marine sloth
outhouse sloth
-
layers of the heart
rotary venticular blood flow & torsion of heart muscle similar to VE jitterbug transform, with opposing heart muscle groups (123 45 678) :
article
Note pic 14, similar to tao/dau symbol or rolling surf wave, and general similar form of heart to a marine snail, which filter feeds and breathes by pumping seawater through gills and gut tissue.
"Pettigrew14 performed careful dissection of the heart of mammals and man, demonstrating 7 muscle layers. The three outer layers spiral with an increasing angle from the perpendicular, while the fourth layer is horizontal. The three inner layers spiral in the opposite direction, increasing toward the vertical. The layers are arranged in opposition so that 1 opposes 7, 2 opposes 6, and 3 opposes 5, with the fourth layer being a connecting layer (tensional frame?)."
jitterbug
-
6,000 year old human artifacts contains indications of 3/4 protein from marine diet
Quantitative evaluation of marine protein contribution in ancient diets
based on nitrogen isotope ratios of individual amino acids in bone collagen:
An investigation at the Kitakogane Jomon site
YI Naito, NV Honch, Y Chikaraishi, N Ohkouchi, M Yoneda 2010 AJPA
Nitrogen stable isotopes analysis of individual bone collagen amino acids
was applied to archeological samples as a new tool for assessing the
composition of ancient human diets and calibrating radiocarbon dates. We
used this technique to investigate human and faunal samples from the
Kitakogane shell midden in Hokkaido, Japan (5,300-6,000 cal BP). Using
compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids, we
aimed to estimate i) the quantitative contribution of marine and terrestrial
protein to the human diet, and ii) the mean trophic level (TL) from which
dietary protein was derived from marine ecosystems. Data were interpreted
with reference to the amino acid trophic level (TLAA) model, which uses
empirical amino acid 15N from modern marine fauna to construct mathematical
equations that predict the trophic position of organisms. The TLAA model
produced realistic TL estimates for the Kitakogane marine animals. However,
this model was not appropriate for the interpretation of human amino acid
15N, as dietary protein is derived from both marine and terrestrial
environments. Hence, we developed a series of relevant equations that
considered the consumption of dietary resources from both ecosystems. Using
these equations, the mean percentage of marine protein in the Kitakogane
human diet was estimated to be 74%.
-
Diaphragmatic contractions pump oxygen to the brain during hypoxia, increasing the cerebral blood flow volume. Involuntary breathing movements improve cerebral o... [J Appl Physiol. 2009] - PubMed result
We investigated whether the involuntary breathing movements (IBM) during the struggle phase of breath holding, together with peripheral vasoconstriction and progressive hypercapnia, have a positive effect in maintaining cerebral blood volume. The central hemodynamics, arterial oxygen saturation, brain regional oxyhemoglobin (bHbO(2)), deoxyhemoglobin, and total hemoglobin changes and IBM were monitored during maximal dry breath holds in eight elite divers. The frequency of IBM increased (by approximately 100%), and their duration decreased ( approximately 30%), toward the end of the struggle phase, whereas the amplitude was unchanged (compared with the beginning of the struggle phase). In all subjects, a consistent increase in brain regional deoxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin was also found during struggle phase, whereas bHbO(2) changed biphasically: it initially increased until the middle of the struggle phase, with the subsequent relative decline at the end of the breath hold. Mean arterial pressure was elevated during the struggle phase, although there was no further rise in the peripheral resistance, suggesting unchanged peripheral vasoconstriction and implying the beneficial influence of the IBM on the cardiac output recovery (primarily by restoration of the stroke volume). The IBM-induced short-lasting, sudden increases in mean arterial pressure were followed by similar oscillations in bHbO(2). These results suggest that an increase in the cerebral blood volume observed during the struggle phase of dry apnea is most likely caused by the IBM at the time of the hypercapnia-induced cerebral vasodilatation and peripheral vasoconstriction.
-
Levant 800ka - (Hula/Jordan, fire, food prep) African Rift drought
doi 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.03.007
The paleoclimate of the Eastern Mediterranean during the transition from
early to mid Pleistocene (900 to 700 ka) based on marine and non-marine
records: an integrated overview
Ahuva Almogi-Labin 2010 JHE
Climate change is frequently considered an important driver of hominin
evolution and dispersal patterns. The role of climate change in the last
phase (900700 ka) of the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT) in the Levant
and northeast Africa was examined, using marine and non-marine records.
During the MPT the global climate system shifted from a linear 41 k.yr. into
a highly non-linear 100 k.yr. system, considerably changing its global
modulation. Northeast Africa aridity further intensified around 950 ka, as
indicated by a sharp increase in dust flux, and a jump to overall higher
levels thereafter, coinciding with a lack of sapropels in the deep eastern
Mediterranean (930690 ka). The increased dust flux centering at 800 ka
corresponds to the minima in 400 k.yr. eccentricity, a minima in 65 °N solar
forcing and in the weakest African monsoon precession periodicity. This
resulted in expansion of hyper-arid conditions across North Africa, the
lowest lake levels in eastern Africa and the lowest rainfall in the Nile
River headwaters. In the eastern Mediterranean an increasing continental
signature is seen in glacial stages 22 (880 ka) and 20 (800 ka). Lower
arboreal pollen values also indicate arid conditions during these glacial
stages. The southern and eastern parts of the Negev Desert, unlike its
northern part, were hyper-arid during the MPT, making them highly
unsustainable. The fluctuations in the stands of Lake Amora follow global
climate variability but were more moderate than those of its last glacial
Lake Lisan successor. In the northern Jordan-Valley Hula Lake, frequent
fluctuations in lake level coincide with both global climate changes and
minor changes in water salinity varying from fresh to oligohaline. It
appears therefore that the most pronounced and widespread deterioration in
climate occurred in northeast Africa from 900 to 700 ka, whereas in the
Levant the corresponding climatic changes were more moderate.
-
Warmbloodedness & respiration in dinosaurs and mammoths
A Clarke & H-O Poertner 2010 Biol.Rev.PRESS
Temperature, metabolic power, and the evolution of endothermy
Endothermy has evolved at least twice, in the precursors to modern mammals
and birds. The most widely accepted explanation for the evolution of
endothermy has been selection for enhanced aerobic capacity. We review this
hypothesis in the light of advances in our understanding of ATP generation
by mitochondria and muscle performance. Together with the development of
isotope-based techniques for the measurement of metabolic rate in
free-ranging vertebrates, these have confirmed the importance of aerobic
scope in the evolution of endothermy: absolute aerobic scope, ATP generation
by mitochondria, and muscle power output are all strongly
temperature-dependent, indicating that there would have been significant
improvement in whole-organism locomotor ability with a warmer body. New data
on mitochondrial ATP generation and proton leak suggest that the thermal
physiology of mitochondria may differ between organisms of contrasting
ecology and thermal flexibility. Together with recent biophysical modelling,
this strengthens the long-held view that endothermy originated in smaller,
active eurythermal ectotherms living in a cool but variable thermal
environment. We propose that rather than being a secondary consequence of
the evolution of an enhanced aerobic scope, a warmer body was the means by
which that enhanced aerobic scope was achieved. This modified hypothesis
requires that the rise in metabolic rate, and the insulation necessary to
retain metabolic heat, arose early in the lineages leading to birds and
mammals. Large dinosaurs were warm, but were not endotherms, and the
metabolic status of pterosaurs remains unresolved.
KL Campbell cs 2010 Nature Genetics PRESS
Substitutions in woolly mammoth hemoglobin confer biochemical properties
adaptive for cold tolerance
We have genetically retrieved, resurrected and performed detailed
structure-function analyses on authentic woolly mammoth hemoglobin to reveal
for the first time both the evolutionary origins and the structural
underpinnings of a key adaptive physiochemical trait in an extinct species.
Hemoglobin binds and carries O2; however, its ability to offload O2 to
respiring cells is hampered at low temperatures, as heme deoxygenation is
inherently endothermic (that is, hemoglobin-O2 affinity increases as
temperature decreases). We identify amino acid substitutions with large
phenotypic effect on the chimeric ¦Â/¦Ä-globin subunit of mammoth
hemoglobin
that provide a unique solution to this problem and thereby minimize
energetically costly heat loss. This biochemical specialization may have
been involved in the exploitation of high-latitude environments by this
African-derived elephantid lineage during the Pleistocene period. This
powerful new approach to directly analyze the genetic and structural basis
of physiological adaptations in an extinct species adds an important new
dimension to the study of natural selection.
Showing posts with label mangrove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mangrove. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tetrapods: 400ma coral lagoon ancestors
Tetrapod tracks
"Another key surprise from the research is the recognition that these tetrapods lived in a marine environment, perhaps a coral lagoon. The favoured origin before now for the emergence of tetrapods had been marshy environments, such as deltas or lakes where freshwater dominated. The team behind the latest research said the new explanation made sense because it would have allowed marine ancestors of tetrapods gradually to acquire terrestrial competence while accessing a new and essentially untouched resource of food washed up with the tides.
"In the intertidal setting, you've got a smorgasbord laid out twice a day," said Dr Ahlberg. "Every time the tide goes out, it leaves behind this drift-line of dead and moribund animals. All this was just left there for vertebrates - our ancestors - to emerge on to land and pick them off."
-
Cape clawless otter vs cape clawed toad?
Definition of Toads versus Frogs from the " Encyclopedia of Animals A complete Visual Guide"
Univ of Cal Press ISBN 0-520-24406-0
Toads family ( Bufonidae) have short legs for hopping, dry warty skin and are terrestrial. Frogs( Family Ranidae) have long, slender legs for leaping great distances, moist skin, and are aquatic. The use of the term "Toad" depends on the region of the world you are in. in Africa, the smooth and moist- skinned aquatic Cape clawed frog ( Xenopus gilli) is called a clawed Toad."
-
Sea otter: note similarity to human backfloating with arms behind head
sea otter
-
Swimming sloths: aqua-arboreal sloths
-
Size of eyes, Snake eyes
"The habits of Snakes can be seen in their eyes: small degenerate eyes suggest burrowers, vertical elliptical pupils are nocturnal/[crepuscular] species, large round eyes are active diurnal/[crepuscular?] predators that chase down their prey"
Posted by: Bob Michaels at Tet zoo
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/01/micropechis_ikaheka_snake.php
Neandertal eyes vs sapien eyes
Neandertal orbits were larger than modern human orbits, is this due to more nocturnal activity, as parallel in new world tarsier-like nocturnal owl monkeys vs other new world monkeys? Did neandertals specialize in crepuscular (early morning/late evening) ambushes at waterside? Was dark adaptation an aquatic feature, as seen in seals and sea lions with large orbits? See page 15 of this pdf:
them and us article
Perhaps erectines were more shellfish gatherers (dive partners at tropical lagoons) and only opportunistic hunters/scavengers, neandertals were more waterside ambushers (groups with jabbing spears in cooler climates) and sapiens were high-tech fishermen and trappers (including herding into traps/canyons).
Did neandertals have slit pupil eyes, like cats and some nocturnal primates (galagos, owl monkey)? The large orbit and occipital bun might indicate that. Note that aquatic animals do not have slit eyes, despite their dark hunting environment, since the refractive value of light in water differs from air.
Did neandertals retain a fur coat, growing longer in winter and shedding in spring, as in other paleoarctic fauna? Did only erectines lose this fur, due to basking on tropical shorelines? Did sapiens develop clothes and animal furs only as they moved away from the tropics, or in addition/substitution to body paints/perfumes for insect repellants?
Convergent evolution of echolocation in bats and whales
high freq hearing
"Another key surprise from the research is the recognition that these tetrapods lived in a marine environment, perhaps a coral lagoon. The favoured origin before now for the emergence of tetrapods had been marshy environments, such as deltas or lakes where freshwater dominated. The team behind the latest research said the new explanation made sense because it would have allowed marine ancestors of tetrapods gradually to acquire terrestrial competence while accessing a new and essentially untouched resource of food washed up with the tides.
"In the intertidal setting, you've got a smorgasbord laid out twice a day," said Dr Ahlberg. "Every time the tide goes out, it leaves behind this drift-line of dead and moribund animals. All this was just left there for vertebrates - our ancestors - to emerge on to land and pick them off."
-
Cape clawless otter vs cape clawed toad?
Definition of Toads versus Frogs from the " Encyclopedia of Animals A complete Visual Guide"
Univ of Cal Press ISBN 0-520-24406-0
Toads family ( Bufonidae) have short legs for hopping, dry warty skin and are terrestrial. Frogs( Family Ranidae) have long, slender legs for leaping great distances, moist skin, and are aquatic. The use of the term "Toad" depends on the region of the world you are in. in Africa, the smooth and moist- skinned aquatic Cape clawed frog ( Xenopus gilli) is called a clawed Toad."
-
Sea otter: note similarity to human backfloating with arms behind head
sea otter
-
Swimming sloths: aqua-arboreal sloths
-
Size of eyes, Snake eyes
"The habits of Snakes can be seen in their eyes: small degenerate eyes suggest burrowers, vertical elliptical pupils are nocturnal/[crepuscular] species, large round eyes are active diurnal/[crepuscular?] predators that chase down their prey"
Posted by: Bob Michaels at Tet zoo
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/01/micropechis_ikaheka_snake.php
Neandertal eyes vs sapien eyes
Neandertal orbits were larger than modern human orbits, is this due to more nocturnal activity, as parallel in new world tarsier-like nocturnal owl monkeys vs other new world monkeys? Did neandertals specialize in crepuscular (early morning/late evening) ambushes at waterside? Was dark adaptation an aquatic feature, as seen in seals and sea lions with large orbits? See page 15 of this pdf:
them and us article
Perhaps erectines were more shellfish gatherers (dive partners at tropical lagoons) and only opportunistic hunters/scavengers, neandertals were more waterside ambushers (groups with jabbing spears in cooler climates) and sapiens were high-tech fishermen and trappers (including herding into traps/canyons).
Did neandertals have slit pupil eyes, like cats and some nocturnal primates (galagos, owl monkey)? The large orbit and occipital bun might indicate that. Note that aquatic animals do not have slit eyes, despite their dark hunting environment, since the refractive value of light in water differs from air.
Did neandertals retain a fur coat, growing longer in winter and shedding in spring, as in other paleoarctic fauna? Did only erectines lose this fur, due to basking on tropical shorelines? Did sapiens develop clothes and animal furs only as they moved away from the tropics, or in addition/substitution to body paints/perfumes for insect repellants?
Convergent evolution of echolocation in bats and whales
high freq hearing
Monday, April 28, 2008
Orangutans at waterside, laryngeal air sacs
Update 03/2010: Orangutan orphans in water
http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/orang-utan-water/1
Face always kept above water surface with throat air sac inflated while nose breathing.
-
Orangutan protects human from crocodile:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-saved-by-an-orangutan-821624.html
You can protect orangutans from extinction:
Sumatra http://www.orangutans-sos.org/
Borneo http://redapes.org%20/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_page_id=1965&in_article_id=562236
"Swimming" orangutan, note the throat-neck, likely the bare skin is slightly swollen due to laryngeal air sacs inflated, used when vertical floating or surface sculling with head above water.
Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear (likely bamboo, note the nodes [click to enlarge photo]). See here for article on fishing macaque monkeys fishing monkeys
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3828123.ece
Naturalists were shocked to see the apes go across a river to gain access to some of their favourite fruits at a conservation refuge on Kaja island in Borneo.
Orangutans at Runga river pallas island orphan orangutan sanctuary seen entering water for sweet corn cobs, splashing. No crocs in that area. Probably not swimming. link
http://redapes.org/news-updates/leila-the-orangutan-drowns-in-german-zoo/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/740542/Suyria-Florida-ape-Baby-orangut\
an-is-king-of-the-swimmers.html
http://redapes.org/voices-from-the-field/any-mother-will-swim-to-save-her-child/
http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Orangutans-swim-to-\
safety.aspx
The more stories and "almost swimming' photos, the more doubt arises.
Wading? Yes. Vertical floating? Possible, but probably only if learned in
shallow wetland first. Swimming horizontally? No, no clear evidence of that. Can't blame the folks there for making a fuss about it though, the forest is being destroyed so quickly for oil palm plantations and lumber.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISScU6W1vIg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bottom photo is of two siamang gibbons (lesser apes) which frequently call loudly with inflated air sacs. I hypothesize that ancient hominoids lived in tidal rainforests (estuarboreal), and enlarged throat air sacs were selected (like in frogs) for better vertical flotation and vocalization. Human ancestors remained at the tidal shores but moved from these dense mangroves (per MV) to open shores diving/backfloating at lagoon reefs for shellfish etc. while the ape ancestors followed rivers inland to more arboreal and less aquatic habitat. Humans today do not normally have laryngeal air sacs, however trumpet blowers and glass blowers sometimes develop laryngocoels which are pathological laryngeal air sacs.
The morphology of all extant apes (except the small gibbons) and the skeletal fossils of Lucy & Selam (Australopithecus afarensis) possessing hyoid bones indicate enlarged laryngeal air sacs, while those of Homo neandertalensis and ancient Homo sapiens do not.
Background: Laryngocoele/laryngocele/laryngeal air sac
A laryngocele is usually a cystic dilatation of the laryngeal saccule. The etiology behind its occurrence is still unclear, but congenital and acquired factors have been implicated in its development [1,2]. Laryngoceles appear to be an atavistic remnant from the higher apes (DD: correction, higher apes are not our ancestors, hominoids are ancestral to both Homo and extant apes), particularly those who use their arms with the thoracic cage fixed whilst swinging through the trees (DD: addendum, vertical climbing/floating/wading with arms holding vegetation). ... the laryngocele could have been caused by prolonged and repeated valsalva... the increased air pressure in the larynx may make an already existing laryngocele manifest [1].
Congenitally, the laryngeal saccule is a remnant corresponding to the lateral laryngeal air sacs of the higher anthropoid apes, which may on occasion, manifest suddenly in response to pressure caused by coughing, straining at stool, or trumpet playing (i.e. valsalva maneuvers [used in diving to equalize middle ear pressure]). An acquired laryngocele may develop when the laryngeal ventricle becomes functionally obstructed as a result of an increase in intraglottic pressure, e.g. excessive coughing, playing a wind instrument or obstruction of appendicular ostium [1,2].
Three types of laryngoceles are described. An internal laryngocele is confined to the interior of the larynx and extends posterosuperiorly into the false vocal cord and the aryepiglottic fold; this type appears on laryngoscopy as a smooth swelling of the supraglottis. An external laryngocele extends superiorly to appear laterally in the neck through the opening in the thyrohyoid membrane for the superior laryngeal nerve and vessels; these clinically present as a swelling in the neck at the level of the hyoid bone anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The simultaneous existence of both features is termed a combined laryngocele [1-4].
The simple laryngocele is an uncomplicated air-filled dilatation of the appendix of the laryngeal ventricle.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2482/6/14
Laryngeal air sac in whales, function: Full size right whales forage at the water surface, swim slower than human sport swimmers, and are the fattest whales (float at the surface when dead, which is why whalers called them "right whales"). Pygmy right whales are far less fatty due to their small size and metabolism, so their laryngeal air sac adds buoyancy when foraging on krill copepods near the surface. Apes in shallow water generally seek surface Aquatic Herbaceous Vegetation (AHV) (see the gorilla videos) and only seek bottom foods (water bugs under rocks/leaves) while wading in ankle-deep water. Human ancestors at seashores were tide-affected, and foraged for food from the shallows to perhaps 30+m deep. Because they were enveloped in a thin layer of buoyant thermoinsulative skin fat, denser bones were selected for, bringing the body to neutral buoyancy in seawater (similar to sea otters and walruses).
update: bowhead whales also surface feed and have lar. air sacs, AFAICT no other whales have lar. air sacs and do not typically feed at the surface.
So, bowhead whales, pygmy right whales and apes forage near the water surface and possess laryngeal air sacs; while (ancestral) humans, sea otters, blue whales forage near the sea bottom and lack laryngeal air sacs.
Air sac size quite small (though this is a small whale), compare to 1 liter air sac in orangs or 20-50 liter pharyngeal air sac in walrus. Why did Homo lose the laryngeal air sac? Switch to humming type speech and backfloating and addition of subcutaneous fat layer and stop climbing?
(Stranded) Pygmy right whale dissection, showing lungs and laryngeal air sac at left.
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/category/pygmy-right-whale/%20
Gorilla foraging in wetland with partly inflated laryngeal air sac:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gorilla&view=detail&id=F3C63788AE6768B1E99B65DFE64B1D105D87E520&first=0&qpvt=gorilla&FORM=IDFRIR
Note gorilla posture, red scalp, air sac, water just below shoulders.
upright posture - moroto/proconsul aquarboreal climbing/slow brachiating/wading/floating/walking/hanging
red scalp - post-hylobatid hominoid canopy woven nesting mimicry of raptor, grabbing hook-like hand, cooing infant (became hooting in large arboreals), human preemies have lanugo from eyebrows to scalp, which when pulled forward in surprise (eyebrow flash/frown) (or sun avoidance without protruding brows) becomes danger sign to raptor from above, evolutionarily later lost when brain-skull-protruding jaws enlarged.
air sac - visible in photo to the right of the sunlit hair, to left of throat, it is convex ( rather than concave )
due to partly inflated air sac. Human throat would show concave except at adams apple.
water - high enough to give flotation (of face) an advantage
http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/orang-utan-water/1
Face always kept above water surface with throat air sac inflated while nose breathing.
-
Orangutan protects human from crocodile:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-saved-by-an-orangutan-821624.html
You can protect orangutans from extinction:
Sumatra http://www.orangutans-sos.org/
Borneo http://redapes.org%20/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_page_id=1965&in_article_id=562236
"Swimming" orangutan, note the throat-neck, likely the bare skin is slightly swollen due to laryngeal air sacs inflated, used when vertical floating or surface sculling with head above water.
Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear (likely bamboo, note the nodes [click to enlarge photo]). See here for article on fishing macaque monkeys fishing monkeys
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3828123.ece
Naturalists were shocked to see the apes go across a river to gain access to some of their favourite fruits at a conservation refuge on Kaja island in Borneo.
Orangutans at Runga river pallas island orphan orangutan sanctuary seen entering water for sweet corn cobs, splashing. No crocs in that area. Probably not swimming. link
http://redapes.org/news-updates/leila-the-orangutan-drowns-in-german-zoo/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/740542/Suyria-Florida-ape-Baby-orangut\
an-is-king-of-the-swimmers.html
http://redapes.org/voices-from-the-field/any-mother-will-swim-to-save-her-child/
http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Orangutans-swim-to-\
safety.aspx
The more stories and "almost swimming' photos, the more doubt arises.
Wading? Yes. Vertical floating? Possible, but probably only if learned in
shallow wetland first. Swimming horizontally? No, no clear evidence of that. Can't blame the folks there for making a fuss about it though, the forest is being destroyed so quickly for oil palm plantations and lumber.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISScU6W1vIg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bottom photo is of two siamang gibbons (lesser apes) which frequently call loudly with inflated air sacs. I hypothesize that ancient hominoids lived in tidal rainforests (estuarboreal), and enlarged throat air sacs were selected (like in frogs) for better vertical flotation and vocalization. Human ancestors remained at the tidal shores but moved from these dense mangroves (per MV) to open shores diving/backfloating at lagoon reefs for shellfish etc. while the ape ancestors followed rivers inland to more arboreal and less aquatic habitat. Humans today do not normally have laryngeal air sacs, however trumpet blowers and glass blowers sometimes develop laryngocoels which are pathological laryngeal air sacs.
The morphology of all extant apes (except the small gibbons) and the skeletal fossils of Lucy & Selam (Australopithecus afarensis) possessing hyoid bones indicate enlarged laryngeal air sacs, while those of Homo neandertalensis and ancient Homo sapiens do not.
Background: Laryngocoele/laryngocele/laryngeal air sac
A laryngocele is usually a cystic dilatation of the laryngeal saccule. The etiology behind its occurrence is still unclear, but congenital and acquired factors have been implicated in its development [1,2]. Laryngoceles appear to be an atavistic remnant from the higher apes (DD: correction, higher apes are not our ancestors, hominoids are ancestral to both Homo and extant apes), particularly those who use their arms with the thoracic cage fixed whilst swinging through the trees (DD: addendum, vertical climbing/floating/wading with arms holding vegetation). ... the laryngocele could have been caused by prolonged and repeated valsalva... the increased air pressure in the larynx may make an already existing laryngocele manifest [1].
Congenitally, the laryngeal saccule is a remnant corresponding to the lateral laryngeal air sacs of the higher anthropoid apes, which may on occasion, manifest suddenly in response to pressure caused by coughing, straining at stool, or trumpet playing (i.e. valsalva maneuvers [used in diving to equalize middle ear pressure]). An acquired laryngocele may develop when the laryngeal ventricle becomes functionally obstructed as a result of an increase in intraglottic pressure, e.g. excessive coughing, playing a wind instrument or obstruction of appendicular ostium [1,2].
Three types of laryngoceles are described. An internal laryngocele is confined to the interior of the larynx and extends posterosuperiorly into the false vocal cord and the aryepiglottic fold; this type appears on laryngoscopy as a smooth swelling of the supraglottis. An external laryngocele extends superiorly to appear laterally in the neck through the opening in the thyrohyoid membrane for the superior laryngeal nerve and vessels; these clinically present as a swelling in the neck at the level of the hyoid bone anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The simultaneous existence of both features is termed a combined laryngocele [1-4].
The simple laryngocele is an uncomplicated air-filled dilatation of the appendix of the laryngeal ventricle.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2482/6/14
Laryngeal air sac in whales, function: Full size right whales forage at the water surface, swim slower than human sport swimmers, and are the fattest whales (float at the surface when dead, which is why whalers called them "right whales"). Pygmy right whales are far less fatty due to their small size and metabolism, so their laryngeal air sac adds buoyancy when foraging on krill copepods near the surface. Apes in shallow water generally seek surface Aquatic Herbaceous Vegetation (AHV) (see the gorilla videos) and only seek bottom foods (water bugs under rocks/leaves) while wading in ankle-deep water. Human ancestors at seashores were tide-affected, and foraged for food from the shallows to perhaps 30+m deep. Because they were enveloped in a thin layer of buoyant thermoinsulative skin fat, denser bones were selected for, bringing the body to neutral buoyancy in seawater (similar to sea otters and walruses).
update: bowhead whales also surface feed and have lar. air sacs, AFAICT no other whales have lar. air sacs and do not typically feed at the surface.
So, bowhead whales, pygmy right whales and apes forage near the water surface and possess laryngeal air sacs; while (ancestral) humans, sea otters, blue whales forage near the sea bottom and lack laryngeal air sacs.
Air sac size quite small (though this is a small whale), compare to 1 liter air sac in orangs or 20-50 liter pharyngeal air sac in walrus. Why did Homo lose the laryngeal air sac? Switch to humming type speech and backfloating and addition of subcutaneous fat layer and stop climbing?
(Stranded) Pygmy right whale dissection, showing lungs and laryngeal air sac at left.
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/category/pygmy-right-whale/%20
Gorilla foraging in wetland with partly inflated laryngeal air sac:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gorilla&view=detail&id=F3C63788AE6768B1E99B65DFE64B1D105D87E520&first=0&qpvt=gorilla&FORM=IDFRIR
Note gorilla posture, red scalp, air sac, water just below shoulders.
upright posture - moroto/proconsul aquarboreal climbing/slow brachiating/wading/floating/walking/hanging
red scalp - post-hylobatid hominoid canopy woven nesting mimicry of raptor, grabbing hook-like hand, cooing infant (became hooting in large arboreals), human preemies have lanugo from eyebrows to scalp, which when pulled forward in surprise (eyebrow flash/frown) (or sun avoidance without protruding brows) becomes danger sign to raptor from above, evolutionarily later lost when brain-skull-protruding jaws enlarged.
air sac - visible in photo to the right of the sunlit hair, to left of throat, it is convex ( rather than concave )
due to partly inflated air sac. Human throat would show concave except at adams apple.
water - high enough to give flotation (of face) an advantage
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Plucking-Diving-Dugouts-Trading-Trucking
DD: my response to: "No aquatic apes in Morris, Minnesota"
PZ is up in Morris, MN, which is just to the left of the famed big "C" of lakes (see map) that make up the majority of the "Land of 10,000+ lakes". Morris happens to be on a railroad line and at the intersection of a bunch of highways, so there's plenty of traffic, otherwise it'd be just another farm town (with a fabulous university).
Before the days of the locomotive and wheeled vehicles, and before the bow and arrow and atlatl were developed, and before horses were domesticated, humans could travel by foot or by dugout. Dugouts provided relatively safe access to remote inland areas where the big cats were kings and (waterways where) crocs and hippos resided. Before the development of the dugout, the most successful inland hominids were those that could climb above the cats and crocs, which is why the inland (apes)/apiths had curved phallanges and ancient Homo didn't.
Dugouts allowed easy access to extra weapons including slingstone pebbles used as ballast and spears used as push-poles, heavy cumbersome tools to carry by foot but easily by boat. Travel and trade eventually expanded from coastal settlements inland. Before dugouts, the inland was a dangerous place for a hominid that couldn't climb well or run fast and had only thrusting spears.
Dugouts, originally crafted by butted handaxes from waterside bent hollow tree trunks, were the first (cargo capable) "pickup trucks", and are still used worldwide in a more engineered form. A fisherman in one caught a coelecanth off the beach in Sulawesi in May. Ribbed watercraft (birchbark canoes, plank boats, umiaks) came later, partly due to the need for portaging.
Dugouts were the transitional technology enabling a coastal hominid (family) to move upstream and inland (w/o climbing adaptations), changing from daily diving and plucking sessile seafoods (where hydrodynamics were significant) to more terrestrial hunting and "dry" fishing using nets and spears.
I see no reason to think that acacia would have been chosen over other waterside trees for early dugout construction, though it may have been used later if others were unavailable, perhaps with fire to core it out.
http://www.earthwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dsJSK6PFJnH&b=2...
(contributed by Lee Olsen at Sci.Anthro.Paleo)
A team of Spanish archaeologists, led by Dr. Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo, from the Complutense University of Madrid, found residues of wood on the working edges of stone handaxes found in the region. The stone tools also show clear damage due to having been used in heavy-duty
activities. These important findings push the appearance of human woodworking back by 1 million years, and will be reported in the April/May issue of the Journal of Human Evolution. "This is the oldest evidence of woodworking in human evolution," said Dominguez-Rodrigo. "The remains belonging to Acacia trees are proof that early humans had wooden utensils, such as spears and digging sticks, which very likely enabled them to have the technology necessary to become successful hunters."
The area of Peninj contains some of the oldest archaeological sites in
the world with Acheulian tools. Most of the fossil fauna discovered by the Spanish team belong to animals that suggest a very open and dry savanna environment. Equids (like modern zebras), antilopini (like modern gazelles) and alcelaphini (like modern wildebeest) constitute most of the animals discovered. The fossil pollen discovered also indicates a very open landscape dominated by grasslands and a smaller number of trees among which Acacia is the best represented. Some plant residues discovered (called phytoliths) show that the type of grass most represented is a short grass that grows in very open and dry ecosystems."
DD: As might be expected, acacia for push-pole thrusting spears. Whether acacia was used for crafting (early) dugouts is much less certain. Cutting soft wood would presumably leave less traces than hard wood on handaxes. Push-pole thrusting spears would be a consumable disposable
item, easily replaced, a dugout less so. Thanks for the confirmation Lee!
Diving (My response to Seth's Human evolution post)
I agree with much of the AAT, but see it as part of life in a generalised coastal tropical habitat. Occupational specialization in later humans fits with my interpretation of butted hand axes as both butchering tools and woodcrafting tools used to construct the first dugout boats from hollow bent trees at waterside. These dugouts were the 'first cargo pickup trucks on the aquatic superhighway" that allowed trade and settlements upstream inland in areas formerly
dominated by the big cat predators, and allowed relatively safe easy transport of people including babies, with slingstone pebbles as ballast in the bottom for stability, and push-pole thrusting spears propelling and spare throwing spears bunched aside like arrows in a quiver. Further development of boats included thinner lighter dugouts and later portageable ribbed skin kayaks, birchbark canoes and plank sailboats on the sea of galilee 20,000 years ago.
The words Tectonic, Technical, Technology have the root Tek, which is Greek for carpenter or craftsman. I think it derived from the sound of stone "tick-ticking" against stone to make a hand axe and other simple tools. Other languages around the world have similar sounding words for crafting tools, which suggest great antiquity. (Chip or chop are other variations of it.)
The hand in primates (and even more in anthropoids) was selected for plucking loosely hanging fruits in angiosperm trees, which had previously been the long held domain of fruit bats and frugivorous birds. Plucking allowed the changes in the jaws and dental structure,
which allowed the brain to enlarge later.
This combined with greater vertical climbing and posture produced a more stable bipedal locomotion, as seen in the gibbon and spider monkey. Bipedal wading doesn't cause dry land bipedalism (see wetland apes which wade on 2 legs but walk on 4, while gibbons are bipedal on the ground but never wade), but it does reinforce an already bipedal habit.
Most likely the combination of fruit tree climbing, wading for molluscs in mangroves, shore cliff climbing for seabird eggs, coconut palm climbing, beachcombing for turtle eggs, vertical floating (with inflated laryngeal air sac) while plucking aquatic vegetation all combined to further the upright stance in hominoids and resulted in the complete loss of the tail. Later, the ancestors of the Great apes expanded inland along gallery forests staying arboreal and becoming more quadrupedal when on the ground, while ancient Homo erectus improved swimming and changed from vertical floating to horizontal backfloating (losing the lar. throat air sac but gaining a layer of skin fat) resulting in greater hydrodynamic linearity, thermoinsulation and oxygen breath holding abilities and becoming a more adept diver for shellfish and crustaceans.
I envision them diving as male-female pairs alternating dives, while the younger males acted as area patrol guards/gangs (also competing for deeper diving/spearfishing, tree climbing for coconuts and figs, and various small game hunting) and younger females as babysitters and
beachcombers at the shore. Later the use of hollow logs and driftwood as floats in waters with crocs or sharks began the emergence of the most primitive vehicular industry, shells pebbles and stone tools used to make simple dugouts.
DDeden
http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/08/10/my-theory-of-human-evolution-planet-earth-edition/
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/08/nope_no_aquatic_apes_found_in.php
PZ is up in Morris, MN, which is just to the left of the famed big "C" of lakes (see map) that make up the majority of the "Land of 10,000+ lakes". Morris happens to be on a railroad line and at the intersection of a bunch of highways, so there's plenty of traffic, otherwise it'd be just another farm town (with a fabulous university).
Before the days of the locomotive and wheeled vehicles, and before the bow and arrow and atlatl were developed, and before horses were domesticated, humans could travel by foot or by dugout. Dugouts provided relatively safe access to remote inland areas where the big cats were kings and (waterways where) crocs and hippos resided. Before the development of the dugout, the most successful inland hominids were those that could climb above the cats and crocs, which is why the inland (apes)/apiths had curved phallanges and ancient Homo didn't.
Dugouts allowed easy access to extra weapons including slingstone pebbles used as ballast and spears used as push-poles, heavy cumbersome tools to carry by foot but easily by boat. Travel and trade eventually expanded from coastal settlements inland. Before dugouts, the inland was a dangerous place for a hominid that couldn't climb well or run fast and had only thrusting spears.
Dugouts, originally crafted by butted handaxes from waterside bent hollow tree trunks, were the first (cargo capable) "pickup trucks", and are still used worldwide in a more engineered form. A fisherman in one caught a coelecanth off the beach in Sulawesi in May. Ribbed watercraft (birchbark canoes, plank boats, umiaks) came later, partly due to the need for portaging.
Dugouts were the transitional technology enabling a coastal hominid (family) to move upstream and inland (w/o climbing adaptations), changing from daily diving and plucking sessile seafoods (where hydrodynamics were significant) to more terrestrial hunting and "dry" fishing using nets and spears.
I see no reason to think that acacia would have been chosen over other waterside trees for early dugout construction, though it may have been used later if others were unavailable, perhaps with fire to core it out.
http://www.earthwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dsJSK6PFJnH&b=2...
(contributed by Lee Olsen at Sci.Anthro.Paleo)
A team of Spanish archaeologists, led by Dr. Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo, from the Complutense University of Madrid, found residues of wood on the working edges of stone handaxes found in the region. The stone tools also show clear damage due to having been used in heavy-duty
activities. These important findings push the appearance of human woodworking back by 1 million years, and will be reported in the April/May issue of the Journal of Human Evolution. "This is the oldest evidence of woodworking in human evolution," said Dominguez-Rodrigo. "The remains belonging to Acacia trees are proof that early humans had wooden utensils, such as spears and digging sticks, which very likely enabled them to have the technology necessary to become successful hunters."
The area of Peninj contains some of the oldest archaeological sites in
the world with Acheulian tools. Most of the fossil fauna discovered by the Spanish team belong to animals that suggest a very open and dry savanna environment. Equids (like modern zebras), antilopini (like modern gazelles) and alcelaphini (like modern wildebeest) constitute most of the animals discovered. The fossil pollen discovered also indicates a very open landscape dominated by grasslands and a smaller number of trees among which Acacia is the best represented. Some plant residues discovered (called phytoliths) show that the type of grass most represented is a short grass that grows in very open and dry ecosystems."
DD: As might be expected, acacia for push-pole thrusting spears. Whether acacia was used for crafting (early) dugouts is much less certain. Cutting soft wood would presumably leave less traces than hard wood on handaxes. Push-pole thrusting spears would be a consumable disposable
item, easily replaced, a dugout less so. Thanks for the confirmation Lee!
Diving (My response to Seth's Human evolution post)
I agree with much of the AAT, but see it as part of life in a generalised coastal tropical habitat. Occupational specialization in later humans fits with my interpretation of butted hand axes as both butchering tools and woodcrafting tools used to construct the first dugout boats from hollow bent trees at waterside. These dugouts were the 'first cargo pickup trucks on the aquatic superhighway" that allowed trade and settlements upstream inland in areas formerly
dominated by the big cat predators, and allowed relatively safe easy transport of people including babies, with slingstone pebbles as ballast in the bottom for stability, and push-pole thrusting spears propelling and spare throwing spears bunched aside like arrows in a quiver. Further development of boats included thinner lighter dugouts and later portageable ribbed skin kayaks, birchbark canoes and plank sailboats on the sea of galilee 20,000 years ago.
The words Tectonic, Technical, Technology have the root Tek, which is Greek for carpenter or craftsman. I think it derived from the sound of stone "tick-ticking" against stone to make a hand axe and other simple tools. Other languages around the world have similar sounding words for crafting tools, which suggest great antiquity. (Chip or chop are other variations of it.)
The hand in primates (and even more in anthropoids) was selected for plucking loosely hanging fruits in angiosperm trees, which had previously been the long held domain of fruit bats and frugivorous birds. Plucking allowed the changes in the jaws and dental structure,
which allowed the brain to enlarge later.
This combined with greater vertical climbing and posture produced a more stable bipedal locomotion, as seen in the gibbon and spider monkey. Bipedal wading doesn't cause dry land bipedalism (see wetland apes which wade on 2 legs but walk on 4, while gibbons are bipedal on the ground but never wade), but it does reinforce an already bipedal habit.
Most likely the combination of fruit tree climbing, wading for molluscs in mangroves, shore cliff climbing for seabird eggs, coconut palm climbing, beachcombing for turtle eggs, vertical floating (with inflated laryngeal air sac) while plucking aquatic vegetation all combined to further the upright stance in hominoids and resulted in the complete loss of the tail. Later, the ancestors of the Great apes expanded inland along gallery forests staying arboreal and becoming more quadrupedal when on the ground, while ancient Homo erectus improved swimming and changed from vertical floating to horizontal backfloating (losing the lar. throat air sac but gaining a layer of skin fat) resulting in greater hydrodynamic linearity, thermoinsulation and oxygen breath holding abilities and becoming a more adept diver for shellfish and crustaceans.
I envision them diving as male-female pairs alternating dives, while the younger males acted as area patrol guards/gangs (also competing for deeper diving/spearfishing, tree climbing for coconuts and figs, and various small game hunting) and younger females as babysitters and
beachcombers at the shore. Later the use of hollow logs and driftwood as floats in waters with crocs or sharks began the emergence of the most primitive vehicular industry, shells pebbles and stone tools used to make simple dugouts.
DDeden
http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/08/10/my-theory-of-human-evolution-planet-earth-edition/
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/08/nope_no_aquatic_apes_found_in.php
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
What is a Mangrove? Manggi manggi
What is a mangrove?
The term 'mangrove', is used in the broad sense either to refer to the highly adapted plants found in tropical intertidal forest communities or the ecosystem itself. The term 'mangrove' may have been derived from a combination of the Malay word 'manggi-manggi', for a type of mangrove tree (Avicennia) and the Arabic 'el gurm', for the same, as 'mang-gurm'. As a word, it can be used to refer to a species, plant, forest or community!
A mangrove community
Nature, at the highest level of organisation, consists of the ecosphere which includes all living things (biosphere) together with non-living parts (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere). The next level is the biome which consists of groups of similar ecosystems over large geographic areas. Next is the ecosystem, which is a self-regulating community of organisms and their non-living environment.
The community, consists of interacting populations (single-species groups) of all the different plants and animals in the area, which in this case, is the mangrove. Thus essentially, the mangrove community is the biotic part of this ecosystem, which this book introduces.
Types of tropical rain forest
The term 'tropical rain forest' is used to describe forests of the ever-wet tropics or beyond, where there is, at most, minimal seasonal water shortage. These can be divided into dry-land and wetland rain forests. The first includes tropical lowland evergreen rain forest, which was the main type of forest covering Singapore, parts of which still exist in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
This also includes beach vegetation, which still exists along Singapore's east coast, Labrador Beach in the south, and the southern islands. Wetland rain forests include mangrove, brackish-water, freshwater and peat swamp forests. Of all these, only mangrove forests are under the direct influence of seawater.
Types of coastal habitats
The geological and environmental conditions of the shoreline result in different habitats. Exposure to currents and waves of the open sea results in the formation of rocky shore and sandy beaches. Sheltered shores, on the other hand, allow sediment from rivers and the sea to settle, and eventually become mangrove forests.
high tide (left) low tide (right)
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/1002.htm
The term 'mangrove', is used in the broad sense either to refer to the highly adapted plants found in tropical intertidal forest communities or the ecosystem itself. The term 'mangrove' may have been derived from a combination of the Malay word 'manggi-manggi', for a type of mangrove tree (Avicennia) and the Arabic 'el gurm', for the same, as 'mang-gurm'. As a word, it can be used to refer to a species, plant, forest or community!
A mangrove community
Nature, at the highest level of organisation, consists of the ecosphere which includes all living things (biosphere) together with non-living parts (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere). The next level is the biome which consists of groups of similar ecosystems over large geographic areas. Next is the ecosystem, which is a self-regulating community of organisms and their non-living environment.
The community, consists of interacting populations (single-species groups) of all the different plants and animals in the area, which in this case, is the mangrove. Thus essentially, the mangrove community is the biotic part of this ecosystem, which this book introduces.
Types of tropical rain forest
The term 'tropical rain forest' is used to describe forests of the ever-wet tropics or beyond, where there is, at most, minimal seasonal water shortage. These can be divided into dry-land and wetland rain forests. The first includes tropical lowland evergreen rain forest, which was the main type of forest covering Singapore, parts of which still exist in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
This also includes beach vegetation, which still exists along Singapore's east coast, Labrador Beach in the south, and the southern islands. Wetland rain forests include mangrove, brackish-water, freshwater and peat swamp forests. Of all these, only mangrove forests are under the direct influence of seawater.
Types of coastal habitats
The geological and environmental conditions of the shoreline result in different habitats. Exposure to currents and waves of the open sea results in the formation of rocky shore and sandy beaches. Sheltered shores, on the other hand, allow sediment from rivers and the sea to settle, and eventually become mangrove forests.
high tide (left) low tide (right)http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/1002.htm
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)