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

Chewing Evolution

An article in Science Daily described the research ongoing at Brown University concerning the evolution of the tongue in different organisms. Every organism has their own way of getting the nutrition they need in order to survive. Specifically, fish, mammals, and amphibians were used in their research. They all used their tongue for the process of digestion, but in different ways.

Research at Brown University found that fish use their tongue in order to thrust food backwards further into their system. On the other hand, mammals use their tongue for better placement of food in the mouth to chew.

The researchers were curious as to where the split in evolution took place between the two types of tongue movements. Amphibians seemed to be the answer because of their tongue characteristics which Brown University plans to further research.

US removes gray wolf from endangered list

The US has removed gray wolves off of the endangered list. The US government is removing 1,300 wolves off of the endangered list in the Rocky mountain regions. They are also looking to remove wolves off of the endangered list in the western Great Lakes region because they believe they have recovered to a healthy population.

Hunting of these animals will resume in Idaho, Montanta, parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington. They will still be protected in Wyoming as the state still needs a management plan on their population of the wolves.

This has been a legal battle since 2008 since the Fish and Wildlife service took steps to remove the wolves off of the endangered list. An annex was added to the disputed budget bill last month, removing the wolves from federal protection. This makes it the first time Congress has been involved in the removing of an animal from the endangered species list.

I can't say that I like this article, but its sort of sad. We worked so hard to re grow the almost non existent population of the gray wolf and now we want to go back to hunting it. I obviously understand we have to in order to keep the population under control. They are extremely beautiful creatures though.

article:http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-gray-wolf-endangered.html

Body makes its own morphine

A study was done using mice, showing that they possess the ability to create the necessary chemical reactions within their bodies to create morphine. Scientist believe that all mammals possess this same ability, including humans. Many questions still remain about the process, as the ground is just breaking with these initial tests. Scientists hope to pinpoint that exact location within the body where the morphine is being produced. They also hope, with further research, to discover the "unknown" reason why the body makes it in the first place.

- ScienceNew.com - "Body makes its own morphine"