Showing posts with label evolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evolution. Show all posts

Is Cloning of Extinct Animals Possible?

It seems researchers are close to cloning the woolly mammoth and perhaps a species of frog that gives birth to offspring with its mouth - swallowing fertile eggs then incubating them in its mouth. The frog died out in 1983. We have heard claims like this before. Personally, I believe we are a long way from being able to do this.

Repairing the damage that pushed them to extinction is not sufficient to bring them back. Finding specimens with suitable preserved material is near impossible. Even the few frozen southern gastric-brooding frogs were not initially preserved with the intention of "cloning". Special techniques were not applied.

It is thought improved systems like somatic cell nuclear transfer will enable creation of a living frog. Some presume this can be used on viable mammoth cells. The issue will be producing a healthy living creature. Previous research has resulted in incomplete clones: many do not live long. Most scientists are pessimistic about the possibility of "perfect" cloning.
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Conservation
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Cat Colored Spew

"I know I shouldn't have eaten that."
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Funny Animal Photos
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Spread of Malaria to Man from Other Apes - Just Theory

Gorillas caused it. Scientists say mosquitoes split into a new form capable of infecting humans when Man and chimpanzees had a common ancestor. This is a myth. It is not based on fact. Bonobos have also been singled out for blame despite no parasites being found in bonobos or western gorillas, though some parasites were found in chimpanzees and eastern gorillas.

Before conclusions can be drawn on such research evidence of this mystery ancestor must be found first. This is all hearsay. How can present day apes be responsible for current malaria infection. Gorillas are only found in very small parts of Africa, not all around the world.

This wreaks of leaps of faith not science. It is no better than religious beliefs based on prophets who probably never existed. It is scientific fact that evil spirits do not cause disease, yet millions of people believe that a man, Jesus, cured illness by casting out spirits.  Note, everyone is entitled to follow a religion.
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Conservation
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Australian Birds Change Breeding Times to Suite the Harsh Climate

Human beings may be having problems with variable weather in Australia, but animals are coping well. Zebra finches, pelicans and woodswallows seem to know when the weather changes. If the Spring comes early they nest early. If it is too dry to breed they hold off until times are better. They change their breeding point by months either way.

When glaciation was at its peak the woodswallow population actually boomed. In boom times there is a larger pool of gene carriers ideal for genetic selection when times become harder. More of the birds die off. Yet, the survivors have traits that suite the changed environment.

Australia has the harshest of climates with long periods of drought. Consequently, birds such as pelicans live a longtime on a meagre diet so they can wait for good times to breed. Zebra finches seem to do well even when times are very hard.
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Conservation
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New Finds of Early Humans Do Not Change the Basic Theory

Darwin got it right. Well actually he may not have. Fossils of early humans do not alter basic scientific thought in relation to evolution, Finds do not show a linear development toward advanced Man. Evolution though does tend to predict what new discoveries show. Claims that a particular fossil find is a breakthrough are just not true.

New dinosaur fossils, however, tend to be groundbreaking with regular identification of new type of dinosaurs. Indeed, they seem to have roamed on every continent. The whole book on dinosaur evolution has not yet been written. Time will tell how clear an understanding of it we can get.  It seems evolution of dinosaurs is clearer than that of humans.

New research teams need to be formed to go to all parts of the world and seek answers to evolution of mammals and reptiles, if indeed dinosaurs were reptiles. Some specialists today even question this view.
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Conservation
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The Flores "Hobbit" had a Small but Sufficient Brain

The "miniature" humans on the island of Flores in Indonesia have had extensive tests performed on them. Their remains have been examined in detail.  While their brain was as small as an orange it was large enough for them to develop many skills. At a third of the weight of modern-day people it was in proportion.

The world of the "Hobbit", Homo floresiensis, was composed of pygmy animals, so it was a natural environment for them. They would not have perceived themselves to be small.

This sub-species developed from one of the first branches of humans that walked upright, going back two million years. Their direct forebear, Homo erectus, was larger than modern humans. It roamed over a large part of Asia.

Isolation on a small island led to dwarfism occurring. All mammals progress this way when trapped in a limited domain, though reptiles get larger. It was doubtful that they hunted the much bigger reptiles. If their environment was more challenging they would have developed larger brains. A small brain was sufficient. They did use flaked stone points in their weapons. This points to Homo erectus having such knowledge.

Early Hobbits first arrived on Flores 95,000 years ago, before humans moved out of Africa, so they possibly shared the world with Homo erectus with no challenge from Homo sapiens. The problem is the gap between the demise of Homo erectus at 300,000 years ago and the branching off of the large version of the Hobbit. Apart from Homo erectus no direct ancestor has been found.
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Evolution
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New Classification System for Bird Species

Birds are the most diverse creatures on Earth.  Not only have they changed into different species on large continents, they have also adapted specifically to environments on islands.

A new classification system is in the form of a circle with increasing diversity as one moves out in time from the center.  different types of birds are correctly located on the figure covering a period of 50 million years.

There is not one specific ancestor.  "Base" species take the form  of a circle of time moving out from the center and new kinds of birds branch off directly to the outer edge.  Fast evolving birds are in red; slower ones are drawn in blue.

Significantly birds such as woodpeckers often split into new species, while hornbills, for example, did not.  There was more diversification in the Western Hemisphere.  Furthermore, species did not proliferate in the tropics because the climate remained stable there over a long period.
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Biology
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Evolution is Faster in the Tropics

It seems that with climate change we will lose some species but gain new ones - or have new "changed" species. Some species living at high altitudes have been changing as mountain tops become warmer with climate change. It was believed that accelerated evolution only occurs in cold regions, but it has been discovered that it also happens in the tropics.

While it has been accepted for a long time that plants and marine protists evolve faster, the process has only recently been recognized in mammals. What is unusual is that mammals are not directly affected by a warming climate because they naturally maintain a steady body heat.

It is now believed that evolution in the tropics is even faster that in temperate regions. There is a greater diversity of species in the tropics. This faster evolution and more species means that adaptation to changing conditions is rapid. The faster evolution actually makes for many more types of animals.

There must be something else, however, that is driving change in mammals than just a warming climate. Genes were studied from closely related mammals at both high and low altitudes. It was found that DNA substitution was much faster at low, warm latitudes. There are two theories on why this is happening: 1) mammals act in sympathy with other animals; and 2) mammals slow down and become torpid in a colder climate.

Personally, neither of these two theories seem realistic. Why should mammals act in Sympathy? Moreover, mammals in cold climates actually appear to be more active.
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Science
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Bacillus subtilis a Useful Bacterium

New work on old bacterium shows promise. Bacillus subtilis has been used as a base organism to make vitamins and enzymes for washing powder. Nine countries including Australia have taken an in-depth look at Bacillus subtilis and the way it can survive in different environments.

Evolution has made B. subtilis thrive and have a strong metabolism. The findings will enable the creation of metabolites for chemical and pharmaceutical industries. There is greater understanding of how bacteria survive when infection changes the environment. This bacterium is now much more useful in producing enzymes.

In the study 512 new genes were identified in B. subtilis. These were added to the 4,200 previously known genes. It was believed that only a few genes needed to be modified to makes changes, but it was found that up to half of the genes needed to be targeted. Despite this it has been a great leap forward in science.
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Health
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Research Program to Determine Climate Change Impact on Man's Move Out of Africa

It is known that the climate change caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals. Other extremes in climate pushed humans to move out of Africa. The National Research Council in the US has released a report calling for funding for more research into climate change and the human movement issue.

Paleoanthropologists and geologists plan the following program: find new fossil sites with remote sensing tools to determine when new species arose: drill ancient lake beds in Africa for more information on human evolution: develop regional models on how climate differed in parts of Africa over the last 100,000 years: and educate the general community on how climate change led to Man moving across the world.

A meeting is to take place on 31st March next year to discuss the determinations of the report and how such a program can be initiated. The first priority, of course, is funding. The present economic climate does not bode well in this regard. However, scientific endeavours must more forward.
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Science
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Cycad no Longer a Living Fossil

scientists have been wrong in the past and in some cases are still wrong today. Things that have been taught as fact for centuries are now found not to be true. Cycads have been called living fossils for a very long time. However, the species that survive today were not around when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

Will they find coelacanth fish, horseshoe crabs and gingko trees to also be recent branches on their family trees? Many scientists are still fighting for Pluto to be reinstated as a planet. Now cycads will be struck off the living fossil list.

When a new find of an ancient individual related to humans is announced, along with the excitement is the claim that it is the missing link between Man and lesser apes. Common sense would tell us that the missing link will probably never be found. Be prepared for "truths" held for centuries to fall by the wayside.
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Evolution
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Tasmanian Tiger Did Not Fill the Evolutionary NIche of a Dog

It was believed that the Tasmanian Tiger perished in mainland Australia due to the dingo taking over their habitat. New findings show the dingo did not directly compete with the marsupial dog. They had different ways of getting their food.

Dingos were brought to Australia from Asia in recent times. It is not native to Australia. The demise of the Tasmanian tiger on the larger part of Australia 3,000 years ago was coincidental. Settlers in Tasmania feared their cattle and sheep would be slaughtered so they eradicated the quite timid animal in the early twentieth century.

Dingoes are wild dogs that run for long periods running down their prey. Tasmanian tigers were not distance runners. They ambushed sick and young animals. The tiger's skeletal structure was more like cats than dogs, particularly the elbow joint which was feline in character. The dingo has elbows that lock, while the marsupial dog had a flexible joint. This undermines the theory that the Tasmanian tiger filled the evolutionary niche open in Australia due to the absence of a native dog.
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Science
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Chimeras Have Been Identified

What is a chimera? You can be a chimera and not know it. A chimera is the product of two embryos in one individual. A person with this "complaint" is absolutely normal and can live most of their lives without knowing they are "afflicted". They are usually diagnosed in a medical examination.

A case in point was a woman who was found not to be the mother of one of her sons. Tests indicated that genetically the child was not hers. Further test, however, showed that she a chimera and the child was hers.

Human chimeras are not common. In some species they are more the norm. In dahlia anemones, for example, it was noticed that their larvae were fused together like conjoined twins. Out of a batch of 27,169 young, 120 were visibly chimeric. Most of these died. The true chimeras live don undetected. It is believed that 90 per cent of young can be affected There may an evolutionary benefit from this. It appears that chimeras grow faster and are more aggressive than normal larvae. Dahlia anemone are certainly at the halfway point between colonial organisms and individuals.
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Health
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Ostriches Use Wings to Run

The mystery of why dinosaurs evolved feathers has been solved. Observation of ostriches shows that wings are used to retain balance while running. Far from being evolutionary leftovers, they are used constantly.

This finding was made by breeding ostriches that were "human-friendly". Then they were then able to be tested, which took place when they were three years old. The ostriches were made to run down a 300 meter "track", indoors. They were seen to zigzag, brake and turn, guiding their bodies using wings as rudders.

Tests showed that feathers provided lift which improved stability. All living flightless birds are able to evade capture by quickly turning one way then the other. Without wings they would not be able to do this.


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