bird-dino postures

uncinate process in birds

JR Codd 2010 Compar.Biochem.Physiol.A156:303-8
Uncinate processes in birds: morphology, physiology, and function

The avian respiratory system is remarkable in terms of its complexity &
efficiency. The evolution of this system with its unique lung morphology &
physiology has contributed to birds being one of the most successful
vertebrate lineages.
Despite holding the attention of the scientific community for a long time,
much remains to be discovered about the complexities of this system. Recent
advances have highlighted the important role that accessory breathing
structures, the uncinate processes, play in understanding how this system
functions & evolved.
Almost all spp of extant bird have uncinate processes extending from the
mid-point of the vertebral ribs. These processes are integral to the
mechanics of ventilation in birds, being active in both in- & expiration,
but also playing some role during locomotion.
The morphological variation in the uncinate processes suggests that the
constraints placed on the body by adaptations to different forms of
locomotion are key to understanding differences in how birds breathe.
These processes also occur in the theropod dinosaurs, providing further
evidence that they are the ancestors of modern birds, but also highlighting
the intrinsic flexibility in the ventilatory systems of these animals.
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death pose of long necked dinos & posture of resting geese: sleeping with head on back above abd. air sacs (parallel to backfloating & whale blowhole on back) while floating or on nest, the eyes see behind when awake but static, able to see predators which approach from behind. Uncinate processes probably evolved as air sac flexible cages allowing leaping-breathing like kangaroos) but bellows not deflating during sleep which would result in sinking.
kangaroo leap breathe

Amazing argonaut octopus: here

Air Air everywhere

Diving physiology bio-chem: respiration, apnea

Divers should not hyperventilate causing alkalosis in blood, due to susceptibility to sudden black-out from lack of oxygen (with no chemoreceptor warning).
Rather they should be neutral pH, during dive the accumulation of carbon dioxide produces acidosis in the blood (even if there is abundant oxygen) which in MDR (mammalian divers reflex) is a safer mode, high CO2 triggers air hunger (oxygen conservation) and diaphragmatic contractions pump O2 & CO2 around efficiently.


REFINING THE BREATH by DOUG KELLER 2007

And then there are times when we anticipate physical stress and begin to breathe harder, using the chest muscles. The problem is that this situation of persistent mental and emotional stress has become more the rule of daily life than the exception. The body is on constant alert via the sympathetic nervous system, but the physical exertion — and the need for accelerated breathing — never comes. As a result, we’ve both pumped in more oxygen and pumped out carbon dioxide in this process of hyperventilation, and a vital chemical balance in the body has been seriously upset.

Here begins the vicious cycle that is so familiar to hyperventilators. The harder we breathe, the more oxygen-starved we feel, and we can’t ‘catch’ our breath. This is not for lack of oxygen, but because so much carbon dioxide has been forced out in the process of overbreathing. The presence of carbon dioxide in our blood allows the hemoglobins to transport oxygen to the body’s tissues. If too much carbon dioxide is ‘blown off’ by hyperventilation, the blood becomes alkaline, and the hemoglobin can’t release the oxygen molecules, which are chemically ‘stuck’ to it. The blood is carrying around plenty of oxygen: the problem is that the body can’t get any of it!
Carbon dioxide also provides the chemical message in the blood that leads us to take our next breath. At the end of the exhalation, there is a natural, restful pause before we breathe in again. During that pause, carbon dioxide builds up in the blood at the same time that oxygen is being released into the tissues. When it reaches a certain level, the respiratory center of the brain sends a signal through the phrenic nerve to the diaphragm to take another breath.

In the normal course of breathing, the entire process of respiration is driven by carbon dioxide, from the first neurochemical impulse that initiates the inhalation, to the chemical balancing act in the blood that delivers oxygen to the body. All of this happens without our having to think about or consciously direct the process, and the whole process works astoundingly well, with carbon dioxide playing a central role from beginning to end.

That, of course, describes the natural process of the breath, in which the conscious mind, with its slurry of desire, emotion and expectation, is not factored in. But what happens when we overbreathe? Usually an excess of carbon dioxide in the blood tells us to take another breath in, and the process is quite relaxed. But when carbon dioxide drops below a certain level (due to anticipatory fast hard breathing), the message from the body — which is now not receiving the oxygen it needs — is that we are suffocating! And so the breath is driven by the body’s panic, and we breathe harder, making the situation worse instead of better. A subtle chemical imbalance soon becomes a full-blown panic attack. The age-old cure for panic attacks — to breathe into a paper bag — has a very good biochemical basis: it’s meant to increase the levels of carbon dioxide by re-breathing the same air, until the proper balance is restored.

When it comes to stressful breathing patterns, or patterns of ‘overbreathing, certainly the vicious cycle of the biochemistry of hyperventilation plays the part of gasoline thrown on the fire. Mental anticipation and anxiety, however, is the match that lights the fire.
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So relax, and just glow a little. ;)

h/t kelp princess @ Deeper Blue

water water everywhere

A few hotels in Eureka have small guest swimming pools. A local fitness club has a lap pool.
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Eureka High School swimming pool closed

Superintendent Haulk reported the Eureka High School pool has been closed. It was the desire of Eureka City Schools to work cooperatively with the non-profit group raising money to keep the pool open. Due to the Federal Swimming Pool and Spa Drain Cover Standard established by the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, beginning December 19, 2008, all public pools, like the EHS pool, are required to meet the new drain cover standard. The Director of the North Coast School's Insurance Group has stated that knowing failure to comply with laws such as the Act could void liability coverage for the district. Legal counsel has advised that "it would be prudent to close the pool and permit no one to use it on or after December 19, 2009..." To bring the pool up to compliance would cost an estimated $100,000-$200,000. If this amount of work were to be invested in the pool, it would kick in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act for the building that would require mandated upgrades that would be cost prohibitive. In addition to the non-compliant drain, the heater for the pool broke down and is difficult to repair. (EHS news)
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The Eureka warm water Easter Seals therapy pool is closing.
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_14424955
State budget cuts, the loss of a major business sponsor and exorbitant fixes needed at its pool facility have all combined to leave the Humboldt County chapter of Easter Seals no options other than to shut its doors, officials say. Effective April 30, Easter Seals will cease operations after six decades on the North Coast.
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College of the Redwoods swimming pool is closed.
http://www.redwoods.edu/sports/pool/
http://www.redwoods.edu/District/Maintenance/Pool%20Study%20Rev%202.pdf
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The Arcata community pool and Arcata's Humboldt State University new Natatorium pool (20 minute drive, 2 hr walk from Eureka) are open but heavily used by students, swim clubs, scuba & kayak/sculling groups. For a combined urban population of 45,000 residents, not much swimming available except ocean rough coldwater surfing and summer river swimming holes.

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/issues/2008/06/19/cant-swim/

http://www.athleticbusiness.com/articles/printpreview.aspx?a=2470&template=print-article.htm

http://now.humboldt.edu/news/hsu-opens-new-kinesiology-and-athletics-building/

Icosa + Octa + Tet = ICTET

Novel structure incorporating 3 simplest structural polyhedral forms:
" the ARC in =4D= " the tail as a rotating/fused/swiveling structure

I found 6 correlations. [Update: a 7th found, the Proxigean extreme spring tide occurs every 31 years, see bottom of post.] The last one was hard, the ictet has 31 sides, but what was the 12? I knew there must be a twelve. Then I remembered Bucky's 12 radial spokes supporting a tensional wheel. Just as a rotating tail (but not a swiveling tail) such as a propeller or a clock must balance outwards to avoid offset erosion of the prop axle, the wheel must have 12 contacts in balance, as the sphere in a matrix must have 12 contact points. The result is extraordinary. (I did not originally see the link of 31 GC & vertebral nerve prs and 12 cranial nerves, Rybo at Synergeo group did, a copy of his graphic is at the bottom of the ARC blog. Ken at AAT group noted the 31 equal temperment of an octave.)

1 growth-31 vert neural pairs, 12 cranial nerve pairs, pentameric
2 form-31 great circles in icosa, 12 vertices, pentagonal
3 energy-31 equal temperment in octave, 12 tones, pentatonic
4 time-31~ day/night cycles in month, 12 month, heptapent
5 triax-31=sum of 1st 7 factors, of 12 factors of 60, hexapent
6 ictet-31 triangular sides, 12 deg. of freedom of tail pentabase
7 orbit-31 year cycle extreme proxigean spring tide, 12 pt ellipsis
Bio video of helical propelled bacteria: Rhodobacter sphaeroides
http://www.rowland. harvard.edu/ labs/bacteria/ showmovie. php?mov=rsphe_ f_swim_1
http://tinyurl. com/qzdb4r
Good graphical explanation of flagella, cilia, rod:
http://lecturer. ukdw.ac.id/ dhira/BacterialS tructure/ Flagella. html

Note: (Flower petals/leaves often split as 2, 3, 5, which are prime)

The number 60, a highly composite number, has twelve factors:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 10 = 31 (sum of 1st 7 factors)

In spherically arranged tight-fit ball packing layers:
12, 42, 92, 162, 252, 362 (shell layer balls in VE, Icosa)
10, 40, 90, 160, 250, 360 (subtract 2)
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 (divide by 10)
f = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (sq root)

form: 1 tet = 4 sides (tetrahedron)
form: 1 octa = 8 sides (octahedron)
form: 1 octet = 11 sides (2 merge into 1 double pane = tube)
form: 1 icosa = 20 sides (icosahedron)
form: 1 ictet = 31 sides (icosa w/ pin-hinged octet "tail")

Ictet = icosa + tail, polar moment, mono-axis

So now we have a composite structure of all 3 structural elements, the overall shape is an icosa-spheroid with an octet tail which can rotate in any direction (or if reversely docked, swing-hinge in an arc), answering the question, from whence did the flagella and sperm arise. Also explains the persistence of the tail in all motile organisms. Also explains why humans have 31 vertebral neural pairs, 12 cranial neural pairs and no tail. At least it would seem so.

AFAIK no one has noted the significance of the combined 'Ictet' structure as a universal jointed spheric mobile entity, and its numerical parallel of 31 sides with the 31 equal temperment of the octave, the 31 vertebral neural pairs in humans, the 31 lunar days and 31 great circles of the icosahedron, the 31 sum of 1st 7 factors of 60.

http://www.tabletoptelephone.com/~hopspage/Fuller.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icosahedron
http://www.buckminster.info/Pics/Tetrahedra/Tet-Quark-Mite.gif
At the single open vertex of the tetrahedron (the far left blue point) of the octet is the universal 'pin joint' which is attached to one of the 12 pentagonal sutures (pore/window) of the (truncated/regular) icosahedron or hexapent buckyball, the octet tail allowed to swivel radially or horizontally on a favorable plane.

(The picture includes the internal electrostatic bonding forces referred to as a mite or quark, whose form is an irregular tetrahedron.)

Note that the icosa meets the octet at a pentagon window, the tet meets the octa with each of the tet base corners having 5 vectors. So there is a continuum of pentagonal adhesion/cohesion, aka pentabase. Synergetic.

DDeden, August 18, 2009

(ictet not abbreviation for interpenetrated icosa-tet, rather an abbreviation for attached icosa-octa-tet, in the manner of R.B. Fuller term octet to name attached octa-tet form in patent.)

(More information on ICTET 31-12 available at AAT & Synergeo Yahoo groups.)
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background addendum:
The term harmony derives from the Greek (harmonía), meaning "joint", re. "to fit
together, to join". The harmonious major triad is composed of three tones in a
simple whole number ratio of 6:5:4. The major triad chord in music theory
consists of a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth.

In structural theory, the simplest closed structures, the Platonic triad, are
the tetrahedron, the octahedron and the icosahedron. It would seem to me that
these 2 triads or chords are the same relationship expressed in different form,
(sound) energy and physical matter. [Compare to diving/backfloating partners
with infant]

The relevance to the 'ictet' above is that the chordal form triad is
preserved, the icosa, tet and oct are securely joined, yet the pin joint allows
vibrational energy propulsion via propeller rotation equivalent to a wheel of 12 spokes tensionally held or 12 degrees of freedom. A dual pin hinge would produce lateral swiveling.

An alternative form, not considered here but perhaps relevant to echinoforms or
spongiforms, is a central icosa with an octet flagella (or spine) docked at each
of the 12 surface pentagons, resembling a stellated icosahedron.

Tetrahedron: triangular corner (3 lines converge)
Octahedron: square corner (4 lines converge)
Icosahedron: pentagon corner (5 lines converge)

Potentially supporting information as to the antiquity of the ictet tail structure, this time as a fused external structure: fused structural segments produce 'primary cilia' (flagella, filament) different from motile cilia and found in animal skin and brain cells. Not impossibly this 'primary cilia' became the source of the notochord & tail in pre/vertebrates.
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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/uoc--ssc082109.php
"Unlike the more familiar motile cilia, primary cilia do not move, and only one pokes out of each cell. They have recently been discovered to play an essential role in assuring normal embryological development. May protect against skin cancer"

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/uoc--sbt082109.php
"UCSF scientists have discovered that a tiny filament extending from cells, until recently regarded as a remnant of evolution, may play a role in the most common malignant brain tumor in children. "In the last few years, primary cilia have been shown to be essential for the cell-signaling that drives both human development, including the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, and some diseases, including polycystic kidney disease. The fact that the two UCSF studies implicate primary cilia in two totally different tissues suggests the finding is likely to be very general."

Note: A skew icosahedron is inscribed within an octahedron in a 4 frequency tetrahedron.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/synergeo/message/54332

"In other words, you can't make a regular icosahedron out of regular tetrahedrons. In
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/synergeo/message/10326
I once said that, "The dihedral angle between the faces of a regular tetrahedron is 1.230959418 radians or 70.52877938 degrees. This is also the angle between alternating faces of a regular octahedron. Notice that it is not quite 72 degrees, so you can't put exactly five
tetrahedra around a common edge or five octahedra around a common vertex, as was attempted in the gapball or octaball Photos." AM
http://home.usit.net/~rybo6/rybo/id2.html
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The number 31 pops up again, this time in regard to tidal cycles.
"During the last 400 years, there have been 39 instances or 'Extreme Proxigean Spring Tides' There were, in fact cases of extreme tidal flooding recorded during these particular spring tides which occur once every 31 years."

1800 yr ocean tidal cycle
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=18099

The gravitational force of the moon is one ten-millionth that of earth, but when you combine other forces such as the earth's centrifugal force created by its spin, you get tides.
When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. At these times, the high tides are very high and the low tides are very low. This is known as a spring tide. The net result of this is that the Earth gets deformed into a slightly squashed, ellipsoidal shape due to these tidal forces.

The tidal bulge of the Moon follows along the path on the earth's surface which intersects with the orbital plane of the Moon. This plane is tilted about 23 degrees with respect to the equatorial plane of the earth. The result is that near the equator, the difference between high tide and low tide is actually rather small, compared to other latitudes.

The Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare, unusually high tide. This very high tide occurs when the moon is both unusually close to the Earth (at its closest perigee, called the proxigee) and in the New Moon phase (when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth). The proxigean spring tide occurs at most once every 1.5 years.

During the last 400 years, there have been 39 instances or 'Extreme Proxigean Spring Tides' where the tide-producing severity has been near the theoretical maximum. The last one of these was on March 7 1995 at 22:00 hours Greenwich Civil Time during a lunar Full Moon. There were, in fact cases of extreme tidal flooding recorded during these particular spring tides which occur once every 31 years."

If you see earths' orbit as a circle (slightly lopsided, ellipse) around the sun, imagine the sun as the center of a sunflower, and earth orbit as the edge of that center, then the moon could be seen as a set of 366 flower petals around it. In the last 400 years, the extreme proxigean spring tide occurred 39 times. Maybe at 366 it skipped the extreme tide.

Also note Rybo's picture at bottom of page showing the 31 spinal nerve pairs and 12 cranial nerve pairs.

Bio-convergent parallel: Anuroid & Hominoid

Arkive Video: Gorillas vertical wading and wet-sit-eating

left: dryland gelada, long-tailed, vertical-trunk, dry-sit-eat grasses, no air sac
right: lowland gorilla, tail-less, vertical-trunk, wet-sit-eat sedges, air sac


Another Video: Lowland Gorillas eating sedge rhyzomes and high-protein AHV (Aquatic Herbaceous Vegetation) while sitting-floating in forest open wetland Arkive video link

DD: The question is not "do air sacs always cause loss of tail?", but "is the complete loss of tail in hominoids due (in part) to laryngeal air sac?" The answer is clear, yes, float-sit-feeding with inflatable air sac selects for tail loss.

MV: Not so clear IMO: may depend on body size, size of airsacs, terrestrial vs aquatic milieu, salt vs fresh water milieu, time spent in trees & water, arm-hanging vs hopping vs above-branch, etc.

DD: parallel convergence at forest-waterside (swamp, wetland, shore):

left: Axlotl, long-tailed 'tadpole' with external gills and legs, swims but doesn't sit
right: Macaque, long-tailed, with lungs and legs, swims but doesn't feed sit-floating



Tadpoles with long tail swim, they don't sit partially feeding in water, they don't have prehensile tongue; frogs with no tail sit partially in water, and use long prehensile tongue to eat. Some frogs then evolved more arboreal traits (better climbing skills, less swimming), others spend much time on lake bottoms and developed more aquatic traits (skin 'gill' breathing)

left: tree frogs have since further specialized to arborealty, more 'spidery' and colorful
right: aquatic frog with hydrodynamic red external gills re-adapted to full submersion



Monkeys with long tails swim (Nasalis, Long-tailed macaque); while Ndoki swamp gorillas
(~LCA H-oid) with no tail sit partially in water while feeding.

left: tree apes have since further specialized to arborealty, more 'spidery' and colorful
right: aquatic apes (humans) with hydrodynamic hair re-adapted to submersion diving



AFAIK, neither spidery tree frogs nor deep-submersion frogs inflate their throat air sacs as much as forest-waterside frogs.

AFAIK, neither spidery tree apes (gibbon) nor deep submersion apes (humans) inflate their throat air sacs as much as forest-waterside apes.

Parallel pattern. Partial sit-float eating -> air sac -> tail lost; eventually species body size may enlarge at forest-waterside, OR become full-time spidery at arboreal canopy OR adapt deep submersion with active skin glands* or skin gills* as per photos.

DD: Complete loss of tail = vertical-trunk float-sitting while plucking-foraging. Laryngeal air sacs. Compare to long tailed gelada sitting while plucking-foraging grass on dry ground. No air sacs there, of course.

MV: Some baboons have short tails IIRC?

DD: None lost their tail, many highland monkeys (cold nights select for short tails) with non-prehensile tails have short tails. Tail covers peri-anal region, in water, muscle valves and tissue close peri-anal region.

Dry-sit-eating (no air sac, long-tailed) savanna gelada vs wet/float-sit-eating (air sac, tail-less) Ndoki swamp gorilla
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAT/message/49817

* frogs and salamanders may respire via gills, lungs or skin. I conjecture that the eccrine skin glands of humans (inactive in African apes except volar eccrines) function in very limited respiration. link

Evolution Canyon European-African micro-climates in Jordan Rift Valley

Flowering plants & veination 140ma:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/w-hdf120109.php
The study, by Dr Tim Brodribb and Dr Taylor Field of the University of Tasmania and University of Tennessee, used plant physiology to reveal how flowering plants, including crops, were able to dominate land by evolving more efficient hydraulics, or 'leaf plumbing', to increase rates of photosynthesis.

"Flowering plants are the most abundant and ecologically successful group of plants on earth," said Brodribb. "One reason for this dominance is the relatively high photosynthetic capacity of their leaves, but when and how this increased photosynthetic capacity evolved has been a mystery."

Using measurements of leaf vein density and a linked hydraulic-photosynthesis model, Brodribb and Field reconstructed the evolution of leaf hydraulic capacity in seed plants. Their results revealed that an evolutionary transformation in the plumbing of angiosperm leaves pushed photosynthetic capacity to new heights.

The reason for the success of this evolutionary step is that under relatively low atmospheric C02 conditions, like those existing at present, water transport efficiency and photosynthetic performance are tightly linked. Therefore adaptations that increase water transport will enhance maximum photosynthesis, exerting substantial evolutionary leverage over competing species.

Log some Laps Locally

http://www.slagoon.com/store/book13.html

Great apnea diving video by "fishtaco"
monofin freediving link

http://www.eurekareporter.com/article/080919-%E2%80%98save-the-ehs-pool%E2%80%99-effort-unveils-web-site

‘Save the EHS pool’ effort unveils Web site

“It is time for Loggers to show their stuff,” he wrote. “Go Loggers! Own the pool.”

Pool committee co-chairpersons Dennis Houghton and Brian Nunn also announced a new Web site that should be operational in about a week that will chronicle the fundraising journey, solicit support and inspire community members. At www.aquatics.myreka.org, links to “inspirations” such as the Sigrid and Harry Spath Aquatic Facility in Mendocino will be listed with the hopes of showing Eureka residents what a new community pool could look like. Still under construction, the new state-of-the-art aquatics center in Mendocino will feature an eight-lane competition lap pool, four-lane activity/therapy/learning pool with zero-depth, beach entry and play features that include a water slide and a 175-foot running-river resistance water channel — to name a few highlights.

Diving-Surfacing: Parallel Convergence

The blue whale's nose resembles the human nose and sea otter nose during backfloating.

Backfloating & Swimming: Infant 15 months old: Breathe on back, Swim on stomach
http://www.btaquatics.org/PPSwim.htm


The Aquaphotic Respiratory Cycle (ARC)

Explanation:

The Aquaphotic Respiratory Cycle (ARC) contains two components, relying upon the trigeminal cranial nerve:

1) submergence - Mammalian Divers Reflex (MDR) (stifled inhale)
2) emergence - Photic Sneeze (PS) (explosive exhale)

The MDR (from air surface to ~2m+ water depth) occurs when the face is
suddenly pressured, chilled and darkened which results in a inhale
reflex BUT since the face is submerged underwater, the inhaling reflex
is stifled and converted into O2 conservation or Mammalian Divers Reflex.

Human Physiology, Klinke, Silbernagel et al., 2006,
MDR: trigeminal cranial afferent nerve (V) relays the information that the
nasal and mouth cavities are submerged, which triggers the autonomus
nervous system to

* bradicardia, meaning a reduction of heart rate to about 4/5 of
normal rate
* blood "shift"(?) to the thorax to support the lung when under
pressure to keep it from collapsing (which would be bad for numerous
reasons)
* vasoconstriction, first in the limbs to protect vital organs,
and later of everything except the heart and the brain, which creates
a heart-brain circuit


The PS (from ~2m+ water depth to air surface) occurs when the face is
suddenly well lit after dark adaptation (accomodation for improved vision), (pressure and thermal changes
increase neural stimulus) -> fast forced CO2 exhale reflex and
"instant" oxygenation of tissues.

http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-science/79552-diving-surfacing-efficiently.html


DDeden [AAT, Deeper Blue, The ARC blog]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0105-ear_popper.htm

The Ear-Popper is a handheld, battery-powered device that delivers a
constant, controlled stream of air pressure and flow into the nasal
cavity, diverting air up the Eustachian tube when the patient
swallows. This "pops" the ear so the fluid can drain, unblocking the
ear and restoring hearing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal_nerve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_nerve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranial_nerves

http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/2008/08/17/this_bloke_is_chuffed_a_book_r/

Chapter five, appropriately called "Getting Ahead", begins with Shubin
studying cranial nerves several days before an anatomy test. Most
cranial are easy because they have only one function and attach to one
muscle or organ. Four, however, are a bit more difficult to trace.
Shubin focuses on two of the four - the trigeminal and the facial.
Each breaks up into a number of smaller branches that take a complex
path through the head. The trigeminal nerves controls some of the
muscles we use for chewing, innervate teeth, control some muscles in
the inner ear, and is responsible for facial sensation. The facial
nerve controls the muscles used in making facial expressions and like
the trigeminal, it also controls some muscles in the inner ear. The
question is why? As Shubin puts it:

Nothing about them seems to make any sense. For example, both the
trigeminal and the facial nerves send tiny branches to muscles inside
our ears. Why do two different nerves, which innervate entirely
different parts of the face and jaw, send branches to ear muscles that
lie adjacent to one another? Even more confusing, the trigeminal and
facial almost crisscross as they send branches to our face and jaw. Why? To answer that we need to look at the developing embryo. Part of the answer lies in the four arches that for roughly 3-4 weeks after
conception. The first arch tissues, ultimately, form the upper and
lower jaws, the malleus and incus, and all the muscles that supply
them. The second arch forms the stapes, the hyoid and the muscles that
control facial expression. The trigeminal comes from the first arch,
while the facial nerve comes from the second. But there is more. In
sharks, the first arch forms the jaws, which are enervated by the
trigeminal. The second arch, in sharks, forms a cartilage rod that
eventually breaks up to form to bones that support the jaws. The first
bone is the equivalent to the hyoid in humans and supports the lower
jaw. The second bone, which supports the upper jaw is equivalent to
the stapes in humans. oing a step further, if we look at Amphioxus we
can see a notochord. Humans have one too, but ours breaks up early in
embryology and, according to Shubin, becime part of the intervertebral
disks. Like humans, Amphioxus also has arches. In this case, the
arches form cartilage that support the gill slits. Going back in time,
say 500 million years, we can see the notochord preserved in some of
the earliest worm fossils.

Puffins and Penguins

Puffins (left pic) live north of the equator along the coasts, they both dive and fly, and tend to walk like a duck (horiz. axis).
Penguins (right pic) live south of the equator along the coasts, they only dive, and tend to hop or walk (vertical axis) somewhat like a human. Some species of puffins & penguins may look similar due to eco-niche convergent parallels, but they are not closely related.

Penguin ice island, they flock tightly to avoid the seals, orcas and sharks of deep water.
http://simonc.f2o.org/south/archives/000145.php

Petrol penguins
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_sc/brazil_dead_penguins_2

Why diving birds have small wings
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/17/i

Penguinology (Antarctica)
http://penguinology.blogspot.com/

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thanks to jewel for noticing my marine mammal center 'penguin' t-shirt was actually a puffin t-shirt (my oops), got me checking out the difference between the two. But why does the marine mammal center feature birds anyways?

Simplest Proof

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/17/early.seafood.ap/index.html

Editor's Summary: Nature | 18 October 2007 | Life was a beach

It's been suggested that the first thing Homo sapiens did once he and she had evolved was head for the beach. This is demonstrated in dramatic fashion by a series of discoveries in Middle Pleistocene sediments from a South African sea cave near Pinnacle Point. The finds suggest that by around 164,000 years ago, the residents were on a diet that included shellfish — the earliest evidence for the exploitation of coastal resources by some 40,000 years. There is also evidence that they used pigments such as red ochre for symbolic behaviour. This was at a time when the world was going through a cool, dry spell, and Africa was mostly desert. Perhaps this environmental stress drove small bands of hunter–gatherers down to the sea in search of new food
sources and lifestyles.

News and Views: Palaeoanthropology: The coast in colour

A South African cave overlooking the Indian Ocean was apparently a desirable residence for early humans. The site has provided rich evidence for the early use of colour and marine resources.

Sally McBrearty & Chris Stringer
doi:10.1038/449793a Full Text | PDF (584K)

Letter: Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene

Curtis W. Marean, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Jocelyn Bernatchez, Erich Fisher, Paul Goldberg, Andy I. R. Herries, Zenobia Jacobs, Antonieta Jerardino, Panagiotis Karkanas, Tom Minichillo, Peter J. Nilssen, Erin Thompson, Ian Watts & Hope M. Williams
doi:10.1038/nature06204


Re: 1998 AAT videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFsgtLxALac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTPQUU0KxMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKSBWHGA5KI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-88v2pLSYCk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnPJBuWPt0Y

A fine presentation!

Thanks to Algis for putting these videos on You-Tube for all to see.

Good to see Sir Alister Hardy, Dr. Morgan, Dr. Verhaegen, Dr. Tobias, Dr. Brain, Dr. Crawford, and more contributing to our knowledge of the human ancestral condition in relation to water.

DD

Common Descent 1 by DDeden

If sneezing evolved only for clearing the nose, which is the typical reason given, then why don't humans have closable nostrils to allow build up of air pressure to remove particles in the nasal cavity?

Why do we sneeze, which is a complex, whole body reaction, only to remove microscopic pollen, when simply blowing the nose is more effective and more efficient?

If sneezing is to remove particles, then why do people often blow their nose AFTER sneezing? And why the runny nose AFTER sneezing, if the particles are supposedly removed already?

It just does not add up to natural selection for fitness.
==============

If sneezing is a former diving exhalation, (completely refilling the lungs instantaneously as dolphins do), and if our ancestors allowed seawater into the nasal, sinus and middle ear cavities to avoid equalizing, then having closable nostrils would NOT be advantageous.

And if sneezing removed this water upon surfacing, backfloating between dives would select for longer noses pointed towards the sky, but with ventral-position nostrils since the occiput was dense and sinuses were lightweight, the head would tilt back further, so ventral nostrils would be higher up than prognathic outward pointing nostrils.

Now we see why the human nose, including He, Hs and Hn, does NOT have dense bone except at the base. The external nose in Homo is cartilage and tissue and fat, because it is lighter weight than solid bone.

The human nose is hollow tetrahedral structure (pyramid like) therefore using the least amount of structural materials (ie. light weight), and dense bone is found only at the foundation as part of the skull.

This was a difficult puzzle, as it made sense for the snorkel to be bony for protection, yet only the base is bony. The solution lies in the need to balance the heavy occiput during backfloating, in order to position the nostrils in the perfect position, like the sea otter. The presence of the keel on the He calvaria fits with this well, the occiput providing ballast for centering thus keeping the nose at the highest position. Presumable the keel shape was slightly advantageous during back stroke and back sculling as well as during diving.

Is the sea otter occiput or spine more dense (pachyostotic) or enlarged compared to the river otter or stoat? Is it keeled? Is the nose thick boned or thin and hollow cartilaginous?


Why do neandertal skulls have a notch in the occiput? One Hs skull also has this notch. (Update: a 2nd one, a small mix skull in Spain 23ka also has it).

Why do humans have white eye sclerae? Because even though humans are very visual oriented, during backfloating the eyes were kept closed generally, with vocal-aural information transmitted via song, clicking and abbreviated calling which evolved into resonance vowels and staccato consonants easily produced while backfloating.

The sunlight which penetrated through the thick fatty eyelids (Khoisan/East Asian type) hit the white sclerae and reflected back out through the lids, rather than being absorbed into the eyes (as with dark eyes) thus preventing damage over the long term due to UV.

Lullabyes and love songs derived from food gift exchange and sharing while diving and backfloating. Probably monogamous diving pairs, but based on size difference of male to female, possibly mini-harem system, 1 male with 1 pregnant and 1 non-pregnant female, so one is watching kids while other is diving with male? Possible similarity to bonobo female-female sharing, to prevent jealousy, better child raising in harsh environment?

Regarding the apparent size dimorphism in He, compare to sea otters, the males are much larger than females, IIRC river otter dimorphism is reduced. So IMO He may have dived monogamously as partners, but not foraged on land as pairs? Males patrolled beaches with sticks (possibly dugouts to get freshwater?), females guarded small kids at shore while wading, male teens in coconut palms & fig trees dropping foods and look out for predator/prey above water and beach and higher ground, female teens babysitting on dry sand with a palm leaf for shade and camoflage?

Super long distance swimming

Martin Strel: A slovenian, he swam down the Yang tse, Mississippi and Amazon Rivers.
http://www.amazonswim.com/main.php

Swimming the Great Lakes with Jim Dreyer
http://www.swimjimswim.org/pressreleases.htm#home

Man swims the North Pole
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=468256&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490

My swim around the world 07/07/07, NEPO 777:

UPDATE: NEPO 777 mission completed. I swam 3 stroke styles a total of 100m at Crescent Beach in Crescent City. The 100 m length was not linear, but rather curvilinear, in an arc around the oceanic hydrosphere of Planet Earth. This was a trial event in preparation for a circumpolar route around the entire planet, following the coasts when possible, with a dive partner, abundant funding and proper equipment.

NEPO 777: Neptune, Mediterranean legendary hero of the sea. Poseiden, Mediterranean legendary hero of the sea. Capt. Nemo (Principal character in Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues under the sea). 07/07/07: Anniversary of my father's birthday.