Tired Out
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Old Photos Located in Scotland
A cache of old photographs has been put on display in Scotland. It is not known who took them, but the person must have been an ardent world traveller. There are pictures taken in Bolivia, Argentina, India and New Zealand. The images are of very high quality.
The collection had been stored at the Roslin Institute for many years. This is where Dolly the Sheep was born. Photos of animals were probably taken during research at the institute. It is possible the "culprits" were James Cossar Ewart (who did travel widely) and Robert Wallace who were professors there from 1882. The rest of the photographs are a mystery.
The animal pictures are interesting enough, though the images of people in other countries are illuminating. In one, a leper is carried by two boys with a hanging container for alms. The boys use a carrying pole to distance themselves from the leper. Another picture shows a child with a lamb.
The most significant scene shows a Maori Girl in full dress of the day standing on a canoe. Two cliffs rise from a river's edge vertically upward. Dense vegetation can be seen in the background. Subjects are generally posing in the shots. However, this does not denigrate the images in any way.
✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴
Platypus Ancestor Found
When a platypus specimen was first viewed in England it was a sensation, Many people including scientists said that it was a fake: it was a combination of parts from other animals. However, it did exist in the Australian niche where it evolved.
I should be noted that this was in an era when the English were still struggling with Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. The majority of the population still believed that God created Man. The Garden of Eden was foremost in their minds.
Today, the platypus' existence is accepted without question. There has not been a lot of fossil evidence about how it came to be. Recently, this gap has been filled by a fossil of an ancient duck-billed marine reptile. Like most fossils which illuminate family trees it was found in China.
Eohupehsuchus brevicollis lived 248 million years ago. Only two other examples of this creature have been brought to light, both in other parts of China. Like the platypus it was small for its time. It lived in an inland sea.
While its body proportions were different from the platypus, clear parallels can be seen: a broad body, no teeth and paddle arms for swimming. Eohupehsuchus brevicollis had a very short neck like the platypus. The fossil is an excellent specimen for research being nearly complete. It has evidence of being attacked, though it did survive this and lived for some time afterwards. The animal was a survivor of the mass extinction of the Permian era 252 million years ago.
✴ Evolution by Ty Buchanan ✴
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