A tiny Dik-dik is making a big impression at Chester Zoo. The little Antelope is being cared for by zoo staff after its mother passed away soon after giving birth.
Standing only about 8 inches tall at the shoulders, the tiny Kirk’s Dik-dik is being bottle fed by staff five times a day. He will continue to receive a helping hand until he is old enough to eat by himself.
Photo Credit: Chester Zoo
Assistant team manager Kim Wood and keeper Barbara Dreyer have both been caring for the new arrival, who is currently so light he doesn’t register a weight on the zoo’s set of antelope scales.
Kim said, “The youngster is beginning to find his feet now and is really starting to hold his own. We’re hopeful that, in a few months’ time, we’ll be able to introduce him to some of the other members of our group of Dik-diks. He may be tiny but he is certainly making a big impression on everyone at the zoo.”
Kirk’s Dik-diks grow to a maximum size of just 16 inches tall at the shoulders, making them one of the smallest species of Antelope in the world.
The species takes its name from Sir John Kirk, a 19th century Scottish naturalist, as well as the alarm calls made by female Dik-diks.
Kirk’s Dik-diks are native to northeastern Africa and conservationists say they mark their territory with fluid from glands between their toes and just under their eyes, not dissimilar to tears. Populations in the wild are stable.
A female Giant Anteater was born on December 28, at ZSL London Zoo, weighing just 1.2kg.
Keepers soon realized first-time mum Inca was unable to care for her infant and that the pup would need a helping hand. Staff recruited a special teddy bear to help take on the role of surrogate mum to the tiny new arrival.
Young Anteaters get around by clinging to their mother’s backs, so the newborn has been keeping a firm grip on zookeeper Amy Heath’s shoulder, before going to sleep cuddling her giant teddy bear.
Nicknamed “Beanie” by her keepers, the young grey and black colored female already has impressive curved claws, which will grow up to four inches in length and will eventually be used to dig around in the ground to find tasty ants and termites.
Zookeeper Amy Heath said, “ZSL London Zoo is home to a group of Giant Anteaters: male Bonito and his female mates, Inca and Sauna. We were delighted when we discovered Inca was pregnant; but unfortunately she rejected the infant so we’ve stepped in to help until the baby is big enough to go back in with her parents.
“Hand-rearing an animal is an amazing privilege, but it’s hard work too; we’ve been bottle-feeding Beanie every two to three hours with special replacement milk and making sure she’s kept warm at night with a temperature-controlled incubator.
“Giant Anteaters are an incredible species. They’re unique to look at, and their iconic snouts are perfectly designed to sniff out their food. While they’ve got no teeth, their claws are the perfect tools for digging an opening into ants’ nests, and Beanie has been practicing her digging skills on her teddy bear…or even sometimes my shoulder!
“We’re very pleased with how well Beanie is developing. At 1.6kg, she’s gained about half a kilo in a month, and is the ideal weight for her age. She’s a very strong youngster with a sweet personality; she loves to burrow her long snout into my neck for a cuddle!”
Photo Credits: ZSL London Zoo
Although Beanie may be small now, eventually she’ll grow to be around 7ft in length and weigh as much as 45kg. In the meantime, Amy has been keeping detailed records on everything the infant does, from eating and sleeping to even her toilet habits.
Though she’ll continue to be hand-fed until she’s around six-months-old, the stripy baby will soon be introduced to the rest of the Giant Anteater family at ZSL London Zoo, where keepers hope that more experienced female, Sauna, will take over other mothering duties, such as carrying Beanie around and socializing her, so she can grow up part of the group.
The Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), also known as the Ant Bear, is a large insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. The mostly terrestrial species is one of four living species of anteaters and is classified with sloths in the order Pilosa.
The Giant Anteater is classified as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Threats include habitat destruction, fire, and poaching for fur and bush meat. However, some anteaters inhabit protected areas.
To find out more about Beanie and the 18,000 other incredible residents at ZSL London Zoo visit: www.zsl.org
A bacterium first isolated in New York state’s Lake Oneida almost 30 years ago has an innate ability to generate electricity. And the little powerhouse might one day pave the way for making wastewater drinkable.
The bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, inspired researchers from the Bazan Research Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to create a chemically modified microbial fuel cell. Using iron and other minerals, Shewanella produces energy as part of its metabolism and relies on current-conducting proteins in its cell membrane for respiration.
The researchers created an iron-containing molecule, DSFO+, with a structure that could mimic those critical proteins in two mutant Shewanella bacteria. They sought to determine whether incorporating DSFO+ would allow electron transfer in a manner similar to the proteins’ function.
When the scientists examined the effect of DSFO+ on the organism, they discovered that they could not only improve its capacity to produce electricity but also use the molecule to replace the function of the naturally occurring proteins in mutant bacteria. Their enhancement resulted in the ability to change the behavior of microbial systems so that in the future such organisms could be used to treat wastewater through their electricity generation. Their group’s findings appear in the journal Chem.
“The protein replacement molecule that we constructed modifies the cell membrane so that it facilitates respiration by electron delivery to the membrane surface,” says coauthor Guillermo Bazan, a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the university’s Center for Polymers and Organic Solids.
“It’s a power-generating trick that gives us an opportunity to look into the behavior of microbial species in a way that didn’t exist before.”
“We aided the metabolism of the bacteria,” explains co-lead author Nathan Kirchhofer, a former UC Santa Barbara materials graduate student. “I think very few people have approached this from a chemical modification type of approach. We actually just took bacteria as they were and added an external agent that helps with their native process. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time this has been demonstrated.”
Why not use genetic modification?
Such organism modification is more often done via genetic engineering; however, the microbes that result cannot be released into the environment and are much more challenging to apply in practical applications.
The new method chemically modifies the microbe for a certain amount of time and as the microbe multiplies, the synthetic molecule dilutes and the system goes back to its original state. According to Bazan, this makes it possible to use these microorganisms in wastewater treatment in a way that cannot be done with their genetically modified counterparts.
Co-lead author Zachary Rengert, a chemistry graduate student, points out that genetic engineering is more complicated and difficult to perform. “Furthermore, genetic engineering is microorganism specific,” he says. “We envision our molecule to be applicable to a wide range of organisms.”
Lots of questions to pursue
However, the group’s controllable microbial electrocatalyst is more than just a demonstration of a new protocol.
“Now we have the means to electronically interrogate what’s going on inside the microorganism,” Bazan explains. “One idea is removing electrons, which is common and easily performed. But what happens if we provide electrons to carry out chemical reactions? Can also we monitor the health of that microorganism by its electronic signatures?
“If we put a drug in the organism, how does that impact its metabolism?” Bazan continues. “If we stress the microbe, how does it breathe? If it’s in a community of microorganisms, are they sending electronic signatures to let each other know what’s going on? Can we intercept that? Can we record that?
“These possibilities are becoming viable now and open up fundamentally new avenues of research.”
The expectation that big data alone will be enough to predict armed conflict is unrealistic, according a recent Science essay coauthored by Lars-Erik Cederman, professor of international conflict research at ETH Zurich. He explains why in this recent interview with ETH News.
An extinct tortoise species accidentally tumbled into a water-filled limestone sinkhole in the Bahamas about 1,000 years ago. It’s finally made its way out—with much of its DNA intact.
As the first sample of ancient DNA retrieved from an extinct tropical species, scientists say the genetic material could provide insight into the history of the Caribbean tropics and the reptiles that dominated them.
It could also offer clues to the region’s future, as the tropics undergo significant transformation due to climate change.
The fossil skull of the Bahamian tortoise. (Credit: U. Florida)
“This is the first time anyone has been able to put a tropical species into an evolutionary context with molecular data,” says David Steadman, an ornithology curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.
“And being able to fit together the tortoise’s evolutionary history together will help us better understand today’s tropical species, many of which are endangered.”
Scientists call the finding “boundary-pushing” and say that even after DNA was extracted from the tortoise bones, they weren’t optimistic that much information could be gleamed from it.
“Not only did we have DNA, we were surprised to find we could amplify it and sequence DNA beyond what we had available,” Steadman says.
“The tortoise went through a pretty ugly existence.”
Most ancient DNA has come from mammals that lived in temperate regions. “The two things that are really good for the long-term preservation of DNA are coldness and dryness,” Steadman says. “And the tropics typically provide neither one.”
(Credit: U. Florida)
A plastic 3D model created from the ancient tortoise’s shell rests easily in two hands, about the size of a football. Bite marks from crocodiles and other predators are visible on the surface. “The tortoise went through a pretty ugly existence,” Steadman says.
After retrieving the tortoise from Sawmill Sink, a deep blue hole in the Bahamas with steep vertical walls, scuba divers found not only the shell intact, but the entire skeleton. “That’s really unheard of in the fossil record, especially in the West Indies,” Steadman says.
Access to the tortoise’s skeleton and DNA allowed Florida Museum herpetologist emeritus and study coauthor Richard Franz to describe its anatomy and structure in as much detail as modern species. Divers found other giant tortoises preserved in the water, but performed DNA analysis on only one for the published study.
“In the fossil record, so many species are described just from a few fragments that exist, and while it’s a lot better than nothing, you don’t get to characterize the entire critter,” Steadman says. “Whereas, with this tortoise, well, here it is.”
As reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the tortoise skeleton contained bone collagen, a protein, which allowed scientists to radiocarbon date the animal and find out when it died. Several other tortoises that were also found in the Bahamas—though not as well preserved—helped researchers determine the species went extinct about 780 years ago, soon after the arrival of human settlers in the area.
“There’s a correlation that the arrival of humans spelled the demise of the tortoises,” Steadman says. “It’s probably a blend of direct hunting and habitat loss as the humans started burning the forests in the dry season.”
The chemical composition of the water in Sawmill Sink prevented the decay of animals that fell into the water and sunk to the bottom 80 feet down. The secret: water with no oxygen. The water in Sawmill Sink is stratified, or has several layers. The decay of plants and animals removes the oxygen from the water deeper than 70 feet, helping to preserve the fossils.
Although the conditions in Sawmill Sink are an exception rather than a rule, the findings give scientists more hope of finding material from other extinct tropical species.
“We now know so much about the tortoise’s anatomy, how it lived, and its evolutionary context,” he says. “To be able to do that with other species is a goal.”
A study that may sound a new alarm for endangered corals shows that small marine protected areas may be especially vulnerable to attack by crown-of-thorns sea stars (Acanthaster species), which can devastate reefs.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE, don’t diminish the importance of protected areas, but point to a new threat that may emerge from the degraded areas that often surround healthy ecosystems, says Mark Hay, professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“The marine protected areas that are enforced in the Fiji Islands are having a remarkable effect. The corals and fishes are recovering. But once these marine protected areas are successful, they attract the sea stars which can make the small marine protected areas victims of their own success.”
Fishes and healthy coral show the benefits of marine protected areas. (Credit: Cody Clements, Georgia Tech)
The research, conducted on marine protected areas in the Fiji Islands, conflicts with earlier studies that showed diminished sea star threats in large-scale marine protected areas.
“Successful small marine protected areas are like oases in the desert that may attract the sea stars, which can move tens of meters per day from degraded areas into the more pristine areas,” says graduate student Cody Clements, who conducted the research. “One of the potential benefits of marine protected areas was supposed to be protection against these outbreaks, but that didn’t seem to be the case in the areas we studied.”
In the Fiji Islands and other areas of the tropical Pacific, many villages have established marine protected areas where the local residents don’t allow fishing. Protecting the fish helps control seaweeds that harm the coral, a foundation species whose presence helps ensure a healthy ecosystem. Enforcing the ban on fishing depends on community support for protecting the reefs, which are part of the local culture—and can provide economic benefits through tourism and spillover of fish to the areas where harvest is allowed.
The impact of the restored reefs goes beyond the recovered areas, which can contribute coral and fish larvae to help repopulate nearby areas.
Sea stars are natural predators that attack coral by climbing onto reefs and turning their stomachs inside out to digest the coral. Large populations of sea stars can rapidly degrade reefs, consuming healthy coral and causing large-scale coral decline in a matter of weeks.
To determine the extent of the problem and learn if the sea stars indeed preferred marine protected areas, Clements studied reefs within and immediately surrounding three marine protected areas on the Coral Coast of the Fiji Islands. First, he conducted a survey to determine population densities of the predators on both protected reefs and fished reefs outside their borders.
The protected areas had as many as 3.4 times as many of the pests as the fished areas, and their densities were high enough to be considered Acanthaster sea star outbreaks.
Tag and track sea stars
Next, he tagged 40 sea stars and caged 20 on the eastern and 20 on the western borders of each protected area for two days before releasing them. Clements tracked each sea star, recording whether they had entered the protected or fished areas, and how far they moved into each. Nearly three-quarters of the sea stars entered the marine protected areas rather than the fished areas.
A crown-of-thorns sea star is shown in a cage used to hold the animals prior to release. (Credit: Cody Clements, Georgia Tech)
“There seems to be something that is attracting them to the protected areas,” Clements says. “They are picking up on something, but we don’t necessarily know what it is.” The research did not examine chemical cues that may be attracting the sea stars, though other studies have suggested the scent of corals being consumed may draw the crown-of-thorns.
The researchers believe the degraded coral reefs may protect the juvenile sea stars, which often hide by day until they reach a certain size. Adult sea stars have poisonous spines to protect them against fish or other potential enemies.
Once they reach a certain size, they may move into areas with higher coral density.
‘Follow the feeding scars’
Though the small size of the Fijian protected areas—averaging less than a square kilometer—may be a negative for protecting against the sea stars, they could be a positive in efforts to control the pest. Teams of local residents could capture the predators in periodic harvests to keep populations at lower densities, Hay says.
The animals can hide in the reefs, but their feeding habits usually make them visible. “Once you deal with them enough, you don’t have to see them to know where they are,” said Clements. “You can follow the feeding scars they leave on the coral. Where the scar ends, you know you’ll find one nearby.”
The sea stars are a natural part of the tropical Pacific environment, and outbreaks have been known for years. But there is concern that the densities of the pests and number of outbreaks have been increasing at a time when the coral reefs are more vulnerable.
“Reefs are facing many novel stressors today,” Clements says. “They might have been able to tolerate crown-of-thorns attacks in the past that are too much for them now. There are multiple threats facing coral reef ecosystems, and this doesn’t help.”
Coral conservation efforts can require a decade to show results, and Hay hopes the latest threat will not discourage designation of marine protected areas.
“Our findings do not negate the value of the protected areas, but raise an issue of concern to the people who manage them. This looks like a threat that could be accelerating, and we wanted to raise the awareness.”
The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Teasley Endowment at Georgia Tech supported the work.
The red berries of the Brazilian peppertree—a weedy, invasive plant common in Florida—contain an extract with the power to disarm antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria, a new study shows.
“Traditional healers in the Amazon have used the Brazilian peppertree for hundreds of years to treat infections of the skin and soft tissues,” says Cassandra Quave, assistant professor of dermatology at Emory University. “We pulled apart the chemical ingredients of the berries and systematically tested them against disease-causing bacteria to uncover a medicinal mechanism of this plant.”
A refined, flavone-rich composition extracted from the berries inhibits formation of skin lesions in mice infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus auereus (MRSA). The compound works not by killing the MRSA bacteria, but by repressing a gene that allows the bacteria cells to communicate with one another.
Blocking that communication prevents the cells from taking collective action, a mechanism known as quorum quenching.
“It essentially disarms the MRSA bacteria, preventing it from excreting the toxins it uses as weapons to damage tissues,” Quave says. “The body’s normal immune system then stands a better chance of healing a wound.”
Growing drug-resistance
The discovery, published in Scientific Reports, may hold potential for new ways to treat and prevent antibiotic-resistant infections, a growing international problem that causes at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths in the United States, each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United Nations last year called antibiotic-resistant infections a “fundamental threat” to global health and safety, citing estimates that they cause at least 700,000 deaths each year worldwide, with the potential to grow to 10 million deaths annually by 2050.
“The Brazilian peppertree is not some exotic and rare plant found only on a remote mountaintop somewhere. It’s a weed.”
Blasting deadly bacteria with drugs designed to kill them is helping to fuel the problem of antibiotic resistance. Some of the stronger bacteria may survive these drug onslaughts and proliferate, passing on their genes to offspring and leading to the evolution of deadly “super bugs.”
In contrast, the Brazilian peppertree extract works by simply disrupting the signaling of MRSA bacteria without killing it. The researchers also found that the extract does not harm the skin tissues of mice, or the normal, healthy bacteria found on skin.
“In some cases, you need to go in heavily with antibiotics to treat a patient,” Quave says. “But instead of always setting a bomb off to kill an infection, there are situations where using an anti-virulence method may be just as effective, while also helping to restore balance to the health of a patient. More research is needed to better understand how we can best leverage anti-virulence therapeutics to improve patient outcomes.”
It’s not tough to find
The Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) is native to South America but thrives in subtropical climates. It is abundant in much of Florida, and has also crept into southern areas of Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and California. Sometimes called the Florida holly or broad leaf peppertree, the woody plant forms dense thickets that crowd out native species.
“The Brazilian peppertree is not some exotic and rare plant found only on a remote mountaintop somewhere,” Quave says. “It’s a weed, and the bane of many a landowner in Florida.”
From an ecological standpoint, it makes sense that weeds would have interesting chemistry, Quave adds. “Persistent, weedy plants tend to have a chemical advantage in their ecosystems, which help may protect them from diseases so they can more easily spread in a new environment.”
Quave is now doing additional research to confirm the safest and most effective means of using the Brazilian peppertree extract. The next step would be pre-clinical trials to test its medicinal benefits, says Quave, who studies how indigenous people incorporate plants in healing practices to uncover promising candidates for new drugs.
“If the pre-clinical trials are successful, we will apply for an application to pursue clinical trials, under the Food and Drug Administration’s botanical drug pathway.”
Chestnut trees, too
The Brazilian peppertree finding follows another discovery made by the Quave lab in 2015: The leaves of the European chestnut tree also contain ingredients with the power to disarm staph bacteria without increasing its drug resistance.
While both the Brazilian peppertree and chestnut tree extracts disrupted the signaling needed for quorum quenching, the two extracts are made up of different chemical compounds.
“The latest classes of antibiotics introduced to the market were actually discovered between the 1950s and 1980s,” Quave says. “Scientists have just been building off the same building blocks of earlier classes and modifying them slightly to create new antibiotics. Examining the extracts of plants used by traditional healers for infections may open up discovery of new chemical scaffolds for drug design, and provide important pathways for battling antibiotic-resistance.”
Additional researchers from Emory and from the University of Iowa are coauthors of the work, which was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health.
Thinking about this a lot lately, about my own feelings and about how to care for carers.
There are more than 34 million people in the US who care for terminally ill loved ones, but few resources are available to help them navigate the challenges they encounter.
A new study published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine finds that nearly one-quarter of caregivers are moderately or severely depressed and nearly one-third have moderate or severe anxiety. Researchers recommend that health providers remember to treat the whole family, providing ongoing screening to caregivers to identify early signs of depression and anxiety.
“While some sadness and worry are expected components of caring for a dying family member or loved one, clinical depression and anxiety shouldn’t be,” says Debra Parker-Oliver, professor of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
“We have a population that is under immense stress and is not being acknowledged. Basic assessment tools should be used to help increase the likelihood of early detection and treatment of depression and anxiety in family caregivers.”
Researchers conducted depression and anxiety assessments with 395 family caregivers and found that 23 percent of caregivers were moderately or severely depressed, and 33 percent of caregivers had moderate or severe anxiety. Further, caregivers demonstrated several risk factors associated with depression and anxiety.
“We found that younger caregivers were more likely to be depressed or anxious,” Parker-Oliver says. “We also found that caregivers who are married and caring for a family member with a diagnosis other than cancer, such as Alzheimer’s disease, had higher levels of depression.”
“We have a population that is under immense stress and is not being acknowledged.”
Many of these simple assessments are not used because of the misconceived notion among health providers that the family caregivers are not their patients, Parker-Oliver says.
“Health providers usually are more focused on the terminally ill patient instead of the entire family. However, in many scenarios, it is a family disease. It’s fair to say they have two patients: the caregiver and the person who is terminally ill.”
Assessment tools for depression and anxiety are widely affordable and have the potential for improved clinical outcomes for family caregivers in need of additional support.
The National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Cancer Institute funded the work.
The Alice Springs Desert Park, in the Northern Territory, Australia, has successfully produced fourteen new resident Thorny Devil Lizards.
The recent hatching of the fourteen healthy Thorny Devils (Moloch horridus), also known as Thorny Dragon, adds to the Desert Park’s diverse range of wildlife currently available for viewing.
Specialist Keeper, Invertebrates and Reptiles, Pete Nunn said that the Desert Park is thrilled to have such an extensive collection of Thorny Devils in captivity. “Thorny Devils are not normally kept, let alone bred at most zoos and wildlife parks around Australia,” he said. “The Thorny Devil usually lives in the arid scrub land and desert that covers most of Central Australia. For example, it inhabits the Tanami and Simpson Desert in the deep interior.”
Photo Credits: Alice Springs Desert Park
Over time the Thorny Devils have evolved and adapted to the environment they live in.
“Thorny Devils live on a diet of nothing but small black ants. They feed in the cooler mornings and late afternoon,” Mr. Nunn continued. “When they locate a trail of ants they lick them up with their short, sticky tongue. Thorny Devils might eat a thousand or more ants in a single meal.”
When it comes to hydration, Thorny Devils collect moisture in the dry desert by the condensation of dew on their bodies at night.
“This dew forms on its skin, and then it is channeled to its mouth in microscopic grooves between its spines,” said Mr. Nunn.
The hatchlings took 98 days to incubate and weighed in at a tiny two grams.
From the fourteen total Thorny Devils that hatched, four are on display at the Alice Springs Desert Park’s nocturnal house, sand country exhibit.
This is an alien whose visit is not going as planned
A tiny Red Kangaroo abandoned by her mother has another shot at life thanks to the dedication of Brevard Zoo’s animal care team.
The as-yet-unnamed female, who is approximately five months old, was discovered out of her mother's pouch on Monday, January 23. She was likely ejected from the pouch due to stress from a storm the night prior. After several unsuccessful attempts to reunite the joey with her mother Jacie, animal care managers made the decision to raise the joey by hand. This joey is Jacie’s fifth baby.
Photo Credit: Brevard Zoo
“Red Kangaroos don’t start emerging from the pouch until they’re about seven months old,” said Michelle Smurl, the Zoo’s director of animal programs. “We think this joey is five months old, so the situation is still very precarious.”
Keepers feed the joey every four hours, day and night, and weigh her once per day.
Joeys are born after a 33-day gestation and complete their development in the pouch, fully emerging for the first time at seven months. At that time, the joey begins to nibble grass and leaves, but returns to the pouch to nurse until it is about a year old.
Red Kangaroos are found only in Australia and are the largest of all the world’s marsupials (pouched mammals). They inhabit Australia’s arid interior and can survive on very small amounts of water. Red Kangaroos stand more than six feet tall and weigh well over 150 pounds. The species is not currently under threat.
reasons for sharing include: 1) Haircuts 2) Dismay 3) Shouting with fruit in mouths
Taronga Zoo is celebrating the birth of a tiny, boiled egg-loving Cotton-top Tamarin.
The baby was born on December 10, but has just started to explore on its own and sample solid foods, to the delight of keepers and keen-eyed visitors.
“We’re beginning to see the baby climbing off mum or dad’s back to explore. It’s started to run along tree branches and it’s grabbing food out of mum’s hands. It really seems to enjoy eggs, along with little pieces of carrot and sweet potato,” said Primate Keeper, Alex Wright.
Keepers are yet to name or determine the sex of the baby, which is the first Cotton-top Tamarin born at Taronga in 10 years. The baby is also the first for mum and dad, Esmeralda and Diego, who are proving to be particularly attentive parents.
“Diego is playing a very active role in caring for the baby. We usually see the baby on his back during the day, so mum must be doing the night shift,” said Alex.
Native to the forests of northwest Colombia, Cotton-top Tamarins usually weigh less than 500 grams as adults and are sometimes likened to tiny punks due to their distinctive crest of white hair.
“The baby does have an impressive mohawk, but it’s quite flat at this early stage. Once it gets a bit older we’d expect that little mo’ to really grow,” said Alex.
Classed as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN, with less than 6,000 remaining in the wild, Cotton-top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) have lost more than 75% of their original habitat in northwestern Colombia to deforestation. They are also threatened by capture for the illegal pet trade.
Taronga has partnered with TRAFFIC to help protect Cotton-top Tamarins and other targets of illegal wildlife trade through its Wildlife Witness app.
The world-first app allows tourists and locals to easily report wildlife trade using their smartphone by taking a photo, pinning the exact location of an incident and sending these important details to TRAFFIC.
“Illegal wildlife trade is one of the greatest threats facing Cotton-top Tamarins and many other species. We want visitors to Taronga to not only learn more about these endearing little primates, but also how they can help their wild counterparts by downloading the Wildlife Witness app,” said Alex.
Wildlife Witness is available for iPhone or Android and is free to download from the app store. For more information, please see the Taronga Zoo's web page: "Wildlife Witness /Taronga Zoo"
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo recently celebrated the hatching of a healthy African Penguin chick on December 13.
When the new chick hatched, it weighed approximately 51 grams, or just shy of 2 ounces (about the same as two slices of bread). Thanks to successful care by its first-time parents, it has already grown to about 2.5 pounds, or 40 ounces, in just over a month. That means the chick has grown by 20 times its initial hatch weight in approximately 35 days.
“Even at just over 30 days old, it’s already pretty feisty,” said Patty Wallace, lead Aquatics animal keeper. “That’s a good sign, since it’s a natural defense mechanism for chicks in the wild.”
The chick is being cared for by its parents, Murphy and Joe, in an off-exhibit area for now and is not currently viewable to the public. Once the chick molts for the first time and grows its adult feathers, it will be safe for it to be socialized with the rest of the flock in the main exhibit. Until the adult feathers come in, the chick doesn’t have waterproof protection, so it needs to be kept away from the exhibit’s pool for safety.
Keepers named the chick “Penny”. Although they will not know the gender of the chick until DNA testing is conducted, this unisex name serves as a nod to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s founder, Spencer Penrose, and the fact that the Zoo considers the chick their “lucky Penny.”
Photo Credits: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Although the Zoo has had previous Penguin hatchlings, past chicks were, unfortunately, not viable past 10 days. However, the Zoo felt that it was still important to allow the birds to do what came naturally by laying eggs, and keepers saw the egg incubating experience as helpful to the adults in the flock.
Veterinarians and Penguin experts are not sure why the offspring have been unsuccessful until now. However, several theories trace back to the Zoo’s aging Hippo and Penguin exhibit that was built in 1959. The Zoo is currently working to address those concerns with a $10.4 million capital campaign called Making Waves, which will fund new state-of-the-art buildings for both Hippos and Penguins.
The Zoo is excited to be planning a new exhibit for the Penguins that will address concerns about an outdated air filtration system that shared air between the Hippos and Penguins, as well as with a non-public maintenance workshop. Penguins have notoriously sensitive respiratory systems, which are even more sensitive in newly hatched chicks. The Zoo’s Hippos were recently relocated to Springfield, MO while their new exhibit is built, and the maintenance shop has also moved. The Zoo thinks these changes may have helped improve the new chick’s health.
The Zoo anticipates that the new chick will be able to go on public exhibit sometime in late February or early March, after it’s safe for it to have access to the pool. After that, guests will have about 30 to 60 days to visit the Penguins before they leave Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to make way for construction on a new exhibit.
“It’s bittersweet that our chick will have to leave so soon, but we’re so thankful for the time we were able to spend caring for it,” said Wallace.
To date, the Zoo has raised $8.7 million of the total needed to build a modern new home for Penguins and Hippos. One new feature of the exhibit will be separate air filtration systems for the two species, which could help produce healthier offspring in the future. Another feature will allow Penguins the opportunity to go outside at will, which they are not able to do in the current exhibit.
To make a contribution to the “Making Waves” fundraising campaign for the Zoo’s new Hippo and Penguin exhibits, please visit: www.cmzoo.org/makingwaves .
African Penguins are endangered in the wild, and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s guests have been actively working to save them through contributions to the Zoo’s Quarters for Conservation (Q4C) program. Each guest contributes 75¢ to conservation every time they visit the Zoo. Over the past seven years, more than $75,000 has been donated from the Q4C fund to South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), an organization in Africa that does hands-on work to save Penguins in the wild.
A baby Nile Hippopotamus arrived six weeks ahead of schedule at the Cincinnati Zoo, and the staff is now providing critical care for the premature calf, which is the first to be born at the zoo in 75 years.
Seventeen-year-old Hippo Bibi gave birth on January 24 but the calf, a female, was not expected until March. Because the premature calf was unable to stand and nurse from Bibi, the veterinary staff moved the baby to the zoo’s nursery where she can receive around-the-clock care. Hippos are pregnant for about 243 days.
Photo Credit: Cincinnati Zoo
When the baby was two days old, staff placed her in a shallow pool. The pool time will help her build strength and gain balance, and help to maintain an optimal body temperature of 96-98 degrees. Most baby Hippos are born in the water, but they can't swim.
“We are giving her fluids and keeping her moist and warm,” said Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the Cincinnati Zoo. “Her little system is underdeveloped, and getting her to a healthy weight will be a challenge. Vets and animal staff are doing everything they can to get her through this critical time.”
You can find daily updates from the Cincinnati Zoo about the baby, which has been named Fiona, here.
The baby weighs 29 pounds, which is about 25 pounds lighter than the lowest recorded birth weight for this species. The normal range for newborn Hippos is 55-120 pounds. “She looks like a normal calf but is very, very small. Her heart and lungs sound good and she is pretty responsive to stimuli, but we aren’t sure how developed her muscles and brain are,” said Gorsuch. Adult Hippos weigh one-and-a-half to two tons.
When Bibi showed signs of labor, zoo staff performed an ultrasound that showed a major shift in the baby and confirmed that it was on the way. During the procedure, keepers were able to collect milk from her.
“We’re hoping to get the baby to drink Bibi’s milk and other supplements from a bottle. We’ll continue to milk Bibi so we can provide these important nutrients to the baby and also stimulate production so she’s ready to nurse when the baby is strong enough to be back with mom,” said Gorsuch.
Vets and animal care staff are providing round-the-clock intensive care for the baby in close proximity to Bibi and Henry, the 35-year-old father of the calf. The team is not sure how long it will take to get the premature calf on her feet. That developmental milestone must be reached before she can be reunited with Bibi.
There’s a new “miracle baby” at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park—and this time, it has wings. A 12-day-old Rodrigues Fruit Bat is flying ahead of schedule in his development, despite a rough delivery.
On January 11, Bat keepers at the Safari Park noticed female Fruit Bat Patty was behaving abnormally and didn’t greet animal care staff during their morning rounds. Keepers determined that the first-time mother was having labor difficulties. Patty was brought to the park’s medical center, where veterinarians performed the first-ever emergency C-section on a Rodrigues Fruit Bat. Unfortunately, Patty did not survive. To ensure the pup’s survival, animal care staff is providing round-the-clock care until the pup is old enough to be introduced to the rest of the Bat colony.
Photo Credit: San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The male pup is the second Rodrigues Fruit Bat ever to be hand reared at the nursery. Patty was the first. Hand raising this winged mammal is no easy task: It requires a very detailed regimen and lots of affection. The pup spends all of his time attached to a “sock mom” that mimics his mother. To properly regulate his body temperature and provide enough humidity to maintain pliable wings, the pup stays in a controlled incubator set between 85 and 89 degrees Fahrenheit, with 75 percent humidity. Animal care staff feed the youngster inside the incubator every two hours, and feedings can take up to 45 minutes. “He tends to fall asleep during his feedings,” says Kimberly Millspaugh, senior animal keeper. “Sometimes he wants to play or just wants attention, so getting him to finish can be challenging.” Careful feedings are required to avoid asphyxiation. The pup receives human infant formula because Bats cannot synthesize their own vitamin C, which the formula contains. Following every feeding, the youngster is bathed with a damp cotton ball, dried off and wrapped in a warm blanket, to mimic his mother’s cradling wings.
The critically endangered Rodrigues Fruit Bat is only found on Rodrigues Island, located about 300 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Most of this Bat population is found in a single colony, at three roost sites they have used for more than 50 years. As tamarind and mango trees, which produce the Bats’ favored fruits, were cut to plant other crops, food sources for the Bats dwindled, as did the Bats’ numbers. Following a cyclone in 2003, which destroyed habitat and swept Bats out to sea, they numbered only about 4,000. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has established a breeding colony as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan program in order to create a sustainable population. San Diego Zoo Global has also partnered with the Rodrigues Environmental Educator Programme, working with school and community groups to support Bat conservation.
Bats do more than earn their keep—insect-eating Bats prevent diseases like West Nile virus and help save crops from pests, and fruit-eaters pollinate plants and disperse seeds. Bat droppings support bacteria useful to humans, including the production of antibiotics.
On November 12, Potawatomi Zoo staff discovered their female Giant Anteater had given birth. The new male pup was born to parents Corndog and Jo Hei and has been nicknamed “Pickle”.
The healthy pup weighed in at just over 3lbs at birth, and at his latest veterinary check, on December 28, 2016, weighed over 12lbs. Pickle has been observed nursing, riding on mom, and most recently, being encouraged by mom to stand and play.
Pickle will spend most of his time for the next year, clinging to mom. Keepers report that it would not be unheard of for the youngster to be half as big as mom and still be catching a ride at his first birthday!
Photo Credits: Potawatomi Zoo
Pickle’s mom, Corndog, was born at Fresno Zoo in January 2006, and first arrived at Potawatomi Zoo in June 2007. She left for Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI, in June 2011 on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, where she was introduced to Jo Hei. Together, they produced two offspring: one female in 2012 and one male in 2014.
Still under recommendation from the AZA’s Species Survival Plan, Corndog returned to Potawatomi Zoo in December 2015 and brought her mate Jo Hei along with her.
Jo Hei and Corndog were observed breeding in the Spring of 2016, and subsequent ultrasounds confirmed pregnancy. Corndog successfully received numerous ultrasounds from veterinary staff during her pregnancy, to monitor both the health of mom and baby.
As South American natives, Giant Anteaters prefer warmer weather and mom and baby may not be seen, in the outdoor exhibit at Potawatomi Zoo, until consistently warmer temperatures are reached.
However, the Zoo reports that their adult male anteaters, Jo Hei and Barques, are already acclimated to the cooler local climate, and will be available for outdoor viewing when outdoor temps near 50 degrees.
The Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), also known as the ant bear, is a large insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. They can live between 15 to 20 years in protected conservation facilities.
The species is currently listed as “Vulnerable” to extinction by the IUCN. Shockingly, Giant Anteaters are among the top species killed on the roadways in their native environments in South America, and as a result, their population is listed as decreasing.
The Potawatomi Zoo is a sponsor of the conservation project Anteaters & Highways (www.giantanteater.org) in support of research to address the threats to Giant Anteaters and help save this iconic species in the wild.
When Quetta the Indian Rhinoceros, who is normally calm and relaxed, began nervously pacing at the Basel Zoo on Saturday, January 7, keepers suspected that she might be in labor. Quetta remained in her stall all night, alternately standing and lying down. Around 11:45 PM, she delivered a healthy male calf after a 492-day pregnancy.
Born while his mother was standing up, the calf, named Orys, landed on his back but soon rolled onto his stomach. Within an hour he was standing on wobbly legs. Though he is tiny compared to his mother, Orys weighed an impressive 150 pounds a few days after birth.
Photo Credit: Basel Zoo
Basel Zoo has a long history of breeding Rhinos. Orys is Quetta’s fourth calf and the 35th Indian Rhinoceros to be reared at Basel Zoo. The first Indian Rhino birth in a European Zoo occurred at Basel Zoo in 1956.
Every Rhino birth is significant. Once ranging across Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Indian Rhinos are now found only in a few protected areas in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Indian Rhinos are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with about 3,500 individuals remaining in the wild. Indian Rhinos are one of five Rhino species in the world, and all are under threat.
Basel Zoo coordinates the International Studbook and the European Endangered Species Programme for Indian Rhinos and is active in the ‘Indian Rhino Vision 2020’ project to conserve wild Rhinos in India. Globally, about 220 Indian Rhinos live in zoos.
Adventure Aquarium welcomed its own “Baby New Year” for 2017. Last week, the New Jersey facility announced the arrival of their new Loggerhead Sea Turtle hatchling.
The young turtle hatched in August and will call Adventure Aquarium home for most of the year. This coming fall, it will be released into the Gulf Stream, off the coast of North Carolina, along with other yearlings from aquariums all over the country.
Staff says they won’t know the gender of the little one, as that can’t be identified until a Loggerhead Sea Turtle reaches sexual maturity at the approximate age of 21.
Each year, Adventure Aquarium welcomes a hatchling from North Carolina Aquarium, at Pine Knoll Shores Sea Turtle Program, to rehabilitate for one year. Biologists will help guide and train the hatchling to do activities it would normally do in the wild as a sort of “survival school” for Sea Turtles.
“The hatchling came to us weighing 86 grams [a little over 3 oz.] and is now over 226 grams, or just under eight ounces,” said Nikki Grandinetti, Curator of Fish and Invertebrates at Adventure Aquarium. “He loves jellies and shrimp. He’s also very active and investigates anything with his mouth.”
Photo Credits: Adventure Aquarium
During the month of January, Adventure Aquarium is also asking guests to help select the name of the young turtle at a voting station located in the Main Lobby of the Aquarium. The name options are: Darwin, Griswold, Groot and Tina. Using spare change, guests visiting Adventure Aquarium will be able to vote for their favorite name choice. The winning name will be announced this coming February.
Check Adventure Aquarium’s website and social accounts for the latest news about their Loggerhead hatchling, as well as the other Aquarium animals, events and more: http://www.adventureaquarium.com
December 21st not only marked the beginning of winter, it also marked the arrival of a special new resident of Zoo Miami…a Giant Anteater pup!
This is the first Giant Anteater birth in the history of the zoo. Mom is 3 years old and arrived at Zoo Miami in 2014 from Zoo Boise. The first time dad is 7 years old and arrived from Busch Gardens in 2010. Although the new pup recently had its first neonatal exam, it is still difficult to determine the sex. So far, the baby is healthy and is successfully nursing, and the first time mother is exhibiting outstanding maternal care.
Zoo Miami’s newborn will ride on its mother’s back for up to a year before becoming more independent.
Keepers report that it will be several weeks before the Giant Anteater pup will be exhibited to the public to insure that it is well bonded with its mother and progressing normally.
Photo Credits: Ron Magill/ Zoo Miami
Giant Anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) are the largest of the four Anteater species and boast one of the most fascinating tongues in the animal kingdom. They are specialist predators of termites and ants and may consume tens of thousands of these tiny nutritious insects every day. Anteaters are edentate animals; they have no teeth. Ant and termite nests are ripped open with their powerful claws, and the tongue acts as animated flypaper. These tongues can protrude more than 2 feet (60 cm) to capture prey. Ants possess a painful sting when attacked, so Anteaters have to eat quickly. They do so by flicking their tongue up to 160 times per minute to avoid being stung. An Anteater may spend only a minute feasting on each mound. They never destroy a nest, preferring to return and feed again in the future.
Anteaters are generally solitary animals, except during the mating season. After a gestation period of around 190 days, the female produces a single pup, which weighs approximately 1.3kg. The female gives birth standing up and the young Anteater immediately climbs onto her back. The young are born with a full coat of hair and adult-like markings, aligning with their mother’s camouflaging. A mother will carry the baby on her back for approximately 6 to 9 months (until it is almost half her size). The young suckle for 2 to 6 months and become independent after roughly 2 years, or when the mother becomes pregnant again.
Giant Anteaters are prey for Jaguars and Pumas in the wild. They typically flee from danger by galloping away, but if cornered, they use their immense front claws to defend themselves, rearing up on their hind legs, striking their attacker violently with their powerful claws and are capable of inflicting fatal wounds to predators.
The Giant Anteater is considered to be the most threatened mammal of Central America and is feared extinct in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Giant Anteaters are listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat loss, road kills, hunting and wildfires have substantially affected their population numbers over the last ten years. Scientists estimate that 5,000 individuals are left in the wild.
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo welcomed its first critically endangered Malayan Tiger cub on September 11, and the beautiful girl, named Berisi, recently made her public debut!
The cub was born to Bzui (pronounced Ba-ZOO-ee), and has been cared for, by mom, in a den off exhibit.
“The cub is growing normally and nursing well,” said Dr. Larry Killmar, the Zoo’s Chief Zoological Officer. “Our Zoo is proud to be working to preserve a species like the Malayan tiger, which is facing a growing number of threats in the wild.”
New mother, Bzui, arrived at the Zoo last spring to join her mate, Mata, on a recommendation from the Association of Zoo’s and Aquarium’s Malayan Tiger Species Survival Plan.
Photo Credits: Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo
The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) subspecies was not recognized officially until 2004. They are the smallest in size of all tiger species, with an average weight of 260 pounds for adult males and 220 pounds for females.
Poaching and rapid habitat decline are the primary causes for their continued population decline. Heightened human and animal conflict, due to expanding development, has also been a factor in their endangerment. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the Malayan Tiger as “Critically Endangered”.
Aside from maintaining a breeding program, the Lowry Park Zoo also offers regular tiger trainer talks and demonstrations, at their Asian Gardens habitat. By helping guests understand and make a connection with animals at their facility, the Zoo hopes they can encourage others to care and protect this at-risk species.
the more I look at it the more I'm sure it's an alien
A rare Rothschild’s Giraffe calf born on Boxing Day (December 26) at Chester Zoo has been described by keepers as “the best Christmas gift.”
The six-foot-tall youngster, which is yet to be sexed or named, arrived to first time mother Tula at around 7:00 am and was up on its feet just minutes later.
Photo Credit: Chester Zoo
Rothschild’s Giraffes are one of the most endangered subspecies of Giraffe and one of the world’s most at-risk species. Recent estimates suggest that less than 1,600 individuals remain in the wild, primarily as a result of poaching and habitat loss.
Sarah Roffe, team manager of Giraffes at the zoo, said, “Rothschild’s Giraffes are highly endangered and so the arrival of a new calf is a major cause for celebration. It really is the best Christmas gift we could have ever have wished for."
The calf will remain with Tula but separated from the rest of the herd until the two bond with each other and the calf nurses regularly.
Chester Zoo staff point out the Rothschild’s Giraffes are experiencing a “silent extinction.” In the last 45 years, the population of Rothschild’s Giraffes in Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park – where they were once found in large numbers – has reduced by over 90%. A huge part of this decline was due to poaching in the 1990s and since then the population has failed to bounce back as habitat loss continues to threaten their survival.
Rothschild’s Giraffes are classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. With less than 1,600 remaining in the wild,Rothschild’s Giraffes are more endangered than African Elephants or Giant Pandas.
Roughly one-third of the surviving population of Rothschild’s Giraffes live in zoos, where carefully coordinated breeding programs are creating a safety-net population for the species.
A Philippine Mouse Deer has been born in the UK for the first time. The tiny female Mouse Deer (one of the smallest hoofed animals in the world) was born to mum Rita and dad Ramos, at Chester Zoo, on November 16.
This is the latest addition to a special European-wide endangered species breeding programme, designed in response to the deforestation of its Asian habitat. The animals are also poached for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in parts of the Philippines.
Curator of mammals Tim Rowlands said, “Our newborn deer is incredibly small – similar in size to a Christmas bauble on tiny little legs, weighing just 430 grams!
“But, while this new arrival may be small in stature, it’s big in terms of importance. It’s the very first time the animal has been bred in the UK and to break new ground like this with a mammal species is really quite rare.
“The Philippine Mouse Deer is an endangered species. It’s highly threatened by massive deforestation in South East Asia and so, it’s great news that our newcomer will add valuable new bloodlines to the conservation breeding programme in zoos. It’s vitally important that we work to ensure these wonderful animals do not disappear for good.”
Photo Credits: Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is only one of only seven institutions in the whole of Europe to care for the charming species.
Conservationists from the zoo are also working to protect habitat in areas of South East Asia where the Mouse Deer live.
The Philippine Mouse Deer (Tragulus nigricans) is listed as “Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The species is in continuing decline. It is subject to poaching for food and affected by habitat loss, as its forest home is converted to oil palm plantations.
Contrary to its common name, the Philippine Mouse Deer does not belong to the deer family Cervidae, but is a member of the chevrotain family.
Adult mouse deer stand at just 18cm tall and rarely weigh more than 1kg.
A baby Linné’s Two-toed Sloth recently received its first health check at the San Diego Zoo!
The baby was born October 12 and now weighs 1.43 pounds (.65 kilograms). Staff also saw four teeth during the exam. According to the Zoo, it is difficult to determine the sex of a sloth at this age, so a hair sample was sent to a lab for analysis, to determine if the baby is male or female.
Zoo visitors may have trouble catching a glimpse of the baby, as it is typically found clinging to its mother, Consuelo, in their nesting box at the Zoo’s Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey Sloth habitat.
Sloths may begin eating solid foods as early as four days old, but they also continue to nurse until they around four months old (typical weaning age). San Diego Zoo keepers report that their new baby is eating solid foods and has a preference for apples.
To acclimate the baby to being handled for routine health checks and veterinary exams (as part of overall animal welfare), keepers have a plan to work with the baby and the mother on a regular basis. So far, Consuelo has been attentive, but calm, when the keepers hold and interact with her baby.
Photo Credits: San Diego Zoo
Because Sloths are nocturnal, Zoo guests might not be able to see the new family. However, animal care staff have observed that the baby is becoming more independent and is starting to venture away from Consuelo, so staff suggest that guests may have a better chance of seeing the baby if they stop by the exhibit closer to dusk.
Linné’s Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus didactylus), also known as Southern Two-toed Sloth, Unau, or Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth, is a species from South America. It is native to Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil--north of the Amazon River.
The species has a ten-month gestation period. Their inter-birth rate extends past sixteen months (so there is not an overlap of young to care for). There is generally only one offspring per litter, and the young typically become independent at about a year old.
Tiny starfish larvae use a complex and previously unknown survival mechanism involving whorls of water that either bring food to them or speed them away to better feeding grounds.
The larvae—each smaller than a grain of rice—spend 60 days and 60 nights paddling the open ocean, feeding to accumulate the energy needed to metamorphose into the familiar star shape.
“When we see strange and beautiful shapes in nature we bring them back to the lab and ask why they evolved this way.”
Along the way the larvae must make trade-offs between paddling in search of food and becoming exhausted by the journey. In Nature Physics, a team of researchers reveals the mechanism that allows them to survive to adulthood.
“We have shown that nature equips these larvae to stir the water in such a way as to create vortices that serve two evolutionary purposes: moving the organisms along while simultaneously bringing food close enough to grab,” says Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University and recent MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant winner.
A starfish larva is shown here to the right of a vortex of water. (Credit: Rebecca Konte/Prakash Lab)
Using experimental techniques that capture the visual beauty and mathematical underpinnings of this mechanism, the researchers show how the shape and form of starfish larvae enable the functions that are necessary to support life.
“When we see strange and beautiful shapes in nature we bring them back to the lab and ask why they evolved this way,” Prakash says. “That is the perspective we bring to biology: to understand mathematically how physics shapes life.”
William Gilpin, first author of the paper and a graduate student in the Prakash Lab, says these findings shed light on similar evolutionary challenges involving dozens of marine invertebrates that are related to starfish larvae in a key way.
“Evolution seeks to satisfy basic constraints,” Gilpin says. “The first solution that works very often wins.”
Why the vortices?
These experiments began in the summer of 2015 at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. The researchers were taking a course on embryology when they began to wonder about the evolutionary underpinnings of the starfish larva’s shape—why did it end up looking as it did.
Bringing this curiosity back to the lab, the group studied the organisms in a systematic way, feeding the larvae nutrient algae and observing their movements with video-enabled microscopes.
“Our first eureka moment came when we saw the complex vortices flowing around these animals,” says Vivek Prakash (no relation), a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering and third member of the team. “This was beautiful, unexpected, and got all of us hooked. We wanted to find out how and why these animals made these complex flows.”
Gilpin says the vortices were puzzling because they seemed to make no evolutionary sense. It took a lot of energy to create spiral flows of water; thus a larva with just three imperatives—feed, move, and grow—must have a reason to expend such effort.
100,000 ‘oars’
Once the researchers figured out how the larvae made the water swirl, that understanding led them to the why, and the experiment zeroed in on one of evolution’s most prevalent structures, the cilia, from the Latin word for eyelashes.
Imagine that the cilia on a starfish larva are like the oars that might be used to row an ancient galley—except that each larva has about 100,000 oars, arranged in what researchers call ciliary bands that gird the organism in a pattern far more complex than any galley’s oars.
The rowing metaphor hints at the complexity the researchers found as they studied how these 100,000 eyelashes paddled the larva through water.
Like oars, the cilia had three potential actions: forward, reverse, and stop. And just as with oars, the cilia moved in different synchronized patterns to create different motions. Presumably orchestrated by its nervous system, the larva beats its 100,000 eyelashes in certain patterns when it wants to feed, so as to swirl the water in a way that brings algae close enough to grab. Then, with a different flutter of eyelashes, the larva creates a new pattern of whorls and speeds off.
The researchers realized that they were observing an active and previously unknown mechanism that improved the larva’s odds of survival. The physical structure of the starfish larva, controlled by its nerves, allows it to make feed-versus-speed tradeoffs—lingering whenever algae are plentiful, then darting off should nutrients grow scarce.
As they considered the implications of these findings, the researchers hypothesized that this feed-versus-speed mechanism likely applied to other invertebrate larvae that—though different than starfish larvae in form—are nonetheless known to have similar ciliary bands. In future experiments the researchers plan to use the same techniques to study these other larval shapes. What they hope to learn is how evolution has taken a certain mechanism, the ciliary band, and solved the same feed-versus-speed trade-off in dozens of different forms and shapes.
Partial funding came from the US Army Research Laboratory’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative and the National Science Foundation.
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