Barnacles can be found on rocks, sea walls, boat hulls and countless other surfaces in oceans across the world. We usually see them as small, closed mounds resembling beaks, when they are out of the water and closed up to prevent water loss. But when underwater, the barnacle opens up and protrudes many specialised feeding…
Category: Anatomy Snippet
Parasitoid wasp Wallaceaphytis kikiae, discovered in Borneo
This minute wasp was discovered in the tropical forests of Malaysian Borneo and measures just 0.75 mm in length (750 µm). Its generic name, Wallaceaphytis, refers to Alfred Russel Wallace, who independently proposed a theory of evolution by natural selection at the same time as Charles Darwin after extensive travel, specimen collection and research in…
Feeding an ocean: diatoms
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…
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…
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…
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 