Living as they have always
done, in the dark, their eyes have come to be of as little use as those
of the nearly-blind African elephant fish. Their eyes are vestigial remnants
of a traditional mammalian life they know no more. Neither birds nor reptiles,
they nevertheless use wings termed by Darwin "a most abnormal structure
in the class of mammals" (Origin of Species). They produce precise
sound vibrations and are able to discern meaning from the slight differences
in patterns of reflection. They feast on mosquitoes all night and exactly
at dawn return to their sleeping roosts in the support work of the bridges.
If you want to, you can call
them flying mice.
Although the bats construct
their perception of the world, their world view if you will, from their
remarkable hearing, there is no basis for supposing their view is in any
way substantially different from mammals that primarily use their eyes.
The free-tail bats use a technology not unlike that of the porpoise, but
the respective evolutions to these similar systems is convergent evolution
and bats and other mammals such as the dolphin and porpoise remain essentially
unrelated.
Ordinary European honeybees
were introduced to Japan for the expected reason - to produce honey. In
Japan, however, they encounter an enemy against which they can muster no
defense. Enter the fearsome giant samurai hornets (Vespa mandarinia japonica,
if you want to look it up). These are attackers on the scale of African
killer bees, but much larger at up to 55 mm long. For their voracity and
venom, all fear them. Reportedly, they kill as many as 40 bees per minute.
European honeybees were imported
not because Japan lacked honeybees, but because the European bees produce
greater yields of honey. But the Japanese honeybees have evolved a clever
strategy to defend against the hornets. A hundred of them desperately surround
each attacking hornet forming a vibrating bee-ball. Inside, while the hornet
attempts escape, the temperature soon rises to a degree sufficient to kill
it.
The relatively docile European
bees have no concept of using this effective counterattack, although there
is every reason to suppose it might work for them too. They lack a long
history of dealing with the hornets. When hornets attack the Europeans,
they are wiped out in short order.
These anecdotal cases of
animal evolution lead up to appreciating something evolutionary that happened
in Japan. In the 10th century, a definitive naval encounter between rival
samurai (king's guard) clans occurred at a place called Dannoura in the
Kyushu area of southern Japan. Recounted in the Tale of the Heike, a child-prince
and his servants, representing the losing side of the battle, jumped to
their deaths beneath the waves, followed by the samurai of the Heike clan's
shogun (king). This changed the political scene and led to Tokyo in the
north becoming the major seat of power in a period known historically as
Edo.
Only the victors wrote the
rules. The losing side's wives and children by the way, were summarily
placed into prostitution.
In Dannoura these days, locals
are a robust lot who depend upon fishing for their economy. They no longer
sell anyone into prostitution. They seem to be quite happy on the whole,
if sometimes overly prone to gossiping. Maybe that's just natural in such
a place where pretty much everyone knows, or at least knows of, everyone
else, and mothers spend lengthy portions of their time chatting about their
children's doings and their neighbors' childrens' mischief.
They may also be fairly called
a superstitious lot in general, and in particular in that they hold certain
of the bay's many crabs to be sacred. A common practice in the coastal
izakaya (taverns) is to gulp shots of sake, toasting to the old samurai
or even to the crabs themselves. It's also about being rough-and-tumble
enough to consume so much fire water. Women are free also to imbibe. Before
too long into the evening, it doesn't really matter anymore since few partakers
are of a metal agility level enough to care.
Many of these men are fishers
and/or crabbers. But the daily crab haul is inspected with unusual care.
Samurai crabs must, of course, be tossed back into the sea. The people
believe, really believe, that the souls of the suicidal samurai centuries
before still walk (or is that crawl?) the seafloor in the form of crabs.
And unlike anywhere else in the world, many of these crabs do have the
design of samurai faces on their backs.
These hardy seamen know these
crabs as Siberians know snow. Furthermore, as they are Japanese, it's reasonable
to presume they well know the distinctive look of a samurai face. They
throw back crabs that look like samurai faces for superstitious reasons,
but each time they do, they reinforce the propagation of genetic coding
for more such faces. That is because over centuries, crabs that were eaten
did not produce offspring while samurai-like crabs were allowed to live
on and thereby propagate.
Over time, the markings resembling
samurai faces grew evermore distinct with each subsequent crab-generation.
This is just how male peacocks grew ever larger feathers over the centuries
as females chose to reproduce with males displaying the largest feathers
of the group. It makes no difference whether fishers discriminate in their
eating, or peacocks discriminate in their mating choices. When there is
a selection factor controlling the production of offspring, the future
generations emphasize traits handed down.
If you happen to visit this
interesting area someday, make no jokes about these crabs. After all, they
are relatives of the people all around you.
top
Resources : Steve
is a Massachusetts-certified teacher and former travel writer. Personal
site: www.travelexotic.webs.com
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