Hoxful Monsters

The eye is considered to have developed at rather quick pace during the ‘Cambrian explosion’, 540 million years ago.Charles Drawin always wondered how natural selection could have led to the development of an organ as complex as the eye and with a common origin, in so many different kinds of animals. A group of Scientists led by Detlev Arendt, in EMBL,Germany have found how the primitive sea creature, zooplankton, respond to light that marks an early stage in the development of the eye. Larvae of marine invertebrates – worms, …

Drosophila ,which played a significant role in understanding many complex biological process is well on the way of solving another major puzzle.

Achim Paululat’s lab in Department of Zoology & Developmental Biology, Osnabrück-Germany worked out the first developmental study on Wing Hearts in Drosophila melanogaster.

The genome sequence of woolly mammoth,an extinct species of Elephant is almost complete.This species of Elephant was adapted to live in cold and was found in Tundra region.

The Australian scincid clade Lerista provides an excellent model for studying limb reduction in squamates (lizards and snakes).These Small lizards are a commonly found in Australian continent and nearly 75 different species are available.

Staying with adaptations of organisms to different environments ,but unlike the previous post (which deals with computers and simulations) lets talk about Snails.To understand the role played by proteomic changes during speciation ,Emilio Rolán-Alvarez and colleagues from Spain compared the proteome of two ecotypes (RB and SU) of the marine snail Littorina saxatilis, a case of sympatric incomplete speciation, originated as a byproduct of adaptation to distinct habitats.

Society of vertebrate paleotology (SVP) ,founded in 1940, the society now has almost 2,200 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. They have come out with a very nice video about their society.

WE ARE SVP is a 33-minute video that tells the inside story of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology – who we are, what we do, and why our work is important for science and society. The video is introduced and narrated by Sam Waterston, the long-time star of “LAW & ORDER.”
As mentioned above this …