Peripatus!

For years, I've been fascinated by onychophorans -- a kind of evolutionary oddity somewhere between annelids and insects (sort of like tardigrades). They're found pretty much exclusively in the southern hemisphere and look something like caterpillars. I first learned about them in graduate school and wrote a paper about them. For years, I've been trying to find a source to get some to study -- partly thinking that they might be a replacement for the rat-tailed maggots I've used as a first prompt in the writing class. But I had been stymied. You can find some web pages in the UK offering them for sale as pets, but nothing in the US -- even from biological supply companies. Lo and Behold a few weeks ago, it turns out that a local invertebrate enthusiast gave some Peripatus to Al -- our resident herpetologist. He mentioned that they might be parthenogenic and that appears to be true: where there was one, there are now five. So Al gave me one of my own so that I can start trying to raise a brood of my own! My own little Peripatus! I'm so excited!