bigger, and in that first period they 362 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.599 kind of almost look like a little larval still, like 363 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.200 they don't look like a normal scorpion, but as soon 364 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.119 as they have that first molt, they look just like 365 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.720 a little tiny miniature scorpion. 366 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.119 So they just hop off and they're like tulu. 367 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:45.160 Yeah, Like they'll kind of start coming off her back 368 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.200 and then getting back on for a little bit. But 369 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:51.680 in some species they do kind of live semi cooperatively, 370 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:54.079 like they're still living together in the same area for 371 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.079 a long period of time. So the moms actually like 372 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.000 will live in a burrow with the babies. Oh, I 373 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.160 don't know, like months, years maybe, and they'll just live 374 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:04.480 around each other and they tolerate each other really well. 375 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:08.160 And then she gives birth anywhere from two to I 376 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.519 think the upper limit that anybody's ever recorded is like 377 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:15.160 one fifth forty, like high one forties. Wow, maybe let's 378 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:16.799 say one fifty, call it even. 379 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.680 One one hundred and fifty babies. 380 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:21.599 That would be like a lot, and they all pile 381 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:22.279 up on her back. 382 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:24.160 A party, yeah, and. 383 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.079 Now sc party. Now, what is some flint flam about 384 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:29.440 scorpions that you would like to debunk? What are some 385 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:33.200 myths that you're like, let's get the record straight, people, Well. 386 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.880 Okay, here's a few things you need to know about scorpions. 387 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:36.200 Okay. 388 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:40.519 One, they can't jump. Oh okay, it's just a thing. 389 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.599 They don't They don't jump. They can't walk. 390 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:46.920 They can they can walk on some vertical services if 391 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:50.920 they're like grainy, like like a rock that has little 392 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:55.079 micro areas to step on, but otherwise like something that's slick, 393 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.440 like windows. They could never walk on a window. Okay, 394 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:01.240 So they're gonna have a hard time get if you 395 00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:03.839 see it from like like three feet away, Like, you 396 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:04.839 don't have to run away. 397 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.759 It's not gonna be able to grab you. 398 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.640 So with the exception of Arizona, some parts of southern Nevada, 399 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:15.000 and some parts of western New Mexico, Lauren says. 400 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.519 In the US, there are no scorpions that you have 401 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.079