The Biology, Agriculture, and Paleontology thread

We are not Homo erectus sapiens because Homo sapiens is the type species and thus has priority. Also, the Asian erectus has its own life story apart from the sapiens lineage, and ended up giving rise to insular dwarfism.

And, if you want to get technical, we fall within Australopithecus too.

Linnean ranks are bullshit.

And that opinion about subspecies is cute. Even species lacks an effective definition (it has several, and not a single one of them work). We have to realice that nature doesn't have to abide to our manmade cathegories we use as tools to understand it. All there is are populations, changing in size over time, diverging if separated.

edited 13th Aug '15 5:08:42 AM by Eriorguez

Yeah-nope: interbreeding, pygmies, no clearly separate southern lineage, more diverse body shapes within a confirmed, single species of genus Homo than you can shake a stick at...

Bottlenecks may create trimmed-down, refined phenotypes, but they don't remove you from who you came from.

You know damned well I'm not the only one with misgivings about the classifications within the field of anthropology. We've been around as a group for over thirty years. Give over.

edited 13th Aug '15 5:17:16 AM by Euodiachloris

We are too young as a clade to be speciose; we COULD be diverse in Africa, and we were, but Paranthropus died out.

Heck, take a look at grey wolves and brown bears, they did almost the same in the Plio-Pleistocene as we did, and every now and then what was believed to be a separate species ends up falling within either of them.

Bah: "robust australopiths", and you know it! I'm not so quick to divorce myself to the one set of cousins who started to diversify a bit (those molars and that enamel: damn! Also, sweet gut and endocrine juggling... shame it didn't work long-term, but — certainly showcases what our genes can do given the triggers to work with! ). Sure, climate change knocked that strategy out the park, but when you look at the differences between the robust and gracile lines, they're not that great. Well within epigenetic factors working on identical gene blocks for different knock-on, phenotype expression.

The problem with fossils (and part-fossils) is always going to be the Dog Problem. -_- Added to researcher ego.

edited 13th Aug '15 5:50:52 AM by Euodiachloris

I didn't say natural selection outright stopped. But we are less beholden to it then most species, especially today.

Anecdotal; we have barely known antibiotics for a century, and we are already struggling with plenty of bacteria and are stuck in an arms race we cannot win. Our population has skyrocketed in no time, and we think we have conquered the planet.

Oh no, it doesn't matter in the long term. After all, the game is not about avoiding death, it is about managing to live longer, but we cannot avoid death.

Speak for yourselves, unevolved monkeys. I belong to the glorious Homo Aszurus Randum Latinum phylum...order...subspecies. Thing.

Did you know that culture exerts evolutionary pressure? Just ask dogs, cats, other apes, some birds... us.

We haven't stopped, mate. Even though we try for more consistency in our environment, there are too many factors to control. And, we're a factor in the feedback loop. Ask yourself this: with all our bottlenecks and capacity for some radical variation of our body plan still hidden in our genetic code (we can still throw prehensile tails, loads o' fur and odd tooth configurations, for crying out loud)... why is it we default to "generalist" as our speciality? (Our surviving cousins are a lot more specalised when it comes to their niches and body plans to fit them.)

I posit culture as a part of it.

edited 13th Aug '15 10:20:11 AM by Euodiachloris

Prehistoric carnivore dubbed 'scarface' discovered in Zambia: "Scientists have identified a new species of pre-mammal in what is now Zambia. Thanks to a unique groove on the animal's upper jaw, it was dubbed Ichibengops, which combines the local Bemba word for scar, and the common Greek suffix for face. Put simply: Scarface."

'Brainy' mice raise hope of better treatments for cognitive disorders: "Researchers have created unusually intelligent mice by altering a single gene and as a result the mice were also less likely to feel anxiety or recall fear."

Apes may be closer to speaking than many scientists think: "Koko the gorilla is best known for a lifelong study to teach her a silent form of communication, American Sign Language. But some of the simple sounds she has learned may change the perception that humans are the only primates with the capacity for speech."

Paleobotanist identifies what could be the mythical 'first flower': "Paleobotanists in Europe have identified a 125 million- to 130 million-year-old freshwater plant as one of earliest flowering plants on Earth."

Mosquito-repelling chemicals identified in traditional sweetgrass: "Native North Americans have long adorned themselves and their homes with fragrant sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), a native plant used in traditional medicine, to repel biting insects, and mosquitoes in particular. Now, researchers report that they have identified the compounds in sweetgrass that keep these bugs at bay."

Discovery of a salamander in amber sheds light on evolution of Caribbean islands: "A salamander found preserved in amber from the Dominican Republic is the first-ever fossil of its kind, and also shows that salamanders once lived in the Caribbean region, where they now are all extinct."

Fossil study: Dogs evolved with climate change: "A cooling, drying climate over the last 40 million years turned North America from a warm and wooded place into the drier, open plains we know today. A new study shows how dogs evolved in response to those changes, demonstrating that predators are sensitive to climate change because it alters the hunting opportunities in their habitat."

Key genetic event underlying fin-to-limb evolution: "A study of catsharks reveals how alterations in the expression and function of certain genes in limb buds underlie the evolution of fish fins to limbs. The findings give new insight into how fish evolved to live on land in the form of early tetrapods."

Massacres, torture and mutilation: Extreme violence in neolithic conflicts: "Violent conflicts in Neolithic Europe were held more brutally than has been known so far. This emerges from a recent anthropological analysis of the roughly 7000-year-old mass grave of Schöneck-Kilianstädten. The findings show that victims were murdered and deliberately mutilated."

Earliest baboon found at Malapa: "A team of international researchers has discovered a fossil monkey specimen representing the earliest baboon ever found. Dating back more than two million years ago, the partial skull was found in South Africa's Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, the same site where the partial skeletons of the new early hominin species, Australopithecus sediba, were discovered in 2010."

Basically they think this baboon might be the earliest known example of Papio hamadryas, the Hamadryas baboon.

Honey bees rapidly evolve to overcome new disease: "An international research team has some good news for the struggling honeybee, and the millions of people who depend on them to pollinate crops and other plants. These valuable pollinators have faced widespread colony losses over the past decade, largely due to the spread of a predatory mite called Varroa destructor. But the bees might not be in as dire a state as it seems, according to research."

The Tree of Life may be more like a bush: "New species evolve whenever a lineage splits off into several. Because of this, the kinship between species is often described in terms of a 'tree of life,' where every branch constitutes a species. Now, researchers have found that evolution is more complex than this model would have it, and that the tree is actually more akin to a bush."

Building computers from DNA?: "New research could one day help build computers from DNA. Scientists have found a way to 'switch' the structure of DNA using copper salts and EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) — an agent commonly found in shampoo and other household products. The applications for this discovery include nanotechnology — where DNA is used to make tiny machines, and in DNA-based computing — where computers are built from DNA rather than silicon."

Female fish genitalia evolve in response to predators, interbreeding: "Female fish in the Bahamas have developed ways of showing males that 'No means no.' The study shows that females have evolved differently shaped genitalia to deter unwanted advances from males of different populations. This "lock and key" theory suggests that females can better choose advances from wanted males by shaping their genitalia to promote copulation with desired males of their own population or species."

Study: Hummingbirds' tongues act like micro pumps: "Until now, researchers thought a hummingbird's tongue retrieved nectar by 'wicking' — a capillary action whereby liquid flows through a narrow tube without the assistance or influence of gravity.

But a team of scientists at the University of Connecticut have overturned the wicking theory. After studying 18 different hummingbird species feeding in the wild, using special high-speed cameras, researchers concluded hummingbird tongues act as tiny pumps.

The tongue is flattened by the bird's beak, and can be seen in slow-mo replay to be collapsing prior to reaching the nectar. As the tip hits the nectar, the tube erects and inflates as it fills. When the hummingbird pinches and squeezes the liquid from its tongue, it once again collapses the tubes, loading elastic energy and facilitating a pumping action that draws more nectar.

The entire pumping action happens within the span of a tenth of a second."

Ants take drugs: Ants choose to ingest hydrogen peroxide after being infected with fungus: "We humans have been using self-medication to cure the illnesses since the dawn of our species. There is some evidence that also other animals can exhibit this type of behavior, but the evidence has been hard to come by."

Bacterial infection makes farmers out of amoebae: "A bacterial infection turns non-farming social amoebae into farmers, evolutionary biologists report."

Genomes uncover life's early history: "A University of Manchester scientist is part of a team which has carried out one of the biggest ever analyses of genomes on life of all forms.

This has allowed them to map the evolutionary history of eukaryotic genes in unprecedented detail - giving insight into the mechanisms of evolution in the very earliest forms of life."

Scientists figure out how to make supermarket tomatoes taste like actual tomatoes: "Let’s face it. The contemporary tomato as we know it is facing a crisis. We don’t know when it started for sure, but at some point the tomatoes stocked in most supermarkets and grocery stores became, well, terrible. Watery. Bland. Flavourless. A shadow of their former tomato selves. How did this happen?

According to Jinhe Bai, a researcher with the US Department of Agriculture, the culprit is modern food transportation techniques. 'Ideally, tomatoes should be picked ripe and then sold immediately, as they are at farm stands,' he explains in a press release. Unfortunately, the commercial tomatoes stocked in most food shops get to our kitchens by very different means.

They’re picked unripe, artificially ripened by gas (ethylene), then stored at cold temperatures to maintain their freshness during shipping over large distances. The whole process leaves the resulting produce tasting unripe and thin, a million miles away from homegrown or organic tomatoes.

Luckily for us, Bai and his colleagues have figured out how to make shipped tomatoes taste like they came straight out of a slow-mo burger commercial. In research presented this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, the scientists say we can avoid degrading the flavour of tomatoes by making a few small tweaks to current production techniques."

So on Androcles' Lion, the Real Life section notes that attempting the trope IRL can be potentially lethally dangerous unless you have "the kind of expert knowledge to reliably know when it will or will not work (and how to do it right)". Where should one go to widen the depth and/or breadth of their knowledge on such a topic? At least, are there any general/common trends in this regard?

edited 25th Aug '15 9:37:04 PM by MarqFJA

On a different note, Universal Poison mentions the existence of real-life species of sea slug (which, for some reason, is not named in the entry) whose venom is composed of about a hundred different toxins, making it a Truth in Television Justified Trope example. Anyone know what this sea slug species is?

Not quite sure, but there are several that incorporate toxins from their prey into their own body. A generalist coral/anemone browser could probably amass quite the collection.

edited 29th Aug '15 9:35:17 AM by carbon-mantis

Slower melting ice cream in pipeline, thanks to new ingredient: "Childhood memories of sticky hands from melting ice cream cones could soon become obsolete, thanks to a new food ingredient."

Meet pentecopterus, a giant sea scorpion; Predator from prehistoric seas: "You don't name a sea creature after an ancient Greek warship unless it's built like a predator. That's certainly true of Pentecopterus, a giant sea scorpion with the features of a penteconter, one of the first Greek galley ships. Researchers say Pentecopterus lived 467 million years ago and could grow to nearly six feet. It is the oldest described eurypterid — a group of aquatic arthropods that are ancestors of modern spiders and ticks."

Explaining crocodiles in Wyoming: "Fifty million years ago, the Cowboy State was crawling with crocodiles. Fossil records show that crocs lounged in the shade of palm trees from southwestern Wyoming to southern Canada during the Cretaceous and Eocene. Exactly how the middle of the North American continent — far from the warming effects of the ocean — stayed so temperate even in winter months has long eluded scientists."

Evidence that Earth's first mass extinction was caused by critters not catastrophe: "The Earth's first mass extinction event 540 million years ago was caused not by a meteorite impact or volcanic super-eruption but by the rise of early animals that dramatically changed the prehistoric environment."

The human body has gone through four main stages of evolution, fossils reveal: "Scientists have analysed the largest collection of human fossils on the planet, dating back 430,000 years, and have found that the human body went through four main stages of evolution before settling on the shape and size we see around us today.

The fossils were from the Sima de los Huesos site in northern Spain, and the humans located there are often referred to as Atapuerca humans. The researchers found that these ancient humans shared many anatomical features with the late Neanderthals, but not modern humans, and therefore represent the third stage of human body evolution."

edited 3rd Sep '15 12:46:37 AM by rmctagg09

Scientists discover key clues in turtle evolution: "A research team led by NYIT scientist Gaberiel Bever has determined that a 260-million year-old fossil species found in South Africa's Karoo Basin provides a long awaited glimpse into the murky origins of turtles.

Bever, describes the extinct reptile, named Eunotosaurus africanus, as the earliest known branch of the turtle tree of life."

Before nature selects, gene networks steer a course for evolution: "Natural selection is a race to reproduce, a competition between individuals with varying traits that helps direct evolution. How do the structures of gene networks determine which individuals appear on the starting line, silently influencing evolution before competition has even begun? Researchers have addressed this question by exploring the gene network that guides limb development in mammals."

The million year old monkey: New evidence confirms the antiquity of fossil primate: "An international team of scientists have dated a species of fossil monkey found across the Caribbean to just over one million years old. The lead researcher of this study said that the dating of the limestone surrounding the fossils, said the question of the age of primate fossils from this region has puzzled scientists since the days of Darwin and Wallace."

Male seahorse and human pregnancies remarkably alike: "Their pregnancies are carried by the males but, when it comes to breeding, seahorses have more in common with humans than previously thought, new research from the University of Sydney reveals.

Seahorses are famed for being part of the only family in the animal kingdom (Syngnathidae) in which the male is responsible for pregnancy. What hasn't been known until now is the degree to which male seahorses nourish and protect their embryos in their brood pouch during the 24-day gestation period.

Findings co-authored by Dr Camilla Whittington from the University's School of Biological Sciences, published today in Molecular Biology and Evolution, show male seahorses play as much a part in nurturing embryos during pregnancy as female mammals. Previously their role, other than as pouch provider, was largely a mystery."

Genetic mutants alter entire biological communities: "One gene mutation in a single species can trigger dramatic changes in whole biological communities, new research shows. These changes can be as great as those caused by the extinction of a top predator."

Ancient ancestor of humans with tiny brain discovered: "Scientists have discovered a new species of hominin, a small creature with a tiny brain that opens the door to a new way of thinking about our ancient ancestors."

Greetings, Homo naledi.

Mental math helps monk parakeets find their place in pecking order: "A study of aggression in monk parakeets suggests that where they standing, the pecking order is a function of the bird's carefully calibrated perceptions of the rank of their fellow-feathered friends."

Scientists home in on origin of human, chimpanzee facial differences: "The face of a chimpanzee is decidedly different from that of a human, despite the fact that the apes are our nearest relative in the primate tree. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have begun to pinpoint how those structural differences could arise in two species with nearly identical genetic backgrounds.

The key lies in how genes involved in facial development and human facial diversity are regulated — how much, when and where the genes are expressed— rather than dissimilarities among the genes themselves. In particular, the researchers found that chimps and humans express different levels of proteins known to control facial development, including some involved in jaw and nose length and skin pigmentation."

Why a Hawk Is a Hummingbird’s Best Friend: "You know what they say about location and real estate. Hummingbird nests often appear in clusters, but for years researchers couldn’t figure out what attracted the birds to certain areas. Turned out the answer was, 'good neighbors.'

Biologist Harold Greeney was doing fieldwork in Arizona in 2007 when he and his team realized that breeding hummingbirds often clustered around hawk nests. By 2009, Greeney and company were able to report that the hummers nesting close to hawks were actually more successful at raising chicks. Now, in a study published last week in Science Advances, they are unveiling research into exactly why that seems to be the case."

edited 10th Sep '15 10:53:04 PM by rmctagg09

Changing behavior through synaptic engineering: "For the first time, researchers have shown that it's possible to reverse the behavior of an animal by flipping a switch in neuronal communication. The research provides a new approach for studying the neural circuits that govern behavior and has important implications for how scientists think about neural connectomes."

Bats may use bidirectional echolocation to detect prey, orient themselves: "The barbastelle bat may emit two different types of weak echolocation signals alternately, one upward through the nose and one downward through the mouth, to find prey while undetected and to sufficiently keep track of the environment, respectively."

Elephants born when mothers are stressed age faster, produce fewer offspring: "Elephants born into stressful situations have fewer offspring and age faster, researchers have found. The scientists investigating how the process of aging affects animals made the discovery after being given access to a unique record of the lives and deaths of more than 10,000 elephants from Myanmar spanning three generations and almost a century."

Sponge cells build skeletons with pole-and-beam structure: "Sponges build their skeletons in a completely different way than other animals do, researchers have found. In fact, the building process looks a lot like the construction of human-made buildings, minus the architectural plans."

Pre-reptile may be earliest known to walk upright on all fours: "Wandering an arid region of the ancient supercontinent of Pangea about 260-million years ago, the pre-reptile Bunostegos akokanensis is the oldest known creature to have walked upright on all fours, according to a newly published study."

Bee stings, research that makes you go 'huh?' win Ig Nobels (Update): " Cornell University graduate student who allowed honeybees to sting him in 25 places and a group of scientists who concluded it's possible for one man to father 888 children are among the winners of this year's Ig Nobels, which honor humorous scientific achievement.

Michael Smith estimates he was stung about 200 times during his 2012 honeybee study. His conclusion: The three most painful places to get stung are the nostril, the upper lip and the male sex organ."

Pigeon Portraits Reveal the City Bird’s True Beauty: "To many New Yorkers, pigeons are just a step above rats—pervasive and germy. Not to photographer Andrew Garn. 'The problem is that there are just too many pigeons,' says Garn. 'If they were rare, people would see them differently. I see them as jewels.' He’s dedicated the last eight years of his life to capturing the true essence and personality of these everyday birds in a series of up-close portraits—six of which are currently on display in Brooklyn Bridge Park."