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Wherefore Art Thou the First Animals: We Are At
the First Animals and the Origin of Oceanic Eco-systems: July 12:
2019-February 2020 |
 |
|| Tuesday: May 28:
2019 || ά. It is
claimed to be a
‘fascinating, new
exhibition at the
Oxford University
Museum of Natural
History, First
Animals and the
Origin of Oceanic
Eco-systems, that
aims to challenge
its visitors to
question the very
definition of an
animal: ‘What is an
animal?’ is a very
good question.
However, in order to
understand giant
systems, one, must,
begin at the nano-seismic
level, which is
where is
nanocromised the
entire giant of a
system. Therefore,
to change giant
systems for the
better we must begin
at that nanoseismic
level; to begin with
a nano structure and
initiate a nano-change
and, that will, with
the progression of
time, continue
building upwards so
that, one day, that
change shall impact
and appear onto the
atomic level, that
will re-architecture
the molecular level
and, there, things
shall begin to be
recrafted and that
will bring about
changes,
fundamental,
monumental, seismic
and
paradigm-shifting,
that can now be seen
in the reality, that
is outside the
observer.
A pin-scratch
happens at an iron
pillar of a giant of
a building and no
one has come to
notice it for along
passage of time. But
that nano-scratch
kept on building up
and the weather, the
environmental
factors, the light,
the heat, the cold,
the moisture, the
rain and the entire
other range of
variables kept on
working at that nano-scratch
and that began to
grow upward,
downward, depth-ward
and all-ward and one
day that rusting
spread in all other
structures and, one
day, people hear on
the news that, that
giant building on
that Windpipe
Street, you know the
windpipe, that plays
music when the wind
arrives, had
collapsed! Or, that
stranger at the
Café, who said,
‘’This entire thing
is a system of
punishment.’’ No one
registered what the
stranger looked like
or what he said but
one lone listener,
looked up,
registered and
noticed and wrote it
down in her notebook
with a great deal of
profound thoughts
and ideas, that were
generated from the
stranger’s strange
summary of
something.
That notebook got
sold in an old
scrap-shop and the
new person, the
buyer of that
notebook had read
those notes and what
that listener wrote.
That person writes a
piece on it as he
was an author and he
published it
somewhere. Many
people read it and
spoke about it to
other people, who
spoke about it to
many others and
another author, at
another corner of
the earth finds it
and reads it and
decides to write a
book on that whole
presentation, that
had arisen out of
that stranger
saying, ‘This entire
thing is system of
punishment’ and what
intelligent remarks
the young woman had
added to it and then
how all that got
presented with
elaborate building
up of the whole
range of issues. He
wrote this book and
it came to be
published, which
then got translated
into hundreds of
world languages and
the entire humanity
hears about these
issues. Now, this
book goes back to
that listening soul,
that began the first
archival work of
that stranger’s
saying and all she
wrote about that. By
than she had become
a successful film
director and she
makes a film of that
book and the story
goes on and, then,
in hundreds of
thousands of
theatres across the
earth that story
gets into as a play:
Eventually, that
comes to begin
something so large
following the
successful building
up of this process,
the world became a
different world.
This is why we,
must, keep on
working to raise
questions and
challenge existing
and, often,
outdated, false or
deceptive
assumptions to bring
about change:
fundamental,
monumental, seismic
and
paradigm-shifting
change for the world
and its desperate
humanity are gasping
in a state of
desperation, that
can not go on as
this.
The organisers of
this Exhibition,
might not, have
thought of this as
they set about
organising the event
but we present this
news to our readers
with the invite do
so: to think and ask
and raise questions
to challenge, that
what are dying but
what are, at the
same time,
strangling and
killing the very
human existence on
earth. The visitors
of this Exhibition
are to join a
journey by
travelling back in
time, 600 million
years, to when the
very origins of all
animals, including,
humans, began to
develop in the
world’s oceans. This
Exhibition opens on
July 12 this year
and shall have been
going on till
February 24, 2020.
Make a note of these
dates, dear reader
and begin something
today, at that nano-seismic
level and initiate a
nano-change and mark
that nano-change and
let it build up and
visit it next year
on February 24 and
see what it looked
like than. Were you
a Neurologist,
decide to pick up
and study
Seismology; if, you
are an Economist,
decide to study,
Anthropology, if,
you were a Social
Worker, decide to
study Microbiology
or, if, a student of
Medicine, decide to
study, Political
Philosophy, if, you
play violin, decide
to pick up the
Balalaika or an
Ocarina or a
Recorder. Than,
write to The
Humanion and tell us
all about it.
In an extraordinary
evolutionary event,
which has never been
repeated since, the
Earth then
experienced a huge
increase in new life
forms, many of which
laid the foundations
for the body plans
of all subsequent
animal life. This
occurrence, termed
as the Cambrian
Explosion, took
place over a period
of just 20 million
years, a mere blink
of the eye in
geological terms and
First Animals will
show how amazing
fossil evidence from
this epoch is being
uncovered and
investigated to shed
new light on our
earliest beginnings.
The exhibition will
tell this story like
never before. For
the first time ever,
over 60 incredibly
well-preserved
specimens, each
hundreds of millions
of years old, will
travel to Oxford
from sites across
the globe. This
includes a
significant loan of
55 fossils from
Yunnan University in
Chengjiang, China,
along with other
evidence from
Burgess Shale,
Canada and Sirius
Passet, Greenland.
One of the
highlights of First
Animals will
certainly be the
museum’s interactive
Cambrian Diver
installation, which
will allow users to
explore a 360-degree
ocean in a virtual
submersible craft.
On the dive they
will learn more
about some of the
key animals in the
exhibition and how
they existed as part
of the very first
animal ecosystems.
Digital
reconstructions
will, also, bring
these enigmatic
creatures to life,
with the animations
helping visitors to
visualise what they,
may, have looked
like, how they moved
and to understand
their roles within
an ecosystem. At
selected times,
visitors will, also,
be able to immerse
themselves in a
Cambrian ocean
virtual reality
experience, First
Life VR, complete
with narration by
natural history
legend Sir David
Attenborough.
By presenting the
unique Chengjiang
fossils alongside
more than 70
specimens from the
Museum’s collection,
visitors will be
able to see how the
body plans, which
evolved in the very
earliest creatures
can still be found
in all the major
animal groups today.
The Chengjiang
fossils are the star
loans of First
Animals. Their
significance can not
be overstated, as
they represent a
uniquely complete
snapshot of the
diversity of animals
appearing during the
Cambrian Explosion.
Older than other
well-preserved
fossils from this
era, the range and
preservation of the
Chengjiang fossils
make them one of the
most informative
and, therefore,
important, Cambrian
fossil deposits in
the world, providing
an insight into the
very first animals
that we would
recognise today.
The 55 specimens on
loan represent 11 of
the major groups of
animal life, as well
as, a number of
enigmatic and
starkly different
forms, including,
tiny worms, large
predatory
arthropods,
invertebrate
animals, such as,
insects, arachnids
and crustaceans and
the early ancestors
of vertebrates.
“After billions of
years, in which
bacteria were the
only lifeforms, a
combination of local
and global
environmental
changes kick-started
the evolution of
animal life on
Earth. First Animals
shows how new
techniques, analysis
and fossil evidence
are opening up new
understanding of the
origins of animal
life, now dated to
almost 600 million
years ago.” says
Professor Paul
Smith, the Director
of Oxford University
Museum of Natural
History.
“Visitors to the
exhibition will
encounter strange,
enigmatic creatures
and ancient
eco-systems. They
will be able to
contemplate their
earliest animal
ancestor, a
hypothetical first
animal and, through
digital
reconstructions,
will come face to
face with creatures,
that changed the
planet forever: the
first predators and
the first prey.”
The loan of the
Chengjiang fossils
is made possible by
the generosity of
Yunnan University
and the partnership
between Oxford
University Museum of
Natural History and
the Yunnan Key
Laboratory for
Palaeobiology. First
Animals will, also,
include an artistic
perspective on the
earliest animal life
through the Museum’s
collaboration with
the Oxford
Printmakers
Co-operative.
Twenty-two members
of the group are
working closely with
Museum research
scientists to create
individual prints,
that respond to
fossils on display
in the exhibition.
This large body of
works will be
presented in the
First Impressions
trail around the
Museum, allowing art
lovers and fossil
enthusiasts alike to
discover original
artwork amongst the
Museum’s fossil
collections.
First Animals is
free to visit. For
more information,
swim over to the
Museum
website.
About Oxford
University Museum of
Natural History:
Founded in 1860 as
the centre for
scientific study at
the University of
Oxford, the Museum
now holds the
University’s
internationally
significant
collections of
entomological,
geological and
zoological
specimens. Housed in
a stunning
Pre-Raphaelite-inspired
example of
neo-Gothic
architecture, the
Museum’s growing
collections underpin
a broad programme of
natural environment
research, teaching
and public
engagement. In 2015,
the Museum was a
Finalist in the Art
Fund Prize for
‘Museum of the
Year’. In 2016, it
won the top
accolade, ‘Best of
the Best’, in the
Museums and Heritage
Awards.
About Oxford
Printmakers
Co-operative: Oxford
Printmakers
Co-operative has
been running for
over forty years as
a non-profit making
organisation,
offering a high
standard of
professional
printmaking
facilities for a
hundred members in
their East Oxford
workshop. The group
will be displaying
further work
inspired by the
First Animals
exhibition at the
North Wall Arts
Centre in Oxford,
July 09-August 10,
2019.
Caption: Images:
Oxford University
Museum of Natural
History:::ω.
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Study and You Shall Learn: The Cheddar Man Says: The Ancient DNA
Shows Migrants Introduced Farming to Britain From Europe |
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|| Sunday: April 28:
2019: UCL News || ά.
Farming was brought
to Britain by
migrants from
continental Europe
and not adopted by
pre-existing
hunter-gatherers,
indicates a new
ancient DNA Study,
led by UCL and the
Natural History
Museum, in
collaboration with
Harvard University.
The Study, published
in Nature Ecology
and Evolution,
examines the DNA
from 47 Neolithic,
New Stone Age,
farmer skeletons,
dating from 6,000 to
4,500 years ago and
six Mesolithic,
Middle Stone Age,
hunter-gatherer
skeletons from the
preceding period,
11,600-6,000 years
ago, including, the
Cheddar Man, the
oldest,
near-complete human
skeleton found in
Britain.
Professor Mark
Thomas, UCL
Genetics, Evolution
and Environment, an
author of the Study,
said, “The
transition to
farming marks one of
the most important
technological
innovations in human
evolution. It first
appeared in Britain
around 6,000 years
ago; prior to that
people survived by
hunting, fishing and
gathering. For over
100 years
archaeologists have
debated, if, it was
brought to Britain
by immigrant
continental farmers
or, if, was adopted
by local
hunter-gatherers.
Our Study strongly
supports the view
that immigrant
farmers introduced
agriculture into
Britain and largely
replaced the
indigenous
hunter-gatherers
populations.”
In continental
Europe it is now
known that farming
was spread by
migrating farmer
populations, who,
ultimately,
originated in
regions around the
Aegean Sea, albeit,
with some mixing
with indigenous
hunter-gatherers.
Starting around
8,000 years ago,
they expanded
throughout
continental Europe
along two main
corridors: the
Mediterranean Sea
and the Rhine-Danube
axis of Central
Europe.
“But Britain is a
strange case.” said
Dr Tom Booth,
Archaeologist at the
Natural History
Museum:NHM and
co-author of the
Study. “Firstly,
farming was
practised for up to
1,000 years on the
other side of the
English Channel
before it came to
Britain, providing
plenty of time for
British
hunter-gatherers to
have adopted
agriculture through
interactions with
their continental
neighbours; a view,
that many
archaeologists hold
today. And,
secondly, prior to
our Study, nobody
had read the DNA of
those British
hunter-gatherers, to
see, if, they had
persisted and
adopted farming
practices
themselves.”
Dr Selina Brace,
ancient DNA
researcher at the
NHM and lead author
of the Study said,
“After extracting
DNA from Cheddar
Man’s inner ear
bone, we were
delighted at the
preservation of his
DNA. It’s likely
that the cool dry
burial conditions in
Gough’s Cave were a
key factor in
keeping his DNA
preserved.’’
“We found that
British Mesolithic
hunter-gatherers
were closely related
to other
hunter-gatherers
living previously in
Western Europe and
shared some aspects
of their
appearance.” said
co-author, Dr Yoan
Diekmann, UCL
Genetics, Evolution
and Environment.
“Like their
Mesolithic
continental
relatives, they had,
typically, dark skin
but light eye
pigmentation.”
Professor Thomas
said, “After 6,000
years ago we only
see farmers in
Britain and their
ancestry is
different. Not only
do they have
predominantly the
same Aegean ancestry
as other continental
farmers but, our
data suggest that
ancestry came to
Britain via the
Mediterranean
corridor.”
Professor Ian
Barnes, ancient DNA
expert at the NHM
and co-author of the
Study, said,
“Because continental
farmer populations
had mixed to some
extent with local
hunter-gatherers as
they expanded along
both the
Mediterranean and
Rhine-Danube
corridors, as well
as, later, we
expected to see some
mixing in Britain as
well.”
To our surprise and,
with the exception
of a few individuals
in Scotland, we see
little genetic
evidence of ancestry
from Cheddar Man and
British Mesolithic
hunter-gatherers in
early British
farmers or, indeed,
later. It is
difficult to say why
this is but, it, may
be, that those last
British
hunter-gatherers
were relatively few
in number. Even, if,
these two
populations had
mixed completely,
the ability of adapt
continental farmers
and their
descendants to
maintain larger
population sizes
would produce a
significant
diminishing of
hunter-gatherer
ancestry over time.”
Co-author Professor
David Reich, a
Harvard Geneticist
said, “By studying
ancient DNA, we see
that 90% of
Britain’s population
was replaced about
4,500 years ago by
large-scale
population movement
from the continent
and this new Study
shows a more
dramatic 99%
replacement a
millennium and a
half earlier. This
means that Briton’s
derive only about a
thousandth of their
ancestry from the
hunter-gatherers,
who inhabited the
island ~6,000 years
ago, highlighting,
how people living in
any one place today
are rarely the
primary descendants
of the people, who
lived in the same
place in the deep
past.”
While the new Study
answers the old
question of whether
farming was brought
to Britain by
continental farmers,
it does not answer
the question of why
it took so long for
farming populations
to move into Britain
after arriving in
northwest
continental Europe.
The researchers say
that it, may be, to
do with climate,
technology or,
perhaps, social
factors. The
megalith-building
cultures to which
the British
Neolithic belongs
have a peculiarly
maritime focus and
emerge out of
western France just
before the beginning
of the Neolithic in
Britain.
Dr Brace said, “We
see evidence for at
least two
populations of
farmers entering
Britain from
different parts of
continental Europe
around the same
time. After a
thousand years of
gazing across the
Channel, it is
curious to wonder
what changed in the
circumstances of
these farmers, which
meant that Britain
was suddenly seen to
be worth the
hassle.”:::ω.
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In Search of Darwin’s Rabbits: Or Rather Their
Bones: Or Better Still Their DNAs and the Mechanism of Their
Developing Resistance to Myxomatosis Through Natural Selection |
|
|
|| February 18:
2019: University of
Manchester News ||
ά. Nearly, seventy
years after
Myxomatosis
decimated the rabbit
populations of
Australia, Britain
and France, a new
Study shows how the
species has evolved
genetic resistance
to the disease
through natural
selection. This
unprecedented Study
of rabbit DNA,
spanning 150 years
and thousands of
miles has shown the
genetic basis for
the animal’s
fightback against
the deadly myxoma
virus. Using the
latest technology,
an international
team of researchers,
which included Dr
Liisa Loog from the
University of
Manchester and led
by the University of
Cambridge and CIBIO
Institute in Porto,
extracted DNA from
nearly 200 rabbits,
dating from
1865-2013,
including, one,
owned by Charles
Darwin.
The scientists,
then, sequenced
nearly 20,000 genes
to pinpoint
mutations, that have
emerged since the
Myxomatosis
pandemics of the
1950s. The Study,
published in the
journal Science,
establishes that
modern rabbits in
Australia, the UK
and France have
acquired resistance
to Myxomatosis
through the same
genetic changes. The
scientists, also,
discovered that this
resistance relies on
the cumulative
impact of multiple
mutations of
different genes.
Three, particularly,
significant
mutations were
discovered in the
IFN-alpha 21A gene,
which sets off a
protein-based alarm
in rabbit cells,
when a virus is
detected.
In the lab, the
researchers produced
the form of the
protein found in
rabbits in the 1950s
and the different
form found today.
Lead Author of the
Paper Mr Joel Alves
said, “We compared
rabbits, collected
before the virus
outbreak in the
1950s with modern
populations, that
evolved resistance
and found that the
same genes had
changed in all three
countries. Many of
these genes play a
key role in the
rabbit immune
system. Often,
evolution works
through big changes
in single genes but
our findings show
that resistance to
Myxomatosis likely
evolved through lots
of small effects
spread across the
genome.”
Professor Francis
Jiggins, Senior
Author of the Paper,
from Cambridge’s
Department of
Genetics, said, “We
sent these proteins
into battle with
different strains of
the virus and that’s
when we saw, on a
molecular level, how
rabbits have been
fighting back over
all these years.”
Australia unleashed
Myxomatosis on an
out of control
rabbit population in
1950. The European
rabbit is thought to
have been introduced
to the country by
Thomas Austin, an
English settler, in
the 1850s. Within a
century, they
numbered hundreds of
millions. The
species wreaked
havoc on Australia’s
native plants and
animals but in less
than three months,
Myxomatosis had
spread 2,000 km and
killed 99 per cent
of infected animals.
In 1952, the virus
was illegally
introduced in France
and in 1953 it
reached the UK,
leading to similarly
devastating results
in both countries.
Scientists soon
began tracking the
evolution of both
the virus and the
rabbits and in all
three countries,
they observed a
substantial drop in
fatality rates. They
concluded that this
was due to the
disease becoming
less virulent but,
also, rabbits
becoming more
resistant. Animal
populations exhibit
considerable genetic
variation in
susceptibility to
infection, which
allows for rapid
evolution of
resistance, when
exposed to new
diseases.
The pandemics of the
1950s triggered a,
particularly,
intense process of
natural selection.
Those initial
findings have become
a textbook example
of host-parasite
co-evolution but
this new study
offers a far more
detailed picture of
what has been
happening in
rabbits.
The researchers
collected historical
samples from 11
natural history
museums in the UK,
France, Australia
and the United
States. One of the
rabbits, from which
DNA was sequenced
belonged to Charles
Darwin and is now
housed in London’s
Natural History
Museum.
Mr Joel Alves said,
“It wasn’t easy to
get samples from so
many long-dead
rabbits. Not all
natural history
museums keep rabbits
because they are not
very exotic compared
to other species.
But the museums we
worked with have
done a great job of
keeping their
specimens well
preserved for
decades. This and
the availability of
new technology gave
us a unique
opportunity.”
At a time, when
rabbit populations
are collapsing
across the UK and
mainland Europe,
this research, may,
provide clues to the
animal’s future. The
researchers found
that the protein,
that helps rabbits
fend off the Myxoma
virus, also, has an
anti-viral effect on
an unrelated virus,
called, vesicular
stomatitis. Mr
Miguel Carneiro,
from CIBIO,
University of Porto,
said, “While
battling Myxoma,
rabbits, may, have
increased their
resistance to other
viruses, including,
perhaps, rabbit
haemorrhagic
disease, which is
killing so many
animals right now.”
Meanwhile, Myxoma
remains a serious
threat to rabbits.
“Viral evolution
appears to be
finding ways to
counter the genetic
adaptations, which
we’ve observed.
Recent, more
virulent recent
strains of Myxoma
virus, have been
found to be
extremely
immune-suppressive.
So, the arms race
goes on.” Mr Joel
Alves said.:::ω.
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100 Million-Year-Old Fossilised Fish Slime Shakes Up the Human
Family Tree |
 |
|| January 27: 2019: University
of Manchester News || ά. An
international team of
palaeontologists, including,
researchers from the University
of Manchester, have uncovered
evolutionary secrets hidden in
the 100-million-year-old fossil
of a hagfish, a slimy, eel-like
scavenger, that lived in an
ancient ocean. Researchers from
the University of Chicago
identified the first detailed
fossil of a hagfish along with
scientists from Manchester. The
Manchester team was led by
Professor Phil Manning and
Professor Roy Wogelius, who used
powerful x-rays, generated at
the Stanford Synchrotron
Radiation Lightsource, a cyclic
particle accelerator to scan a
unique fossil.
The results have helped answer
questions on when these ancient,
jawless fish branched-off the
vertebrate evolutionary tree.
The discovery is incredibly
important as it changes our view
of the evolutionary lineage,
that gave rise to modern-day
jawed vertebrates, from bony
fish to humans. The research is
being published in the
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. The fossil,
named, Tethymyxine Tapirostrum,
was discovered in Lebanon and is
a 30 cm long jawless fish,
embedded in a piece of
Cretaceous Period limestone.
Professor Manning, the Chair of
Natural History at the
University of Manchester, said,
“This is an extremely
significant discovery as it
recalibrates our understanding
of the evolutionary history of
all early vertebrates, an
ancestral line, that leads to
all jawed beasties, including us
Humans!
This wonderful fossil plugs a
100-million-year gap in the
fossil record and shows that
hagfish are more closely related
to the lamprey than to other
fishes. The chemical maps
produced at SSRL enabled our
team to see, for the first time,
the anatomical features so
crucial to the interpretation of
this very distant relative.”
Lampreys are another form of
ancient, blood-sucking, jawless
fish, also, still in existence
today. These findings show that
both the hagfish and lamprey
evolved their eel-like body form
and strange feeding systems
after they branched off from the
rest of the vertebrate line of
ancestry about 500 million years
ago.
Dr Tetsuto Miyashita, a Fellow
in the Department of Organismal
Biology and Anatomy at Chicago,
who led the research, said,
“This is a major reorganisation
of the family tree of all fish
and their descendants. This
allows us to put an evolutionary
date on unique traits, that set
hagfish apart from all other
animals.”
Hagfish have a unique defense
mechanism in the wild to ward
off ocean predators. When being
hunted in the sea, they can
instantly turn the water around
them into a cloud of slime,
clogging the gills of would-be
predators, such as sharks. It
was this ability to produce
slime that made Tethymyxine
fossil all the more important
and rare.’’
The discrete chemistry locked
within the fossil could only be
mapped using synchrotron-based
imaging techniques developed by
the Manchester:SSRL team.
Manchester is an established
world leader in the
synchrotron-based imaging of
fossil remains. This technique
has permitted the team to
identify the ‘chemical ghost’ of
the preserved soft tissue and
slime glands of the fossil. Soft
tissues are rarely preserved as
fossils, which is why there are
so few examples of ancient
hagfish relatives to study.
The scanning picked up a signal
for keratin, the same material,
that makes up fingernails in
humans. Keratin is a crucial
part of what makes the hagfish
slime defence so effective.
Professor Wogelius, the Chair of
Geo-chemistry at the University
of Manchester, said, ‘’Our team
at Manchester has been using
these increasingly sophisticated
imaging techniques to help us
better understand ancient
fossils and resolve chemistry
derived from both the organism
and the environment in which
they were preserved.”
Professor Manning said, ‘’This
‘chemical’ fossil has offered
new and exciting evidence that
has enabled a more robust
reconstruction of the vertebrate
family tree. However, it was,
only, made possible through the
collaboration of an
international team, as Darwin,
once, said, ‘’In the long
history of humankind and animal
kind, too, those, who learned to
collaborate and improvise most
effectively have prevailed.’’
Caption: Modern Hag Fish: Image:
University of Manchester:::ω.
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