THREE NEW SHARK SPECIES THIS WEEK!
The second week of July 2023 something extraordinarily beautiful happened, the findings of 3 new species of sharks for were announced
A new angel sharks species was identified, from the western Indian Ocean on the Mascarene Plateau and off southwestern India in 100–500 m depths, the Lea’s angel shark Squatina leae, was recognized to be different genetically and morphologically distinct from its congeneric species Squatina africanae, following unique morphological features. This species was first detected in 1988 after finding three unusual, small sharks, but till today was completely understood. The angel shark is named after one of the author’s fiancee’s late sister, Lea-Marie Cordt.
- Squatina leae, adult male, in dorsolateral.
Angel sharks are “flatter sharks”, possesing distinctly broad, dorsoventrally flattened bodies, a short snout with large mouth and nostrils, eyes on top of the head close to the large spiracles, very large pectoral fins, and a lateral caudal keel. They've evolved to be ambush predators, they lie in wait for prey to pass closely overhead before attacking.
Reference (Open Access): Weigmann et al., 2023. Revision of the Western Indian Ocean Angel Sharks, Genus Squatina (Squatiniformes, Squatinidae), with Description of a New Species and Redescription of the African Angel Shark Squatina africana Regan, 1908. Biology
From North Australia, another species of hornshark is described based on six whole specimens and a single egg case. The painted hornshark Heterodontus marshallae was previously considered to be the same with the zebra bullhead shark another well know bullhead shark from the central Indo-Pacific from Japan to Australia, but genetic and morphological analyses indicated the sharks were different, but looking alike. The painted hornshark is endemic to northwestern Australia and occurs in deeper waters, at 125–229 m below surface.
- Lateral view of two mature female painted hornshark Heterodontus marshallae showing small differences between individuals
The painted hornsharks is named in honour of Dr. Lindsay Marshall www.stickfigurefish.com.au a scientific illustrator and elasmobranch scientist who expertly painted all the sharks and rays of the world for the Chondrichthyan Tree of Life Project.
Reference (Open Access): White et al., 2023 Species in Disguise: A New Species of Hornshark from Northern Australia (Heterodontiformes: Heterodontidae). Diversity.
And from an unidentified shark egg collected from the deep waters of northwestern Australia, in 2011 recently helped researchers identify a new species of deep water cat shark. Called ridged-egg catshark Apristurus ovicorrugatus after its eggs, it was collected in the earlys 90 but remained unknown to date. This sharks presents white eyes, and is small in size, reaching less than a half meter in length. .
- Lateral view of female Apristurus ovicorrugatus before preserved. Photo by CSIRO.
Egg cases belonging to this species had been documented as early as the 1980s, but could not be matched to any species of Australian shark until recently scientists examined a shark specimen of previously uncertain identity in the CSIRO collection.
-egg cases of Apristurus ovicorrugatus. Scale bar is 10 mm
Reference (Open Access) White,et al., 2023 What came first, the shark or the egg? Discovery of a new species of deepwater shark by investigation of egg case morphology. Journal of Fish Biology.
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are you constantly crushed by the overwhelming fear that you may not achieve your dreams or are you normal
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“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”
— John Steinbeck
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src: pinterest
☕ day 1/30 study x code challenge
i'm considering taking a philosophy course at some point in my degree instead of more psych. if you've taken philosophy before, what did you enjoy most/least about studying it? 🤔
📈 study stats (30/5/30): 🍅🍅🍅🍅
🎒 school/cs50:
review as much psyc as possible (weeks 2-3) ✅
read flask notes + re-watch parts of lecture as needed (half) ✅ (why are frameworks so hard for me to understand?)
🩺 self-care: (note to the inner bully: yeah, so humans need a lot to sustain themselves. what about it?)
journal ✅
start-my-day routine ✅
physio exercises ✅
clean bathroom ✅
wind down ✅ (?) (idk if i know how to wind down anymore, i'm so used to doing stuff, even mindlessly stimulating stuff, until i drop 😣)
🎶 chopin's revolutionary étude (op. 10 no. 12)
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Here are some sciencey pick up lines you can use:
1. Will you be the hydrogen to my carbon.
2. You are set A and I am set B so shall we find out our common interests thru a union?
3. Shall we find out our HCF?
4. When I kiss you I expect Newton's Third Law to be in action.
5. Let's be a dipole and have dipole moments.
6. Let's be coherent, make a wavefront and make wavelets together to see our future.
7. Wanna form a mycorrhiza?
8. Your eyes shine brighter than magnesium flame (lmao what in the Apollo-)
9. Are you Ester? Cuz you lookin' fruity!
10. You are the C (cytosine) to my G (guanine).
11. If you are a proton, then I'm a neutron so let's cuddle.
12. You are the electric field to my magnetic field.
13. I can be the photon to your electron if photoelectric effect turns you on.
14. If you are alternating current, I will become the transformer, coz I will reduce your pains and increase your happiness. (My friend's)
15. You're my principal interest and you make my heart race at the rate of 100% and I'm ready to serve you every day per annum.
16. Be the glucose to my insulin receptors. (My friend's)
17. Let's spread the sheets cuz we wanna excel in what we're doing tonight. (Lmao-)
18. Let's not rush and start with induction, shall we?
19. You are my biggest flux.
20. y = mx + b my partner?
21. Be the capsaicin to my water cuz together we can be spicier. (This one is so.... 💀)
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Two years in the making, my take on illustrating bird phylogeny. Larger view here.
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this is so deeply unsettling
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some old pics
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spring: appreciating the sunlight & getting excited about the future!
listening to new slang by the shins
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THIS OCTOPUS IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.
Sleep is a fundamental biological function present in all vertebrates and most invertebrates. Octopuses are really complex animals, displaying active and inactive sleep states similar to those of vertebrates. In particular, octopuses have active sleep states during which they display sequences of camouflage patterns, while remaining relatively quiet and unresponsive to external stimuli. Some scientists have speculated that these states could be analogous to dreaming in mammals.
Now, researchers have recorder what is believing an octopuses having nightmare. During a month, researchers recorded a male Brazilian reef octopus (Octopus insularis), and they detected four brief episodes were identified during which the octopus abruptly emerged from sleep, detached itself from its sleep position, and engaged in antipredator behaviors, despite no predator was present. The longest of these episodes resembled the species-typical response to a predatory attack, suggesting that the animal may have been responding to a negative episodic memory while sleeping.
However, these are just conjectures, as it is hard to be sure, according to scientists, who claim that more studies are needed to ensure that they really are nightmares.
Gif from video: Eric Ramos et al
Reference: Ramos et al., 2023. Abnormal behavioral episodes associated with sleep and quiescence in Octopus insularis: Possible nightmares in a cephalopod?. bioRxiv.
video can be seen here
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Phylum #18: Rotifera, the wheel animals!
Another phylum of little-known, inconspicuous creatures, "wheel animalcules" have chiefly made their living in most of the world's lakes and rivers. But, hidden in holdfasts or thawed from the permafrost, tiny rotifers conceal an unexpected diversity of shapes and ecologies.
Bdelloids are the most well-known rotifers, and a good model to understand their anatomy. Their simple, elongated body, covered in a cuticle, ends in an articulated tail-like "foot". Their mouth anatomy is much more interesting, with a set of elaborate jaws, the mastax, allowing them to grab onto prey. The corona, a ring of cilia surrounding the mouth, moves to create a feeding current, with the appearance of a rotating wheel giving the phylum its name.
Of the three other clades of rotifers, seisonids are the earliest to have diverged, with these crustacean parasites evolving into a peculiar long-necked profile. Monogonontans are often less elongated, with genera like Polyarthra using wing-like paddles to swim through water. Historically recognized as a separate phylum, acanthocephalans were only recently recognized as highly modified rotifers, also adapted to a parasitic existence.
Although many rotifers swim freely in either freshwater or saltwater, some have adopted a sessile lifestyle, while others occupy the liminal film of moisture covering mosses and soil. Most unique are the colonial rotifers, massive spheres of hundreds or even thousands of individuals drifting together, coronas facing outwards, to filter microscopic food.
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Hii
Reblog for sample size <3
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day 06 // 100dop++
grieving the end of the holidays. i had a much more ambitious plan for today, but i slept in (it felt good) and i guess felt the need to take it easier on my last day of vacation (😢)
clean things ✅
hair mask (the weather suddenly got much drier 😭) ✅
finish unit 3-half of 4/18 of integrated math 1 ✅ (if i do 1 unit every day, i can finish this course in 14-15 days with about a week to spare [og plan is to finish this by end of january]. not too bad if i make myself stick to it as each unit is rather short 😤)
🎶 nocturne op. 55 no. 2 - chopin (feels like saying goodbye to smth that was good and beautiful...like the whole *ahem* cliché "don't go/but i have to" conversation followed by reminiscing all the good days prior)
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