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Study on Bony Fish, Sharks and Lungfish Clarifies Evolutionary Development

A study on lungfish, bony fish and cartilaginous fish has a great deal to offer in understanding development of legs for life on land. Lungfish are ancient ancestors of tetrapods - four legged animals. Walking on their fins and breathing air, lungfish bravely moved onto the land.

Research has relied on bones preserved as fossils, but muscles cannot be "saved" in this way. A fetus shows ancient stages in a creatures development. This is why a human fetus seems to be reptile-like in its early stages. Examining muscle development of modern lungfish is very informative. Tests were also done on cartilaginous fish such as sharks and ordinary fish.

Embryos of cartilaginous and bony fish were genetically altered to promote growth of precursor pelvic fins that in lungfish became legs. Engineered cells were made to emit red and green light. The study on muscles highlighted the fact that bony fish evolved legs while cartilaginous fish did not. Pelvic muscles of bony fish are a transitory stage between cartilaginous fish and land animals.

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Biology

Meerkat Male

"No, there's nothing there George."

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Funny Animal Photos

Green Tree Frogs Survive by Getting Water Through Condensation

Australian green tree frogs live in the dry desert without dehydrating. This has been a mystery - until now. They move from a cool night into warm burrows. Then they "mist-up". They sit in the cold air for hours until they can hardly move. There is a good reason for this.

It has been discovered that their skin "takes-on" water. Inside the burrows water is in the air due to the warmth. Droplets form on their cold skin by condensation. A group of tree frogs frequented a hollow tree in the dry outback. Researchers caught some frogs, cooled them in the cold night air, lowered them into the log in a cage for a quarter of an hour, Then tested them. The frogs gained 0.4 grams in weight, their bodies glistening with water droplets.

It is now believed that lizards and spiders also use this technique to get water. Earlier work in the laboratory indicates this. Just a little water is enough to survive.

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Science

No Post Squirrel

"No mail today."

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Funny Animal Photos

Male Jewel Beetles Mate With Stubby Beer Bottles

Australian jewel beetles are sexually attracted to stubby beer bottles. These are small bottles, brown in color, that fit comfortably in the hand. Darryl Gwynne wrote about the phenomenon in a post-doctoral paper. He had noticed the behavior 23 years ago. Ultimately, the opportunity arrived to inform the world. He was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize.

Male beetles were observed mounting discarded stubbies. The bottles are the same tone of brown as female jewel beetles. Moreover, they glint in the sun like the wings of females.

Mounting the bottles is dangerous. It usually ends in death for male beetles. They are either eaten by ants or are cooked in the hot sun. It is feared that the behavior will lead to a decline in beetle numbers. However, the beetles are still present in high numbers two and half decades after the behavior was first observed.

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Science

Scowl Snap Cat

"Nah, I don't care. Snap me."

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Funny Animal Photos

Eight Stages Toward Coral Reef Collapse

Coral reefs may look okay but on closer examination they may be dying. Overfishing, particularly in the Indian Ocean, causes eight steps that lead to reef collapse. Each step is a stage toward the end of a reef.

Keeping fish numbers up is important. When the level falls below 1000 kilograms of fish per hectare seaweed growth increases as well as urchin activity. This is a major indication of a problem. If fish density falls below 300 kilograms a crisis is reached.

Until now, coral cover has been used as a measure of coral health. This research shows that coral cover is the last threshold: the reef is heading toward ecosystem collapse.

It is during the first three stages that constructive change will save a reef. Fishing should be regulated. If a reef is in the final five stages, it is near impossible to save it. Only marine reserves have really healthy coral reefs because fishing is restricted. Unmonitored reefs fare the worst. A management system for each reef needs to be developed and put in place.

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Science

Lost Polar Bears

"Just follow the landmarks."

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Funny Animal Photos

Endangered Species Saved by Captive Programs

Many animals have been saved from extinction by captive breeding programs. A creature of the desert, the Arabian oryx, became extinct in the wild in 1972. It has symbolic significance for Arabian people. Individual animals were brought together from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

A watershed occurred in 1982 when some oryx were released into the wild. By 2011 the number of wild oryx reached more than 1,000. The species is no longer endangered. It is now classed as vulnerable.

Much has been learned from this successful intervention. This has been done before. In the 19th century the American bison was saved. Today there are 30,000 in the wild and another 30,000 have been bred for meat.

In Australia only 50 helmeted honeyeaters were alive in 1990. The Healesville Sanctuary has bred these birds releasing about 20 every year. Australia has adopted a policy of releasing endangered animals onto islands because cats and foxes easily kill native species. The greater stick-nest rat was saved in this way.

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Wildlife

Bear Boy

"Just enjoy the wildlife son."

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Funny Animal Photos

Labels: animal , bear , boy , coat , dad , hat , red , son , water , wildlife

A Large Rise in Sea Level Is Forecast

Though some scientists still hold onto the "myth" that coastal water will rise only a few centimeters, In a thousand years land area will be much smaller in comparison with the ocean. Some estimates put sea rise as high as 40 meters. This will devastate low-lying land. Countries as we know them today will be unrecognisable.

Research is in train to find out sea height 3 million years ago by studying coral reefs, sand dunes and fossils. This will enable more accurate forecasts to be made. The extent of ice sheets that will be left with global warning and higher greenhouse gases will be ascertained. A collection of sediment in the Lamont-Doherty Core Repository, the world's largest, is being used in the study.

The frequency of ice ages has already been identified more accurately. They occurred every 41,000 years. It had been believed that the time frame was every 100,000 years. Furthermore, rising mountain ranges cool the Earth's temperature. It is now obvious that less land area will warm the planet.

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Science

Globe Foals

"It was there last night."

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Funny Animal Photos

Lines Like Those in Nazca Found in the Middle East

Nazca lines are not only in South America. Similar lines have been found in the Middle East. Satellite-mapping brought the lines to light in Jordan. The lines are not composed of base desert cleared of stones. They are made of stone and go from Saudi Arabia to Syria.

Many designs can be seen, the most common being spoked wheels. They go through lava fields and are 2,000 years old. This is much older than the Nazca lines. The area covered is more extensive than Nazca.

The sections with the spoked wheels have a function. They are part of kites which "funnel" animals thus trapping them. Other lines are cairns that run from burial sites. Walls and other structures have no apparent purpose. Some areas have clusters of spoked wheels. They are believed to have ritual significance linked to the seasons as in Nazca.

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Archeology

Windy Dog Tongue

"It sure is windy."

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Funny Animal Photos

High Blood Pressure Caused by Many Genetic Variants

It is now common knowledge that the propensity to get high blood pressure is genetic. A billion people in the world suffer from it. Persistent high blood pressure ultimately leads to heart disease and stroke.

The genetic work is complicated. Sixteen new genetic variations have been identified. These genetic factors can be counted: the greater the number people have the more likely they are to suffer from high blood pressure.

There are three kinds of genetic variants predisposing hypertension. One regulates blood pressure. Another affects pulse. The third type controls arterial pressure.

It appears that the modern diet has happened too fast for humans to stop the selection of these gene variants. Children are now suffering from this complaint. The variants will only be "selected-out" if these children do not reach child bearing age. This is a hard fact to accept, but this is the way natural selection works.

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Science

Cry Dog

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to."

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Funny Animal Photos

New Dolphin Species Found in Australia

It is amazing that a species of dolphin has been living along the coast of Australia and scientists did not know it - until now. The Burrunan dolphin is the third new species to be identified since the 1800s. Named Tursiops australis, the new mammal is represented by two small groups living among bottle-nosed and common dolphins living off the Victorian coast.

They are quite distinct from other dolphins having different body shape, skulls and DNA sequence. The discovery came as quite a shock and shows that new species of other animals could be living unidentified in regions already extensively examined.

Man may be going into space but much of our planet still remains unexplored. New species still need to be classified in South America. The behavior of some creatures is not yet fully understood. For example, giant catfish in Asia are suspected of taking people swimming across rivers.

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Biology

Safe Food

"This looks like a safe place to hide."

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Funny Animal Photos

Wild Cockatoos Are Swearing at People

Australian wild cockatoos have been "infiltrated" by domesticated cockatoos who have escaped. Wild birds are copying words learned by escaped household pets. Cockatoos are not the only wild birds being affected in this way. Galahs and corellas shout out words that startle people. Escaped birds breed with their wild counterparts and chicks learn to talk from parents.

The parrot family is extremely good at mimicking sounds they hear. Songbirds and hummingbirds can also do this to a degree. The problem is cockatoos and parakeets are social animals. To wild birds a word is just a new sound to be learned and used socially. Human babbling to learn language is called subsong in birds, where chicks learn by trial and error.

Like humans, cockatoos continue to learn "words" all through their lives. "Natural" cockatoo sounds go together to form a language which has its own grammar. Human words are being integrated into this language.

A pet bird may only hear a word once and the word is remembered for life, particularly swear words that are spoken with some gusto.

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Wildlife

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