Water Buffalo & Frogs KWI Notecatcher

pdf

School

University of Maryland *

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Course

413

Subject

Anthropology

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

pdf

Pages

Uploaded by CorporalDiscovery12324

While birdwatching in Turkey, some scientists made an interesting observation. Water buffalo (domesticated in that area for tilling fields and milk production) were seen covered in small frogs. Upon further investigation, it was noted that this was only observable in the autumn months. What could explain this unusual sight? Directions: Set a timer and spend at least 5 minutes on each column before moving on to the next (you are welcome to spend more). Even if you run out of things to write down, sit with that column’s question until the timer goes off. Be prepared to share what this felt like. K: What do you already KNOW about this phenomenon? (brain dump anything that may be related!) W: What do you WANT or NEED to know in order to make sense of this phenomenon? I: What IDEAS do you have that may contribute to an explanation of this phenomenon? Reminds me of a symbiotic relationship, like the oxpeckers that sit on buffalos. The birds eat the bugs and parasites that live on the buffalo, gaining nutrition, and in turn the buffalo are rid of the nasty bugs that can harm them. It is a win win. When it is a win-win, that is called mutualism. When one species benefits and one is unaffected, that is commensalism, and when one is benefited and the other is harmed, that is parasitism. I feel like this relationship is one of the three, but most likely mutualism or commensalism, because both the water buffalo and frogs seem to be totally fine in the picture. I want to know what kind of weather is in the autumn months in Turkey. I know for us, autumn is fairly cold, rainy and the leaves fall, but that could be completely different in Turkey. I feel like knowing those conditions may help us understand why the frogs do this specifically in the autumn months. I also want to know where the frogs are just sitting on the buffalo, doing something to its fur, or harming it in some way, because that can help me narrow down the type of symbiotic relationship it is, as well as what the frogs are trying to gain. If autumn is cold, maybe they cling to the buffalo fur to keep warm, or if autumn is hot, they are sucking the water from the fur. I already sort of said some of my ideas in the K and W sections, but I feel like this has something to do with temperature and weather, because the autumn months are specified as the time when the frogs do this, and the only real difference between months is weather. My best hypothesis is the frogs are aiming to cool themselves down or heat themselves up by clinging to the buffalo, depending on the temperature of the Turkish autumn months. Or maybe it is very windy and they are protecting themselves from the wind, or the rain? Maybe they lay eggs in the fur. Maybe it's just like the oxpeckers and the frogs et the bugs on the water buffalo.

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