Sea urchins like to wear hats

[Terabith]

to protect themselves from predators.  Generally they wear shells, but people started 3-D printing them hats, and they are ADORABLE.  This article has pictures.  https://www.boredpanda.com/sea-urchins-tiny-hats/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

[Katy]

Terabith, your threads are the best.  I don't think anyone else has consistently brought so much joy and delight in this dreadful year.  Thank you.

[Terabith]

9 minutes ago, Katy said:

Terabith, your threads are the best.  I don't think anyone else has consistently brought so much joy and delight in this dreadful year.  Thank you.

Awwwww.  Thanks!

[Shoeless]

That Viking helm, tho'... ❤️ 

[Corraleno]

My favorite was the little guy clinging to the side of a rock with a tiny red clown hat. 😂

The photo of "normal" urchins with shells and rocks on their backs was pretty hilarious, too, because that is the opposite of camouflage in the environment — they may as well be waving signs saying "tasty urchin below!" lol

It made me think of this baby elephant "hiding" behind a pole:

[Starr]

I love these!

 

[wintermom]

That made my day!  What a neat article. I would love to meet the post-doc scientists who study this behaviour with hats. 😉  Maybe they are drawn to sea urchins because of their sense of humour, or the sea urchin helps them develop their humour.

[alisoncooks]

I enjoyed that article last night but now I'm plagued with questions. HOW do they get the hats on their...heads? Body? DO they have heads? HOW do the hats stay?? So many questions!!

[Corraleno]

2 hours ago, alisoncooks said:

I enjoyed that article last night but now I'm plagued with questions. HOW do they get the hats on their...heads? Body? DO they have heads? HOW do the hats stay?? So many questions!!

Believe it or not, they are literally "holding onto their hats"! They use their tube feet to put stuff up there and then hold onto it with the little suckers on the ends of the tubes. Although some scientists think they use the shells and rocks as camouflage, others think it may be protection from UV in shallow water. That would make more sense to me, given the fact that the urchins in the photo are basically advertising their location rather than hiding, lol.

[bibiche]

I wish that one I stepped on had been so well “camouflaged” so I could have avoided him! Still hurts just thinking of it. 😣 

[Guest]

Most field biologists, and especially those who focus on behavior  I've met definitely have a sense of humor. It's hard not to. It's also funny to watch grad students who have not yet realized that it is OK to see the humor in your study species try to talk about a behavior that is honestly adorable and stay strictly academic. 

[Serenade]

23 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

Most field biologists, and especially those who focus on behavior  I've met definitely have a sense of humor. It's hard not to. It's also funny to watch grad students who have not yet realized that it is OK to see the humor in your study species try to talk about a behavior that is honestly adorable and stay strictly academic. 

Yesterday I was texting with my SIL about my son's research statement (he's doing research on frog calls), and my SIL and I got going with all kinds of quips and jokes.  We are not biologists, but we had a lot of fun!