Friday, May 6, 2016

Sloth Toothed Venomous Mammal

 
 Biologists have now completely sequenced the mitochondrial genome for the Hispaniolan solenodon, filling in the last major branch of placental mammals on the tree of life. The study conducted confirmed that the venomous mammal diverged from all other living mammals 78 million years ago, long before an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. ZooDom veterinarian Adrell Nunez (center) draws blood from a solenodon for DNA samples. Researchers caught the venomous mammal by allowing it to walk across their bodies at night in the forests of the Dominican Republic. Pictured from left to right: Nicolas De J. Corona, Adrell Nunez, Taras K. Oleksyk, and Yimell Corona.

The scientists in this article must be extremely dedicated to allow a venomous mammal to walk across their bodies at night! The information extracted from this mammal has allowed us to complete the mitochondrial genome sequence which can now be used to compare to other prehistoric animals. Also, if this mammal was around before the asteroid, how has its genome survived to repopulate? This study will help to answer a lot of questions that has previously formed holes in our prehistoric knowledge.



5 comments:

  1. I think it is amazing that this animals family tree goes beyond the dinosaurs. But most mammals at the time were underground taking shelter from the dinosaurs which gave them shelter from the asteroid as well. Yet, also finding a weird that the scientist allowed the animal to walk across their body to catch it. Could of done a better method but that's just me.

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  2. I'm am not quite sure how animals were able to survive once the meteor hit. I am sure it is possible but hiding underground is probably not the solution.

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  3. That is quite interesting how animal are able to survive under such circumstances!

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  4. The dedication of some scientists is really admirable. To put themselves in danger and let a venomous animal walk across their bodies for the sake of science and recording data.. pretty awesome. I have to agree with Joshua's comment though; I feel like a different (and safer) capture method could have been used.

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  5. I found this article inspiring because it really goes to show you how far scientists will go to uncover new knowledge about the planet we live in. It seems a little silly they would let a venomous animal walk on top of them, but maybe it was the only way to capture it without alarming the animal.

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