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http://loc.scicurious.org/test/-12146128

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Giraffe Hangs Oversized Head in Shame, Just Barely Reaches the Ground

When it comes to long necks, even giraffes fail to measure up to the sauropod dinosaurs. This prehistoric species attained neck lengths of 15 meters, trouncing the world record giraffe by a factor of six. Of course, it’s not a conscious competition; giraffes today aren’t rolling out their yoga mats (see: upward facing giraffe) in attempts to break the sauropod’s record. But—in certain contexts—evolution has favored longer-necked individuals. They can graze from the tallest trees. They may even attract more mates (see: neck size matters).

Michael Taylor and Mathew Wedel highlight a series of adaptations—each present in the sauropod—which together promote long necks. First on the list? Have a huge body.

Being a quadruped—four-legged animal—also helps by providing a stable stance. In comparison, for the bipedal T. Rex to grow a long neck would have required growth of an equally long tail to keep the famed dinosaur from toppling over.

What the sauropod had which the giraffe lacks is a small, lightweight head, an increased number of elongated, air-filled neck vertebrae, and an air-sac respiration system. Without this last feature—in which air pockets along the neck aid in respiration—neck length becomes constrained. Giraffes rely only on their lungs to breath. A large percent of the volume inflating their lungs is recycled air trapped in their trachea. You can’t get much oxygen from continuously breathing your own neck air.

We shouldn’t feel too bad for the giraffe though. The long neck trend just doesn’t seem to be evolutionarily “in” anymore. And sure, sauropods were probably among the first to see the approaching asteroid, but it’s likely their small, lightweight heads were also among the first to feel the impact.

http://scicurious.org/giraffe-hangs-oversized-head-in-shame-just-barely-reaches-the-ground-2/-10136118

#neck size matters #sauropod dinosaurs

On SciCurious.Org

Giraffe Hangs Oversized Head in Shame, Just Barely Reaches the Ground

When it comes to long necks, even giraffes fail to measure up to the sauropod dinosaurs. This prehistoric species attained neck lengths of 15 meters, trouncing the world record giraffe by a factor of six. Of course, it’s not a conscious competition; giraffes today aren’t rolling out their yoga mats (see: upward facing giraffe) in attempts to break the sauropod’s record. But—in certain contexts—evolution has favored longer-necked individuals. They can graze from the tallest trees. They may even attract more mates (see: neck size matters).

Michael Taylor and Mathew Wedel highlight a series of adaptations—each present in the sauropod—which together promote long necks. First on the list? Have a huge body. Interestingly, the large body is both necessary to support a long neck and may be a driving force behind its evolution; larger bodies require more food and longer necks bring it within reach.

Being a quadruped—four-legged animal—also helps by providing a stable, supportive stance. In comparison, for the bipedal T. Rex to grow a long neck would have required growth of an equally long tail to keep the famed dinosaur from toppling over.

What the sauropod had which the giraffe lacks is a small, lightweight head, an increased number of elongated, air-filled neck vertebrae, and an air-sac respiration system. Without this last feature—in which air pockets along the neck aid in respiration—neck length becomes constrained. Giraffes rely only on their lungs to breath. A large percent of the volume inflating their lungs is recycled air trapped in their trachea. You can’t get much oxygen from continuously breathing your own neck air.

We shouldn’t feel too bad for the giraffe though. The long neck trend just doesn’t seem to be evolutionarily “in” anymore—the advantages minimal, the list of requirements long. Sure, sauropods were probably among the first to see the approaching asteroid, but it’s likely their small, lightweight heads were also among the first to feel the impact.

http://scicurious.org/giraffe-hangs-oversized-head-in-shame-just-barely-reaches-the-ground/-10136112

On SciCurious.Org

“Sleeping Beauty” in Bacteria A Key to Biofuel Production

Much of biotechnology research is going toward the development of biofuels. Most of which is focused on the production of ethanol, or the type of alcohol we all know and love. But as a fuel there are some issues with ethanol, making it somewhat incompatible with our current fuel infrastructure. Fortunately, a very similar molecule called propanol has much more desirable qualities, and scientists from the University of Waterloo have been able to produce it from an organism. In particular E. coli, which doesn’t just cause spinach recalls but is actually the main test subject in microbiology. By adding some genes from other microbes, and manipulating genes it already had, they were able to get it synthesizing propanol. A main contributing factor was enhancing a group of genes that isn’t often expressed inside the bacteria, called the sleeping beauty mutase operon. (An operon is just a group of genes that are right next to each other inside a bacterial genome and are expressed together) Other work is necessary to make the production of propanol significant for industrial use, but it’s all around good news. Until now it’s only been possible to create propanol through purely chemical processes that aren’t exactly environmentally friendly. And the chemical is used in applications other than fuel. So this bacterial breakthrough may make environmentally friendly propanol an ideal fuel source going into the future.

http://scicurious.org/sleeping-beauty-in-bacteria-a-key-to-biofuel-production/-10106108

#fuel infrastructure #production of ethanol #propanol

On SciCurious.Org

Sea Star Meltdown

Sea Star Meltdown A shocking trend has emerged in the world’s premiere ecosystem for sea star biodiversity. The coastline of British Columbia has seen extensive “melting” in its sea star populations, particularly among sunflower sea stars (P. helianthoides.) Divers report that the coastline is thick with these decomposing creatures, and that other sediment dependent organisms are becoming subject to the carnage, as well.

The sea stars deteriorate quickly, leaving only gooey, unsettling ooze.

Arms cling to the rocks that once supported many, colorful sea stars; the water near shore is murky with the organs and limbs of this ubiquitous northwest native. Something ominous is happening in the deep sediments near shore, and it is reportedly destroying marine life from British Columbia to California.

First documented in September, Facebook and other social media conduits have summoned attention in the scientific community for this peculiar and disturbing trend. The variety of acute, physical weathering evidenced in sea stars has never been observed, and divers have collectively documented the butchery near shore in eerie detail.

The Kuroshio Current is among the strongest warm water currents in the world, moving eastward from Japan towards the western coast of North America at the speed of a running adult. When considering this current’s capacity to transport radioactive materials eastward from the uncontained Fukushima nuclear overflow, there is speculation to whether the meltdown of sea stars is connective with such a disruptive ecological event.

http://scicurious.org/sea-star-meltdown/-10096104

#Kuroshio Current #Pycnopodia helianthoides #sea star

On SciCurious.Org

One Humble Thought for Man; One Giant Leap for Bugs

For the first time in scientific history, mankind has discovered functional rotating gears in the animalian biosphere. While cog-shaped components are found elsewhere in nature, the gears of the leaf-jumping Issus nymph are unique in their functionality.

Malcolm Burrows began observing the leaf-jumping insect’s unique skeletal frame while in Germany, only to later discover the same biological mechanisms within England’s population. With his interest tickled, Burrows began looking more closely at what made this small, white insect successful. Issus is a garden variety European insect, but yields fascinating structural information concerning the evolution of biological mechanisms in nature. Although flightless, this plant-hopping species can achieve proportionally massive leaps, made possible by the pragmatic, flawless motion of its gear design. Issus’ gears enable it to make necessary leaps within its leafy habitat, and gives it the ability to move quickly when threatened. The gears are structured to rotate directionally, and are asymmetrically shaped to interlock the teeth of the gears. Through synchronized movement and release, Issus gears dramatically boost the insect forward.

Researchers have teamed with artists to film and document this unique biological process, and now have high-definition photography to support their hypotheses. Because of the gears’ consistent, effective motion, humans stand learn about complex mechanisms from an insect.

Considering the relatively massive scale of jumps possible through such design, primitive humans had long theorized that the Issus was simply “really ball-sy” and “did lots of squats” to jump through the leafy canopy.

http://scicurious.org/one-humble-thought-for-man-one-giant-leap-for-bugs/-10096102

#biological mechanisms #insect #issus #leaf bug

On SciCurious.Org

Cave Spider defies tropical environment, remains pasty

The remote caves of Central Java have yielded information about a new variant of Wandering Spider (Araneae, Ctenidae,) tentatively categorized as Amauropelma matakecil. Researchers have documented mature female cave spiders and their young, but have yet to locate any males capable of reproduction. This may relate to the female spiders’ complete lack of a tan.

The closest biological relatives of this lonely, translucent cave spider live in Queensland, Australia, and occupy a significantly different ecosystem. These more ubiquitous varieties of wandering spider have darker coloration, larger eyes, and healthier social connectivity to friends and family.

The cave spider leads a notably alternative lifestyle from its Amauropelma counterparts, exclusively inhabiting the dark recesses of limestone caves (classifying the spider as a troglobite.)

The cave spider’s small eyes, cheliceral teeth, and epigynum further differentiate it from its relatives, and have made it an easy target for bullies throughout history.

It is relevant to question how the distribution of Amauropelma came to exist in its current form, and to acknowledge the data that island ecosystems offer our understanding of the natural world. The connection of biological heritage over space and time is powerful data for science, as well as broader cultural understanding of our own species.

Furthermore, the cave spider is good evidence that spending the entirety of your life in a cave encourages poor personal appearance and loneliness.

http://scicurious.org/cave-spider-defies-tropical-environment-remains-pasty/-10026095

#Amauropelma #cave spiders #Wandering Spider

On SciCurious.Org

Thresher Sharks backhand their dinner before eating

Who knew? Thresher sharks really do hunt with their tails and not their teeth. They don’t just hunt at dawn and dusk, they hunt by day and night, opportunistically, whenever they come across their schooling sardine prey. The thresher sharks’ overall length can 12 feet or roughly 3 1/2 meters – about the size of a grizzly bear stretching up a tree. Their tails are as long as their torsos and swing from the “hip” about at their middle. They’re clever devils with tails and teeth.

Hunting events comprised preparation, strike, wind-down recovery and prey item collection phases, which occurred sequentially. Preparation takes longer than the others phases. They scare those salty sardines into a dense bait ball in preparation for a runway dash, back handing with their scythe shaped tail fin. Have you ever felt a good bitch slap? Just like a medieval catapult, their tails slap faster than the frames of standard video, through the bait ball, leaving their stunned prey behind for a return pass chowing down along the way.

Turns out killer whales and dolphins slap their prey with their tails too. Crazier yet, humpback and sperm whales communicate over long distances with aerial tail slaps. Who knew a tail could be so handy.

http://scicurious.org/thresher-sharks-backhand-their-dinner-before-eating/-10026093

#sardines #tails #thresher sharks

On SciCurious.Org

Paragraph test

This is paragraph one

This is paragraph two

This is paragraph three

http://scicurious.org/paragraph-test/-09146079

#paragraph

On SciCurious.Org

Molecular phylogeny, divergence times and biogeography of spiders of the subfamily Euophryinae

We investigate phylogenetic relationships of the jumping spider subfamily Euophryinae, diverse in species and genera in both the Old World and New World. DNA sequence data of four gene regions (nuclear: 28S, Actin 5C; mitochondrial: 16S-ND1, COI) were collected from 263 jumping spider species. The molecular phylogeny obtained by Bayesian, likelihood and parsimony methods strongly supports the monophyly of a Euophryinae re-delimited to include 85 genera. Diolenius and its relatives are shown to be euophryines. Euophryines from different continental regions generally form separate clades on the phylogeny, with few cases of mixture. Known fossils of jumping spiders were used to calibrate a divergence time analysis, which suggests most divergences of euophryines were after the Eocene. Given the divergence times, several intercontinental dispersal events are required to explain the distribution of euophryines. Early transitions of continental distribution between the Old and New World may have been facilitated by the Antarctic land bridge, which euophryines may have been uniquely able to exploit because of their apparent cold tolerance. Two hot-spots of diversity of euophryines are discovered: New Guinea and the Caribbean Islands. Implications of the molecular phylogeny on the taxonomy of euophryines, and on the evolution of unusual genitalic forms and myrmecophagy, are also briefly discussed.

http://scicurious.org/molecular-phylogeny-divergence-times-and-biogeography-of-spiders-of-the-subfamily-euophryinae/-09136077

#biogeography #caribbean islands #divergence times #dna sequence data #molecular phylogeny

On SciCurious.Org

this is a test

this is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a test

this is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a testthis is a test

http://scicurious.org/this-is-a-test/-09096070

#testthis

On SciCurious.Org

test paragraph structure

The evidence is now clear; thresher sharks really do hunt with their tails and not their teeth. They don't just hunt at dawn and dusk, they hunt by day and night, opportunistically, whenever they come across their schooling sardine prey. The threshers' overall length can 12 feet or roughly 3 1/2 meters - about the size of a grizzly bear stretching up a tree. Their tails are as long as their torsos and swing from the "hip" about at their middle. They're clever devils. Hunting events comprised preparation, strike, wind-down recovery and prey item collection phases, which occurred sequentially. Preparation takes longer than the others phases. They scare those salty sardines into a dense bait ball in preparation for a runway dash, slap slap slappin' that scythe shaped elongate tail fin like a medieval catapult, faster than the frames of standard video, through the bait ball, leaving their stunned prey behind for a return pass chowing down along the way. Turns out killer whales and dolphins slap their prey too, who knew!

http://scicurious.org/test-paragraph-structure/-09086064

#dawn and dusk #killer whales #prey #tail fin #wind down