Ecology and conservation of fragmented tropical forests
... of the potential effects of climate change on the vertebrate fauna of the wet tropics of Australia, especially the 72 species endemic to the region. While a conservative scenario of a 1E C temperature rise would result in the direct loss of only one endemic, a perhaps more likely rise of 3.5E could cause the l...The prehistory of neotropical lowland forests
...TRI summarized archeological data on pre-Columbian vertebrate faunas from throughout Central America, extending as far back as 7000 years ago in central Panama. Animals used for food were usually acquired in habitats within a few kilometers of the sites in which they were found, although items such as dried fi...Pufferfish DNA yields clues to human biology
...mal genome after the human sequence, and the first vertebrate genome publicly sequenced and assembled using the whole genome shotgun method. The Fugu genome sequence, along with other information about the project, is available on the World Wide Web at www.jgi.doe.gov/fugu and www.fugubase.org . The JGI, one...Pufferfish DNA yields clues to human biology
...mal genome after the human sequence, and the first vertebrate genome publicly sequenced and assembled using the whole genome shotgun method. The Fugu genome sequence, along with other information about the project, is available on the World Wide Web at www.jgi.doe.gov/fugu and www.fugubase.org. The JGI, one ...Researchers produce motor neurons from embryonic stem cells
... cord. Their studies have shown that the fledgling vertebrate nervous system is crackling with activity -- genes are being turned on and off at a rapid pace, transforming immature cells into a billions-strong network of specialized neural cells. Ultimately, Jessell hopes that his research will provide a more th...Just one bite at a time: Researchers find snake with unusual feeding habit
...ge is that you shouldn't jump to conclusions about vertebrate behavior by relying solely on anatomical evidence. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation....Scientists get no-strings awards for biodiversity leadership
...ascar as an evolutionary laboratory for generating vertebrate diversity, with special attention to the island's lemur populations and their close relatives on the nearby African continent. Lemurs, which are generally small animals with opposable thumbs and prehensile tails, are among the most diverse primates o...NHGRI prioritizes model organisms for sequencing
...lus)-The chicken is widely used as a non-mammalian vertebrate system for investigating several important biomedical research problems, including the development of the embryo (particularly the nervous system) and the causes of birth defects. It is the only avian (bird) system with sufficient research resources...'Warm to the touch' gene found
...iously, scientists had known that humans and other vertebrate animals use specialized neurons located in the spinal column that are connected to the skin and organs through long axons to sense temperature, pressure, and other physical stimuli. Expressed on these axons are the same sort of TRP channels as the on...Setting the stage for limb development
...are involved in the limb formation of a variety of vertebrate species. This work by Dr. Lufkins research team extends the known range of Dlx function in limb formation to mammals. There are six mammalian Dlx genes (Dlx1-6); the human Dlx5 and Dlx6 genes are located on an area of chromosome 7 which is often disr...Scientists discuss microbial pathogenesis in era of bioterrorism, drug resistance
.... Because salmonella bacteria have co-existed with vertebrate hosts for perhaps as long as 10 million years, they have had plenty of time to evolve extremely sophisticated mechanisms to interact with host cells. Dr. Galan tracked how the bacterium uses a specialized organelle to inject its own proteins into the...Study suggests mechanism for heart defect that kills young athletes
...identified the developmental role of more than ten vertebrate genes using the random mutagenesis technique in zebrafish. In this approach, adult male zebrafish are mutagenized, mated to female fish, and two generations later their tiny, transparent embryos are screened for abnormalities. Many pivotal early cha...Researcher traces gene development in 'last common link'
...ying the last common link between invertebrate and vertebrate animals has found a key genetic change that separa... body layer in invertebrates duplicated within the vertebrate lineage after the development of amphioxus. However, in vertebrates, this gene, AmphiEomes/Tbr1, g...Australian frog is first to make its own chemical weapons
...food sources. It is the first documented case of a vertebrate that generates its own poison alkaloids, complex chemicals that are usually associated with plants, the researchers said. Poison frogs release alkaloids from their skin to defend against predators. Until now, the researchers believed that all obtaine...Scientists trace recently found genes to the evolution of big brains
... of recently discovered genes enables the brain of vertebrate animals, including humans, to grow large and complex. The findings, published in the April 5 issue of Cell, shed light on how the Olig 1 and Olig 2 genes direct the formation of a key type of supporting cell required by nerve cells to transmit their ...New method used to transfer genes into mouse
...transposase have been used to genetically modify a vertebrate animal. In the study, which is published in the April 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Minnesota researchers injected a transposon containing the gene for a yellow coat color into a mouse embryo, resulting...Tyrannosaurus rex probably could not run fast, scientists say
...ys them. Skeletal muscle is built similarly in all vertebrate animals. The force that it can exert depends on its cross-sectional area - that is, two factors: muscle length and muscle width. But an animal's weight, or body mass, depends on three factors: length, width and height. The math behind that physical r...Proliferation of Argentine ants in California linked to decline in coastal horned lizards
...8," points out Fisher. "They have destroyed small vertebrate communities through the southeast and may do the same here." "If we want to preserve populations of this beautiful lizard in the future," says Suarez, "we not only have to make sure that enough habitat is put aside, we also have to make sure that...Keck Foundation awards $750,000 grant to Northeastern University to fund 3D fusion microscope
...s on the key developmental processes that occur in vertebrate animals. The long-range goal is to develop a new paradigm of three-dimensional biological imaging by borrowing from the engineering community and CenSSIS the techniques of inverse scattering, image processing, three-dimensional imaging and visualiza...New theory of the evolution of bird flight linked to parental care
...eopteryx as evidence that there was a transitional vertebrate species that developed during the evolution from reptilian dinosaurs to birds. Furthermore, they suggest that the development of flight may explain why birdlike dinosaurs avoided extinction. Until now, there have been two basic theories on the origin...