All posts; Tags Include "Anatomy"
- September 15, 2016
- 09:10 AM
- 36 views
Paralympic athletes and the rise of the cyborgs
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Para and super? The Olympics are over. They’ve brought us some good stories, some nice records, and (self-citation alert!) a humble blog post about the ethics of doping. But the Paralympics, their less mediatized cousin, are in full swing. Paralympians from all over the world gather to wow us with their athletic prowess in the Paralympic […]... Read more »
Swartz, L., & Watermeyer, B. (2008) Cyborg anxiety: Oscar Pistorius and the boundaries of what it means to be human. Disability , 23(2), 187-190. DOI: 10.1080/09687590701841232
Howe, P. (2011) Cyborg and Supercrip: The Paralympics Technology and the (Dis)empowerment of Disabled Athletes. Sociology, 45(5), 868-882. DOI: 10.1177/0038038511413421
Smith, L. (2014) The Blade Runner: The Discourses Surrounding Oscar Pistorius in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Communication , 3(4), 390-410. DOI: 10.1177/2167479513519979
Reardon S. (2016) Welcome to the Cyborg Olympics. Nature, 536(7614), 20-2. PMID: 27488784
- September 2, 2016
- 10:28 AM
- 133 views
Red Kangaroo
by Jason Organ in Eatlemania!
The Eatles are chomping on the remains of a red kangaroo. Come learn about some of the anatomical specializations in this fascinating animal.... Read more »
McCarthy, M. (1996) Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) Dynamics: Effects of Rainfall, Density Dependence, Harvesting and Environmental Stochasticity. The Journal of Applied Ecology, 33(1), 45. DOI: 10.2307/2405014
Sharman, G., Frith, H., & Calaby, J. (1964) Growth of the pouch young, tooth eruption and age determination in the Red Kangaroo, Megaleia rufa. CSIRO Wildlife Research, 9(1), 20. DOI: 10.1071/CWR9640020
Sonnabend, D., & Young, A. (2009) Comparative anatomy of the rotator cuff. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, 91-B(12), 1632-1637. DOI: 10.1302/0301-620X.91B12.22370
- August 18, 2016
- 08:00 AM
- 237 views
Sorry, I Don't Drink
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Koalas don’t drink a lot of water, but the spinifex hopping mouse and kangaroo rat put him to shame. They never drink. What water they need they get from the seeds they eat and from the fact that they conserve water amazingly well – including the water that they produce during metabolism. Adult mayflies don’t drink either – they don’t have working mouthparts! Of course, some only live a few minutes as adults, so it may not be that big a deal.... Read more »
Banta MR. (2003) Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) voluntarily select temperatures that conserve energy rather than water. Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZ, 76(4), 522-32. PMID: 13130431
King RF, Cooke C, Carroll S, & O'Hara J. (2008) Estimating changes in hydration status from changes in body mass: considerations regarding metabolic water and glycogen storage. Journal of sports sciences, 26(12), 1361-3. PMID: 18828029
- August 11, 2016
- 08:41 AM
- 296 views
Who made the Piltdown man? Inside one of science’s most (in)famous hoaxes
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
There was always that nagging feeling of not being accepted, of whispers behind his back. They pretended to be open-minded, but in reality not belonging to the group of professionals was reason enough to dismiss his work and findings. In their eyes, he was just a solicitor. A hobbyist. He was tolerated, but their derision […]... Read more »
De Groote, I., Flink, L., Abbas, R., Bello, S., Burgia, L., Buck, L., Dean, C., Freyne, A., Higham, T., Jones, C.... (2016) New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created ‘Piltdown man’. Royal Society Open Science, 3(8), 160328. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160328
- August 10, 2016
- 08:55 AM
- 251 views
Gimme Some Dihydrogen Monoxide
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
One cannot over estimate the ways that water affects life on Earth. Beyond its chemical properties, some animals have evolved to substitute water for a rigid skeleton. Hydrostatic skeletons can be used for support, but also as water vascular systems that provide pressure for vascular transport and respiration. A recent review by William H. Kier sheds light on the interactions of different fibers and tissues in water based skeletons. Yet some plants can withstand a loss of 60% of their water, whe........ Read more »
Kier, W. (2012) The diversity of hydrostatic skeletons. Journal of Experimental Biology, 215(8), 1247-1257. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.056549
- July 24, 2016
- 04:45 AM
- 361 views
Week 29 In Review: Open-Access Science | 18 to 25 July
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
Cave art, wild fires, new dinosaur with teeny T-rex arms, thirsty trees and a new method to create hydrogen from grass. Here are five of the latest scientific studies published open-access this week.... Read more »
Cooper, J., Samson, A., Nieves, M., Lace, M., Caamaño-Dones, J., Cartwright, C., Kambesis, P., & Frese, L. (2016) ‘The Mona Chronicle’: the archaeology of early religious encounter in the New World. Antiquity, 90(352), 1054-1071. DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2016.103
Apesteguía, S., Smith, N., Juárez Valieri, R., & Makovicky, P. (2016) An Unusual New Theropod with a Didactyl Manus from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. PLOS ONE, 11(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157793
Young-Robertson, J., Bolton, W., Bhatt, U., Cristóbal, J., & Thoman, R. (2016) Deciduous trees are a large and overlooked sink for snowmelt water in the boreal forest. Scientific Reports, 29504. DOI: 10.1038/srep29504
Nagra, G., Treble, P., Andersen, M., Fairchild, I., Coleborn, K., & Baker, A. (2016) A post-wildfire response in cave dripwater chemistry. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(7), 2745-2758. DOI: 10.5194/hess-20-2745-2016
Caravaca, A., Jones, W., Hardacre, C., & Bowker, M. (2016) H production by the photocatalytic reforming of cellulose and raw biomass using Ni, Pd, Pt and Au on titania . Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Science, 472(2191), 20160054. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2016.0054
- July 20, 2016
- 06:50 AM
- 393 views
Take Off Your Coat And Stay Awhile
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The naked mole rat is quite naked, but a lack of hair does help it move around in its environment. Other mammals that are supposedly hairless aren’t really, even dolphins have a few hairs. Of course, some humans and other mammals can have autoimmune disease mutations that make them completely hairless. For the naked mole rat it was a strange adaptation with strange results – it has become the only cold-blooded (ectothermic) mammal!... Read more »
Kutsukake, N., Inada, M., Sakamoto, S., & Okanoya, K. (2012) A Distinct Role of the Queen in Coordinated Workload and Soil Distribution in Eusocial Naked Mole-Rats. PLoS ONE, 7(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044584
- July 13, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 349 views
The Perils of Plant Monogamy
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The philodendron that raises its temperature to attract a certain beetle is an exception. Most plants invite many different pollinators, but a few have only a single pollinator species. This leads to some interesting adaptations and some even funkier smells.... Read more »
Chupp AD, Battaglia LL, Schauber EM, & Sipes SD. (2015) Orchid-pollinator interactions and potential vulnerability to biological invasion. AoB PLANTS. PMID: 26286221
Whitehead MR, & Peakall R. (2014) Pollinator specificity drives strong prepollination reproductive isolation in sympatric sexually deceptive orchids. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 68(6), 1561-75. PMID: 24527666
- July 7, 2016
- 09:09 AM
- 444 views
Are animals (and AI’s) people too?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Charles gets up and balances on his short legs. During the brief ungainly walk to the dais, he fights the urge to scratch his arms. The vest that has been tailor-made for him itches. But it will help focus the committee on his purpose, focus on him as a person. He squats on the low […]... Read more »
Perring C. (1997) Degrees of personhood. The Journal of medicine and philosophy, 22(2), 173-97. PMID: 9186928
Windrem MS, Schanz SJ, Morrow C, Munir J, Chandler-Militello D, Wang S, & Goldman SA. (2014) A competitive advantage by neonatally engrafted human glial progenitors yields mice whose brains are chimeric for human glia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 34(48), 16153-61. PMID: 25429155
- June 29, 2016
- 06:20 AM
- 350 views
Birdsong Babel: Different birds use different grammar rules
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Zizou listens carefully. She ignores her confines and tries to focus on the intruder’s song. There’s something odd about it. Something she can’t quite put her feather on. It’s familiar, yet… not familiar. The intruder is strong. He or she keeps signing incessantly. There’s no sight of him or her, though. She has to make a […]... Read more »
Olkowicz S, Kocourek M, Lučan RK, Porteš M, Fitch WT, Herculano-Houzel S, & Němec P. (2016) Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain. PNAS, 113(26), 7255-60. PMID: 27298365
Spierings, M., & ten Cate, C. (2016) Budgerigars and zebra finches differ in how they generalize in an artificial grammar learning experiment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(27). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1600483113
- June 20, 2016
- 12:26 AM
- 292 views
The fabulous taxonomic adventure of the genus Geoplana
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Freshwater planarians are relatively well-known as those cute arrow-shaped cockeyed animals. Land planarians are far away from having all the fame of their aquatic cousins and most people do not even know that they exist. Maybe … Continue reading →... Read more »
Carbayo, F., Álvarez-Presas, M., Olivares, C., Marques, F., Froehlich, E., & Riutort, M. (2013) Molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae (Platyhelminthes) challenges current classification: proposal of taxonomic actions. Zoologica Scripta, 42(5), 508-528. DOI: 10.1111/zsc.12019
- May 26, 2016
- 11:54 AM
- 430 views
Male dragonflies are not as violent as thought
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Males and females are defined by their gametes. Males have tiny, usually mobile gametes, while females have very large gametes that usually do not move. This means that females produce less gametes, but put a lot … Continue reading →... Read more »
Chapman, T., Arnqvist, G., Bangham, J., & Rowe, L. (2003) Sexual conflict. Trends in Ecology , 18(1), 41-47. DOI: 10.1016/S0169-5347(02)00004-6
Córdoba-Aguilar, A., Vrech, D., Rivas, M., Nava-Bolaños, A., González-Tokman, D., & González-Soriano, E. (2014) Allometry of Male Grasping Apparatus in Odonates Does Not Suggest Physical Coercion of Females. Journal of Insect Behavior, 28(1), 15-25. DOI: 10.1007/s10905-014-9477-x
- May 9, 2016
- 11:53 AM
- 408 views
African Grey Parrot
by Jason Organ in Eatlemania!
The Eatles are feasting on an African Grey Parrot. Come read about the natural history and conservation of this animal, courtesy of Animalia, Inc and the Organ Laboratory at Indiana University School of Medicine.... Read more »
Pepperberg IM. (2006) Grey parrot numerical competence: a review. Animal cognition, 9(4), 377-91. PMID: 16909236
- April 6, 2016
- 09:00 AM
- 685 views
I’ll Fly Home—Or Not
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Why do some birds migrate and others don’t? It’s not that simple. The reason isn’t genetics, it isn’t necessarily food or weather either. There are birds that can allow their feet to go to one degree above freezing while keeping the rest of the body toasty – so they don’t need to migrate, yet other birds that are close to them genetically will fly thousands of miles. Other birds species only have a few of the adults migrate – who decides which ones make ........ Read more »
Davenport LC, Goodenough KS, & Haugaasen T. (2016) Birds of Two Oceans? Trans-Andean and Divergent Migration of Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger cinerascens) from the Peruvian Amazon. PloS one, 11(1). PMID: 26760301
Ahola MP, Laaksonen T, Eeva T, & Lehikoinen E. (2007) Climate change can alter competitive relationships between resident and migratory birds. The Journal of animal ecology, 76(6), 1045-52. PMID: 17922701
Hobson KA, Anderson RC, Soto DX, & Wassenaar LI. (2012) Isotopic evidence that dragonflies (Pantala flavescens) migrating through the Maldives come from the northern Indian subcontinent. PloS one, 7(12). PMID: 23285106
- March 31, 2016
- 10:40 AM
- 569 views
Extracting goo from corpses to better understand them
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
It's goo week here at Rosin Cerate. So far we've looked at forms of natural springtime goo. For today's post, it's on to a much darker and less life-affirming goo. We're going to take a peek at the viscous fluids you can extract from a corpse to determine where/when/how it became a corpse and other useful forensic information.... Read more »
Bévalot F, Cartiser N, Bottinelli C, Fanton L, & Guitton J. (2015) Vitreous humor analysis for the detection of xenobiotics in forensic toxicology: A review. Forensic Toxicology, 34(1), 12-40. DOI: 10.1007/s11419-015-0294-5
Deking J, Hargrove VM, & Molina DK. (2014) Synovial fluid: An alternative toxicologic specimen?. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 35(2), 154-6. PMID: 24781403
- March 22, 2016
- 01:13 PM
- 371 views
White's Tree Frog
by Jason Organ in Eatlemania!
The Eatles have been busy munching away for the first time on a non-mammal vertebrate! Specifically, they are devouring the soft tissue remains of a White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) from Grant's Farm in St. Louis, MO, named Nona.White's Tree Frog. Photo from Animal Diversity Web.Also known as the Smiling Frog, and the Dumpy Frog, this animal is fascinating. It belongs to the Hylidae family of frogs, which is an interesting group because it is united by a single morhpological character shared........ Read more »
Boland MP, & Separovic F. (2006) Membrane interactions of antimicrobial peptides from Australian tree frogs. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1758(9), 1178-83. PMID: 16580625
Campbell CR, Voyles J, Cook DI, & Dinudom A. (2012) Frog skin epithelium: electrolyte transport and chytridiomycosis. The international journal of biochemistry , 44(3), 431-4. PMID: 22182598
Manzano AS, Abdala V, & Herrel A. (2008) Morphology and function of the forelimb in arboreal frogs: specializations for grasping ability?. Journal of anatomy, 213(3), 296-307. PMID: 18565111
- March 16, 2016
- 06:45 AM
- 591 views
How Fast Is Fast
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
What’s the fastest organism in the world? The cheetah s fast on land, and the white throated needle tail is fast in the air, but there are bacteria faster than these animals. It all depends on how you measure speed. The fastest? A beetle from down under – it’s confirmed by science!... Read more »
Penny E. Hudson, Sandra A. Corr and Alan M. Wilson. (2012) High speed galloping in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the racing greyhound (Canis familiaris): spatio-temporal and kinetic characteristics. J Exp Biol. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.066720
Wilson RP, Griffiths IW, Mills MG, Carbone C, Wilson JW, & Scantlebury DM. (2015) Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators. eLife. PMID: 26252515
- March 9, 2016
- 10:55 AM
- 698 views
Look Who's Talking
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Would you believe that the anatomy of your ribs is why you can sing and an ape can’t, or that one of the same reasons you can speak is the same reason you are likely to choke to death on a hotdog? Biology is weird, and you can tell it I said so.... Read more »
Kurt, S., Fisher, S., & Ehret, G. (2012) Foxp2 Mutations Impair Auditory-Motor Association Learning. PLoS ONE, 7(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033130
Li, T., Zeng, Z., Zhao, Q., Wang, T., Huang, K., Li, J., Li, Y., Liu, J., Wei, Z., Wang, Y.... (2012) FoxP2 is significantly associated associated with schizophrenia and major depression in the Chinese Han Population . World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 1-5. DOI: 10.3109/15622975.2011.615860
- March 3, 2016
- 08:32 AM
- 657 views
Identifying a shooter by their snot
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
I'm Canadian and didn't grow up on a farm or anywhere particularly rural, so it shouldn't be surprising to learn I've never fired a gun. Furthermore, guns are very far down on the list of things I'm interested in learning more about. Yet sometimes tooling around the scientific literature leads to unexpected topics, such as the forensic analysis of gunshot residue. Turns out there's a neat bit of biology involved, and thus we've got ourselves a quick blog post.... Read more »
Aliste M, & Chávez LG. (2016) Analysis of gunshot residues as trace in nasal mucus by GFAAS. Forensic Science International, 14-18. PMID: 26874050
- March 2, 2016
- 07:05 AM
- 618 views
Big Bugs, Little Bugs
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Insects used to be huge – dragonflies the size of kites – so why are they so much smaller today? Believe it or not, it has to do with the evolution of tree trunks and the fact that many of insects breathe through holes in their sides. ... Read more »
Matthew E. Clapham1 and Jered A. Karr. (2012) Environmental and biotic controls on the evolutionary history of insect body size. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204026109
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