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…
Tag: RVC
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: 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…
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!
CT scan of an African pangolin
Computed tomography (CT) scans of an African pangolin or scaly anteater. Pangolins are a unique family of mammal insectivores which are found in forests and desert in Africa and South-East Asia. They are covered in unique keratin scales, which make up 20% of their total weight. The largest species, the giant ground pangolin, can grow up to…
Anatomy To You 