The biological ‘five finger rule’ is strikingly consistent throughout living tetrapod vertebrates. Humans and other primates, most carnivorous mammals, crocodiles, lizards and tortoises all typically possess the five digits (fingers and toes) characteristic of tetrapod limbs. It wasn’t always so – the ancient ancestors of the first vertebrates to walk on land, such as Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, had up to…
Category: In focus
In focus: Launching our new CrocBase project!
We are delighted to announce the launch of the first of several new open access databases from John Hutchinson’s team at the RVC, containing complete CT and MRI scans of almost all our modern crocodile specimens! Our CrocBase is hosted via the Open Science Framework, and contains 53 scan datasets of five crocodilian (AKA crocodylian to scientists) species…
In Focus: Can golden moles hear the earth move with a Thor-like ‘hammer’?
The golden moles (Chrysochloridae) are a group of silky and rather endearing group of mammals resembling, but distinct from, the true moles (talpids). Indeed, they are more closely related to elephants and manatees than to moles, shrews, rodents or other seemingly similar animals. They share many features with moles, such as adaptations to burrowing, and inhabit…
In focus: New genetic method proves the importance of wing geometry in ‘superflies’.
What defines the biomechanical performance of an animal? Dr Robert Ray (Francis Crick Institute), in collaboration with Dr Richard Bomphrey’s group at the Royal Veterinary College have just published their findings that by altering the production of just one protein they can change – and even improve – flight agility in fruit flies. This ground-breaking…
In Focus: Innovations in bats’ skin helped flying mammals take off
This week’s post was written with the help of Dr Jorn Cheney, post-doctoral fellow at the Royal Veterinary College. If you would like to contribute a guest post, please get in touch on Twitter or Facebook. Powered flight has evolved four times in the animal kingdom: once each in insects, birds, pterosaurs and bats. Biomechanists have spent decades…
In Focus: ‘Skin teeth’ stories: using shark denticles to look to their past
Our guest post this week comes from Erin Dillon, a short-term fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. If you would like to contribute a guest post, please get in touch on Twitter or Facebook. What were shark communities like before humans? We know that shark populations have waned significantly over the past several centuries, but we don’t yet…
In Focus: Vascular ‘safety net’ doesn’t protect the brains of giraffes from dangerous pressure changes
Our guest post this week comes from Haley O’Brien, a PhD student at Ohio University, and Dr. Jason Bourke from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. If you would like to contribute a guest post, please get in touch on Twitter or Facebook. Both giraffes and sauropod dinosaurs are renowned for their signature long necks. As…
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…
In focus: Chelonians (turtles and tortoises)
This week, we were lucky enough to examine two turtles which had been donated to the RVC. Turtles, tortoises and terrapins belong to a group of reptiles called Testudines or chelonians, which is thought to be one of the very oldest groups of reptiles. They have (slowly) walked the Earth for more than 220 million…
