7 Major "Missing Links" Since Darwin

In this rather fantastic photo segment from last year, National Geographic discusses the 7 Major “Missing Links” since Darwin. We’ve all heard the term “Missing Link” thrown around by skeptics and religious zealots alike.

The basic principle is that the “transitional fossil,” i.e. the fossil that actually connects two points of the evolutionary path has yet to be discovered. The biggest example is that there is a “missing link” between humans and apes.

The problem with that particular skeptics’ argument is that there’s no missing space. No Seriously, there’s not. There is nothing major missing in our fossil history. Scientists can document human evolution back to the common ancestor we have with modern apes.

So shut up.

I’m sorry, that wasn’t very scientific of me. But seriously, the battle is lost. You’re wrong. Science is bipartisan, facts are facts. If you still choose to, say, NOT believe in evolution… well, you’re wrong. Okay, sorry /rant.

In fact, recent studies discovered that modern humans even mated with our Neanderthal relatives.

Regardless, National Geographic says “The discoveries of these and other ‘missing link’ species have helped dispel what Darwin called ‘the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory’ of evolution--the former lack of transitional fossil species.”

Tiktaalik – The “Fishapod”

The Tiktaalik is seen as evidence of when our aquatic ancestors began to move ashore. The Tiktaalik forms a strong branch of evolutionary evidence with eh Acanthostega (the most primitive tetrapod thusfar known).

Archaeopteryx: The First Bird

Archaeopteryx, the earliest known flying bird, was discovered within just two years of the publication of On the Origin of Species. It was the first discovery to fulfill Darwin’s prediction that fossil evidence would link major species groups. The Archaeopteryx linked dinosaurs and birds. Social/Popular acceptance of this theory has only been obtained recently. Even I can remember learning about dinosaurs as terrible lizard predators in the early 90’s (more than a century after Archaeopteryx was discovered).

Amphistium: The Halfway Flatfish

If you’ve ever seen a picture of a modern, flounder or halibut, you’re going to agree that they look pretty strange. The eyes sit on the top of the head, which is actually the side of the juvenile fish’s body. These fish lay flat on the ocean floor (thus their common name). It was argued by skeptics that because there was known fossil record of eye-migration over generations, that it must have been the work of intelligent design. In 2008. when Amphistium was had eyes that weren’t quite on one side of its head, but also weren’t quite on opposite sides of its head, properly demonstrating the “migration” of eyes over generations.

Ambulocetus: The Walking Whale

Discovered in 1922, the 50-million-year-old skeleton suggests that the creature was about to walk on four legs both on land AND in the water. Explaining how marine mammals, which possess vestigial limbs came from the land and went back to the ocean was a major evolutionary hurdle for Darwin. Ambulocetus is called “the most complete, best studied, and clearest case of something with a whale’s head, the beginnings of an aquatic lifestyle with webbed hands and feet, but still fully quadrupedal.”

Hyracotherium/Eohippus: The Dawn Horse

While this animal is known today as Hyracotherium (“hyrax-like beast”) it was originally called Eohippus (“Dawn Horse”). When Darwin went public with the theory of evolution, there was no hard evidence to show the linking of prehistoric species to their modern-day counterparts. Until Hyracotherium. When it was discovered in the southern US in 1867 it kicked off a series of fossil discoveries depicting the evolution of horses over 55 million years.

Thrinaxodon: The Emerging Mammal

Identified from fossils in both South America and Antartica (in and of itself supporting Pangea’s existence) this proto-mammal emerged on reptile filled Earth about 245 million years ago. Thrinaxodon serves as a practical “perfect” intermediate between mammals and reptiles and it has played a key role in unveiling the evolution of mammals. It was a cat-sized burrower that had scales and laid eggs, but like mammals, it had whiskers, warm blood, and (scientists suspect) a fur coat.

Homo ergaster: The “Turkana Boy” Species

Homo ergaster was a small-brailed but tall human species with body proportions similar to modern humans. The 1.6-million-year-old fossil of a child found in 1984 is often called Turkana Boy. Since the discovery of Java Man, the original “missing link” in the 1890s, the human tree has been easily populated with rich fossil evidence linking modern humans to ancient apes. One scientist is quoted as saying that Turkana Boy “is a true intermediate between modern humans and other primates.”

(All photos in this post are from HERE)

Navy Seals*

*Navy Seals, actually Sea Lions.

Yeah, you read that right. The newest plan in Homeland Security? Magical Marine Mammals. The government started training Sea Lions and Dolphins to help “foil terrorism.”

In this article, writers describe a sea lion taking “less than a minute to find a fake mine under a pier near San Fransisco’s AT&T Park.”

(Image Source)

A dolphin located a terrorist lurking in the murky waters and another sea lion, using a device he carried in his mouth, cuffed the faux-terrorist’s ankle so that the authorities could “real him in.”

The animals are known as “Navy Marine Mammals” and are based in San Diego. More than 3,000 responders participate in anti-terrorism training exercises started by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2004. The Navy’s special animals stole the show this year. The drills at the anti-terrorism training include fake bomb explosions, a hijacking of container ships, and other California-centered disasters.

So why marine mammals?

Tom LaPuzza, spokeman for the Navy Marine Mammals program said this on the subject “Security is of vital importance and humans are very slow in the water. Sea lions can see five times as well. And dolphins can use their sonar to spot items that would take humans days or weeks to find.”

Apparently this program is nothing new, LaPuzza says Dolphins and sea lions were used during both the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Though, since Iraq is primarily land locked, I’m not entirely sure how big of an influence our marine mammal friends had on the war effort).

To all the animal rights supporters out there, don’t worry “None of the animals have been harmed in the anti-terrorist work. They never have to carry potentially catastrophic mines.” The article goes on to site that instead of having the animals carry the mines, they find them and place markers so that highly trained Navy divers can retrieve and defuse the devices. Well, good?

Okay, so I know that this isn't really science in the "look at this groundbreaking discovery" sense, or even in the "things you should know about your body/planet/environment/universe that you don't actually know" sense... but it's kind of cool right?

Right.

"Blow Job" Bats

For how thoroughly enjoyable the experience is, oral sex is actually surprising rare in the animal kingdom. Apart from humans (who obviously do our fair share), our close relatives the primates are the only other members of the animal kingdom known to partake… until recently.

Researchers recently observed oral sex for the first time in a non-primate species. During sex, the female short-nosed fruit bat has been observed licking the genitals of their partner.

(Photo Credits: AAAS)

Libiao Zhang and his colleagues from the Guangdong Entomological Institute in China, have been studying the mating behavior of the short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx). In the lab, they paired males and females in cages that mimicked their natural environment and infrared cameras beamed video of the bats’ exploits back to Zhang and his team at the lab.

For the most part, the animals reacted exactly as they had expected them to. The males of the species built tents made out of Chinese fan-palm leaves in order to attract the females. Both males and females groomed each other during their courtship. Then came the skinemax aspect, after the male bat mounted the female from behind, she bent over and began licking his penis.

According to the original report on PlosONE, of the 20 observed mating bat pairs, 14 of the females performed fellatio on the males they were with. The male bats never “withdrew” from the females while being licked. Authors of the study found that the longer a female performed fellatio on the male, the longer copulation lasted. According to the AAAS article, “for each second of licking, the female bats gained 6 seconds of copulations).

Zhang and his team speculate that the oral sex may prolong intercourse by increasing lubrication and helping maintain the males’ erection. The fellating females mated for an average of 4 minutes, nearly twice as long as their non-fellating counterparts.

Frans de Waal, a primatologiost at Emory University who has worked extensively with bonobos (the primate to partake in fellatio most frequently) announces that “the finding of fellatio in bats is exciting news.” He believes that the reason oral sex is rarely mentioned is due to the societal shyness about the issue.

(After what happened to Professor Dr. Dylan Evans at the University College, Cork, Ireland, when he showed his co-worker this study, I’m inclined to think that Mr. de Waal may be right.)

(Photo Credit: Huffington Post)

Regardless of societal objections, Paul Vasey, a behavioral scientist from the University of Lethbridge thinks that this discovery provides a unique opportunity to test some theories about the evolutionary role of oral sex.

Although it’s possible that bats are just being sexually playful like their human and bonobo counterparts, the discovery still suggests that there may be a biological advantage to fellatio (this line PROBABLY won’t work on your girlfriend the next time she’s not in the mood… but hey, it’s worth a try).

FOOTNOTE: Below is a particularly amusing/disturbing section from the original report about the…(um)… dynamics between males and females during bat-sex. (Not the delicious, Bruce Wayne kind).

“Sometimes the female appeared to resist, or even escaped by accident, and then the male would follow her until copulation was completed. In two instances, the female evaded the male for about eight to 25 seconds and turned to bite the male, but later the male followed her until mating was completed. In four instances, the female appeared to resist the male's approaches, but did not evade successfully, and copulations were eventually completed.”

I find myself laughing at the thought of the next Law & Order spin-off… Bats: SVU.

Because it's Wednesday

The fake science website is definitely worth a peruse. Enjoy!

Scientists Cure Genetic Blindness

I, for one, feel like every time I turn on the television doctors are giving me bad news...

“A, B, C AND D all cause cancer.”

“You’re probably pre-disposed to high cholesterol.”

“I BET YOUR COLON IS UNHEALTHY!”

And all the so called medical breakthroughs seem to be for ridiculous things. I know you’re as relieved as I am that I can finally cure my dog’s restless leg syndrome! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discount all the amazing things that doctors and medical researchers do, I’m just happy to have finally read something that is going to make an actual difference in people lives, not just make them consult a doctor if they’ve had an erection lasting four hours or more (though rare, those require immediate medical attention).

Researchers have discovered a gene therapy treatment that actually cures some forms of genetic blindness. This therapy treatment increases cone and rod photoreceptor-based vision.

(Image Source)

Mutations is the RPE65 gene disrupt the retinoid cycle and cause a congenital human blindness known as Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an incurable retinal degenerative disease. The scientists used virus based gene replacement therapy to treat three young adults with RPE65-LCA and measured the results up to 90 days.

Within 30 days of the therapy, all three patients showed a statistically significant increase in visual sensitivity. Although the reconstructed retinoid cycle was not completely perfect, the new rods were very slow, the results were still dramatic; children who were once blind now could see.

(That last line was not meant to be pulled out of Amazing Grace lyrics. I apologize for that.)

(If you’re interested: clinical trial — abstract — paper — ABC News video).

Gender-Bending Rooster/Hen

Most of us remember Ian Malcom’s explanation for the plot holes in the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, “Life will find a way.” The island full of all-female dinosaurs would find a way to reproduce. Malcom was right, the dinosaurs did breed.


“Life finds a way” in nature all the time. Earth Worms, when cut in half, will produce two independent and complete worms. Some amphibians, such as frogs, change sex from male to female in a single sex environment. Clown fish are known to do the same thing. Sorry kids, Nemo’s dad would have actually been Nemo’s mom.

Many animals are sequential hermaphrodites, meaning that they start off as one gender and as their life goes on they change into another. Earth worms are actually simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they contain both male and female sex organs.

There are countless examples in the animal kingdom of organisms switching genders in extreme environments. But these examples were all primarily in amphibians, reptiles, and fish… until not.

Gianni was born a Rooster. He started the morning like every other rooster, crowing with the sunrise and waking up his owners on their farm in Tuscany. When a fox raided Gianni’s pen and killed all of the hens inside, Gianni decided it was time for a change... apparently a sex change.

(Original Image: Here)

Within days of the incident, the bird started laying eggs and trying to hatch them.

Scientists at the United Nation’s Farm and Agriculture Organization are baffled by the sex-change chicken. They plan to study Gianni’s DNA to see what made him change. An expert at the center said “It may be a primitive species survival gene. With all the females gone he could only ensure the future of his line by becoming female.”

Gianni is quoted as saying ‘Now I’m a chick!’ (Okay. That part wasn’t true.)

Whatever the reasons for it, Gianni’s gender-bending is fascinating and I wish this Rooster-Hen the best of luck!

Webcomics are Science too *

It's been a busy few weeks at work, so as I am trying to catch up on the +1000 unread links I had on google reader, I'm bound to stumble upon some fun ridiculousness (thus the goldfish in the last post and the slew of xkcd webcomics I'm sure will end up here eventually). I was perusing Jen McCreight's blog, I came across this gem. Enjoy.

(Original Image)

*Webcomics aren't real science. lol