It’s not uncommon to glance down at the pavement or the floor of a shopping centre and spot traces of ancient life – ammonites and belemnites can be seen in deposits all over the world, for example. But in the Spanish town of Girona, the paving slabs of one street have offered up a very…
Category: Anatomy Snippet
Metamorphosis made eas(ier)! Breathtaking 3D scans reveal secrets of a developing butterfly
Ever wondered what biological witchcraft is going on inside the chrysalis (‘cocoon’) of a developing butterfly? One team from Manchester University and the Natural History Museum has a better idea than most – Tristan Lowe and colleagues used CT scanning technology to trace the development of living animals undergoing metamorphosis. Their use of CT ingeniously…
#FossilFriday: Ingenious camouflage found in ancient amber-preserved insects
While many species are known to have evolved specialised colouration to better blend into their environmental backgrounds, there is another important form of camouflage: incorporate your environment into your appearance! This can be seen across the animal kingdom, including in insects and their larvae, sea urchins, and snails. Now, researchers have found some of the…
Sloths’ mysterious teeth decoded
Like most mammals, we humans have a variety of tooth types for different purposes: incisors, for gripping, canines for ripping and tearing, and molars (also pre-molars) for grinding and chewing. But one group, known as the Xenarthra (a particularly excellent name meaning “strange joints”), have very simple dentition, with similar, unrooted teeth which lack enamel and…
Incredible electron microscope GIF gives an amazing sense of scale!
//giphy.com/embed/26BRQY7cHMMVzU6n6 This series of SEM (scanning electron microscope) images shows a tiny crustacean called an amphipod before zooming in on a miniscule diatom resting on its head, and finally picking out the shape of a single bacterium on the surface of the diatom. A truly awesome science GIF! Via Smithsonian mag, GIPHY.
New photographic project captures intricate beauty of insects
A new collection of images launched this week by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History reveal in stunning detail the intricacies of insect anatomy. Each image is a composite of around 8,000 individual photos, with the artist Levon Biss painstakingly adjusting the lighting and settings for each one to best highlight the microscopic details…
Section through an octopus shows the mouth passing through the brain
Octopuses and other cephalopods are well-known for their exceptional intelligence and complex brains, which appear to outstrip all other invertebrates’. But, they work within one strange constraint – like all other molluscs (snails, slugs, oysters and more), the nerve ring at the centre of their nervous system encircles the oesophagus. In cephalopods, this nerve ring…
#ThrowbackThursday individual bone cells from ‘Lucy’ tell the story of her growth
This rather abstract-looking image shows a tiny patch (around 110 micrometres across) of an ancient hominid femur. ‘Lucy’ is one of the the oldest and probably the most famous early human-like primate, belonging to the species Australopithecus afarensis. She lived around 3.2 million years ago in sub-Saharan Africa, and her remains were discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia….
Platypus x-rays show shadows of its “reptilian” ancestry
Platypuses belong to an ancient group of mammals, the monotremes. Today, these are the only living mammalian species to lay eggs, and the group also includes echidnas. But, as the x-rays of Dr Larry Vogelnest show, the platypus retains several skeletal features which link it to its distant ancestors (often called reptiles, but more technically referred…
A lovely Alitta virens for #wormWednesday this week!
This exotic-looking annelid worm was actually found off the Scottish coast at St Andrews, and appears in the 1910 Monograph of the British Marine Annelids. Also known as the King Ragworm, this regal creature can grow up to 1.2 metres (4 feet) long! This species was also the first to be shown to use chemical…
Manakin birds have evolved bones and muscles adapted for elaborate mating displays
Manakins are a group of small passarine birds found across Central and South America. They are known for their often dramatic and noisy mating displays from males of the group, particularly movements of the wings. Wing snapping, when the male ‘claps’ the wings together behind him to produce a sharp noise, is observed in several…
#TomographyTuesday: Watch incredible CT scan reveal young brittle stars developing inside their parent!
Most marine invertebrates, and certainly most brittle stars, spawning gametes (eggs and sperm cells) into the oceans and the embryos are formed and grow externally. But a few species carry live young, with their offspring developing within the parent’s body. How exactly these creatures – which have pretty small central bodies to begin with – accommodate…
Anatomy To You 