Degobah Frog Habitat
The forgotten planet of Dagobah
On the Outer Rim of the galaxy of the Star Wars Universe, near the edge of Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, lies the gloomy and remote planet of Dagobah. A mostly forgotten world, Dagobah is where the powerful Jedi Master Yoda escaped to during the overthrow of the Republic. By going into hiding, Yoda was one of the few Jedi to survive the Great Jedi Purge. There he lived in exile, alone in a simple mud hut, until the day Luke Skywalker arrived to become his student in the ways of the Force.
There is a story told about an earlier time on another star system, when there was a revolt and several rogue Jedi succumbed to the Dark Side. One of them escaped to Dagobah where he died. It is said that jungle absorbed the rogue Jedi’s warped energy. Years later, it was this Dark Side energy that concealed Yoda’s Light Side from the force-users who were seeking to destroy him.
Swampy, rainy, and humid, Dagobah is a harsh and uncivilized world for both humans and Jedi. However, it is the perfect habitat for reptiles, such as snakes and lizards, as well as bats and insects. The Swamp Slug, Dragon Snake, and Knobby White Spider all thrive in Dagobah’s overgrown jungles and murky waters.
Dagobah’s swamp dwellers
What has thousands of teeth, 24 pairs of legs, and eats anything and everything it can fit into its mouth? Why, the Swamp Slug of course! An enormous creature, with glowing orange eyes so it can see through murky waters and sonar antennae so it can quickly locate its prey, this slug is fearsome!
The Swamp Slug’s fiercest rival is the Dragonsnake. Although the snake is smaller, it is incredibly ferocious with its long, armored body, razor fins, and a wide tail to propel itself through the water. With rows of sharp fangs in its mouth and claws on its long arms, even if it is devoured the Dragonsnake can gnaw its way out of the Swamp Slugs stomach and burst through its belly!
The Knobby White Spider is quite large, with a lumpy body, bloated head, eight gnarly legs, and a large stinger to sedate its prey. Composed mostly of calcified wood, this strange creature undergoes a unique lifecycle- shiftingfrom plant to insect, then back to plant again. The Knobby White Spider begins life as a root of the Gnarltree. Eventually the root detaches from the tree and is able to move, changing into a ghastly bulbous spider! Wandering through the swamp, devouring animals for nourishment, the spider then plants its legs deep into the ground where they turn back to roots which then produces another Gnarltree.
Yoda- “Very depressing, this place is. Yes, hmmm.”
Earth’s enchanted wetlands
Planet Earth has many places that are similar to the swamps and marshes of Dagobah. These areas are called wetlands- a unique environment somewhere between a terrestrial (earth) and aquatic (water) habitat. Swamps begin as lakes with trees and shrubs but when the trees die and decay, they fill up the lake. Eventually, the water becomes shallow enough to become a swamp. In North America, marshes are shallower than swamps with grasses rather than trees.
The most famous wetlands in the United States are in the southeastern part of the country. The Everglades, in southern Florida, is mostly sawgrass marsh. Okefenokee Swamp, in southern Georgia and northern Florida, is made of cypress forests, marshes, lakes and islands. The Great Dismal Swamp, in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, has forests and a huge lake in the middle of the swamp.
Wetlands are almost as old as the Earth itself and are tremendously important to the planet’s health. Wetlands absorb the force of strong winds and tides to protect neighboring lands from storms and floods. They are also the home of many kinds of wildlife, providing them with both shelter and food. Although wetlands only cover about 10 percent of the Earth’s surface, almost one-half of all of the engendered species on Earth live in or rely on the wetlands to survive. Unfortunately, Earth’s wetlands are shrinking rapidly due to human activities and pollution.
Common residents of the wetlands include mammals such as the opossum, beaver, muskrat, and otter; reptiles such as the alligator, crocodile, turtle, and snake; insects such as the dragonfly and mosquito, and amphibians such as the frog and toad.
Amazing amphibians
Amphibians (am-FIB-ee-anz) have lived on Earth for over 300 million years. They were the very first creatures that left the sea to live on the land and are called cold-blooded because their body temperature changes with the temperature of their surroundings. Amphibian means two lives. During the first part of their life, amphibians live in water and breathe through gills like fish. When they become adults, they live on land and breathe through lungs. This transformation, from one life to another, is called metamorphosis (met-a-MOR-fa-sis). The lifecycle of amphibians is a lot like the Knobby White Spider of Dagobah.
Frogs are one of the most familiar amphibians on our planet. There are almost 4,000 different kinds of frogs and they live everywhere on Earth except for Antarctica. Frog’s have very special skin- they can drink and breathe through it. They don’t swallow water since they get all the water they need through their skin. Although they breathe through lungs, they absorb extra oxygen through their skin, especially when they are under the water. Many frogs can also change their skin color to blend into their surroundings so they can hide from predators.
These amphibians are very talented, with two strong hind legs for leaping great distances and two shorter legs in front to prop them up while sitting. Their webbed feet make them excellent swimmers. Frogs can see and hear very well. With large eyes on the side of their head, they can see in many directions. Their eardrums are located right behind their eyes. Frogs can capture an insect in less than a second, with their long, fast, sticky tongue.
A young frog, called a tadpole or polliwog, doesn’t look anything like an adult frog at first. It looks like a fish with a big head and a long tail. During the first part of its life, it breathes through gills and eats mostly plants. As it develops, the tadpole changes its shape. Legs begin to form, first in the back and then in the front, while the tail shrinks and finally disappears. During this process the gills turn into lungs. When metamorphosis is complete, the frog jumps out of water and up onto land!
Many people wonder about the difference between frogs and toads. Toads are considered a type of frog which means that all toads are frogs but not all frogs are toads. A big difference between the two is that frogs need to live near to water to survive but toads do not. Toads live mostly on land and have rough, bumpy skin. Their eyes are lower in their body and shaped like footballs. Frogs have skin that is smooth and slimy with eyes that are higher, rounder and bulgier.
Toads have wider bodies with shorter legs and can only hop short distances. Frogs, because of their long legs, can jump much higher and farther. Some can jump 20 times their own length in just one leap! This is important because frogs are more vulnerable to predators than toads are. Toads have very few enemies because they have puffy pockets behind their ears filled with poison which they can squirt at their enemies. Much like a skunk’s spray, this bitter poison burns the eyes and nostrils of any potential predator.
An environment with frogs is usually a good sign. This is because frogs are considered to be Earth’s "indicator species," which means they are the first creatures to get sick when the environment becomes unhealthy. Ecosystem is the word that scientists use to describe an environment and all of its living organisms that depend on each other for survival.
Water is a very important part of any ecosystem because all life forms need water. Frogs, because of their super sensitive skin and because they spend so much of their life in the water, are the first ones to show us whether the water is healthy or not. When frogs become sick or disappear, that means something is wrong with the water which will eventually affect the entire ecosystem’s health- including humans! Frogs are also important because they eat insects and this keeps the ecosystem in balance.
Scientists are concerned because so many frogs are becoming sick and dying all over the world. One reason is that some of the chemicals humans use, such as herbicides and gasoline, get mixed in with rainfall and then wash into streams, wetlands, ponds and lakes.
The good news is that we can take action to correct these problems. Frogs can show us which parts of our ecosystem need our help. A healthier environment for frogs means a healthier world for humans. We are all part of the same planet Earth ecosystem. Frogs are ancient beings and have lived on earth for almost 200 million years!
Yoda- “Very important, these creatures are. Yeessssssssss“
Naboo Sea Monsters
Naboo™ Sea Monsters
See real-life sea monsters just like those on Naboo!
Mysterious Monsters of the Deep
The watery worlds of Naboo
One of the most beautiful planets in the Star Wars Universe is Naboo. The surface of Naboo looks a lot like Earth with dense forests, green hills, rolling plains, tall mountains, and lots of water including rivers, swamps, lakes and oceans.
Two societies live on the planet Naboo- the Naboo (humans) who live in cities on the surface and the Gungans (amphibian humanoids) who live in underwater cities. While Earth is home to many amphibians, such as frogs, they can’t talk and walk like the Gungans and they certainly don’t live in underwater cities! Also, unlike Earth which has a molten core, Naboo has a unique plasma (special gas) core.
Although the Gungans are brave underwater explorers, they do not dare to venture too deep into the interior oceans because of the many mysterious and ravenous monsters living there. On the edge of Lianorm Swamp lies Lake Paonga, a strange and watery world inhabited by many gigantic and ferocious sea creatures.
The Colo Claw Fish is an eel-like serpent with gigantic jaws that stretch open to swallow creatures many times larger than its head. Stunning victims with an eerie hydrosonic screech, the Colo Claw Fish then seizes its prey with huge claws, and paralyzes it with venomous fangs before gobbling it whole.
Hiding in dark crevices, the Opee Sea Killer attracts its victims with long antenna like lures on its head and then captures them with its massive sticky tongue. The Opee Sea Killer is a super fast swimmer because of its powerful legs and the amazing ability to suck water into its mouth and shoot it out through pores in its armor plated body. Although small, this fierce creature can gnaw its way out of a Colo Claw Fish’s belly!
The massive Sando Aqua Monster is rarely seen. It has flipper-like arms and legs and an enormous fluked tail. In spite of its gigantic size, it lurks unseen in dark places. It appears without warning, and grabs its victim with powerful webbed hands before devouring it in a single gulp.
Jar Jar Binks- “Mesa nosa like dat fish!”
Planet Earth’s prehistoric oceans
The surface of Earth is mostly water, just like Naboo. Three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered in water which is why we call it the blue planet. Almost 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, many similar creatures lived beneath the ocean. This period of time is what scientists call the Mesozoic (mez a ZO ik) Era.
The enormous Tylosaurus (TIE lo sore us) was a very ferocious predator during this time. Like a snake, it had two rows of teeth way back on the roof of its mouth which it could open wide enough to swallow prey whole. The Tylosaurs had lizard-like scales covering its long body and tail and swam like a giant eel. The serpent-like Tylosaurus was probably an ancient relative of the Colo Claw Fish.
One of the most powerful predators of its time was the Kronosaurus (crow no SORE us). Looking like a reptile with flippers, a stocky body and short neck, the Kronosaurus had and an enormous thick skull with sharp teeth the size of bananas! It feasted on anything that got in its way. Possibly the largest marine reptile that ever lived, the Kronosaurus may be an ancestor of the massive Sando Aqua Monster.
The Dakosaurus (dak o SORE us) was another ancient predator that looked like a crocodile with a T-Rex dinosaur head, four paddle-like limbs and a fish tail. Scientists nicknamed it Godzilla because of its powerful massive jaws and serrated teeth.
An immense fish with giant fangs, the Xiphactinus (zi FAC tin us) could snare other large fish as well as unsuspecting seabirds resting on the ocean’s surface. It was a fierce predator and very fast swimmer. With a powerful tail and wing-like pectoral fins, the Xiphactinus could also leap into the air above the waves.
Amazing underwater creatures still living today
In our present time, there are many mysterious real-life creatures still swimming among us!
The Manatee lives in shallow, warm coastal areas like rivers, bays, and estuaries. It is a relative of the elephant and has a shorter trunk, front flippers, and a powerful paddle-like tail. The Manatee is a slow-moving, curious, gentle giant. It is currently protected as an endangered species which means it is at risk of becoming extinct.
The Cuttlefish is actually not a fish. It is in the family of creatures called mollusks and is a relative of the squid and octopus. The Cuttlefish is a very clever and talented invertebrate (animals without a spine). Instead of a spine, its inside is made of spongy shell which helps it to float. It has a flouncy fin which helps it to move quickly in any direction and can jet forward by sucking in water and shooting it out forcefully just like the Opee Sea Killer of Naboo. The Cuttlefish has the amazing ability to transform itself into many colors and patterns and squirts ink out of a sac to confuse its predators. It has big eyes, a beak, eight suckered tentacles hanging from its face, three hearts and blue-green blood!
The Octopus also has three hearts, shoots ink, and can jet propel through the water. It has even been known to fly by blasting itself out of the water just like the ancient Xiphactinus! The Octopus has eight arms, each with two rows of suction cups which can use to crawl or even walk across the ocean floor. Its head, called a mantle, is shaped like a globe with two eyes and a parrot-like beak. It has good eyesight but no hearing and can camouflage itself by changing colors. It is highly intelligent- some say it is as smart as a housecat! The Octopus’s body, inside and out, is completely soft so it can squeeze through tiny rock crevices to escape its enemies.
Jar Jar Binks- “Octopus say, ‘Ex squeezee me!’”
The mighty Triops- living fossils
The Triops, also known as dinosaur shrimp, is a living fossil that has existed on our planet for over 350 million years- ever since the age of the dinosaurs! This tiny but fierce creature resembles a miniature horseshoe crab. It has a flat carapace (upper body shell) and a long tail ending in two wispy filaments. It has three eyes and breathes through its leaf-like legs. After they hatch, young Triops double their size each day until they become adults in two weeks.
Triops are freshwater crustaceans (crus TA shuns). They live in small ponds and temporary rainwater pools in the deserts of North America. The eggs of the Triops are laid in the sand, but will only hatch in water. If the water dries up, the eggs become dormant (a sleep-like state) and can survive both freezing temperatures as well as draught for up to 20 years!
This type of dormant state is called diapause (DI a paws) which is different from hibernation. For diapause to occur, special conditions must exist (first complete dryness and then later, rain) for the eggs to become dormant and then hatch. Diapause is what helped the tiny Triops to survive the harsh conditions which killed off the giant dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Triops are among the oldest animal species in existence today.
Mustafar Volcano
The Fiery World of Mustafar
One of the most terrifying planets of the Star Wars Universe is Mustafar. A tiny, fiery world, Mustafar is found in the Outer Rim near the edge of Wild Space and the Unknown Regions. It is a very harsh and dangerous place where few travelers dare to go. Mustafar’s surface is covered with jagged jet-black mountains which continually spew fire and lava in all directions. Wide lava rivers creep across the bleak landscape under a sky choked with black ash from the never-ending volcanic eruptions. The inhabitants of Mustafar are insectoid-like beings called Mustafarians who spend their lives mining the lava rivers for minerals.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fought their final lightsaber duel all across the smoldering land of Mustafar. The battle was fierce and ended when Obi-Wan emerged victorious, leaving Anakin alone to die on the black sandy shores of a lava river. However, Darth Sidious used his evil powers and came to Anakin’s rescue. Although mortally wounded, Anakin was enclosed in a protective black life support suit and transformed into a cyborg. On that day, Anakin Skywalker ceased to exist and Darth Vader was born.
Early Planet Earth
Four and a half billion years ago, planet earth was born. In the early years, Earth was a very different planet than it is today. In the beginning, Earth was a lot like Mustafar- hot and dry and exploding with firestorms from meteor collisions. Eventually the collisions stopped and the Earth became a colder, watery world.
During the first 700 million years, called the Hadaen Period, scientists believe that many large objects, some 100 miles wide, hit the earth and created many climate changes. Later in Earth’s history, during the age of the dinosaurs (65 million years ago), smaller objects hit the Earth that were only 6 miles wide. Scientists believe it was these objects that helped kill off the dinosaurs.
Like Mustafar, Earth also has many volcanoes. Volcanoes have existed on our planet for about 4,000 million years, ever since Earth’s surface became solid. Some volcanoes are very old but many are much younger. Although some have been known to explode and cause damage, there are many volcanoes erupting around the world that are not harmful. They are found in many places- on land, under water or under the snow.
How Are Volcanoes Created?
Although, volcanoes may look like mountains, they are very different. Mountains are formed when earth crumbles down but volcanoes are created from eruptions that come from beneath the earth. Volcanoes are actually vents in the earth that are connected to hot, molten (melted) rock manymiles inside the earth. The molten rock is made of crystals and gas. When the pressure of the gas builds up, the molten rock is pushed up through crevices in the volcano and breaks through the crust of the earth.
When molten rock is inside of the volcano, it is called magma. When it erupts from the volcano, it is called lava. Depending on the texture of the magma, the eruption can be quiet or explosive. If the magma is thin, it will pour easily out of the volcano, but if it is thick, it will explode. The thicker the magma, the more pressure it takes to help it escape.
When it erupts, the lava is red hot. As it cools, the lava turns dark red, gray or even black. Sometimes it flows smoothly like hot tar and other times it flows slowly like thick honey. When it cools down completely, the lava becomes solid rock. In addition to lava, volcanic eruptions may also contain ash and rock particles called tephra. The larger rocks fall onto the volcano but the smaller particles are carried into the stratosphere and blown by the winds around the world.
There are three different kinds of volcanic eruptions. A magmatic eruption is caused by the release of gas as pressure is released. This produces lava, ash, dust, gas, and/or smoke. A phreatic eruption is caused by cold ground water coming into contact with hot magma. The blast from this generates explosive, expanding steam as well as water, ash, rock, volcanic bombs and even poisonous gas. A phreatomagmatic eruption, like the phreatic eruption, is cause by cold water and hot magma but it produces finer grained shards.
World Famous Volcanoes
Vesuvius is the first volcano that was ever written about. t erupted almost 2,000 years ago in Italy and buried two cities called Pompeii and Herculaneum. When Vesuvius erupted there was no lava, only ash, which buried the cities. Since then, Vesuvius has erupted more than 50 times. When workers finally discovered the buried cities, they found many things had been preserved by the volcanic ash- including a bakery oven with loaves of bread that were 2,000 years old! Vesuvius is now considered an extinct volcano, although scientists believe it could become active again.
One of the largest eruptions happened in 1880 on an unpopulated island called Krakatau in Indonesia. People living on nearby islands began to hear and see strange things in the distance like exploding sounds and black churning clouds. After several months of this, the island went into massive convulsions for two days. Nobody had any idea of what was about to happen. Suddenly, there was one enormous explosion and most of the island collapsed into the sea! This created powerful tsunamis which destroyed hundreds of coastal villages on the neighboring islands. Boulders as heavy as 70 pounds landed on island 50 miles away and the dust made the moon appear blue and sometimes green for two years.
The Agean Sea is the site of one of the oldest and largest volcanic explosions. This occurred on in Greece, on the island of Santorini, thousands of years ago around 1,500 BC. The island had been created over a long period of time by the slow build-up of layers and layers of lava. When the volcano suddenly erupted, it submerged the whole island, creating tsunamisand destroying a very advanced civilization of people living on the neighboring island of Crete. This event may have been the inspiration for the legend of the lost city of Atlantis. The Santorini volcano was four times stronger than the one on Krakatau- it moved 50 times the amount of water and created tsunamis that were twice as high. Scientists believe that the Santorini explosion was probably heard all the way in Scandinavia!
The largest volcanic eruption in recorded history was Tambora in Indonesiawhich, before it exploded, was 13,000 feet high. The volcano was quite for 5,000 years until the day it erupted in 1815. At first, it began to tremble, spewing steam and ash into the sky. Then, all of a sudden the volcano exploded 15 miles up into the sky! The volcano continued erupting for several days until the entire top, which was one mile wide, blew off and went up for 25 miles!!! When the debris came back down, it created something called a pyroclastic flow. This is a current of hot gas and rock that can travel faster than 50 miles per hour. The ash fell as far as 800 miles away and the fragments falling into the ocean created tsunamis which caused destruction on many of the neighboring islands. The explosion released 200 million tons of sulfur dioxide and ash into the stratosphere which were carried around the world during the next year. This prevented a lot of sunlight from reaching the earth and lowered the temperature across the entire planet. That year was known as the year without a summer.
Legends About Volcanoes
Legends are stories that are told from long ago that may or may not be partially true. There are many legends about volcanoes that can teach us about people who lived in ancient times and sometimes distant places.
The Devils Tower in Wyoming may be the last part of a volcano that existed 60 or 70 million years ago. It is made of crystallized molten magma that scientists say was formed inside the earth. Since prehistoric times, the area has been a sacred site to many Native American tribes who call it many names such as Bear’s Lair, Bear’s Lodge, and Bear’s House. One legend tellsthe story of a bear that chased some girls who climbed on a low rock for safety. The Great Spirit helped them escape by making the rock grow into a tall tower and pushing the girls into the sky where they became the seven stars of the Pleiades. The angry bear tried so hard to climb the tower that he left deep claw marks in the rock, which are visible to this day.
Another legend, told on the islands of Hawaii is the story of Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of volcanoes. Pele was honored and feared by Hawaiians because when she became angry, she created earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. One day a chief named Papalauahi and some of his friends challenged Pele to a grass sledding contest and won. Pele lost her temper and created a great lava flood that turned the chief and his friends into pillars of stone. This legend is called Papalauahi and the Origin of the Lava Trees. Many lava trees are still standing on the island of Hawaii today. They were created when lava flowed through a forest and solidified around the trees. The trees burned out leaving hollow lava tree molds of many interesting shapes.
Popocatépetl, or the Smoking Mountain, is another legend about one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico. One of the stories is about a brave Aztecwarrior named Popocatépetl who fell in love with a beautiful Aztec princess named Iztaccihuatl. The princess’s father, who was the tribal chief, would not allow them to marry until the warrior conquered an enemy tribe. The young warrior was gone for such a long time that the princess thought he’d been killed and she died from sorrow. When the warrior returned home victorious, he carried her body up to the top of the mountain and lit a torch to watch over her. To this day, the two mountains, Popocatépetl and Ixtaccihuatl, stand side by side- one with smoke, the other without.
Mt Fuji is a dormant volcano in Japan. The legend of Mt Fuji is that it was created in a single day. One night, woodsmen named Visu woke up to a loud noise from inside the earth. He grabbed his family and started to run from his home. As he was leaving, he saw that the flat earth around his home had become a tall mountain. He named it "Fuji-yama”, or the never dying mountain. Scientists have found geological records of an explosive volcano that occurred over 2,000 years ago which probably influenced this legend.
What Is A Volcanologist?
Volcanologists are scientists who study volcanoes. They work in the field, observing active volcanoes and collecting data and samples of lava, rock and gases. Volcanologists have lots of special equipment, including a suit that looks a lot like a space suit to protect them from the intense heat. They also work in the laboratory writing reports and doing experiments and some of them educate the public or try to predict eruptions. There are many different types of volcanoes to be studied including those that are active, dormant or extinct. Their work is often like detective work- they gather evidence to figure out the facts about what might have happened. A career in volcanology involves learning about many types of science including geology, chemistry, geography, oceanography, meteorology, and geophysics.