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CONTRIBUTORS
avid Wanczyk
David Wanczyk noticed his first comma splice at
the age of two, and he's been editing ever since.
Following a controversial tenure as editor o f his highschool newspaper, David studied film editing w/ith
the guy who cut Prince's "Purple Rain" video. A l l o f
this made him well-suited to w r i t e (and re-write) this
issue's feature on 10 Perfert Moments i n the History
of Editing (page 65). an article that has the distinction
of covering both Virgil and Bugs Bunny David teaches
writing at Ohio University i n Athens, where he lives
with his wife and fellow disceraer. Megan.
W h e n she's n o t w o r k i n g o n her first-person
comparison o f health
care i n the U n i t e d
K i n g d o m vs. the U n i t e d
States, Erica Rex can
be f o u n d chasing hens
a r o u n d her garden i n
West M i d l a n d s county.
England. Erica w r i t e s
about science, h e a l t h ,
and climate f o r The New
York Times, The Times
(U.K.). a n d Scientific
American. But i n her
article on page 39, Erica
concentrates on her
bafflement w i t h the
soggy island n a t i o n she
n o w calls h o m e .
Brian
^y^cMahon
Karl Shaw
As an a d v e r t i s i n g
c o p y w r i t e r i n Ohio,
Brian M c M a h o n gets
to spend his days maki n g s t u f f u p . However,
w h i l e researching Death
Valley for his s t o r y o n
page 32, Brian discovered t h a i some t h i n g s
are j u s t too strange t o
i n v e n t — l i k e the Vegas
casino that's keeping an
endangered species o f
fish alive i n the desert,
a n d the shockingly dark
behavior o f the road-
W h e n i t comes t o p u t t i n g together really
fascinating lists about
really bizarre topics, Karl
Shaw reigns supreme.
His books include 5
People Who Died During
Sex (2007). Curing Hiccups
With Small Fires: A
Miscellany of Great British
Eccentrics (2010). and the
f o r t h c o m i n g 10 Ways to
Recycle a Corpse (2011).
Perhaps not coincidentally, Karl recently took
an interest i n the r u l i n g habits o f notorious
leaders, w h i c h he w r i t e s
about on page 28. It's
based on the research
Karl d i d for the latest
addition to his canon.
The Little Book of Loony
Diaators (2011).
WHERE KNOWLEDGE JUNKIES GET THEIR FIX
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MAY-JUNE 2011 mental floss.com
7
D
10 LIVING THINCfS
THRIVING IN
DEATH VALLEY
by B r i a n M c M a h o n
There's a reason it's called Death Valley. This vast expanse of the Mojave Desert
gets less than 2 inches of rain per year, the daytime temperatures can reach
upwards of 120 degrees, and the landscape is so salt-laden and windswept
that it's nearly impossible for anything to take root. But there's more life in
Death Valley than you'd imagine. Here are io stubborn plants and animals that
refuse to retire to greener pastures.
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mentaUloss MAY-JUNE 2011
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The Plant That Outshmes the Sun
The Rat with a
Drinking Problem
Like many Deatli Valley
residents, the kangaroo
rat lives for the n i g h t l i f e .
It spends most o f its day
napping u n d e r g r o u n d ,
only venturing out after
sunset. Of course, tak•2g advantage o f the
cool nighttime temps is
a common trick a m o n g
desert mammals. What's
not common is how t h e
kangaroo rat has adapted
to deal w i t h the scarcity
of water: I t never drinks
the stuff! Special organs
inside its nose a l l o w i t to
absorb moisture directly
from the air, and h i g h l y
efficient kidneys keep its
b o d y hydrated. I n fact, t h e
kangaroo r a t is so w e l l
adapted to the d r y climate
that even after l i v i n g i n
captivity for years, i t w i l l
still refuse water.
It's no secret t h a t Death Valley is a t r i c k y place f o r plants t o take r o o t . The earth there is
so salty t h a t i t w o u l d k i l l m o s t v e g e t a t i o n . But the Desert H o l l y has developed a clever
technique for dealing w i t h the u n f r i e n d l y soil. The l o w - g r o w i n g shrub soaks u p the salt i n
the g r o u n d along wnth any m o i s t u r e , and t h e n , d u r i n g b l o o m i n g season f r o m January to
April, i t excretes the sodium deposits onto its leaves. As a result, the plant turns f r o m green
to silver—a color change t h a t helps i t reflect the scalding sunlight instead o f absorbing i t .
The Fish That Got Lucky in Las Vegas
Despite its bone-dry landscape. Death Valley is h o m e t o thousands o f p u p f i s h . The colorf u l , sardine-hke fish live i n isolated waterholes only a f e w feet wide. But h o w d i d all those
aquatic animals get lured i n t o the desert? The p u p f i s h are actually stragglers f r o m the
ice age 10,000 years ago, back w h e n the valley w a s a large glacial lake. As the glaciers
m e l t e d , schools o f p u p f i s h became t r a p p e d i n the waterholes and evolved i n t o several
distinct species. Today, the w a t e r i n the small ponds can be as w a r m as a b a t h (around 90
degrees F), and the salt concentrations can exceed t w i c e t h a t o f seawater. The conditions
Pupfish are
stragglers
from the ice
age, when the
valley was a
glacial lake.
aren't ideal, b u t the pupfish survive b y d r i n k i n g copious amounts o f w a t e r and efficiently excreting the salt
t h r o u g h t h e i r digestive tracts.
Life for the p u p f i s h has become even more difficult i n
recent years. Beginning i n the 1960s, farmers near Death
Valley started p u m p i n g the desert's g r o u n d w a t e r for i r r i g a t i o n , w h i c h depleted the waterholes and caused serious
declines i n p u p f i s h p o p u l a t i o n s . One particular species,
the Devils Hole p u p f i s h , came close to e x t i n c t i o n i n 2006
w h e n its numbers d i p p e d b e l o w 40. But t h e n an unhkely
savior emerged: the Mandalay Bay Hotel a n d Casino i n Las
Vegas. The casino relocated several p u p f i s h to its swank
aquariums, successfully r e v i v i n g the species before its luck
dried out.
MAY-JUNE 2011 mentalflossxom
33
LIVING THINGS THRIVING IN DEATH VALLEY
The Bird You Don't Want Your Children to See
Seeds of Greatness
Death Valley is home to the most iconic o f desert b i r d s — t h e roadrunner.
Thanks to its Looney Tunes fame, the b i r d has become quite a tourist
attraction. At the Death Valley National Park Visitor Center, sightseers can
view roadrunners f r o m large glass w i n d o w s , and park officials often shout
"meep. meep!" as they approach. However, the roadrunners don't frequent
the visitor's center for the a t t e n t i o n ; they're l o o k i n g for fresh meat. Unlike
their cartoon counterpart, real-life roadrunners are skilled hunters t h a t
use their lightning-quick speed to catch mice, insects, and snakes. They're
also pretty sly Some o f these clever creatures have figured out t h a t i f they
wait by the visitor's center, sooner or later, a tasty b i r d w i l l accidentally
fly into the glass w i n d o w s . The roadrunners t h e n pounce on the stunned
animal, r i p p i n g i t apart and eating i t i n f r o n t o f the h o r r i f i e d onlookers,
T^smanian Devil-style.
Every so o f t e n . Death
Valley reveals a rare
and b e a u t i f u l display o f
hfe—a sea o f c o l o r f u l
wildflowers, blossoming
by the m i l h o n s . The flowers seem t o emerge o u t o f
n o w h e r e , b u t i n t r u t h , the
seeds o f these blooms are
always h i d d e n on the desert floor, j u s t w a i t i n g for
the r i g h t a m o u n t o f sunl i g h t and r a i n f a l l before
s p r o u t i n g . The seeds are
protected by a t h i c k , w a x y
coating t h a t guards t h e m
against the extreme heat.
But w h e n the desert gets
e n o u g h r a i n to w a s h a w a y
the coating { w h i c h isn't
often), the seeds sprout
and the flowers b l o o m ,
temporarily transforming
the b a r r e n landscape.
The Tortoise You Can Scare to Death
The desert tortoise has a simple s o l u t i o n f o r copi n g w i t h Death Valley's extreme heat: I t avoids i t .
The s l o w - m o v i n g creature hibernates d u r i n g the
w i n t e r and stays i n its b u r r o w for m u c h o f the
summer, m e a n i n g t h a t i t spends more t h a n 90
percent o f its life i m m o b i l e . I n fact, the t o r t o i s e
usually only surfaces after a good r a i n . T h e n , i t
gets t o w o r k . The tortoise stocks up on w a t e r
by e a t i n g plants a nd d i g g i n g trenches to collect
r a i n . But t o stay h y d r a t e d t h r o u g h its extended
h i b e r n a t i o n , the reptile relies on s o m e t h i n g else—its h i g h l y sophisticated bladder Unlike m o s t animals, the tortoise's bladder acts as a h o l d i n g
tank, a l l o w i n g i t to reabsorb w a t e r back i n t o its b o d y Incredibly, a desert
tortoise can go a f u l l year w i t h o u t t a k i n g i n any fr e s hwate r at a l l . A n d
because its bladder is so i m p o r t a n t t o a tortoise's s u r v i v a l , park rangers
often r e m i n d visitors n o t t o stop and help the slow-movers across the
road. Tortoises become so t e r r i f i e d w h e n people pick t h e m up t h a t t h e y
void t h e i r bladders, losing t h e i r precious w a t e r reserves.
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mental floss MAY-JUNE2011
The tortoises become
so terrified that they
void their bladders,
losing their precious
water reserves.
The Flower That Haunts
The Gravel Ghost w i l d f l o w e r lives its hfe w i t h the u t m o s t discretion. I t starts off as a
patch o f grayish leaves t h a t blends i n w i t h the s u r r o u n d i n g landscape. Then i t sprouts
a w i r y stalk about 3 f t . h i g h , w h i c h is also camouflaged against the barren scenery. But
w h e n the bulb atop the stalk blooms, i t produces a v i b r a n t w h i t e flower t h a t insects flock
to pollinate. Still, the stalk is so d i f f i c u l t to see t h a t i t creates the eerie appearance o f a
floating
flower—hovering,
ghost-like, above the desert floor
MAY-JUNE 2011 iTientaltloss.com
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LIVING THINGS THRIVING IN DEATH VALLEY
Winning, by a Hare
The black-tailed j a c k r a b b i t m a y get teased for its oversize
ears, b u t those t r a d e m a r k appendages help i t beat the
heat i n Death Valley. The rabbit's 7-in.-long ears contain
a w e a l t h o f b l o o d vessels t h a t dissipate heat and help the
a n i m a l regulate its body t e m p e r a t u r e . But the jackrabbit's
voracious appetite also plays i n t o its success against the
harsh chmate. Like m a n y desert creatures, the jackrabbit gets its w a t e r f r o m the plants i t eats. The clever hare
switches its grazing seasonally, w a i t i n g u n t i l the h o t summer m o n t h s to consume the more w a t e r - f i l l e d cacti and
grasses, often eating several times its b o d y w e i g h t every
day j u s t t o r e m a i n h y d r a t e d .
10
The Lizard That Was Bom to Run
8
The Bird with Legs You Never Wont to Eat
The t u rk e y v u l t u r e p r i m a r i l y feasts on decomposing animals, b u t that's not the most disgusting t h i n g about i t .
To stay cool, the v u l t u r e makes use o f a process k n o w n as
urohydrosis, a fancy w a y o f saying t h a t i t pees on its legs
to keep f r o m overheating. This serves t w o purposes: The
evaporating urine cools the blood circulating t h r o u g h the
vulture's legs, and also acts as a disinfectant, k i l h n g any
germs the scavenger may have picked u p f r o m its last
meal. You k n o w you're a d i r t y animal w h e n peeing o n
your o w n legs actually makes y o u cleaner.
36
mentaUloss MAY-JUNE 2011
Like a w a t e r bug racing across a p o n d , the
fringe-toed lizard ghdes w i t h gravity-defyi n g grace over the loose sand o f the desert. Specially shaped scales o n its
toes a l l o w the small reptile t o
scamper across the dunes
and o u t r u n most predators. But speed isn't
the hzard's only superp o w e r ; the l i g h t n i n g fast reptile can also
vanish i n an instant by
d i v i n g headfirst beneath
the surface o f the sand.
Thanks to special scales t h a t
fold over its eyes, ears, and
nostrils, the fringe-toed hzard can
keep sand out o f its delicate parts w h i l e
steering clear o f predators underground. ^"^
• 6 Animals That Show Mother Nature's Humor
• The Mojave Desert's Airplane Graveyard
-I- MORE at mentaIfloss.coiii/more