It sounds like a contradiction, but palaeontologists from the UK and Germany have discovered a snake with legs! This stunning fossil, found in Brazil, dates from the time of the dinosaurs in the early Cretaceous period, which began more than 145 million years ago. The new species, Tetrapodophis [meaning four-legged] amplectus, has the characteristic anatomical features of a snake,…
Category: Anatomy Snippet
A fluffy mammal? A furry tail? Believe it or not, this is a mollusc!
Well, this certainly isn’t the image that springs to mind when you think of molluscs – but the more recognisable snails, oysters and octopus only represent three out of the eight living groups. This beautiful creature is a solenogastre, one of the two vermiform (worm-like) molluscan groups. Solenogastres are found in oceans across the world, from…
Virtual reconstructions suggest the dodo was less ‘bird-brained’ than we thought
We can probably all agree that the dodo has had a tough time these last few centuries. After peacefully inhabiting the beautiful Mauritius they were swiftly wiped out when human visitors began frequenting the island, and have been widely regarded as comedically dumpy, foolish and ridiculous birds ever since. But this is finally changing, and…
Birds and others use structural trickery to produce vibrant blue colours
Peacocks, kingfishers and bluebirds are among some of the most eye-catching of birds, and in many cultures are particularly admired for their rich blue colours. We have long known that red and orange birds take their colour from their food, extracting pigments in the plant and animal matter they consume. Flamingoes are possibly the best-known example,…
#fossilfriday: Eudibamus, an early parareptile that shows adaptations to bipedal running
Our chosen fossil today is Eudibamus cursoris,which was first discovered in Germany and dated at 290 millions years old. This ancient parareptile (not a dinosaur, but appearing much earlier) was just 26 cm long and lived among the early amniotes in the early Permian. At this time, terrestrial vertebrates had rapidly diversified but were almost universally constrained…
Cartilage and encroaching bone in the developing mouse skeleton
This shot of the dorsal neck of a developing mouse embryo visually shows the process of skeletal growth found in all bony vertebrates. The widespread blue stain (Alcian blue) reveals the extensive cartilaginous blueprint for the growing skeleton, which extends by the division of chondrocytes (cartilage-producing cells) guided by signalling molecules across the embryo. The…
Rock-climbing cavefish ‘walks’ like a salamander
One of our interests at the RVC is examining the early history of tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) and how their ancestors made the transition from water to land. Some studies have examined species of living fishes that can move on land, such as mudskippers and lungfish, but although they are able to make do using their…
April fool! This ‘snail shell’ isn’t quite what it seems…
When is a snail not a snail? What if it’s something totally, completely different? This mollusc-like shell was described as a new species of trochid in 1903, but in fact it comes from an entire different phylum (one of the highest levels of distinction between animals). Any ideas what it might be instead? … It’s an anemone!…
‘Sandwich’ microstructure of the toucan’s beak provides lightweight stiffness under pressure
Toucans are unusual among birds for the sheer size of their beaks. Most species fall into two groups, with either short, wide beaks or long, thin ones. Toucans, by contrast, have a long, wide bill which facilitates variety in feeding and makes up a third of their total body length. Although the beak appears cumbersome, it…
#ThrowbackThursday: Reconstructions show that human brains may have evolved more recently than we thought
The human brain may have evolved much faster and more recently than previously thought, researchers suggest from reconstruction of hominid skulls. By scanning the skull of Australopithecus sediba, one of the earliest complete hominid skeletons, scientists could reconstruct the shape and size of the brain from an endocast of the cranium. Essentially, this means they could use the…
Rattlesnake strikes are far more sophisticated than a simple ‘spring’ release
More than half of a rattlesnake’s body may be involved in striking behaviour, particularly where the strike is defensive, and the anterior third of body length is usually active when hunting. The remainder of the body ‘anchors’ the snake to a solid base position. Tracking the kinematics of a single strike reveals that different segments of…
#fossilfriday: Beautifully-preserved amber lizards reveal chameleons’ evolution in ancient Myanmar.
A researcher working in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, has confirmed the age of the world’s oldest known fossil chameleon in part of a bumper find of fossilised lizards. In an almost Jurassic-Park style story, twelve of these ancient reptiles were encased in amber (sap from a coniferous tree) in what is…
Anatomy To You 