Project Update: AS

Stephanie and I have decided to continue our project on animals with large noses.  We are going to compose a PDF and a possible podcast (if we can figure out the technology.. yikes!) for our museum tour.  Together with Andy's suggestions we have selected on ten objects/animals to be in our Wunderkammer and divided them into 5 each.  Here is some research on the 5 of mine:

Elephant Noses- The elephant nose is not simply their nose but also the trunk which consists of 4 external muscles and thousands of internal fascicles.  An African elephant has two fingers on its trunk while an Asian elephant has just one.  The trunk tip has a ton of nerve endings and is supposedly the most sensitive tissue ever studied.  The elephant nose has an incredible sense of smell.  Elephants do not drink from their trunks, but use them for storing drinking water.

Anteater Nose- The giant anteater appears to have an extremely long nose.  However, this is not a huge nose, but instead an elongated jaw with a small black, wet, nose at the end of it.  Regardless, the anteater's jaw often gets mistaken for a nose so we might as well include it in the project with a side note.  This source describes some folklore about this:

"In the mythology and folklore of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin and the Pantanal, the Giant Anteater is depicted as a trickster to the jaguar as well as a humorous figure due to its long snout. In one old wives tale, an anteater challenged a jaguar to a breath holding contest underwater, which the jaguar accepted. After the two removed their pelts and submerged, the anteater jumped out of the water and stole the jaguar’s pelt, leaving the jaguar with the anteater’s pelt."

Egyptian Nose- Andy suggested Stephanie and I check out the Egyptian section of the museum because there is something about noses in that.  We haven't yet so I am not sure what to look up, but I thought this was an interesting article about the Sphinx's missing nose.  It has falsely been taught that the Sphinx's nose was removed by Napoleon's troops, but this is not the case at all.  The great monument has suffered damages from weathering throughout the years.

Short Beaked Echidna- The short beaked Echidna looks like a porcupine and duck with a long, narrow nose.  They are native to Australia.  Their diet is similar to that of the anteater, which might explain then both having long and narrow snouts.  Their snout is a bill-like naked structure which allows for them to dick through soil and under rocks easily for food.

Southern Tamandua- The Southern Tamandua is another type of ant-eater native to various South American countries.  It's nose, like that of the giant ant-eater is used for catching food, particularly ants, bees, and honey.  I could not find much information on them, but they are super cute and have large noses, so I definitely want to include them in the project if at all possible.