April 19, 2024, 07:01:43 pm
Welcome,
Guest
. Please
login
or
register
.
1 Hour
1 Day
Forever
Login with username, password and session length
News
: 'Europe's oldest city' found in Cadiz
http://mathaba.net/rss/?x=566660
Home
Help
Arcade
Gallery
Links
Staff List
Calendar
Login
Register
DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets
Atlantis Online
>
Forum
>
Maps, Explorers & Adventurers
>
the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba & the West Indies
>
DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
« previous
next »
Print
Author
Topic: DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets (Read 206 times)
0 Members and 66 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
Posts: 41646
DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets
«
on:
October 18, 2008, 12:37:38 pm »
Spider's Blood Found in Amber May Hold Prehistoric Secrets
James Owen
for National Geographic News
October 4, 2005
A 20-million-year-old spider frozen in time with droplets of its own blood may offer important new clues to the past, says the scientist who found it in the Caribbean.
The discovery of the previously unknown spider, preserved in fossilized tree resin, or amber, has echoes of Jurassic Park.
In Michael Crichton's book, scientists brought T. rex and other Jurassic giants back to life using dinosaur DNA taken from bloodsucking mosquitoes encased in amber.
While scientists maintain that the fictional story line remains extremely far-fetched, paleontologist David Penney says the new spider represents the first known amber fossil containing traces of blood.
Penney, from the University of Manchester in England, says it may be possible to extract DNA from the extinct spider's blood. But the fossil could prove even more valuable by helping shed light on the origins of animals found in the Caribbean.
The specimen came from an amber mine in the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
"This is the first ever fossil record of the spider family Filistatidae," Penney said. "Nobody's ever seen this before."
The small spider's closest living relatives are found only in Brazil and Argentina, providing a possible clue as to how Hispaniola and other islands in its island chain formed and were colonized by animals.
Hispaniola is part of the Antilles island chain, which stretches from Cuba to Grenada.
"The geological past of that region is quite complicated and not fully understood," Penney said.
Report Spam
Logged
Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
Posts: 41646
Re: DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets
«
Reply #1
on:
October 18, 2008, 12:39:10 pm »
South American Connection
Some speculate that the Antilles were once attached to Central America. More recently scientists have proposed that the chain was briefly connected to South America some 35 million years ago.
"The fact that this specimen has its closest relatives in Brazil and Argentina lends weight to this argument," Penney said.
Dominican amber fossils suggest there has been relatively little change in climate and habitat in the Caribbean for tens of millions of years, he said.
"The Dominican Republic is the only place on Earth where the amber fauna [fossilized animals in amber] are almost identical to the recent fauna," he explained. "That tells us that [Hispaniola] was tropical at the time it was formed."
The island's amber fossil record may also help turn up previously unknown species still living today, Penney said.
"The fauna on the island is quite poorly known. Not all the species are described," he said. Descendants of the newly discovered fossil spider may well have survived on Hispaniola, he added.
The paleontologist used blood droplets visible in the amber fossil, which is 4 centimeters long and 2 centimeters wide (1.6 inches long and 0.8 inch wide), to determine how the spider met its end.
From the flow of the blood droplets, Penney says, the spider must have been struck head-on by tree resin as it flowed down a tree trunk.
When the resin engulfed the spider, blood oozed from the arachnid's legs, which broke at predetermined weak spots. Leg loss is a predator-escape mechanism that is not unique to spiders.
"[It's] a bit like when you catch a lizard's tail and it breaks off," Penney said. "The same happens with spider legs in some families."
«
Last Edit: October 18, 2008, 12:41:21 pm by Bianca
»
Report Spam
Logged
Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
Posts: 41646
Re: DOMINICA - Spider's Blood Found In Amber May Hold Prehistoic Secrets
«
Reply #2
on:
October 18, 2008, 12:42:44 pm »
Replacement Limbs
But can DNA be extracted from amber-preserved blood? And could it be used to sequence the DNA of long-extinct animals?
Experts are highly skeptical on both counts.
Along with other researchers, a team at the Natural History Museum in London recently tried to replicate experiments of scientists who claimed to have extracted insect DNA from amber fossils. These attempts all failed.
As a result, said the museum's ancient DNA expert Jeremy Austin, "Most scientists now agree that DNA doesn't survive in fossilized insects in amber."
And even if insect DNA was recoverable from amber fossils, the team says the chances of getting dinosaur DNA from a Jurassic-era mosquito are "virtually nonexistent."
Report Spam
Logged
Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
Print
« previous
next »
Jump to:
Please select a destination:
-----------------------------
Atlantis Online - Messages
-----------------------------
=> Messages
=> Administrative Messages
=> Commemorating Dates in History
=> Alerts & Warnings
=> Upcoming Events, Releases & Ads
=> Television: Shows & Events
-----------------------------
the Coffee Shop
-----------------------------
=> the Coffee Shop
=> Atlantis: Polls & News
=> Poltical Alerts
=> Causes & Activism
-----------------------------
Videos, Documentaries & Online Movies
-----------------------------
=> Ancient History & Lost Civilizations
=> Ghosts, UFOs & the Esoteric
=> Music, Entertainment & the Arts
=> Conspiracies & Suppressed Knowledge
=> Documentary & Videos
-----------------------------
Ages of the Earth
-----------------------------
=> The Early Earth, Geology & Fossils
=> Dinosaurs
=> Catastrophes & Mass Extinctions
=> Ice Age
=> Humanity's Origins & Civilization's First Steps
-----------------------------
Mythology & Heroic Sagas of Culture & Myth
-----------------------------
=> Mythology
=> Greek Mythology
=> Arthurian Myth
=> Quest for King Arthur
-----------------------------
Atlantis
-----------------------------
=> Atlantis & the Atlantic Ocean
=> Atlantis: Theories & Speculation
=> Plato's Atlantis
=> the Scientific Atlantis
=> Geology & Atlantis
=> Atlantis & the New Age
=> Atlantis in the Media
-----------------------------
Satellite Discoveries & Alternate Archaeology
-----------------------------
=> Alternate Archaeology
=> Satellite Discoveries & Aerial Archaeology
=> the Bock Saga
-----------------------------
Maps, Explorers & Adventurers
-----------------------------
=> the Oceans
=> Islands
=> the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba & the West Indies
=> Explorers & Adventurers
=> Maps, Cartographers & Cartography
-----------------------------
Egypt & the Pyramids
-----------------------------
=> Gods of Egypt
=> Egypt & the Pyramids
=> the Giza Complex
=> the Dynasties of Egypt
=> Egypt: Latest Discoveries
-----------------------------
the Guanches, Basques, Berbers & Sea People
-----------------------------
=> Guanches, Basques & Berbers
=> Pirates, Phantom Islands & Stories of the Sea
=> the Sea People
-----------------------------
the Ancient World
-----------------------------
=> Neolithic Europe
=> Stonehenge & the Druids
=> the Library of Alexandria, Ancient Historians & Philosophers
=> Ancient Warfare
=> the Spartans
-----------------------------
the Dawn of Civilization
-----------------------------
=> Africa, the Cradle of Life
=> China & the Asian Empires
=> Eastern Mysticism, India, & the Ancient Far East
=> Zoroastrianism, Arabia & the Near East
=> the Sumerians
=> Ancient Asia Minor
=> Hawaii, Australia, Alaska & the Pacific Rim
-----------------------------
Ancient Mediterranean Cultures
-----------------------------
=> Minoan Crete
=> Phoenicians & Carthage
=> Mediterranean Islands
=> Israelities & the Kabbalah
=> Etruscans
=> Ancient Greece
=> Rome: Empire & Republic
-----------------------------
Ancient European Cultures
-----------------------------
=> The Picts & Celts
=> Ireland: History & Myths
=> Balkan History
=> Italy & Magna Graecia
=> the Vikings & Scandinavia
=> Germanic History
-----------------------------
Timelines of Ancient Europe
-----------------------------
=> History of Britain
=> Scotland: in History & Lore
=> Continental Europe: Past & Present
=> the Dark Ages
=> the Medieval World
=> The Renaissance
-----------------------------
the Ancient Americas
-----------------------------
=> the Ancient Americas
=> Peru: Mysteries & Prehistory
=> Mesoamerican & South American Cultures
===> Aztec
===> Incan
===> Olmec
===> Toltec & Teotihuacan
=> Mayan
=> Native American
=> Canada: Past & Present
-----------------------------
The Crusades, Templars & the Holy Grail
-----------------------------
=> the Crusades
=> the Knights Templar
=> The Holy Grail & Christian artifacts
=> The Sacred Feminine, the Cathars & Gnosticism
=> the Da Vinci Code
-----------------------------
Ancient Mysteries
-----------------------------
=> Philosophy
=> Ancient Mysteries
=> Lemuria, Mu & other sunken civilizations
=> Easter Island
=> Oak Island
-----------------------------
Archaeology & Anthropology
-----------------------------
=> Museums & Universities
=> Archaeology
=> Ancient Languages
=> Archaeological News
=> Underwater Archaeology
-----------------------------
Ancient Knowledge, Mysticism & Sacred Beliefs
-----------------------------
=> Ley Lines, Ancient Astronomy & Archeoastronomy
=> Prophecy, 2012, End Times & the End of the World
=> Sacred Symbols
=> The Ancient Arts: Astrology, Alchemy, the Tarot, Arcane Recondite Practices & the I Ching
-----------------------------
Search for the Sacred
-----------------------------
=> Angels & Angelology
=> Goddess Worship
=> Search for the Sacred
=> World Religions
=> the Urantia Book
=> Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism & Ritual Magic
-----------------------------
Health & Healing
-----------------------------
=> Health, Healing & Medical News
=> Human Biology
=> Love & Relationships
=> Women's Studies
-----------------------------
Science & Technology
-----------------------------
=> Science, Physics & Technology
=> History of Science
=> Evolution vs. Intelligent Design
=> Human Genetics
-----------------------------
Earth Changes
-----------------------------
=> Earth Changes
=> Global Warming
=> Botany & Plant Life
===> Plants of the Americas that Changed the World
=> Antarctica & the Arctic
-----------------------------
Space
-----------------------------
=> NASA
=> Mars, the Red Planet
=> Life on Other Worlds
=> the Universe
=> Images from Space
-----------------------------
UFOs, Aliens & Future Science
-----------------------------
=> UFO's
=> Aliens & Alien Abduction
=> UFO Evidence & in the Media
=> Alternate History & Multiverses
=> Future Science
=> Time Travel
-----------------------------
the Occult
-----------------------------
=> Ghosts & Apparitions
=> Communicating with the Dead
=> Paranormal Events, Reincarnation & Near Death Experiences
=> the Enchanted World
=> the Supernatural
=> the Occult
-----------------------------
the Unexplained
-----------------------------
=> Cryptozoology
=> Bigfoot Sightings
=> the Unexplained
=> the Hollow Earth, Crop Circles, Strange Structures & Devices
=> Vanishings & Unsolved Murders
-----------------------------
Science Fiction & Fantasy
-----------------------------
=> Lord of the Rings
=> Science Fiction
=> King Kong, Gigantopithecus & the Mountain Gorilla
=> Godzilla, King of Monsters
=> Comic Books
===> Comic Book Creators
===> Videogames & Toys
-----------------------------
Halloween & Seasonal
-----------------------------
=> Halloween
=> Seasonal
=> Monsters of Myth, Movies & Folklore
=> Ghost Stories
=> the Zombie Apocalypse
-----------------------------
Genres of Film & Literature
-----------------------------
=> Universal Horror
=> H. P. Lovecraft
=> Horror
=> Dark Shadows
=> Twin Peaks
=> Online Horror Movies Sci-Fi & TV Series
-----------------------------
Arts & Literature
-----------------------------
=> Online Books & Research Papers
=> Classical Literature & Book Reviews
=> Art History
=> Architecture
=> Sculpture & Statuary
=> the Great Masters
=> Music
-----------------------------
Media & Film
-----------------------------
=> Cinema
=> the History of Film
=> Marilyn Monroe
=> Actresses & Models
=> Entertainment News
-----------------------------
Modern Historical Mysteries
-----------------------------
=> American History
===> Presidents of the United States
=> the World Wars
===> the Great Depression
=> the Holocaust
=> the Middle East: Past & Present
=> Modern History
===> the Industrial Age
===> Civil Rights
=> Great Cities of the World
=> the Kennedys: Their History & Assasinations
=> New York City: Then & Now
-----------------------------
September 11th, 2001
-----------------------------
=> September 11th: Conspiracies, Cover-ups & Remembrance
=> The World Trade Center Remembered
===> Life of the Twin Towers
=> Modern Warfare
=> Environmental Disasters & Mass Tragedies
-----------------------------
Suppressed Knowledge
-----------------------------
=> New World Order
=> Conspiracies
=> Suppressed Knowledge
=> Media Matters
-----------------------------
Politics
-----------------------------
=> the Barack Obama Administration
=> Conservatives, Trump, & Republican Politics
=> Joe Biden, Democratic Politics & News
=> Tea Party, Constitution, Libertarian Parties & Ron Paul
=> Politics & News
-----------------------------
Current Events
-----------------------------
=> Current Events & Odd Stories
=> The World Today
=> Financial News & the Economy
===> The History of Labor
=> Breaking News
-----------------------------
General Category
-----------------------------
=> Opinions & Editorials
=> Cartoons, Humor & Comic Strips
=> Ecology, Pets & the Animal Kingdom
=> General & Miscellaneous
=> Sports
=> Computers & the Internet
-----------------------------
Art, Graphics & Creative Writing
-----------------------------
=> Fantasy Art & Graphics
=> Creative Writing
===> Horror Fiction
=> Poetry
=> Photography & Models
=> Earth Images
-----------------------------
Past Events
-----------------------------
=> Case for Bush Impeachment/War Crimes
===> Bush Administration Torture Scandal
=> Campaign 2008
=> Atlantis Online - Memorial & Biography
===> Atlantis Online - Old Posts
Powered by
EzPortal
Loading...