Amphibian

It’s hard to find fossil skin, but a rare discovery reveals clues about the evolution from water to land

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Martedì, Maggio 28, 2024

Fossilized skin and other soft tissues are exceedingly rare, and it is only under special conditions that these rarest of fossils are preserved.

Key Points: 
  • Fossilized skin and other soft tissues are exceedingly rare, and it is only under special conditions that these rarest of fossils are preserved.
  • Most skin is preserved as impressions in the rock, but under rare conditions and incalculable odds, a 3D fossil of the actual skin can form.

Fossilized skin

  • The fossilized skin is so well preserved that its internal structures can be identified and is the oldest such fossil currently known.
  • These early amniotes saw many evolutionary innovations that allowed them to adapt to the challenges of a fully terrestrial lifestyle, including several modifications to the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin.

Skin for living on land

  • One of the biggest hurdles to living on land is water retention.
  • The first tetrapods to lead largely terrestrial lives were amphibians whose skin was prone to drying out.
  • As such, they remained bound to an aquatic environment and lived a semi-aquatic lifestyle for at least part of their lives.
  • It was not until the evolution of reptiles, with their skin especially suited for water retention, that these pioneers were able to adopt fully terrestrial lifestyles.

A perfect cave system

  • These exceptional fossils were discovered in a cave system near Richards Spur, Oklahoma.
  • This cave system consists of expansive karst networks, which often appear as vertical fissures carved into surrounding limestone by water.
  • Cave conditions are known to promote preservation of animal remains through desiccation, permeation by mineral rich ground water and burial by fine sediments.

E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Names New Half-Earth Chair

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Martedì, Aprile 23, 2024

Wilson Biodiversity Foundation has named Dr. Alessandro Catenazzi as its new Half-Earth Chair.

Key Points: 
  • Wilson Biodiversity Foundation has named Dr. Alessandro Catenazzi as its new Half-Earth Chair.
  • Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Brooks Bonner remarked, “I hope the next Half-Earth Chair will build on the incredible foundation established by the inaugural Chair, Dr. Piotr Naskrecki.
  • Wilson Biodiversity Foundation; along with Dr. Paula Ehrlich, president and CEO of the Foundation; and Dr. Walter Jetz, scientific chair of the Foundation.
  • Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, a title that honors the Dangermond family’s continued support of the Foundation and its programs.

Exposed: the dark reality of profit-driven wildlife farms

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Giovedì, Marzo 14, 2024

NEW YORK, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Published today, World Animal Protection's new report entitled Bred for Profit: The Truth about Global Wildlife Farming reveals for the first time the vast scale of this exploitative industry. Extensive research uncovered that billions of wild animals are bred each year and suffer on wildlife farms for uses such as "pets," entertainment, tourism, hunting, fashion, luxury goods, and traditional medicine. There is an astonishing lack of transparency and inadequate monitoring across this global multi-billion-dollar industry.

Key Points: 
  • Extensive research uncovered that billions of wild animals are bred each year and suffer on wildlife farms for uses such as "pets," entertainment, tourism, hunting, fashion, luxury goods, and traditional medicine.
  • Animals held on wildlife farms suffer from malnourishment, disease, stress-induced behaviors, injuries, infected wounds—and even cannibalism.
  • Shockingly, some captive wildlife populations are now larger than those living free.
  • World Animal Protection is urging governments worldwide to take immediate action by implementing a comprehensive and timely phase out of commercial wildlife farms and associated trade.

Cessna Grand Caravan EX Amphibian extends reach in Southeast Asia with delivery in Malaysia

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Domenica, Febbraio 18, 2024

Textron Aviation today announced the delivery of a new Cessna Grand Caravan EX Amphibian turboprop to Malaysian property developer, Ikhasas Sdn Bhd, via its subsidiary company Oriental Sky Sdn Bhd.

Key Points: 
  • Textron Aviation today announced the delivery of a new Cessna Grand Caravan EX Amphibian turboprop to Malaysian property developer, Ikhasas Sdn Bhd, via its subsidiary company Oriental Sky Sdn Bhd.
  • This will be the country’s first amphibious airplane operation in recent history after it gained necessary approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to launch domestic operations in 2024.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240216837400/en/
    Oriental Sky’s Grand Caravan EX Amphibian (Photo: Business Wire)
    The Cessna Grand Caravan EX Amphibian is designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company.
  • At the same time, we preserve the islands’ pristine environment and natural forests which would otherwise be felled for airport construction.”
    “We are honored for Grand Caravan EX Amphibian to be selected.

MiDOG Animal Diagnostics Revolutionizes Veterinary Care with Expanded Diagnostic Solutions for All Animal Species

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Lunedì, Febbraio 19, 2024

TUSTIN, Calif., Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MiDOG Animal Diagnostics LLC, a prominent leader in microbiome-based veterinary diagnostic solutions employing Next Generation DNA Sequencing analysis, has unveiled a revamped branding strategy in 2024.

Key Points: 
  • TUSTIN, Calif., Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MiDOG Animal Diagnostics LLC, a prominent leader in microbiome-based veterinary diagnostic solutions employing Next Generation DNA Sequencing analysis, has unveiled a revamped branding strategy in 2024.
  • The updated branding emphasizes the adaptability of MiDOG's technology across all animal species, departing from its previous emphasis on canine diagnostics.
  • By extending its diagnostic capabilities to encompass a diverse range of animal species, MiDOG aims to equip veterinarians with the tools needed to address acute, chronic, and non-responsive infections effectively.
  • The innovation at MiDOG Animal Diagnostics LLC is its microbiome-based comprehensive test, covering bacterial, fungal, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) analysis.

SCS Technologies Plants 10,000 Trees Through One Tree Planted Reforestation Partnership

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Lunedì, Febbraio 12, 2024

SCS Technologies (SCS), a leading provider of CO2 measurement and pipeline leak detection systems, methane vapor recovery units and petroleum LACT units, today announced the donation of 10,000 trees through a partnership with One Tree Planted.

Key Points: 
  • SCS Technologies (SCS), a leading provider of CO2 measurement and pipeline leak detection systems, methane vapor recovery units and petroleum LACT units, today announced the donation of 10,000 trees through a partnership with One Tree Planted.
  • As part of a commitment to plant one million trees by 2030, SCS donates 100 trees for every unit SCS produces.
  • With One Tree Planted and our customers, we are making strides toward achieving essential global environmental goals.”
    SCS supports the One Tree Planted mission to plant trees worldwide to create an impact for nature, people, and wildlife.
  • Izabal, Guatemala - Throughout 250 rural communities, One Tree Planted promotes regenerative agroforestry using fruit trees interspersed with legume trees planted on the contour.

A 380-million-year old predatory fish from Central Australia is finally named after decades of digging

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Martedì, Febbraio 6, 2024

More than 380 million years ago, a sleek, air-breathing predatory fish patrolled the rivers of central Australia.

Key Points: 
  • More than 380 million years ago, a sleek, air-breathing predatory fish patrolled the rivers of central Australia.
  • Known from at least 17 fossil specimens, Harajicadectes is the first reasonably complete bony fish found from Devonian rocks in central Australia.

Meet the biter

  • This group had strongly built paired fins and usually only a single pair of external nostrils.
  • Tetrapodomorph fish from the Devonian period (359–419 million years ago) have long been of great interest to science.
  • They include the forerunners of modern tetrapods – animals with backbones and limbs such as amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

A long road to discovery

  • Packed within red sandstone blocks on a remote hilltop were hundreds of fossil fishes.
  • The vast majority of them were small Bothriolepis – a type of widespread prehistoric fish known as a placoderm, covered in box-like armour.
  • These included a lungfish known as Harajicadipterus youngi, named in honour of Gavin Young and his years of work on material from Harajica.
  • There were early attempts at figuring out the species, but this proved troublesome.
  • Then, our Flinders University expedition to the site in 2016 yielded the first almost complete fossil of this animal.

A strange apex predator

  • Likely the top predator of those ancient rivers, its big mouth was lined with closely-packed sharp teeth alongside larger, widely spaced triangular fangs.
  • It seems to have combined anatomical traits from different tetrapodomorph lineages via convergent evolution (when different creatures evolve similar features independently).
  • Similar giant spiracles also appear in Gogonasus, a marine tetrapodomorph from the famous Late Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia.
  • They are also seen in the unrelated Pickeringius, an early ray-finned fish that was also at Gogo.

The earliest air-breathers?


Other Devonian animals that sported such spiracles were the famous elpistostegalians – freshwater tetrapodomorphs from the Northern Hemisphere such as Elpistostege and Tiktaalik. These animals were extremely close to the ancestry of limbed vertebrates. So, enlarged spiracles seem to have arisen independently in at least four separate lineages of Devonian fishes.

  • The only living fishes with similar structures are bichirs, African ray-finned fishes that live in shallow floodplains and estuaries.
  • It was recently confirmed they draw surface air through their spiracles to aid survival in oxygen-poor waters.


Brian Choo receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is employed by Flinders University. Alice Clement receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is employed by Flinders University. John Long receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

The Bird with Largest Brain Size is not the Ostrich and the Animal with Smallest Brain-Body Mass Ratio Among Vertebrates is not Bony-Eared Assfish, According to New Research from Size Graf

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Mercoledì, Gennaio 31, 2024

CLAYMONT, Del., Jan. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- There are some uncertainties about what animal has the largest or smallest brain size (and brain-body weight ratio) across several vertebrate classes. To gain better insights, Size Graf has performed comprehensive research to find out for sure the animal with biggest and tiniest brain in each of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Key Points: 
  • New research conducted by Size Graf sheds light on the animals with largest and smallest brain size across the various vertebrate classes.
  • The results indicate that the ostrich does not have the largest brain size among birds, and bony-eared assfish does not have the smallest brain-body mass ratio across vertebrates.
  • CLAYMONT, Del., Jan. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- There are some uncertainties about what animal has the largest or smallest brain size (and brain-body weight ratio) across several vertebrate classes.
  • To read the full details of the research and learn more about the animals with largest and smallest brain size, check the following link:

We are losing tetrapod species at a faster rate than we are rediscovering them

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Mercoledì, Gennaio 17, 2024

Our research, published today in the journal Global Change Biology, attempts to pin down why certain tetrapod species are rediscovered but others not.

Key Points: 
  • Our research, published today in the journal Global Change Biology, attempts to pin down why certain tetrapod species are rediscovered but others not.
  • It also reveals that the number of lost tetrapod species is increasing decade-on-decade.
  • This means that despite many searches, we are losing tetrapod species at a faster rate than we are rediscovering them.

Rediscoveries lead to conservation action

  • Thus, rediscoveries are important: they provide evidence of the continued existence of highly threatened species, prompting funding for conservation action.
  • The results or our study may help to prioritise searches for lost species.
  • In the image below, we mapped their global distribution, identifying regions with many lost and few rediscovered species.

What factors influence rediscovery?

  • Are there specific factors that influence rediscovery?
  • We then proposed three broad hypotheses about factors that might influence rediscovery: characteristics of (i) tetrapod species, and (ii) the environment influence rediscovery, and (iii) human activities influence rediscovery.
  • For example, body mass (a species characteristic) may positively influence rediscovery, as larger lost species should be easier to find.
  • Based on these hypotheses, we collected data on a series of variables associated with each lost and rediscovered species (for example, their body mass), which we then analysed for their influence on rediscovery.

Hard to find + neglected = rediscovered

  • In fact, since the completion of our study, De Winton’s Golden Mole (Cryptochloris wintoni) has been rediscovered in South Africa.
  • Our results also suggest some species are neglected by conservation scientists, particularly those that are not considered to be charismatic, such as reptiles, small species and rodents.
  • Voeltzkow’s chameleon (Furcifer voeltzkowi), a small reptile species, was rediscovered in Madagascar in 2018.

Lost or extinct?

  • For example, remaining lost mammal species are, on average, three times larger than rediscovered mammal species.
  • Furthermore, one third of remaining lost mammal species are endemic to islands, where tetrapod species are particularly vulnerable to extinction.
  • Perhaps the limited resources available for biodiversity conservation would be better used to search for lost species likely to still exist.


Thomas Evans received funding from The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

A raunchy new 'Big History' tells the story of sex, but raises some unanswered questions

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Martedì, Gennaio 2, 2024

The book is one of the latest additions to the popular “Big History” genre.

Key Points: 
  • The book is one of the latest additions to the popular “Big History” genre.
  • Baker is a science writer with a PhD in Big History and one of the writers behind the Big History Crash Course on YouTube.
  • Sex: Two Billion Years of Procreation and Recreation – David Christian (Black Inc.) The book is divided into three sections.
  • This development was followed by the rapid appearance of diverse animal species, from fish and amphibians to reptiles, insects, dinosaurs, birds and mammals.
  • The final section, Cultural Afterglow, which extends from 315,000 years ago to the present, traces the history of Homo sapiens from hunter-gatherers, to the first agrarian societies, and on to the present day.
  • Read more:
    Sex and the single gene: new research shows a genetic ‘master switch’ determines sex in most animals

Evolution

  • But to weave his “grand narrative of sex” he also anthropomorphises reproduction of even the earliest living organisms.
  • His argument is that asexual reproduction at this time of catastrophic climatic conditions was causing overpopulation and that sexual reproduction would slow population growth.
  • A few pages later, he writes “furthermore, sex bequeathed upon those hardy, horny eukaryotes the potential for rapid evolution into increasingly complex species”.
  • The long bow being drawn between “sexual” behaviour involving the first exchange of DNA by single-celled organisms and the first modern humans is long indeed.
  • He notes differences in anatomy and genital size, and considers variations in practices such as masturbation and sexual partnering, including polygamy, monogamy, promiscuity, homosexual and bisexual behaviour.
  • He delves into the issues of pleasure, romantic love and parenting, and related forms of social organisation, such as patriarchy and matriarchy.
  • It is, however, the evolution of human culture that radically changes everything.

The future of sex

  • Informing some of Baker’s thinking are statistics about the number of Millennials “projected to never get married in their lifetimes” and the decline in rates of casual sex.
  • It would involve more hook-ups and the growing replacement of human-to-human sex with sex dolls and bots.
  • In a “possible future”, he considers how internet technology might lead to virtual, AI-driven partnered sex.
  • Finally, in a “preposterous future”, he suggests that sex could cease to be important to living organisms at all.
  • While Baker’s deliberations are interesting and worth pondering, it is difficult to accept his claim that “the liberalisation of attitudes towards sex has released human sexuality from the grip of culture”.
  • The “grip of culture” is still ever-present in the policing of female sexual behaviour, which continues to the present day the world over.
  • While there is an impressive list of references at the end of the book, Baker admits that many of the beliefs he shares about the evolution of sex are not certain.
  • If Baker’s book helps this endeavour by getting us to think about human sexuality more deeply, then it will prove worthwhile.


Melissa Kang has received research funding from government grant schemes (including the NHMRC and ARC). She is the co-author of books and book chapters about adolescent sexuality and adolescent health.