Taking those first steps on land after emerging from the primordial swamp required a lot more than simply changing the way the earliest pioneers moved and breathed. The ancient innovators must also have sealed their skins to prevent water loss in the relatively dry surroundings. They may even have repurposed their external layer to absorb oxygen when their gills collapsed. Modern amphibious mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus) probably reprise this epic transformation each time they flip in the fin prints of their ancestors on land. So how do these modern-day descendants of the earliest land colonists pull off the feat each time they emerge? An international team of researchers from China, Canada, Germany and the USA, led by Andrew Whitehead from the University of California Davis (UCD), USA, and Patricia Wright from the University of Guelph, Canada, investigated the skin of beached mangrove rivulus to find out how the extraordinary creatures carry off this miraculous metamorphosis.
Learn about our two Decals!
Click here to find out more about our Fall Bioinspired Design Decal and our Spring Bioinspired Design in Action Decal – ALL MAJORS are welcome.Berkeley BioDesign Community
Click here to learn about the BioD: Bio-Inspired Design @ Berkeley student organization or here to signup for more info.
I imagine that the neurological circuits underlying these processes are governed by both 2d spacing maps with their brains as…
to reduce the impact of car accidents, it may be possible to study the force diverting physics of cockroaches to…
you see this type of head-bobbing stability in many avian creatures related to pigeons like chickens. the head ability to…
not like they taught horses how to run! this is an example of convergent evolution where both sea creatures and…
The brain functions in a similar way with neuronal connections. our brains are able to utilize the multiplicity of connections…