non-human mayors and pearl coloration.

So my labmate linked the sad news today that the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, who happens to be a cat, was badly injured in a dog attack last Saturday; he's receiving vet care and we all send him well-wishes for his recovery (of course, standard jokes regarding the dog not appreciating his politics notwithstanding). As usual, this raised the rather curious question of how common are non-human mayors? Wikipedia to the rescue; there have been a broad range of non-human mayors and other electoral candidates beginning with a horse of the Roman Emperor Caligula. Cats, dogs, goats, and primates seem to be super common. There have also been inanimate electoral candidates; Pulvapies ('footpowder'), an Ecuadorian footpowder, won a mayor election in 1967 by reportedly a large margin, and a Canadian sock puppet named Ed represented the Fed-Up party in 2011. (Sidenote, Ed is is listed as a 'fictional sock puppet'. i polled a small population of highly educated people [my good-sport labmates] regarding whether a sock puppet could be non-fictional, and the general consensus was that sock puppets are fictional when they're impersonating a non-fictional character, or do not actually physically exist [for instance, are only a cartoon of a sock puppet]. They exist when they are an actual modified sock, accomplishing various tasks, like running for mayor. Anyway). Apparently, there is an actual 'Inanimate Objects (political) Party' at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; the party figure is a 7 foot tall inflatable whale named Arthur Galpin who runs for the highest student-elected office on campus (Grand Marshal). (As the proud alumni of an institution where the highest ranking member of the oldest student organization on campus is a dog who can adjourn classes, i can respect that.)

i was asked today what contributes to the color variation in pearls. i couldn't remember whether it's water temperature, mineral availability, or oyster species. Upon researching this further, it seems to be mostly oyster species and water temperature; warmer water seems to give darker coloration.