- No new dinosaur this week, but a pretty cool new snake species. With legs.
- Ants work together with mathematical precision.
- Leave that bird on the ground alone. Unless its ugly. Then you can put it back.
- Promising results for the latest Ebola vaccine. Definitely something to keep an eye on for the next few months.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Summer Assignment 8.4
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Snakes have always been a fear of mine, but a snake with four legs just sounds absolutely terrifying. I have always been pretty fascinated by how much one creature can do with just their fierce and powerful body. To think that there may have been or still be a creature with this strength along with four legs made my jaw drop. At first I just thought that it was probably just a lizard, but most lizards do not have the power or the qualities of a snake leading me to believe it was another species, which evolved. I do not believe it is specifically a snake but it may be some form a snake that helped snakes today become how they are. How it evolved is not exactly clear but I think it was related to the snake and the lizard. I would be very interested in learning more about the Tetrapodophis but I think I would prefer studying it behind glass.
Reading the article about ants gave me a new respect for these tiny insects. I am fascinated by their ability to move objects that are so much bigger than them just by working together. I find it interesting that the forces sent through the object by the “scout” ant steering tell them which way to move the object. These determined little guys can move medium-sized things through their doorway as a team. I find that very fascinating how well they are able to navigate and lift the object thanks to the “leader and lifter” ants.
When I first saw that this article was about birds, I was a little turned off being that I am not very fond of birds. Once I started reading I was immediately interested and wanted to learn more. I found it very interesting that the cute birds should be left alone and the ugly ones should be put back. The cute ones being fledglings were ready to leave their nests while the ugly ones known as nestlings needed to stay in the nest. I also found it surprising that Mama bird does not recognize her baby birds by their smell making it okay for a human to place the baby back in its nest. My whole life I was lead to believe that touching a baby bird and returning it to it’s nest would cause Mama bird to abandon it so this was news to me. I found it reassuring at the end when it mentioned how our daily struggles are similar to those daily struggles of birds and wild animals.
I was very interested to read that there may now be a cure for Ebola. This fatal disease has caused many casualties especially last year during the 2014 epidemic. Due to the very positive and successful results in the trial with rVSV-ZEBOV, there may soon be an end to cases of Ebola popping up in places such as Guinea, Libera and Sierra Leone. It is very reassuring to know that, although this vaccine may take some time to be approved and become as effective as possible, outbreaks such as the one in 2014 may be further preventable.
From the four, interesting articles I read today, I decided to write about the fossil snake having four legs and the optimistic updates about the virus: Ebola. I found the first article very fascinating, as it gives much more evidence of evolution taking place over time. A paleobiologist named, David Martill happened to notice such an ophidian-looking organism at a museum in Germany. Having been 15 centimeters from nose to tail and packed with ribs, he also realized the fossil to have two front legs and two hind legs. I found this astonishing, as anything can be seen by anyone at any place. Martill decided to name the snake fossil, Tetrapodophis: four-legged snake. Similar to the Archaeopteryx, a theory in which dinosaurs evolved into birds with pieces of certain evidence, today’s variety of slithering serpents might have evolved from once four-legged lizards. For example, the tiny “palms” and long “fingers” of the ancient fossil provides the fact that they were used for climbing, while the “strange, spoon-shaped feet” gave assistance in catching prey or during mating. Consequently, due to this article, evolution is a much more prominent topic to look into now. Perhaps the hip bones snakes do have arrive from their earlier ancestors, such as the one found in this German museum. Its vestigial structures are apparent today, and with front and hind legs from a supposed snake fossil to back it up, these matchings help clear up the fog floating in the air. Homologous structures are quite prevalent to discuss about as well. It just shows how certain structures can relate to each other during a certain time. Maybe this Tetrapodophis, the Woolungasaurus (a marine reptile), the Tylosaurus (a kind of mosasaur and closely related to monitor lizards and snakes), and the Hesperomis (a genus of flightless birds) all shared common homologous structures during the Cretaceous period. Similarly, today, one can say that the dolphin, cat, bat, and horse share common homologous structures as well. Overall, much can be said from this awesome discovery. However, there has been a lot of debate regarding whether the fossil is actually that of a snake. For instance, a man who studies ancient snakes, Michael Caldwell, believes the specimen to be important, but also insists that it could be something else, such as a part of a species of legless lizards. Maybe it can be the slow worm of Europe? Maybe it can be a snake? Who knows? Much more insight and detail has to be put into this, but for now, it is refreshing to see current events of evolution reappear today as we speak.
The second article I found astonishing was in regards to the Ebola virus. There has been a promising vaccine created to fight Ebola in West Africa: rVSV-ZEBOV. With this discovery, the healthcare workers most at risk are in better hands, as the vaccine would be the first major step in protecting West Africa’s healthcare infrastructure. During the conclusion of the initial trial stages, the results of the Ebola virus vaccination trial suggest that the efficiency of a single injection to prevent the disease might be effective at the population level when delivered by ring vaccination (a cluster of individuals at high risk of infection, owing to their social or geographical connection to a confirmed index case). Although there have been positive results from the vaccine, there is much more to approve and deplore about. Overall, I was very impressed by this article. It just goes to show that improvements and new discoveries are being made right in front of our eyes. Such an advancement is a step in the right direction in eradicating or lessening a disease. Perhaps in the future, people from impoverished countries would have much more to look forward to. By escaping from such an illness, it would provide much more hope in the world, which I would be more than glad about.
I am glad to know that there are upgraded techniques and new vaccines coming up to help people fight Ebola. Recently West Africa came up with a vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV, which is incredibly effective against the deadly disease. rVSV-ZEBOV has been in development from a Canadian company since 2011, and was tested on 7651 between 90 clusters of the disease. After all the testes and research, researchers adopted a strategy used in other infectious disease, such as small pox: a ringed vaccination approach where individuals surrounding a cluster given the vaccine over a geographical area. This is to check if it is effective in a large population. It is very palliative to know that this vaccine is going to save many life's once it's completely approved. It would be a major step in protecting West Africa's health care infrastructure from becoming a focal point of the illness.
Ants are usually known for their team work. A large team of ants can lift heavy food items, but they lack direction. This discovery was made by analyzing videos of the ants carrying oversized food items. Ants are differentiated by their species name. Dr. Ofer Feinerman said that Pushy Scouts have the right amount of erratic individualism. About 90% of the time they will go with the flow and pull in the same direction as everybody else but the other 10% of the time they will live up to their name. This shows how mathematically they work. It's astonishing as one can't even think that their work could be so calculative.
A certain snake fossil at the Burgermeister Muller Museum in Solnhofen, Germany caught the eye of Ed Yong, an award winning British science writer. At first, it didn’t seem to be out of the ordinary but upon further inspection, the unusual fossil had four hind legs—unheard of! My initial response to this was incredulous and doubtful, but as I read into the article, I started making sense. Scientists have my no means perfected the theory of evolution, and these four legged snakes may very well have been an important part of the process. It might explain how such slithery creatures slowly became other reptilians, such as four legged lizards. This Tetrapodophis, literally called “four legged snake,” might be similar to the Archaeopteryx, “the feathered fossil whose mish-mosh of features hinted at the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds.” On the other hand, some are not sure if the creature was a snake at all; it lacks distinctive features that would be found in the bone structures of actual snakes. It is possible that this “snake” could be of an entirely irrelevant species, being as evolution. Unfortunately, the skull was crushed and not preserved well, possibly from the way in which the creature perished. Nonetheless this creature is both interesting and a dilemma of its own, to be a snake or not to be. Scientists will have to do more research, and a better preserved skull.
When David Martill from the Univerity of Portsmouth discovered a snake with four les, he was definitely shocked. This was because no snake has ever been found with four legs. The creature, which is called Tetrapodophis, hints at how the legless, slithering serpents eveolved from four-legged, striding lizards. This creature supports the theory that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards, which stretched their bodies and lost their limbs to better wheedle their way through the ground. I was very surprised when I was reading this article because I never would have imagined that the snakes that we are so familiar with today had evolved from another species. Imagine if the snakes we were accustomed to walked around on four legs; how scary would that be? However, there is a lot of debate on whether the Tetrapodophis should even be considered a snake or not. Michael Caldwell from the University of Alberta argues that the creature lacks distinctive features in its spine and skill for it to be considered a snake. Martill, on the other hand, argues that the creature has a lot of little features that make it a snake, such as backwards-pointing teeth, a single row of belly scales, the short tail, and more. I think for this debate to be settled, scientists would need to find more fossils of Tetrepodophis to compare them to snakes and decide if they should be considered in the snake species.
I would like to begin by discussing the article titled, “Should You Put a Baby Bird Back in the Nest? Depends If It’s Cute.” This article peaked my interest because my friends and I did in fact encounter a baby bird on the ground at one time, and I was pleased to learn that we did the right thing. Birds that are learning to take their first flights are referred to as fledglings. Fledglings are birds that are ready to survive on their own and do not require the care and attention of a parent. This article also mentions nestlings, which are much younger birds that still require the help and protection of a parental bird. The first thing to do when you come across a baby bird fallen on the ground is to come to a conclusion on how cute it is. While this may sound superficial, it is an important step to determine your next course of action. As stated by the writer of the article, “Fledglings have feathers, can hop, and are generally adorable and fluffy, with a tiny stub of a tail.” This means that a cute bird is a more mature one that generally should not be returned to its nest. If you encounter a cute bird, you should probably leave it alone. However, if you come across an ugly unfeathered bird, that is when you should probably return it to its nest if you can locate it.
Next I would like to elaborate on the article that discusses a rather effective new Ebola vaccine. Ebola is a virus that has been plaguing much of West Africa for the past year. There have also been several Ebola scares in other nations such as our own. Now, a group of scientists seemingly have developed a vaccine that could be a vital tool in the fight against this deadly virus. The vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV is still in the trial phases but has proven to have 100% effectiveness in its latest trial. Ebola is an epidemic that has taken many lives already as it is, and it has no known cure or prevention as of now. But with tools like these that are being developed the future looks promising for all of West Africa or anyone who is in risk of being susceptible to the virus. This could be a major breakthrough.
I read the article on the Ebola Vaccine and I thought that its a good thing that they created such a vaccine because this virus has been a major breakout since last year. It will be good for the future when this virus is used to help cure the people that are fighting for Ebola. Its promising that this vaccine will be used in the future as a treatment even though it still has a long time before it is revealed to the public and used for medical reasons. Overall, this shows that in the future, we will be able to create such things that may get rid of all our natural causes for death.
The second article I read about is about Leaders and Lifters and I find it astonishing that ants can do such a thing. I find ants looking creepy because they look like they can do anything as a group of species. Also, the article said that about 90% of them will pull the object in the same direction and the 10% will just live up to themselves. Another interesting thing is that when each ant lifts up an object, then they feel an stronger urge to help out another ant and they are much stronger in this situation.
The last article that I read out was the fossilized snake with four legs. This article was the most interesting to me because I have never seen such a creature before and I always imagined snakes with long bodies without four legs. Another thing is that most evolutions happen in the past and than change into complete different species. This was the case with monkeys and humans when we came from homo erectus and than homo habilis. Eventually, we became homo sapiens and civilized today into something else. These Tetrapodophis could have used their legs to restrain themselves in order to catch their prey. These species may not even be snakes because of their skulls and spine that make them so much different in the inside. We still aren't exactly sure if this creature is a snake since the skull of this creature was crushed and not shown well to us. The four legs of the snakes may have been an important part of the evolutions of snakes. Overall, I hope that scientist find out more details to decide if this creature at all is a snake or something else.
The articles that I would like to discuss this week are the supposed new snake species and the teamwork of some pretty smart ants. Whenever someone mentions/brings up snakes nothing good ever comes to mind. For some reason snakes just don't sit well with me and you'll never find me near one. I will have to admit when I saw there was one with four legs I almost stopped reading, but seeing how it's only a fossil from centuries ago in South America it didn't bother me as much. The evolutionary patterns of the Tetrapodophis is unknown with one theory hinting its start from the ocean making a transition to land. This seemed reasonable, but was quickly denoted when no sign of aquatic evolution could be detected such a a flattened tail for water navigation. While the other suggests it could have some lizard ancestry which made sense in regards to its four legs, however not to the actual body structure which closely resembles the snake species with an extreme number of vertebrae in the midsection. For this species to be a snake it would have to come after the earliest known snakes like Eophis, Parviraptor, and Diablophis. The question still begs to be answered is the Tetrapodophis a snake with four legs or some foreign specimen.
Scientists in Israel have discovered how ants co-operate to move big chunks of food back to their nests. I found it interesting that a large number of ants will be able to lift heavy objects, but rely on "scout" ants to guide them to their destination. Every ant does there part by having equal distribution of weight to move and it seemed very efficient in gaining a plentiful of desired food. Their strength in numbers and ability to navigate through the forces that they feel in the object and lead by scouts gets the job done for feeding the nest. I will be on the look out for ants from now on if I ever find myself out enjoying a picnic meal XD.
The article that discussed the method that ants use to move relatively large pieces of food to their nest was very intriguing to me. I have always been curious as to how such small and simple creatures are able to work together so effectively. Despite the fact that the longhorn crazy ant species usually move erratically, I was surprised to find out about how their movements become more orderly when working in a group. It was interesting to see how the ants generally all move in one direction until another “scout” ant with new information redirects the others towards the right direction. It appears that while most of the moving ants apply force and power, the scout ants are truly what steers the others. Although the system works well, there is still some disorder when ants are moving smaller pieces of food. However, because larger objects require more ants, they are more likely to conform, resulting in more organized movement.
The article that discussed whether or not someone should put a fallen bird back in its nest also interested me. I was not previously aware of the difference between “nestlings’ and fledglings”, and I was amused by how one can decipher between the two based on how appealing the appearance of the bird is. I have always assumed that young birds fall out of their nest by accident, but I never realized that fledglings do so on purpose to gain experience for flying. Moreover, I was surprised to learn that mother birds cannot detect a human’s scent on their offspring, a misconception that I previously believed. In general, I think this information could be very useful in helping prevent the public from rescuing birds that are not actually in danger.
The amount that ants have been able to carry has always been fascinating to me every since I was little, but it’s also interesting understanding how they get whatever they may be carrying back to their nest. Of course, to carry an object that is so large in comparison to the ant, more ants are needed to carry that object. However, even more ants that act as scouts are also needed to assist the ants that are carrying the object get back. It’s interesting looking at how the ants run about and how truly aimless they look but learning that it’s a little more systematic and that they have reasoning behind they’re movement. Teamwork is beyond essential when it comes to ants, as the carrier ants need the scout ants to guide them as well as the assistance of other carrier ants to carry the mass. Communication between the ants is also interesting as well as essential. It’s similar to a game of telephone, where one scout passes information about where to go by tugging on an ant in the right direction and soon the other ants carrying the object will in a sense “go with the flow” and follow that ant in carrying in that direction since they felt that ant pull in that direction. It’s interesting how ants can really work together to accomplish amazing things in the eyes of an ant and ants truly demonstrate teamwork and power in numbers.
Snakes interest many people and they also scare many people. For me it goes both ways. And this is why this article on the snake with legs was the most interesting to me. If I come up close and personal with a snake in the wild I’m not going to be a happy person, I will most likely want to run away as fast as possible. But on the other hand if I see one contained in a cage I will go up to it and look at it. This article is interesting because it shows how snakes could possible have had legs. That is a scary thought to me because you never know what they could do if they had legs because snakes can do a lot with out them. One last thing I found interesting was at the end how they compared the snakes with legs to people and monkeys. If we did come from monkeys why are they still called moneys? It puts a running thought into my head and makes me wonder if the snakes with legs are actually a real thing or maybe it may just be a lizard looking snake.
The second most interesting of the articles to me was the one about the baby birds. I always hear that you shouldn’t touch the birds because the parents won’t pay attention to them anymore and they will abandon them. One thing I didn’t know that I learned and found interesting is that The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has two names they call baby birds. They can be called either a nestling or a fledgling. The difference is that a nestling will look “ugly”, be unfeathered, won’t be able to hop or walk and when you put it back in the nest it will stay in the nest. A fledgling will have feathers, be able to hop and walk, be “cute and fluffy”, will have a small stub tail and if placed back in the best he will hop right back out so it is useless to put them back in the nest. The overall point to this article of can a baby bird be touched and still be loved is proven to say that no matter if a human touches them or not the parents will still care for them because as babies, parents do not know them by their smell.
Out of the four articles, I found the one about the possible Ebola vaccination to be the most interesting this week. The vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, has recently proven to be extremely effective. The most recent ring vaccination trial of rVSV-ZEBOV has even suggested a high chance of only a single injection working to prevent the deadly disease. I remember first learning about the Ebola virus freshman year, and being terrified of it! The idea of being able to prevent such a horrible sickness is absolutely amazing. If this vaccine proves to be successful, it will have a strongly positive impact on the African regions that are mainly afflicted with this disease. Another article that I found interesting this week was the one about what baby birds to put back in the nest, and what ones not to. I remember finding a baby bird when I was younger and being unsure what to do with it. Now I know that if a bird is a fledgling, which means is has feathers and can hop, don't return it to the nest. This is interesting because the only reason for you shouldn't put the bird back is it will probably just jump out again. The birds that have sparse feathers and can't hop are the ones you can put back. What was most surprising about this article is it turns out you can put back those baby birds because the mother doesn't recognize them by smell. This means that the mother will not abandon it! The article about the new snake called the Tetrapodophis is just as Intriguing. This snake was found to have four legs, which may lead to some important break-throughs for evolutionary scientists. When the article compared the Tetrapodophis to the Archaeopteryx, which gave evidence towards the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds, it really showed how important this new snake could really prove to be. If the Tetrapodophis is truly connected to the snake species, it would support the idea that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards and not oceanic animals.
I found the article about birds very interesting and the title of the article was what really caught my attention. It was very interesting to know that if you find a cute bird, you should leave it alone but if you find an ugly bird, than you should put it back into its nest. The cute birds are fledgling which is why they are out of their nest, it is because they are ready to leave their nest. The uglier ones on the other hand are nestling and most likely fell of their nest accidentally. I was not aware that the mother bird doesn't use smell to identify its offspring. Therefore, humans touching birds is not a problem.
The article about the four-legged snake was very interesting as well. These snakes further prove the theory of evolution from dinosaurs to birds. Some people are not certain whether the creature that has been discovered was a snake at all because it lacks certain important features of a snake. Since the skull was crushed, it is not possible to know for sure.
Ebola is a disease that has been around for a while now, and more recently has taken the spotlight because of it reaching the United States. However, the creation of a vaccine that has been going on since 2011 has shown some promise in its tests. When the vaccine named rVSV-ZEBOV was tested on 7,651 individuals in Guinea, only 16 groups of a total of 42, who received the vaccine after 21 days of initial exposure to the disease came down with symptoms. On the other hand, the other 48 groups who received the vaccine immediately after being exposed to the disease, were free of the illness. Apart from this trial, scientists and medical professionals should conduct more experiments in other parts of the world, especially Africa where the disease originated. Because of the results of the Guinea trial, it can be concluded that this particular trial run was successful in proving that an inoculation for Ebola is a strong possibility for the near future and hopefully it won't be long until it gains popularity in the United States.
Continuing with the article that interested me the most, it was intriguing to find out that the aesthetic appeal of a bird can determine whether or not one should put it back in its nest if found on the ground. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, birds that have feathers and have the physical capability of hopping are called Fledglings (the cute birds) and shouldn't be put back in their nest simply because they'll probably jump right out again. As for the "ugly" birds known as Nestlings, which tend to have no feathers and very little strength, should be put back in their nest or in a safe place where its parents can find it. Having this knowledge can prove to be useful especially now in the Summer when birds tend to fall from their nests at a higher rate.
Furthermore, another curious topic of nature involving animals is the study of how ants can manage to move food several times their weight with a certain degree of mathematical precision. Much how birds fly in a seemingly orchestrated flock, ants can work as a unit to move food back to their nests. In an experiment conducted by a physicist named Dr. Ofer Feinerman, ants were put to the test by being provided a silicon disk much larger than most objects they would regularly move, to see how far and how effectively they could work to mobilize the disk. It was found that the ants managed to move the disk about 16cm, however they could not overcome the challenge of avoiding obstacles that had been set up, proving that there may well be an imperfection in a seemingly perfect system.
Lastly, another fascinating fossil was found. The fossil of a snake with 4 legs was found by Dave Martill, who named the creature Tetrapodophis. Martill concluded that the snake killed its prey by constriction much like modern day snakes which points to the conclusion that the snakes of today evolved from the Tetrapodophis. Although a very eye-opening discovery, there needs to be more evidence from other fossils of the creature to give an accurate interpretation of the animal's description. Hopefully with the discovery of a better preserved fossil of the Tetrapodophis, we can gain more insight on the evolution of snakes and reptiles in general.
The article that immediately caught my attention this week was the one regarding the new Ebola vaccine. This deadly disease had a massive outbreak in West Africa in 2014, and still affects people today. Now, rVSV-ZEBOV, a new vaccine for the virus, has shown to be 100% effective in the clusters of the disease that were given the vaccine right away. These are extremely promising results, and a massive step forward in fighting this fatal virus, since as of right now, the “treatment” of the disease is “merely managing the disease when it presents itself and keeping people hydrated and comfortable.” This vaccine could be capable of saving thousands of lives, but it still needs to undergo extensive research and testing before being approved and deployed. It could, however, be deployed in the near future and get to work saving lives and preventing the spread of the Ebola virus.
The article about baby birds was very intriguing as well. It was rather interesting and almost funny how determining whether or not a baby bird is in need of rescue relies on its cuteness. The cute birds are fledglings, older baby birds that have already left the nest and have no intention of (or need to) return. The ugly ones are nestlings, very young, barely feathered baby birds that should be returned to the nest as soon as possible. Despite the common misconception that parent birds will refuse to return to and take care of their young once they have been handled by humans, the parents actually do not recognize their offspring by scent, so the little ugly nestling should be returned immediately upon discovery.
The article that caught my attention the most this week was the one about the baby birds. Arguing over whether or not it is okay to save a baby bird and put it back into its nest has actually gone on in my house before. Just last year we chose to save a baby bird that and put it back into its nest so it did not get ran over by a car in the street. Now I know that it depends on whether the baby is a nestling or a fledgling. Fledglings are generally cute, can hop, have feathers and a stub of a tail, and after they return to their nests it is likely they will just hop right back out so it is better to not intervene. On the other hand, nestlings are generally ugly with scattered feathers, and are not capable of hopping and walking and people should help them return to their nests. The parent birds do not recognize their young by smell, so it is okay, they will not abandon them.
The second article that I chose to write about is the one about the snakes, as I hate them but find them very intriguing at the same time. In Burgemeister Muller Museum in Solnhofen, Germany, a fossil of a snake with four legs is being exhibited. This is the first discovery of a snake that has four legs, although some with two have previously been discovered. This may hint how the snake has evolved from four legged lizards. There are two different ideas on how this transition occurred. One states that snakes evolved in the ocean and only later recolonised the land. The second hypothesis says that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards. The new snake discovered named the Tetrapodophis supports the second hypothesis as it has no adaptations for swimming but many for burrowing. The newly discovered snake hunted and I think that it is amazing that it still contains the remains of its last meal, some type of frog or lizard. Some scientists do not even believe this fossil is of a snake, as it lacks some of a snake’s distinctive features.
The article, “Should You Put a Baby Bird Back in the Nest? Depends If It’s Cute” was really an informative and useful reading. If you find a baby bird all alone, the first thing that should be done is to determine whether it is cute or not. This sounds insane, but it will help you to figure out what to do with the bird. The baby bird will either be a fledging or nestling. A fledgling will have its feathers and look all adorable and fluffy. In this case you simply need to place the baby out of harm’s way. The bird should not be put back into the nest because fledglings rarely return once they leave. A nestling won’t have many feathers and isn’t capable of doing much. The bird still needs its mother and should be placed into the nest as soon as possible. The nestling would not be abandoned, and its mother would care for its baby even if it has been touched by a human. Next time I find a struggling baby bird, I will definitely know what to do with it. I was also interested in the reading on ants. Many times I have watched ants maneuver a piece of food around and have thought that it was very chaotic. Now I know that the ants are moving that piece of food in an orderly fashion and are all working together in unison. To reach their destination, one ant will tag along and guide them in the right direction and leave shortly after. This is really fascinating and I will watch carefully next time I see ants carrying some food.
Evolution is such an interesting topic; it is incredible how scientists try to piece together fossils and other bits of the past like a puzzle in an effort to find out why our world today looks the way that it does. The article about the Tetrapodophis appealed to me because it is so intriguing how a species changes over time. The fossil of the Tetrapodophis depicts a snake-like creature with four legs. However, the modern boas and pythons of today have only a pair of little spurs underneath them. This discovery supports the theory that snakes developed from burrowing lizards rather than ocean animals, yet it still remains unclear if this creature even is a snake since it lacks distinct features in its skull and spine. This leaves one to wonder what could happen during evolution to rid a species of one of its major characteristics, for instance, its legs. The article about the ants was also quite interesting, mainly because it is about something that I would have never even considered thinking about before reading the article. I would have never thought that there is a mathematical method with which ants move food; I was shocked to find out that certain “scout” ants controlled the directions while others just conformed and moved the food. I used to just think that their movements were erratic and aimless, but the article proved that these types of movements allow for new ants to come into the group with new directions. This is just one example of how organisms work together, sometimes in odd ways, to reach their goals in the most efficient way. In addition, the article about when to put a baby bird back into its nest was eye-opening. It is just instinct to put a baby animal back to where its mother would most likely be, but now it is good to know that doing so is not always beneficial to the animal. For instance, fledgings are the cute, feathered baby birds that have left the nest for good, while the nestlings are the pretty ugly featherless baby birds that should be put back in the nest immediately. Knowing the difference between when to and when not to put an animal back into its nest is essential in possibly saving its life. In my opinion, the article about the new Ebola vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, is the most exciting one this week. This vaccine, tested with a variety of methods, was proven incredibly effective and promising. The Ebola vaccine would help not only all those who are suffering with the disease, but also all of the healthcare workers that treat those people. Though the West African Ebola Outbreak has slowed, countries such as Guinea, Sierra Leone and Libera still suffer with high numbers of Ebola outbreaks. It is essential to protect the people and health care workers now and for years to come, and this remarkable vaccine can do just that.
Ants can be pretty amazing creatures. Although seemingly aimless in their motions, ants actually move specifically to keep objects travelling in the right direction. Ants will join and leave groups transporting an object such as the Cheerio seen in the video. The ants on the outside can determine which way the object needs to move, so they join the group as a leader and change the direction. When presented with large objects, the ants all conformed and moved in a straight line, but they lacked the ability to avoid obstacles. They work best with objects around one centimeter. The chaos, as it seems from observation, is actually an organized effort for the ants to transport items.
It is always interesting to see how newly found fossils help to support different theories. There are two ideas about how snakes evolved. One states that snakes evolved in the ocean from the now extinct reptile, mosasaurs, and then moved to live on land. The other idea is that snakes evolved from lizards losing their limbs to move more easily on the ground. The four-legged snake, called Tetrapodophis, helps support the second idea because its features show adaptions for burrowing rather than for swimming. Their four limbs, however, do not show any adaptions for burrowing, so they were likely not used to move about. Instead, they probably were used to hold prey or mates. The fossil may not have even been a snake; more observations are still needed.
After not hearing about Ebola for a while, it is good to read that an effective vaccine has been produced. Though it is still in the trial stages, rVSV-ZEBOV seems promising. No individuals who were given the vaccine right away got Ebola. The trial to see if the vaccine was effective in a larger population was successful. This vaccine will help the healthcare workers in West Africa, for many came down with the disease and later died. Luckily, rVSV-ZEBOV can be distributed quickly and in one dose. Once it is approved, it can end the crisis as more cases appear in places such as Guinea, Libera, and Sierra Leone.
Although this week's fossil is not a dinosaur, I still find the snake fossil to be incredibly intriguing. Finding the first snake fossil with legs is a very interesting find. Before this, no one knew of the snake was a lizard that over time lost its legs or a fish that climbed up on land. This new discovery of the Tetrapodophisis is now pointing to the side of snakes having ancestors that were burrowing lizards and through the course of evolution these lizards lost their legs and became the snakes we know and fear today. I find it actually very interesting yet also terrifying imagining a snake that can run on four legs. Although it would most likely have less to offer in the stealth category, I would imagine it being somewhat faster than the snakes of today. It is possible that the Tetrapodophis lived with other creatures faster than it, so it had to evolve to compesate for that and lose its legs to gain stealth. More discoveries like this may answer that and also firm up the hypothesis of the snakes ancestors and evolutionary process.
I also found the ant article to be very interesting solely due to how interesting ants are. Ants are extremely fascinating creatures for several reasons. I also was amazed at how something so small and delicate can lift up to fifty times its own weight and that certain ants can withstand pressures up to five thousand times its own body weight. However, the most fascinating thing I find about ants is their ability to cooperate so well. The way that ants set up their underground communities with every ant having a specific job that they can complete is just incredible. This article is just an example of how ants utilize their task to cooperate and achieve incredible things they could not do alone. The way they lift enormous objects compared to themselves and have ways to guide each other to bring it to where they need to go is incredible.
The almost everyday discoveries of prehistoric life always shock me. A snake with legs? I never thought it was possible. Imagine today's world with the tetrapodophis – we'd have an even bigger reason to fear snakes. I don't agree with calling the fossil a snake, however; the snake is characterized by its lack of limbs, so a “snake” with limbs should be a different species entirely. One cannot deny, however, that the tetrapodophis has many similar characteristics as of a snake, including the ability to extensively open its jaw in order to swallow its prey. I hope that archeologists continually discover animals reminiscent of the ones today, so that we can see how we have evolved over the years and also perhaps give more insight into prehistoric life.
“Ebola” - a deadly disease originating from West Africa that became an epidemic all over the world, only for it to lose seriousness a few months later and become the source of many jokes on social media and everyday conversation. It is important to realize that, even today, the disease is still deadly and is still affecting the lives of many Western Africans. To hear that a viable vaccine is in the works despite the lack of media coverage and overall loss of seriousness towards the disease is commendable, and I hope the people of West Africa receive the proper treatment that they need. Although the cure is still in the works, the results are promising. Almost all West Africans should be safe from the disease with the vaccination, as it was stated to be effective in both areas with small population and areas with a larger population. An important variable of giving the vaccination seems to be time, as the cluster that was given the vaccination at a later date had a few of the individuals contract the disease. Aside from that, this seems like a very promising vaccination and, with this development, Ebola will be ridden soon.
Each article this week brought something to the table, especially the one discussing the Ebola vaccine that is so far effective in trial runs. However, I wish to discuss an article whose topic seems a bit more mundane at first glance. My article of choice is the one about the ants and their methods of steering each other when carrying objects. I choose this one because everyone has seen an ant at some point in their lives. No one thinks much of them, if I am being completely honest. They are renowned pests in most people's eyes. A hotly contested fossil, the possibility of a cure for Ebola, or even fledglings hopping out of their nest seem like better options. Ants are just so common and unlined. However, just because they are so pedestrian, that doesn't mean that they can't be fascinating. The article detailing how just a few ants can lead an entire group to the nest is fascinating. When carrying objects, most of the ants do the heavy lifting. A few scouts will lead them by simply grabbing onto the objects and pullug it in the direction of the nest. The other ants follow the direction that the item is being pulled in. That is how ants get food to the nest, and it is so beautiful in its simplicity. Watching ants skitter around usually just disgusts me. It is so random in my eyes. Now, looking at them, I can see that pattern developing. It is amazing how knowing their pattern changes how I see them. I by no means like ants, but I can appreciate the way they work. Who knows what other patterns might pop up if we just keep an eye on them.
This week the first article that drew my attention is "Should You Put a Baby Bird Back in the Nest? Depends If It’s Cute". Through social media I've always seen pictures of people rescuing baby birds that ended up on their porch or backyard. And with these adorable baby bird pictures, comes a lot of controversy about whether or not it is safe to try and return a bird to its nest. If a bird does not have feathers, it is called a nestling, and if one can find its nest, they should try and return it back if possible. Parent birds will be able to care for the baby bird well. However, if a bird has feathers and can hop, it is called a fledgling and it is better to leave it alone. The reason for this is because they are likely to leave the nest again even if they are put back in.
I also found the article "'Leaders and lifters' help ants move massive meals" quite interesting. Sometimes I see ants carrying food back to their homes and I always wondered how they would communicate. When moving bigger chunks of food, ants tend to work in groups. Most of the time, about 90% of the time, the ants tend to go with the flow. During the other 10% of the time, they are pushy and will steer the group in the right direction. The leader and lifter ant helps navigate the group of ants well. It's so fascinating how something so trivial to us humans can be so mathematically precise.
The article I found the most interesting this week is the article on ants. Ants are astonishing; they are able to carry far more then their body weight. I have always wondered how ants were able to do it and this article explains how. After researchers analyzed videos of ants carrying items of food, they learned that “scouts” direct the large group of ants. Large groups of ants can do the heavy lifting, but they can’t direct themselves, which is why scout ants are necessary. A group of ants are tuned to follow the leader. It’s in an ant’s nature to “go with the flow”. Most ants would go in the same direction as all of the other ants. Ants’ unpredictable streak leaves a small gap, which allows one single ant with new information to join in and change the direction of where the group is going. The new leader doesn’t have to prove anything to the group, it just has to pull one member of the group in a different direction and the others will follow. To test conformism and non-conformism in ants, a doctor put ants through different situations. When an object is big and needs more ants to lift it, the ants conform and work together to move the object. The only problem is, that it is harder for the ants to navigate this way. Dr.Feinerman explained that the system ants use to move objects works for whatever they can squeeze into the entrance of their nest. For ants to move big objects, communication is the key as well as the scout.
The article, "'Leaders and lifters' help ants move massive meals", caught my attention because I enjoy learning about how different animals communicate with each other. This article provided great insight into how ants work together in order to get food. Essentially, there is the 'muscle', the group of ants that carry the food, and the 'scouts, who provide directions for the group. The article also mentions that most of the time, ants will conform and follow the direction of the majority. However, since they have individualism, some go their own direction. When faced with a heavier object, more ants work together, and increase their load. What I found to be fascinating is how the ants working together mirrors human society. I wonder if all groups of animals, or even any living organism experiences the same or similar societal patterns. I think this article really opened my eyes to how intricate the study of life is, and how we may be able to learn more about different animals, how they interact, and how they compare to humans.
The article about the Fossil Snake With Four Legs caught my eye. I've always had a fascination with snakes. They are such powerful and cunning creatures. It describes a snake as a phenomenal creature that is known to "open its mouth to extreme widths". Martill, a pale biologist, found a fossil of a snake with four legs in a museum in Germany. This fossil was found in South America, these snake fossils were never located in this region before. The time and place were very unusual. He noticed it was "15 centimeters from nose to tail" and even had four hind legs. This was quite astonishing to me. David Martill decided to name the creature Tetrapodophis: four-legged snake. It's similar to an Archaeopteryx, which is a theory in which dinosaurs transitioned by evolution to birds. This acknowledges his theory in which the "legless, slithering serpents evolved from four-legged, lizards". These two theories hint to new ideas about the transitiIon. Martill believe that the limbs on this snake may have given it an advantage when restraining struggling prey or even mates. There are many contradictions to Martill's theory. Michael Caldwell, who studies ancient snakes at the university of alberta, does not believe it is a snake. His reasoning is that "Tetrapodophis lacks distinctive features in its spine and skull that would seal he case". Martill argues that this creature had many snake like features, like its backwards pointing teeth, single roll of belly scales, short tail, etc. I understand Caldwell'shis reasoning; I feel this fossil was an ancient lizard who eventually evolved to the lizards we see today. I feel that this controversy should be discussed and settled with the scientists. They need to find more fossils live the Tetrapodophis in order to truly classify it as a snake or another reptile.
Finding out about the new snake species was fascinating as a creature with already immense power with added limbs would be a step forward in the snake's evolutionary process. I find it interesting to see evolution in the making right in front of our eyes in the present. Based on the the fossils and illustrations in the article, the legs seem to be vestigial or useless but could lead to convergent evolution with lizards. Also, seeing how ants coordinate to move objects many times heavier and larger than they are. It makes us reconsider how we perceived the insect's intelligence. They use strategic formations to lift and move these objects and they all play different roles and either communicate to know these roles or it could be instinct. However the article that truly caught my attention was that regarding the new possible cure for the Ebola virus. The tests show that it could make a difference in helping large populations.
Of the four articles the "'Leaders and lifters' help ants move massive meals" article interested me most. I recently saw Ant Man in theaters, and the way the directors depicted ants working together really intrigued me. Of course Ant Man used a sci-fi gadget that utilized electromagnetic waves to control the ants, but the way they worked together was given a greater meaning through this article. This article focused on the longhorn crazy ant and it's ability to work with other individuals to transport food back to the nest. The technique they utilize involves a team of ants that push the object, and a team that runs around it, scouting out the way back to the nest. Individuals can also switch roles and get the whole team to start moving in a different direction. The video in the article included a demonstration of this technique. I was amazed at how seamlessly the ants could switch in and out and change direction. The article referred to them many times as 'conformists', which plays a big role in how the ants work. Their response to forces through a Cheerio seems amazing, but the fact that they could move a 8-16cm disc by feeling for forces is incredible. I am constantly intrigued by how the little things in nature are really very complex, and I feel we still have so much more to learn from them.
The article on the Tetrapodophis, the four-legged snake, really intrigued me. Snakes have always interested me, particularly their strange body-shape that is so different from other reptiles. But this new fossil is even more bizarre, resembling a hybrid of a lizard and a snake. It is amazing how the view of evolution from dinosaurs to snakes changed completely from one minute discovery in the middle of South Africa. Scientists previously believed the snake evolved from ocean dinosaurs and then migrated to land, but this fossil suggests another idea that snakes evolved from land lizards who burrowed in the earth. They claim that evolution took its course and these lizards lost their limbs in order to better dig tunnels. Others disagree that this fossil is even a snake at all, claiming that certain body parts do not resemble that of a modern-day snake. Michael Caldwell states that the spine and skull of the Tetrapodophis do not have "distinctive features...that would seal the case". I believe that this new discovery could change how scientists view the evolution of snakes, but more fossils or other evidence is definitely needed to prove it.
I was also very interested in the article about ants, and how their random movement patterns were only slightly random. Although they just go with the flow and pull in the direction everyone else is pulling, there are guiding "scout" ants that join in and steer in the correct direction. This is possible because the scout ant pulls in the direction of the ant nest and all the other ants "conform" and push in that direction. They communicate by feeling each other's force on the object. This led me to think about why humans do not do what ants do. Clearly we are much more evolved than ants are, and yet they are better team-workers than humans without the use of language. I believe that humans do not need this skill due to the fact that we have a developed Broca's Area (the area in the frontal lobe designed for speech). Ants do not have this area of the brain, and must rely on feeling each other's force exerted on the object, combined with a scout ant, to carry objects and perform certain tasks.
The article about the birds was the first to catch my attention. Summertime is when birds begin to fledge, and finding baby birds is not uncommon. It is instinctive to want to pick up the bird and put it back to where it belongs. However, that may not always be the best idea. When finding a struggling baby bird, its cuteness will determine your next steps. Most birds are either fledging (flying for the first time) or nesting. As the article states, the cuter ones “have feathers, can hop, and are ‘generally adorable and fluffy, with a tiny stub of a tail.’” These cuter ones are fledglings, meaning that once they leave their nest, they don’t return. Leaving them alone is the best idea. However, finding an uglier bird that lacks feathers, cannot hop, walk or grip means you’ve found a nestling. These birds should be returned to its nest if possible. Many people, including myself have heard the myth that a bird touched by a human will be rejected by its mother because of the smell. It was reassuring to find out that this is really only a myth and that we can help a slightly uglier nesting bird.
I was also fascinated by the article about the ants. As humans, we can easily pick up an object or a piece of food and move it around. However, ants have developed a system that allows them to cooperate to move food by balancing individuality and conformism. When moving an object, such as a cheerio or cat food, a team of ants are able to do the heavy lifting. A few ants called scouts steer the object for short periods of time and provide a sense of direction. I was also fascinated by the way the leader works in pulling towards the correct direction. Unlike what we think of a leader, the ants don’t need someone stronger, they need someone to guide them in the right direction. When I usually see ants, they seem to be running around in chaos in an unorganized mess. However, now when seeing a group of ants, I’ll know the mechanism they are using to work together.
Fossils are crucial for scientists trying to understand the evolutionary processes of not only humans, but all living organisms. Discoveries of those like the archaeopteryx and tetrapodophis give rise to countless inferences trying to explain how they fit into the evolutionary timeline, but scientists undoubtedly disagree upon which theory is correct. This is the case with the tetrapodophis; David Martill and Nick Longrich believe the fossilized squamate is an ancestor of modern day snakes, while fellow scientists Michael Caldwell and Susan Evans are skeptical of this hypothesis. It does seem hard to believe—a snake with not two, but four legs? However, seeing that the tetrapodophis has some features similar to that of snakes, including its short tail and connecting vertebrae, it could actually be a relative of them. As Evans points out, because the skull of the fossil has unfortunately not been preserved properly, it is difficult to truly determine if the tetrapodophis is the snake's ancestor. The scientists should work together to try and unearth similar fossils and analyze them to determine which theory is correct, or to come up with entirely new theories concerning the evolution of the snake.
Regarding the new Ebola vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, it is relieving to know that there is finally a new, effective aid in the fight against such a deadly disease. The Ebola ça Suffit trial was a rather ambitious one, seeing as people who were at risk of getting Ebola received the vaccine without knowing if it was effective or not. But in science, it is necessary to we take risks and remain determined to find the best ways to help humanity. It is important to note that the researchers used the ringed vaccination method because it has been used before in the development and testing for vaccines for other deadly and infectious illnesses. In the end, the Ebola ça Suffit trial was successful, as no individuals, including those who were especially predisposed to acquiring the illness, contracted the disease after receiving the vaccine. It is imperative that the vaccine is approved and distributed to those who need it as soon as possible to end the epidemic and prevent any future outbreaks, not only in West Africa but also in other countries with people at risk of acquiring Ebola. Hopefully all those suffering from this disease, whether they be wealthy or destitute, will be able to access the resources they need to become healthy once again, and the Ebola epidemic will be wiped out for good.
The first article the caught my attention was the one on how you should only touch the ugly birds and not the cute ones. When you see a baby bird, your first instinct is that you want to touch it and help it. With these instincts, you are right half of the time. When you see a cute bird out of the nest with a lot of fluffy feathers and is hopping around, do not touch it because it does not want to be helped. These birds are known as fledgling. Fledgilings are older baby birds who are ready to leave the nest and ready to fly and live on their own. If you see an ugly baby bird with not a lot of feathers and is not hopping around, that means it needs to be helped and you can touch it. These birds are known as nestlings and they still need to be in their nest with their mom. Also, do not be scared to touch baby birds because you do not want their mom to abandon them because your scent is on them. Mother birds recognize their young by appearance not scent so it is safe to touch them.
The other article I chose to read was the one on the four legged snake. It's called Tetrapodophis and it's fossil is found in the Bürgermeister Müller Museum in Solnhofen, Germany. There are ideas about how the new snake evolved from a four legged slithering lizard. The first hypothesis is that snakes evolved in the ocean and only later recolonized to land. The second hypothesis states how snakes evolved from burrowing lizards. Tetrapodophis had no adaptations for swimming and research shows that only thing it was swimming through was earth, supporting the second hypothesis. Overall, I feel the discovery of this fossil is very intruguing and will lead to further research on the idea that snakes used to have four legs.
The article that was of most interest to me was the article about the new snake. David Martill noticed a fossilization of a snake at a German museum. He observed that the snake came from an unusual place and time. He also observed that the snake had a pair of hind legs and a pair of front legs. Martill named it Tetrapodophis. I found it intriguing that they were able to discover many characteristics of the creature from its fossil. In the fossil, the creature's teeth are pointing backwards. This fact suggests that the creature was a hunter. Also, there is a joint in its jaw that would have enabled the creature to consume large prey. The Tetrapodophis probably used its long body to constrict its prey. It's amazing that we are able to find this much information about an extinct organism.
The second article that was interesting to me was the article about the new Ebola vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV. This vaccine has shown effectiveness in fighting the virus but is still in its trial stages. If this vaccine is available to the public, healthcare workers and those living in the region plagued with Ebola would be better protected. The vaccine can end the current outbreak and possibly prevent a future outbreak from occurring. Ebola is a major concern to many people. Hopefully, rVSV-ZEBOV will end those fears
Although I am sad that there was not a discovery of a new dinosaur, the finding of a snake with four legs was fascinating. The most interesting facts about the snake, was one that the fossil dates back to early Cretaceous period, that this is a one time in a lifetime discovery, and that the discovered animal is called Tetrapodophis. I am in awe that a species of snakes had four little legs that helped it get around in into small places. Like their burrows. Another interesting thought was that the Tetrapodophis never Sam in water just through the earth. The way the snake species evolved is truly amazing, and now that evidence of the Tertapodophis was found the discovery of others will appear.
The second fascinating article for me was the baby bird article. Ever since I was young I was told to never touch birds eggs or a baby bird because the mother would not tend to them after a person touched them. So the idea of picking up a baby bird comes down to how cute the little thing is. If the baby is cute and fluffy with feathers, they are known to be fledging, which means they will not return to it's nest. On the other hand, I'd the bird is ugly, tightly holding on for its life, and incapable of walking or hopping then you should find the birds nest and put the bird in. And thanks to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the myth of a mother bird abandoning their babies because of human smell is false. The parents do not recognize their young by smell.
Tetrapodophis, the alleged "four-legged snake", might not be much of a snake at all. While it shares the features that descendants of early snakes have, its poorly-preserved skull tells a far different story. It tells of a creature that evolved from burrowing lizards, one that "swims through earth" rather than water. Like Michael Caldwell points out, tetrapodophis lacks certain features in its head and skull that would deem it a snake. It is quite possibly these creatures strangled their prey, much like modern snakes, but they had some help from their hind legs in keeping the struggling victim stationary. A common yet not completely credible statistic states that ants can lift 1000 times their weight. In an article about ants working together using mathematics, the title is a bit misleading. These scientists have discovered that ants work together to feel out the forces in an object to work together to move it, rather than having some system of communication. It is interesting that a lack or addition of force can cause ants to act in more or less conformist ways. While beehives have designated "workers" and "queens", ants earn their status of project leader by applying the greatest force in the correct direction. While they may look erratic and without purpose while stealing your escaped Cheerio, they are actually trying to "feel out" who is applying what type of force, who is leading, and where they are taking it. Ants use physics to prosper (which makes me a bit jealous because I never prospered from physics).
I have always looked at ants as small useless creatures. I have seen them move different object around, but little did I realize that they had a science to moving the different objects. For example in the article the video showed the ants moving a cheerio. It explained that all the ants work together and begin moving the object in one direction, until a leader joins and moves them all in the right direction. It is extremely interesting that this system seems only to work on medium objects rather than larger objects. On the larger objects the ants are more chaotic and come and go, whereas on the medium objects they are organized in a system. When I was little I was amazed by how such small creatures were able to move such large objects, but after reading this article I can see how intelligent they are and how they have systems going to move the different objects.
I also read about the guidelines to moving a baby bird after it had been found on the ground. The article caught my eye when it talked about if the bird was cute or ugly. After reading more into the guidelines I was intrigued to find out that moving the bird based on whether it was ugly or cute was true. I had also always believed that if you were to touch the baby bird the mother would no longer care for it, but this article had informed me that it was only a myth. Another interesting aspect of the article was that some of the birds on the ground do not need saving. If they have feathers and they are cute they are fledgling and do not want to return to their nest , and if someone does try to return they will only jump out again. This article was very interesting because it proves many people wrong when it comes to what to do when you find a baby bird out of it's nest.
Evolution is such a complex and interesting concept that never ceases to amaze me. This new snake species is definitely a "jaw-dropping" discovery. Although there have been a numerous amount of extinct snake species that have found with stunted hind legs, fossil hunters have never found a snake with four legs. This snakes four legs thus give it the name Tetrapodophis. It's interesting that the discovery of this four-legged snake supports the idea that snakes evolved from lizards which lost their limbs to be able to burrow more effectively in the ground. Although there is debate whether this new found animal is even a snake at all is up to debate, I find this to be an extremely important and fascinating discovery.
The first article about the fossilized snake with four legs struck my curiosity right away. David Martill from the University of Portsmouth discovered that a fossil of an unusual snake like specimen was found in a very strange area and seemed to have been living at a very early time period. Just looking at the image provided, one can see that this species called Tetrapodophis, was very unique with its countless ribs, and tiny front and hind legs. Although it may look much like a snake, some experts do not beleive it to be, such as Michael Caldwell from the University of Alberta. He claims that the Tetrapodophis does not have some key features that traditional snakes possess. But to Martill there are a wide variety of features that this fossil possesses that seem extremely snake like. This new species seems to have been able to burrow and catch and consume prey much like a snake. He even believes that Tetrapodophis killed its prey by constricting it like a boa constrictor would. In my opinion, I do believe this species to be some type of prehistoric snake. Evolution works in strange ways, and often can leave you guessing how a certain species came to be. It amazing how several species of an animal can be derived from one species, and each new species being very different from all the rest. Therefore I would guess that the Tetrapodophis is one of many ansestors of the modern day snake.
As a person who regularly finds young kittens in her back yard and cares for them till they are ready to find a home, the article about finding baby birds interested me greatly. Although I have not found any stranded baby birds in my life, I have heard that a mother bird will not take its baby back if it has been handled by a human. This is said to be the same for kittens, but I have since proven this to be a myth after finding kittens, bringing them home, and then putting them back without a problem. This is why I was not surprised to hear that the idea that a mother bird will not take a baby bird, whom has been touched by a human, back was in fact a myth. Surprisingly, it actually depends on the age of the bird in which one should put it back into the nest or not. A fledgling normally has feathers and is identified as “cute”. According to Cornell University, if you come across a fledgling bird, it is recomended that you should leave it alone or put it out of harms way. There is no point in returning the bird to its nest because it is already on its own and does not have a mother who will take care of it. If a nestling, a bird without feathers and is considered “ugly”, is found it is recommended that you should put the baby bird back as soon as possible. I have always been curious about this subject and I am glad this article has finally cleared up this myth for me. I am now curious to find out whether or not this applies to other animals as well.
Although reading about the discovery of the Tetrapodophis was interesting, I found learning about the possible evolutionary processes it might have gone through to be even more so. We learn a lot from fossils, but many times, fossils do not tell us the exact details of the past. Because of this, scientists must make hypotheses based on the information they know. Scientists mainly believe either of two main theories about the evolution of snakes: they evolved from marine life and that they evolved from burrowing lizards. This "four-legged snake" may support the latter theory, but more details of the fossil suggest that the Tetrapodophis should not even be classified as a snake! Even though it has characteristics of a snake, such as the backwards pointing teeth and short tail, there are other factors, such as the skull, that may ultimately show that the specimen is not a snake. Hopefully, another Tetrapodophis fossil will be found to give us more information about the organism.
I was also intrigued about how ants work together to carry objects that are much larger than they are. Before reading the article, I did not know how ants cooperated with each other - through my own observations, they seemed to be moving in random directions. Through the article, I learned that the ants move through their natural biology and physics: a group of ants will follow one leader through the forces in the object.
Snakes have always freaked me out and when I read that a fossilized snake was found with four legs it blew my mind. The university of Portsmouth professor, David Martill said his jaw hit the floor when he saw that the specimen not on,y had two but four legs. Martill called the creature Tetrapodophis. Tetrapodophis is the only snake that has been found with four legs. How Tetrapodophis came to be has two conflicting ideas; the first idea is that Tetrapodophis evolved in the ocean, then made the transition to land. The second theory is that it evolved from a burrowing lizard, which elongated their bodies so it would be easier for them to maneuver through the ground. Tetrapodophis supports the second theory because it has a short stout which is easier for digging through the ground rate he than swimming through the water. Even though Tetrapodophis has tell tale signs of a snake, researchers are not positive it is a snake due to its skull and spine which don't have the distinctive features a snake has. The most interesting thing to me about this article was the evolutionary process the scientists talked about, that Tetrapodophis came after the earliest known snakes which means this "snake" had to coexist with its ancestors. This story reminds me of the fish that can walk on land, it is an invasive species that uses its fins as feet. I think the finding of Tetrapodophis is great and hopefully more will be discovered so we can unlock the clue to this mysterious creature.
Since I am planning to pursue a career in nursing, the possible vaccine for Ebola sparked an interest in me. The fact that people are still working around the clock to find a cure is amazing because the rest of the world seemed to forget about it. Ebola still poses a big threat to West Africa and cases are still being reported and people are still at risk. rVSV-ZEBOV is the vaccine that has been developed by a Canadian company. rVSV-ZEBOV is still in a study phase but when it was given to controlled groups no individual actually had the disease. This discovery is a huge step towards fighting the heinous disease and is a glimmer of hope that a cure is possible.
Fossil hunters have found many extinct snakes with hind legs, but never one with four legs. This was until David Martill discovered the Tetrapodophis. The two theories for this four-legged creature are that they evolved from either an extinct marine reptile named the mosasaurs or burrowing lizards. Scientists could also tell that the Tetrapodophis was a predator by its backward-pointing teeth and the joints in its jaws that let it shallow large prey. With all these features, there is a debate on whether the Tetrapodophis is even a snake. It lacks certain characteristics that identify it as a snake. Since the fossil has a poorly preserved skull, it makes it difficult for analyzing. The Tetrapodophis is a species that is one of a kind.
Many people wonder if it is okay to put a baby bird back in its nest if they find it on the ground. There are rumors saying that if a human touches a baby bird, its mother will not take it back. However, this is not the case. According to the article, a mother will accept its baby back since it does not recognize them by smell. The only problem is that when people see a baby bird, they may not recognize if it is a fledgling or a nestling. Fledglings have many feathers and are generally cuter, while nestlings have very little feathers, and they might not even have real flight feathers, only gray down feathers, so they may be thought of as "ugly". The "ugly" ones are the ones that should usually go back into the nest, because they are not supposed to be out of their nest yet. Fledglings have more feathers and even though it seems that they can't fly yet, they are probably learning and their mother is probably close by. Looking back, I remember that a couple of years ago I found a baby bird in my cousin's backyard, and thinking that it was just a baby, I thought it needed help. I did not put it back in its nest but I put it under a bushy tree so it wouldn't get hurt. I now know that it was supposed to be out of its nest and I didn't really need to touch it.
A fatal disease known as Ebola has been known to strike down much of Africa's population. A new vaccine has shown some promising results, as it has cured many in a certain region. This new vaccine was given to 90-something clusters of people. Half of the clusters were given the vaccination immediately and have all be cured, while the other half were given the vaccination after 21 days and all but 19 have been cured by the vaccination. This shows that the fatal disease can be cured due to the promising results of the new vaccination. It is a major step towards eliminating Ebola all together, as people with Ebola have hardly been cured and are just being taken care of so that they can merely survive.
Snakes are the number one phobia my mother has. So of course, the article with information on a possible four legged snake was the one for me to read; just so I can share the information to her later! This article of course stood out and interested me on a personal level as well. The discovery of this uncanny fossil began with David Martill from the University of Portsmouth. While he was walking through a museum in Germany with students, he came across a fossil that made his jaw drop. He detected a little specimen with a long sinous body that appeared to be a snake stuck in a rock with characteristics of the Brazilian Crato Formation. This is a fossil site that stems from the early Cretaceous period. Looking more carefully, he spotted that this strange guy had a pair of hind legs AND front legs. This was a once in a life time discovery because no other snake found had been reported to have four legs. Martill named it Tetrapodophis, and claimed it to be an archaeopteryx, or blend of two species, in the snakes and lizards world. So far, there are two theories around where snakes could have originated from. One is of them possibly evolving in the ocean then approaching land over time. The latter is that snakes came from burrowing lizards after stretching their bodies and losing their limbs to get through out the ground better. Since the tetrapodophis shows no signs of adaptions for swimming, such as a flattened tail, it supports the second theory. Espacially since it has a short snout, which is helpful in burrowing. But a certain question seemed to consistently arise; was Tetrapodophis even a snake? Michael Caldwell from the University of Alberta says no due to its unclear spine and skull remainents that with its usual distinctive features, would have solved the case. Its also said to not be snake due to the fact that all snakes are only snakes because they ARE legless. Martill, on the other hand, believe it is indeed a snake. This is due to the fact that it has backwards pointing teeth, proving that it was an active hunter. A single row of belly scales, the unusually short tail, etc. He explains that not all ancestral snakes would contain ALL the features its descendants grew to have. As for reasoning behind the legs, a theory has risen that they were for improving the animal's ability to grip its prey. Theres still no clear answer to whether or not this fossil was a snake or not. But the way I think of it is that either way, the possibilties equally terrifying!
-Akanksha Kale
I found the article on baby birds very interesting. This is a very relevant topic as well because many people do find baby birds and don't know what to do. I actually went through this with my cousins where we saw a baby bird at a parking lot across from my house. After reading this article, I believe that we did the right thing because it looked like a fledgling and we let it stay on our front porch until it finally flew on its own. I'm relieved it was a fledgling because if it were a nestling we wouldn't know to return it to its nest. Fledglings are known as the "cute" birds that you can let free and Nestlings are known as the "ugly" ones that you should return to its nest. I find it odd that the way it works is that the "cute" are superior and the "ugly" needs help. I did find this article helpful and one of the things I found helpful is that it eliminated the myth that if you touch a bird and return it to its nest the mother bird will fly away.
The article to immediately catch my attention right away was “A Fossil Snake With Four Legs.” Snakes have to be one of the most interesting creatures out there. They have the ability to harm their prey in a very tortuous way with just the use of their body. Now hearing that there is a species of snakes that have limbs is quit frightening. David Martill from University of Portsmouth had taken a trip to a museum in Germany. While on his trip, he recognized a fossil of a snake, which had four legs. He called this “Tetrapodphis.” There were many hypotheses on how this snake had four limbs. The one I strongly agree on is, “… that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards, which stretched their bodies and lost their limbs to better wheedle their way through the ground.” It was also seen as being an active predator due to having backwards-pointing teeth, which allows them to swallow large prey. However, the snake may have used its limbs as a way to struggle its prey or mate. A scientist from the University of Alberta, Michael Caldwell, believes that the “Tetrapodphis” is not even considered a snake due to the distinctive features on his spine and skull. I personally believe that it maybe not be a snake but a lizard.
The second article to catch my attention was “Ebola Vaccine 100% Effectiveness In Latest Trail.” Ebola is a topic I have a high interest upon. These article discuses how there may be a new tool to fight against this terrifying virus and it is called rVSV-ZEBOV. It has been tested on 7651 between 90 clusters. These individuals were put into 48 clusters and were being treated with the vaccine immediately, but the other 42 clusters were treated 21 days. No one from the first immediately treated cluster had Ebola, but 16 from the other group had. The individuals who usually get this virus are healthcare workers so this would be a way to protect them and the rest of West Africa. Ebola is still appearing Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The article I found the most intriguing was the one concerning fledglings and nestlings. I have always loved birds, and even have two pet parakeets. There are always two or more nests in the tree in our front yard and we used to find nestlings all the time. However, we were too afraid to put them back because we thought that the mother would abandon the baby because of the human scent; I was surprised to hear that this is not the case and that the mothers do not actually recognize their babies by smell.
The Ebola article was of interest to me as well. It is astonishing that researchers have actually developed a vaccine that is so effective against this fatal disease. According to the study conducted, ring vaccination seemed to be highly effective at the population level. Before this vaccine, healthcare workers were just managing the symptoms, not the disease itself. This vaccine is a step forward; however, this is only the beginning, there is still a lot more work to be done before this vaccine is deemed safe and reliable.
Although I am not a fan of insects, as soon as I began reading the article about the ants, I wanted to learn more. Their behavior is deliberate and precise, large teams of ants push the heavier objects for a bit and the longhorn crazy ants navigate where to bring the food. All of the ants work together but it is the scouts that determine the direction they should go. This is absolutely remarkable that such small creatures can lift and move food to wherever they want it to go. It is hard to believe that it all started because ants were moving around cat food in someone’s apartment.
It was very intersting that they found a legged snake. It shwin that evolution naturally occurs and it takes time for species to evolve and to change. This snake shwin that back then snakes had legs and lost them for different rreasons.
What is also intersting is that ants are very intelligent species. They work together to carry objects 100x times bigger then them. Ants are so intelligent that they can work together to carry objects.
One of my greatest fears since I was little was snakes and spiders. My friends and I always joked around, saying how blessed we are that spiders can't fly. When I read that scientists have found a fossil of a snake with legs, I couldn't believe it! However, one of the questions that I thought about while reading this article, was how come the snake with four legs went extinct? I remember learning freshmen year about Social Darwinism, and how the fittest of the species survive. It seems to me that snakes by themselves without legs, are pretty deadly already. If the snake possessed all the qualities that existing snakes do today in addition to four legs, why didn't that species survive and why don't all snakes have four legs? It is possible that there are snakes with legs that scientists have just not discovered yet.
The other article I read was the one about the Ebola cure. It was somewhat of a relief reading the article because it stated that the vaccine had "100% efficacy in individuals". However, I do agree with the last paragraph of the article where it states that scientists still need to be careful about the vaccine. Although the immediate effects of this vaccine seems beneficial, there could be unseen side effects that come with it in the long run. For example, genetically modified foods seemed like a brilliant idea a few years ago. Fruits were bigger, more abundant, and had a longer shelf life. However, it has been recently discovered that people who ate these genetically modified often are experiencing heath problems now. The same goes with this ebola vaccine. Although it may seem effective now, I think scientists should further research the side effects and consequences it might cause in the future.
Those little ants you see moving around do it with purpose. I'd never thought that before, just the other day I was premeditating ways to kill a multiple of ants I'd found crawling around a discarded food speck in my kitchen. I saw them carrying the food speck but it didn't really make an impression on me until the article had me read an analysis of their movement. It makes sense that in every group effort, there'll always be individuals that stand out as leaders. In this situation, it is apparent that although there are a "large majority of ants that do the heavy lifting", certain ants are the ones that assist in directing the direction of the object's movement. And when you think about it, it makes sense, to have the perfect blend of individuality and conformism leads to a successful effort. It impressed me most that they were able to move objects up to 16 cm across; think about how small an ant is and how big that is in their perspective. It's HUGE. This beautiful example of biology allows us to view the scurried movements of the ants running back and forth under the objects as not simply idiocy but meticulous strategy. If we can notice things this impressive in ants, there is no doubt that we can find similarly impressive abilities in other animals that we might even be able to apply to the lives of humans.
Contrary to popular belief, the article entitled “Should You Put a Baby Bird Back in the Nest” cleared up a commonly believed misconception. Although we were always told that mother birds abandon their babies if they are touched or held by a human, this widely believed statement is not accurate. According to this article, parent birds do not recognize their young by smell and they will not desert them if they come in contact with a human. What I find most interesting about this article is that the author is advising his readers that whenever they find a baby bird they must immediately judge it by its level of cuteness. By asking yourself how cute the bird is, you will be able to determine if the baby is a nestling or a fledgling. Fledglings are those that are taking their first flight from the nest, and they have obvious differences that distinguish them from a nestling. These adorable and fluffy baby birds are covered with feathers and they are able to hop. Nestlings on the other hand are ugly featherless little ones that are unable to hop, walk, flit, or tightly grip your finger. If you come across a cute baby bird, the only responsibility you have is to move it out of harm’s way and keep all pets inside. You should not attempt to put them back into the nest, because they will just hop right out again. If you come across a bird that is not so cute, you must as quickly as possible put it back in the nest where it came from. This article has cleared up a statement that people have falsely believed for a long time, and it gave direct instructions of what to do based on the cuteness of the baby bird if the reader ever happens to come across one that is not in its nest. In West Africa, a newly found vaccine has joined the fight against the highly contagious and deadly disease, commonly known as Ebola. The Vaccine, which has been named rVSV-ZEBOV, has proved to have astonishing effects in the battle against this deadly disease. Starting in Guinea, a team of researchers followed the effects of this vaccine by launching a trial in April of this year. An experiment was carried out with the intentions of finding out if the effects of this vaccination would differ depending on how long after exposure this vaccine was given. Some of the groups that had been exposed to this deadly disease were given the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination right away, while the other groups were delayed in receiving the vaccine for 21 days. As suspected, no individual in the group given the vaccination immediately came down with Ebola. However, 16 individuals in the other group had attracted this life-threatening illness. The researchers decided to adapt a strategy, known as a ringed vaccination approach, that would put an end to this infectious disease. This approach entails giving the vaccine to a cluster of individuals in a given geographical area that are at a high risk of infection. The Ebola ça Suffit ring vaccination trial provided the conclusion that the rVSV-ZEBOV has the potential to prevent Ebola and it may be effective when delivered by then a ring vaccination approach at that population level. I think this vaccine has the potential to be widely effective, because a single dose is all that is needed and it can be distributed quickly. While there are still cases appearing in West Africa, I have faith that this vaccination will one day put an end to this widely feared disease.
For some odd reason I have always loved to watch ants get food and walk around and also loved to play with them but I never really stopped to think exactly how they do their job. So, the article about ants had me pretty interested. I have watched a single ant move a piece of food to its nest but never a whole team of ants work together to move something heavier. I think this “leaders and lifters” technique is unique and smart. It is funny how for us working together means constantly communicating but for ants, each individual just does their part and all of the ants just go with the flow of the forces they feel from their object. The ants work the same way with any object given whether it is small or big but the only difference is the amount of ants needed to move that specific object. The next article that I liked was the article about the baby birds. Baby birds can be very adorable and though I haven’t seen many, they do constantly fall out of trees. I remember finding a really cute baby bird in my recycling bin once…it was pretty vicious though. It does seem cruel to say that if it is ugly put it back in its nest but there is a good reason for that. The nestlings need to go back in the nest and unfortunately those are the ugly ones. But, the cute ones are fledglings and need to be left alone because they don’t need to go back in their nest. The video about the ospreys that were hit by dime-sized hail a week before their eggs were to hatch was very sad. But as Eldermire said, that sense of resilience is at the core of nature and its wild things and every living thing needs that.
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