The Call of the Sea: Mammalian Evolutionary transitions back to the sea

According to a new study by Maria Chikina and Nathan Clark evidence has shown that during main evolutionary events land animals made their way back into the sea. One of these marine animals is the modern day mannatee. The call for these creatures to go back to the sea stemmed from certain genes that had evolved charactistics that preferred a marine environment. The evolved genes had led to new functions for skin and connective tissue formation as well as a diminished sense of taste and smell. The study also found the specific genes responsible for such function. A gene coding for a lung surface protein evolved to increase lung capacity and diving depths.  These land creatures that went back to the sea evolved and adapted to their environment efficiently and quickly.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160622164320.htm
http://www.manatee-world.com/manatee-evolution/

Lungfish evidence to "evolution"

This article was about the African Lungfish. This creature with thin arms and an eel like body would seem to be an example of the evolutionary track. This creature uses its arms to do walking like movements. The recent study done at the University of Chicago revealed that the African lungfish can use its thin pelvic limbs to not only lift its body off the bottom surface but also propel itself forward. Both abilities were previously thought to originate in early tetrapods, the limbed original land-dwellers. Lungfish also demonstrated both "bounding" motions, where both limbs moved at once, and "walking," marked by alternating limbs. Coupled with the ability of the lungfish to fully rotate the limb and place each subsequent footfall in front of the joint, the motion suggests that similar creatures would have been capable of producing some of the fossil tracks credited to tetrapods. This article was found at:http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/12/12/a.small.step.lungfish.a.big.step.evolution.walking

The Brown Argus Butterfly

This article talks about species having to adapt and change habitats due to climate change. This piece focuses on the Brown Argus butterfly in the UK. Although they are trying to adapt it becomes very hard because the farther north they go the less preferred habitat they find. The Brown Argus has been able to adapt and successfully has been able to expand north in the UK.  Using genetic techniques to detect evolutionary change, the researchers were able to show that the colonization of new sites further north by the Brown Argus has involved significant adaptation during or following colonization. This is one of the first studies to identify genetic evidence for evolutionary change associated with range shifts driven by recent climate change.

Acquired Traits Can Be Inherited Via small RNA's

I found this article to be extremely interesting because of the research saying that there was evidence that an acquired trait could actually be inherited without any involvement of DNA. A theory was developed a while back by Jean Baptiste LarMarck. It was suggested in this theory that species wouldn't evolve until they have adapted to their environments and transmit and give these newly acquired traits to their offspring. An example that supports LarMarck's theory is during the famine mothers who were starving and gave birth during that time had children who were more susceptible to obesity and other metabolic disorders. It's really interesting to see how exactly it all works and how species can adapt the way they do and the acquired traits they do have they can pass down is amazing. To learn more about RNA click here.

Some Fish can handle the heat

I found this article and it discusses how tropical fish have a better tolerance for the high and rising temperatures in the sea. They were said to evolve over several generations and appear to have a better capacity to deal with the heat than other fish. This is crucial for the survival of these fish due to the rising temperatures from global warming and can inevitably prevent them from becoming extinct and dying off. They tested this theory by exposing damsel fish to temperatures that were 1.5 to 3.0 degrees higher than normal there was a decline in their aerobic capacity. When compared to the fish that were bred for several generations there was almost a complete environmental adjustment with the offspring in the higher temperatured water . This happens because when the one generation goes through their life cycle in warm temperatured water the next generation that comes up is better able to cope with the temperature. So its pretty amazing to see the adaptations these fish can make from generation to generation. My guess is that if the water temperature got colder these fish could make these same adaptations as they did with the warmer water as well.

Lazy for a Reason

An article on MSNBC.com explains the reason why sloths are the way they are. Sloths move through trees in a similar fashion to monkeys. The only difference is the slothful way sloths move about. Researchers at the University of Jena studied two-toed sloths using X-ray video. They studied how the muscles and joints moved while the sloths traveled. They found that the sloths moved basically like other mammals, like monkeys do. The way they position their legs and the movement of their joints are exactly the same as how a mammal moves, except upside down.

John Nyakatura, an evolutionary biologist at the university, revealed that the sloths have reason to be lazy. Through evolution, sloths ended up with long arms and short shoulder blades, enabling them to have a large reach with minimal movement. This provides them the luxury of conserving energy while moving the same way as other mammals.

This article was interesting because it shows the different adaptations an animal will make in order to better their survival. Martin Fischer, a professor at the University of Jena simply put, "Sloths lead their lives in energy-saving mode." We could definitely learn a thing or two from these sloths. Maybe we can find a way to use our laziness as an advantage!

PHOTO: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/007/cache/two-toed-sloth_744_600x450.jpg

Box Jellyfish Have Eyes, Allowing it to See the World Above

According to an article published on April 28, 2011 in Current Biology, box jellyfish may be more complex than what meets the eye. Though it is well known that the jellyfish is a much simpler organism in comparison to a human, box jellyfish have no fewer than 24 eyes of four different kinds. Four of these eyes, called the upper lens eyes, always peer up out of the water, regardless of how the rest of the organism is oriented. Since box jellies live in mangrove swamps, it was hypothesized that the upper lens eyes help navigate the jellyfish around their environment. Anders Garm of the University of Copenhagen said, "It is a surprise that a jellyfish - an animal normally considered to be lacking both brain and advanced behavior - is able to perform visually guided navigation, which is not a trivial behavioral task. This shows that the behavioral abilities of simple animals, like jellyfish, may be underestimated." Scientists have known that box jellies have a unique array of eyes, which help the animal respond to light, avoid obstacles, and control their rate of swimming. When studied, the researchers noticed that the jellyfish used their upper lens eyes to navigate their way by means of looking at the canopy of mangrove trees. When the canopy was obscured from their vision, the box jellies could no longer get around and did not move. Garm says, "Instead of having a single pair of general-purpose eyes like most other animals, box jellyfish have several different types of eyes used for special purposes. This means that each individual eye type is dedicated to support only a limited number of behaviors. The eyes can then be built to collect precisely the information needed, minimizing the need for further processing in a big brain. The automatic orientation of the upper lens eyes to constantly look through the water surface is a clear example of this."

I thought this article was really interesting because I, like I'm sure most people do, assumed that jellyfish were stupid creatures that cannot do anything complex because of their simplicity. Also, I thought it was REALLY cool that they have so many different types of eyes, each with its own special purpose. It makes sense why each type of eye has only a certain number of functions, though, as Garm said. It cuts down on the jellyfish's necessity to process that information through the brain. So that explains why jellyfish have such a small brain and can still perform complex behavioral tasks, like navigating through a mangrove swamp. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to navigate myself through a mangrove swamp, and I'm much more complex than a jellyfish! Props to the box jellies. =]