 |
Back to the main page
Archives Of Animal Science Blog
Subscribe To Animal Science Blog RSS Feed
|
Image of the Month August 2006
Taken from: Bates et al., BMC Developmental Biology 2006, 6:33......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Two-headed Snakes May Make Guinness Book
Image courtesy of Stltoday.com
In regard to multiple heads, there are Guinness records for the most heads of state together, most heads shaved in four hours and the most consecutive haircuts given in a day. But a record that combines snakes and multiple heads? A record, say, for the largest exhibit of two-headed animals?........ Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source New Species Of Sea Urchin For Acution At Ebay
Image courtesy of Ebay
Sea Urchins are a member of the Phylum Echinodermata, Class Echinoidea. Rather then having arms or legs the sea urchin actually has long spines as a substitute. These spines are used primarily for camouflage, locomotion, and defensive purposes. The sea urchin feeds on sea grasses, algae, and decaying organic matter. One can see their close relationship to the sand dollar and starfish by looking closely at their underside, near the middle, where the familiar 5 pointed star pattern can be found. Its body is enclosed in a rigid shell, or test, made up of ten double rows of immovable plates firmly joined in a regular pattern. Sea urchins reproduce sexually by discharging either eggs or sperm into the sea, where the eggs are fertilized. This animal, which feeds primarily on vegetation and small organisms, can easily repair damage to its shell, spines, tube feet, and pedicellarieae by regenerating new parts. Sea urchins live on undersea rocks, ledges, boulders, or coral reefs......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Top Sprinter Lost In The Fog Has Cancer
Image courtesy of msnbc
The horse underwent an exploratory procedure Friday which determined the cancer in his spleen had spread, said veterinarian, Don Smith, in a conference call with trainer Greg Gilchrist. "Unfortunately, we found two other tumors in his abdomen," Smith said. "There is one in his membrane and ligament, about the size of an egg. Unfortunately, there is another along his back and it's about the size of a football". They plan to bring the horse back to Golden Gate Fields so that Lost in the Fog can rest comfortably in his own stall......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Have you ever seen an elephant running?
Image courtesy of John Hutchinson, The Rotal Veterinary College
(Images: John Hutchinson)......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Bacteria Can Help Predict Ocean Change
Researchers have long endorsed the concept of a unique biological niche for most animals and plants a shark, for example, has a different role than a dolphin. Bacteria instead have been relegated to an also-ran world of "functional redundancy" in which few species are considered unique, said Jed Fuhrman, holder of the McCulloch-Crosby Chair in Marine Biology in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. In The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' Early Edition, Fuhrman and his colleagues from USC and Columbia University show that most kinds of bacteria are not interchangeable and that each thrives under predictable conditions and at predictable times. On the other hand, the kinds and numbers of bacteria in a sample can show where and when it was taken. "I could tell you what month it is if you just got me a sample of water from out there," Fuhrman said. The scientists took monthly bacteria samples for more than four years in the Pacific Ocean near the USC Wrigley Institute's marine laboratory on Catalina Island. They used statistical methods to correlate the bacteria counts with the Wrigley Institute's monthly measurements of water temperature, salinity, nutrient content, plant matter and other variables......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Flatworms And Regeneration Research
Planaria have been studied for hundreds of years, but modern genomic techniques have given researchers new ways to delve into the molecular biology underlying planarian regeneration.Accordingly, Phillip Newmark and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) used a technique called "RNA interference" to stop a particular gene from producing its encoded protein.Without the protein, the planaria's stem cell population died out, and they lost the ability to regenerate.Now scientists will see if the gene plays a similar role in stem cells from other organisms. All animals contain stem cells, which are unique because they have no specialized function but can mature into almost any cell type and do almost any job the body requires. In planaria, stem cells are responsible for the animal's ability to regenerate its entire body, even from small very small bits. Planaria are popular for introductory biology experiments because if one is chopped in half, two grow back.In fact, only 1/279th of a planarian is needed to regenerate a complete worm......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Fish Eating Fish
Two fish for the price of one! Some lucky one can have both......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Obsessive complusive cat flushing the toilet
Obsessive complusive cat flushing the toilet. Watch video Amazing......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source Tiny animals on fingers
Hmmm......... Posted by: Kelly Permalink Source |
Older Blog Entries