Scientists and Social Media II
National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that is committed to exploring and protecting our planet. After I followed National Geographic on Twitter, I started to read many of the different articles that they post. The first one is called, Meat-Eating Plant Found Stealing Bugs From Its Neighbors by Sandrine Ceurstemont. It is about how sundew plants growing in bogs located in Japan steal insects that are lured by the flowers of their neighboring plants. It is one of the only cases of kleptoparasitism, where food is acquired from another species with nothing, in animals. Also, scientists have specifically looked at how Drosera makinoi and Drosera toyokensis and how they attract their prey; the role of their flowers and flowers of plants close by and compared the number of insects trapped. It turns out that the number of insects depends on whether or not the non-carnivorous plants surrounding had blooms. The non-carnivorous plants, also, don’t benefit from associating with the sundew species and they actually have to invest resources in their own flowers only to see some of the potential pollinators become a prey. It is interesting however that carnivorous plants rely on insects for reproduction too, and many of these plants have evolved by having traps that only function after the plant has flowered. But this specific species of sundew observed in the study can make seeds from its own pollen. Another interesting thing that the article mentions is how the sundew quickly closes its flowers when something touches it. The other plants that close their flowers, tend to do so because of an environmental factor, not because of touch like the sundews.
I found this article to be very interesting and shows how some plants are aware of the things around them and sometimes help each other out while other times they use their neighbors for their advantage. The same thing is done in some trees, when they notice their neighbor needs more nutrients or water, that specific tree won’t take as much for themselves. It is a topic that really interests me. I recently got a book about how plant species may actually have feelings, but I have not begun to read it yet, and this article has made me want to read it even more. I also liked the part in the article about how the flowers of the plant responded to touch. I hope to learn more about this topic by reading more about it.
The second article from National Geographic is called Survival of Northern White Rhino Hinges on Last Sick Male, by Elaina Zachos. This subspecies of rhino is very close to extinction. Sudan, who is a 45-year-old male northern white rhino has a very bad infection on its right back leg, it was created underneath an injury that he developed last year. This new infection is not responding to treatment and the people taking care of him are considering euthanasia if the pain becomes too much. Sudan is one of the last of his kind, so it is important to do the best things for him. Him and two other elderly female white rhinos living in Kenya are being monitored 24/7 by armed guards, to better their protection. These individual rhinos are also past reproductive age. The article states how the northern white rhino population has dropped from more than 2,000 in 1960 to just 15 in 1984, and today is seems like there is only 3 alive. Scientists have been looking for a way to increase the northern white rhino populations and natural breeding does not seem to be a viable option unless they can find a male, but they do not find this very likely either. Because of this, scientists have taken sex cells from the living rhinos and have made progress towards in vitro fertilization in the southern white rhino surrogates. One downside to the in vitro fertilization, is that the process can take up to more than a decade.
This article peaked my interest, because of the extinction of the white rhinos. I knew the living numbers were very small but I didn’t know it was as low as only 3 white rhinos left. I also really enjoyed the part that stated how the rhinos left are being guarded by armed guard 24/7. People are trying to save the population for as long as the rhinos naturally live. Many species today may not live until the next 100 years and the human population will never even be able to see some of the species. I would be interested in seeing how the in vitro fertilization of the southern white rhino goes and if it is successful or not. I hope that it is successful!
The third article from National Geographic is called Why This Lioness Suddenly Grew a Mane, by Sarah Gibbens. It is about a female lion has mysteriously grew a mane. This is a rare, but not an unheard-of event. These maned lionesses most likely come from a genetic anomaly that is shared by other animals as well. The embryos were likely disrupted at either conception or during gestation, that likely caused the mutation in the genes. The more likely cause of female lions growing manes, would be from if the fetus was exposed to a high level of androgens, which are hormones like testosterone for example. Specifically, in this case, since the female was born in captivity, vets suggest that a medical condition is most likely the culprit. It could even be a tumor that is growing on her adrenal or pituitary gland and is affecting her hormones. This female lion is very healthy for her age of 13 years old, and vets are still awaiting a known cause of her growing this mane.
This article about the lioness growing a mane is a good example of science writing, because it people are always interested in things that happen to species that aren’t supposed to happen. If something is out of the ordinary it grabs people’s attention, as it did mine. I would like to know more about the actual cause of the mane, but just the fact that it happened is interesting and will get people interested. It also helps that this article was written for mostly anyone being able to read and learn more about this topic.
The fourth article that I found from National Geographic is called Earliest Ancient Egyptian Tattoos Found on Mummies, by Sarah Gibbens. A new analysis of 2 mummies, among 6 that were found in 1900, shows that they have tattoos on their skin. They are currently apart of the British Museum and called the Gebelein mummies, and they are being reanalyzed as part of a project to reexamine valuable artifacts. Both of these mummies could be from anywhere between 3351 B.C. to 3017 B.C. The tattoo found on the male’s body had contained spotted pictures of a bull and possibly a Barbary sheep. The woman’s body has 4 “S” symbols on her shoulder and an “L” on her abdomen that would have been a wooden staff. These tattoos were put into the dermis and made with an ink made of a type of soot and possibly from a tool made of copper. These findings suggest to us that both men and women in Egyptian societies have had tattoos. Both of the tattoos on the male seem to have had a symbolic relevance but no one is exactly sure of their meaning as of now. For example, the bull has to do with male virility and status. While the tattoos on the female are thought to have meant to emphasize something, but no one is sure why either. They were made in an era before writing so we do not know for sure what the significance is. By learning more about these tattoos, it can help archaeologists better understand Egypt’s early language.
This write-up about the tattoos being found on the mummies provides some great knowledge about how these people lived and what was important to them. If we were to find out exactly what the man and woman’s tattoo each meant it would better show what the enjoyed or what their personality was like. This article was also very well explained and I liked how it was broken up by major headlines so people could better understand what the article is talking about, if there was any confusion in the first place.
The fifth and final article from National Geographic that I found, is called Ravens are Evolving, and Not in the Way You’d Expect by Jason Bittel. The study being done is using DNA samples from ravens for nearly 20 years. The study shows evidence that Common Ravens on the west coast of North America have split into three separate and genetically distinct groups. When people normally think of evolution, they think of a tree that branches off and with each branch off a new species if evolved. When these branches split, they rarely come back together, but on occasion two lineages that were on their way to separating actually do come back together. The process of showing evidence of branching apart and then actually coming back together is called ‘reticulate evolution’. This type of evolution has also been seen in other species as in finches or two species of fish. When specifically talking about the ravens, they started out as one species then split off into 2 species called the Holarctic raven and the western North American raven. Now it seems that the western North American raven has split into a species known as the Chihuahan raven and a California lineage (but not yet a new species, but does contain a unique genetic signature). With more DNA analysis is it suggested that the California breakoffs have been interbreeding and sharing their DNA with the Holarctic ravens; this causes the 2 branches on the family tree to join back into one species known as the Common raven. It is important to note, however, that even if these species are coming back together to form the Common raven, it is not the same as the Common raven that was mentioned towards the beginning of the article. This article has shown that yet another species of birds goes through reticulate evolution.
This article about the ravens was my favorite one out of the five that I chose to look at and summarize. I have read the book called “Beak of the Finch” by Jonathon Weiner and it talks about this exact phenomenon called reticulate evolution in the finches. The species would interbreed quite frequently dependent upon how the environment changes. I would like to know the exact genetic differences between the “older” Common ravens, and the “newer” Common ravens that derived from the interbreeding. I hope to find more articles or any information about this phenomenon happening with the raven population. I wonder if it happens to other ravens living in the Northern hemisphere, rather than just in North America.
