Diatoms are tiny microalgae which make up a large proportion of phytoplankton (plankton which is more closely related to plants than to animals) living in the world’s waters. More than 100,000 living species of diatoms form the basis of countless food chains, and are eaten by everything from tiny zooplankton (which includes small animals such…
Author: Anatomy to You
Celebrating the structure of organisms, with snapshots of some of the most fascinating and ground-breaking projects both within and beyond the RVC.
Anatomy To You was founded in December 2015 by Dr Lauren Sumner-Rooney and Professor John R. Hutchinson at the Royal Veterinary College, London.
Cast of the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles of a domestic dog.
This resin cast shows the branching of the windpipe or trachea (centre top) into bronchi and then bronchioles through the lungs. Air is drawn into these ever-smaller channels until they reach the alveoli, where gas exchange between the lungs and the bloodstream occurs. Image courtesy of the RVC.
Gene expression patterns in developing Drosophila flies
In this image we see 16 Drosophila melanogaster fly embryos, photographed during their development under a confocal microscope. Fluorescent markers for different proteins have been injected into the embryo, so researchers can see exactly where they are expressed (produced). The labelled proteins here are involved in organising the embryo into different parts as it develops, so we can…
#fossilfriday: the world’s largest known animal finally goes on show!
This week a fossil which was so recently discovered that it hasn’t been officially named yet went on public display for the first time at a New York museum. The titanosaur, which was unearthed in 2014 in Argentina, is so large (more than 37 metres long!) that it spills out of the gallery hall at…
In focus: How the tuatara got its knees
Our guest post this week comes from Sophie Regnault, a PhD student in the Structure and Motion Laboratory at the Royal Veterinary College. If you would like to contribute a guest post, please get in touch on Twitter or Facebook. The patella (kneecap) is probably the largest and most widespread of the sesamoids (a group of…
New study brings ancient giraffid Sivatherium back to life
In a new study published today in Biology Letters, RVC researchers Chris Basu, Peter L. Falkingham and Professor John R. Hutchinson have digitally reconstructed the skeleton (and fleshed-out body) of a fossil relative of modern giraffes, Sivatherium giganteum, for the first time. From calculations based on their new model, the authors find that Sivatherium probably weighed in at around 1.25 tonnes…
Flamingo skull shows adaptations to life feeding upside down
The skull of the flamingo shows several fascinating adaptations for its use in feeding. Flamingos, of course, feed with their heads upside down in water, filtering it for small prey items. Accordingly they have some interesting structural features which differ from other birds – the lower bill is larger and stronger than the upper bill,…
Resin cast of a canine kidney
Plastinated cast of the blood vessels (pink) supplying the kidney and the renal pelvis (yellow, not the same as the pelvic bone), which collects urine and carries it to the bladder. Plastination and cast-making provide an excellent way to study complex networks of vessels such as this one, and help biologists to examine them without the…
Kiwi X-ray shows the huge size of her egg
Kiwis are strange birds in many ways, and not least for their short stubby wings and long, hair-like feathers. They are the smallest living ratites (flightless birds, including ostriches, emus and cassowaries), with the largest species reaching maximum heights of just 45 cm. Unlike flying birds, kiwis have relaxed constraints on their weight, and…
We’re gearing up for a new project here at RVC..!
Today we welcomed seven new pheasants to the lab for a project on bird biomechanics! Masters student Olivia Morris-Barry will be filming the birds and tracking their movement for her thesis project at the Royal Veterinary College. For more information on our work on birds, watch the video above!
Leg of the female drone fly, Eristalis tenax
This confocal microscope image shows the pretarsus (the distal tip of the leg) of a female drone fly, with many fine hairs and bristles visible. The number, appearance and placement of bristles across the legs and thorax region of many insects can help biologists to identify specific taxonomic groups: species, genera, families, orders and classes (in ascending size…
Juvenile file clam, Lima
Bivalves are molluscs with two shells, such as oysters, mussels and clams. As adults, these are all sessile, unable to move far from their anchor point on rocks and other surfaces. But movement is necessary to avoid overcrowding and food shortages – these animals have mobile larval and juvenile stages which are pelagic (move through the water…
Anatomy To You 