1. Hi! I’m a Star-Nosed Mole, one of earth’s weirdest creatures.

2. Here’s a little about me: I have a circle of 22 fleshy tentacles at the end of my snout – these are extremely sensitive due to 25,000+ specialized touch receptors.

3. Here’s a little about me: I’m blind, but I’ve been awarded the title “world’s fastest-eating mammal.” I have 44 teeth.

4. Here’s a little about me: I can smell underwater by exhaling air bubbles onto objects or scent trails, and then inhaling the same bubbles back through my nose.

5. Here’s a little about me: I can grow up to 8 inches long. I live 3-4 years in the wild. Like other moles, I dig networks of tunnels in soil.

6. Given what you know about the Star-Nosed mole, what can you guess about the environment it lives in? The Star-Nosed mole is a very fast eater, consuming food items in as little as 120 milliseconds (~1/10 of a second). What can you guess about the star-nosed mole’s diet because it eats so quickly?

7. Early scientists proposed ideas about evolution. Evolution is the biological change process by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors. A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce and have fertile offspring.

8. Early scientists proposed ideas about evolution. Evolution is the biological change process by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors. A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce and have fertile offspring. This ancestor of the horse lived 55 MYA (Million years ago)

9. TOMORROW: We will meet in ROOM 411 (Mrs. Duty’s Room) You will be researching scientists who had ideas about evolution before, during, and after Darwin’s work.