Medical and Hospital News  
EARLY EARTH
An adaptation 150 million years in the making
by Staff Writers
Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Jan 04, 2018


illustration only

Just how do snapping shrimp snap? This was the question plaguing scientists who set out to uncover the mysterious mechanisms producing big biology in tiny crustaceans.

"All we've known until now is the endpoint of these super snapping claws," said Rich Palmer, biological science professor at the University of Alberta and senior author on a new study on snapping shrimp claws.

"What we now know is that a series of small changes in form led to these big functional changes, which essentially allow these shrimp the ability to break water, or snap."

Through the course of two years of research investigating 114 species from 19 different shrimp families - exploration that took the scientists from the far reaches of Panama to advanced imaging facilities in Germany - the researchers discovered that this ability to break water or snap was preceded by evolution and adaptation millions of years in the making. The shrimp use the snapping for multiple reasons including communication, killing prey, territorial defense, and defending against predators.

"We realized that this spectacular ability to break water by making cavitation bubbles had to have been preceded by maybe millions of years of shrimp just shooting water. Somehow as they continue to shoot water, they got faster and faster, and they eventually broke the cavitation threshold to produce these snaps. It's pretty extreme biology," said Palmer.

Palmer explained that a bubble produced from the shrimp's claw is actually a vacuum where surrounding water pressure collapses the sides of the bubble to produce a snap, something that can only happen when the water is shot so fast from the claw that it leaves before adjacent water can come in behind it. What he and his co-authors uncovered was that such extreme movements depend on both an energy-storage mechanism as well as a latching mechanism to release the stored energy quickly. Sort of similar to a bow and arrow.

"If you take an arrow and try to throw it, it doesn't go very fast. But if you take the same amount of energy and pull back and then release, the arrow goes very quickly. Throwing just uses muscle contraction whereas storing energy and cocking releases the same amount of energy, but much more quickly."

Palmer explained that the sum of multiple small changes in claw form - each of which is an innovation - adds up to a force so strong it breaks water by taking advantage of underwater physics, since liquids are not compressible. The end result - this remarkable ability to snap - is what is referred to as a key innovation.

"Key innovations are adaptations that permit a dramatic radiation or diversification of species, setting the stage for radiation into a wholly new kind of adaptive zone that wasn't there before."

Research Report: "Parallel Saltational Evolution of Ultrafast Movements in Snapping Shrimp Claws," appears in the January 8 issue of Current Biology.

EARLY EARTH
Half-billion-year-old microscopic animal fossils found in Greenland
Washington (UPI) Dec 22, 2017
Scientists have found a treasure trove of tiny fossils in the rocks of Greenland. The microscopic organisms date to more than half a billion years ago, offering new insights into the Cambrian Explosion, a dramatic increase in the planet's biodiversity that began 541 million years ago. During this period, Earth's shallow seas teemed with life, and the first modern ecosystems forme ... read more

Related Links
University of Alberta
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

EARLY EARTH
UN's Guterres issues year-end 'red alert' for a world divided

Sierra Leone mudslide survivors living back in danger zone

Displaced Syrians survive war but face battle against cold

Hurricanes, heat waves, fires ravaged planet in 2017

EARLY EARTH
'Quantum radio' may aid communications and mapping indoors, underground and underwater

Raytheon to provide GPS-guided artillery shells

DARPA Subterranean Challenge Aims to Revolutionize Underground Capabilities

New satellite tracking of in-flight aircraft to improve safety

EARLY EARTH
Bonobos show a preference for jerks

DNA offers evidence of new population of native Alaskans

Primordial mutation helps explain origin of some organs in vertebrates

Scientists show how Himalayan rivers influenced ancient Indus civilization settlements

EARLY EARTH
UV light could foil the fungus causing white-nose syndrome in bats

Chinese ban on ivory sales goes into effect

Albania losing its eagle to rampant poaching

Pregnant elephant 'poisoned' in Indonesian palm plantation

EARLY EARTH
Cholera hotspots found at Uganda's borders and lakes

Genetic survey of rats could help New York curb the rodent population

Army-developed Zika vaccine induces strong immune response in three phase 1 studies

One in two Africans don't know HIV status: expert

EARLY EARTH
French President Macron to visit China next week

Tech icon ordered back to China sends wife instead

Anti-Beijing protesters march in Hong Kong

Tattooed and proud: Chinese women peel away stigmas

EARLY EARTH
EARLY EARTH








The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.